The Heretical Things Statistics Tell Us About Fiction

Have you ever used Microsoft Word’s “readability statistics” function? It gives your document a score, as a grade level, based on something called the Flesch-Kincaid analysis, which purported to be the grade level a reader would have to have attained to understand the piece. How helpful or accurate is the function? Turns out it s…

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Misprint the legends: famous typos from James Joyce to JK Rowling

In our last post, we discussed and linked to an article about the importance of multiple editing rounds. As noted, we do in-house proofreading for our authors, and offer more detailed editing services to all writers (whether signed to us or not). As proof that typos make it into even the most popular works, here…

Neil Gaiman’s 5 Must-see Tips on Perfecting Your Writing

Neil Gaiman’s 5 Must-see Tips on Perfecting Your Writing

There are many celebrated writers in this world, but few ever reach the rockstar-level status of dark fantasy author Neil Gaiman. Fans stand in line for hours at his book signings, only to faint when they finally meet him (or ask him to sign their body so they can get his signature tattooed). His beloved…

What to Do When Your Novel's Too Short

The following article is by Janice Hardy the founder of Fiction University, and the author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars. Click here to view full article at blog.janicehardy.com     Although most word count problems are too many words, the too-short novel does happen. I’ve talked before about things to do to bulk up a…

New Book, New Writing Process? Why Changing it Up Works

Heather Webb describes the reasons that changing up your writing process and rituals can bring new creativity. With each book, there were pieces of my process that didn’t change, regardless of the structure. I had to discover who my characters were by exploring their backstory. I needed to know where the story began—that inciting incident—and…

Hottest New Fiction Books of Summer 2017

Bookbub gives us a gigantic list of books to read for the summer. Here is a sampling. For the full list, with descriptions and categorization, click here to view full article at media.bookbub.com 16th Seduction by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro Into the Water by Paula Hawkins Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane Testimony by Scott…

Editing Your Fiction To Sell: Macro And Micro Editing Tips

Editing Your Fiction To Sell: Macro And Micro Editing Tips

From Just Write a Book, a nice guide to editing from the macro and micro perspective. Editing your fiction helps you to write novels and serials which sell. You want your readers to love your stories, so that they buy your next ebook, and the next. Think of editing as polishing a diamond. In its…

The 5 Things Productive Writers Do Differently

The 5 Things Productive Writers Do Differently

From an excellent article over at Booklaunch, here are some excerpts from an interview with Joe Bunting at The Write Practice. Click here to view full article at booklaunch.com How do you become a productive writer, the kind who not only actually finishes writing their book, but continues to put out books, year after year?…

So you want to be a writer? Essential tips for aspiring novelists

“Nobody can advise you and help you, nobody,” said Rainer Maria Rilke in Letters to a Young Poet more than a century ago. “There is only one way. Go into yourself.” Rilke, of course, was right – nobody but yourself can help. In the end it all comes down to the strike of the word…