PaperBox Books

I started this post with a purpose. I was going to write a review of the book so far. As a publisher, like other publishers, I look at the beginning of the book and decide whether there’s enough promise to make it worth my time to read a whole manuscript.

Like most readers, I have read books that start out great then peter off into poor writing, bad character development and a plot that goes nowhere. And, books that don’t start out so great but are good enough to keep me reading until I hit the gold.

This book, Eat Pray Love isn’t the kind of book I usually read – it is however the type of movie I love to watch. And I fully intend to watch this one.

Why don’t I read these books? It’s the transition from rock bottom to whatever new state the heroine grows into. In the book, for me it takes for freaking ever for the character to let go of the whining and get on with the growing.

It’s not the writing, Elizabeth Gilbert has done a great job putting the story on the page, she did a great job of setting the scene, and I find her ‘rockbottomness’ believable. It’s the pace, I’m around 10% of the way in (by the little blue bar on my Kindle for iPod) and we haven’t yet started the journey.

When this kind of story is in a movie, they cut it to the smallest time possible because they have around 2 hours (at most for this type of movie) and they know the story is in the struggle.

So, if you are looking to write this kind of journey memoir, fictional or not, remember the reader needs to buy into the reason the character needs to change, but the story really starts when the journey starts.

This example, Neon Pilgrim, is a self published book that I happened along in Smashwords one day. It could use some editing but she keeps the “I’m in such a bad place I need to change drastically’ down to under six pages. Even hardhearted me can handle that.

How do you like your memoirs paced?

Happy writing

Perry

No Comments | In: Opinions | tags: movies, opinion. | #

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

No Comments | In: Awesome Links | | #

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

No Comments | In: Awesome Links | tags: Writing Tips. | #

Hi, this is from Ask the Publishing Guru – great advice on writing like a pro.

Five Writing Tips.

Happy writing

Perry

No Comments | In: Awesome Links, Writing Tips | tags: opinion, writing, Writing Tips. | #

We’ve had some great entries for our first Summer Short Story Contest and we’re eager to see the rest of them. (you do have a story almost ready don’t you?)

Our contest is open to all genres. There are cash and publication prizes and of course bragging rights. Seriously what are you waiting for. (I’d enter but I’m not allowed).

Tell your friends, relatives and anyone you know who writes and has always dreamed about getting published.

“Winner of the PaperBox Books Summer Short Story Contest” will look really good on your next query letter.

Contest details are available at http://paperboxbooks.com/summer-short-story-contest.php

No Comments | In: What's New with PBB | | #

Well, experience is always good, sometimes it takes a while to get to that point. When you are going through something difficult, or many things difficult, it can be impossible to remember that you might want to use the experience in a book. That’s what write what you know is all about, isn’t it?.

Right now I’m handling my brother’s estate and it’s not easy. I am running around trying to get information, and taking a half step forward and three steps back most days. I’m sitting here in Starbucks waiting for his apartment to be cleaned – special cleaning required – and trying to keep a positive attitude about this huge task I’ve been handed. Why am I doing it, oldest sister syndrome – it has to be done and no one else will do it.

So rather than grouse about it, I’m thinking about how I’ll use the experience in a new book.

I’m not quite there yet, but I am trying to keep notes on what I’m doing, not only for research, but also for the estate records.

Anyway, the message is everything you do is useful – at some point in your life.

Happy writing,

Perry

For sale and coming soon from PaperBoxBooks.

No Comments | In: Writing Tips | tags: Writing Tips. | #

Since we’re about to launch a short story section here at PaperBox Books, I thought it would be a good time to go mention some important aspects of a short story.

Like novels, a short story needs to have a beginning, a middle and an end.

The beginning has to jump right into the story. You don’t have the word count available to do a gradual set-up.

An advantage to those of us who suffer from sagging middles, the path from Point A to Point B is shorter. You don’t have room to introduce more than a sub-plot or two. Even so you still need to keep the pace moving toward the end of the story.

The end of a short story can be tricky. Especially for anyone who is used to writing novel length pieces. There is always the temptation to leave a few loose ends. Unfortunately, this makes it a chapter not a stand-on-it’s-own short story. Endings should make the reader satisified not leave them wondering.

Short stories force writers to be concise without skimping on details. The reader must have an understanding of the world you’ve created for your characters within a small word count.

You have to make the characters just as real as in a full length novel so your readers will care about them and continue to read to see what happens.

Short stories are awesome. They are quick reads to make you smile (or have chills run up your spine) without a lot of time investment.

With the advent of e-publishing they’re even easier to buy than ever before. You can purchase them as a stand alone product instead of having to buy a magazine or anthology.

Authors love it because they can release stories frequently to always have something new for people to read.

So what are you waiting for?

Check out the rules for our Summer Short Story Contest (deadline July 31st).

If you are more interested in having your short story published, check out our submission guidelines.

Sue

No Comments | In: Writing Tips | | #

Over this summer we’ll be launching a section for short stories. To celebrate we thought we’d do a contest.

So… send us your short stories.

Prizes:

• 1st place: $75 and publication in the winners anthology plus a complimentary copy.
• 2nd place: $50 and publication in the winners anthology plus a complimentary copy.
• 3rd place: $25 and publication in the winners anthology plus a complimentary copy.
• 4th & 5th place runners-up: publication in the winners anthology plus a complimentary copy.

Check out the rules and entry guidelines at http://paperboxbooks.com/summer-short-story-contest.php

No Comments | In: What's New with PBB | tags: Short Stories, writing contest. | #

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

No Comments | In: Awesome Links | | #

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.

No Comments | In: Awesome Links | tags: books for sale, Process, writing, Writing Tips. | #