Welcome to Author Level Up. I'm Michael La Ronn, and every week I publish writing craft videos to help you write better, write faster, have fun, and be prolific. I've written over 50 books and counting, and these videos are me documenting what I've learned every step of the way.
This channel is for you if:
- You want to master your writing app - You want to maximize your productivity as a writer - You want to self-publish better books - You want to become a better writer overall
Check out video archive for lots of great videos on how to be a writer, writing tips, productivity secrets, and more. I hope you find these videos helpful. I respond to most comments so if you want me to do a video on something just let me know in the comments.
I released my latest book. The reviews are good but almost everyone says the book needs a better edit. Punctuation, comma's and spelling are some of the problems. Should I use a program or a physical person?? Story is strong, grammar is weak...
one of the best tool with Scrivener is Dialogue Focus... yet you can't use it with windows with "em dashed" dialogue.... and this has been asked and been waited for more than 4 years from the windows developer... it's "planned" but not a priority and it's convenient since they don't comment on future plans... if you have macOS go for it ! Scrivener is a wonderful software !! (truly) but if you have Windows.... you can wait a long long time before having a Scrivener software half efficient as the MacOS one !
Thank you so much for your frank and insightful advice! As a new, unpublished author looking to become a self-published author-to-be in the indie market, the information you shared is priceless.
I am going to bring out a self-published book. My biggest concern is: How do I convince my reader that my book is 100% original, and not AI generated? What if my readers think: "Oh! This guy is a first-time writer. This is his first book, and it is self-published. Anyone can get his book self-published by paying a few bucks. Surely he must have used AI to generate most of the content." In other words, there are no credentials to back me or convince my readers that my book is indeed 100% original. In this age of AI, readers will always doubt the originality of a first-time writer, more so when his book is self-published (i.e. not published by any mainstream publisher).
Wow, I really like this advice. I am impressed you also referred to another writer's insight as you shared your own approach. I felt this was an insightful review of how a writer utilized the advice of another writer. Gonna have to look at the bibliography of titles you have written. Thanks for a great video!
Dear Michael, I just watched your video and subscribed. I am writing my first book which is a Memoir. Sub Genre is self help, and Christian. Can you recommend editors that I can use? I know the red flags, but I would like your professional recommendation. Thank you kindly! Warm regards, Mark
I love your videos, especially as so many of them are recent! Would be wonderful if maybe at some point you could do us a little inspiration vid i.e. for staffers who've been working hard at this self-publishing, following good advice by writing the best possible book with the best possible cover (I have a degree in Design), doing Amazon Ads, but still aren't selling books so feel very discouraged. I suspect an important part of the process is patience! Thank you and best wishes.
I have watched your content many times over the past few years and what strikes me everytime is your authenticity in your message. Be a video being about writing, or in this case tools that you use, I always believe you are truly trying to help us make an informed decision. Thank you, it is appreciated!
Hi Michael! I got a question as a newbie author: Should I have a copyright of my book prior to sending a manuscript to an editor? I’ve been researching and getting mixed responses. Maybe it’s a paranoia, but I just want to make sure. I’m going to be using Reedsy to hire an editor.
I wouldn’t really consider this pantsing…which to me is just sitting down and saying, “I’m going to write a story about x” and then typing away to see what happens….no thought or research to anything other than your ambition to tell a story. There appears to be some planning on the form of research and some contemplation of plot and character before the actual writing happens, so while you may not be writing a beat by beat summary of the entire story from beginning to end, you are doing some legwork ahead of time. I would call it “plotsing”
One important thing that you did not mention using the phone is that, even if it is difficult to type, you can use the voice-to-type feature of the phone and speak and the text starts to appear automatically, obviously you have to go back and correct it if any misunderstanding, but this is more efficient for me and faster than typing, I do agree 100% that formatting adding chapters and other functions is way easier on the computer.
Also there are a host of neat little spin off stories from Star Craft; an old PC Blizzard game with back stories on the two alien races and Terrans (humans)
What if your science fiction encompasses 5 of those genres? Would it be an abomination or interesting with the right contrasting characters and different worlds coming together?
I have been writing for four years and love creating touching stories, but I tend to get stuck on what I just wrote and keep editing it until I feel good about it. This is a huge problem because I don't get much done.
Just found this - beautiful, *perfect* for the dark tea-time of the soul - thank you for advocating we stay true to ourselves :) "It is the work that matters, not the applause that follows." --Robert Falcon Scott
I have only recently discovered the videos on RU-vid to help first-time authors, and have watched dozens recently. Yours is the most clear and articulate.
Definitely helpful information I had not heard elsewhere. Your final point meshes with an earlier one regarding contracts. I'd like a contract which would call for full or at least partial refund should the editor not complete the project at all, or not on schedule.
I understand your points, I agree with them and they are valid, but I wish you would rephrase some statements and drop some fallacies so people that need Book Structure Advice won't just blindly give up on Developmental Editing because "it undermines their confidence". You make awesome videos, but this one need Developmental Editing haha
Thank you for introducing this wonderful software and its RU-vid channel to me. I believe I'm going with this one for novels, but first, do you know if there is one software for novels and screenplays?
Thank you, Michael. I subbed here a while back after listening to your excellent book "Be a Writing Machine" on Audible. Since I am not a writing machine, I am just completing my latest book after several years intermittent work. Thank you for reminding me in this video of several key points of maximizing findability on Amazon.
22:00 This is why you don't write cheating in romance, given or received. It connects too much with the readers realities, making them feel guilty. At least, according to my editor.
I think it’s okay to write cheating in romance if it HAPPENS to the heroine or hero, but the heroine or hero CANNOT be the ones doing the cheating. In other words, it has to be a character who the reader ultimately dislikes or finds despicable. You see this in romance novels all the time. The cheating person is usually a minor character or a villain, like an ex boyfriend.
Thought that I was going with Ulysses but now I’m going with scrivener. I was scared of scrivener Bc all of the features makes it seem overwhelming but I’m going to give it a try. Thanks got a great comparison.
Excellent tutorial! I was debating between this app and a few others but your tutorial made it clear on which one was the best. Would you say that Ulysses is still your favorite app for writing in iPad in 2924?
![Dead Rat Walking: The Chicago Rat Shifter Book 1 [Urban Fantasy - Full Audiobook]](/img/0.gif)