Why Has Romantasy Become the Hottest Genre?
By: Ginger | Posted on November 28, 2025
Fantasy might be full of dragons, quests, and enchanted kingdoms, but the hottest thing in publishing right now is something far more specific. Romantasy has exploded into a global phenomenon, reshaping bestseller lists, driving profits, and turning unknown authors into household names. If you have been following this trend and wondering whether it is worth paying attention to, the numbers alone might surprise you. This week, Ginger breaks down why this fusion of magic and romance has taken over the market and why readers cannot seem to get enough of it. He takes us through who is driving the demand, which tropes dominate the genre, how social media has supercharged its rise, and the strategic choices that help authors stand out in an increasingly crowded space. From worldbuilding and character chemistry to marketing, pricing, and platform building, this article explores the opportunities and challenges romantasy offers so you can decide… Read More >
Should You Write Seasonal Fiction?
By: Ginger | Posted on November 21, 2025
Every year, Halloween romances surge, Christmas novels take over the charts, and familiar holiday titles rise from the dead to dominate sales again during their season. If you’re an author watching this from the sidelines, it’s natural to wonder whether jumping into the seasonal market could boost your own visibility and income. There are real opportunities in publishing holiday-themed books, but the picture is far more complicated than many writers expect. On the pro side, you have predictable buying patterns, genre flexibility, and the potential for annual evergreen sales. On the con side, you face narrow sales windows, intense competition, and the financial risks that come with relying on a single holiday title. In today’s blog, Ginger breaks down both the advantages and the challenges of seasonal fiction, then shares practical strategies to help authors who want to explore holiday releases do so in a balanced and sustainable way. It’s… Read More >
Tips for Writing Time Travel into Your Novels
By: Ginger | Posted on November 7, 2025
Few story devices have captivated readers and writers quite like time travel. It’s a concept that lets authors rewrite history, explore alternate futures, and question the very nature of fate and consequence. But whether you’re writing sci-fi, romance, or historical adventure, there are certain “rules” of time travel that need to be defined to keep your story from crossing the line between “believably unbelievable” and simply “unbelievable.” In today’s article, Ginger is helping us master the art of writing time travel by exploring the core models most often used in books and movies and how they can be adapted for your own stories in consistent, engaging ways. You can play with paradoxes, experiment with immutable, mutable, or branching timelines, or use time itself as a lens for character growth and emotional depth. When used well, time travel fiction can transform any story, regardless of genre, into something unforgettable. In a… Read More >
Tips for Writing the Perfect Book Blurb
By: Ginger | Posted on October 24, 2025
For many authors, writing a book blurb feels harder than writing the book itself. Condensing 60,000 words into just a few paragraphs that actually sell the story is one of the toughest challenges in self-publishing. That’s because a blurb isn’t just a summary, it’s sales copy. It has to tease, entice, and convince a distracted shopper to click the buy button. That’s why this week, Ginger is breaking down exactly how to turn your book description from forgettable to irresistible. From mastering brevity and shaping your blurb like a miniature story arc to choosing power words that spark emotion and curiosity, Ginger’s process is designed to create blurbs that convert. You’ll learn how to research your genre’s conventions, apply proven frameworks, and even test your copy for performance. By combining instinct with strategy, you can turn your book’s description into your most persuasive marketing tool. Over the years, I’ve worked… Read More >
Use Retconning to Fix Your Series Without Losing Readers
By: Ginger | Posted on October 10, 2025
Every author dreams of crafting a flawless, seamless series, but reality often has other plans. When you’re deep into a long-running story, inconsistencies happen: forgotten side characters, contradictory timelines, or plot twists that don’t age well with later books. That’s where retconning comes in. Rather than rewriting history, a smart retcon lets you reshape mistakes into meaningful story arcs that feel intentional and even strengthen your worldbuilding. In today’s blog, Ginger explores how authors can use retconning to repair, refresh, and even reinvent their series while keeping readers engaged. Drawing from pop culture, literature, and his own experience, he shows how to fix past errors gracefully, turn inconsistencies into new layers of intrigue, and use the flexibility of self-publishing to your advantage. If you’ve ever looked back at an early book and wished you could tweak the past without breaking the present, this article is for you. In the world… Read More >
Should Self-Published Authors Trust AI to Edit Their Manuscript?
By: Ginger | Posted on October 3, 2025
For many authors, the question of whether to use AI to edit their manuscripts goes beyond convenience or cost and touches on bigger, more ethical concerns. Does leaning on AI undermine the craft of writing? Does it take work away from human editors who depend on those jobs? And can a tool built on machine learning ever be trusted with something as personal as your story? If you’ve wrestled with these anxieties, you’re not alone. This debate isn’t just technical, it’s deeply tied to the values and identity of the author community. Still, it’s easy to see why the question keeps coming up. Editing is one of the most time-consuming and expensive parts of publishing, and AI tools promise quick, affordable help with everything from proofreading to stylistic polish. Yet even if they prove useful, they aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution. That’s why Ginger is breaking it all down in today’s… Read More >
Lessons from Ironheart: Why Flawed Characters Create the Strongest Stories
By: Ginger | Posted on September 26, 2025
When it comes to storytelling, nothing hooks readers faster than a character who feels real. And despite being buried under a pile of negative pre-release hype, Marvel’s Ironheart proves this point beautifully. Instead of presenting a flawless heroine, the series leans into their arrogance, mistakes, and bad decisions, letting those flaws drive the story. The result is a character arc that’s engaging, relatable, and far more powerful than the “perfect heroine” trope we too often see. For self-published authors, this a crucial reminder that readers prefer growth over perfection. In today’s blog, Ginger explores how the writers behind the Ironheart show achieved this, and how we can add these same elements to heroes and heroines of our own. Because giving your characters space to be messy and fail is the single best way to create stories that connect with your audience. I really enjoy the Marvel superhero movies and films,… Read More >
Defending the Sweet Escapism of Gendered Fiction
By: Ginger | Posted on September 12, 2025
Fiction has always been a place where readers escape into exaggerated realities, whether it is the brooding alpha male of a steamy romance or the suave secret agent bedding beautiful women between missions. Yet when it comes to gendered writing, the criticism is far from equal. Male authors are often mocked for objectifying descriptions, while female authors are rarely called out for creating impossibly perfect heroes with toxic traits framed as desirable. This week, Ginger makes the case that both sides are guilty of indulging in fantasy, and that is exactly the point. These books thrive not because they are trying to reflect everyday life, but to give readers the thrill of sweet escapism. So instead of tearing down gendered fiction, he argues that we should recognize it for what it is and celebrate the joy it brings to millions of readers. In last week’s article, I dove into the… Read More >
Why I hate the “Describe Yourself Like a Male Author Would” Meme
By: Ginger | Posted on September 5, 2025
In the age of viral trends and overnight sensations, few memes have stuck around in the author community quite like “Describe Yourself Like a Male Author Would.” What began as a playful jab at clunky, stereotype-filled female character descriptions has become a recurring joke that resurfaces year after year. While often celebrated for its humor and its sharp critique of certain writing habits, it has also drawn criticism for lumping male authors together in an unflattering way. For writers in the competitive world of self-publishing, the real question is whether this meme encourages better storytelling or simply takes easy shots at a particular group. In today’s blog, Ginger explores the history of the meme, why it resonates so strongly, and both the valid points behind the humor and the double standards it may reinforce. From his own cringeworthy early writing that made him wince in recognition to examples where male… Read More >
How “First Light” Conquered the James Bond Storytelling Challenge
By: Ginger | Posted on August 15, 2025
For any writer who has ever wrestled with reinventing a beloved character or long-running franchise, the upcoming James Bond video game First Light offers a fascinating case study in how to make it work. Video game adaptations face many of the same storytelling challenges as authors do when breathing new life into a well-worn icon, including how to create something fresh without alienating longtime fans. As Ginger explains in this week’s blog, the developers avoided leaning too heavily on nostalgia or recycled plots, instead crafting a brand-new Bond origin story that both honors the character’s roots and appeals to a new generation. It’s a reminder that with the right balance of originality and respect for what came before, creators can successfully reimagine any established world or character for modern audiences. A little while back, I wrote an article about the challenge authors would face writing a new James Bond novel… Read More >
