Resource Tips

Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover?


cover4No matter who your audience is, you want them to be excited when they see the cover of your book.

While the old adage “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is one all too oft repeated, we all know that we’ve been in a bookstore and picked up a book with an author and title we weren’t familiar with simply because the cover appealed to our senses in some way. That’s not to say that the heart of the matter isn’t what happens to be inside the book; I can just as easily recall how many times I’ve put down that same book with the interesting cover after scanning a few pages and deciding it wasn’t for me.

When you’ve completed a book that you’ve poured your heart, your soul, and countless hours into, it’s important that your piece physically reflects how beautiful of an accomplishment self-publishing can be. While the traditional means for designing a book cover happened to be very time-consuming and left a lot of authors underwhelmed with the result, luckily for today’s authors, we live in a digital age which makes designing a book cover more exciting and involved (especially for a self-publishing author)!

KELLY SCHUKNECHT, Executive Vice-President of Outskirts Press, has wonderful tips to share about designing the book cover that draws the reader in and helps for choosing the right cover that conveys the story of your book.
Read the entire article here.

Source: selfpublishingadvisor.com

Resource Tips

How To Not Give Up On Writing a Book


hopelessDo you have a few abandoned manuscripts sitting on your computer? Are you lured away by new ideas, or do you find that getting started is easy, but continuing to write until the end of a first draft is the hardest thing in the world? You are not alone!

Author Natasha Lester puts together resources about how to not give up on writing a book. ReadMore

Resource Tips

How To Improve Your Writing Skills


Whether you’re a blogger, student, or aspiring author, learning to improve your writing is a skill that can be used for years to come. With a little practice, research, and creative choice, you’ll be on the right track. Dana Fox shares great tips for becoming a better writer:

  • Grammarly.com can help when you’re in a bind
  • Practice, Practice! Short stories, journals, anything to help you write more. Writing prompts may be a key.
  • Read a variety of different styles
  • Swap Words – Be creative. Use the thesaurus if you must. (Did you know Shift + F7 on the keyboard is a shortcut in Word for the Thesaurus?)
  • Outline! Filling in is easier than staring at a blank page.
  • Edit, review, and then edit some more

Read more details on each point at  How To Improve Your Writing Skills

 

 

Resource Tips

Why You Need a Logline


What is a logline? It’s a summarization of your story in three sentences.  Can you do it?  A few months ago, one of SWG’s speakers spoke about creating your logline…the backbone of facts from which you can then create the body of your work. A logline is the essence of your story.

The logline (a term that is typically used when talking about movies and scripts) must answer:

  • Who is the main character (protagonist)?
  • What is the inciting incident?
  • What is the protagonist’s quest?

The logline created at the beginning of your work gives you a place from which to start.

This guest post by Wendy Thomas gives some great tips on developing your logline and why you should know it at the beginning of your work. Read more:

at Your story’s logline and roadmap — Live to Write – Write to Live

Resource Tips

When Your Characters Take Charge…


people photo: swimming team mannybeijing.jpg

Let’s say you’re working on a scene in your story. It’s supposed to be a turning point. You know what’s at stake. You know which characters will be involved. You know what you want to have happen. You know how you want it to end. But somehow when you write it, nothing goes as planned.
Continue reading “When Your Characters Take Charge…”