Old horror writer back from the dead…
In my last post I shared some brutal income data relevant to us indie writers that was eye opening, to say the least. More like a poke in the vitreous humor! Well, today I want to dig deeper into something that might sound even more discouraging at first: your first book is almost certainly going … Read more
So there I was last week, deep in research for this crazy bestseller quest I’ve gotten myself into at 77, when I stumbled across some indie author income numbers that made me put down my coffee and stare at the screen for a good five minutes. Not because the numbers were encouraging–hell no. Because they … Read more
So there I was yesterday, deep in the weeds of website optimization for CasaDay Press, when I stumbled across an Amazon royalty calculator that made me stop and think. Not about header images or color schemes this time–I’ve had enough WordPress wrestling matches for one week–but about something more fundamental: the math behind this whole … Read more
A Cautionary Tale of Square Pegs and Round Holes So there I was this morning, feeling pretty damn pleased with myself. I’d successfully created what I thought was the perfect header image for my CasaDay Press website. Beautiful literary archaeology theme, elegant typography, the works. ChatGPT had knocked it out of the park on the … Read more
Last Tuesday night, deep into working on our latest Lost Pages project about romance writers, I found myself asking my AI buddy Claude something I’d never asked before. We’d just finished crafting testimonies from literary figures like Sappho and Keats about love’s authentic power versus its commercialization, and I was struck by how well my … Read more
A Writer’s Journey Look, I’ll be honest with you. Cover design used to terrify me more than a blank page on deadline day. But not anymore. You see, with help from my AI buddy Claude, I’ve learned how to use AI for Kindle cover design. For years, because I didn’t have the money, I created … Read more
How an old widower and an AI created something neither could have made alone So here’s something I never thought I’d be writing about: working with artificial intelligence to finish the most important book of my life. I know, I know. Five years ago, if someone had told me I’d be collaborating with an AI … Read more
Posted June 25, 2025 | The Bestseller Quest Most people think a 77-year-old chasing bestseller status is either inspiring or completely delusional. I’m betting it’s both–and that’s exactly why it might work. See, here’s the thing about conventional wisdom: it’s usually neither conventional nor particularly wise. It’s just what most folks believe because, well, most … Read more
Published: [Date] | Chet’s Corner So here’s a question for you: What do you get when a 77-year-old thriller writer teams up with artificial intelligence to solve one of America’s greatest literary mysteries? The October Testimonies: Being the Final Narratives of Edgar Allan Poe. And I’ll be darned if it isn’t the most authentic piece … Read more