Advice for Writing, Editing, Reading, and Life.

New posts on Mondays (for non-fiction) or Fridays (for fiction)

Finding Success in the Middle Ground — A response to “The Paradox of Platform”

Finding Success in the Middle Ground — A response to “The Paradox of Platform”

Nurturing any career is a process. It’s not something that happens at a particular point in time. I got the idea to try writing picture books somewhere around five years ago. On any given day since, I am taking steps toward that end. I joined a critique group—Hooray! I studied the business of writing—Go, me! I learned to revise--Something else to celebrate! Seeing just the end goal disregards the growth points and small wins along the way.

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The Paradox of Platform
Non-fiction, Marketing and Publicity, Life Sam "One-Wheel" O'Neil Non-fiction, Marketing and Publicity, Life Sam "One-Wheel" O'Neil

The Paradox of Platform

If you already have a built in fan-base from another venture, such as internet videos or a television show, your book will be a much easier sell than someone with no web presence, regardless of how good or bad either book actually is. As a person with virtually no platform, I know how that sounds—envious and a little bitter. To some extent it probably is, I confess, but it’s also just the reality of producing art for profit.

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The Gift that Keeps on Taking: 2021 Year-End Review
Updates, Life, Non-fiction Sam "One-Wheel" O'Neil Updates, Life, Non-fiction Sam "One-Wheel" O'Neil

The Gift that Keeps on Taking: 2021 Year-End Review

This post was originally planned to be a simple recap of the books I’ve read this year and some brief spoiler-free reviews… well, it’s morphed into something more comprehensive; it exposes more of me than this blog was ever intended to, but my hope is that you, dear reader, will find it more worthwhile and helpful as a result.

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