Marketing is a strange word for something that mostly feels like guessing. I still haven’t figured it out. But, even before that comes the book cover. Covers are their own particular kind of stress. They aren’t there just to get the book noticed, but to get the book noticed by the right people. Your target audience.

If you get it wrong, the book doesn’t just sit there—it sort of disappears in plain sight.

When I wrote my first novel, Not Famous, I didn’t have the money to hire anyone who knew what they were doing. So I did what a lot of people do when they’re trying to look competent on a budget: I improvised with inexpensive silhouette art, free fonts, and a simple color palette.

The Originals (2019 - 2021)

It wasn’t terrible. It worked well enough for the genre I was writing in, which is its own kind of relief and insult at once. I wanted to appeal to male and female readers, and I thought these covers struck a good balance. However, when I was working on finishing my third novel, I felt a refresh was needed. Mostly, it was the font that bothered me. It felt too cartoony. So, I spent a ridiculous amount of time finding a font that would work.

The First Refresh (2021)

As you can see, the first refresh wasn’t just a font change.

I put more emphasis on the title and reduced the size of the silhouettes. This was very satisfying, like it took some emphasis away from the fact I was using cheap stock art.

The covers were superior, in my opinion, but they didn’t boost sales significantly. Why not? The only thing I could figure out was that the covers didn’t speak to the genre well enough.

The Expensive Fix (2023)

Eventually, I convinced myself I had to make a serious investment and paid for a full redesign to attract the readers I wanted. I decided to hire an illustrator. I researched for a while, trying to find someone who could do what I wanted within my budget. Eventually, I did, and I was excited about the prospect.

How’d they come out? Honestly, I thought they were good, but I wasn’t completely pleased. But I was committed to seeing whether they would do what I hoped and expected.

Unfortunately, the professionally illustrated covers proved an expensive failure.

Trying Again, and Again (2024)

Within a year, I decided to return to my original instinct. Simpler covers, character-focused. Illustrated people on simple, solid backgrounds. No more silhouettes, but full-color characters. A kind of middle ground between “professional publishing house” and “someone figuring it out in real time.”

I hired someone on Fiverr for that phase, and the results were… fine. I thought simple was better, even if the characters weren’t quite aligned with what I saw in my head.

The problem with these covers was that the character felt a little less refined. Still, I felt it was progress.

At some point recently, I hit a wall with trying to get the motivation to start my fifth novel. Part of it concerns personal issues that arose when my fourth novel, Not Prepared, was released. But while I lack the motivation to write something new, I thought revisiting my four existing novels was a good way to get back into things.

The New Covers (2026)

A year and a half later, after barely even thinking about my books, writing, or anything, I decided I needed a refresh. My goal was twofold: to get covers I really loved and to try to rekindle my desire to write.

In a way, the new covers don’t look like a huge leap from the previous iteration. Basically, new illustrated characters to replace the old ones. It may seem like a subtle change, but for me, they were a huge leap.

Compositionally, Not Famous and Not Awkward are pretty much the same. But, I decided that having Jake and Kaylee dancing on the cover Not Dressed wasn’t working. So I had to rethink the concept entirely.

Originally, the cover spoke directly to the plot and title: Jake’s girlfriend models nude, and he meets Kaylee at a ballroom-dancing class. I thought about different situations that would work featuring just Jake and Kaylee, but none really tied into the title. I finally came up with the idea of Kaylee wrapped in a geeky bedsheet. And the result was perfect.

The new take on Not Prepared was simpler. A simple composition featuring the three principal characters. Initially, I thought they should be sitting on a couch, just lounging and watching TV… but I didn’t like the idea of introducing such a large prop on the cover, which would also limit how I could use the characters in promotional graphics. So having Neil, Chloe, and Jenna standing together worked nicely.

Once I got the final illustrations back, I plopped them into the previous cover template, and the result was, for me, magical.

There’s a strange moment that happens when something finally starts to feel completely right, and this is where it happened for me. This is the happiest I’ve been with my covers yet. It took a lot of time, money, and work to get them here. Yes, I largely went back to what worked originally (the solid colors and characters), but these new versions hit all the right notes.

The new covers have been in place for a couple of months now, and they haven’t exactly rejuvenated sales, but then again, I haven’t done much beyond some social media promotion. I plan to start more actively promoting them soon.

What do you think of the new covers?

But romance-adjacent contemporary fiction? For some reason, that’s not considered something men can write.

I asked about this on social media recently, and it seems many people feel men shouldn’t even try.

Honestly, I found myself quite disturbed by some of the comments I got, particularly the stereotyping that men fundamentally cannot write women unless it’s through some weird, hypersexualized lens.

I posted a poll on Threads, and the results were somewhat mixed. But the overwhelming response in the comments was essentially some variation of “No,” with explanations generally being that men can’t write women.

Really? We can’t?

That’s the word. According to the comments I received, men reduce female characters to fantasies, and lack the emotional depth to understand women to be able to write about them.

That really bothered me.

Now, to be fair, there are absolutely examples of badly written women in fiction. We’ve all seen excerpts that sound like a man has never spoken to a woman in his life. The infamous descriptions. The impossible dialogue. The female character whose entire personality and pretty much everything she does is defined by her big breasts.

I understand why readers are cautious. But I’d be lying if I said those conversations didn’t bother me personally. Why? Because I put an enormous amount of thought into my female characters.

Alli Conwell from Not Famous isn’t there to simply be desired by the protagonist. She’s ambitious, emotionally guarded and complex, and painfully aware of how perception shapes her career and relationships. A lot of her decision-making in the story is rooted in her backstory, and it took a lot to write her as someone defined by those experiences.

Kaylee Cooke from Not Dressed could have easily become a stock “quirky girl” character in lesser hands. Instead, I wanted her to feel grounded. Smart. Frustrated by her own inability to reach her full potential. She doesn’t want to be defined by expectations. She owns her geeky interests in public but is self-conscious about them with her family, particularly her younger sister. She’s navigating adulthood in her own unique way.

Leila Rosenfeld in Not Awkward is probably one of the most emotionally complicated characters I’ve written. She’s emotionally scarred, and her journey to adulthood has been defined by personal losses. The death of her father is both a devastating wound and, in a complicated way, the moment that finally gives her the freedom to spread her wings.

And Jenna Kaplan in Not Prepared is another unique and deep character. On the surface, she has it all together: a young and successful interior designer who has navigated life, struggling with a severe phobia that most people can’t understand. Her vulnerability is hidden beneath competence.

None of these women exists in the novels simply to validate a male lead or be objectified by them. In fact, one of my favorite things about writing contemporary fiction is that relationships only work on the page when both people feel emotionally authentic. Readers can tell when a character is just a fantasy object with exaggerated features.

Those aren’t the characters I write.

And maybe that’s what frustrates me most about the blanket assumption that male writers can’t write nuanced women: it dismisses the effort many of us put into trying to do exactly that.

Writing good characters requires empathy. Period. Not XX chromosomes.

And honestly, I’ve read fiction by women who don’t seem to understand men at all — stories where male characters are flattened into stereotypes, where the dialogue feels artificial, and where the inner lives of men don’t ring true. That doesn’t mean women can’t write men. It just means writing convincingly outside your own experience is difficult for everyone.

I’m not arguing that men inherently write women better than women do. Obviously not. Women have lived experiences that men will never fully understand firsthand. But the reverse is true too. Men and women bring their own perspectives to fiction and romance, and both have to step outside themselves to create characters who feel human rather than autobiographical.

That’s the entire job. Some writers do it better than others, but fiction has always required people to imagine lives beyond their own.

Most authors inevitably draw on their own experiences, relationships, observations, and insecurities when creating characters. But if writers were only allowed to write people who matched their sex, race, background, profession, personality, or life experience, fiction would become painfully narrow and repetitive.

Men can write women. Women can write men. A twenty-year-old writer can write a convincing seventy-year-old character. A happily married writer can write heartbreak. The whole art form depends on imagination paired with observation — on paying close attention and caring enough to get it right.

Some writers will always miss the mark. Some will surprise you. But if you finish one of my novels feeling like the women in them seem human, flawed, funny, intelligent, emotional, frustrating, and realistic, then I have done my job.

If you’ve read my novel, I’d genuinely love to hear your thoughts. Did the women on the page feel real to you?

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The question is, where do you start if you’ve never read it before? Well, perhaps you should start how I started.

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Anyone remotely familiar with lad lit knows about this novel, as Nick Hornby is widely recognized as originator of the genre. It follows 35-year-old pop-music fanatic Rob Fleming, who owns vintage record shop after his live-in girlfriend leaves him.

This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

I discovered Tropper right before his novel This is Where I Leave You got big. He was occasionally described as the American Nick Hornby, and I would say it was an accurate description. As soon as I read this novel I quickly devoured his back catalogue. This is Where I Leave You follows Judd Foxman after the death of his father results in his entire dysfunctional family to be forced under one roof for a week to observe his shiva.

My Legendary Girlfriend by Mike Gayle

When it comes to lad lit, you don’t get more prolific than Mike Gayle, and this is the novel that started it all, about Will Kelly, who still hasn’t gotten over his ex-girlfriend after three years. Mike Gayle has an impressive back catalogue and this is where you should start.

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

I discovered Matthew Norman not long after I’d plowed through all of Jonathan Tropper’s novels. I don’t remember where I found it, but I knew from the cover it was something I’d want to read.

Not Famous by Matthew Hanover

Yes, this is my own novel, but seeing as it was my first novel, and thus, my introduction to writing lad lit, not just reading it, you should give it a try. A book blogger called The Irresponsible Reader called it “a sweet bit of lad lit that’ll fill your heart with song,” and said it was “almost as much a tribute to Nick Hornby as it is a story in the same vein as his work,” with “nods to Jonathan Tropper and Matthew Norman.” So, be sure to check it out as well!

One of the toughest things about putting your work out there is that it will endure criticism. Some will be good, and some will be bad. I myself have had some bad reviews, but the overwhelming majority of reviews my novels have received have been good. Still, when you’re dealing with dozens of reviews as opposed to hundreds or thousands, the bad reviews tend to stick out, and it’s easy to get distressed over them.

I’ve often told other indie authors just starting not to worry about reviews, but even when I say it, I know it’s not easy. Bad reviews, when they happen, sting. But your novel will not be universally celebrated. In fact, every novel gets them—even your favorite novels from your favorite authors.

To prove this point, I’m gonna post a few select 1-star reviews (via Amazon) of two of my favorite novels.

High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby

Without a doubt, the novel that inspired me to write fiction, and yet it gets trashed plenty.

• “None of the characters in this book are likable.[…] Though the rhetoric is clearly meant to be humorous, it falls flat with sorry attempts at irony. I do not recommend this book to thinking people.”

• “This book has no plot or message in it. Just a bunch of jabbering by the main character with an inferiority complex. Not funny, just boring.”

• “Read the book and saw the movie; stupid book about a man that refuses to grow up; complete waste of my time.”

• “Too drawn out. Boring. This book just rambles.”

• “I don’t like the book because it’s too introspective.”

This is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper

My first introduction to Jonathan Tropper. I loved this book so much that I read everything else he published soon after.

• “This book was full of cliches. Just when you thought you’d heard them all, why here comes another, more sensational than the one before. I will not read another of Tropper’s books. What was intended to be funny just seemed sad to me.”

• “This book was very graphic. I felt like it was written by a horny teenage boy. I read the first few pages and couldn’t no longer.”

• “There is not one member of the family, which this book is about, whom I liked or respected. Adults acting like children. Predictable story.”

• “This novel was so bad that I can’t spend the time itemizing any details.”

• “I did not finish this book. I have heard so many great reviews about this book and how it is funny and all that but I couldn’t make it past the 4th chapter.”

• “I really enjoyed previous books by Tropper, but I found this book to be nothing more than depressing.”

The moral of the story is: don’t fret about bad reviews. Everyone gets them.

Okay, let me be the first to say that I’m probably not the best person to ask for advice on novel-writing. I’ve written four novels, but I’m stuck in a rut and can’t seem to get motivated to write anything new.

Still, I’ve been asked for advice by emerging indie authors and figured I should really sit and think about what works for me and offer that advice.

1. Write a story you’d love if someone else wrote it

I’m a big believer in the idea that you should write a novel that would be your favorite if someone else had written it. If you have a favorite author who inspires, think about the novel you’d love for them to write, and write it yourself. If you love your story, others will too.

2. Write love interests you’d fall in love with if they were real people

I think this is self-explanatory, but if there’s a romantic plot or subplot to your novel, the best way to make that romance feel genuine is for the love interest to reflect the qualities you admire and are attracted to in a partner. That doesn’t mean that if you write a dozen novels with a love interest, each one will be the same. Far from it. The love interests in my first two novels, Alli and Kaylee, are very different people, each with a distinct backstory, interests, and attitude. Yes, there are similarities between the two, but for the most part, they are unique characters, each with its own set of qualities that I find attractive.

Also, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be flawed characters either. Your characters should not be perfect personifications of your ideal mate. Characters need flaws to be realistic. You shouldn’t be afraid to have these characters dabble in behaviors and attitudes you don’t approve of. No one is the perfect mate.

3. Write multiple arcs to help move the story forward

One thing I realized from reading a lot is that a novel needs multiple arcs to be interesting and to keep your attention. Both my novels feature multiple story arcs that occasionally overlap. Not Dressed, for example, is both a romantic comedy and a workplace comedy. In addition to those primary plots, there’s a sibling rivalry arc that is generally a minor plot point until the last third of the novel, but it’s still very important.

4. Don’t share your novel until your first draft is done

For me, writing a novel is a private process. I don’t discuss details with anyone, or share snippets of my work until after the first draft is written or even after a preliminary edit. You are writing your first draft for yourself, not for the readers, and your writing process should be unsullied from outside opinion until you get the story down in its complete, but rough form.

Once you’ve done the first draft, let your trusted beta readers have at it to point out its strengths and weaknesses.

5. Write with the knowledge you’re gonna cut stuff out.

Editing is part of the process. When I finished my first novel, Not Famous, it was over 104,000 words long and I couldn’t imagine cutting a signal word. It ended up at around 94,000 words after my beta readers helped me identify unnecessary sections. Eventually, editing actually became fun for me because I knew that the tighter the novel was the better it would be.

6. Write in whatever order you want.

Some authors write from start to finish. Not me. I write out of order, as scenes come to me, and then piece everything together afterward. There’s no right or wrong way. I just happen to find it easier to write what I’m inspired to at a particular time, not to write in the order scenes are supposed to appear.

7. Don’t write with an agenda.

Fiction lets people escape from the real world—so let them. Everyone has an opinion on various issues, but if your story feels like you’re pushing an agenda, it can easily overshadow your story. Write for everyone, not just people who agree with you. Even those who do agree with you might be turned off. Your characters have their personal politics and religious belief systems, and that’s important to who they are and how you developed them, but don’t alienate your audience—especially if you’re an indie.

8. Dialogue and action don’t always cooperate in real life, so they shouldn’t in your novel.

I’ve been told I write realistic dialogue. I attribute that mostly to the fact that in real life, people struggle to come up with words on the spot and get interrupted by other people and events. That’s just how it is. I think this is something that many authors do not reflect on in their writing. For the most part, everyone gets their point across before someone else speaks or something happens. The phone or the doorbell almost never interrupts dialogue. Is that how real life works? I don’t think so. I like to incorporate stutters, awkward pauses, and abrupt breaks into my dialogue because that’s how it usually goes in life. Not everyone has the perfect punchline, either. Dialogue and action don’t cooperate all the time in life, and they shouldn’t in your novel, either.

9. Take a break if it ever stops being fun.

When you’re writing a novel, you’re using your imagination to create a world or a universe. If you’re not enjoying the process, you need to step back and give yourself time to look forward to entering that world again. If you’re not enjoying the process, it will reflect in your writing. I’ve taken breaks from writing, and each time I knew when to come back into it full throttle.