Otter Wants To Know

Over the years I’ve seen the same pattern with new writers: tons of enthusiasm, then frustration when the story stalls, the plot won’t cooperate, or the whole publishing and marketing side feels like a maze. So I finally pulled everything I teach and coach about into a set of short, focused “Beginner’s Guide” ebooks.[ Each guide tackles one piece of the journey: Beginners Guide to Planning a Story – taking a loose idea and turning it into a workable plan: characters, plot, setting, and overall storyline. Beginner's Guide to Creating Genuine Characters : how to ensure your characters don't bore the reader. Beginners Guide to Developing a Plot – building believable plots, from inciting incident through climax, plus character and emotional arcs. Beginners Guide to Publishing a Book (and Not Getting Screwed) – a straight‑talk tour of today’s publishing options, including how to avoid the predators. Beginners Guide to Basic Book Marketing – the essentials of book marketing for first‑time authors: landing pages, blurbs, keywords, and building a simple author platform. They’re deliberately short, practical, and meant to be used. Read it in an evening and apply your new knowledge the next day. I have several more Beginner's Guides under development: on scene design, business, mind-mapping and AI assistants. There is also a free Beginner's Guide Starter Kit: it contains material from each guide including the ones under development. You can download a copy here.