Each Draft of a Book Marks Another Year in the Building of a Cathedral – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Oct. 8, 2024

Writing Motivation: Each Draft of a Book Marks Another Year in the Building of a Cathedral
After you’ve brainstormed some ideas and made an outline of how you might organize those thoughts into a story or nonfiction piece, the next step is to get busy “drafting.” In many ways, drafting is like the multigenerational building of a cathedral in the Middle Ages. READ MORE

Self-Publishing: Everything You Must Know to Self-Publish Your Ebook
You’ve written a book and want to publish it as an ebook. But how do you do that? Maybe you’ve watched a video about it, but your self-publishing house keeps rejecting what you’ve created. Or maybe they’ve accepted it, but its appearance is less than adequate, especially compared to all of the other books out there. My book Self-Publish Your Ebook Bundle addresses all of those problems and more. A collection of guidebooks in the popular Storytelling 101 Quick Read Series, this bundle includes Format Your Ebook, Design Your Ebook Cover, and Upload Your Ebook to KindleDP. Those three titles take you through the entire self-publishing process, answering all of your questions in a brief, easy to understand format. SEE EBOOK

Writing Tip: How to Make Characters Three-Dimensional
Today’s sophisticated readers generally demand that your stories feature three-dimensional characters, that is, a protagonist who behaves like a real person and who probably grows by learning something along the way. But how do you create such a character? READ MORE

Writing Course: Write Your Story’s First Page
The first page of your story is its most important page. Those opening lines draw readers into your story, make them want to read on, and even allow them to put up with a scene they later find dull. Many readers won’t give you more than the first page to engage them in the story. My Write Your Story’s First Page course looks at the 11 must-have components of your story’s first 250 words. Length of course: 11 lesson readings and quizzes, 2-3 hours. Homework is up to the student. CHECK IT OUT

Self-Publishing Tip: Use Stock Art to Create Cover Inexpensively
When creating a cover for your self-published book, you’ll probably need a single, striking photograph or illustration that draws in readers. Since you’re a writer and probably not a photographer or illustrator, this poses a problem: Where will you get such an image? Purchasing stock art can be a low-cost effective solution. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: Work Off the Fat from Overwritten Descriptions
Fat writing, a term coined by CSFW’s Sarah Smith, is “unnecessary and grandiose verbiage.” You may have heard writing instructors refer to it as “verdant greenery” or “purple prose.” You want to trim the fat off your writing. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: How to Construct Your Website’s Home Page
The first page of your website that most potential readers and the media likely will see is your home page. This page serves as an introduction to your book(s). Here’s what should go on it. READ MORE

Client Spotlight: “Murder on the Bayou” by Drew Davis
A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of editing Drew Davis’s crime and action novel Murder on the Bayou. Hot off ending a deadly mob war and the lucrative theft of $3 million in cash, Crime Boss Tom Hill plans a fun coastal escape with son, Eric, as fair reward. But trouble has a strange way of catching up to Hill, placing him and his son in grave danger. CHECK IT OUT

$25 Off Your Next Edit!
For being a newsletter subscriber, please take $25 off your next edit with Inventing Reality Editing Service. When scheduling your edit, be sure to mention you’re a subscriber and give the email where you received this newsletter. Minimum order of $200. Offer expires Oct. 15, 2024. SCHEDULE EDIT

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of both aspiring and published writers and offers a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 350 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of a novel, the Storytelling 101 Quick Read series, four children’s books, more than 25 bestselling hiking guidebooks, and even a book of poetry. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.