Establish Tone During Story’s Opening Lines – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for May 6, 2025

Plotting Your Book: Establish Tone During Story’s Opening Lines
Each story expresses an emotional climate or tone; creating tone involves a complex array of techniques such as diction, pacing and color. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tips: How to Upload Your Ebook
For those new to self-publishing, uploading your ebook often is a complex and frustrating process. Unfamiliar terms are used, questions that you as an author have never thought of answering are asked, and when errors occur there’s often no real explanation as to how fix them. And while online “tutorials” are offered, the articles either state the obvious or appear to have been written by software engineers rather than someone who actually understands your plight. My book Upload Your Ebook to KindleDP corrects all of that. The explanations in this book make the process easy to understand and to follow. After all, you just want to get your book uploaded so it’s up for sale, not wonder if you wasted your time writing it because of error messages! SEE BOOK

Writing Tip: Don’t Burden Reader with a Self-indulgent Digression
Many writers pen stories to make a statement about an ethical or political issue. Authors sometimes are tempted to get on their soapbox rather than allow the message to unfold with the story. When a diatribe or rant is inserted in the story, the author is guilty of a self-indulgent digression. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: Should You Format Your Book While Writing It?
Formatting when writing to a small degree makes some sense. Many authors want to get a feel for what their book will look like in print. Or perhaps to get a “head start” while waiting for a proofreading to be completed, they start formatting. Almost invariably, though, this actually creates more work. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: Place Easter Egg to Reward Careful Readers
Sometimes the real pleasure of writing – and reading – isn’t about a well-crafted tale with a fast-moving plot involving intriguing characters set in a well-described landscape. After all, penning such a story entails a lot of sweat, and for readers, they expect nothing less than a well-developed piece. Instead, the real smile comes when the author leaves a special treats for the reader, such as hiding some surprise not germane to the story. These surprises are called Easter eggs, a term science fiction writing workshops have borrowed from the jargon of computer programming. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: How to Arrange a Public Book Reading/Signing
Just because you’ve published a book, don’t expect to get invitations to do book readings. You’ll have to arrange them yourself. The good news is you’ll find a lot of venues will be willing to have your speak. READ MORE

Client Spotlight: “Tracina’s Treacherous Trail of Troubles” by Don W. Maeder
A longtime editing client of mine has published his second novel! Don W. Maeder’s Tracina’s Treacherous Trail of Troubles tells the story of Donovan and Tracina – valuable white coat flying squirrels who the first of their kind – when their cargo plane crash-lands in a remote meadow inside Yosemite National Park. Stranded in the untamed wilderness, the frightened, devoted duo must seek survival skills or suffer the consequences. Just when things worsen, a twist of fate unfolds a remarkable pattern of partnerships with four unlikely forest animals, and together, they share each other’s strengths to face living in the wild successfully. The book is perfect for readers aged 9 to 13 who adore heart-pounding adventures and unforgettable animal heroes. 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 May 13, 2025. 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 400 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.