November 12, 2024 Oh boy. I headed out 10 days late and so tomorrow I’ll cross the border during Baja 1000 race week. The excitement is building, people are flocking to Ensenada, and the races start on Friday. But I’ll be at a ranch 60 miles south of Tecate, hiking, riding horses, and tasting tequila ..read more

I’m back on the road, riding solo from Santa Cruz to the southern tip of Baja. Since my first accidental solo motorcycle trip through France back in 1988, every journey has changed my life in unexpected ways. And writing about these experiences—capturing the highs, the lows, the clairity, and the confusion—helps me make sense of ..read more

Make money selling books and . . . stuff I started using affiliate links years ago and recently, when I added up the little deposits coming into my bank account, I was astounded to realize that I was adding between $200 and $1000 a month from affiliate marketing without even trying. It wasn't only from ..read more

Start building your book marketing street team early so that you can be absolutely certain you will launch your book to five-star reviews.    Your street team is made of up anybody who you have been in contact with about your book, from your writing group to your beta readers, from your peers to your ..read more

Compare IngramSpark and Amazon KDP for self-publishing print books ..read more

Use your website and blog strategically to attract more readers to your book, using keywords and tags and other SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques to make Google, Amazon, and other search engines love you ..read more

Authors! It's time to learn basics of your computers, smart devices, and the internet. Especially if you expect to publish, which means sharing with writing groups, beta readers, contributing to writerly journals and anthologies, not to mention communicating with editors, agents, and publishers. As a writing workshop leader, I sometimes spend as much time tutoring authors ..read more

I’m counting down the days to my next adventure—riding solo from Santa Cruz to the southern tip of Baja. It's been years since I had a home base in Mulege waiting for me over the border, so I’m packing all my gear and preparing for everything from the chilly California coast to the desert heat ..read more

If you're writing a memoir that blends family history with personal reflection, or you’re writing about writing itself, Angle of Repose is a rich source of inspiration. Consider incorporating dual timelines, frame narratives, mixed voices, and historical artifacts into your own story. And remember—don’t limit your reading to memoirs! Novels are full of narrative techniques that can elevate your memoir into something truly special ..read more

The moment you set Chapter 1 aside, something magical happens: you get your momentum back. When you stop obsessing over the start, you’ll suddenly find yourself writing faster, with more freedom. The pressure to make everything perfect lifts, and you can just write ..read more