Celebrating Independent Authors
You can do all manner of things to human bodies in fiction and readers will snap you up in droves. Turn them into zombies and spill their intestines into the street. Run them through with arrows and broadswords. Make them fodder for carnivorous beasts and alien spore. Let their sparkly vampire selves glitter in the sun.
But God forbid, don’t give them cancer.
Do you use “Track Changes” in Microsoft Word? Okay, the system can look intimidating at first with all the comment boxes and stuff. But once you get going, it’s a lot easier and a lot more fun than, say, doing your own taxes or changing your oil. And it’s a very handy way to work with editors, proofreaders, and collaborators.
Whether you’re marking up a document or reviewing one that has been marked up, go to the “Review” tab at the top ribbon of the page. I’m using Word for Mac 2011, but I’m fairly certain the PC versions use the same structure.
In that tab, there should be some method of turning “Track Changes” on and off. In my version, it looks like this: Continue reading “How to Use Track Changes in Microsoft Word”
It was a typical morning at the IU Staff cantina. Chris James and Cathy Speight were making a pot of coffee. L.A. Lewandowski and Carol Wyer practiced some yoga asanas in the corner. Yvonne Hertzberger and Carolyn Steele were testing a new recipe for lime Jell-O. I started reflecting on the amazing depth of experience our members bring to this blog. They write, they edit, they inspire, and some of them are so talented, Rich Meyer wants to set them out on the nearest street corner with a tin cup so we can make a few extra bucks. I wished I knew so many dedicated professionals when I was just starting out. So I asked our illustrious contributors what advice they would give a beginning or aspiring author, and here are some of the cleaner things they said: Continue reading “What Would You Tell a New Writer?”
Okay, I’ll admit it: I’m not perfect. I made a horticultural error in my first novel, which a reviewer and gardening enthusiast was kind enough to point out to me privately. Now I’m extra-careful about getting it right. And we want to help you get it right.
So let’s talk about the wonderful world of ad agencies.
I was seduced into the advertising business by certain popular entertainment that shall remain nameless. It sounded like the career would be creative, fun, glamorous, and judging by the lifestyles of those in that popular entertainment, extremely lucrative.
As Humphrey Bogart says in Casablanca, I was misinformed. Continue reading “Getting it Right: The-Not-Always-So-Glamorous World of Advertising”