There is this common saying – Don’t always judge a book by its cover, people accept the saying but do otherwise consciously, unconsciously and subconsciously. Yes, the title of a book plays an important role in attracting readers but the cover design plays a more important role. When designing the cover of your book, you…
The Process of Writing – Howard of Warwick | Guest Post
I’ve written eight historical humour novels so far. Six of them were in my Brother Hermitage series and two very un-straight histories. Each time I start to write a novel I need a “conceit”. What is the core idea around which the tale will be spun? Is it that a character holds a simple but…
Traditional Publishing: A Maze; Self-publishing: Amazing – Alison Gardiner | Guest Post
I have fought dragons and won; from now on please call me St Georgette. The vanquished fire breathing monster in question is the publishing industry, which waits, crouched, ready to swallow up, or at least badly singe, many would-be heroes. Having discovered that my original attacking stance, straight to the traditional face, was not working,…
How to Write Powerful Flashbacks – Marry McAleavey | Guest Post
Flashbacks are an effective way to share background information about your characters and the story as it’s playing out. It’s more interesting than a linear timeline alone, and keeps readers engaged when written well. When writing flashbacks for your stories, take the following elements into account to execute them successfully. Is Your Flashback Following…
How to Find The Time, Inspiration, and Success You Need as a Writer (Infographic) – Matt Banner | Guest Post
I think we can all agree that there aren’t enough hours in the day. Each day, I wake up and set my goals for the day, but I rarely get through all of them. Now, it could be that I’m setting ridiculous goals, but I’d like to think that it’s more about finding the time…
Reading and Writing for Pleasure: April | Douglas Burcham
Douglas continues his writing and reading for pleasure series with thoughts for April on writing matters in the news, work in progress, reading and publishing. Several years ago, I watched a TV programme showing Sir Terry Pratchett at work in front of a number of computer monitor screens. Then a little later, the news…
Why You Need a Social Media Publishing Calendar and How to Build One – Antonio Tooley | Guest Post
You invested tons of effort to write your book, and it was even harder to get it published. You didn’t have a team of publishers watching your back; you did all the work on your own. You’re proud of that piece, and you should be. Now, the marketing aspect is also your responsibility. You can…
How Independent Authors Can Grow their Following on Twitter – Jessica Davis | Guest Post
If you’re an independent author, you probably already know that maintaining a good online presence and building a readership is crucial to your success. This is all the more important when you’re primarily self-published, and need internet buzz for people to engage with your work. More than any other type of social media, Twitter is…
Foolproof Methods to Avoid Authorship Problems – Rose Scott | Guest Post
Have you ever thought of book piracy as a good way to promote your writing? Lots of indie authors tend to give their eBooks away through torrent sites. But what they fail to do is properly take care of and protect their intellectual property. The reason why many authors give their books away seems logical…
Finding the Right Editor – Sarah Barbour | Guest Post
A good editor should know the norms of the genre and edit to those norms—not try to turn a story about vampire space aliens battling zombies into Faulkner. —Survey respondent A couple of years ago when I was writing my first book, The Copy Editor’s Guide to Working with Indie Authors, I ran a survey…