10 tips for naming characters

Name That Character: Top Ten Tips There are a plethora of movie character names that become everlasting brands in American culture: Rocky, Yoda, Forrest Gump, and Shrek to name a few. And when it comes to naming characters, you want to choose wisely, which is no easy task. Fiction Writing Chapter Two: Character Name Crisis! […]

20 Questions to Help Improve Your Dialogue

Paulo Campos at Yingle Yangle http://www.yingleyangle.com/2010/07/20-questions-to-help-improve-your.html 20 Questions to Help Improve Your Dialogue One of the biggest let-downs as a reader is weak dialogue in a story successful in every other way. I think, “people do not talk this way,” over and over. I read The Stand a few months ago. I enjoyed it so much […]

10 tips for great storytelling from a PowerPoint novelist

http://blogs.office.com/b/office-show/archive/2010/08/18/10-tips-for-great-storytelling-from-a-powerpoint-novelist.aspx 10 tips for great storytelling from a PowerPoint novelist Doug Kim 18 Aug 2010 9:00 AM Comments 1 People do astonishing things with PowerPoint, but author Jennifer Egan has brought PowerPoint into a whole new level: literature. She’s written a chapter of her latest novel, “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” (Knopf) entirely in […]

Five Rules of Exposition

http://thescriptlab.com/the-formula/character/dialogue/36-exposition-five-rules Exposition: Five Rules EXPOSITION: FIVE RULES One of the tricks is to have the exposition conveyed in a scene of conflict, so that a character is forced to sway things you want the audience to know. As, for example, if he is defending himself against somebody’s attack, his words or defense seem justified even […]

successful query sample

The 40th installment in this series is with agent Meredith Kaffel (Charlotte Sheedy Literary) and her author, Anastasia Hopcus, for her young adult paranormal novel, Shadow Hills, which came out July 13 from Egmont. School Library journal said this about the book: “Even characters with minimal roles are fleshed out via Hopcus’s rich use of […]

How to Craft Back Cover Copy that Sells Books by the Boatloa

http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/book_marketing_maven/2010/06/back-cover-copy-that-sells-books-by-the-boatload.html How to Craft Back Cover Copy that Sells Books by the Boatload In today’s guest post, I’m delighted to have copywriter, author and book marketing expert Eric Gelb share his tips for writing back cover copy that sells. Keep in mind that these same techniques can be used in writing sales copy for websites […]

The Secret to Getting Great Book Reviews on Amazon

The Secret to Getting Great Book Reviews on Amazon http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/book_marketing_maven/2010/07/the-secret-to-book-reviews-on-amazon.html When consumers shop for books on Amazon.com and other online bookstores, many of them read the book reviews before they make a purchase. Even if they came to the site to buy a particular book, they may read the reviews to verify that they are […]

Getting to know you: How to build your fanbase

What Your Readers and Book Buyers Want to Know About You and What You Need to Know About Them By Dorothy Thompson What should authors concentrate on when answering questions in interviews or just what they should do to create the most impact on their book buying public without becoming overbearing, pompous or downright horn-tooting obnoxious. […]

agent advice

Agent Barbara Poelle On: 6 Things Writers Can Do To Make Their September Rock Barbara Poelle is an agent with the Irene Goodman Literary Agency, representing thrillers, literary suspense, historical romances, humorous/platform driven nonfiction, and upmarket fiction. Barbara’s co-agent, Irene Goodman, offers manuscript critiques on eBay every month, starting on the first day of each […]

Grants and fellowships for writers

http://miraslist.blogspot.com/ GRANTS. FELLOWSHIPS. RESIDENCIES. RESOURCES. Mira’s List is a resource for artists, writers, composers and others in the arts. Here you will find up-to-date information, great links, interviews with artists and deadlines for grants, fellowships and international residencies. Money, time and a place to create. http://library.gmu.edu/resources/creativewriting/writinggrants.html [GMU Creative Writing Web Guide] National Endowment for the […]