Jo Miles

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Articles

Gamifying Your Writing Goals

Jun 25, 2024 | sfwa.org | Gideon Smith |Jo Miles

By Gideon P. SmithWe all have writing dreams, but they often remain dreams without solid productivity goals to turn them into reality. Unfortunately, as with adhering to the Prime Directive or making the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs, most quickly fail. Many systems have been proposed to help us succeed. SMARTER goals is a helpful project management tool that helps us design measurable goals, and James Clear’s Atomic Habits suggests using routines to make them stick.
From the Archives: Top Tips from the INDIE FILES

Jun 18, 2024 | sfwa.org | Jo Miles

By SFWA Publications CrewIndependent publishing can feel as daunting as it is empowering. Monthly at the SFWA Blog, the INDIE FILES has offered tips and insights to help authors taking this route to share their writing with the world. Whether you’re just starting out or an active indie author who feels they need a little more guidance to boost sales and reader response, there are articles in our archives that might have just what you need to improve the business end of your writing.
The INDIE FILES: Continuous Marketing and Selling Costs

Apr 16, 2024 | sfwa.org | William Tracy |Jo Miles

By William C. TracyEditorial note: This is the second in a two-part series from William C. Tracy. Part 1 focused on publishing and release costs, comparing traditional and indie publishing. Part 2 will present marketing resources, including a Google Sheets template, to help authors calculate their book costs. Welcome back! If you read last month’s article, you know about the costs associated with publishing a book.
Trusting Your Voice as an ESL Writer

Apr 9, 2024 | sfwa.org | Gunnar De Winter |Jo Miles

By Gunnar De WinterMuch has been said and—obviously—written about the writer’s voice. But what if that voice speaks in a language that is not your native one? While a writer’s voice is, by definition, hard to define, it lives and thrives through idiosyncrasy. Your voice as a writer is the collection of verbal quirks, (subconscious) stylistic preferences, and choice of metaphors that shape your words and sentences, a fingerprint written in cursive, as unique as you are.
Using Poetry to Enhance Your Writing

Feb 6, 2024 | sfwa.org | Holly Henderson |Jo Miles

By Holly HendersonPoetry can be one of the shortest forms of fiction, but it has the ability to make an outsized impact on the reader. This is especially true when poetry is combined with fantasy and science fiction—both forms aspire to express common concepts in uncommon ways.
Letter: Smart cities have learned why strong mayors don't work

Jan 12, 2024 | yakimaherald.com | Jo Miles

To the editor — Strong mayor forms of government are well known for scandals and dysfunction. Check out the political histories of Seattle, Spokane, Lynnwood and Wapato over the past 15 years for examples. Union Gap improved significantly after changing to a city manager. Cities that embrace a high quality of life tend to prefer the city manager form of government, like Bellevue, Kirkland, Vancouver, Richland and Walla Walla, to name a few.
The LGBTQ+ Speculative Experience: Part 4

Jan 9, 2024 | sfwa.org | Jo Miles

(Kind of like the Star Trek Experience—lots of diversity that some accept, some fight, and others never see)by Elle IreConcluding MissionOur exploration of the experiences of various members within the LGBTQ+ spec-fic community concludes by examining the professional writing organizations our interviewees have had experience with and how welcoming or inclusive those organizations have been.
How Writing Challenges Made Me a Better Writer

Jan 2, 2024 | sfwa.org | Rachel Craft |Jo Miles

By Rachel CraftI’ve recently gotten hooked on writing “challenges,” multi-round contests that give participants a creative prompt and a tight deadline to write a short story. Sometimes it’s a week, sometimes it’s as little as 24 hours. If that sounds stressful and even somewhat insane, it is—but it’s also incredibly fun, and a valuable learning experience for writers of all stripes.
Sharing the Spotlight: 6 Tips for Collaborative Storytelling

Dec 26, 2023 | sfwa.org | Hildy Silverman |Jo Miles

By Hildy SilvermanSharing story creation and developmental duties with a writing partner might seem daunting, given that we authors tend to invest a certain amount of ego (to put it mildly) into our work. Writing alone, we can be possessive of our characters and staunch in our plans for their adventures.
Cooperative Publishing: Writers Taking Charge of Their Publishing Careers

Dec 5, 2023 | sfwa.org | Diana Francis |Jo Miles

By Diana Pharaoh FrancisWriters can have great success when indie publishing, but many feel underqualified or underprepared to handle all the dimensions of self-publishing. I did. While there are numerous specialists available to help you navigate the journey, they can get expensive, and the process can be overwhelming. Enter another option: A publishing co-op. The purpose of a co-op is for writers to gain control of their careers through mutually supportive independent publishing.