Here are a few links for you – mostly picked from the variety of blogs I follow.
The Swivet – why your hook is important.
Allison Winn Scotch – when to put away the manuscript.
Happy writing
Perry
I was on my Goodreads group this morning and I found all kinds of posts asking for help. One post was specific to one sentence the author was trying to revise. She got responses right away and three great ones (okay one was mine but it was great, really).
I guess the point is, look for help everywhere. You never know where you’ll find that gem of advice that takes you to the next level.
Happy writing
Perry
Hi, here are a few links that you might find useful.
For writers who need to know all about forensic science.
Links within links from Charlotte Dillon about character development.
World Builder Projects, all about world building links.
Happy Writing
Perry
I’ve been reading a few great blogs the last couple of days. Here are three that I think will help most writers.
There are no rules a good article about querying (just because PaperBox Books isn’t the only channel to your reader).
From Ask the Publishing Guru about using strong verbs.
And, finally,
How to kill your imaginary friends – this one may not be useful for everyone, but it’s got great information on exsanguination.
Happy writing.
Perry
We receive a lot of manuscripts to publish. Our goal is to publish as many as we can since unlike the bigger publishers, we’re not hampered by limited shelf space.
However, this doesn’t mean we’re willing to slack off in the editing department.
I saw this great article tweeted, and re-tweeted out. It’s well deserving of the re-tweets. It’s one of the best list of questions to ask yourself while editing, especially if you’re planning to publish http://thetravelersnotebook.com/articles/checklist-for-writers-10-questions-to-ask-while-editing/
Writing for fun and writing for publication are two very different animals. To be a successful writer you have to find a way to combine them together.
Good luck with your writing.
Sue
I have been lucky enough to be able to visit the site of my upcoming book, but I used a number of tools to research and write before going to San Francisco. The trip was to fine tune, not to do the primary research.
The two tools that I find the most useful, and maybe you do too, are Google Street View and just Google search. I know there are tonnes of other tools available both free and paid but these two tools have been my saving grace many a time when I needed to do a quick research and get back to writing – i.e. during National Novel Writing Month.
Using Google Street View let me see that there was a perfect place in front of city hall to dump a body in Closing the Circle. It didn’t show me that there are cameras all around and I needed to make sure I dealt with that when my investigators were unable to identify the killer.
Using Google search has helped me to research my Urban Fantasy – so far I can’t see what it is missing but we’ll see as I write.
Looking for a name for your character? type in your question in Google search bar and you’ll find all kinds of places to match attribute to name.
So, if you are stuck for a location, type in an address or intersection and Google maps will take you there.
Happy writing
Perry
Hi, this is from Ask the Publishing Guru – great advice on writing like a pro.
Happy writing
Perry
Over the past few months, Perry and I have been approached several times to help author’s polish their work to submit to print publishers or just get feedback on their current work in progress.
After a lot of thought and encouragement (thanks guys) we decided to expand our services.
To help prevent confusion between the role of PaperBox Books and our paid critique service, we created Fiction Therapy. Visit our website at fictiontherapy.com.
Don’t worry, when you sumbit your work to PaperBox Books, you’ll still receive the same level of feedback as you always have but it IS only a review. We mention 3-5 points that you have done well or could use improvement. By necessity, our main focus is on whether your work is ready to publish or not.
Fiction Therapy on the other hand offers an indepth critique. We address several story components by both comments within the manuscript and an overview document. There is no obligation to publish with PaperBox Books – although, we won’t mind if you do.
Check out our latest venture at FictionTherapy.com. We’re on Twitter too at @fictiontherapy, stop by and say hi!
Sue
Last night I was introduced to 750words a site for writers to get the juices flowing
The idea is to write 750 words every day and you’ll find the rest of the writing easier. You can write whatever you want, it doesn’t need to be a story or a scene.
When you write you graduate through the process of egg to turkey to penguin to … well you need to earn the points to get there. The fun thing is that you get all kinds of statistics and analysis of your writing.
I recommend you try it out, what the heck it’s a tool and we all have those days when we can’t seem to get going.
Perry
Don’t forget the great pricing contest $2.99 romantic fantasy or $6.99 dual version of a paranormal fantasy.
Over the past few months we’ve been receiving a lot of submissions. Many are in the funnel, going through the polishing process and their novels will be uploaded soon. For this we are truly grateful.
I have some advice to all writer’s who are considering sending their work to an agent or publisher.
Read the Guidelines!
Editors and publishers use this as a simple test to see if the author can read and follow simple instructions.
If the publisher doesn’t seem to have established guidelines, do yourself a favour and default to the standard format as described by most writing how to manuals.
Save your submission in a separate document and attach it to your email.
Why?
1) It shows you’ve done your homework and are serious about a writing career.
2) Long prose in an email is harder for the editor to read, mark their place and make comments. So you’re handicapping yourself with a needless disadvantage right from the start.
Some editors won’t even bother to look at embedded submissions.
Need I say more?
Sue