Related to my previous question. The first iteration of my novel had chapters start with quotes from songs and the lyricist's name attributed the next line down. What are the mechanics of that? Do I seek permission from the source or is an attribution enough? I removed them until I found out the legality of it.

Curious if anyone else has wrestled with this: I came from a B2B marketing background, so I assumed book marketing would feel somewhat familiar. Instead, I’ve found author marketing to be surprisingly expensive, fragmented, and often exhausting. At times, it feels like writers can spend more energy trying to become marketers, platform builders, video creators, ad managers, SEO specialists, and social media personalities than actually writing books. Some days I honestly think: “What if I just focused on writing better books instead?” 😄 I’d love to hear how others are balancing the business side with the creative side without burning themselves out.

Tonight I cut over 10,000 words from my manuscript and moved a gigantic cluster of scenes to their proper place. Though I'll be editing what I moved to just about smithereens, I feel like this has been a glorious end to my day.

This space is dedicated to the business side of being an author: marketing, branding, platform building, email lists, launches, revenue streams, productivity, systems, long-term growth, and navigating the realities of running a sustainable author career. Writing the book is only part of the journey. Building a professional author business requires strategy, consistency, and smart decision-making. This board is here to support those conversations. Use this space to: ✔ Ask marketing and business questions ✔ Discuss branding and audience growth ✔ Share wins, launches, and lessons learned ✔ Troubleshoot platform and business challenges ✔ Learn new strategies and tools ✔ Connect with authors building intentional careers To get started, introduce yourself and tell us: 1. What is your biggest author business goal right now? 2. What platform or marketing area are you currently focused on? 3. What business challenge are you hoping to solve this year? We’re glad you’re here. Let’s build stronger author businesses together.

I'm Troy Lambert, the Plot Dude. This space is really exciting to me, because there is nothing I like more than talking about craft and story. It's really the foundation of your author business. You need a good story before you can do anything else, and that means finishing your draft. So that's what we're all about here. Feel free to chat, peer to peer, ask questions, or even just commiserate about the writing life. It's your chance to connect with like minded authors, editors, and other members of the community for advice or just a friend to talk to. To get started, feel free to introduce yourself, and please, tell us about your pets. That's really what's important here.