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Our Writing Articles
Welcome to our collection of writing articles, proudly brought to you by The Writing Community Chat Show CIC. Here, you'll find a curated selection of our work originally published on Substack, covering a diverse range of topics to help you navigate the exciting world of writing. From practical tips and craft advice to insights on the writing life and publishing, this page serves as a central hub for my contributions to the writing community. Dive in and explore, we hope these articles inspire and empower you on your own writing journey!
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Available articles.
How Indie Authors Can Actually Land a Literary Agent. (Without a Million Followers)
Maybe you've self-published a book or three. Maybe you’ve wrangled cover designers, hacked Amazon categories like a code-breaker, and even convinced your mum to leave a glowing five-star review under an alias.
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But now… you want an agent.
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So, pour yourself something strong, coffee, wine, absinthe, a WCCS beer, because we’re diving into the jungle that is finding and pitching a literary agent as an indie author.
Spoiler: It's messy. But it’s not impossible.
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The Truth About Becoming a Writer. (From 350+ Author Interviews)
Let’s talk about writing. Not the “dino-erotica” kind, yes that exists, but the gritty, messy, beautiful chaos of it.
Whether you're writing your first sentence or your fifteenth novel, there’s something all authors have in common: we’re winging it more than we let on.
Here is some advice and a lot of author truths from guests on our show.
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How to Build Your Author Brand Without Selling Your Soul.
Let’s be honest. When someone says “author brand,” you probably picture a smug guy in a turtleneck who writes self-help books about writing self-help books.
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But branding isn’t just for the polished, the perfect, or the bestselling. In fact, if you’re an author of any kind (aspiring, published, or somewhere in that murky middle), you already have a brand.
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The question is: are you steering it… or just clinging to the wheel while it veers into the nearest ditch?
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The Only 5 Tools Authors Need To Use!
There are hundreds of tools out there claiming to make your writing life easier. Over the years, I’ve tested more than I care to admit, and honestly? Most didn’t stick.
So instead of giving you another giant list of 37 tools you’ll forget by tomorrow, I’m cutting through the noise.
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Here are the 5 tools I actually use, love, and stand by, every single week.
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How to Format Your First Indie Book. (Without Losing Your Mind)
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So, you’ve finished your book. Massive congratulations! 🎉
That’s no small feat. But now comes a step that can make even the most fearless author shudder: formatting.
Formatting is how your book looks and feels in the reader’s hands. Done well, it’s invisible. Done badly, it screams “amateur,” distracts readers, and can even hurt your reviews.
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The good news? There are excellent tools and options for every budget, and you don’t need to be a tech wizard to get this right.
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10 Top Writing Tips (That We Wish Someone Had Told Us Sooner)
Writing is hard. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or trying to sell you their “15-minute best-selling author” course.
At The Writing Community Chat Show, we’ve spent years talking to authors—bestsellers, debut indies, and the wonderfully chaotic scribblers in between, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s this: no one has it all figured out.
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But there are some golden nuggets that can make your writing life easier (or at least less like pulling your own teeth out with a teaspoon). Here are 10 of our favourites.
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Hobby vs. Business: The Difference That Makes or Breaks Indie Authors.
We’ve interviewed hundreds of authors over the years; New York Times bestsellers, indie legends, and everything in between. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s this:
The writers who treat their writing like a business are the ones who break through.
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That’s not to say you can’t enjoy writing as a hobby (you absolutely can!). But if your goal is to earn an income, land a publishing deal, or build a readership, you need to approach your writing differently.
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