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Monthly Archives: February 2013

Promotional Materials

Tweet I promised to talk about the new publishing marketplace here. I’ve said repeatedly that there has never been a better time to be a writer. But even as self-publishing opened the door for a lot of writers to make comfortable livings instead of papering their walls with rejection letters, one common refrain among writers […]

Top Three Grammar Mistakes of Writers…and the Rest of the World

Tweet As an editor, a major part of my job is to correct a writer’s grammar. This includes spelling errors, incorrect homophones (or words that sound similar but aren’t if you think about it), punctuation, and word choice. Each month I’ll share with you some common mistakes I find in the works that I edit and how […]

Catching the Flipside: The Importance of Back Cover Copy

Tweet Rachel is dead on when she says creating a good cover is half the battle of hooking a new reader. The back cover copy is definitely the other half. I use the phrases “promotional copy” and “back cover copy” pretty much interchangeably. I probably shouldn’t, if only because there are so many other areas […]

Why Rewriting Is Part of Writing

Tweet If everything goes as planned, my first novel, a fantasy, will be published by the Consortium later this year. I’ve been working on it for nearly six years. I think it’s ready. You should have seen the first draft I wrote back in 2007. It was, in a word, awful. The main character was pathetic, […]

The Cover Uncovered: A Game of Thrones Edition

Tweet “The Cover Uncovered” will be a monthly post where I dissect the cover of a relatively recent book and take a look at what works, what doesn’t, and what you can learn from it. Because I like to make life easier for me, I’m zipping right past all the small fish and going straight […]

The Benefits of Prewriting

Tweet In last week’s intro post, I posited that not prewriting your novel is like not taking a map on a quest (which happens to end with facing down a fire-breathing dragon). Today we’re going to take a look at that metaphorical map and figure out just what it really is. Caveat Caveat emptor: Let […]

Welcome to the New “Unstressed Syllables”

Tweet It took a little longer than I’d expected, but I’m proud to share with you the all-new Unstressed Syllables. This site used to be a place for me to keep friends and family updated on my writing and other projects. About a year ago I moved all that stuff over to AaronPogue.com. I also […]

A Peek Behind the Curtain, or, A Word from the Editor

Tweet Good morning, readers and writers! I’m Jessie Sanders. You may have heard of me. No? Well, that’s probably becuase I’m the editor. I’ve been editing my own work since I was a teenager. I come from a family of perfectionists and English majors, so I would often craft a few pages of a story […]

I Don’t Care What They Say About Me, Just Make Sure They Spell My Name Right!

Tweet Ladies and Gentlemen, please direct your attention to the CENTER RING! What’s up, party people? I’m Joshua Unruh, novelist and Czar of Marketing for Consortium Books. Here’s why you should care what I think. Crimes and Misdemeanors I’ve had a lot of jobs in my life. That’s pretty normal for everybody. But I’ve also […]

Introduction

Tweet My name is Thomas Beard, and I know writing. See that up there? That’s my thesis statement. In the next 478 words, I’m going to develop it, flesh it out, then restate it in my conclusion. Then do you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to reread it. At least three times. […]