Dean Wesley Smith

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  • Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing,  On Writing,  publishing

    Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing: #7… I Have To Sell Books Quickly

    June 10, 2014 /

    Myths ignore facts. Myths are often beliefs built from fear or past actions. In this series, and in the previous series of Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing, I call the myths that control writers “Sacred Cows.” Writers hold onto myths like lifelines that are keeping them from drowning in a raging river of information. Sometimes sane people in the normal world will follow a publishing myth that makes no sense at all because it has something to do with the publishing business. And they follow the myth without thought. So this new series is an attempt to help the new world of indie publishing with the growing…

    Read More
    dwsmith
  • Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing,  On Writing,  publishing

    Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing… #5: Printers are Distributors

    May 29, 2014 /

    Myths ignore facts. Myths are often beliefs built from fear or past actions. In this series, and in the previous series of Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing, I call the myths that control writers “Sacred Cows.” Writers hold onto myths like lifelines that are keeping them from drowning in a raging river of information. Sometimes sane people in the normal world will follow a publishing myth that makes no sense at all because it has something to do with the publishing business. And they follow the myth without thought. So this new series is an attempt to help the new world of indie publishing with the growing…

    Read More
    dwsmith
  • Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing,  On Writing,  publishing

    Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing… #4: You Need An Agent to Sell Overseas

    May 17, 2014 /

    Myths ignore facts. Myths are often beliefs built from fear or past actions. In this series, and in the previous series of Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing, I call the myths that control writers “Sacred Cows.” Writers hold onto myths like lifelines that are keeping them from drowning in a raging river of information. Sometimes sane people in the normal world will follow a publishing myth that makes no sense at all because it has something to do with the publishing business. And they follow the myth without thought. So this new series is an attempt to help the new world of indie publishing with the growing…

    Read More
    dwsmith
  • Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing,  On Writing,  publishing

    Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing… #3. No One Buys New Writers

    May 8, 2014 /

    Myths ignore facts. Myths are often beliefs built from fear or past actions. In this series, and in the previous series of Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing, I call the myths that control writers “Sacred Cows.” Writers hold onto myths like lifelines that are keeping them from drowning in a raging river of information. Sometimes sane people in the normal world will follow a publishing myth that makes no sense at all because it has something to do with the publishing business. And they follow the myth without thought. So this new series is an attempt to help the new world of indie publishing with the growing…

    Read More
    dwsmith
  • Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing,  On Writing,  publishing

    Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing: #2… Self Publishing is Easy

    March 31, 2014 /

    Myths ignore facts. Myths are often beliefs built from fear or past actions. In this series, and in the previous series of Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing, I call the myths that control writers “Sacred Cows.” Writers hold onto myths like lifelines that are keeping them from drowning in a raging river of information. Sometimes sane people in the normal world will follow a publishing myth that makes no sense at all because it has something to do with the publishing business. And they follow the myth without thought. So this new series is an attempt to help the new world of indie publishing with the growing…

    Read More
    dwsmith
  • Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing,  On Writing,  publishing

    Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing: #1… Can’t Get Indie Books into Bookstores

    March 17, 2014 /

    Myths ignore facts. Myths are beliefs built from fear or past actions. In this series, and in the previous series of Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing, I call the myths that control writers “Sacred Cows.” Writers hold onto myths like lifelines that are keeping them from drowning in a raging river of information. Sometimes sane people in the normal world will follow a publishing myth that makes no sense at all because it has something to do with the publishing business. And they follow the myth without thought. So this new series is an attempt to help the new world of indie publishing with the growing list…

    Read More
    dwsmith
  • Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing,  On Writing,  publishing

    Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing: #9… Writing is Hard

    December 23, 2013 /

    Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing will be out later this winter with an introduction. And then it will be followed by a book called Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing. But first I wanted to put each myth or “Sacred Cow” up here again as I promised. The Myth: “To be Good, Writing Must Be Hard.” —- This myth comes in many forms and has many faces, but let me put it as plainly as I can to start. Myth: To be Good, Fiction Writing Must Be Hard. (And it can’t be fun.) Total hogwash, of course, yet it is stunning how many new…

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    dwsmith
  • Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing,  On Writing,  publishing

    Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing: #8… You Can’t Make a Living with Your Fiction

    December 17, 2013 /

    Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing will be out later this winter with an introduction. And then it will be followed by a book called Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing. But first I wanted to put each myth or “Sacred Cow” up here again as I promised. The Myth: “You Can’t Make a Living With Your Fiction.” (Note: This post introduces the Magic Bakery idea and it caused a lot of stir when it was first posted.) — This myth “You can’t make a living writing fiction” is so clearly hogwash, I shouldn’t have to include it as a chapter in this book. All anyone has…

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    dwsmith
  • Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing,  On Writing,  publishing

    Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing: #7… To Sell You Must Write What Is Hot

    November 19, 2013 /

    Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing will be out later this winter with an introduction. And then it will be followed by a book called Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing. But first I wanted to put each myth or “Sacred Cow” up here again as I promised. The Myth: “To sell either to editors or readers, you must write what is hot.” This myth stops thousands and thousands of book sales and destroys careers. And it’s just stupid, even though the myth seems to have a logical base in publishing. This myth spouts like a bad cold out of the mouths of top professionals…

    Read More
    dwsmith
  • Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing,  On Writing,  publishing

    Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing: #6… Selling to a Big Publisher Insures Quality

    October 11, 2013 /

    Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing will be out later this fall with an introduction. And then it will be followed by a book called Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing. But first I wanted to put each myth or “Sacred Cow” up here again as I promised. — Very few of these chapters will deal with the editor and publisher side of publishing. I know that in fiction publishing there are lots of problems with publishers, and right now picking on them just seems to be like kicking dirt onto a person who is struggling to even figure out how to stay alive. Besides,…

    Read More
    dwsmith
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About the Author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 200 novels and hundreds of short stories.

Running Word Count

REPORTING April 30th, 2025

Total is from January 1st to April 30th…

338,092 words.

April was another horrid month. Barely averaging over Pulp Speed One now. Got behind on even more stories, will be catching them back up over time by writing two stories per day every-so-often. Fingers crossed May will be better.

Links to WMG Workshops

Here is where you can find more information on the basic WMG Workshops. Sign up for all classes and workshops on Teachable.

Teachable (Hit All Courses)

Some special workshops and in-person classes are also held on the WMG Writer Store.

Upcoming Online Regular Workshops

Starting May 6th…

  • Making a Living with Novels (one month only)
  • Writing Into the Dark
  • Teams in Fiction
  • Depth in Writing
  • Killing the Critical Voice
  • Advanced Depth
  • Applied Depth (one month only)

All workshops are on WMG Teachable.

Header Art

Header Art is from my novel Melody Ridge: A Thunder Mountain Novel Novel. The art is copyright by Philcold.

 

To see the entire series of Thunder Mountain novels, go to Thunder Mountain on WMG Publishing Inc.

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