Columns

How To Help Out Writers During A Pandemic (and How Writers Can Help Themselves)

March 19th, 2020

One may assume that us writers have it the easiest during a nationwide pandemic that calls for social distancing and working from home. To a degree, we are lucky, given that our careers require nothing more that click-clacking away on computers or typewriters all day, and so many of us are introverts anyway, that don't socialize even when there isn't a virulent upper-respiratory infection sweeping across the world.

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The Strange Case of Hazel Drew

March 18th, 2020

Hazel Drew’s lifeless body was found floating in Teal’s Pond in Sand Lake, NY, on July 11th, 1908. She was young, attractive, and her violent demise baffled many. Over a century later her murder is still unsolved. All that remains is her gravestone at the Brookside Cemetery in Barberville, NY, not far from the scene of the crime. The autopsy revealed the cause of death to be repeated blunt trauma to the back of the head.

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The Most Interesting Cover Trends That Emerged in 2019 — And What We Can Expect in 2020

March 17th, 2020

As 2019 recedes from our collective memory, it’s easy to forget the trends that defined it, from fashion to film to food. Naturally this applies to literature as well — and it can be especially difficult to pin down cover design trends of a given year, as they tend to evolve gradually and may even re-emerge after long periods of dormancy. Indeed, any seasoned cover designer will recognize that no cover design is 100% new. However, each year there will be certain colors, shapes, and textual arrangements that “has its day,” so to speak.

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Storyville: Using a Chorus in Your Fiction

March 16th, 2020

Chorus defined: A Greek chorus, or simply chorus (in the context of Ancient Greek tragedy, comedy, satyr plays, and modern works inspired by them), is a homogeneous, non-individualized group of performers, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action. The chorus consisted of between 12 and 50 players, who variously danced, sang or spoke their lines in unison, and sometimes wore masks. —Wikipedia

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Stay Positive, and Write

March 13th, 2020

Images via Andrea Piacquadio & Ivan Bertolazzi According to the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center, positive psychology is the scientific study of the strengths that allow people and their communities to thrive. The field of positive psychology is based on the understanding that we all want to live lives that are meaningful, and that we all want to be able to do what is best for ourselves to enhance and optimize our life experiences. 

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20 Mind Destroying Secrets about Ghostwriting

March 12th, 2020

Images via Jimmy Chan & fotografierende You might not like this article if you still believe every successful author writes his or her own books. Most of you know better. Some of you may even know people who ghostwrite. You may know people who have used ghostwriters, but you may or may not be aware of who they are.

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Spring Cleaning For Writers

March 11th, 2020

Ah, spring. Nothing like sweating under your coat one day and freezing your junk off the next. Pollen in your nostrils, flu in your eyes. It’s really the perfect preparation for the worst time of year: summer, the suckiest season of all the sucky seasons. Don’t fight me on this.

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How to Get Paid as a Freelancer

March 10th, 2020

Original image via uglykittens.crew Okay, so you're a freelancer. I feel your pain! I've been doing the freelance thing for a dozen years. I started writing for blogs that didn't pay and worked my way up to what you're currently reading, as well as places like Publishers Weekly and NPR. I've learned a lot along the way, especially in terms of getting paid. I will give you some pointers below. Some are more serious than others, but all of them will be useful to you.

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Can One-Star Reviews Still Convince Readers to Buy Books?

March 9th, 2020

Photo by Alan Baxter I notice a lot of discussions centered around the importance of reviews. Are they or aren’t they? One author told me they don’t ever read reviews of any kind about any book, especially reviews of their own books, and they are not convinced they’re of any importance or have any impact on a book’s sale-ability. That might be true for that author, but personally I don't think it's an accurate assessment of reviews in general. 

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12 Tools Every Self-Published Author Should Have in Their Toolkit

March 6th, 2020

Header via Unsplash These days, it’s easier than ever to publish a book. The ability to do so is literally at the fingertips of anyone with a computer and internet connection. That being said, building a career as a self-published author takes a lot more than just writing a book and uploading it to Amazon.

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