Our Latest Blog Posts
What Every Book Cover Needs
Book covers are one of your most important marketing tools. People will judge your book by its cover. Is it fair? No. Is it reality? Yes. So let’s help you get the best cover you can possibly have, whether you are creating it yourself or hiring a designer. Start with Research The great news is that we live in... Read More »
What Hallmark Taught Me
On the very first day that I “cared enough to send the very best” for a living, I sat down with the Editorial Director of Hallmark Cards in Kansas City. As someone who routinely wrote book reviews for The Sunday New York Times, Web Schott was the most serious and erudite person I’d ever met. I admit I felt... Read More »
Leverage Your Best Marketing Asset: Your Personal Network
Book marketing often seems intimidating to authors, especially when they are not sure where to begin. But what if I told you that you already have an ace in your pocket when it comes to marketing? Whether your book is already out or is in the works, you can use this asset at any time. And it’s free! So,... Read More »
Six Things Editors Look for in Submissions
Since Florida Writers Association (FWA) is in submission season for our Collection Volume 18: Fragments and as a longtime editor of The Florida Writer, FWA’s official magazine, I am thinking a lot about what editors expect from the work they receive from writers hoping to be published in a literary magazine or anthology. I am sure the following list... Read More »
Brighter Thinking, Better Words
Be Positive. Really? Not everything we hear about living a long and happy writer’s life includes the practice of maintaining a positive outlook. So many writers describe their efforts as misery, trying to come up with the opening line that’s a grabber, the descriptive details or dialogue that sell the character, the solution to the “soggy middle” of the... Read More »
Prologues and Epilogues
Here are two devices that have become very popular in recent years: the prologue and the epilogue. These are little pieces of text, generally only a few pages long, that precede the opening of a book (to set up the story) or after its “The End” (to explain what happens subsequently). Some people like them; some—me included—do not. But... Read More »
The Power of a Sidekick
One of the primary goals of a fiction writer is to create a strong, unforgettable lead character. Yet, most of us have likely discovered that the full measure of many great characters is brought to light by their sidekick, partner, or buddy. This is a person who might share in the story’s adventures. Maybe it’s a character who plays... Read More »
Say It Once
Perhaps it seems self-evident to warn “Don’t say the same thing over and over”—yet it needs to be said. Not because authors are a stupid lot (we aren’t), but because of the on-again-off-again nature of writing and other totally understandable things. Let me explain. I’m currently reading a good novel. The characters are interesting. The scenes are described well.... Read More »