I have an important housekeeping issue to announce, but first… You know how I’ve been talking about using real life experience to help guide your writing? When I was reading Nowhere To Run by CJ Box, there’s a scene where Joe Picket (the MC) gets shot in the leg with an arrow, the head of… Continue reading
[Day 5 of 90] Writing For Oculus Rift + Q & A
Let me start today’s email with some Q & A: Reader Question: “My weakness, I think, is emotion. I have a hard time describing emotions. So I definitely want to work on that. So I guess that would fall into character development?” “My weakness, I think, is emotion. I have a hard time describing emotions…. Continue reading
[Day 4 of 90] Indie Publishing’s Unhealthy Obsession With Structure
QUICK NOTE: The past few days I’ve been getting emails from people explaining that not all of my stuff is hitting their inbox. To be honest, I have no idea why. Might be my autoresponder. Might be some things that I’m testing within the autoresponder (like “Perfect Timing”). Might be the black magic of my… Continue reading
[DAY 3 of 90] Results Already? Wow…
Wow. We’re only 3 days into this thing and look at what is happening (real emails from subscribers in my inbox today): “I did the exercise and it did help a ton… Felt great just to put thoughts on paper, not worrying about how good they were. Going to keep this meditative tool with me.”… Continue reading
[DAY 2 of 90] Q & A + The Shortcut To Mastering A Genre
Strap in. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover. First, let’s start with what I did today: 1. I went to Powell’s Books and spent $147.65 on related books for this challenge. I’ll explain why later (and why you shouldn’t follow my lead on that). 2. I sat down for an hour and filled… Continue reading
[DAY 1 of 90] How To Distract Yourself To Fiction Profits
Today I woke up to an email from a writer/wordsmith/teacher in the world of fiction. In it she said this about me: “Michael B. is, simultaneously, the most focused person I know and the most easily distracted person I know.” That might be the most true thing ever said about me. If you go to… Continue reading
How To Choose A Profitable Genre
This email is loaded, so get ready to use that muscle stuffed inside your skull called a brain. I want to teach you how to choose a profitable genre, but… … I first have to teach you how to set goals. And to do that, I need to reveal the real reason why I took… Continue reading
[DECISION 2016] 90 Day Challenge Update
It’s update time: As you know I’ve been tinkering with the idea of putting on a 90 day challenge for fiction. Sent out a few emails, got some response, put together a plan, then… … My dream job walked through my inbox and I couldn’t say ‘no’. That was 3 weeks ago (wow! time flies… Continue reading
The Definitive Guide to Writing Autoresponder Email Sequences
Want to automate your entire selling process? You can. Build an email list. But the real trick is hanging on to that cherished digital real estate long enough to figure out if your subscriber is just another time-sucking “freebie seeker” or if you can turn them into a sale. You can’t just blow up your… Continue reading
The “Belief Change” Formula That Works
This is how televangelists convert athiests. It’s how climate change deniers convince people that scientists are wrong. It’s how politicians win office. It’s how great salesmen (and women) get rich. Understanding Your Audience The people who read your sales copy or hear your sales pitch aren’t blank canvasses. They are complex, multi-faceted human beings. They… Continue reading