It’s been a while since my last post, and that’s because I’ve been writing furiously. The only problem? None of it has been for Substack.
The good news — I hope — is that it’s been worth it. The VBA script I’ve been developing inside Word is really starting to mature, and it shows in the trivia books. What started as a simple formatting and linking helper has grown into quite a little toolkit. It parses raw text data, pairs questions with answers and Did You Know sections, flags duplicates, and manages the entire internal link structure of an interactive trivia book. Every refinement makes the next one faster, cleaner, and easier to build.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve released three new trivia books. I also went back and updated several of the earlier ones. The difference is striking — things that used to take weeks now take hours.
Trivia books are wild, man. The research alone makes you a kind of armchair expert in whatever topic you tackle, and that’s half the fun. I try not to get lost in the rabbit hole, but it’s easy to when you’re constantly learning something new.
And honestly, I think I’ve done it — I’ve turned what used to be “just another trivia book” into an actual game. The interactivity, the layout, the internal links — it all works together now to make the reading experience something you play through instead of just flipping pages.
I’ll admit, my sales have dipped a little — mostly because I’ve ignored ads and marketing while deep in development mode. But that’s fine. Sometimes you have to slow down, clean up, and strengthen the system before the next big push.
Still, it feels good to be back in the loop — even if I’ve been wearing every hat in the shop lately. Somebody, please, find me a different one to wear.
Featured This Week
- [Tome of Tables Vol. 3 – Cities & Conspiracies] — The newest paperback is live and starting to collect reviews.
- [GM’s Tome of Adventure Hooks Series] — Seven themed volumes of creative sparks for Game Masters, with a complete edition in progress.
- [The Ultimate 80s Trivia Challenge (Kindle)] — Part of the growing Grid & Ink Trivia series, all available through Kindle Unlimited for anyone looking to test their memory and have some fun.
Useful Tools & Resources
If you’re working on your own publishing setup — or just curious what I use behind the scenes — here are a few tools that make life easier:
Publisher Champ — Analytics, keyword tools, and listing optimization for KDP creators.
Book Bolt — Interior and cover design tools for puzzle and notebook creators.
Hostinger — Reliable hosting for Grid & Ink’s site and blog.
Advigator — Automated Amazon Ads management to track performance and scale efficiently.
DriveThruRPG — Home for all Grid & Ink RPG titles, both print and digital.
gridandink.com — Central hub for all projects, freebies, and blog posts.