I made the decision to independently publish my book. The process should begin within a month, and it only takes a few weeks to have a book in hand. I just finished another round of minor edits based on feedback I received from a published author and an acquisitions editor. Feedback from professionals is so …
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Baggage
No one likes to carry around baggage. And baggage in your writing makes you appear less professional. Let’s consider some examples. See if you can find the baggage in each: 1) There’s the house that Jack built. Such a simple sentence. What could possibly be wrong with it? There’s one extra word that isn’t necessary …
Good to Great
From the last post we started with the following book opening, which is pretty good writing: The red Grand Am rocketed along the narrow country road, bouncing from side to side. An arm or leg stuck out of every window, moving in time to the THUMP, THUMP, THUMP of the thousand-dollar stereo. The speedometer eased …
From Good to Better
Recapping from the last post, here’s a paragraph that would probably get a quick rejection from an agent… A bright red 2005 Honda Civic sped down the one straightaway on a long, winding mountain road, going thirty miles per hour over the posted speed limit. Inside the Honda, four college students jammed out to the …
When Good Writing Isn’t Good Enough
As promised in the last post, I’m going to show actual writing examples that range from good to – hopefully – magnificent. Let’s start with the paragraph below… The car sped down the road. The college students inside the car hung their arms and legs out the open windows and shook them up and down …
Analogy for Great Writing
In the last post I raised the question of why I received so many rejections. My guess? Me. More specifically, I think my writing simply wasn’t good enough. How can that be? After all, I placed in the top 10 of the Jerry Jenkins contest. Believe me when I say I was confused. However, after …
Frustration of Rejection
In my last post, I asked the question: Why was my work rejected by every publisher – even those that showed interest? The short answer is “I don’t know”. I’ll get to a slightly longer answer, but first let me explain the “I don’t know.” Unfortunately, in the publishing world, editors will not take the …
Round and Round
I thought publication of my first book, which I titled The Wizard of Winterville, was on the road to publication. I had a well-known agent, and Jerry B. Jenkins had selected my book as a top-ten effort out of over 300 other entries. What could go wrong? In short, everything. My story was targeted at …
Pursuing Gold
I didn’t start writing with money in mind – I just had a story to tell. But when I began to investigate publication I found out about the Jerry B. Jenkins First Novel Contest. First prize was $50,000 and a book contract. Second and third place got special consideration and a shot at publishing. You …
Welcome!
I’m glad you found my blog. This is my first posting, where I set the tone for what this blog will contain. This is a blog about writing, and about the journey to publish. The focus is on fiction novel writing, but there will be content and advice here that is helpful to all writers. …