Authors write books for a multitude of reasons, but why would anyone blog a book?
Blog Your Book
1
How to: Direct Mail Marketing
You may have gotten these yourself – a form letter trying to entice you into buying something? But direct mail marketing can be so much more than that, and can be a useful tool for you, your writing, your services, or your business.
Book Reviews – Non-Fiction
Have you ever found yourself wanting to purchase the most useful book on a particular topic? Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Goodreads all include a book review function on their sites where satisfied readers can rate and review the books they’ve read. But how to you write a short review? This week I focus on reviewing non-fiction books.
Book Reviews – Fiction
Have you ever found yourself looking for a book and not knowing which in the plethora of books to buy? Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Goodreads all include a book review function on their sites where satisfied readers can rate and review the books they’ve read. But how do you write a short review?
Submit Your Stories
You’ve had a moment of creative insight and written madly and wildly, or you’ve toiled tirelessly on a story urging you for expression. You have painstakingly reviewed the story, working it through multiple drafts, fine tuning the structure, the language, the characters, the intricate plot. At last, the final piece is ready – the best story you’ve written so far! Now what?
Turn your manuscript into a novel
If, like me, you have just finished writing your first draft – congratulations! Ride that high for a while before considering the next step: revision and rewriting.
Cut it out!
This month, I am breaking off the mad affair I have had for most of my life…sugar just has to go! Well, I’ll try my best at least. So while I let the manuscript of my first novel rest for a while, I will occasionally blog about going sugar free: it will keep me on track, keep my honest.
Going Sugar-free
I’m taking a firm stand against sugar…this is NOT an easy decision for me, I mean, sugar and I have had a strong relationship since I was a little girl. It’s not cakes and sweets I like so much as chocolate. And while I revel in the taste and sugary high I get from eating it, my desire is now in direct conflict with my slowly burgeoning waistline and long-term health and well-being.
How did I get here?
It has been around a year since I was last formally employed, since I last had a day job. That statement alone sounds phenomenally thrilling! I mean, how many people wish they could say that?
Endings and beginnings
When I started writing my novel, I already had an idea for an ending. It seemed to be the perfect conclusion after what I now realise was a simplistic plot. I had written a short story that was to form the basis for the novel. This was fantastic because I already had a sense of the storyline, but not so great in as much as it was limiting in times when I tried to too closely adhere to that original story. A short story made into a longer story does not make a novel unless other storylines can be brought into play, unless further complexity can be added to the mix.