Switch out Bookisms – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Aug. 18, 2026

Craft of Writing: Switch out Bookisms
Ever notice when reading a story that sometimes an odd word appears when “said” would do? For example, “Well, I’ve never!” she blustered. If so, you’ve just come across a bookism. A term coined by science fiction writer James Patrick Kelly, a bookism is a long word that means “said.” READ MORE

Marketing Tips: How to Build Your Author’s Platform
An author’s platform is absolutely vital to your success as an indie writer. Consisting of your website, social media, and outreach efforts, the platform gives you the tools to reach others who might buy your book. It also is a way for potential readers to stumble upon your book. My book Create Your Author’s Platform helps you build those tools to promote your books. Using practical, easy-to-understand explanations, it covers constructing a website, blogging, mailing lists, newsletters, social media, press releases, and book readings/signings. The tips come from a professional author and editor who has built a platform for his own books and has advised hundreds of other writers about how to do so. SEE BOOK

Writing Tip: When Should You Start a New Novel Chapter?
When should you start a new chapter in your novel? Does a new scene simply require a line break or does it demand a whole new page? READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: What Goes on Your Book’s Copyright Page
When self-publishing your book, you’ll need a copyright page. The copyright page lists important information about your book for libraries, academicians and book distributors. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: Try These Topics for Email Marketing Campaigns
Anytime you use email marketing to encourage book sales, you’re engaging in a campaign. Such campaigns shouldn’t simply say “buy my book” but instead ought to deliver “news” to readers about your titles. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: Increase Website Visits with Strategic SEO
Search Engine Optimization is another way to improve your page rank. As search engine robots and crawlers check over your website, they seek key words so that someone using a search engine gets sites that best match their needs. Simply incorporating certain keywords into your website text will improve the chances of someone finding your site when they search for those words. READ MORE

Client Spotlight: “Gerald Heard: The Perennial Philosopher – Writings on Religion and Spirituality” by Gerald Heard
I was honored to recently edit a collection of essays by a major U.S. spiritual and religious leader of the 20th century, Gerald Heard. That anthology, Gerald Heard: The Perennial Philosopher – Writings on Religion and Spirituality, is a collection of 49 previously published religious and spiritual writings ranging from Christianity to Vedanta to various spiritual practices. These writings demonstrate the trailblazing inroads Heard made both in disseminating the interfaith Vedanta movement in the West and in popularizing many leading-edge spiritual approaches and practices that are now commonplace. 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 Aug. 25, 2026. 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 425 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.