Craft of Writing
It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: Four Tips for Writing Great Opening Sentences
As Will Rogers reminded us, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. This is never truer than when an agent or […]
how-to
Self-Publishing
How to Convert Your Manuscript from Word to Kindle Format in 5 Easy Steps (Part 3)
Last time, in part 2 of this series, we covered Steps 1-3 of the 5 steps, which discussed styling, headers and footers, and pagination. This […]
Self-Publishing
How to Convert Your Manuscript from Word to Kindle Format in 5 Easy Steps (Part 2)
In the first part of this series, we looked at some initial considerations when preparing a manuscript for Kindle. Today, we’ll be covering Steps 1-3 […]
Craft of Writing
How to “Write Tight”
Editors continually tell us writers that we need to learn how to ‘write tight.’ What exactly, does that phrase mean? How can authors like ourselves […]
Critique Groups
How to Critique: The One Big Thing
There are a lot of theories about the best way to critique. The “sandwich” method is one of the most used, especially in Christian organizations. […]
Self-Publishing
How to Convert Your Manuscript from Word to Kindle Format in 5 Easy Steps (Part 1)
You’ve finished your wonderful manuscript in Word, complete with front matter and back matter. You may even have already uploaded the manuscript to CreateSpace … […]
Marketing & Platform
How to Attract Your Crazy Loyal Fans
For years, I thought I had a major jealousy problem. Why else did I daily wonder: Why is Kathi Lipp‘s platform growing so much faster […]
Getting Published
How to Break the Andy Syndrome: Tips for Writing for a Magazine
I feel your pain, Miranda Priestly. Miranda is the perfectionist editor-in-chief of Runway, a top fashion magazine in The Devil Wears Prada. One morning she […]
Writing Tips
Track It! How to Use Character Charts
What color were her eyes again? How long has he had this job? When did she break her arm, and is she out of her […]
Marketing & Platform
How to Annoy Others and Look Terribly Desperate Online
This post illustrates what not to do when building your online presence. In it, I poke fun at the crazy things we do to get […]