Writer thoughts, updates on the novel, general posts about being an author
~ Don’t Be Cheap: Why You Should Spend Money on Your Novel’s Cover Art ~ by Tam Francis I’m on the verge of self-publishing my ghost story collection. This seemed like a no-brainer. Literary agents are not usually interested in story collections and although I found some small presses willing to publish collections, I have to […more…]
~ Short Story Compilation? Learn How to Write Back Cover Copy ~ by Tam Francis As I approach the publication of Ghostoria: Vintage Romantic Tales of Fright, I struggle with writing back cover copy, also known as, the blurb. Many blogs and sites have wonderful advice on writing blurbs, but very few talk about how to sell […more…]
~ Everyone’s a Critic: How to be the one Everyone Wants ~ by Tam Francis As writers, it’s in our best interest to have our works critiqued, and we need to learn to take it on the chin, and how to improve our writing with the criticisms we receive. If you want to be treated like […more…]
~ Don’t be a Fool: Query, Rewrite and Ninja Edit ~ The Torture of Querying It struck me that most of the blogs out there for writers are pushing self-publishing. Heck, I’m going to jump in with a short story collection, but am still on the fence about self-publishing the novel. Especially when gurus like […more…]
~ What you Need to Know to Write an Author Introduction ~ by Tam Francis Set Yourself Apart with an Author Introduction With the proliferation of self-publishing, indie and hybrid publishing, it’s become increasingly difficult to stand out or set yourself apart. Why not consider asking an fellow author or a more established author to […more…]
~ Working at the Calendar Kiosk at Christmas Time in Rhyme ~ Christmas seems to be the time to rhyme and I am not immune to its charm. I offer up a light fare of poems written in Haiku when I worked one Christmas for Borders Books and Music and was stationed in the Calendar […more…]
~ I Won NaNoWriMo and Revolutionized my Writing ~ This year a gal in my writer’s group convinced me to sign up for the NaNoWriMo ( National Novel Writing Month). I had originally said NO, with good reason. I was working on a compilation of ghost stories, still querying my novel and thinking of a “tense” rewrite, […more…]
~ Why are you Hating on Present Tense? ~ I’ve been having an ongoing discussion with some of my writer friends about tense. Most the writers in my critique group vehemently do not like reading/writing present tense. “It’s trendy. “Obviously no one (sane) goes around announcing to some invisible audience everything that they’re doing as they […more…]