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Category Archives: How to

“How do you get inspired to write?” 3 Straightforward Ways to get Inspired

24 Friday Apr 2020

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in How to, Self-Publishing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

how to write, Inspiration, writing tips, Writing Tricks


IMG_2748

Obligatory photo of my new wireless mouse!

Hi readers! Today I want to take a look at the toughest question of all – “How do you get inspired to write?”

Don’t forget to try and win a copy of both of my prequel novellas – The Last Gladiator and Roma Aeronautica!

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So You Want to Homebrew a D&D Campaign – Part 2 – Expand the Background

15 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in Designing a Story, Dungeons & Dragons, How to, Self-Publishing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Background, D&D, Dungeons and Dragons, World Building


DM Daniel here, and it is time to expand your background building. Coming at this from a novelist perspective, there’s so much we can do here! So let’s take a deep dive into the idea of world building – country and culture edition. Click beyond the line to learn more.

Rough Draft of Map

Hey look, a homemade map!

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So you want to Homebrew a D&D Campaign – Part 1 – Game Pitch & Background

09 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in Designing a Story, Dungeons & Dragons, How to

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Dungeons and Dragons, World Building


Hi all,

DM Daniel here, wanting to wish you all a very happy new year. With this new year comes new ideas! Such as creating this homebrew D&D Campaign setting. This will be my first Homebrew campaign (also my first non-starter set one) and I don’t want to give away too many bonus details in case my players read this (You know who you are!) So let’s get to it – background time!

The pitch I gave my players was as follows.

You’re soldiers in the royal army. While defending the capital city from an overwhelming attack, you are drafted by your commanding officer, the leader of the Royal Guards, to lead an escort out of the city. Your traveling companion – none other than the six year old heir of Telin. Your mission – get the prince to the southern city of Kurlinburg – no matter the cost.

So there’s the pitch! Read below the line for some more spoilers and background information. This is only part one, and I know that some DMs think more or less information is appropriate for their PCs. I’m not inclined to give them all this information, but writing it out helps me spin my ideas and gets the creative juices flowing. Click the Read More to see the actual background information.

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How To Write Ten Thousand Words in a Weekend

22 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in How to, Self-Publishing, Steam Empire Chronicles

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

how to, Writer Help, writer tips


Salve!

Julius Brutus Caesar

If he had a watch, he’d be making sure to stay on schedule

I’ve been super busy this weekend because, don’t you know, Laurel Emperor is due to the editor in less than a month! Eek!

So how did I do it?

Simply put – patience, focus, an outline and nourishment.

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How to End Your Novel or Series

20 Saturday Jan 2018

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in Designing a Story, How to, Self-Publishing, Steam Empire Chronicles, SteamLit

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Tags

how to, Story arc, Story ending, writer tips, Writers Resources


Salve!

So I’m busy writing the end of the Steam Empire Chronicles, and it hit me.

I’m writing the end. Gasp! It’s the END of the story I’ve spent the last six years writing. EEK! What to do! I wrote out several possible endings, even as far back as book two, but I’ve compiled this blog post to help other people who may be struggling with how to end their own novel or series. As far as I see it, there are several standard ways to end a story. What matters is the twist.

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How To – Using Google Documents to Plan Your Novel

07 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in Designing a Story, How to, Laurel Emperor, NaNoWriMo2017, Self-Publishing

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Tags

Author resources, Google, how to, outline, writing


Hi everyone!

I briefly wanted to tell you about how I’ve been planning my last two novels. Ever since I started writing, I’ve been planning my novels out. Given the fact that I have to juggle story lines that evolve over several books, plus characters and technologies that don’t exist, one would except the need to have an outline or story map.

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How to Trim Costs for a Self-Published Author

06 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in How to, Self-Publishing

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Tags

blogging, Books, how to, Self publishing, self-publishing


Hi everyone,

Finally, back into the swing of things. I promised myself I’d get going by March. Well, it’s March! My post today isn’t too long, but it focuses on one of the biggest challenges facing a new author – one without prior book sales or a person who (like me) sees bumps from new books but not earth shattering sales numbers.

So how do you budget for a new book? If you’ve published books previously, you’ll already have your guidelines. For me, an average ‘budget’ for a new book looks something like this…

Editing ~$2000

Formatting/Cover Art/Illustrations ~$750*

Publishing/Proofreading/Copyright Fees, etc ~$100

Advertisements, Giveaways, Shipping ~$150

So as you can see, nearly $3,000. Definitely a long term haul. Obviously, your experiences may vary based on editor, cover art/illustrators (or lack thereof), and how much advertisements/giveaways, etc that you do.

Editing – Your costs for editing can vary based on how much of a book you have, and how good of a writer you are. Most editors will be nice, and lower their price slightly (in my experience) the better the initial writing is. The less work they have to do, the faster they can do it in, and the more jobs they can complete, so they’re happy too.

I wouldn’t suggest skimping on editing, but you could easily save yourself some money through extensive use of beta-readers and friends/family who have skills (Also, it helps to bake brownies).

Formatting/Cover Art/Illustrations – All this can easily be trimmed in most aspects. Formatting – you can learn this, especially considering that most of the big companies use only a handful of formats – The catch is if you get it wrong, your work will look super unprofessional.

Cover Art – Shop around! You can check out a variety of people and places – look up some books whose covers your like and email the authors to ask where they got theirs done. Unless you’re a really good artist, I recommend you not do them yourself – Online, people really DO judge a book by it’s cover.

Illustrations/Maps – Perhaps the easiest one – If you don’t need them, you don’t have to pay for them!

Advertisements – Here, your own readers and social media accounts can really help you. Although, it can be hard to cut through the chaff and find the perfect groove. Networking, like this recent Facebook group I’ve joined, can really help here. You don’t have to pay for readers/likes, etc. I’ve already shared how I felt Facebook advertising, but both Amazon, Google, Goodreads, and others have more targeted (and, personally speaking, more useful) advertisement abilities).

Publishing Fees – Especially if you’re publishing a print book, you can’t really get around theses. But be smart – make sure to check the physical proof copies before buying a big order, otherwise you could be out some serious money for books with errors that are glaring! Also, there’s something to be said for getting that sweet, sweet Copyright letter from the Library of Congress!

Hope that helps everyone! Whew – this post turned out to be longer than I thought! Let me know – what other ways do you have to trim costs?

Brass Legionnaire Ship Diagrams

Tactical Layout of the H.M.A.S. Scioparto

 

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How to Publish an eBook!

23 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in How to, Self-Publishing, Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing, Thoughts

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

eBook, how to, publish, self-published, selfpub


 

Salve!

Here’s a quick and dirty set of directions explaining how to Publish an ebook! Had to write this up for a fellow author interested in self-publishing, so here goes for you, hope you enjoy. Let me know if I left anything out!

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How to keep your Writing Mojo – 2016 Edition!

08 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in How to, NaNoWriMo2016, Novellas, Self-Publishing, Steel Praetorian

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

howto, novellas, Steel Praetorian, writing


Salve Writers! Today I want to talk about how I keep my Writing Mojo (or whatever else you want to call it!). Hopefully my fellow writers (and readers) will find this interesting!

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Day 19 – How to Pick a Cover Artist

19 Saturday Nov 2016

Posted by Daniel Ottalini in Cover Art, How to, Self-Publishing, Steel Praetorian

≈ Leave a comment


Hi Everyone,

Since I’m busy being super excited about the Cover Art I just revealed for Steel Praetorian, I thought I’d talk about how I picked my cover artist/illustrators. If you haven’t seen the cover art, check here or on Facebook to see it! This is a great article for those NaNoWriMo writers who are on track to finish and publish their novel!

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