Much has happened during the past few months. We pray your are all safe and healthy and continue to be careful and resilient.
Luckily, we have only good news to share in this post.
May 2020
The Writers’ Mastermind cut the ribbon on the Founder’s Membership. Thanks to all the founders for making the dream of this online writing community a reality! Founders had exclusive access to the website 2 weeks before the formal launch date and also got locked in at the $9 a month lifetime price.
June 2020
The Writers’ Mastermind opened forSpring Registration with The Ultimate Author Planning Workshop, where we reverse-engineered our path to our dream lives as successful authors. We joined together for our first official mastermind call on Zoom and also started live Zoom write-ins, where writers have since accumulated tens of thousands of newly written words.
July 2020
The Author Platform Mastery workshop went LIVE this month, where members perform a branding, website, and social media audit to make sure their author platforms are tweaked to perfection and attracting new readers.
Writers’ Mastermind Member News
Our members have been accomplishing some incredible things. We invite you to join in and support our authors!
Joseph Sale
Joseph Sale has re-released several of his books, including his Black Gate Series in “omnibus” format (aka box set). I am a devoted fan of this series and I can tell you it that it will be something that will haunt you in the most profound and unexpected ways.
Black Gate: Omnibus (Nekyia Book 3)
For the first time, hold the complete Black Gate trilogy in one volume, including Gods of the Black Gate, Beyond the Black Gate and Return to the Black Gate. Follow the story of Craig Smiley, a merciless killer and servant of seven dark gods, on his quest for escape, revenge, and ultimately: redemption. Smiley’s journey will take him from the high-security prison facilities of Mars, to the wildernesses of Texas and Louisiana, and to fantastical worlds beyond imagination and horror. Described as “Barker-esque”, “Lovecraftian”, and yet “a genre all of its own”, experience this epic series in its entirety like never before.
Joseph Sale has also recently set up a Patreon account, where he is sharing never-before-seen writing and behind-the-scenes videos every month. The topics he covers are full of useful insights and hacks for every fiction writer. To sign up for your monthly goodies, CLICK HERE.
Ross Jeffery
Ross Jeffery demonstrates his versatility as a writer by following the publication of his weird, post-apocalyptic horror, Juniper, with his intimate, literary novella-in-flash, Tethered.
Tethered Released
Tethered explores the fractured relationship of a father and son. Each story is told with unflinching and honest prose that is both hard hitting and heartrending.
These stories delve into themes of toxic masculinity, love, hope, despair, domestic violence, sexuality, weakness and overcoming oppression.
Tethered also asks the bigger question of ‘do we ever escape the harm our parents do to us; or do we go through life marred and influenced from our upbringing.’
‘‘Ross Jeffery’s flash fiction is immediate, visceral and real. To read his stories is to feel the understanding of a life lived through the eyes of a compassionate man. Always unapologetic, always raw, always true.’
Our resident Master-of-Writing-Resources, Dan Soule, released his new novel, Witchopper! We’ve all been anticipating this book and are celebrating its publication. What do people say about Dan Soule?
‘His stories aren’t just guaranteed to scare you, they’re guaranteed to devastate you.’ – Caitlin Marceau, editor Sanitarium Magazine.
Witchopper
If you see her, then you’re dead…
All Rob wanted to do was fit in at his new school after being torn from London so his parents could fix their marriage. But when Rob’s journalist father dragged him along to investigate the legend of the Witchopper for the local paper, her curse became their reality.
She was priestess to the pagan god of the wild wood, hanged by a rabid mob for her unspeakable crimes. Now, something far worse than the hell of high school is after Rob and his dad…
In the vein of The Wickerman and Midsommar, Witchopper is an epic ordeal of a father and son relationship, where past sins echo in the present. Dan Soule delivers another of his terrifying Fright Nights, with a tale of love, lies and truth that will leave you sleeping with the light on.
We are thrilled to announce that Charlotta Amato’s short story, Il Ragazzo, will be published by Storgy Literary Magazineon September 21st, 2020. This was her first ever submission and acceptance. Congratulations, Charlotta!!!
Tia Wojciechowski
Tia Wojciechowski’s first novel, Hectrossipy, is on schedule to be published with The Writing Collective later in 2020. She has just released this blurb so you can get a taste for what this twisty, epic, sci-fi is all about!
The alignment of the three moons is a sign of positive changes to come. But the moons never promised that such changes will happen to everybody.
On the pre-industrial planet of Velva Leena, two sisters eagerly anticipate the Hecctrossipy Festival, a yearly tradition that celebrates the victory over a legendary evil monster who had the power to manipulate the elements and use them for chaos.
Artheena is smart, talented, and beautiful. She is also blessed with multiple, special gifts. Mell May, on the other hand, is simple and average adopted sister. Both are in love with Leeandro Paul, a celebrity heartthrob who has an intriguing way of turning the leaders of the land into his followers.
When Artheena has a premonition that she will marry Leeandro Paul during the alignment of the three moons, her quest for true love takes a turn for the weird and crazy. Meanwhile Velva Leena’s conservative social standards are turned backward by an outrageous contest that will threaten the sisters’ close bond.
When the Hecctrossipy Festival begins, the sisters have the time of their lives… Until Leeandro Paul makes a choice that shakes up both their worlds and a twist of fate threatens to tear them apart forever.
The star reporter for the Beacon City Beam has a knack for showing up in the right places at the most opportune moments and a newsman’s flair for detecting a droplet of drama in a sea of dross and dregs. Accompany him on his nose-poking adventures, jot by jot, scribble by scribble—from his relentless search for an enigmatic fortune cookie to his visit to the Sociopaths Anonymous® weekly meeting to his bizarre correspondence with a pen-pal who claims to be the Devil. Beacon City Confidential offers a mole’s-eye view of American urban mythology run amok. Petty crimes and deceits, daily dissatisfactions and squabbles, puny triumphs inflated like hot-air balloons. Like our reporter’s notebook, the pages are crowded with events and outcomes, brimming with entertaining villains trying to survive the 21st Century by any means necessary. Less visibly, the real heroes, the joe-schmoes and who’s-thats, threaten to make their own stand, clamoring for their stake in the American dream and a taste of its pie.
It has been 5 months since I last saw my husband. Airport closures have prevented me from returning home to Panama. I’ve rebooked my ticket so many times, I don’t get my hopes up anymore.
I thought this would be a source (albeit, a negative one) of creative energy. Instead it has been a block. What little I have written is shallow and empty of meaning. My heart is not in it.
Luckily, I have broken the seal on the rewrite of an old, beloved project I had been avoiding. This has brought me some joy.
But we are all going through a very weird time now. Even if we’re not watching the news or consciously thinking about what is happening all day, it’s affecting us.
Add into the mix our personal issues, emotional residue, and just generalized anxiety about the future. Sometimes you just want to hug a pillow all day.
We may not have the capacity to be as creative and productive as usual. But we are not machines and we need to slow down and listen to what we need emotionally, mentally, and physically.
Give yourself some time and space to purge, process, and heal. When you are ready, you will feel it. Then you can get back to the journey onward.
Your author platform has 3 purposes—help readers to discover you, fall in love with you, and buy your books
In the Author Platform Mastery workshop, we will:
Establish a distinctive and memorable author brand
Discover blind spots in SEO and social media
Increase your readership and engagement
Maximize results and free up time to write
Author Platform Mastery Overview
Part 1: Your Author Brand
“Branding” is like decorating the storefront of your bookshop. When readers visit your website and your social media, you want them to stop in their tracks and pay attention.
In this lesson, we will define what makes you YOU and brainstorm elements that you can use to express your uniqueness as an author.
Part 2: Your Author Website
Do a complete audit of your website for content, usability, aesthestics, and performance.
Learn how to incorporate the branding elements explored in Part I.
Part 3 : Optimize Author Social Media
Make the look and feel of you brand consistent across all social media. Make the most of what each platform has to offer to drive readers to your website and books.
Formulate a consistent posting plan and make sure you are making the most of your time on social media.
The Author Platform Mastery masterclass includes:
3-Part Video series
Author Platform Audit Workbook
live Zoom Mastermind and Q&A on Author Platform Mastery
ongoing support in the Writers’ Mastermind private Facebook Group
One mistake I see writers making—and probably the biggest—is playing too small. As much as they love writing, they “dabble” in their free time. It’s “a hobby” or “a dream” or “a mirage.” Who would want to hear what they have to say?
I was like that. I used to blush and shrink when people in the real world asked me how “the writing thing” was going.
But our words matter. And we have worlds within us that can only be accessed through writing fiction, ideas that can only be understood through story.
We have to care enough about these words to invest in ourselves and make ourselves into better artists and communicators.
Remember when you were a kid and being an artist was fun? Finger paints and imaginary friends. Silly costumes and play-acting.
We didn’t think about whether or not our creations and performances would sell or receive a good review on a trendy site. The reward was the simple act of creation, to make something that didn’t exists before.
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” — Pablo Picasso
As we grow from the limitless imagination and wonderment of a child into adulthood, that sense of creative abandon is diluted. We are caged by rules. We become overly self-conscious, losing our own individual spark in our desire to fit in or be on top of the next big thing.
Before we know it, writing becomes a chore. What was a wild refuge where we could run free is now a cramped and stuffy cubicle. It happens slowly, like aging itself, when we wake up one day to look in the mirror and wonder, who the hell is this person?
Not only does our work suffer, it branches out into everything. If we can’t have fun with writing, we can’t have fun with publishing. Nor can we have fun with book publicity and marketing. It becomes contrived, rigid, cliché, or boring. We lose the passion that used to inflame us, and it all seems like work.
7 habits that kill creativity
1. Judging yourself too harshly
We writers worship our greats. We aspire to be like them, and maybe one day we will. One of the reasons I haven’t published the series I’ve been working on for eight years is because I thought it wasn’t good enough. It didn’t compare to the masterpieces of my writing gods, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Really? Did I think I was going to be the next Tolstoy? On my first book?
Perfect is the enemy of good. Don’t stall on a good story, waiting for it to become perfect. Our definition of perfection changes all the time So do the best you can, and then let it go.
2. Comparing yourself to others
So-and-so is a bestseller and you’re not. A writer who just got out of high school is getting nominated for a prestigious award while you have none. A comparative author has double the amount of followers you have. Either you feel like scrambling to catch up with them, or you become discouraged and depressed that you are so far behind.
This is a recipe for misery. You are your only competition. And you don’t know what those writers had to do to get where they are. Furthermore, their life may not even be as great as it appears online.
3. Trying too hard to make it happen
In trying to hard to make it happen, we rush, we get sloppy, we create self-imposed deadlines that stress us out. We forget the joy of writing when we are pushing too hard, and we can sound like simpering sycophants, braggadocios, drowning readers in purple prose. Don’t overthink it. Don’t pander. Just get into your natural flow. Trust your you-ness.
4. Setting unrealistic expectations
Goals are important, but so is their achievability. If you set a goal to write four novels in a year while working a full-time job and being a parent, you are setting yourself up for failure. Not meeting these goals will make you feel like giving up. You will feel stressed and frustrated. Make realistic expectations for yourself. Give yourself room to live life while you pursue them.
5. Rushing for success
If you’re aiming for success, great. We all want to become successful authors. But, contrary to popular belief, success doesn’t happen overnight. Most of the most popular authors slogged for years before getting recognition. If you’ve made up your mind to be miserable until you are a success, you could be miserable for a long time.
Learn to enjoy your ride. One day you might be ridiculously famous and look longingly back on these quiet days when there weren’t so many deadlines and life was less demanding.
6. Not learning anything new
One of my biggest setbacks was that I kept writing without ever having taken one class. Even if your talented, you need guidance and feedback to optimize your skills.
I finally took my first class in Sept. 2019 with amazing writer and human being, Richard Thomas. It was the catalyst for everything that is happening for me right now. Not only has it opened new pathways, but I also feel more confident in my abilities and know what I have to offer and who to offer it to.
Most of us are flying blind, but when you are aware of your weak points you can improve them. Learning keeps you growing. It keeps your writing fresh. It’s incredible how much more capable you feel when you own your gifts and know how to use them. Evolving as an artist is one of the most satisfying parts of being a writer. Get involved in this process.
7. Taking yourself too seriously
Do you dwell on mistakes? Lose hope after a failure? Maybe you got a rejection. Or your book launch flopped. Has a snarky reviewer ripped you to shreds? Yes. It sucks. There’s no denying that. You can allow yourself a half a day to mope around.
Then be realistic about it. Your work won’t get accepted one hundred percent of the time. Your latest book might not be the one that skyrockets you to stardom. Not every reviewer is going to get what you were trying to do with your story. Laugh it off and ask yourself, what can I learn from this, and more importantly, what’s next?
