I stopped writing after my father discovered the secrets he forced me to keep laid bare in black and white. I stopped writing for myself, that is. I was assigned the task of writing synopses and treatments for the music videos my father directed, and though it didn’t compare to my diary, narrating someone else’s story was still an escape.
Guidance for your writing journey
Your Advice for Writers resource articles.
Your Advice for Writers resource articles.
Writing a book comes with questions, challenges, and moments of doubt, but you don’t have to navigate them alone. The Advice for Writers resource articles break down the writing, publishing, and promotion process into clear, approachable guidance, so you can focus on telling your story with confidence.
Writing characters who know each other is difficult because the writer has to reveal years of shared history without making the characters explain things they would already know. Old friends, siblings, exes, long-term partners, rivals, and former classmates do not usually sit down and recap their shared past for the reader’s benefit.
There is a particular kind of suffering that comes from carrying an experience no one around you is willing or able to acknowledge. In scientific terms, trauma is a negative incident or experience that overwhelms your brain’s ability to cope. When you’ve had such an experience, you are left in a reality that feels unstable. Trauma can fracture memory, distort time, and convince you that silence is a safe place.
Artificial intelligence is already reshaping publishing, and we believe it is important to be honest about both its possibilities and its harms. At Atmosphere Press, our approach is rooted in a simple principle: AI may be used as a tool, but books should remain human creations.
Substack for authors can be a useful way to publish regularly, build an email audience, and create stronger relationships with readers — but it should not replace your author website, your broader book marketing plan, or the parts of your platform you fully control.
If people are reading your book, why isn’t your author income higher? The answer is that readership and royalties do not always move together. Many readers access books through libraries, used-book sales, subscriptions, personal sharing, book clubs, or digital borrowing — channels that may generate limited royalties, one-time licensing income, or no direct payment to the author at all.
Writing a novella can be an exciting journey for any writer, but it’s often misunderstood as just a “shorter novel.” In reality, a novella has unique requirements and offers distinct advantages. In this guide, we’ll delve into what makes a novella special, explore the specific structure and pacing novellas demand, and provide strategies to help you create a compelling story. Whether you’re exploring novellas as a standalone option or as a way to expand your writing repertoire, this guide offers the practical steps to get started.
Launching your book at the right time of the year can make a big difference in its success. Consider the seasonality of your book, competition, and media coverage when deciding on the best time to launch. And remember, there's no one-size-fits-all answer – what works for one book may not work for another. Ultimately, the most important thing is to have a great book that resonates with readers, no matter when it's launched.
Distribute your ebook through an aggregator that feeds OverDrive — such as Draft2Digital, Smashwords, or PublishDrive — and your print edition through IngramSpark. Libraries then order copies through those catalogs. You can’t upload directly to OverDrive as an individual, which is why an aggregator is required.
Once your publishing project begins, one of the first major stages is editorial. This is where you and your Atmosphere Press editor work together to strengthen the manuscript before it moves into proofreading, design, and production.