Plotting Your Book: Zip Two Disparate Stories Into One Tale
Rather than follow a lone main character through every chapter of a short story or novel, your tale might follow the experiences of two main characters or of two groups of principal characters that alternate. This is called a zipper story. READ MORE
How to Format Your Ebook
The best way to construct an ebook is as a unique document rather than running your paperback through meat grinder software. Fortunately, you can construct it right on your laptop without buying expensive software or hiring someone to code your ebook into a mobi or epub format. My Storytelling 101 book Format Your Ebook takes you through those steps. Among the many topics covered are your table of contents, headers, footers, page numbers, text, designing the cover, and uploading the ebook. Information is presented in brief, easy to understand explanations from someone who has formatted hundreds of ebooks. SEE BOOK
Writing Tip: Use Third-Person Limited for Greater Clarity
One type of third-person point of view is third-person limited. This is when the narrator tells the story only from the perspective of what the main character can observe and think, but unlike first-person limited, we also observe the main character through the author’s eyes. READ MORE
Self-Publishing Tip: Consider Exercising ‘Nuclear Option’ on Ebook
You’ve formatted your ebook in MS Word and uploaded it to Kindle DP or Smashwords. When you open the online previewer to see how it looks, you’re surprised to see tons of odd line breaks, strange characters that weren’t in your original Word document, uneven indentations, and a plethora of other problems. So you go through your manuscript, fix them, and upload again. To your frustration, you find that many of the errors remain – and maybe even some new ones crop up. Rather than continue battling each of these issues, you may want to consider what those in self-publishing call “the nuclear option.” READ MORE
This Week’s Podcast: Design Your Book Cover to Attract Attention
You can’t judge a book by a cover goes the old cliché, but the reality is that people literally do so all of the time. That’s why you’ll want to spend some time coming up with an attractive cover for your paperback book. LISTEN TO PODCAST
Book Marketing Tip: Increase Sales by Publishing Title as an Audio Book
Often new authors just think about getting their books into paperback and ebook. But potential purchasers of your book don’t just read words on a page or screen; they also enjoy books by listening to them. With the explosion of listening devices that connect to the Internet – from iPads and Kindle tablets to iPods and Mp3 players, not to mention cellphones – potential readers today can listen to your book while on their way to work, while running errands, or while waiting for others. READ MORE
Client Spotlight: “Irish Jesus of Fairview” by Sammy Juliano
A couple of year ago, I had the pleasure of editing Sammy Juliano’s debut novel, Irish Jesus of Fairview. Set in 1950s-1960s New Jersey suburbs, a nocturnal assault tests the familial bonds of three brothers. Sammy has a sequel coming out in a just a few weeks, so check out the first in the series to get the whole story! 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 Nov. 11, 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.
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