Goodreads asked Ken L. Gould:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Ken L. Gould Don't give up. I did when I was younger and came to regret it. I didn't realize that the frustrations I was experiencing were what most amateurs go through. I wrote in circles. Everything came out sounding like someone else, etc. etc. I suppose at some point you have to give up on the idea of writing a blockbuster We all want the world to love our children as much as we do. Just like real children, the truth is they don't. When it comes to books, unlike our real children, we have to be honest with ourselves. Let's face it, some children are just ugly. If you aren't honest with yourself, you'll never break through to that next level of writing something people really want to read on a mass scale or that agents or editors will recognize as true quality story-telling. Or you may just be content to write niche stuff that only appeals to a small submarket. That's ok, too. You have to ask yourself who you want to be as a writer and what kind of stories you want to tell. Becoming good at that is hard as hell, but then finding stories worth telling that people really want to read and will pay to read is even harder. Stephen King, just to use one example, became a brand that people just had to have. That's your goal should you choose to accept it. Become your own unique brand. You can't write what others are writing. Become unique. That ain't easy.

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