Tag Archives: Writing

4 Top Tips For Self-Publishing Your First Book With @Pokercubster

Debby Gies  is a master of many things, not the least of which is indie publishing. Head over to Sacha Black’s blog to read Debby’s excellent guest post and garner some very important tips on editing and formatting your manuscript, writing your book blurb, and developing your cover…

Sacha Black's avatarSacha Black

Self pub tipsWriters have a shit load of decisions to make:

Who to kill today, knife em or hang em, daily word count totals, book prices, whether to drown your book blurbing sorrows with vodka or wine… the list goes on.

But one of the biggest of all decisions of all is whether you’re going to run the rat race to traditional publishing, or  push the shiny red button yourself and claim the indie badge.

I made my decision. My blood runs thick with indie colours.

Publishers have their place, I’ll never see my books in a store *weeps* but that sure as shit ain’t enough of a reason for me to go begging book in hand to their doorstep.

Maybe there will come a time when I might need them and I’ll wander up tail between my word covered thighs. But I haven’t slaved over my book for two sodding years, only to be told…

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How to create an Epic Character Infographic…

Make your characters come alive! Build an epic character foundation. Visit Chris’ blog to learn how…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

To find out more about Victoria Fry and her free email course,

click on the link or Infographic below:

How to create an Epic Character 

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Smorgasbord Autumn Reading – Krishna’s Counsel by Mira Prabhu

I like to think of Mira Prabhu as a spunky visionary wielding ruthless compassion. Her books delight, mesmerize, enthrall, and encourage the soul to grow, if even a little. Catch this delightful interview on Sally Cronin’s blog…

EDITING 101: 02 – Description Depression…

Susan Uttendorfsky brings us her second great article in her Editing 101 series on The Story Reading Ape’s blog: How and why not to over or under describe scenes and characters…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Originally posted as the Dun Writin’—Now Whut? series on this blog, EDITING 101 is a weekly refresher series for some of you and brand new for others.

Courtesy of Adirondack Editing

 Do You Have Description Depression?

Are you a writer who uses rich, lush descriptions for their settings and characters? Or one who just wants “the facts, Ma’am, just the facts”? Is it an effort to decide how much description to use, where, and exactly what?

If you struggle with Description Depression in your writing, you’re not alone. There isn’t a “correct” way to use description in fiction, although, in my humble opinion, you’re better off using too little than too much.

In over describing, a writer runs the risk of annoying their readers. Many readers admit to skipping over large amounts of description. It didn’t used to be that way. Before the age of movies, television, the Internet, and smartphones…

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Language Felonies Infographic…

A big “Thank You!” to The Story Reading Ape for posting this superb infographic from GrammarCheck. After reading this infographic, I found that I scored a little less than (euphemism) brilliant. For example, is it “Many of us authors” or “Many of we authors” fancy ourselves brilliant editors?

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Made for Students, useful for everyone.

Oh My Grammar! Language Felonies: Top 10 Grammar Errors, Common Mistakes, and the Importance of Correct Grammar (Infographic)
Source: www.grammarcheck.net

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Cover reveal, memoir, book promotion, forgiveness, emotional abuse, P.S. I Forgive You, Amazon, D.G. Kaye

P.S. I Forgive You is D.G. Kaye’s compelling story of her journey from guilt through grief to forgiveness. If you’re seeking to heal from an abusive relationship, put this book on your “to buy” list for late September

#Sneakpreview – Cover Reveal – P.S. I Forgive You

book-debby-cover-revealAfter a long summer of being held captive in my little authorly world working on the upcoming publication of my newest book, P.S. I Forgive You, I am finally sharing the front cover of the book and the blurb.

I’m currently running through another round of my own proofreading after the final proof has come back from the editor. By week’s end it should be off to my NEW formatter, Jo Robinson to prepare the book for lift-off.

I’ll make no bones about it, this was a difficult book for me to write and have to re-read a gazillion times in the rewrite and editing stages. There were many times I had to walk away from it for a day because it was like reliving painful moments. But like an old quote says:  “You know you’ve healed when you can read your words and they no longer make you cry.” Truly, this book was therapeutic, and I hope readers can find some solace in their own lives in their own search for forgiveness.

So without further ado, I’d like to add this beautiful note my editor left for me after she finished editing. And the book cover and blurb follows:

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Source: Cover reveal, memoir, book promotion, forgiveness, emotional abuse, P.S. I Forgive You, Amazon, D.G. Kaye

Treasure – A Guest Post Story by Andrew Joyce…

Andrew Joyce delights us with a little story about finding a treasure but not being able to tell anyone … 🙂

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Treasure ll

He stumbled upon the treasure quite by accident. He was exploring the vicinity when he happened upon it. His first thought was: This cannot be real. He approached gingerly. Someone might be playing a trick on him. Maybe he was being observed. But no one sprung from a concealed location, no one yelled for him to halt his advance; it seemed safe to move forward. When he arrived at the treasure, he bent down to touch it, just to make sure it was real. After one touch, he fled to better-known and safer environs.

That night he could not sleep for thinking of what he had discovered. He thought and thought of ways he could explain it to members of his tribe. If he suddenly showed up with the treasure, anything he said would be suspect. One does not find treasure of this sort every day. No, he would have…

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Food in Fiction – Part 1 – Guest Post…

Christine Campbell discusses our fictional characters and their relationship to food. See her guest post on The Story Reading Ape …

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

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When writing a novel, it is important for us, as authors, to know our characters well. We need to know much more about them than we directly reveal to our readers. With that background knowledge of them, their makeup, their likes and dislikes, we hope that our readers will deduce a lot about them from how we make them behave in the story we weave.

We need to know whether the hero would have a soft centre. If he is an all action, gun-toting, rough and ready cowboy, it might be terribly out of character for him to fondle the cat, or cuddle the kitten. Then again, it might not be. If we don’t know that about him before we write his story, how can we portray him with understanding and make him so real our readers will feel they know him too.

There are many factors we can consider…

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Explaining Common References – Or What’s A Glock? – Guest Post…

Good advice from Jaq about assumptions writers make that may elude their readers …

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

One of the big mistakes I see writer’s make when I have my reader hat on is making the assumption that everyone who reads your story will automatically recognise references that are familiar to the writer. In reality, with a worldwide audience, many readers may not be able to visualise something you consider common place.

For example, I read a story a few years ago where the writer made a reference to her Doc Martins. I know what Doc Martins are, though a description of the style would have been helpful, but readers who come from a culture other than the ones where this brand name is common might not immediately realise that the writer is talking about a well-fitted pair of boots. It can leave the reader bewildered, wondering what the writer is trying to portray.

This happens frequently with American brand names. Yes, a large percentage of Amazon’s…

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Start of the Autumn blog promotions – A Mention in Dispatches is back tomorrow.

Sally Cronin is beginning a new series of Mention in Dispatches, where she showcases outstanding posts from bloggers during the week ~ a wonderful promotional opportunity …