Use this book launch checklist to plan your own promotions to supplement your publisher's marketing campaigns.
As many of you know, online debates about whether or not our beloved Hound Dog True would garner major book awards last year sparked Colby Sharp and me to start the Nerdy Book Club awards and this …
Popular culture expert Nick Ede told FEMAIL that the 'Meghan Effect' is so powerful that literally everything the Duchess of Sussex, 39, touches sells out - even garden furniture.
Selected blog-posts of creative writing advice from my blog: Adventures in Indie Publishing.
Shape: Classic Round Stickers Create custom stickers for every occasion! From special mailings and scrapbooking to kids’ activities and DIY projects, you’ll find these stickers are great for so many uses. Add your own designs, patterns, text, and pictures! Dimensions: Available in 2 sizes: Large: 3" diameter, 6 stickers per sheet Small: 1.5" diameter, 20 stickers per sheet Printed on white acid-free paper Vibrant full-color, full-bleed printing Scratch-resistant front, easy peel-and-stick back Available in a matte or glossy finish Choose between 7 different shapes
Author Estelle Erasmus shares her top 11 tips and strategies for getting your book noticed prior to its publication date.
Learn from these examples of scene trackers for writers how to track the 7 essential elements of plot in the scenes from your novel & improve your writing
Ken Miyamoto explores the differences between The Hero's Journey and The Heroine's Journey, and discusses why screenwriters should embrace the latter.
Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic, two artists from the Byron Bay area, became acquainted before Pavlovic sent Maddell some demo tracks in 2019, an opportunity Pa
The traditional Hero is something of a loner. He goes into battle, emerging as the victor. This model doesn't really work for a Heroine's journey.
Award-winning author Stephanie Kane shares the book that launched her career and provides insights for how you can pursue your story.
In this article, I discuss my process for developing plot and share the incredible tools I discovered to examine, critique and improve the plot of my novel. Download this new and improved for 2021 …
Can a character's arc can be a subplot? Consider three different instances of character arcs that might figure better in a subplot than the main plot.
The free Character Creation Workbook is meant to help you as you begin sorting out the terminology and basics of the character creation process.
In whatever fictional story you’re writing, you need a protagonist (main character) with a goal. The goal of your protagonist makes your story interesting and engaging for the reader. It makes the reader want to know what happens to your character and wonder if he/she reaches his/her goal. Added to
Shows you how to approach a dark character backstory fearlessly - and make your story all the better for it.
Learning how to plot a series means learning the hallmarks of a good series (plot, character continuit, structure and more). Learn more.
Currently, we are in our Historical Fiction Book Club Unit and students are applying the skills/strategies they learned in our Social Issues Book Club Unit to this unit. To launch the unit, we have been reading and discussing various historical fiction picture books, such as: Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson, Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles, Freedom on the Menu:The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Carole Boston Weatherford, The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson, and The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco. While reading these picture books, we have been thinking and talking about the time periods, historical conflicts, and how the characters' actions/choices are impacted by the groups they belong to as well as the time period. As we read these picture books, we created charts as a class like we normally do during every read aloud (see photos of charts below). Students have been applying the skills/strategies they are learning through mini-lessons and read aloud to their historical fiction book club books that their group chose to read. Each book club chose at least three books that either focus on one time period so they can become an "expert" on that time period or are reading books across different time periods and are reading them in sequence. Most book clubs this year chose the latter and have planned out how to read their books in order according to the time periods. Some of the books my book clubs are reading are: Behind the Bedroom Wall by Laura E. Williams, Stones in Water by Donna Jo Napoli , Countdown by Deborah Wiles, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff, Elephant Run by Roland Smith, and many more. Below are photos of some of the charts we created as a class so far during this historical fiction unit: Historical Fiction Unit Chart with some Teaching Points Read Aloud Chart for Freedom on the Menu Read Aloud Chart for Freedom Summer Read Aloud Chart for The Other Side Chart that shows our thinking across Historical Fiction Read Alouds Stay tuned to hear more about our unit and see more photos of student work too! Please share any ideas you have for historical fiction units too - I always love to hear about new titles, charts, and strategies to use during this unit! :)
Get inspired with these ideas for internal conflict in your romance novel. What’s keeping your characters from committing to their love?
For all the writers reading this blog, here’s my cheat sheet for the Plotting Board Method of plotting, which I learned from Cherry Adair. The Cherry Plo...
We’ve heard about it before, but what exactly IS a character arc? How does it affect your characters? And, why does YOUR work of fiction need a character arc? We break down the answers to all…
Elizabeth’s Rival: The Tumultuous Tale of Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester. Hardcover – 2 Nov 2017 by Nicola Tallis Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Michael O’Mara; 1st Edition edi…
The story of the original Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII, is one of utmost love and devotion. It is a story filled with tragedy and yet, with a strong desire never to give up what is most important in life; love. For King Edward VIII, the love and dedication that he had for his country and everything that it desired of him was important, but there was nothing more important than the love he had for Wallis. For her, he was willing to do whatever it took, and she was willing to do anything she could for him as well. But could either of them truly be happy if the king chose to remain as such? Or if she chose to remain in her marriage? The King and Mrs. Simpson by Erin Schulz is where you’ll see the true meaning of love and a willingness to give up all. This is a story that’s going to make you think again about what love really means. Being willing to give up everything for someone else is one thing, but actually giving it up, especially when what you have to give up is worth so much, can be a different thing altogether. For King Edward VIII, he had more to give up than anyone, but he had such a strong love for Wallis that he was willing and actually did give up the throne. This is their story and it is one where each tries to sacrifice for the other. It’s a story of love, sacrifice, devotion and definitely destiny, but also of proving to the world that nothing is stronger than all of these things in The King and Mrs. Simpson by Erin Schulz.
Are you a Save the Cat! fan? We've mapped the Save the Cat! beats to Fictionary. Apply the theory in Fictionary and turn your words into a great story.
A Darlington father recently published his first book, after turning to writing to help him come to terms with illness. David Huntley reports http://bit.ly/echomission
Have you read Julia Cameron's legendary creativity book 'The Artists's Way'? It is the ultimate book of all things related to creative living, creativity and happiness on every level. Julia Cameron guides you in 12 weeks through the process of RECOVERING the artists that you truly are. If you haven't read the book yet....omg, you have so much excitement ahead of you!!! xoxo Dana
I feel like Haven is one of those shows that I’m the only person who watched it. But I still find it fairly interesting and it definitely has some valuable ...
Time for another scene-by-scene retelling of an entire play! This time around it's that classic (i.e. one you probably all had to study in school at sometime in your life) Romeo and Juliet ! Let's start, as always, with a look at the dramatis personae:
What? The McBurneys must have had a pet pig. Their library looks quite delightful doesn't it? I would love to know more about this pig that brings books. Image found here. Bookplate was designed by William Fowler Hopson
From My Big Fat Greek Wedding to Crazy Rich Asians, these movies about weddings will get you through wedding season or even inspire your own wedding.
Discovery what a contagonist is and why your story definately needs one. All the markings of a killer contagonist to take your story to the next level.
Publishing expert Joel Friedlander shares his top 5 tips for self-published authors to find success through book reviews.
An interview with an introvert and author of Text, Don’t Call: An Illustrated Guide to the Introverted Life.
Why do so many adventure movies seem to have the same story? A lot of the blame goes to the Hero's Journey, a cookie-cutter spiritual-ish adventure recipe concocted by Joseph Campbell in 1949. Star Wars and many fantasy sagas famously follow this treasure map step by step, but how do other science fiction stories…
Scenes are the building blocks of stories. But what actually makes up a scene? In this blog, we break down the eight building blocks of working scenes, with tips and tricks on how to fit your scenes to your story arc.
A Scribble Where it Shouldn't, by Paul Wennersberg-Løvholen, is a 34-page-long children’s picture book about Luna, her parents, and two naughty scribbles. The artwork is mostly watercolor. As the book opens, it appears as if the parents are demanding and rigid, laying down a lot of laws and rules for the home. But as we look closer, we find they are loving parents with a great sense of humor. Luna isn’t exactly the most well-behaved child, just one most would think of as normal. One night she is filled with an artistic urge and decides to mark her bedroom wall with some crayons, just to liven things up a bit. But while she sleeps, things start to happen, and the scribble on the wall comes alive, and soon starts its own merrymaking. What will happen in the morning when everyone wakes up? This story is clever, cute, and sweet. It is written with the imagination of a child in mind, and that, I believe, is the biggest reason for its success. It is filled with humor and creativity that simply made me want more. It even pulls the reader in, with an invitation to count all the creative, newly-made works of art! I also appreciate the grace and patience of the parents as they deal with the aftermath of the artistic experience. A Scribble Where it Shouldn't, by Paul Wennersberg-Løvholen, mixes humor, color, love, and the imagination of a child to whip up a magically wonderful tale for young readers. Truly an outstanding read. Great job! Highly recommended.
Writing teacher and author Darcy Pattison discusses writing novels and picture books. Tips, techniques and encouragement for the writing life.
Just as a musician must first understand the structure of music to be able to improvise, so must a story writer understand the structure of story.
A thorough technique for outlining your novel, from character arcs to plot diagrams. This step-by-step process will leave you with a solid foundation!
The children’s publisher has embraced the trend for spoofing its classic guides by launching a humorous series for adults dealing with modern problems
