Is it possible to make a living as a genre fiction writer? Yes it is.
I've been wrestling with this for a while, and I am aware that the ambiguity in this post is palpable. AI isn't going anywhere, and I find it amazingly useful. I use it to proofread. It finds many more mistakes than spellcheck and grammarcheck on MS Word. I use it for research. I've found Wikipedia increasingly unreliable and on a downward trend, and I can ask Grok detailed, specific questions and…
So I want to preface this by saying I am not a lawyer, none of this is legal advice, my opinions are my own and they are just opinions, and I'm not pointing fingers at any specific people. I write fiction, and I occasionally blog. That is the extent of my expertise. Today was supposed to be the last day to opt out of the Bartz v Anthropic Lawsuit, headed by the Authors Guild. It has been extended…
I began this blog post in February, 2025. It is now January, 2026. Let's go back in time 11 months... Joe from Feb 17, 2025: I woke up this morning to dive into my work in progress and saw that Microsoft 365 had added (without asking me for permission) something called Copilot to MS Word. I researched what it was and had a WTF moment. Apparently Microsoft has enabled a Large Language Model…
Over two years ago I wrote a blog post about AI . Specifically about Large Language Models that have been trained on pirated novels, and the resulting class action lawsuit, Bartz v Anthropic. Since writing that post my views have changed. Part of my argument can be summed up as: If AI isn't stealing verbatim, and ideas cannot be copyrighted, where is the copyright infringement? I still mostly…
Get all of my ebook box sets on Amazon Kindle for 99 cents each, November 23 - 28. THAT'S 33¢ PER BOOK! Almost my entire backlist of fifty-four ebooks--a normal retail value of $250--for less than $18! Or if you have Kindle Unlimited , read them all for free! I'm so excited by this sale that I'm using exclamation marks! As a holiday bonus you can pick up two box sets from my frequent collaborator…
Hey Super Advanced AI, write a novel in the style of thriller author J.A. Konrath. Make sure it uses his main characters Jack Daniels and Harry McGlade, contains two jokes per page, crams in plenty of serial killer suspense, adds lots of dialog that Konrath thinks is clever, and has a surprise twist ending. Also include rutabagas and alcohol in the plot somewhere. (3.8 seconds later...) BOURBON…
Some things don't change. When I got my start in this biz, way back in 2002, writers had to get a lit agent to get a publisher, then they did what their publisher told them to do. That way of doing things was terrible for lots of reasons, including (but not limited to): Agents missing good books. Publishers missing good books. Publishers owning rights forever. Publishers screwing up promotion.…
So let's talk about punctuation. Like all writers, I have preferences. Actually, preferences may not be strong enough a word. I have rules. Things I do, over and over. My rules may be a little unorthodox, but they work for me, and my readers don't seem to mind. I like the Oxford comma. Without it, things can get confusing. For example, consider my favorite blogs: Stomp Out Racism, Children Are…
I'm back in the self-promo game, and I decided to return to ebook marketing with two big ideas. The first is a promo for my 180,000 word thriller duology, WHAT HAPPENED TO LORI . I blogged about it at length. In a nutshell, I wrote a very long thriller with some unique punctuation and tried to pace it like clickbait, and then I split it into two books. The first, I released for free . The second…
Hey! An axe! Let's grind it. Back in 2013 I wrote a post about critics . Four years prior to that, I did another post about critics . It's time to revisit. Like all breakthrough technologies, the Internet has improved life for a lot of people. We now have a fast and easy way to reach other people who share our interests and ideals. We have unrestricted access to information. We can entertain…
Hey Jack. Cool name. My name is Harry McGlade. I heard you've read about me. The guy who writes about all the awesome shit I do, J.A. Konrath , also known as Joe, told me it's your birthday today. Happy birthday! I remember turning 15. Best year of my life. I was on top of the world, and so happy all the time that you couldn't smack the smile off my face with a hockey stick. Joking. Being 15…
I recently wrote what I believe is my best work. It's an epic gearshift thriller duology, and took more than a year to plan and write. Me, the guy who wrote SHAKEN in 9 days, spent twelve whole months carefully crafting a story. I was so jazzed at the final result that I gave it to my agent to sell, thinking I had a big, marketable bestseller with a huge hook and unpredictable twists and…
So you wrote a book. Hooray. Now you should celebrate. Enjoy the moment. I suggest craft beer. My go-to is barrel aged stouts, invented and perfected by Goose Island. But Prairie Artisan, The Bruery, Alesmith, Founders, Stone, Central Waters, Epic, Boulevard, Oskar Blues, and Avery also work well. More suggestions welcome in the comments. Now, after celebrating, you are creating a marketing plan.…
Back when I was on the conference circuit giving speech after speech about how to get published, I'd always preach that the most important thing a writer can do is, "Don't write shit." It's 2019, and I may be ready to take back those words. On axiom that I haven't considered taking back (yet) is that I never do anything that doesn't work on me. That's worth explaining. More than a decade ago, in…
What a long, strange trip it's been. I began this blog over fourteen years ago, in March of 2005. I shared my experience with the traditional publishing world, and in 2009 dipped my toe in the self-publishing world, and then became an evangelist for the self-pub revolution. It's been head-spinning to watch how the publishing climate has changed since I last blogged regularly. Advertising has…
It's really hard to draw conclusions in the self-pub marketing game. After almost ten years of self-publishing on Amazon, I still don't know why some ebooks sell more than others. I've always believed the secret to success is luck. You can improve your luck by writing great books, having great cover art and great book descriptions, writing more great books, and... Advertising? Social media?…
Every December I do a post about resolutions for writers, and every year I add more of them. You can read the compilation or original posts HERE . This year, rather than repost them all, I'm going to reflect on all the resolutions I've written since 2006. This blog began with suggestions of how writers could improve their commercial appeal, find an agent and a publisher, and self-promote. This…
So, I was thinking about enhanced ebooks, and decided to try something that, AFAIK, hasn't ever been done before. I recently got hooked on playing Escape the Room games. Not just cell phone apps, where you solve point-and-click puzzles to advance the story, but board games that challenge you to follow the clues and get away before the time is up, real-life games where you go into a room with a…
Joe sez: This blog originally appeared in 2010. It's extremely prescient about the future of ebooks, but that isn't the reason I'm reposting it. I'm reposting because I got my very first DMCA Takedown notice. Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog is alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others. As a…
Bear with me while I work out some doubts. Last month I published GRANDMA? , a YA comedy horror novel I wrote with my nineteen year old son, Talon. A lot of the writing was rewriting his prose. He's young, he's still learning, and his stuff wasn't up to the standards I've had since I was first published in 2003. As I was rewriting his scenes, I got to thinking. I wrote bunch of novels before…
Those of you who have been paying attention have probably been wondering why I've only done two blog posts in the last six months. It's because there isn't much more I can say about the publishing industry. From 2005 until 2009, my blog was all about self-promotion, landing an agent and a publishing deal, and working with publishers to make your book a success. From 2009 until 2016, my blog was…
Randall just wanted to have a fun summer vacation with his family, visiting Grandma at her cabin on a lake in the Wisconsin Northwoods. Then everything went horribly wrong. Join fifteen-year-old Randall, and his younger brother Josh, as they fight for their lives on the eve of an elderly undead apocalypse. GRANDMA? - The Complete Novel She won't bake you cookies... Forget everything you've ever…
Every December I do a post about resolutions for writers, and every year I add more of them. They've changed a lot; after all, when I began this, there was no Amazon Kindle, self-publishing was a bad idea, and this blog was for writers eager to find agents and land deals with the Big 6. But a lot of the advice from a decade ago still holds true, so take these resolutions for what they're worth to…
A few months ago I wrote a blog post about preorders . I experimented with three preorder titles, curious as to how they'd perform. Here are some of the topics I addressed back then, and my results. 1. Deadlines. I wanted to light a fire under my ass and get some work done. On one hand, why invite extra stress into your life? On the other, consider what motivates you. Joe sez: Well, the fire was…
LAST CALL by JA Konrath Now Available My tenth (and last?) Jack Daniels thriller, LAST CALL, is available today in ebook and paper . Fans have been waiting over two years for this conclusion to the Jack Daniels/Luther Kite story. It was a lot of fun to write, and it ties up all of the loose ends from STIRRED and SERIAL KILLERS UNCUT. RUM RUNNER, the ninth Jack Daniels mystery, is now available as…