# Is Bella Forrest a Pen name with several different writers?



## LifeisLit (Aug 25, 2017)

This seems more logical to me. At first, I thought maybe it was a person who literally just wrote and marketed and did nothing else but now she has several series going at the same time and I keep finding more each day.  I'm just curious if you all think that it's also a group of writers writing under one name? kind of like The Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.


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## Paranormal Kitty (Jun 13, 2017)

Probably. A lot of YA authors do that to crank out a ton of books. I remember being slightly disappointed as a kid when I found out Ann M. Martin didn't personally write all the Babysitter's Club books.


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## LifeisLit (Aug 25, 2017)

paranormal_kitty said:


> Probably. A lot of YA authors do that to crank out a ton of books. I remember being slightly disanointed as a kid when I found out Ann M. Martin didn't personally write all the Babysitter's Club books.


I think it's kinda cool. However, I've lurked around kboards for a while and noticed people talking about the rapid output of these books. Looking at release dates and how long it would take to write, edit, launch each book it's highly unlikely that it's one person. So, we shouldn't compare ourselves to her. Not saying that everybody does but I found myself wondering how I could manage to do the same as a single person but you know I really don't think it's possible for one person. I also remember someone here saying they were going to interview Bella Forrest on their podcast but from what I can tell it never happened.


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## Guest (Aug 25, 2017)

It's probably not fair to speculate without actually knowing anything. But she seems to be putting out 3 novels per month. So she must be writing at least 60k per week? About that. If she can write 12k per day X 5 there's her 60k. She hires people for all the editing / publishing / marketing stuff. So all she does is write. I find that more believable than that she has a writing staff.


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## Crystal_ (Aug 13, 2014)

ShaneJeffery said:


> It's probably not fair to speculate without actually knowing anything. But she seems to be putting out 3 novels per month. So she must be writing at least 60k per week? About that. If she can write 12k per day X 5 there's her 60k. She hires people for all the editing / publishing / marketing stuff. So all she does is write. I find that more believable than that she has a writing staff. thanks


Really? I find it much more plausible that some or all of those series are ghostwritten.

But we'll never really know what another author does. It can be fun speculating, but it's not ultimately helpful.


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## Guest (Aug 25, 2017)

Crystal_ said:


> Really? I find it much more plausible that some or all of those series are ghostwritten.


Based on what? It's hard to write 12k in a day? Some authors smash those figures day in day out like it's nothing.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

ShaneJeffery said:


> Based on what? It's hard to write 12k in a day? Some authors smash those figures day in day out like it's nothing.


Yes it is hard to write 12k a day 7 days a week every week of the year.


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

Writing 10K a day isn't hard for many writers. Let's stop speculating on Bella Forrest now. Just because most people can't write at this pace doesn't mean it's not possible. Additionally, the number one motivator to write fast is to make money. She's taking in thousands a day; that would be enough motivation for me to write a novel a week.


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## dgcasey (Apr 16, 2017)

K.B. said:


> She's taking in thousands a day; that would be enough motivation for me to write a novel a week.


I'd be happy with thousands a week.


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## Crystal_ (Aug 13, 2014)

ShaneJeffery said:


> Based on what? It's hard to write 12k in a day? Some authors smash those figures day in day out like it's nothing.


No one I know and I know some pretty prolific writers. Plus, you need time for editing, cover design, marketing, etc.

There's a lot about the BF pen that makes me think team besides speed of publication, but it's really neither here nor there. It doesn't affect me.


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## ImaWriter (Aug 12, 2015)

Crystal_ said:


> No one I know and I know some pretty prolific writers. Plus, you need time for editing, cover design, marketing, etc.


Check the thousand words a day thread. We have authors here that consistently bang out those kinds of numbers. 8, 10 12K a day.

This isn't directed to anyone here, but I have to say, I don't understand the "I couldn't do something, ergo, no one else could do it either" mentality. Everyone has different strengths and circumstances.


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## ShayneRutherford (Mar 24, 2014)

K.B. said:


> Writing 10K a day isn't hard for many writers. Let's stop speculating on Bella Forrest now.


We speculate on lots of subjects here on KBoards. Why is this particular subject verboten?


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## Guest (Aug 26, 2017)

ImaWriter said:


> Check the thousand words a day thread. We have authors here that consistently bang out those kinds of numbers. 8, 10 12K a day.
> 
> This isn't directed to anyone here, but I have to say, I don't understand the "I couldn't do something, ergo, no one else could do it either" mentality. Everyone has different strengths and circumstances.


Oh this exactly. Of course writing 60k words a week is very difficult and hard for most writers but for the top 0.5 percent (or whatever) then it's just another day's work. Obviously 3 novels a month is at the high end of production for one author, but it doesn't cross into SHE MUST HIRE GHOSTWRITERS territory. That just seems to be an excuse for making yourself feel good about your "lowly" production numbers.


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## kcmorgan (Jan 9, 2013)

I don't understand why it's such an insult to suggest she's using ghostwriters or is actually a group of authors. It's not like Bill Gates is still sitting in a garage writing Windows and no one cares as long as they aren't getting the blue screen of death.


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## Crystal_ (Aug 13, 2014)

LilyBLily said:


> No one can totally disguise a writing style. If you care, take all "her" books issued this month and run them through one of those language-parsing programs meant to root out plagiarism. If they match, it's one writer. If they don't, well, there's your answer.


I don't think that's true (in the abstract). I know ghostwriters and plenty of them match styles. There are entire brands (the company that puts out the Gossip Girl books) based around a team of writers tackling a series/author name.

I don't really care what Bella Forrest does or doesn't do. But I'm tired of people suggesting that writing 10k words a day means they can write, edit, publish and market one 50k novel in five days. There's a lot more to publishing than getting words down.


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## Seneca42 (Dec 11, 2016)

ShaneJeffery said:


> Based on what? It's hard to write 12k in a day? Some authors smash those figures day in day out like it's nothing.


This is a ridiculous debate.

One author writes high-quality 5k a day and only has to tidy up after.

Another writes 12k a day but it's total crap and requires just as much time to clean up after as it took to write in the first place.

In the end, neither gets to market any faster.

But the notion of writing a high-quality full-length novel in a week is just urban myth. And if anyone can actually write 12k of high-quality material a day, congrats, you'll be a millionaire for sure because mabye .00000000001% of the human population is capable of that.


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## Guest (Aug 26, 2017)

Crystal_ said:


> I don't think that's true (in the abstract). I know ghostwriters and plenty of them match styles. There are entire brands (the company that puts out the Gossip Girl books) based around a team of writers tackling a series/author name.
> 
> I don't really care what Bella Forrest does or doesn't do. But I'm tired of people suggesting that writing 10k words a day means they can write, edit, publish and market one 50k novel in five days. There's a lot more to publishing than getting words down.


I'm pretty sure all the editing / publishing / marketing / cover design etc. All of that will be hired out. Doesn't mean the writing is hired out.


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## Guest (Aug 26, 2017)

Seneca42 said:


> This is a ridiculous debate.
> 
> One author writes high-quality 5k a day and only has to tidy up after.
> 
> ...


Yeah so. Bella Forest is a millionaire. You mustn't be following the 1000 words per day thread on here either.


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## DanaFraser (Apr 5, 2016)

Crystal_ said:


> Really? I find it much more plausible that some or all of those series are ghostwritten.
> 
> But we'll never really know what another author does. It can be fun speculating, but it's not ultimately helpful.


If it hasn't been said 1000x already - kboards member Amanda M Lee does about 75k*3 a month on average with plenty of down time (and I believe someone who does an edit and someone who does a final proof). It depends on the world you are writing in, if the characters are pretty well established with readers, etc.


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

Seneca42 said:


> This is a ridiculous debate.
> 
> One author writes high-quality 5k a day and only has to tidy up after.
> 
> ...


Check Bad Reputation in my sig. Written in six days. I never write second drafts. From first word to The End, through editing and then sent to ARC readers, it was less than ten days. You're being very naive and dismissive. Just because you can't do something doesn't mean other people can't either. That's not an attack on you, either. Everyone has different capabilities.


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## juliatheswede (Mar 26, 2014)

Seneca42 said:


> This is a ridiculous debate.
> 
> One author writes high-quality 5k a day and only has to tidy up after.
> 
> ...


I have a feeling we'll be hearing from someone soon.


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Wow, the myths are strong in this thread. There are days you disappoint me, kboards.


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

kcmorgan said:


> I don't understand why it's such an insult to suggest she's using ghostwriters or is actually a group of authors. It's not like Bill Gates is still sitting in a garage writing Windows and no one cares as long as they aren't getting the blue screen of death.


The _insult_ isn't in the fact that she could potentially be using ghostwriters. The insult is in the way members here discuss ghostwriting as if it's an evil art that must be stopped at all costs. Thusly, breaching the topic like it's been done in this thread is used as a means to discredit Bella.


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## kathrynoh (Oct 17, 2012)

ShaneJeffery said:


> I'm pretty sure all the editing / publishing / marketing / cover design etc. All of that will be hired out. Doesn't mean the writing is hired out.


Even if you're hiring all that out, it is still a time sink. In the end, you are the one with your name/brand on the product. You can't just put everything on autopilot. You get edits back from your editor and have to go through them, you don't just accept them wholesale. Maybe cover design gets a lot easier if you work consistently with the same designer and build a relationship but you still need some input. All those things don't take a huge percentage of your time if you bring out a book every few months but with a three book a month schedule there is some serious overhead in just managing the workload.

I could write a book in a week and have. But that is one book in one week. Doing that consistently every single week would burn me out both physically and mentally. Maybe other people can do it but everybody needs down time. It's not just the writing but the plotting and story planning.

Also, does Bella Forrest actually release three books a month? I've not counted but I'm on her mailing list and she seems to send out weekly emails alternating between announcing preorders and announcing the books live.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

I sensed a tremor in the Force. The chocolate martinis say ... whatever. Believe what you want.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Boyd said:


> That was a total accident, you posted before I could invoke your--


It must be the Dark Side at work.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

I think the answer to the OP's question is that we don't know, and it's not really any of our business.


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## Guest (Aug 26, 2017)

kathrynoh said:


> Even if you're hiring all that out, it is still a time sink. In the end, you are the one with your name/brand on the product. You can't just put everything on autopilot. You get edits back from your editor and have to go through them, you don't just accept them wholesale. Maybe cover design gets a lot easier if you work consistently with the same designer and build a relationship but you still need some input. All those things don't take a huge percentage of your time if you bring out a book every few months but with a three book a month schedule there is some serious overhead in just managing the workload.
> 
> I could write a book in a week and have. But that is one book in one week. Doing that consistently every single week would burn me out both physically and mentally. Maybe other people can do it but everybody needs down time. It's not just the writing but the plotting and story planning.
> 
> Also, does Bella Forrest actually release three books a month? I've not counted but I'm on her mailing list and she seems to send out weekly emails alternating between announcing preorders and announcing the books live.


I just went to her author page and saw 3 novel length releases for August and July maybe June as well. 2 or 3 books, it's still a lot.

I don't doubt there's a whole lot of extra work outside of the actual writing, but I'm saying that it is still manageable. Not for me - not for you - but for some people.

My only argument is that if you're going to say she's probably using ghost writers you need more evidence than "She writes 3 novels a month!" Because maybe she just writes 3 novels per month. It's not impossible.


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## RedFoxUF (Nov 14, 2016)

I started out around the same time she did I think. We used to rank together in the same cats before she got really big. She didn't always release multiple novels a month as far as I saw...I didn't stay in her cats.

She seemed to hit a tipping point last summer. The calculation was several million a month in gross revenue. The rumor is there are ghostwriters but it's a rumor...although I've seen some decently credible things around that rumor. Last summer she cost the scammers lots of money...she owned her cats. Up to 40% or more of the top 100 lists across the board. Now the scammers are coming back so her run is starting to slow down.

However, I don't follow how someone makes millions and keeps up a grueling work schedule like that. I would be slowing down and pursuing passion projects myself. I wonder what she's striving for? Movie/tv deal? Trad pub deal? Bestseller lists? Funding a new venture that needs millions? Most of those won't really happen in KU.

And if she is using ghostwriters...how is that managed? How do you keep voice and character consistent? Are there editors?


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## Paranormal Kitty (Jun 13, 2017)

Boyd said:


> I wrote an 83k story in 8.5 days. It went on to hit #47 in Amazon paid. It wasn't quite a week, but come on... Me thinks you are projecting limitations.


Could you do that every day for years though? I wrote mine in 1.5 weeks if you only count the writing, but all the outlining and character design before was several months, plus the fanfic I wrote first and based it on, plus now all the revisions.


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## kcmorgan (Jan 9, 2013)

K.B. said:


> The _insult_ isn't in the fact that she could potentially be using ghostwriters. The insult is in the way members here discuss ghostwriting as if it's an evil art that must be stopped at all costs. Thusly, breaching the topic like it's been done in this thread is used as a means to discredit Bella.


Thanks. I lacked this context and didn't understand people's reactions.


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## Seneca42 (Dec 11, 2016)

Boyd said:


> I wrote an 83k story in 8.5 days. It went on to hit #47 in Amazon paid. It wasn't quite a week, but come on... Me thinks you are projecting limitations.


hardly any top selling authors over the course of time write at 10k a day. A few, but even they are rare.

I just find it ludicrously ridiculous the concepts that get batted around as normal in the self-pub world.

Hey, if people can write 10k a day, props to you. The notion that it's normal or something most people are capable of is ridiculous.

Now, maybe, I'd give it some consideration for authors who dictate and the pass the dictation off and all the other work to sub contractors. But that's about the only scenario where I'm buying that anyone can pump out 10k of high quality writing a day and do so for more than a week or two before they are so mentally drained they need to take a week off.


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

Seneca42 said:


> hardly any top selling authors over the course of time write at 10k a day. A few, but even they are rare.
> 
> I just find it ludicrously ridiculous the concepts that get batted around as normal in the self-pub world.
> 
> ...


#1 Don't believe it. It doesn't really concern you. 
#2 Pumping out 10K a week for two weeks, taking a week off and then doing another book on the fourth week still makes three novels a month. 
#3 You have multiple members here saying they do it. That doesn't make it normal, but it's certainly not as abnormal as you swear it to be. The facts are that you're wrong and ignorant (not an insult in this context) on the subject. Just because you can't do something doesn't mean others can't. 
#4 Nobody is saying it's normal, but we're merely pointing out the error of your statements.


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## Seneca42 (Dec 11, 2016)

K.B. said:


> #3 You have multiple members here saying they do it.


think i was 5 when I learned not to believe everything people say on the Internet.


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## Wysardry (Jun 24, 2016)

Seneca42 said:


> think i was 5 when I learned not to believe everything people say on the Internet.


I don't believe you.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Seneca42 said:


> think i was 5 when I learned not to believe everything people say on the Internet.


But absent compelling evidence to the contrary, we do take our colleagues at their word in this particular corner of the net.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Jeff Tanyard said:


>


Lol


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## Seneca42 (Dec 11, 2016)

Becca Mills said:


> But absent compelling evidence to the contrary, we do take our colleagues at their word in this particular corner of the net.


I wrote an entire novel in the just the past hour. 100,000 words.

Thank you for believing me


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Seneca42 said:


> I wrote an entire novel in the just the past hour. 100,000 words.
> 
> Thank you for believing me


Sending you my WIP to finish up.


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

Seneca42 said:


> think i was 5 when I learned not to believe everything people say on the Internet.


So, we're all lying.

Cool.

Keep doing you. Maybe you'll finish a book next year.


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## H.C. (Jul 28, 2016)

ShaneJeffery said:


> Based on what? It's hard to write 12k in a day? Some authors smash those figures day in day out like it's nothing.


No, they don't. It's at least difficult, tiresome...fill-in your adjective. No one is putting out 12K publishable words a day "like it's nothing".


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## Ryan W. Mueller (Jul 14, 2017)

I wish I could consistently write that many words a day. I can go through periods where I'm getting a lot of words down, but I almost always end up exhausted afterward. The best I ever managed was writing a 107,000-word book in 12 days.

I should note that I did not publish that book. I completely rewrote it because it was terrible.


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## jaehaerys (Feb 18, 2016)

Herefortheride said:


> No, they don't. It's at least difficult, tiresome...fill-in your adjective. No one is putting out 12K publishable words a day "like it's nothing".


Agreed.

But really, you can chalk this entire thread up to...who knows? People can say whatever they like about their supposed prolificness on the internet. Who knows what's true and what isn't, so really, why care?


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## Seneca42 (Dec 11, 2016)

K.B. said:


> So, we're all lying.
> 
> Cool.
> 
> Keep doing you. Maybe you'll finish a book next year.


and THAT right there is the bs that is horrible about certain pockets of the sp community. What exactly is wrong with taking a year to write a book?


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## Nic (Nov 17, 2013)

Her numbers can be easily looked up:

    2017 (20)
    2016 (27)
    2015 (42)
    2014 (8 )
    2013 (9)
    2012 (3)

Something has happened to augment productivity end of 2014. Whether it is tossing the day job or engaging ghost writers, or finding a writing partner preferring not to be named: who knows? If I had to guess, I'd say she opted for the "James Patterson" solution. It would be an obvious one.


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## H.C. (Jul 28, 2016)

K.B. said:


> So, we're all lying.
> 
> Cool.
> 
> Keep doing you. Maybe you'll finish a book next year.


When we talk about Kboards getting nasty these are some of the comments we are talking about.

Not sure why anyone would say rude things like this in a self-publishing forum.


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

Seneca42 said:


> and THAT right there is the bs that is horrible about certain pockets of the sp community. What exactly is wrong with taking a year to write a book?


There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking a year to write a book, or five years for that matter. There is also nothing wrong with writing a book in a week. I'm not the one outlining the rules for quality here. I'm also not the one trying to subtly call other members liars.

I don't know your production schedule and I really don't care; it's none of my business. It was an off the hand remark. Interesting that you take offense to it however, given the way you zealously make claims about others' abilities and honesty.


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## kathrynoh (Oct 17, 2012)

Nic said:


> Her numbers can be easily looked up:
> 
> 2017 (20)
> 2016 (27)
> ...


She could've had a backlog of books to release in 2015.

Another alternative is that she has someone who looks after the business side of things and she just writes. Who knows?

Personally, I don't care a hoot if she had ghostwriters or if it's a team of people working together. I'd just like to more about how she does it because she's obviously a marketing genius


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## Crime fighters (Nov 27, 2013)

Herefortheride said:


> When we talk about Kboards getting nasty these are some of the comments we are talking about.
> 
> Not sure why anyone would say rude things like this in a self-publishing forum.


I'm not being nasty, and I'm not being rude. If you believe that to be the case, I can point you to any number of other boards on the internet.

This is the chain of events:

OP: BF probably uses a ghostwriter 
KB: I don't think it's any of our business 
User: It's not possible to write that much
User: yes it is 
User: Yeah, but it'll be crap 
User: I've done it before 
KB: I've done it too

And then; there's the implication that we're all lying because "despite urban myth, it's not possible to write a quality novel in a week... Thusly insulting many people here.

Now, you can call out my comment as is your right. And I have the same right to refute your attempted 'policing' of my words.

EDIT: If I've offended anyone with my offhand remark, then I apologize.


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## RomanceAuthor (Aug 18, 2014)

I joined her newsletter list early on, and I remember one particular email in her 2nd year I think, where she apologized for the delayed publication of one book, but she felt a bit burned out after having written 7 books the prior year.

But speed can increase with experience and I did read quite a lot of her books. The voice was consistent. Hats off to her, whatever she's doing. If she's writing all by herself, I applaud her. If she's managing a team of ghostwriters, I applaud her as well. I imagine that wouldn't be easy at all.

I'd love to hear her in an interview, but I think she's keeping a low profile when it comes to that.


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## Guest (Aug 26, 2017)

Herefortheride said:


> No, they don't. It's at least difficult, tiresome...fill-in your adjective. No one is putting out 12K publishable words a day "like it's nothing".


No, 'like it's nothing' is suitable is a suitable choice of words. One member here writes 6 hours a day, 2000 words per hour, 5 days a week, 3 weeks of the month. So not "at least difficult". And if it's tiresome - it still doesn't stop one from anticipating such a production level - and hitting the 12k goal again and again and again.

Someone who hasn't written 12k in a day before, or hasn't written it in a while will obviously find it difficult and tiresome. But for someone who does it fifteen times a month I'd say they're managing just fine.


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## Mark Dawson (Mar 24, 2012)

My guess is that there are ghost writers. I could be wrong. It really doesn't matter either way - she's built a stunning business and readers patently love her books. 

What is irrefutable is that she is very, very impressive and someone I've learmed a ton from. Big time kudos.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Those who can't do tell others what limits they should be setting. Those who can do don't believe they have limits.


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## DanaG (Feb 13, 2011)

K.B. said:


> Check Bad Reputation in my sig. Written in six days. I never write second drafts. From first word to The End, through editing and then sent to ARC readers, it was less than ten days. You're being very naive and dismissive. Just because you can't do something doesn't mean other people can't either. That's not an attack on you, either. Everyone has different capabilities.


Where's a like button when I need one?

The pulp fiction authors of yore, without typewriters, used to write insane amounts of words per day. 40,000 in a day, according to some reports.

Michael Moorcock's guide for writing a novel in three days: http://tunaforbernadette.tumblr.com/post/100263294211/writing-shortcuts-of-the-pulp-stars-michael


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

As Becca said earlier: there's no way to know and it's none of our business. I see no point in continuing this thread. But will discuss with the rest of the mod team.


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