on Just Publishing Advice:

When you’ve set out on your journey to becoming an author, you might be surprised at just how much it costs to publish a book. You want to create the best book you can, but you don’t want to spend thousands in the process. Thankfully, there are a few ways you can cut costs and still hire a quality editor.

Editing can easily be one of the most expensive parts of publishing. And as an editor, I often get requests from authors who have a small budget. Therefore, I thought it’d be helpful to share with writers several things they can do to get quality editing without spending so much money.

Continue reading HERE

You may be excited to be getting an offer of representation for your book, but don’t make a foolish mistake and sign whatever is placed in front of you. Read that contract! Make sure you understand what you are agreeing to accept.

Some clauses to look for and avoid:

• Never agree to give a publisher more than a thirty-day option on your new project.  When you sign a book contract, it usually contains a clause allowing the publisher first look at your next outline or finished novel. The publisher should not ask for or be given an excessively long time to decide.
• Never agree to an option clause that gives your publisher your next book at the same price he paid for the previous one. If the previous one is a run away best seller, that next book could be worth a lot more money.
• Never agree to a clause…

What does your signature look like?

Have you practiced signing books? Practiced your autograph?

Remember Practice makes perfect.

I recently read a good article by Judith Briles on how to prepare for a book signing/author event.

Here’s what I learned from Ms. Briles about preparing for that big event.

Click the link below and read her entire article for more in-depth tips on a successful author book signing event.

Author Essential Tips How to Autograph Books by Judith Briles 

Watch for Part 2 on autographing and selling your book.

So…

Have you had a book signing yet? How did it go?

Do you have one scheduled for this year?

Are you ready for a signing event?

Do you have any good tips to add? I’d love to hear them.

YOU CAN FIND ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY CLICKING ON THE LINKS BELOW.

AND DO STOP BY JEAN’S WRITING ANYTIME, I’LL LEAVE…

your humble host

There are a lot of things you need to know to be an author

but these are the tips I tell new writers to remember, and these are the tips I come back to time and time again.

See if you agree.

Here are my top 10 writing tips ever.

1. The writer’s job is to get the main character up a tree, and once they are up there, throw rocks at them.

Vladimir Nabokov

A story without challenges is just plain dull. Nobody wants to read that. Readers want an escape, and it’s your job to give them that.

1. There is only one plot – things are not what they seem.

Jim Thompson

This kinda made my head explode (in a good way). My eyes were opened. I realized that we want – as readers – a roller coaster ride, twists, turns… and as a writer, we…

All images Pixabay

I struggled with the title of this post because getting comments isn’t about stats; it’s about building relationships.

Some visitors to this blog might have noticed the number of comments here. It wasn’t and isn’t a goal, honestly. And there really isn’t any magic to it either. Comments grow out of a desire to genuinely connect with other bloggers, and a commitment to put in the time to do so.

Here’s how it happens:

I leave lots of comments on other blogs. These are my invitations to engage, my knock on a blogger’s door. They say, “Want to come out and play?”

Because blogging-time is precious, if a blogger doesn’t bother to reply to my knock, even with a simple “thank you,” I’m less inclined to knock again. On some level, they’ve declined my offer to engage.

At the very least, say “thank you” to someone who…

This is a guest post by Sally Keys. You may remember her from her guest post, Creating The Time And Space You Need To Write Your Best Work. Sally is a professional freelance writer with many years experience across many different areas. She made the move to freelancing from a stressful corporate job and loves the work-life balance it offers her. When not at work, she enjoys reading, hiking, spending time with her family, and traveling as much as possible.

How Creative Writing Can Boost Your Intelligence

Photo by Dustin Lee on Unsplash

Globally, the average IQ has increased by 20 points over the last 100 years. Many reasons are given for this and all, no doubt, play a part. The fact is that we live in a very different world to the one of 100 years ago. By examining these differences and comparing them to research into…

Licence to use Image, obtained – Copyrightdenis83 123RF Stock Photo

I’ve been writing stories and articles since I was a kid and one of the things I love about it is, my craft is constantly evolving.

I’m evolving.

There’salwaysroom for growth, but it’s up to you, the author, on whether you desire to apply yourself to your craft.

If you want to become a better writer, here are four tips you can use to attain your goal.

• Read. Yes, read. Every writer must read books. Why? Because writing is an art, and you can learn it from other authors. Also, say you write or want to write a romance novel. What better way to learn how to do it than to read stories in that genre? Reading also helps you get a grasp on the English language and teaches you what to do and not do. It…

by Lauren Sapala

I don’t know if it’s that time of year or what, but I’ve been getting a lot of emails from writers lately about finishing things. This is also a topic that comes up frequently in my coaching sessions with writers. Lots and lots of writers out there are terrified that they will never be successful—or even halfway decent—because they have a lot of trouble finishing things.