The picture above is me. My father is a fair-skinned black man and my mother is an EXTREMELY fair-skinned white woman, which is why I look the way I do. Due to my mixed heritage, I have a very complicated relationship with my unbelievably curly hair. When it grows, it doesn’t get long, it gets big. And by big… Read more »
Welcome All! For the first time, this HSSS is actually going to start with, She said… Quite often you hear the old adage that you should write what you know. If that were the truth, fiction genres like fantasy, sci-fi, paranormal romance and the like wouldn’t offer very many books to their audiences, now would they? But if you write… Read more »
How important is your cover art and book blurb? He Said: It’s critical! Your cover art and book blurb is what is going to attract your potential readers to buy and read your book. As such, they need to do several things Cover Art: Attract attention. You want your cover art to pull the readers eye to it. It should… Read more »
Inspiration for writing by Jay @ Escape BetweenThe Covers Writer’s block can happen at any point in time. Sometimes you might not have the right idea, or you aren’t sure how to phrase it. It is the most frustrating thing that can happen to us as writers. Yet I’ve learned that we, from time to time, force ourselves into these… Read more »
He says: Yes! Uh, No. Uh, kinda both. (I’m very confused. But then, I’m a love story author so, what did you expect?) I was taught to say “Thank you for reading my book and taking the time to do a review. I appreciate your comments and your helping me grow as an author.” Seriously, as an author, we know… Read more »
Although I’ve never personally emptied my bank account on self-publishing a book – not yet anyhow – I have to say that there has to be a line where expenses just can’t be cut: editing and/or proofreading. Sure, I know the cover is important, as are promotional activities and the like; however, if you spend your entire budget on those… Read more »
You’ve probably heard it from your writing buddies, seen it in how-to books, and read it in author interviews. It’s arguably the ultimate writing mantra, the number one way to improve your writing. What exactly am I talking about? The Show, Don’t Tell rule. High five to you if you guessed where I was headed! Show, Don’t Tell is one of the most popular expressions in any creative writing sphere, novel… Read more »
He Said Ashley brought this topic up and honestly, I never even thought about this till she mentioned it. I’m not sure where she comes up with this stuff but the more I thought about it the more I thought it was a good He Said/She Said topic. (Don’t tell her that as her head will just get bigger…. Read more »
The growth of Indie or Independent writers has increased dramatically over the years. There are different companies that will help the “Indie” author publish his or her work. The main difference between these companies is fees. Some have different packages for publishing with different fees, and others allow the author to publish digital books for free, and then retain a… Read more »
When I started my first book, my fear of the unknown kicked in before I finished page one. My mind raced to all of the things I had to do. Turn my story idea into a plot. Develop characters. Pick names for them and places to take them. Come up with twists and turns to keep my readers intrigued. Oh…. Read more »
He said… As Ashley, and most of my friends will tell you, I’m different. I have always viewed things in a different light, taken a different approach or looked for ways to use things that one might normally ignore. Thus, one of the things that always surprise me when I read a book, especially a Kindle book, is how ignored… Read more »
I found this interesting, helpful little tool for anyone who’s trying to decide what direction to take their book. Hope it helps anyone on the fence! http://thewritelife.com/self-publish-or-traditional/#.ewhymfa:MCL5
A little momentum is a powerful thing. Think about it – if you’re trying to achieve something, the key is to get the ball to the top of the hill and then to push it down the other side so that it builds up as much speed as possible. It’s a pretty simple concept, and it’s one that’s used in… Read more »
July 30, 2014 Is there a better feeling in the world than writing “The End” in your manuscript? It’s a moment to be celebrated: you’ve done it. You’ve written and completed an entire book. Not everyone can say they have. But you’re not finished. No, not even after you wrap up your self-edits. It’s time to pass your manuscript off to beta… Read more »