So when I saw a panel session on humor at the Life the Universe & Everything conference, I knew I had to attend. There was a great list of panelists: Berin Stephens, Craig Nybo, Eric James Stone, Platte F. Clark, Robert J Defendi, and Larry Correia. I couldn’t miss this. I just didn’t know what was […]
Have you ever saved your document only to realize that you have accidentally deleted a section of you novel? Or maybe you changed something and now regret the change and you want to go back? Well version control systems are for “techies” (yes, I am a techie but most authors are not) and so most […]
Hello all. I just got back from the Life the Universe & Everything conference. Just before the conference I hired an editor, Sarah Bylund, to edit my novel. Sarah was referred by Brandon Sanderson’s assistant. I started her out with the first two chapters, loved her editing, and will be using her for the rest […]
This article assumes you have used Microsoft Word to create your manuscript. Step 1 – Prepare your word document Things to note Find all instances of space quote (a single quote before a word) and write them down so you can find them again. I found these in my novel. Days of ’47 ’cause Find […]
If you want a great high quality ebook, then I recommend you use Sigil. It is free and open source and works quite well. Note: I recommend that you wait until your manuscript is done before you move it to Sigil. Use Microsoft Word to write your novel and edit your novel. Only once it […]
When you publish an ebook, you should never have an empty line. There are places where you may use an empty line. Chapters The wrong way Pressing Enter (sometime called carriage returns). Never, never use the enter key to add new lines until you are at the next page. These new lines will show up […]
Ok, so I have been reading a lot of ebooks since I purchased my Kindle Fire last year. I have even been reading a lot more indie books. One of the problems I have seen in indie books is the way the author writes the Ellipsis. Ebooks are usually justified, and so this is even more important […]
Here is an update on the progress of my novel. I expect all 40 chapters to be ready for beta readers soon, but unless I can speed it up, it will take at least 10 weeks. I am considering naming my novel Fire Light as we felt that its previous title would make a lot […]
You’ve probably heard that you are not supposed to tell about emotion, but that you are supposed to show emotion. If your writing contains a line like the following, it is telling emotion, not showing emotion. “I was so surprised.” The above sentence is obviously telling. This sentence stands out because it is passive voice […]
You have probably heard often that you need to avoid passive voice and replace it with active voice. Why? Don’t think of them as passive voice vs active voice sentences. Think of them more as: Exciting vs Boring sentences. Passive voice sentences are *usually* boring sentences. Not always, but it is pretty rare when they […]