Non-Fiction Books
Writer, Painter, Photographer, Musician, Designer, Animator, Graphic Artist, Programmer, Screenwriter, Dancer, Environmental Artist, Textile Artist, Composer, Weaver, Sculptor... For decades, this brother and sister team have studied what works and what doesn’t when trying to convince your Inner Artist to cooperate. No matter what your craft, there are common themes to what works and what doesn’t. This is a guide of research and practical tips for working with your Inner Artist / Writer in the crazy everyday world of a hundred demands and a thousand more distractions. M.L. “Matt” Buchman - the brother - 30-year Project Manager and full-time writer. M. L. “Melitte” Buchman - the sister - One of the nation’s top Digital Archivists and part-time tintype photographer & instructor. “Why do we have the same initials? Our mother had a good sense of humor.”
'-an estate planning self-help guide for artists & writers- Writer, painter, photographer, musician, designer, animator, graphic artist, programmer, screenwriter, textile artist, choreographer, composer, sculptor... A will or trust controls who inherits what. The Final Letter tells your heir(s) ways to maintain it, even make it thrive, once they’ve got it. The challenge with an estate that includes Intellectual Property (books, stories, plays, films, etc.), is it has a value that can last another 70 years after your death. This book is a practical guide for educating your heir on quite what they’ve just received and what their options are to manage it. Topics also include: basic vocabulary, income opportunities with Intellectual Property, the power of trusts in IP estate planning, and much more. Estate Planning for Authors will help authors create their Final Letter as well as help the heirs whose benefactor did not create one. It’s a guide on how to make sure your legacy remains profitable for decades after you’re gone!
Character drives story—any story, any genre. Imagine 2001: A Space Odyssey without HAL, Tolkien without Gandalf, or Ian Fleming without James Bond. A great character can’t save a bad book, but the best writing in the world won’t survive a weak one. For over 25 years, M.L. has been studying Character Voice. This book collects what he has learned so far. A set of practical tools that work for any genre and any writing style. He also discusses how to evaluate which will work for you. Do these tools guarantee flawless characters? If only. Are they essential to create a character who will keep your readers awake all night? Absolutely! Every author uses them in some form. In this book M.L. Buchman makes them understandable and accessible.
(Revised 2023 to include Hindenburg Narrator) Audio is the up-and-coming market, but the price of entry can be a horrific $300-500 per finished hour and up. M. L. Buchman has recorded and published over 30 audio titles—himself. Here he covers the basics you need to record your own audiobooks. • How to decide if it’s the best option. • When you should outsource the engineering. • Why you’re wrong when you “hate your own voice.” • Tools, techniques, and free studio space ideas. • A step-by-step guide to recording and engineering your own audiobook. • How to quantify direct, and most importantly of all, indirect costs. This simplified guide delivers the confidence to tackle the unique opportunity of “Read by Author.”
Cutting-edge computer systems designer. Crisis project manager. Consultant to the Fortune 100. Utter workaholic. Before he became a writer, M.L. “Matt” Buchman had dreamed of traveling the world by sailboat or small plane. Not once did he think about doing it by bicycle — not until he lost everything: career, house he’d been remodeling for the family he never had time to find, sense of self, all of it. Broke and burned out at thirty-five, he sold everything, climbed on his bicycle Junior, and together they headed out on a journey of unknown duration. His one guide? Following the setting sun west. 11,000 miles through eighteen countries. A voyage of adventure, discovery, and rebuilding a life. But mostly? A journey of discovering hope and the unexpected possibilities of the future.