Category: Guest Posts

Working with Your Editor’s Edits in MS Word

Jacqueline HopkinsGuest Post
by Jacqueline Hopkins

You’re an author and you typed your manuscript in Microsoft Word. You’ve sent your work out to an editor. You get it back and it has different color text mixed in with your black words and colored text boxes in the far right margin. It’s a mess you can’t make heads nor tails of. You ask yourself, “What on earth has the editor done to my masterpiece?”

If your editor uses the latest version of the software, they will have used the ‘New Comments’ features and ‘Track Changes’ under the REVIEW tab to edit your work. If you are into self-editing your work before you send it off to an editor, you can turn track changes on and use it yourself. Just go to the menu bar, click on REVIEW, then click ‘track changes’ to turn it on, and clicking it again turns it off. When it is on, if you type a change it will appear in a different color. It also strikes through words you want to delete using the delete key.

Now, here is how to accept the editor’s changes, reject them, and get rid of all those comments boxes. Continue reading “Working with Your Editor’s Edits in MS Word”

Your Author Platform: Building the Plane While Flying It

Karen DoddGuest Post
by Karen Dodd

From the perspective of a newly published indie author (the glow hasn’t quite worn off yet but I’m expecting to see it on my pillow, scowling back at me, sometime soon) I want to share with you the single most important activity to engage in before you publish your book. Okay, I should say the most important activity besides writing a great book.

Is it having beautiful graphics designed for your website and social media presence? No. Is it having fabulously flashy business cards or bookmarks? No. It’s in engaging with others long before your book goes live. Continue reading “Your Author Platform: Building the Plane While Flying It”

Today’s Kindle Audience is now a Discerning eReader

JackieWeger-BioHeadShotGuest Post
by Jackie Weger

With the innovation of the Kindle released by Amazon in 2007, writers rushed headlong into the digital market. Mainstream publishers looked askance at the both the eReader and independent author, so we indie authors pretty much had the innovation to ourselves.

For the first few years, readers were forgiving of our missteps in story construction, formatting, and spelling errors. Early reviews reflect that forgiveness. Readers and writers both had a kind of awe for the innovation. It was new. It was exciting. We were learning new ways to market our work and readers were getting used to enjoying books on a new electronic gadget. Readers did not expect electronic perfection. Continue reading “Today’s Kindle Audience is now a Discerning eReader”

Broadening Horizons through Research

John Reinhard Dizon Guest Post
by John Reinhard Dizon

Writers’ block can be one of the most formidable obstacles along an author’s road to success. It can be ascribed to different causes: in my case, it was being depressed over the sudden inactivity of my rock band after a successful performance run. I immersed myself in the world of computer games as a means of distraction, and did not get back on track for an entire year. I was able to make the best of a bad situation through researching one of the highlights of the greatly-addictive game.

I chose Serbia as one of my nations in a game of world conquest. I recalled the Serbian War of the 90’s, but back then I was pursuing my degree and was out of touch with current events. Catching up to speed, I learned about the internecine feuds leading to the collapse of Yugoslavia and the key players within the conflict. I discovered Serbia to be a fascinating country whose society and culture reflects those of their neighbors in Eastern Europe as well as the Mediterranean area. I went so far as to begin learning basic Serbian words and phrases. I was delighted to find there was a small Serbian community here in the Kansas City area. Continue reading “Broadening Horizons through Research”