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For the fourth year, Writer’s Digest has invited me to speak at their Annual Conference in New York City. This time I will be talking about my experience crowd-funding The Black Lens and building a strategic marketing plan for my new novel, Real Girl, which my agent is currently pitching to publishers. Here’s a brief summary of my two main presentations: How to Crowd-Fund Your Book and Connect It to a Cause Two of the biggest challenges for new authors who want to self-publish is a lack of exposure [...]

Since the summer, literary agent Paula Munier has been working hard to pitch my new novel to traditional publishers based in New York City. Publishing is always a long process. And yet this past year has proved extra hard as editors are working from home while also juggling so many other responsibilities like everyone else during a global pandemic. But Paula is a senior agent at Talcott Notch Literary, a veteran agency that has an impressive list of bestsellers with the New York Times, Wall Street [...]

Writer’s Digest just published my third article in the 100th anniversary edition of their magazine, which reaches about 70,000 subscribers across the country. The magazine also published my first article last year about how to craft the perfect media pitch and my second article in April about how to create successful book media kits. My new article appeared in the November/December issue, specifically in the regular IndieLab column that follows trends in the self-publishing business. This article focuses on my experience conducting journalistic research for both The Black [...]

How do you find time to write? That’s one of the most common questions I get from family, friends, and fans of The Black Lens. It’s a crucial question, especially since my wife and I are both working from home full time with three children under the age of six in a small Ohio home. Each day, we must somehow balance our own jobs while home schooling, changing dirty diapers, and trying to keep our house at least somewhat clean. I don’t have time to [...]

  Writer’s Digest just agreed to publish my third article in the 100th anniversary edition of their magazine, which reaches about 70,000 subscribers across the country. My article will appear in the November/December issue, specifically in the regular IndieLab column that follows trends in the self-publishing business. This article focuses on my experience conducting journalistic research for both The Black Lens and my upcoming novel, Real Girl, which my agent is currently pitching to publishers. Here's just a brief overview of the piece: Too many [...]

  After more than three years of writing, editing and pitching my new novel, literary agent Paula Munier has agreed to represent my work to traditional publishers based in New York City. Paula is a senior agent at Talcott Notch Literary, an agency that has an impressive list of bestsellers with the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Amazon. She has worked at Talcott since 2012 and is also a USA Today-bestselling author of the Mercy Carr Mystery series. I met Paula [...]

My new novel just advanced to a Top 25 finalist in the 2020 Launch Pad Manuscript Competition. Now in its third year, this manuscript competition searches for the most impressive, cinematic and captivating prose from emerging writers. It has resulted in over 40 projects set up and 12 books published in collaboration with Inkshares. The winners will be announced July 16. Set in a near future Midwest city, REAL GIRL is about a lifelike robot who tries to escape from an augmented reality competition where [...]

My new novel, REAL GIRL, just became a finalist in the 2020 Launch Pad Manuscript Competition. The Launch Pad Competitions have led to more than 450 signings, 164 projects set up, 68 writers staffed, seven bidding wars, and 156 appearances on annual "best of" lists. That includes the Black List, Blood List, Hit List, and the Young & Hungry List. Now in its third year, this specific manuscript competition searches for the most impressive, cinematic and captivating prose from emerging writers. It has resulted in [...]

  Writer’s Digest just published my second article in their magazine, which reaches about 70,000 subscribers across the country. The article appears in their regular IndieLab column that follows trends in the self-publishing business. It focuses on my experience creating successful media kits for The Black Lens novel: "Indie authors often spend more time publishing their book than they do promoting it. But if you want to sell copies to more than just family and friends, you must rely on others to spread the word. [...]

I just participated in my first interview with NPR on our local All Sides with Ann Fisher radio show. All Sides is a two-hour, daily public-affairs talk show designed to touch upon all sides of the issues and events that shape life in Central Ohio. This interview focused on my work as a board member of She Has A Name educating men arrested for soliciting sex through an innovative "John School" program. Ann Fisher interviewed myself and two other abolitionists from the local anti-trafficking community: [...]