Many people, authors included, tend to capitalize words that shouldn’t be capitalized, probably because they aren’t aware of the rules. Here’s a quick refresher course regarding mistakes I see all the time: Job titles Job titles are capitalized only when they come directly before the person’s name. For example: Correct: Luca Maestri is the chief […]
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When your book comes out, it’s natural to want to shout it from the rooftops–and you should! So many people want to write a book, yet few actually do, so you should celebrate your hard work. It’s fun to say “Hey, I wrote a book!” If you want your book to sell, however, you need to […]
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Given all the hard work that goes into writing a book, when yours finally comes out, of course you want to shout it from the rooftops. And you should! There’s nothing wrong with sending out an email to announce the big news. Just be sure to use the “blind copy” feature in your email program. […]
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I get a lot of emails from authors who are discouraged because they aren’t having much luck with their marketing efforts. They want to know what my “secret” is because they think I have it all figured out. Hahaha. Can I tell you something? My “secret” is that I get discouraged too! Let me share […]
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When I finished the first draft of my most recent novel Wait for the Rain, there was one character who just didn’t fit into the story the way I’d imagined–or hoped–that she would. I liked a lot about her, however, so I wasn’t sure what to do. At a loss, I turned the manuscript in, eager […]
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In a previous post I suggested carrying a book wherever you go in case you have the opportunity to sell it and/or give it away. I realize, however, that it’s not always practical to lug around a book. But it is practical to lug around a wallet, which is why I also recommend getting business cards made […]
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Despite the success I’ve had with my books, I still experience the same sense of fear every time I begin a new one: What if this one isn’t any good? What business do I have trying to write a book? You’d think after seven novels I would be over this by now, but I’m not–at all! […]
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When you first begin working on a book, it’s easy to go back and read from the beginning to refresh your memory about key plot points, timelines, character insights, etc. The deeper you get into the writing process, however, the more unwieldy and time-consuming it becomes to read the entire thing. To avoid getting derailed […]
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Are you confused about the difference between she/her and he/him? Here’s a quick lesson: She and he are subject pronouns. That means they are the subjects of a sentence, i.e., they represent a person doing something. For example: John wrote a book becomes he wrote a book Maria wrote a book becomes she wrote a book John and Maria […]
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By now many of you know that I began my career as a self-published author, and that one of the reasons (if not the reason) my first novel (Perfect on Paper) got picked up by a publisher was because of all the grass-roots marketing I did to get it noticed. (Click here to check out my […]
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