From LifeHacker comes this nice chart of the basics of story structure. Of course, it’s up to you to make the content compelling, unique, and moving. There’s no shortcut to writing a great story. However, there are guidelines that can help get you started if you’ve never done it before. This chart compiles several different…
We are a little late to the party, since CampNaNoWriMo just ended on April 30. But this article’s advice is useful for any writing project. Do some planning Set intermediate goals Write Every Day Try Word Sprints Write in Different Places Curb Distractions Always Carry a Notepad Get Away and Think When You Have No…
If you are a reader, and you love bookstores, BookRiot has a blog post for you. This post lists the best bookstores in all fifty states in the U.S. (plus the District of Columbia). The list is based on a number of criteria as evaluated by BookRiot subscribers. How knowledgeable are the booksellers? What’s the selection…
From author Janice Hardy comes this lengthy and detail article on nine things to look at if you think your novel is too short. This is a worthwhile read even if you don’t have this problem—a lot of good concepts are discussed. Check it out! Although most word count problems are too many words, the…
Not only is Grammarly a great site for improving the technicalities of your writing, but the blog is full of good advice and techniques. Here is a recent post describing three things you can do to improve your writing: Games and Apps! National Novel Writing Month! Getting Our Creative Juices Flowing! Click here to view…
This is a from a guest post from Mallory Soto from BookRiot. Mallory is a short story writer, literary fiction enthusiast, and an Editorial Assistant and Social Media Strategist in New York. Congratulations, you wrote something! Maybe it’s the first draft of a short story or a polished manuscript to a novel. Either way, it…
Brent Jones, former freelance social media manager and author of The Fifteenth of June, shares 5 simple marketing strategies that all first-time authors can (and should!) try, and how his efforts have already started to pay off. 1. Run a free Kindle promotion 2. Donate print copies to libraries and bookstores 3. Contact local media…
There is an adage that “everyone has a book in them.” While there are millions of businesspeople, each one has done something different, taken a different path, or found something that worked for them. Your experience and knowledge could benefit other entrepreneurs. Perhaps you have suffered through some health or emotional trauma—what you experienced and…
We hope January was a good month for all our readers, writers, and subscribers. We have had a busy month editing and publishing a number of new nonfiction books (see below for our recent releases). We have also been working with some new authors. If you are an indie author or an academic writer, we…
Mention improv to a writer and chances are he’ll turn whiter than a whipped cream hat on a snowman. Most people who put pen to paper think of improv as something that can be carried off only by fearlessly funny comedians. Yet the definition of improvise is to “invent, compose or perform something extemporaneously.” What’s…