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What It Means to Have Style

“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” –Kurt Vonnegut When it comes to an author’s writing, style can only mean one of two things—one can be learned;...

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Books Are for Writing

“If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write.” –Stephen King      I like to say books are for writing, not reading, but that’s a half-truth. The key to good...

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Write Every Day (Even If It's Fifteen Minutes)

“To be a writer is to sit down at one’s desk in the chill portion of every day, and to write; not waiting for the little jet of the blue flame of genius to start from the breastbone—just plain going at...

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Write Out Loud

  “Any time your text is awkward or confusing, or any time you have to pause or reread your text, revise this section. If it is at all awkward for you, you can bet it will be awkward for your reader.”...

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How Book Cover Writers Are Like Rappers

If you used CreateSpace (then BookSurge) to print (no matter what the platform but back then there was usually an actual print run) your book between 2005 and 2010, and you purchased the marketing...

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UR Drivin M3 Cr8zy

I get it. I’m a rule follower, so it’s kind of natural for me to care about punctuation, grammar and good writing. Grammar Nazi, Punctuation Police and other not so nice names get lobbed at me, but I...

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The Mitt Romney of e-books

"The technology I like is the American paperback edition of Freedom. I can spill water on it and it would still work! So it's pretty good technology." –Jonathan Franzen I’m the Mitt Romney of e-books....

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A Good Author Asks Questions

We all make bad choices—everyday. We sneak a text while driving or let our irresponsible friend walk our dog, and when we rear-end a parked car or are stapling “Lost” posters to telephone poles, we...

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Book Editing without a Budget

  A compelling premise behind Indie publishing is that authors have dominion over their published work. To a great extent, whether wanted or unwanted, Indie publishing is about ownership and control,...

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The Toils of Professional Book Editors

  “This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” –Dorothy Parker It happened twice this past week. Once two weeks ago, before that it’d been at least six...

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Getting Personal in the Increasingly Anonymous World of Publishing: Editors...

Strangely, over the years, I’ve found I rather appreciate finding an author bio enclosed at the tail end of a manuscript I’m about to edit. An author photo, which long ago might frustrate me for poking...

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Authors Write, Book Designers Design: A Word on Basic Formatting

“When walking, walk. When eating, eat” –Zen Proverb As an editor, my number one headache when it comes to editing Indie authors, especially neophytes, is they’ve a tendency to prematurely offer design...

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Top 10 Reasons to Use a Ghostwriter

You’re a professional who needs a professional manuscript You haven’t got the time You can’t see the forest for the trees You need contacts and experience English isn’t your first language You’re not...

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A Junior Editor's Advice to the Novice Author

  I am lucky enough to get paid for my hobby. As much as I'd like to say this is for my tennis or scuba diving skills, it is actually more fun than that. I love to edit. In high school and particularly...

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Why I Hate My iPhone Case

I have the top-of-the-line iPhone case. It's completely submersible, shock proof, and can withstand a seven-foot drop inside of a sandstorm…and I hate it. Let me backtrack: I hate what it isn’t—it...

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Choosing an Editor

When it comes to finding an editor to help you with your book, make sure it’s someone who responds to what you’ve written and how you’ve written it. Make no mistake: no one likes to be edited. It can...

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Down with Adjectives

The week before last Hurricane Isaac dropped a biblical amount of rain on Charleston. Besides the Honda that floated by me as I fetched my daughter from school, the novelty of the monsoon was...

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