Series Bible: What To Include And Why Writers Should Have One

K.M. Allan

Not content with writing just one book, some writers tackle a series.

I did this for the first manuscript I decided to write seriously (either bravely or stupidly, I still haven’t decided), and one thing I learned was that it pays to have a series bible.

A series bible is a document made up of all the notes, secrets, and information relating to your series. The same principles can be applied to standalone books, but where a series bible really shines is keeping everything straight amongst multiple books. This is the reason why all writers should have one.

What To Include In Your Series Bible

Characters

List everything you can about your characters. What they look like, who they’re related to, who they’re friends with. Note down their goals, dreams, where they go to school, if they have a job, what happened in their past. It doesn’t have to be…

View original post 1,020 more words

Advertisement

The Ultimate Guide to Goodreads for Authors

How To Ebook

KindlePreneur by Dave Chesson  /

Do you know just how influential the power of social media is today? From presidential politics to reviewing the latest in Star Wars headcanon, it seems there is a place for social media in all aspects of life. But what about for authors and writing?

read more :https://kindlepreneur.com/how-to-use-goodreads-for-authors/

View original post

How to Revise your Manuscript: First Draft to Final Draft – by Lisa Poisso…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Writing a novel is such a minuscule part of writing a novel. People who’ve never written anything longer than a school paper have a hard time imagining that pouring all those words onto the page isn’t the major part of the battle.

Experienced authors know better.

Writing the manuscript is just a fraction of the process of creating a novel.

The writing process hogs the spotlight, but learning how to revise your manuscript will allow the story inside to bloom.

Continue reading HERE

View original post

Key Writing Lessons from a Writing Event

Uninspired Writers

Yesterday, I attended an incredible writing event hosted by Jericho Writers. It was a fantastic day, with talks from amazing writers, authors and agents. I just need to state that I would 100% attend one of their events again, and recommend them to other writers hoping to gain huge insight into writing, getting an agent and publishing.

So, I thought I’d share with you all some of the writing lessons I took away from the day. Next week I’ll share some of the publishing lessons too, but I think it’ll be too much if I try and fit everything into one blog post, so here we go!

1. Speech is one of the most powerful character traits
The first talk of the day was about ‘advanced characterisation’ and spoke about the various ways we can portray our characters to ensure they have depth. ‘Speech’ was discussed for a while…

View original post 732 more words

This Week in Indie Publishing

Author Don Massenzio

Hello,

This was a relatively popular feature on my blog and I’ve decided to resurrect it. I will try to curate four to five interesting stories each week related to Indie Publishing. I hope you find them useful and enjoyable.

5 Tips for Self-Publishing a Book

Have you always wanted to see your words in print? Publishing a book used to be a drawn out, complicated process that was left only to the pros. Nowadays, it’s easier than ever to get your words out there thanks to self-publishing.

In the Kindle Store, 31% of all e-book sales were for self-published books. Those are good stats if you’re hoping to earn a living from writing alone. Whether you’re experienced in the world of publishing or this is your first project, here are 5 tips for self-publishing your book in no time.

1. Don’t Skimp on Editing

Editing your book is what…

View original post 648 more words

Got Books to Sell? Try These 22 Book Marketing Tips – by Frances Caballo…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

on Social Media Just For Writers:

How many book marketing tips have you tried?

Probably every single one that you’ve read about, right?

What makes book marketing so tough isn’t that you run out of ideas to market your books. It’s that you have so many different plans.

Well, if you want to make it as a writer, get ready for the marathon of writing and marketing. You’ll always be doing both from now on.

To make life easier for you (or harder?), I’ve assembled a checklist of my top book marketing tips for you.

Continue reading HERE

View original post

Countdown Deal – Blossom on the Thorn

lorettalivingstone

Until the end of 2nd Feb – only 99c/99p

1195
“I should have had nothing to do with those accursed Angevins. I should have run like hell in the opposite direction.”

Giles de Soutenay can scarcely be blamed for his disappointment. Promised an heiress by Queen Eleanor, he is dismayed to discover that, although young and attractive, his bride has all the warmth of a stone effigy.

For the newly widowed Isabella, the reality of a new husband is no cause for celebration. She will do her duty but no more. She will give de Soutenay no reason to complain but he will not have her heart, for any belief in love and tenderness died during those brief years of her first marriage. However, she has reckoned without Giles’ perseverance.

After the snows of winter, spring brings hope, until the arrival of a stranger threatens Giles and Isabella’s blossoming happiness…

View original post 92 more words

Your 2019 Book Marketing Plan, Month by Month – by Amy Collins…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

on Bookworks:

“Fail to plan? Then plan to fail.”  What a HORRIBLE quote, but SO apt for authors who are trying to figure out their marketing strategies. 

Now is the perfect time to sit down and create a 2019 marketing plan.

The problem for most of us is that marketing is such a big job.

We get bogged down in the enormity of the task and quite often push it off. It is easier to do things that we know and like, so marketing often gets delayed or even skipped altogether.

But we can overcome this.

Continue reading HERE

View original post

3 Apostrophe Rules You Need!

Just Can't Help Writing

One of those dastardly little conundrums of self-editing is the apostrophe.

Our writing center at the institution where I taught had a handout titled “Rogue Apostrophes,” in recognition of the way these nasty squiggles had a way of popping up here and there in student papers, wherever the mood seemed to strike them.

””””””’ !

As with many punctuation marks, misplaced apostrophes don’t always get in the way of a reader’s understanding. But they can. When readers encounter something that looks as if it was a possessive but turns out not to be, they’ll mentally backtrack to clear up the confusion. Sometimes the reader doesn’t even notice the glitch in his or her attention, but it’s there all the same.

And even the slightest glitch in attention means that the reader has been kicked out of your story, even if just for a moment. Not good.

There are only

View original post 883 more words

Make Characters Unique with Layering – by Jami Gold…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Somewhere along our learning curve as writers, we’re likely to come across the skill of layering. But what does that mean?

Often that skill refers to how we layer in different elements of our story, weaving in our plot, characters, settings, emotions, etc. In fact, some writers even start with just one element—such as writing their whole story just as dialogue—and then layer in everything else once they have the shape of the story.

But today, I want to talk more about layering that focuses on characters. Specifically, I want to dig into how layering can help us create unique characters, no matter how stereotypical or tropey they might be on the surface.

Continue reading HERE

View original post