This is from the website too :)
Do you ever start writing an awesome piece then forget to finish it?
Do you get bored with your writing and move on to what seems to be a
more interesting, exciting idea? We know it can be challenging to stick
with what you started, but here are some tips to help you finish that
book!
Choose comfortable topics. When you have a passion for what you
are writing about, you will have so much to say! Make sure your topic is
something that truly inspires you and can be written into a novel. This
will push you to complete it so your words get out there and can
hopefully encourage many others to do the same!
Fake a deadline. Pretend you are writing your novel as a school
assignment, and make different parts of it due each week. By setting up a
goal for yourself, it will push you to finish it, just as if you were
writing an essay or research paper. Plus, it is not as overwhelming if
you take baby steps toward your ultimate goal!
See your novel as a draft. Don’t stress yourself out about the
little details just yet! See your novel as a rough draft that will in
turn come with mistakes and errors that you can polish up later. Focus
on getting your main idea into your novel, and when it comes time to
edit, you can revise.
Eliminate distractions. Close up all your accounts that would
interrupt your writing such as Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Sometimes
you may say you are going to write but get bored and find yourself
spending countless hours seeing who said this and that. In fact, try a
different venue to write in, such as your local library or park where
there is minimal noise or nuisances!
Set aside time. Take time out of your day to write, whether it’s
30 minutes or an hour. If you do this, reward yourself, which will
motivate you to keep writing. You can fit your time around your schedule
or end up writing in your free time whenever that may be. Just remember
to push yourself and even keep notes on how much you have accomplished
with the time and how much you write. Look back to this when you become
unenthused with your writing.
Written by Nicole Klock
--
Ashley
P.S.
Hope you all have a wonderful New Years! I'll see you all next year (2013)!
Friday, December 28, 2012
5 Tips To Introducing Characters
Hey! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!! I know I usually write the advice myself, but I found 5 awesome tips from a website and had to share them with you. I was going to do a 5 TIP sorta thing, but this one is better than the one I was going to write, so here it is.
Enjoy :)
Introducing characters is hard and frustrating. As the author you know everything about your characters, what they like, what they don't like, what's their style, how they look, etc. But how do you let your readers in on your characters' lives without overwhelming them with details and facts?
Show, don’t tell. When you write, you should always show the reader what’s happening instead of telling them. Stay away from introducing your characters by listing off facts. Rather, put them in a situation where they can show the reader what they’re like.
FOR EXAMPLE, DON’T SAY: Sara is a tall girl with shoulder length brown hair. She’s always been picked on because of her height.
DO SAY: Sara was late for class again. She power walked through Mr. Herald’s door hoping an empty seat was nearby so she could slip into it without being noticed.
Unfortunately for Sara, an unnoticed entrance was not in the cards today. Instead, she whacked her head on a homecoming banner that had been hung at the top of the door. Red and gold glitter shook loose from the sign, falling all over her brown shoulder length curls.
“Looks like Sasquatch has entered the building,” Joe Kirby snickered as Sara took her seat.
I hate school jocks, she thought as she took her seat.
Have them in action. When introducing a character, make sure they’re doing something. Again, starting a story with facts about your character can be boring for the reader. Like the above example, have your MC doing something from the get go. From there, you can explain things such as their appearance or any pertinent back-story.
Make them do something that characterizes them. Try to have the action you put your character in be revealing of their characteristics. For example, in the above example, Sara is late to class again. This shows that she’s never on time and is disorganized. If we were to say that she was late to class for the first time all year, this would show that she’s normally very prompt and efficient.
Limit your characters. Try not to have the character you’re first introducing be in a crowd of other characters. If you’re attempting to introduce your MC’s best friend, do so by giving them a one-on-one exchange or by only having a couple other people around. If you’re writing a fight scene with 5 characters you just introduced, bringing in a new one can be confusing for your reader.
Sprinkle in details. No one needs to know every minute detail about your character in the first couple chapters. Instead, aim to reveal something new about them every so often. Maybe they have a secret about their past or have never been the same since their goldfish died in 5th grade. If you were to tell the reader all of this information right away, it would be hard to keep track of. Instead, build the character as the story continues.
--
Ashley
Written by Virginia Van de Wall
Enjoy :)
Introducing characters is hard and frustrating. As the author you know everything about your characters, what they like, what they don't like, what's their style, how they look, etc. But how do you let your readers in on your characters' lives without overwhelming them with details and facts?
Show, don’t tell. When you write, you should always show the reader what’s happening instead of telling them. Stay away from introducing your characters by listing off facts. Rather, put them in a situation where they can show the reader what they’re like.
FOR EXAMPLE, DON’T SAY: Sara is a tall girl with shoulder length brown hair. She’s always been picked on because of her height.
DO SAY: Sara was late for class again. She power walked through Mr. Herald’s door hoping an empty seat was nearby so she could slip into it without being noticed.
Unfortunately for Sara, an unnoticed entrance was not in the cards today. Instead, she whacked her head on a homecoming banner that had been hung at the top of the door. Red and gold glitter shook loose from the sign, falling all over her brown shoulder length curls.
“Looks like Sasquatch has entered the building,” Joe Kirby snickered as Sara took her seat.
I hate school jocks, she thought as she took her seat.
Have them in action. When introducing a character, make sure they’re doing something. Again, starting a story with facts about your character can be boring for the reader. Like the above example, have your MC doing something from the get go. From there, you can explain things such as their appearance or any pertinent back-story.
Make them do something that characterizes them. Try to have the action you put your character in be revealing of their characteristics. For example, in the above example, Sara is late to class again. This shows that she’s never on time and is disorganized. If we were to say that she was late to class for the first time all year, this would show that she’s normally very prompt and efficient.
Limit your characters. Try not to have the character you’re first introducing be in a crowd of other characters. If you’re attempting to introduce your MC’s best friend, do so by giving them a one-on-one exchange or by only having a couple other people around. If you’re writing a fight scene with 5 characters you just introduced, bringing in a new one can be confusing for your reader.
Sprinkle in details. No one needs to know every minute detail about your character in the first couple chapters. Instead, aim to reveal something new about them every so often. Maybe they have a secret about their past or have never been the same since their goldfish died in 5th grade. If you were to tell the reader all of this information right away, it would be hard to keep track of. Instead, build the character as the story continues.
--
Ashley
Written by Virginia Van de Wall
Sunday, December 23, 2012
How to Make a Book Trailer
For those people who are trying to self-publish their book, like me, and drag as much attention to they're book as they can. If you want to know how to make a book trailer, click on the link below.
How to Make a Book Trailer -- eHow
How to Make a Book Trailer -- eHow
The Book Cover Designer
I found this great new website called The Book Cover Designer. It's great for self-publishing authors that are looking for a cover for their ready-to-publish book, or ebook. I just bought my first (ebook cover) one today :) and I'm totally excited. I'm so close to self-publishing my first novel that I can taste it. Only a few more months. I hate waiting for a book to be copyrighted.
The website sells pre-made ebook covers that you can look through and pick the right one for you. This usually costs around $50, but right now they have a sale going on and every pre-made ebook cover is on sale for $19.95 so get your cover now!!! These pre-made ebook covers are exclusive. So when you buy one that's it, they don't sell it again.
This is an ebook cover that is acceptable for Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, Kobo Books, etc. This cover is also exclusive, which means once it’s purchased, it will not be sold again.
This is what they tell you with every ebook cover purchase.
Or, if you can't find one that matches the subject of your book (or novel), you can get a custom book cover. This costs $400.
Want a custom ebook cover designed for you from scratch? TheBookCoverDesigner.com to the rescue! We have an arrangement in place with Sue T., a professional graphic designer whose work you may be familiar with from her fantastic premades (samples above). For a bespoke design she charges $400 (£250). For this she will do an image search, create mockups with a minimum of four images and apply different treatments in terms of typography and if appropriate the image itself.
For a small extra fee, Sue can provide you with a version of the cover suitable for print as well.
Link to website: The Book Cover Designer
Hope you all have a great Christmas!!!
--
Ashley
The website sells pre-made ebook covers that you can look through and pick the right one for you. This usually costs around $50, but right now they have a sale going on and every pre-made ebook cover is on sale for $19.95 so get your cover now!!! These pre-made ebook covers are exclusive. So when you buy one that's it, they don't sell it again.
This is an ebook cover that is acceptable for Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, Kobo Books, etc. This cover is also exclusive, which means once it’s purchased, it will not be sold again.
This is what they tell you with every ebook cover purchase.
Or, if you can't find one that matches the subject of your book (or novel), you can get a custom book cover. This costs $400.
Want a custom ebook cover designed for you from scratch? TheBookCoverDesigner.com to the rescue! We have an arrangement in place with Sue T., a professional graphic designer whose work you may be familiar with from her fantastic premades (samples above). For a bespoke design she charges $400 (£250). For this she will do an image search, create mockups with a minimum of four images and apply different treatments in terms of typography and if appropriate the image itself.
For a small extra fee, Sue can provide you with a version of the cover suitable for print as well.
Link to website: The Book Cover Designer
Hope you all have a great Christmas!!!
--
Ashley
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Do NOT Put it Online!!!!
DON'T POST IT ONLINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you wrote a book I'm sure you want to get responses from it, but the worst thing you can do if its not copyrighted is put your book online on any of the websites like, Wattpad or Miss Literati. If you want responses about your book you could give a copy to a family member, or a really close friend that you trust, but keep a printed copy for yourself. Take it to a friend or family member that is opinionated and have them tell you what they think.
But NEVER put it online!!! If you do, it's up for grabs for someone else. Anyone can steal it and try to publish it, or publish it themselves (self-publish).
If it's copyrighted then you can put it online I guess . . . but I wouldn't.
What I plan to do is, once I self-publish the series I'm writing now on Lulu, I'm going to put the first chapter on Wattpad and Miss Literati and then at the bottom I'm going to say that you can get it on your Nook, Kindle, and iPad if you go to iBooks. And then I'm going to go to Google: 'book review blogs' and send an Email asking if they could read and review my book. Like Amanda Hocking did.
I might even get one of my friends to help me make a book trailer, if he knows how, and post it on YouTube. I want as many responses and readers as I can get. And since Miss Literati is a teen website I think that I'll get the best responses there, once I post the first chapter on there. I used to go on there all the time! If you want to check it out, my user name is Yuki15. I don't really go on there anymore though.
Link to my profile on Miss Literati: Yuki15 Profile
--
Ashley
If you wrote a book I'm sure you want to get responses from it, but the worst thing you can do if its not copyrighted is put your book online on any of the websites like, Wattpad or Miss Literati. If you want responses about your book you could give a copy to a family member, or a really close friend that you trust, but keep a printed copy for yourself. Take it to a friend or family member that is opinionated and have them tell you what they think.
But NEVER put it online!!! If you do, it's up for grabs for someone else. Anyone can steal it and try to publish it, or publish it themselves (self-publish).
If it's copyrighted then you can put it online I guess . . . but I wouldn't.
What I plan to do is, once I self-publish the series I'm writing now on Lulu, I'm going to put the first chapter on Wattpad and Miss Literati and then at the bottom I'm going to say that you can get it on your Nook, Kindle, and iPad if you go to iBooks. And then I'm going to go to Google: 'book review blogs' and send an Email asking if they could read and review my book. Like Amanda Hocking did.
I might even get one of my friends to help me make a book trailer, if he knows how, and post it on YouTube. I want as many responses and readers as I can get. And since Miss Literati is a teen website I think that I'll get the best responses there, once I post the first chapter on there. I used to go on there all the time! If you want to check it out, my user name is Yuki15. I don't really go on there anymore though.
Link to my profile on Miss Literati: Yuki15 Profile
--
Ashley
First Chapter
Writing the first chapter in a new book is . . . very difficult. Even if you've written a lot of books. Why is it so hard? Well that's a simple question that I have the answer to.
You see people go to a bookstore, pick up a book when they see a cool cover, read the back, and if they don't like how it sounds they put it back on the shelf. But if they do like it, they read the first page of the book, or the first chapter (depending on how long the buyer is willing to stay in the bookstore).
The first chapter is important, but not as important as the first page. Every time I start a new book I think about how I want the first pages to sound, and what I want to happen. Basically how I want the whole thing to start out.
If you think literary agents and editors are harsh critics about your book, then you don't know readers. There are very picky readers out there, and I'm one of them. I hate it, hate it, when someone buys me a book. Because most of the time they just pick a book they would read, and not what I would read.
Anyway, that first chapter is hard to write because you want it to sound right, and you don't just want to jump into the story. In my last post I talked about the 'staircase of chapters' take that advice. You should start out slow, but keep it a little interesting and don't try to tell a whole lot in the first pages of the chapter. You don't want the reader to feel like the book is rushed.
Say the sentence aloud before you write it, if it sounds right to you go ahead and put it on paper, if not you should think about how you can redo it to make it sound better. Think about how you would say stuff. If it doesn't sound right, and it isn't something you really would say (if you were writing about someone your age that is, because adults write books about people of all ages) then change it.
But remember, that first page in the first chapter is important! It sucks the reader in. It's supposed to make the reader want to read more, and to want to buy it on the spot. But it also is the beginning of your story, so you have to be careful.
You can't describe a character one way and then a few chapters later describe that same character a different way. The reader would be confused. What I do is write the name of the character on a piece of paper and then describe how this person looks, so that way I won't get confused.
--
Ashley
You see people go to a bookstore, pick up a book when they see a cool cover, read the back, and if they don't like how it sounds they put it back on the shelf. But if they do like it, they read the first page of the book, or the first chapter (depending on how long the buyer is willing to stay in the bookstore).
The first chapter is important, but not as important as the first page. Every time I start a new book I think about how I want the first pages to sound, and what I want to happen. Basically how I want the whole thing to start out.
If you think literary agents and editors are harsh critics about your book, then you don't know readers. There are very picky readers out there, and I'm one of them. I hate it, hate it, when someone buys me a book. Because most of the time they just pick a book they would read, and not what I would read.
Anyway, that first chapter is hard to write because you want it to sound right, and you don't just want to jump into the story. In my last post I talked about the 'staircase of chapters' take that advice. You should start out slow, but keep it a little interesting and don't try to tell a whole lot in the first pages of the chapter. You don't want the reader to feel like the book is rushed.
Say the sentence aloud before you write it, if it sounds right to you go ahead and put it on paper, if not you should think about how you can redo it to make it sound better. Think about how you would say stuff. If it doesn't sound right, and it isn't something you really would say (if you were writing about someone your age that is, because adults write books about people of all ages) then change it.
But remember, that first page in the first chapter is important! It sucks the reader in. It's supposed to make the reader want to read more, and to want to buy it on the spot. But it also is the beginning of your story, so you have to be careful.
You can't describe a character one way and then a few chapters later describe that same character a different way. The reader would be confused. What I do is write the name of the character on a piece of paper and then describe how this person looks, so that way I won't get confused.
--
Ashley
Staircase Of Chapters
This is really for fiction.
Each chapter you write you want to slowly walk up the stairs of suspense. Which means, with every chapter you write you should take it slow with the mystery. You don't want to jump right into the suspense when you're writing a novel.
I think of each chapter I write as a step up a staircase. With each chapter I take a step up, which takes me a step closer to completing my novel.
Take one chapter at a time, then before you know it you'll be at the top of the staircase (finishing your novel). Make each chapter suspenseful, so the reader will crave for more and read the chapters quickly. It's a lot harder than it seems, in my opinion. I've only read a few fiction books that get me in an, "OMG I HAVE TO READ MORE. NOW!"
Make the reader interested ;)
With each chapter, take a step!
--
Ashley
Each chapter you write you want to slowly walk up the stairs of suspense. Which means, with every chapter you write you should take it slow with the mystery. You don't want to jump right into the suspense when you're writing a novel.
I think of each chapter I write as a step up a staircase. With each chapter I take a step up, which takes me a step closer to completing my novel.
Take one chapter at a time, then before you know it you'll be at the top of the staircase (finishing your novel). Make each chapter suspenseful, so the reader will crave for more and read the chapters quickly. It's a lot harder than it seems, in my opinion. I've only read a few fiction books that get me in an, "OMG I HAVE TO READ MORE. NOW!"
Make the reader interested ;)
With each chapter, take a step!
--
Ashley
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Book Cover
The #1 most important thing is a book cover. If you are considering self-publishing your book then you should continue on for sure, but if you plan to try to publish your book the regular way . . . you can still read on but it's mostly meant for self-publish.
Amanda Hocking was self-published before she sold millions of books and became a millionaire. The book cover that is above is her original cover from when she self-published.
This is Amanda Hocking's currant book cover. Eye-catching isn't it? It's very beautiful :) I love the cover. Anyway, you're book cover should be like this too -eye-catching.
In a bookstore if your cover is a different color (such as white, yellow, red, blue, green) it will catch a reader's eye instantly when they're browsing the store's shelves. The reason why is because usually the book's spine is what is facing a browsing eye, and if someone is walking by and sees an unusual color (for a book cover) it will catch their eye and they will most likely pick up the book and read what it is about. If they like how it sounds, they'll probably buy it or save it for another time (an easily remembered title will help the reader remember the book for the next time they go to the nearest bookstore).
But some people will only remember the cover, even if you have a good title, so make it pop out! :)
--
Ashley
Amanda Hocking was self-published before she sold millions of books and became a millionaire. The book cover that is above is her original cover from when she self-published.
This is Amanda Hocking's currant book cover. Eye-catching isn't it? It's very beautiful :) I love the cover. Anyway, you're book cover should be like this too -eye-catching.
In a bookstore if your cover is a different color (such as white, yellow, red, blue, green) it will catch a reader's eye instantly when they're browsing the store's shelves. The reason why is because usually the book's spine is what is facing a browsing eye, and if someone is walking by and sees an unusual color (for a book cover) it will catch their eye and they will most likely pick up the book and read what it is about. If they like how it sounds, they'll probably buy it or save it for another time (an easily remembered title will help the reader remember the book for the next time they go to the nearest bookstore).
But some people will only remember the cover, even if you have a good title, so make it pop out! :)
--
Ashley
A Title; Choose Wisely
The second most important thing for a book is its title. The #1 most important thing will be announced in the next post.
A book title needs to be memorable and catchy, so the reader can remember it easily. If they can remember the name of the book then that person can tell their friends and family about it and you'll sell more books.
Your title should be catchy, but it should also make sense in a way that it goes with your book. Or you can do what Stephenie Meyer (the author of the world famous Twilight Saga) did and go with a theme.
Each of her book titles have to do with the sun.
Twilight -- when the sun is just setting.
New Moon -- The phase of the moon when it is in conjunction with the sun and invisible from earth
Eclipse -- An obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the observer or between it and its source of...: "an eclipse of the sun"
Breaking Dawn --(clueless as to why this was chosen as a title
Anyway, her series obviously has a theme. You can have a theme, and have one of the books not really make sense (like her forth book in the saga breaking dawn), or you can just have a title.
A theme would go with if you have a series, or trilogy, etc.
Thanks for reading! Plz comment!!!
--
Ashley
A book title needs to be memorable and catchy, so the reader can remember it easily. If they can remember the name of the book then that person can tell their friends and family about it and you'll sell more books.
Your title should be catchy, but it should also make sense in a way that it goes with your book. Or you can do what Stephenie Meyer (the author of the world famous Twilight Saga) did and go with a theme.
Each of her book titles have to do with the sun.
Twilight -- when the sun is just setting.
New Moon -- The phase of the moon when it is in conjunction with the sun and invisible from earth
Eclipse -- An obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the observer or between it and its source of...: "an eclipse of the sun"
Breaking Dawn --(clueless as to why this was chosen as a title
Anyway, her series obviously has a theme. You can have a theme, and have one of the books not really make sense (like her forth book in the saga breaking dawn), or you can just have a title.
A theme would go with if you have a series, or trilogy, etc.
Thanks for reading! Plz comment!!!
--
Ashley
Pseudonym (pen name)
Pseudonym: A fictitious name, especially a pen name.
An author's name should be just as memorable as the title of his or her book. Some authors you will know that their name is fake by just reading it.
The author of this book is Galaxy Craze. I have a feeling that's not this person's real name, but I could be wrong.
You can have a fake author name, or you can put your actual name :) In my opinion, if you don't have a name a reader can easily remember, then you should have a fake name. But it's your decision so just have fun with it :)
--
Ashley
An author's name should be just as memorable as the title of his or her book. Some authors you will know that their name is fake by just reading it.
The author of this book is Galaxy Craze. I have a feeling that's not this person's real name, but I could be wrong.
You can have a fake author name, or you can put your actual name :) In my opinion, if you don't have a name a reader can easily remember, then you should have a fake name. But it's your decision so just have fun with it :)
--
Ashley
Monday, December 10, 2012
Great Authors That Were Rejected
Don't feel bad if you're rejected. Sometimes literary agents, and publishing houses make a mistake. Take J.K. Rowling for an example. She was rejected 8 times for her first Harry Potter book!
There isn't a doubt in my mind that the people that rejected this book were fired.
Also take Amanda Hocking as an example.
She is the author of one of my favorite trilogies. The Trylle trilogy
She is an amazing author! I love her books so much :) Anyway, she's self-published, or she was. She got a deal with St. Martin's Griffin and now has help with a lot of things as far as advertising and such.
She was rejected a lot by publishing houses and agents and one day she read an article about self-publishing and decided that that was what she was going to do; self-publish. She self-published her books on Lulu.com and after about 2 months things started to kick off. She's sold millions of books!
If you want to know how she did it I'm subscribed to her blog, so if you go to my profile you can get to her blog there, but I'm going to post a link that will take you right to the story that tells you about how her books became so popular.
How Amanda Hocking Did It
It's a long article, but you can skip a good bit of it if you want to just read over the major I want to know stuff.
And now I'm going to put another link that will take you to YouTube. It's a video of an interview with Amanda Hocking.
Meet Amanda Hocking, eBook Millionaire
Amanda Hocking is a really talented writer, I hope to be as famous as she is (and I'm sure you have the same dream). I can only tell you that it takes time and a lot of patience to get published. And patience is something I don't really have, so I'm going to try out self-publishing as soon as I get the book I've just completed Copyrighted.
So the point of this post was to help you a little and tell you that rejection shouldn't be taken personally. I would know from experience. When a literary agent, publishing house, etc. rejects you it hits close to home and leaves you depressed and irritated for the rest of the day. Especially when you get like 5-10 rejections in one day. That was a really bad day.
But all I have to do is go over to my bookshelf and look at Harry Potter or the Trylle trilogy and think of the rejections these great authors got, and then I don't feel so bad.
J.K. Rowling is a billionaire and she was rejected 8 times.
Amanda Hocking is a millionaire and was rejected more times than she could keep up with, so she published her creation herself and got amazing results.
--
Ashley
There isn't a doubt in my mind that the people that rejected this book were fired.
Also take Amanda Hocking as an example.
She is the author of one of my favorite trilogies. The Trylle trilogy
She is an amazing author! I love her books so much :) Anyway, she's self-published, or she was. She got a deal with St. Martin's Griffin and now has help with a lot of things as far as advertising and such.
She was rejected a lot by publishing houses and agents and one day she read an article about self-publishing and decided that that was what she was going to do; self-publish. She self-published her books on Lulu.com and after about 2 months things started to kick off. She's sold millions of books!
If you want to know how she did it I'm subscribed to her blog, so if you go to my profile you can get to her blog there, but I'm going to post a link that will take you right to the story that tells you about how her books became so popular.
How Amanda Hocking Did It
It's a long article, but you can skip a good bit of it if you want to just read over the major I want to know stuff.
And now I'm going to put another link that will take you to YouTube. It's a video of an interview with Amanda Hocking.
Meet Amanda Hocking, eBook Millionaire
Amanda Hocking is a really talented writer, I hope to be as famous as she is (and I'm sure you have the same dream). I can only tell you that it takes time and a lot of patience to get published. And patience is something I don't really have, so I'm going to try out self-publishing as soon as I get the book I've just completed Copyrighted.
So the point of this post was to help you a little and tell you that rejection shouldn't be taken personally. I would know from experience. When a literary agent, publishing house, etc. rejects you it hits close to home and leaves you depressed and irritated for the rest of the day. Especially when you get like 5-10 rejections in one day. That was a really bad day.
But all I have to do is go over to my bookshelf and look at Harry Potter or the Trylle trilogy and think of the rejections these great authors got, and then I don't feel so bad.
J.K. Rowling is a billionaire and she was rejected 8 times.
Amanda Hocking is a millionaire and was rejected more times than she could keep up with, so she published her creation herself and got amazing results.
--
Ashley
Sending In Your ONLY Copy
NEVER, EVER send in your only copy of your manuscript. If it's printed, or if it's a doc. Almost all (if not all) publishing houses send back your manuscript. They usually recycle the sample chapters (or complete manuscript) if they reject you.
If they like your manuscript and accept it I don't know what they do with the copy you gave them because I have not been able to get anyone to even read my complete manuscript yet. Hopefully you have better luck :)
Anyway, never send in your only printed copy of your manuscript. Always keep an extra lying around.
Please Comment!!! And ask questions!
--
Ashley
If they like your manuscript and accept it I don't know what they do with the copy you gave them because I have not been able to get anyone to even read my complete manuscript yet. Hopefully you have better luck :)
Anyway, never send in your only printed copy of your manuscript. Always keep an extra lying around.
Please Comment!!! And ask questions!
--
Ashley
Sunday, December 9, 2012
eBook Cover Creator
I don't usually do this, but I Google searched 'How to Create an eBook Cover Free' and a couple of websites pulled up. One of them was a post that this woman posted on her blog: Grow with Stacey. And the post was about a website, so I won't use any of her words, just the images and the website link.
1. Go to MyEcoverMaker.com
2. Choose the cover that you like best. There are five free choices:
3. Choose your background design. You can either choose one of theirs by clicking it or you can upload your own. They have a large selection and they are all free.
4. Crop the background image to how you want it to be on your cover. It will give you a preview of how it will look on the cover. Use your mouse to select the area and then click “crop selection” when you are ready.
5. Create the cover title, image, etc. This is where you get to start getting creative and having fun. You have four steps: add text, add images and/or clipart and then finalize.
When you insert text you have the options to change the color and font of the text.
First highlight “Your Text Here” and type in the title of your ebook. Then follow the directions below to customize the text.
Hope this was useful!!!
--
Ashley <3
1. Go to MyEcoverMaker.com
2. Choose the cover that you like best. There are five free choices:
3. Choose your background design. You can either choose one of theirs by clicking it or you can upload your own. They have a large selection and they are all free.
4. Crop the background image to how you want it to be on your cover. It will give you a preview of how it will look on the cover. Use your mouse to select the area and then click “crop selection” when you are ready.
5. Create the cover title, image, etc. This is where you get to start getting creative and having fun. You have four steps: add text, add images and/or clipart and then finalize.
When you insert text you have the options to change the color and font of the text.
First highlight “Your Text Here” and type in the title of your ebook. Then follow the directions below to customize the text.
Hope this was useful!!!
--
Ashley <3
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Snail-Mail
I don't remember if I went over what Snail-Mail meant, so I just wanted to post that Snail-Mail is not Email. It is normal mail, as in letter mail. Send a letter!
Spencer Hill Press
Spencer Hill Press (a publishing house) is accepting submissions from people who don't have literary agents. But only through some of the month of December (this year, 2012).
Take the opportunity and send a submission!!! Remember to read the submission guidelines carefully!!! And check out what books they already have published!
From their website.
We are now OPEN to new submissions as of Saturday, December 1st.
We plan to remain open for much of the month of December.
Responses
If you submit a query and have not yet heard back from us, it means we are still considering your manuscript. We respond to all queries we receive. If you have multiple manuscripts that you believe would be good fits for us, please pick the BEST ONE to submit first, although please feel free to mention that you have additional books you'd like us to consider when you query.
Who Can Submit Queries
We welcome queries from unpublished and previously published authors, agented or unagented. We are interested in Young Adult, New Adult, and Middle Grade sci-fi, psych-fi, paranormal, or urban fantasy, particularly those with a strong and interesting voice. We only take on new projects that inspire us and make us want to read more.
Our Mission
Our mission is to discover and grow the careers of talented YA authors. We commit resources to marketing our authors' work, building their "brands" and followings, as well as making them the strongest writers they can be... and then launching them as successful publishing professionals. This makes us a good fit for authors at the start of their careers. We distribute our titles through Midpoint Trade Books, and Rebecca Mancini of Rights Mix handles the sales of foreign, film, and book club rights for all of our authors. All of our titles are released in both print (usually trade paperback) and e-book formats.
What to Send
Please send a query letter and the first ten pages of your manuscript in the body of an email to Patricia Riley at: submissions@SpencerHillPress.com. We do not accept attachments or snailmail submissions.
Good luck!!!
--
Ashley
Take the opportunity and send a submission!!! Remember to read the submission guidelines carefully!!! And check out what books they already have published!
From their website.
We are now OPEN to new submissions as of Saturday, December 1st.
We plan to remain open for much of the month of December.
Responses
If you submit a query and have not yet heard back from us, it means we are still considering your manuscript. We respond to all queries we receive. If you have multiple manuscripts that you believe would be good fits for us, please pick the BEST ONE to submit first, although please feel free to mention that you have additional books you'd like us to consider when you query.
Who Can Submit Queries
We welcome queries from unpublished and previously published authors, agented or unagented. We are interested in Young Adult, New Adult, and Middle Grade sci-fi, psych-fi, paranormal, or urban fantasy, particularly those with a strong and interesting voice. We only take on new projects that inspire us and make us want to read more.
Our Mission
Our mission is to discover and grow the careers of talented YA authors. We commit resources to marketing our authors' work, building their "brands" and followings, as well as making them the strongest writers they can be... and then launching them as successful publishing professionals. This makes us a good fit for authors at the start of their careers. We distribute our titles through Midpoint Trade Books, and Rebecca Mancini of Rights Mix handles the sales of foreign, film, and book club rights for all of our authors. All of our titles are released in both print (usually trade paperback) and e-book formats.
What to Send
Please send a query letter and the first ten pages of your manuscript in the body of an email to Patricia Riley at: submissions@SpencerHillPress.com. We do not accept attachments or snailmail submissions.
Good luck!!!
--
Ashley
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