I don’t have kids, but I do know a lot of kids, and J.V. Speyer’s guest column for this week’s Pen to Pen feature had me laughing in recognition. Whether you’re a parent or simply have trouble explaining your job to loved ones of any age, this post is sure to strike a chord. It also provides some great ideas for melding career and family life. Read on! … Read more
When you’ve revised your story so many times you can no longer see its flaws, online copyediting software can help. Here are four of the best for writers. … Read more
Every year, people around the world announce their intention to write a novel in one month. You could be one of them! Here’s how to win NaNoWriMo. … Read more
Jayne Lockwood explores the hazards and joys of upending beloved fiction tropes—themes and devices that readers have come to expect when reading certain genres. … Read more
In this week’s Pen to Pen guest column, author M Pepper Langlinais guides you in finding the best small publisher for your book. … Read more
Just like it takes practice to get good at sex, it also takes practice to get good at writing about it. Award-winning romance author Elizabeth Lister is here to pass on what she’s learned and to help you draw from your own experiences when writing about this crucial part of a character’s story. … Read more
I’ve been working on blurbs for some upcoming releases these past couple weeks, so the topic of this week’s Pen to Pen post by gay-romance writer Clare London has been fresh on my mind. She’s got some great tips for luring in new readers with the power of your words. And since you’re a writer, isn’t that what you were born to do? … Read more
Gay romance author walks you through options for marketing audio novels via audiobook sites, blogs, and giveaways. … Read more
This week in Pen to Pen, romance author Isobel Starling stops by to advise independent authors on publishing and marketing audiobooks using ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange), a platform developed by Amazon and Audible.com. She’s got a lot of information, so she’ll have two columns this week. Today’s, “Using ACX: Audiobook Creation for Indie Authors” is on creating your audiobook and paying for a narrator. On Thursday, she’ll be back with some great promotional tips in “Marketing Your Audiobook.” … Read more
I spent last week revising a young adult story that had been lazing around on my hard drive, so the topic of this week’s Pen to Pen column by Ginna Wilkerson has been on my mind. Wilkerson recently published the young adult urban fantasy Buried Secrets, for which she had to reacquaint herself with the ways that teens talk—not only now, but also three centuries ago. Read her advice and try out the easy-to-follow checklist. … Read more