Blog
How to Self Publish a Book
We cover everything in our comprehensive guide on how to self publish a book. Avoid the pitfalls and get it right to make your book a success.
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10 Questions To Ask Before You Hire A Book Editor
Even for those people who’ve established themselves with successful careers outside the publishing world, editing is a brand new and unfamiliar experience. For this reason, it’s important to find an editor whose experience closely matches your needs.
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Why Produce A Book Index And Who Should Do It?
Book Indexing Quiz Time for a quick test of your knowledge of back-of-the-book indexing. Would you say the following statements are true or false? 1. The index can be created by a computer. 2. Creating an index is a simple job. 3. A good index adds value to the book....
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4 Common Objections to Hiring a Freelance Editor
A professional editor is an objective, critical second eye that every author, especially one who is self-publishing, needs to ensure their final product is the very best it can be. The editing and proofreading process seems like an expensive undertaking, so many...
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Why Book Editors Need Samples Before Quoting A Price
The #1 question we get is: “How much will it cost to edit my book?” Here's why book editors can't give you a blind price quote: The Writer Is English your first language? Did you ace every English class you took? Do you write in dialect or “proper English?” Are you a...
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Book Editing & Proofreading: Can You Trust Grammarly?
By David Alan Developmental Editor - Copyeditor - Proofreader - Writer Book Editing Associates ***************************************** The Grammarly App To see if Grammarly worked for book manuscripts, I put it to the test. I took 5,000 words of an unedited novel...
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How to Enter and Win Book Award Contests
Contest Tips from Indie Book Awards Judge Beth Bruno If you are a published author, whether published in the mainstream or independently, the marketing and promotion of your title(s) will be your responsibility. Unless you are a celebrity or are very well connected,...
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6 Must-Have Scenes In Your Romance Novel
Writing a romance novel aimed at traditional publishing When you plunk down money or check out a title from a library, you expect certain reading parameters to be met. If you’re a prolific romance reader, you want to experience all of the emotional high notes at the...
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Book Review—The Dark Horse: A Walt Longmire Mystery
If you like crime dramas with a police-procedural slant, and you like modern Westerns with a noir touch, then check out this series about sheriff Walt Longmire, set in rural Wyoming. Here in volume five, Walt sets out to prove that a woman who confessed to killing her...
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English Proofreading Services: How To Hire A Professional Proofreader
Marie Valentine Copyeditor and Proofreader Book Editing Associates Online Proofreading Services I have lost count of how many times I’ve been the cleanup crew for another company purporting to be professional proofreaders or editors. Authors find me for help after...
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Submitting and Resubmitting to Publishers and Writing Contests
Positive feedback, but rejected by publishers or writing contest It’s easy to get discouraged if you submit your work to a publisher or contest and receive a rejection. The truth is that because of the large number of submissions to any worthy publisher or contest,...
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8 Writing Exercises To Enrich The Content Of Your Nonfiction Manuscript
You’ve finished a complete version of your manuscript after countless hours of work and mental effort. You’re ready and eager to thrust it into the next stage of actually become a published book. You’d like to think it’s about as perfect as you can make it on your...
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6 Tips For Writing A Family Memoir
How to write a family memoir Example: An Ordinary Tragedy An Ordinary Tragedy by Lori Hart Beninger explores memories, research, and interviews with family and friends to understand her brother's life of escalating crime. This intimate memoir profiles the dynamics of...
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Build Your Author Platform with Short Fiction or Essays
You’ve written a book and now you are ready to publish. But you soon find out that publishers want you to explain in detail how you are going to help sell your work, and you think, But isn’t that the publisher’s job? For better or worse, nearly all publishers now want...
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How Amazon And New York Times Bestsellers Are Ranked
WHEN IS A BESTSELLER REALLY A BESTSELLER? It’s no secret that the book industry has long been secretive about how bestsellers are actually chosen. If, like me, you wonder why, the answer is as simple as it is enigmatic: Because there is no universal system, company,...
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How To Pick Your Science Fiction Categories in Kindle Direct Publishing
And How to Understand How Amazon’s Ranking Works with Categories Rankings are driven by sales. Sales are driven by visibility. Visibility is highly influenced by categories. Below you will find KDP’s lists of its Science Fiction and Fantasy categories. Each category...
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10 Tips For Writing Your Best Romance Novel
Romance writing tips Before you begin writing page 1 of your romance novel, here is a handy checklist to reference and perhaps work into your outline or storyboard: 1. Interview your heroine and hero Who are they and where did they come from? What are their habits and...
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33 Essential Self-Editing Tips for Writers
When I copy edit a manuscript, I make at least hundreds—and usually thousands—of changes to adhere to the rules of grammar, Merriam-Webster, and Chicago Manual of Style (the “bible” of the book publishing industry). By adhering to the 33 tips below, you can do a...
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6 Important Tips For Writing Nonfiction
People read nonfiction books to be educated. History and technology, people and places, geography and archaeology, religion and meditation, biographies and memoirs, gardening and cooking---no matter the subject, nonfiction books help readers solve problems, examine...
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