Blog
How To Write A Novel In 10 Steps
Turning an idea into something other people will read and buy involves ten steps in three phases.
6 Best Young Adult Books Of 2019 … so far
Throughout my childhood, my uncle would ship books to us several times a year. It seemed essential to read those books, classics and contemporaries both, into my adolescence and adulthood. I came to favor the controversial, hot-button, balls out titles that compelled discussion, that ripped away boundaries. Uncle John wrote those kind of young adult novels and I knew when I read them that I would write them too. My picks for 2019, January to March.
Science Fiction Writing – Choosing a Sci-Fi Book Editor
The challenge of writing good (even great) science fiction.
Self-Publishing and the Cost – A Conversation
Writer and graphic artist explain how they self-published a book and the costs involved. Beth Bruno, is part of the Book Editing Associates network.
8 Best Romance Novels (March 2019)
A recent curiosity for how things were going in Romancelandia had me perusing a sampling of March 2019 bestseller lists. The New York Times has done away with the Mass Market Fiction Best-seller List (which many of us former Big 5 editors took as our holy grail for all things successful Romance), so the new list is referred to as a Combined Print and EBook Fiction Best-seller list.
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.
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....
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...
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...
Book Editing & Proofreading: Can You Trust Grammarly?
I took 5,000 words of an unedited novel and uploaded it to Grammarly. I edited those same 5,000 words employing eyes, brain, fingers, and 48 years of professional experience.
How to Enter and Win Book Award Contests
Contest Tips from Indie Book Awards Judge 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, you will be...
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...
The Dark Horse: A Walt Longmire Mystery – Book Review
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...
Hire a Professional Proofreader
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 their book is out in the world, serviced by subpar editors. They share...
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,...
