Editors who work directly with academic researchers, helping to make their draft manuscripts suitable for publication in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, refer to themselves as "authors' editors." As a profession, author editing has been around for more than a half-century, but its role in research communication is often underappreciated and sometimes misunderstood.In this book, authors' editor and former researcher Valerie Matarese documents the history of author editing and illustrates,...

Many writers have heard of hooks, and have heard we should use them in our manuscripts as a tool to engage readers and keep them engaged, but what we’re not told is how to identify what a hook is or where to use them to maximize them other than in that key opening line.In this book we’ll look at five specific types of hooks. There are more, but these are the most common, and the most universal, which means by understanding how to craft them, most readers will respon...

Every writer knows the benefits strong dialogue can bring to a story—a faster pace, greater believability, increased tension, and even humor.But not every writer knows how to achieve it.And, unfortunately, weak dialogue can destroy a story even faster than strong dialogue can improve it. Weak dialogue can drag the pace to a halt, make your characters feel stilted, and confuse your readers.In other words, to write great fiction, you need to know how to write dialogue...

Read this sentence: Kill the puppy.Do you know what hooks are present? How many hooks? If you don’t -- you need this book.Every story needs hooks. The best writers know how and where to create them to keep the reader turning the pages. Do you?Within this book you’ll learn:* Four of the most universal of hooks to use, regardless of what you write.* How and where hooks MUST be applied throughout your novel.* Why, even with a gr...

A revised and updated copy editor's guide to surviving the publishing industry, with practical advice on working with writers, colleagues, and yourself.Longtime manuscript editor and Chicago Manual of Style guru Carol Fisher Saller has negotiated many a standoff between a writer and editor refusing to compromise on the "rights" and "wrongs" of prose styling. Saller realized that when these sides squared off, it was often the reader who lost. In her search f...

Are you looking for a way to add new depth and re-readability to your writing?Are you tired of description being “the boring part that people skip”?Are you a writer who’s struggled with making their story world feel believable and three-dimensional?Description in fiction shouldn’t be boring for the reader or for the writer.Description: A Busy Writer’s Guide will help you take your writing to the next level by exchanging ho-hum description for descri...

Straight Talk from a PublisherThe publishing world has changed! An explosion in printed books, E-books, and self-publishing has contributed to more new titles coming to market than ever before. With so much happening, how does a new author stand out from the crowd? Not to mention turn a profit.In Think Like a Publisher: 33 Essential Tips to Write, Promote, and Sell Your Book, Randy Davila, President of Hampton Roads Publishing & Hierophant Publishi...

Do you struggle with show, don't tell? You don't have to.Award-winning author Janice Hardy (and founder of the popular writing site, Fiction University) takes you deep into one of the most frustrating aspects of writing--showing, and not telling. She'll help you understand what show, don't tell means, teach you how to spot told prose in your writing, and reveal why common advice on how to fix it doesn't always work.With in-depth analysis, Understanding ...

For those of us who write books, Microsoft Word 2010 has 5 magic sections we use to get the format just right.I'm going to take you through each of the areas and show you exactly how to format your document so that your final book will pass the formatting requirements of the publisher. If you use this guide effectively the final book can look like the books made by the big 6 printing houses.Let's begin the journey through the Microsoft Word software and see how it's done, and...

Do you want to be taken seriously by editors, readers or reviewers? Do you make errors in your fiction writing? This book is for you.Mike Reeves-McMillan is a fiction author, reviewer, and former copy editor and technical writer. He's analysed the errors he's found in hundreds of books, both indie and traditionally published, and written a simple, clear guide to avoiding the most common issues.Learn:Why editors reject 90% of what's submitted to them—and how to...

Congratulations! You just finished writing your first novel!“Now what?”If you’re like I was, that was the first question you asked yourself.Do you remember what I said last time? In Nine Day Novel: Writing?Steve, I totally remember: You said, “Bravo! Pop champagne and…”You remember that part after the champagne about calling someone, right?Your Editor—the Last Line of Defense.But editors cost a lot of...

Get all three Fixing Your Revision Problems books in one omnibus!This book contains Fixing Your Character & Point-of-View Problems, Fixing Your Plot & Story Structure Problems, and Fixing Your Setting & Description Problems--PLUS a BONUS workshop: How to Salvage Half-Finished Manuscripts.A strong story has many parts, and when one breaks down, the whole book can fail. Make sure your story is the best it can be to keep your readers hooked.