Avoid Writing Gimmick Stories – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Dec. 16, 2025

Plotting Your Book: Avoid Writing Gimmick Stories
Sometimes what seems at the outset like a great story idea really isn’t. Such is the case with the gimmick story. This is a story in which character development takes a back seat to a big reveal or a shocking twist at the tale’s end. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Advice: How to Upload Your Paperback to KindleDP 
For those new to self-publishing, uploading your paperback 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 no real explanation as to how to 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 Paperback 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: Writers Must be Comfortable with Failure
No first attempt at a short story, novel or nonfiction book will be perfect. In fact, it probably will be more awful than good. The challenge is to learn from the experience – to identify what can be improved and how to do so, and then to try again by writing another draft. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: What to Name Your Publishing Company
Should you decide to create your own publishing company when self-publishing, you’ll need to come up with a name for it. How do you do that? READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: Give Readers Sleepless Nights with Narrative Drive
Ever read story before bed and find it so gripping that you stay up far later than you should just to find out what is going to happen? If so, you’ve been a “victim” of narrative drive. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: Tips to Avoid Stage Fright in Book Presentations
For many writers, public speaking – even if it’s just reading from one’s book – is a daunting experience. Fortunately, there are a number of steps you can take to dampen your apprehension. READ MORE

Client Spotlight: “World War II Veteran in the Army of Peace: Biography of Paul Cornelius Ferrant,” by Verena Ferrant Harp
A recent editing client has published her first book, a biography of her father, a World War II gunner who became a preacher. “World War II Veteran in the Army of Peace: Biography of Paul Cornelius Ferrant,” by Verena Ferrant Harp, tells the story of how her father completed fifty-seven combat missions over France and Germany. He gathered lethal war memories and a Good Conduct Medal to bring back to his strawberry farm in Louisiana – but then his new Commander-in-Chief orders him away from the farm after he joins the Army of Peace. The book is available in ebook, paperback and hardcover at Amazon. 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 Dec. 23, 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.