This post was prompted by a question from an unpublished author who follows me on social media and subscribes to my newsletter. She participated in a Twitter pitch session, and an editor from a small press expressed an interest in her manuscript. The author had two main questions: Did I know anything about the small …
This post is part of the monthly Author ToolBox Blog Hop, organised by Raimey Gallant. We now have over 40 blogs participating. To find more Blog Hop posts: Click here to visit the main Blog Hop page Click here to find our posts on Twitter Click here to find our Pinterest board Introducing Write! You …
(And How Much Will it Cost?) This is another question from a Facebook group. An author asked how long it would take her to edit her 80,000-word novel before sending it to a professional editor. My answer? It depends. It depends on two things: What level of editing you are doing. The state of the …
This is another blog post based on a comment in a Facebook group (I seem to be getting into a habit, don’t I?). This was a conversation about editing. One author commented that there are several changes she’d like to make to her debut novel, a historical romance published in 2017. Apparently, her research for her …
I’m a Christian. I believe in miracles (although I understand not all Christians do, as I discussed in this post). But that doesn’t mean that we can fill our fiction with miracles: If you find yourself whipping up a coincidence or a miracle after the bleakest moment, chances are you’ve employed deus ex machina … …
This post is part of the monthly Author ToolBox Blog Hop, organised by Raimey Gallant. We now have over 40 blogs participating. To find more Blog Hop posts: Click here to visit the main Blog Hop page Click here to find our posts on Twitter Click here to find our Pinterest board Today I’m talking …
I recently saw a comment in one of the Facebook groups I’m a member of. A fiction author was asking about editing standards in relation to her recently released first novel. As it happened, I was in the middle of reading her book when I saw the Facebook comment. I’d bought it after she mentioned …
I recently saw a comment in one of the Facebook groups I’m a member of. A fiction author was asking about editing standards, in relation to her recently released first novel. She said her editor picked up 50 to 60 mistakes in her 55,000-word novel, but the author had since found at least twelve errors …
If you’re anything like me, the last few weeks have been full of emails from authors and service providers asking if I want to stay on their email list. I’ve reconfirmed some, deleted some, and ignored most (and now I’m waiting to see if my passive rejection will be seen as rejection or as confirmation). …
When I first started blogging, back in September 2011, there were almost no restrictions to reviewing on Amazon. Someone could create a buyer account on Amazon, buy something, and 24 hours later they could review any product on any Amazon site. Yes, any product. On any site. Amazon has never placed any restriction on who …
