Blog
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...
How to Hire a Professional Proofreader
How to hire a professional proofreader. Six ways to tell if your proofreader offers professional proofreading services
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
How To Pick Your Science Fiction Categories in Kindle Direct Publishing
Rankings are driven by sales.
Sales are driven by visibility.
Visibility is highly influenced by KDP Amazon categories. Editor Theodora Bryant takes a deep dive into Amazon science fiction categories.
10 Tips For Writing Your Best Romance Novel
Before you begin writing your romance novel, review this romance writing checklist compiled by a published romance editor.
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...
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...
Pacing In Storytelling – 12 Common Problems And Fixes
How to keep your story moving by removing too much information (TMI) that is weighing down the action. **********When you are in the flow of reading, you can tell when the story slows down. What had been a fast-moving adventure becomes like wading through muck. Your...
21 Essential Tips On How To Write Your Memoir
What is a memoir --- and what is it not? It's not an autobiography It’s not a linear account of your life, beginning with the twinkle in your parents’ eyes, your kid’s first tooth, and every trial and triumph and exotic place you traveled to, or wish you had. In fact,...
