Sam Staley, author

It's been a long time, but I am happy to announce I will be with @SYPPublishing and @williammark649 at the @WordOfSouthFest in Tallahassee, April 24-26. I am also making an exciting announcement on my #historicalfiction "The Pirate of Panther Bay" series, too. wordofsouthfestival.com

😂

The total number of books published in the US jumped 32.5% in 2025. Almost all of that growth came from self-published titles. Traditional output grew 6.6%. The gap between those two numbers should say a lot.

@aliciaandrz @IamJBStevens Welcome to the club. Happens to most authors at some point. However you will likely have great conversations with no. Book buying customers and the social media exposure raises awareness of you book regardless of the actual signing outcome.

oh no. the owner of the bookstore my husband wants to have my book launch at is willing & excited. I checked with my acting chair & she’s excited, too. so it looks like it’s actually going to happen. but what if no one comes & it’s just me & this big book cake? help.

@JennMGreenberg Now that we’ve cleared that up… what is your plan to end the Iran War. 😂

I’m going to settle this controversy once and for all. On the right is a spatula. On the left is a scraper, not a spatula. It is for scraping batter out of bowls and scrambled eggs out of pans but not for flipping or lifting. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.

@brclothwrites Nope. Hard to see how this is developmentally helpful assessment.

Do you see a benefit in having students as young as 3rd grade take multiple day state-wide computer-based math and ELA exams? My students first state exam is today. I’m proctoring. 😮‍💨🎉

@brclothwrites That’s a good one.

What is a travel MUST you think everyone should do at last once? Me? — Travel the Alps by train. The experience is unreal.

I didn't know what a novelette was until I wrote this prequel to my reimagination of the Santa Claus myth as my adventure novel (St. Nic, Inc.). It's basically a long short story. (Also, free on kindle right now.) amazon.com/Decision-Chris…?

This is sobering, and the trend does not bode well for our economy in the short or long term. We need more legal immigrants, not fewer.

@EricBoehm87 Hahaha. Almost as fantastical as the original song.

Imagine no inflation It isn't hard to do No illegal wars or tariffs Ships sail through Hormuz...

@AuthorGoodwin Unfortunately, my "day job" pays far more than I can reasonably expect from my writing. My goals are more modest: Make enough money to pay for a few nicer things in life (e.g., my annual ski trip to the Rocky Mountains) or help pay down my kids' college debt.

Do you hope to make a living out of your writing some day? Or is it just a hobby? #writingcommunity

For rebranding my historical fiction series, our team actually looked at specific cover designers to find the right aesthetic. We found that different designers had different tastes and artistic takes. Once we found a designer who had the right aesthetic, we approached them for a proposal. I have moved away from using one designer for all my books. Our designer for this series is Fay Lane, and she was great to work with: faylane.com

I have heard of authors who struggle to find cover designers. Where would you suggest they look for them? My suggestions are always Fiverr or Upwork.

@emmma_camp_ Yes. I remember working on regulatory reform (in 2013-14) to allow craft brewers to build their businesses in Florida. A lot of resistance from the big beverage special interests. Once the regulations relaxed, craft breweries popped up everywhere. They anchor urban nightlife.

This is correct, but also all the mid-size cities in the south have brick oven pizzas and craft breweries now. People need to update their stereotypes; the south has hipsters!

@SedonaCAuthor Yep. Reality: Authors are the best and most effective promoters of their books. If we don't promote and market, we don't sell books.

I’m not gonna lie, I thought being an author meant writing books I didn’t know it would be a full time presence on social media

Importantly, tariffs are not a primary driver of inflation, which is a general rise in the level of prices. That said, their effects are nontrivial, particularly in the short run.

@klhicks912 Ahh, the great mystery....

Yes, I have a large follower count...but how many of these people actually see my posts? That is the question. It's not about the follower count, it's about the followers who stick around and create relationships with you through conversation

If I were born in 1865, just after the Civil War, on the eve of the American (urban) Industrial Revolution, my life expectancy would have been about 40 years old. At the end of this period, about 1914, life expectancy had risen by almost a third to 52.8 years old.

@Joywoodauthor Congratulations!

I am delighted and completely shocked that my new book (A Family Affair) has been nominated in the crime thriller category at the forthcoming RNA awards in May. My thanks to the panel of readers for selecting it. Good luck wishes to all the other nominees. It's available to read on #KindleUnlimited #newrelease #booksworthreading mybook.to/8Mtw

@douglass_meghan A few, but not many. I know people who make a living with their writing, but I do not. Most full-time writers support their writing through speaking engagements, holding workshops, or teaching.

Is anyone here actually making a living from their writing?

My take is different. The order we see in spiritual life is far more important than the physical. Christianity's strength is not in explaining the physical properties of our existence, but in a deep-rooted faith that people are at their best when they are striving to do good by themselves and others. God is the essence of our soul, and, as such, is timeless and not tethered to our physical presence. We don't need to prove the physical presence of God, or find a way to justify his existence by explaining physics.

Order does not form out of chaos. The idea that everything from stars to molecules would align perfectly to support life on earth, and that, simultaneously, chemicals and compounds would combine perfectly to somehow create a diverse plethora of life on earth — randomly and spontaneously without any Creator — is ludicrous. It’s like suggesting that the Mona Lisa could have been painted by paint spilling off a shelf onto a canvas, or a skyscraper could have been built by a storm that threw a lot of metal, rocks, and glass around until it formed a building with windows, plumbing, and elevators. It simply cannot happen. Order does not form randomly out of chaos. It is impossible. Someone must create that order. God exists.