Blog
Talking Sex With Gore Vidal
The publication of journalist Tim Teeman's biography In Bed with Gore Vidal: Hustlers, Hollywood, and the Private World of an American Master (Magnus) for the first time looks at Vidal's romantic and sexual lives and their influence on his writing and political...
How to Promote Your Children’s Book
After you’ve written a children’s book, you have to sell it. Try to accomplish one of the following tasks each week to help your labor of love blossom to life in the marketplace:
How the Pitch Works at Writers’ Conferences
So what is “the pitch”? The pitch is a method to get your foot in the door. The pitch is the sale. The pitch is marketing. The pitch is the close. The pitch is not about writing, really. But, it is about selling your writing, but not so much about what you’ve written, as how you show what you’ve written.
Penetrating Family Mystery Via Memoir
Lori Hart Beninger’s new book 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 an All-American Family in California and the secrets they kept from the middle 1950s to early 1980s.
Drawing In The Reader With The Setting
It used to be that novels would lavishly describe the setting. But with today’s focus on tight pacing, a few details here and there usually have to be enough. Here’s how to make those details count. If you’re writing in close third person point of view, or first person point of view (most novels today […]
Blog to Book
In The Inner Guru: Dreams Reveal Your Future, author John Desautels expands on his experience with dreams, with unique insights provided by examples from his more than forty years of dream study. This is a followup to his first book, a memoir, The Man Who Sees Tomorrow in His Dreams. In this new book, he includes […]
Basics Of Book Design, Part 1
There are many online book retailers today, including Amazon Kindle, Apple iBookstore, Google, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, and Lulu. Publishing has changed in just about every way in my lifetime, but one thing remains the same: the basic rules of good book design and typesetting (also known as page layout and composition). Main Text pages […]
The Many Modes Of Third-Person Point Of View
Perspective as a Fiction Storytelling Tool It sometimes seems like there are as many angles to tell a story as there are possibilities in choosing a genre. Let’s narrow it down and explore a classic fiction perspective, third-person point of view (POV). Third-Person Omniscient Omniscient point of view is told from an all-knowing, all-seeing viewpoint. […]
Make Sure Your Facts Fit The Fiction
Sometimes novelists throw in a word or comment in a story and miss its ramifications, because the author is intent on the big picture-what this smaller picture is leading up to-without giving proper attention to how the small word or comment may fracture the movie in the readers’ minds. Example: A story I am editing […]
Choosing Your Book’s Point of View
Certain reader expectations come with first, second, and third points of view. I noted previously the importance of keeping a consistent perspective in a novel, and I suggested authors use point of view (POV) as a guide in writing and editing their story. If you’re not sure how to pick your story’s point of view, […]
How To Handle Art When You’re Self-Publishing Your Children’s Book
If you’ve taken on the role of the self-publisher and are working on an illustrated children’s book, consider the following tips: Find an illustration style to match your story. There are as many ways to illustrate a book as there are to write it. Look at already published books and see how various illustrators realize […]
15 Tips For Self-Editing Your Children’s Book
How to write a children’s book. Tips for self-editing.
The Capitalization Of Spiritual Terms
If you’re writing a spiritual book, refer to the Christian Writer’s Manual of Style, which, like the Chicago Manual of Style, recommends minimal capitalization of religious terms, or “down” style.
5 Common Problems With Fiction Writing
You have approximately ten pages to hook your reader, whether an agent, editor, or reader. Here are five common problems to avoid when writing fiction.
Fiction Writing: The First Pages
Much has been written about how to make sure your opening is strong enough to grab attention, and here is a summary of some of the best advice.
