Use this checklist when writing your manuscript. Identify a clear target audience for your book. A niche audience is almost always better than an audience that is too broad. Evaluate your competition. It’s important to determine how your your book will be different from others in your genre. Set a goal to write _______ number of […]
Titles are a crucial part of a book’s appeal and selling ability. You want to have a title that grabs attention and has emotional pull, while also clearly explaining to the potential reader what the book is about. For prescriptive nonfiction, offering a promise (benefit to the reader) is also important. You should also consider […]
Authoring a book is a goal for many, though few will actually see this goal through. If you’ve been thinking about writing a book, here are some reasons why it’s time to finally focus on achieving this important goal. 1. Life is much too short. Don’t wait until the kids are older or you have […]
If writing is your job, a lifetime passion or a source of living a good writing setup will definitely help you perform better. Distractions are all over the place even if you prefer working at home, sipping a flat white in different coffee houses or choosing a silent hotel room after deciding to go away […]
I love watching the TV show “Dancing with the Stars” but even this escape doesn’t give me a break from grammar glitches. In one episode alone, I counted four times when participants and/or hosts misused the pronouns as they spoke. As a society, if we repeatedly hear words used incorrectly on national TV (and all […]
You know how to take care of business as a nonfiction writer. You’re professional. You attend to all the details of putting your writing into the world from analyzing your audience to zeroing in on new ways to promote your writing. But all this serious business stuff is probably not why you started writing. You […]
When you look back at what you’ve written, take time to find how many times you start sentences with the word “start” or “begin.” For example, in a 5,000-word document I edited, those two words appeared 14 times, while only five were deemed necessary to the meaning. That’s a lot of extra words flooding your […]
How can you change weak verbs into emotional or visual ones? One single practice presented here will transform your writing when you use it consistently. It’s this: Watch out for “is” words and their various cousins. Stay alert to phrases such as “is happening” or “was being good” and change them to “happens” or “behaved” […]
As writers, self-editing is one of the hardest things we have to do. We love our work. The way that we have expressed our ideas makes perfect sense in our own heads, and so analyzing it sentence by sentence can be disheartening and difficult. But it is essential. When you are in the flow of […]
Wow, has writing changed a lot from the time when you had to dip a quill in ink! I mean, can you imagine that you had to rewrite your entire copy every time you edited anything? Or consult a dictionary to make sure that you actually spelled a word correctly? No grammar aid, or tool […]
Watch for These Unneeded Wobbly Words by Barbara McNichol
To add clarity by taking unneeded words out of your writing, the easiest approach is to identify and attack wobbly words. But what are wobbly words? Well, they’re words that are vague, indefinite, and don’t add much to the meaning of a sentence. In fact, they can add word clutter to your paragraphs and detract […]
What strategies do you use to build your mailing list?
Each month, the Nonfiction Authors Association asks a burning publishing question of the industry’s best, brightest, and most innovative experts. Here’s what they have to say! NFAA: What strategies do you use to build your mailing list? MARQUINA ILIEV There are three main elements that I suggest authors use to build their mailing list. The first […]
How to Avoid the Number One Mistake Too Many Authors Make
I love engaging with friends and family on Facebook (or as my 12-year old calls it, “Mom Book”), and also with our author community via our private group (you can join NFAA here to gain access). Recently, I noticed an old schoolmate making a big mistake that is also common among authors. This schoolmate—we’ll call […]
Member Book Announcement: To Cast A Reflection: The Henry Family In Their Own Words
Member Name: Laura Suchan Book Title: To Cast A Reflection: The Henry Family In Their Own Words Synopsis In the summer of 2013 a box stuffed with old papers was donated to the Oshawa Museum. The Thomas Henry Correspondence Collection, as it became known, contained 520 individual documents including personal letters, receipts and business correspondence of […]
Watch for These Unneeded Wobbly Words by Barbara McNichol
To add clarity by taking unneeded words out of your writing, the easiest approach is to identify and attack wobbly words. But what are wobbly words? Well, they’re words that are vague, indefinite, and don’t add much to the meaning of a sentence. In fact, they can add word clutter to your paragraphs and detract […]
What strategies do you use to build your mailing list?
Each month, the Nonfiction Authors Association asks a burning publishing question of the industry’s best, brightest, and most innovative experts. Here’s what they have to say! NFAA: What strategies do you use to build your mailing list? MARQUINA ILIEV There are three main elements that I suggest authors use to build their mailing list. The first […]
How to Avoid the Number One Mistake Too Many Authors Make
I love engaging with friends and family on Facebook (or as my 12-year old calls it, “Mom Book”), and also with our author community via our private group (you can join NFAA here to gain access). Recently, I noticed an old schoolmate making a big mistake that is also common among authors. This schoolmate—we’ll call […]
Hints for Conducting Radio Shows by Telephone by Brian Jud
Performances on radio talk or news shows are the workhorses of book-promotion activities. With radio as part of your communication plan, you can reach hundreds, thousands or millions of people at little or no cost. You can even sell some books, if you do it right. Most radio shows are conducted over the telephone, from […]
Checklist: Copy Needed Before You Launch Your Book
Write Copy: Book jacket copy Traditional media pitch Online media pitch (podcasts, internet radio shows) Blogger pitch Reviewer pitch Tweets for your own use Tweets others can share Short social media posts for your own use Short social media posts others can share Your updated bio Blog posts Email to announce your launch to your […]
Last week we asked our community on Facebook to answer this question: For those who’ve self-published your books, what have been some of the pros and cons? Here’s what they had to say: Joel D Canfield: The pros are the reason I do it: complete control. My editor and I make the final call on […]
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