Finding Your Focus

The best place for focus is internal. I’ve been on a journey of writing self discovery this year, and I’d love you to join me a journey to find your writing focus. I started with something simple: Set a goal. Make a commitment. Decide what you are working on and focus on your project.
I thought [...]

Who loves short (shorts)?

Why you should consider writing a novella
Not many people probably associate the old Nair commercial jingle with writing, but…that’s okay. Dancing to a different tune is what we authors do. Speaking as both an author and an editor, I can assure you, my royalties statements tell me lots of readers like shorts. And by shorts, [...]

5 Tips for Writing a Series by Fran Shaff

Series books can be a joy for readers…and a headache for writers.
All books are difficult to write, but series books pose special problems.  Simplicity, consistency, individuality, life-like characters and a special handling of backstory details add to series success.
Here are five tips to help the writer who chooses to write a book series, despite the [...]

Is e-Publishing right for your genre? by Piper Denna

Which genres really do well as ebooks? In the past, erotica and all its sub-genres sold best in digital format. With thousands of readily available titles available instantly and discreetly, ebooks are the format of choice for readers who want something a bit more stimulating than your average romance.
Today, however, the market is changing. Just [...]

Writing Wide by Billie A Williams

Thanks to Billie A Williams for the guest post. Follow Billie on Twitter.
Learning all the rules so you can break them to write your own truth and expand your knowledge, imagination, and interpretation of the life around you.
Wide lines on wide ruled paper are what you used when you first began to write so that [...]

3 Synopsis Samples

If you’re anything like me, you learn through example. So here are links to three synopsis samples/examples. Read them and take notes on how they incorporate the storyline, characters, and other important details. Pay close attention to how they transition from scene to scene and wrap up the ending of the story as well.

Carolyn Jewel [...]

A Hard look at 2009

With only a few days left of 2009 it’s time to take a look, a hard look, at what went well, what went wrong, which goals you achieved, which goals fell short in 2009, and what you need to improve on in 2010.
Let’s start with a question.
What went right in 2009?

In what ways did you [...]

3 Reasons Your Synopsis Stinks

Is your synopsis garnering a lack luster response? Not placing in contests? Picked on by your critique partners? Yeah, we’ve all been there. Here are three common problems that might be holding your synopsis back. So read on and tackle your problem synopsis.
1. Your synopsis doesn’t include the ending.
By definition, this is what a synopsis [...]

Building A Rock Solid Query Letter

Author: Sophfronia Scott
Recently I reviewed a client’s query letter. It was a hard working query letter, detailing the marketing prospects for the book, her own glowing credentials and the contacts she possessed that would help her publicize the book. But she left out one teeny weeny thing: she didn’t say what her book was about! [...]

Quick Tip: Write Daily

Even if you’re like me and you tend to write in giant bursts (my top wordcount is 6500 words in a single evening) it’s important to write something each day. It’s important to be thinking about your writing each day. Even if you’re polishing a proposal or making revisions for an agent, write a paragraph [...]