Many dream of getting their novel published, somewhere, someday. I can never forget the huge excitement I felt in November 2010 when my debut novel, “It Can’t Be You” was launched. It was a dream come true. As you probably know, getting a novel published is much more difficult than it may seem to many. I learnt the hard way about the querying process, the need to write a crisp synopsis, how a back cover copy can make a huge difference to you book sales and how the book cover has a major role in the reader’s purchase decision. You will find posts on these topics in my writing blog, “Writing To Be Read.”
Category: On Writing: Resources for Writers
Sharing insights, suggestions, tips and almost anything which will help you, and me, become better writers.
Thanks to my long-standing interest in historical fiction I connected with the author, MK Tod. I follow Mary’s tweets @MKTodAuthor and she pointed me to a very interesting survey she has been conducting which seeks to find out what makes historical fiction buffs love this genre. You will find a lot of information on this in her blog A Writer of History. Continue reading “Survey on Historical Fiction”
“Gee, it’s far easier to write 70,000 or even 90,000 words than it is to write a winning synopsis.” You must have heard this a million times. You have written your book and the next thing you need is to have ready a synopsis because that is what everyone, from your agent to a potential publisher will ask for. Continue reading “More on Writing A Synopsis”
There is huge excitement in the air for many of us writers as November fast approaches. I have successfully completed NaNoWriMo for four consecutive years, from 2009 to 2012 and am very keen to make it 5 in 5 by successfully completing a NaNo novel in November 2013 too. This involves writing 50,000 words of a novel during the calendar month of November. The novel can be in any literary genre. Continue reading “Alternate History”
There is no finish line in writing. That’s what makes it so fascinating for me. You can improve all the time, whether you are a novice or a published author. The objective of most writers is to have their stories published. This process is, as you will find out if you haven’t done so already, is a long one and is by no means as easy as it sounds. Today, I share a few articles that caught my attention on this topic from Mike Wells, in his website/blog Mike Wells Books/The Green Water Blog. Continue reading “Tips for Writers from Mike Wells”
Blog carnivals are such fun! In December 2010, in my blog, “People at Work & Play” I wrote about HR Carnivals which were becoming very popular at that time. Recently, I got the opportunity to contribute to a blog carnival on a very different subject.
Author Marketing Experts, Inc. have a blog carnival called, “Tips and Tricks for Authors and Writers.” In my new role as an author, I contributed a blog post to the August 26, 2013 version of this carnival on “Writers and Advances.” You will find tips on writing too contributed by Chris Fey, Nichole Bernier and Pa Ul.
You may like to sign on to the Blog Carnival site which helps you contribute to a very wide range of blog carnivals. If you so wish, you could host a blog carnival too, at your blog. Many of the questions you may have about blog carnivals in general are already answered in their FAQs.
It’s every writer’s dream to grab the attention of an acquisitions editor in a successful publishing house for his/her book. Heaps of effort and huge amounts of time have gone into the making of the book, the next step is to get it noticed by those who matter. Continue reading “Secrets of an Acquisitions Editor”
Do you remember that old Beatles song, “With A Little Help From My Friends” which came out way back in ’67? I liked this song a lot and later another version of it by Joe Cocker who sang it in Woodstock in ’69. You may wonder what this has to do with writing or books, and I don’t blame you! Coming to the point, have you ever asked yourself how you can help your author friends? If you wish to, that is.
I used Grammarly to grammar check this post, because 763,909 people from all over the world like their Facebook Page , and hey, all of them must have found some value in it, just as I did!
What makes me write? What makes me write every day? These are the reasons why I started writing as a second career after 35 years as a business executive, the last 10 of them being an independent consultant and executive coach. Continue reading “What Makes Me Write?”
I earnestly believe that a writer gets better as he reads. It’s so important to read a lot and gain different perspectives on the huge amount of knowledge available on writing. I would like to share with you a couple of articles I read last week that I found of interest. Continue reading “A selection of articles on Writing”
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 