Guest Post: CONTEST: Write with Hanna, Editorial Feedback #1

October 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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Hanna here! Well, here we are! I truly enjoyed reading the submissions, and it was difficult to pick just one. I believe that authors are the movers and shakers of the world, and it is so inspirational to be a part of such a talented community. To ensure the author’s anonymity, I have used only the first initial of the character’s names. Congratulations Submission #8! Synopsis: This manuscript opens in Pompeii, J— stumbling over the crouched body of S—, a woman he hasn’t seen for ten years, and whom he has loved since he was a boy. She was bending down, caressing the ruts of the ancient road, tracing the grooves of history in the “city-sized graveyard.” Years later, they… [read more]

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The Well-Rounded Authorpreneur: Be a Thought Leader (Part 1 of 2)

August 15, 2012 by 4 Comments
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In today’s world, there are about as many ways to publish (self-publishing, scholarly publishing, nonprofit publishing, digital publishing, etc.) as there are reasons (fame, passion, creating a movement, legacy, preservation, etc). In any publishing realm not solely for personal/family reasons, every author should be an authorpreneur. An authorpreneur (author + entrepreneur) is an author who recognizes what it takes to be successful as an author in today’s world–not twenty years ago. An authorpreneur takes habits from highly successful entrepreneurs and implements them into selling their book. An authorpreneur isn’t just a writer; an authorpreneur is a speaker, social media strategist, networker, etc. The  authorpreneur recognizes that the book is just a piece of the puzzle, a product that supports and is… [read more]

Filed Under: Audience, Authorpreneur, Book Marketing, Branding, Literary Trends, Motivational, Pub. Industry, Speaking, Storytelling, Thought Leader Tagged With: , , , , ,

5 Tips to Great Writing

July 16, 2012 by 2 Comments
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In the words of Richard Bach, “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” Below are five tips to getting past the “I want to write a book” stage to “I’m on draft ____ of my book!” 1. Read, read, read! Before you become a famous writer, you should read the works of famous writers. Lots of writers with lots of variety. Pay attention to the different and subtle ways they connect with their audience. You might read two fantasy books, but one may be all about world building while the other is all about character building. Even though I love the fantasy genre, I know that I’m much more invested in character-driven plots than world-building plots, or rather I appreciate when authors are clever… [read more]

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The First Line: 4 Tips to Writing an Opener that Keeps Readers Reading!

June 25, 2012 by 5 Comments
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(Reposted from February 24, 2012) The first line of your book is unquestionably the most important one you will write. It is the line that eggs the reader on, pushes them forward, encouraging them to take a chance with their valuable time on the next line, the next paragraph, the next page, chapter, and ultimately, the entire book. I’m going to say it again, more explicitly: your readers’ time is valuable. Especially readers of today. Readers of today are constantly inundated with information, to the point that it takes a great deal of interest for them to want to know more about any given topic. Add to that an almost complete devaluing of information due to the fact that it is so immediately… [read more]

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Take a 6-Minute Writing Break NOW!

June 13, 2012 by 2 Comments
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If you’re anything like me (or any other writerly type in the universe), you might be accustomed to creating brilliant (and sometime quite logical) reasons why you can’t be writing or working toward writing in the present moment. These are often called “excuses.” They sound like, “I’m in a staff meeting” or “I have a meeting in twenty minutes” or “I have to invoice my client.” Okay, those are all pretty good reasons to not be doing anything else. Still, I often get stuck on the idea that every time I write I have to make a significant time investment. Not true! If you’re sitting at your desk, and you’re up for a coffee break, below are six easy writing… [read more]

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Memorial Day Post: Six Influential Literary Contributors Who Died in 2011

May 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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Happy Memorial Day weekend, writers! For most people, this weekend is a brilliant excuse to relax by a lake somewhere, eating a hotdog and sipping a beer at 1:00 in the afternoon. For freelancers like me, it’s an excuse to have a three-day weekend to catch up on a few editing projects. Many of us probably don’t let our thoughts linger too long on the original intent of Memorial Day, if it even crosses our minds at all. Memorial Day (originally “Decoration Day”) originated after the American Civil War, its purpose being to commemorate fallen American soldiers. Over time, it became a time of memory and commemoration in general, as families would use the time to visit the graves of… [read more]

Filed Under: Literary Trends, Motivational, Quotes, Storytelling, Writing Tagged With: , , ,

“At First Bite”: Is It Worth It to Follow Literary Trends?

May 11, 2012 by 1 Comment
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Once upon a time, Western society as a whole was flushed with anticipation for the END OF THE WORLD. Some thought the rapture was coming, others believed it would be a complete blackout caused by a virtual virus that would completely wipe out our digital structures. I’m not talking about 2012–I’m talking about Y2K. Oh yea–that. The Y2K fiasco really became more about effective branding and bandwagoning than it did about a reality. It led to a slue of Y2K-themed business books, cookbooks, fiction, music (Backstreet Boys’ Millennium album, anyone?), and more. One Amazon reviewer of The Y2K Personal Survival Guide wrote in his five-star review on June 4, 1999, “Pollyanna’s don’t need to read this book. Keep denying! You… [read more]

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The Fifty Shades of Grey Effect: The Guilty-Pleasure Novel

May 4, 2012 by 5 Comments
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In looking at some of the most popular books in the past few years, most have clearly not been NGANs (“next great American novels”). In fact, some of them were so far  off the “literary” mark that they barely had any discernible qualities that made them obviously worthwhile (let’s just say that a particular example rhymes with “Flylight”). These guilty-pleasure books—mostly targeted to female audiences—have plenty of qualities that, on paper, make them decidedly NOT worthwhile: they often portray flat, archetype characters; they have repetitive asinine phrases and clichés that clutter the dialogue; the characters are barely likeable, and if you “like” a character, you aren’t even sure why; the plots are predictable; they reflect a negative, regressive societal role… [read more]

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20 Memorable Quotes on Writing and Publishing from Famous Creatives

April 20, 2012 by 2 Comments
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Happy Friday! Phew—how was your week? We had an awesome week filled with humbly helping and serving some incredibly creative, brilliant, and talented people to navigate the world of writing, publishing, and marketing. But sometimes…you just need some advice from the greats. The list below is compiled of some of the best quotes we know on writing and publishing  from famous creatives. Enjoy! “To write is human, to edit is divine.” -Stephen King “Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; the editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” -Mark Twain “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” -Ernest Hemingway “All I’m writing is just what… [read more]

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