The Creative Academy Guides for Writers

The Creative Academy Guides for Writers were written to stand the test of time and become go-to resources on your Keeper Shelf. Whether you’re trying to finish your scrappy rough draft, leveling up your writing craft or planning to take over the indie publishing world, we’ve got the books to help you succeed. 

Build Better Characters: The psychology of backstory & how to use it in your writing to hook readers by Eileen Cook

Compelling characters are what keeps readers turning pages and buying books — from fantasies to mysteries to the great literary novel. But how to do you create characters that feel three dimensional and real on the page? Counsellor and author Eileen Cook shares common psychological techniques to help you build your characters and take your story to the next level.

Covering understanding your character’s backstory and how it impacts their choices in your book by doing a structured counselling interview, personality structure (Myers Briggs and Emotional Intelligence) and how that may lead to conflict, and understand dissecting the Stages of Change to see how your character moves through them .

Filled with practical tips, examples and prompts this is a craft book you will return to over and over.

Build Better Settings: How to use setting to show character arc in your fiction by Eileen Cook and Crystal Hunt 

Our mission with this book is to accomplish just one thing: to change the way you view (and use) setting as a tool in your storytelling.

Many authors create flat, one-dimensional settings that fail to engage readers, or else they bury the reader under details that don’t add depth and meaning to the story they’re trying to tell. Some create worlds that are beautifully fleshed out but aren’t anchored to the characters or aren’t an integral part of the plot.

You’re not going to be one of those authors.

Build Better Settings will take you on a journey that will:

• Clear out old attitudes, expand your idea of what setting can do, and ensure that you understand what we mean by character arc.
• Introduce you to the tools we see as the fundamentals of building a meaningful setting including: different levels of setting, your character’s backstory, objects and symbols, and secondary characters.
• Show you how to build your setting to challenge your character, boost conflict and build story tension.
• Reflect the changes occurring within your character’s world so that every detail of your setting adds layers of meaning to your story in a way that readers can see and feel.

If you’re ready to forever change how you view and use setting in your writing, click that buy button now and take the next step in your storyteller’s journey.

Create Story Conflict: How to increase tension in your writing & keep readers turning pages by Eileen Cook

Conflict is essential to story—regardless of genre. The friction between what a character wants and the lengths they will go to reach that goal is what pulls readers through your book.

Great conflict is what leaves readers cheering (or crying) at the end of a story.

Using humour and her deep knowledge of human behaviour, counsellor and award-winning author Eileen Cook will guide you through the causes of conflict, the differences between internal and external conflict, and show you how conflict resolution techniques can be turned upside down to ramp up the tension in your book.

Filled with practical tips, examples and prompts, this is a craft book you’ll keep on your shelf to use again and again.

Create with Co-Authors: How to use effective collaboration to level up your writing career by Donna Barker, Crystal Hunt and Eileen Cook

Many authors consider joining forces with other writers to multiply their creative might. Are you:

• Wondering what the different co-author models are and how they fit your writing and publishing goals?
• Curious about the benefits and challenges of co-authoring?
• Confused about what working agreements will protect your interests?
• Wanting to keep conflict between the book pages and not between you and your co-authors?

We can help.

Three career authors, with experience in the different models of co-authoring, coach you through all the areas you should consider whether you are following a traditional, indie or hybrid publishing path. From the creative challenges of co-authoring, to benefits of a shared marketing push—learn how to unlock the potential of powerful collaborative relationships.

Whether you are developing a book or a series, Create With Co-Authors gives you the tools and step-by-step guidance you need to form healthy co-author relationships. Prompts and exercises will help you take practical steps to turn that dream into shared products that you can research, write and promote—while growing your catalogue and widening your reach.

Full Time Author: How to build, grow and maintain a successful writing career that you love by Eileen Cook and Crystal Hunt

How many people have told you that your dream of being a full-time writer is impossible? They’re wrong.

Whether you are just getting started or are an experienced author, we’re here to help you overcome the obstacles in your path—and make your publishing dreams a reality.

Unsure how to turn your published book(s) into an actual career?

Been knocked around by the publishing industry and feeling disheartened?

Overwhelmed by all the options and not sure what to do next to level up?

Two career authors—one traditional and one indie—with over 50 published books and 30 years of experience between them, team up to provide you with the complete set of puzzle pieces so you can craft your ideal author life.

If you are looking for a quick fix or magic button this isn’t the book for you. Building a career strong enough to last a lifetime won’t happen overnight.

But if you’re ready to build yourself a personalized roadmap to making enough money from your writing to pay your bills, then you’re in the right place. This book gives you the tools and information you need to clarify your dream and create practical steps to turn that dream into a career that you can build, grow and maintain over time—without sacrificing your health, relationships or happiness along the way.

Strategic Series Author: Plan, write and publish a series to maximize readership & income by Crystal Hunt

Writing series can be a great way to level up your author career, create a more stable writing income, and create a devoted fanbase. It’s also challenging, and can be overwhelming if you’re not prepared. Series authors need to consider many things that standalone title authors don’t have to worry about. And everything is exponentially more complex once you’re tackling more than one book! You might be wondering:

• What kind of series should I write?
• Which details do I need to keep track of?
• How much advance planning should I do?
• Is publishing strategy different for a series vs standalone titles?
• How can I get the most bang for my buck in marketing and promotion?

Experienced series author Crystal Hunt will help you answer all these questions and more with this combination strategy manual and exercises that will get you applying what you’ve learned to your own series project.

Whether you’re a seasoned series author, or just starting to explore your options and thinking a series might be a good next step for you, this book can help you write and publish your series smarter from ideas through publication and promotion!

Out of Print

Scrappy Rough Draft: Use science to strategically motivate yourself & finish writing your book by Donna Barker

Often, the main difference between a work-in-progress and a finished manuscript is the tenacity of the writer. You can see your idea play out inside your head in beautifully composed and communicated scenes. Then you start to write, but the words feel clunky. Your critical inner voice tells you your writing is not as good as it should be. You start to self-sabotage. You convince yourself that you don’t have enough time to sit down and do the work anyway. And your dream of writing this book remains as just a beautiful idea.

With practical and proven exercises, author and coach Donna Barker connects behavioural science to the habits and mindsets that successful authors use to finish their first, second, and final drafts.

Whether you’re writing your first book or your fiftieth, Scrappy Rough Draft has the tools you need to build self-confidence, develop a writing habit that works for you, and identify the kinds of people you need in your writing community to help you get your story out of your head and onto the page.