Use Pacing to Maintain Sense of Tension in Story – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for July 15, 2025

Plotting Your Book: Use Pacing to Maintain Sense of Tension in Story
As developing your story, maintaining a sense of tension is vital. Without dramatic tension – a feeling of uncertainty in the reader about how the main character will solve (or even if he will resolve) the central problem – the story will be flat and vanilla. Creating tension involves controlling the story’s pace. Pace is the timing by which the major events in the plot unfold and in which the big scenes are shown. READ MORE

Marketing Tip: How to Sell Your Book with Amazon Ads
Most indie authors are nervous about buying ads for their books and for good reason. They wonder if the ads really will work or if it’s just dumping money into a bottomless hole. They even have been told not to buy them. I used to think that way too. Then I began to hear from a small number of authors that they actually were having good luck with Amazon ads. A lot of tweaking was necessary, but eventually they figured out a formula that worked. So I gave it a try. Within weeks, I was earning twice as much as I spent on ads, and my sales tripled. My new book Sell Your Book with Amazon Ads is all about how the ad system works, how to build an ad, how to read Amazon’s ad reports, how to optimize your ad, and more. SEE BOOK

Writing Tip: Use Bait-and-Switch Device Carefully in Stories
One common and time-honored way to make your plot more interesting is to employ a bait-and-switch device. This occurs when the author guides and encourages readers to invest their attention in some suspenseful situation that actually is a substitute for a payoff that has little to do with what occurred before. Getting readers to invest their attention is the bait; substituting a payoff is the switch. But be careful of using it! HERE’S WHY

Self-Publishing Tip: How to Determine Your Book’s Margins
Once you decide the size of your book (or the trim size), the next step in self-publishing is to set your margins. This is the white frame that runs between the page’s text and the page’s edge. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: How to Write a Novel Synopsis for a Lit Agent
If you want to sell your novel to a publisher or get a literary agent to represent it, you’ll ultimately need to write a synopsis, or a brief summary of what occurs in your story. It typically is sent by the author with a query letter; a literary agent who represents the book likely will use the synopsis to pitch your book to publishers. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: Why Some Media Ignored Your Press Release
So you’ve written a press release and after spending hours looking for the right reporter/editor to address it to and tailoring the piece to them, you’ve sent a batch of them out. Good work! You’re on your way to getting some press coverage. But don’t fret or get angry when some media ignores your press release. In fact, you should expect that your press release will be passed over. READ MORE

Client Spotlight: “River Falls Public Library – The Legacy of its Founding Mothers” by Jayne Hoffman
A recent editing client of mine has published her book that I edited! Jayne Hoffman’s River Falls Public Library – The Legacy of its Founding Mothers tells the story of how the public library came to be in River Falls (Wis.) and its development and growth through the years. From its humble beginnings as a subscription library in 1857 to its current status as a vibrant community hub, the River Falls Public Library stands as a testament to the power of civic engagement and perseverance. This meticulously researched history, reveals how generations of dedicated women transformed a small Midwestern town’s literary landscape through their tireless advocacy and innovation. At the heart of this story are the remarkable individuals and organizations who believed in the transformative power of public access to books and knowledge. 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 July 22, 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.