Writing Help

A humorous genie grants your wish for the 'perfect' first and middle baby names for your baby boy or baby girl. Its a baby name generator with a personality.

This blog is about what goes on in the POD and Ebook publishing industry, written by someone who owns a POD and Ebook publishing company. ...

We are book printers, e-commerce providers, and eBook experts. You retain your rights, all of them. Our agreement is very clear. Bookstand Publishing has ...

Plot your novel in five easy steps. E-book course plus follow-up.

Plot your novel in five easy steps. E-book course plus follow-up.

A lot of fiction by beginning writers, and unfortunately a significant amount of fiction by published writers, is plagued by paper people – characters who never really come to life on the page. The published writers who still get away with this do so because they’ve learned to tell a story so compelling that editors will buy from them anyway. Beginners really don’t have that luxury, and paper people will kill a sale as fast as anything. Paper people fall into categories – and that is much of their problem. You have Evil Villains, Oppressed Virginal Heroines, Naïve-But-Stalwart Heroes, and Smart-Ass Sidekicks, among other common types. (Depending on genre, you’ll meet Hookers-With-Hearts-of-Gold, Strong-But-Silent Sheriffs, Nubile-Young-Secretaries-Who-Always-Think-They’re-Too-Thin, Brilliant-But-Distracted Scientists, Ever-Dedicated Cops, and the inescapable Fearless Soldiers.) You recognize them as I list them, and can probably name as many novels where they feature prominently as I can.

I got a question in my e-mail not too long ago on how to do dialogue. As far as I've ever been able to tell, writing good dialogue comes from being able to hear voices in your head that aren't there---which in times past has been enough to get you burned at the stake or drowned at a dunking post, and which currently, if you admit to it in the wrong company, can get you a quiet room with rubber walls and all the free Thorazine you can swallow. Never let it be said that writing well is not without its risks. That said, I need to tell you that dialogue in a story is NOT about two people talking to each other. That's what it is, but it isn't what it's about.

Creating, marketing and selling electronic books or ebooks online allows people to have another source of income, while at the same time have time for their ...

Rockhard Software specializes in Ebook Publishing, for business and education.

Ebook publishing,promotion and marketing secrets for writers and self-publishers. Find resources to successfully profit from becoming your own agent, ...

Ebook Publishing Tools - everything you need to successfully write, publish and market your ebook.

1 resource for eBook writing and publishing, including tips, techniques, articles, software, marketing tools and articles.

E-book publisher for Microsoft Reader, Adobe PDF, Palm, and Instant eBook formats.

Find eBook software (compliers, creators) and eBook readers for Palm and Pocket PC operating systems. Find an eBook publisher and buy or sell eBooks online. ...

EBook publishing discussion about pros & cons of PDF and EXE formats.

Holly Lisle's Updates

You have two choices with manuscript formatting -- you can either format first or format last. I format first -- that is, I do the whole novel in exactly the same format in which I will submit it. It uses more paper for print-outs, but I can copyedit my work easily, and I don't have to mess around with it later -- when the words are done, so is the formatting. Once you've decided when you're going to format, however, the next question is ... how? I use two formats -- one for novels, and one for short work, both fiction and nonfiction. I have never had a complaint about my formatting, I have never had work bounced for formatting, so I know that both of these formats are professionally acceptable. These are not the only correct manuscript formats out there...

When I read something wonderful, I have varying reactions. Sometimes, I just get huge envious green goose bumps, because I know there's no way in hell I could have ever written that book or story, nor could I have written anything like it, nor am I worthy to walk on the same ground as the Master who created that tale. (Ted Sturgeon did that to me a lot. He also made me cry more than any other writer I've ever read, and I will never forgive him for dying before I had the chance to meet him.) Sometimes, I am moved to unenvious rapture -- I love what I've read, but I have no desire to emulate it. Brilliant books outside of my genre frequently have that effect on me. Robert B. Parker, for example, and Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder books both delight me, and I seek them out and read them as soon as they are available, even paying hardcover prices to acquire them -- but I have no interest in doing anything like them. But sometimes I am filled with passion and wicked larceny -- what I read thrills me and catches at my gut and at my imagination and I just have to steal some part of it for myself.

No matter what sort of fiction you're writing, you're going to have to populate your story with characters, and a lot of them, if not all of them, you're going to have to create from scratch. Unfortunately -- or maybe fortunately -- there is no Betty Crocker Instant Character-In-A-Can that you can mix with water and pop into the oven for twenty minutes. There aren't any quick and easy recipes, and I don't have one either, but I do have some things that have worked for me when creating my characters, and some things that haven't. You may find my experiences useful. For what they're worth, here are my Do's and Don'ts.

How to create and sell ebooks. Creating and selling ebooks for sale online.