Tweet Guts & Bolts is my catch-all dissection and deconstruction of various parts of book promotion. Since promotional copy is my theme this month and with Courtney’s review fresh in mind, I decided to take a look at promo copy in one of the most beloved facets of the fantasy genre…Epic Fantasy. Most beloved by […]
Tweet The student of writing can come up with myriad metaphors for what writing is like. Call it painting. Call it shipbuilding. Call it a political race. Let me tell you one of my favorites. Writing is like sculpting. You take this raw idea and you cut away the unnecessary, the amorphous. What is left […]
Tweet If life were simple, the design process would go something like this: You: “Hi, Designer. I want a book cover.” Designer: “Let me telepathically absorb exactly what you’re looking for and add a couple things to make it better.” The perfect finished cover is delivered in a day or two. Cue the high five. […]
Tweet Welcome, dearest writers and readers, to my first feature post! This week we’re on about prologues. Should we have them? Or should we cast them upon the cleansing fires of editing and rewrites, never allowing them to mar another of our manuscripts again? The Problem with Prologues Rumor has it that your editor (you […]
Tweet For reasons that will soon become obvious, I’ve been spending a lot of time lately at Kindleboards. It’s a fantastic forum for indie writers (as long as you don’t let it use up your writing time). A lot of very friendly, very talented people hang out there, and they’re generous about answering new writers’ […]
Tweet Two weeks ago I introduced myself and explained that I’m the editor for Consortium Books. In the world of self-publishing, editors are more important than ever to add credibility to your work. Why? Let me tell you. Unless you’re publishing your book to hold it in your hands, hug it, and then put in on a […]
Tweet Last time I explained how unexpectedly good promotional copy caused me to be crowned King of Promotional Copy. (Kings and czars? I definitely have delusions of grandeur.) This time, I’m going to tell you how a really good job making bad copy led to discovering the Consortium Formula for promotional copy. But before that, […]
Tweet What follows is a short excerpt from a story. The author, “Richard,” generously donated his work to be edited before a live audience (you). At my request, he made no edits to it. He simply typed the words that came into his head and let them be once they were down. I then edited […]
Tweet Imagine you’re meeting a friend for lunch. You’ve pulled into the parking lot and two restaurants stand in front of you: one is a well known, polished chain restaurant that has mediocre, but familiar, food. The one next to it is named Bob’s Extraordinary Kitchen. The exterior is far from extraordinary: the paint is […]
In today’s “Prewriting” post, we’ll discuss working titles, short synopses, and the ever-elusive story question.
