My Courses

Ah, the muse – that wonderful angel-like being who whispers the words of a great poem or novel into your ear, or that celestial cherub who shoots you with an arrow whose tip has been dipped into a formula of creativity. Such are just a couple of many fanciful notions that imbue our culture when we…

Sometimes to keep a story moving forward, background information must be given. When this information interrupts the story flow, it is referred to as backfill. Depending on the approach use to provide backfill, this can be a story killer. That’s because most forms of backfill amount to exposition. Among the types of backfill that appear in stories…

While readings, signings and other public presentations are a great way to promote your book, they aren’t always the best way to increase sales. Before deciding to give a presentation, always balance the cons against the potential benefits:• Potentially low ROI – The expenses of attending a book presentation can quickly outpace the sales at the event. Generally,…

Should you set up a publishing company that will be the imprint of your book and run it as a self-proprietorship, you may have to file a Fictitious Business Name Statement. This also is known as a Doing Business As form. It all depends on the name you give your business. If your personal name clearly…

“Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do,” personal development expert Jeff Olson aptly wrote. At least where writing is concerned, that’s certainly true. Indeed, creating a book, from the first line you pen to having a copy for sale at Amazon.com, requires effort, planning and often sacrifice. The sacrifice comes in giving…

When giving a presentation about your book or a topic related to that title, you may want to consider going beyond a simple reading, lecture or Q&A. In an era when anyone can watch a video about virtually any topic at any location simply by whipping out a cell phone, many people expect more than just…

Show don’t tell Use active voice Tell the story in present tense As a writer, you’ve probably heard these and a thousand other “rules” about writing. As an editor, I’ve certainly advised them as well. So why doesn’t someone just print a book of the “rules of writing” and make life easy for would-be writers? That’s…

Sometimes people’s positions are so entrenched that discussion is impossible. That doesn’t mean a dialogue about such topics doesn’t need to take place. In fact, quite the opposite – it probably should take place…and sooner rather than later. A book is the prefect way to start such a conversation. Good writing speaks in a powerful way…

When self-publishing, you probably want to create a business that serves as the imprint – or publisher – of your book(s). This helps increase the odds of receiving attention from mainstream media, bookstores, libraries reviewers and others who still haven’t accepted that self-publishing now dominates book publishing.  The creation of this imprint is hardly deceptive, as…

One powerful way to write a novel is episodically. Called episodic fiction, it breaks from the traditional introduction-rising action-climax story structure by presenting an anthology of brief stories or anecdotes usually about a single character, set of characters, or place. Two popular examples of episodic fiction (though in novel form), are Thomas Pynchon’s “V” and Henry…