How to ‘Get There’ – Michael A. Stackpole
This post written by founder and managing Editor, Callie Stoker I had the privilege of meeting the brilliant Michael Stackpole at Salt Lake City’s Quills 2019 Writing Conference. Best known for his Star Wars X-Wing book series, he’s been in the publishing biz for enough time to have seen how the path to get published […]
Why Ideas Don’t Matter
This post written by Callie Stoker, founder and managing editor. A few years ago I was attending a local writer’s conference with a panel of successful writers. I don’t remember all the authors on the panel, nor the panel’s actual subject matter, I only remember that Howard Tayler (of the award winning Schlock Mercenary and […]
Is New Adult Even a Thing?
This post written by founder and managing editor Callie Stoker. Have you heard of New Adult (NA)? It’s a book category that the publishing world started playing around with ten years ago and—at the time—was shopped around as a sort of “older YA”. What’s interesting is how New Adult has actually found its place in […]
Self-Publishing Might Not Be For You
This post written by founder and managing editor Callie Stoker. We are experiencing an exciting time in the book world where nearly anyone who wants to be an author can publish something. Sure, there’s still a lingering stigma when it comes to publishing your book yourself, but in the last decade, we’ve also seen self-published […]
What a Difference a Content Editor Makes
This post written by founder and managing editor Callie Stoker. There are so many elements to good writing—premise, plot, structure, character development, world-building, clarity, dialogue, prose, the list goes on and on! It is near impossible to be excellent at all these things all the time. Right? And in order to win the readers’ heart, […]
The Truth About Dialogue Tags
It has become common writing knowledge that “said” is the way to go when it comes to clarifying who is speaking in our writing. We know that “he vociferated” is not gonna fly for the reader, right? “Said” is a funny thing. It is necessary telling used for clarification. So yes, stick with “said”. But […]
Copyeditor, Line Editor, Content Editor. Oh My!
After lots of hard work and all those hours during #NaNoWriMo, you’ve finally finished your story! Hooray! But maybe you aren’t sure it’s ready to be sent off to a publisher? Maybe you’re hoping to self-publish? Maybe your manuscript is still unfinished because you’re having trouble figuring out where you want it to go, and […]
Hack the Reader’s Brain with the 5 Senses
Writers have one of the coolest jobs in the world—creating whole worlds inside another person’s brain. #writing #brainhack #storytelling Writing, really, is a unique form of telepathic communication, transporting characters, places, plots, and ideas across time and space. I don’t think I have to tell you that as cool as this job is, it’s also […]
Why ‘Show Don’t Tell’ is Terrible Advice
Updated: Jun 18, 2018 Everyone’s saying it, but it’s called storyTELLING for a reason, right? Telling is a legitimate tool of writing, but just like a hammer isn’t much good without a nail, this tool needs the right partners to succeed in your storytelling. #writingtips #writingadvice It all started with Anton Chekhov. Yes, the same playwright […]