So an old marketing adage, that has proven to be true over and over, is that incentives govern behavior. Every. Single. Time. This applies to individuals, groups, companies, governments, and more. Whether we think about it or not, this is true. Ultimately why we do things answers, "What's in it for me?" Rand Fishkin, friend and a great businessperson, says this: "to act ethically, the best things to do is set up your life, your company, and your career so there is as little incentive as possible to act unethically." Because, odds are, if there is nothing in it for you, you won't do it. For writers, this applies to two things: your writing, and how you market to and reach readers. The first is simple: if you are not writing, the reason is usually because you have not set yourself up with the right incentives to do so. Alternatively, you have a greater incentive NOT to write than to write. The reason often relates to fear. Writing is scary, you might fail. You don't want to fail, so you don't sit down and write. The opposite incentive works, but is harder to hang on to: you could be wildly successful as well. But there are other reasons to write. You just need the one that works best for you while defeating or simply facing your fears. This is the reason your "why" is so important. When you are reaching readers, you must give them a reason to do things like buy directly from your website rather than going to Amazon, and that must go beyond price. You must provide them with incentives, and often those incentives involve connecting with you. You must make that connection matter to them, and that must be because it matters to you. Or you can take other approaches, but you must have an incentive beyond monetary returns to publish your work, to market it, and to interact with your readers and make those connections. Because if you don't have an incentive, a why, you won't do it, no matter how many habits you form or how hard you try to push yourself to do it. Because incentives determine our behavior. Every. Single. Time.

This trip was epic and I did "research," did literary s#!t, and met with a client to get her books. Two thousand miles on a motorcycle from the Gold Gate Bridge, Down the PCH, and through Yosemite - I'm tired, but it was so worth it.

So over on Substack (you find and follow me without a link), I've been talking about author voice. Here's a question I want you to consider. If someone ran the last five pages you wrote through an AI detector, what would it say? Not because AI detectors are reliable. They're not. But because the question reveals something important. If your answer is "I'd be nervous about that" — why? What is it about your prose that might read as machine-generated? Is it the sentence variety? The absence of specific personal detail? The way your dialogue sounds like everyone and no one? The way every metaphor is just competent enough? If your answer is "I'd be fine" — what makes you confident? Can you actually articulate what makes your prose distinctly yours? Do your sentences have a rhythm? Does your imagery follow a logic that belongs to your particular imagination? Do your characters carry a worldview that only you could have given them? I'm not asking to scare you. I'm asking because voice is the only thing that AI cannot replicate from scratch. It can imitate and produce statistically likely prose. But it cannot be you, because being you requires living your specific weird irreplaceable life and then having the courage to let it bleed onto the page. So: what bleeds onto your pages?

This weekend I have some covers to work on and prep for the launch of a book with Alibi!! What’s everyone else working on or planning for the weekend?

Today is a day of remembering those who gave all so we could have the freedom we have in this country, and no matter what you think about the way things are going politically right now (did I mention political posts are pretty much a no-go here too? No? Consider it mentioned) those in the military follow orders, even if it means great sacrifice. Those of us who served did not always agree with what we were told to do. Those who died in the service of this country didn't either. My dad didn't. My great grandfather didn't. My son is in the Navy. He doesn't. But we followed orders anyway, and many still do. Because today is a day of remembering, maybe it's time to look at your character in your current WIP. Have they lost someone who matters to them? Who do they remember with love and fondness? Who do they wish they could forget? Make those things a part of your story, and watch the power unlocked in your characters.