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L—d! said my mother, what is all this story about? The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman Laurence Sterne When readers begin your story, they want to know certain elements, and very soon. Gone are the days when the scenic, lingering beginning of Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native will draw in a…
Start Your Launch Plan Early Don’t wait until you novel is finished before starting to plan your book launch. A successful book launch contains many activities, and they need to be planned well in advance. New novelists need to start planning when they are about half-way through the story. Yep, the mid-point of your story…
Thank you to all The Used Virgin readers This morning I woke up to this notice in my email. I was surprised and thrilled. What a great way to begin Spring. I am especially grateful to readers because the book reached this level without advertising. That means, you, the reader, found it on Amazon and…
Celebrate Electronic Reading Smashwords presents Read an E-Book Week, March 5 – 11, 2017. The Used Virgin is just one book among thousands participating. Grab your free copy and join in the celebration. Mark Coker, Smashwords founder, interviews the Read an E-Book Week creator Rita Toews. For one week each year, Rita Toews, 61, a soft-spoken…
You Want Readers, Tell Them About Your Books When readers see your header on your website or on social media like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or anywhere else, do they know your genre right away? If you don’t tell them, they won’t know. They’re not going to scroll down your page or your social media posts…
Start Now to Gain Your Promotion Skills If you are starting a new novel and you think your fabulous, creative, innovative, engaging, exciting story will sell itself. Welcome to reality. It won’t sell itself. You may dream of people reading your book and sharing their enjoyment with others. Before that happens, readers need to know…
Research Trip: Plan for No Plan My day job is ghostwriting. My current project is a thriller. The culmination of the story takes place at Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Pictures, Google Maps, and other resources cannot replace the experience of being on site. The author had personal reasons for visiting over and above…
Your Author Bio and Readers Your author bios are an important part of your book marketing package. Your bio is your introduction to the world as an author. Think of it as a news story not a memoir. The main point of your author bio is to get new readers for your books.Your bio will…
Image credit bbc.co.uk The Dual Laws The Argolicus Mysteries are set in early Sixth Century Italy. At that time the country was governed by two sets of laws. Native Italians (Romans) inherited a set a laws from the Roman Empire which had collapsed the century before. The Ostrogoths under King Theodoric held to their ancient…
Brainstorm First, Organize Later Writers want a story that is unlike any other. Brainstorming your scenes is a creative way to capture the essence of your story. The ideas go straight from your head into story scenes. Use old-fashioned 3×5 cards, tools like Scrivener, or just list them out in a document. Keep adding scenes…
