L. Diane Wolfe's Blog, page 22

Giveaway and Minions

Just a reminder that my giveaway for a deck of The Circle of Friends playing cards is open through July 20. Enter to win here.
Plus you can watch my two 15 second YouTube videos which, if nothing else, reveal my Minion obsession.
Writing, Publishing & Promoting Tips from SpunkOnAStick!

The Insecure Writer's Support Group and Playing Cards Giveaway

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

What's the best thing someone has ever said about your writing?

Someone purchased one of my books at a book signing in Myrtle Beach. Later, she emailed me and said my book (The Circle of Friends: Book I...Lori) had inspired her to start writing again. She was so excited that she came to see me when I toured through her home state of Ohio. It was so amazing to see her again.

What’...

IWSG Anthology Contest - Vote to Select the Genre

The second annual The Insecure Writer’s Support Group anthology contest kicks off this fall.
This year, members get to select the genre!
Go HERE to cast your vote. 

Don’t forget July’s IWSG question of the month:
What's the best thing someone has ever said about your writing?
Writing, Publishing & Promoting Tips from SpunkOnAStick!

Book Formatting Tips - Cleaning up the Word Document

One aspect of book formatting most people don’t discuss is the initial cleanup. Whether you are formatting it yourself or someone else is doing the job, here are some things to look for that will make formatting easier.

Step one - Click button to show paragraph marks and formatting. Spaces are dots, paragraph returns are P’s.

Step two - Do a Find & Replace on all of the double spaces. There should be a single space between each sentence and word.

Step three - Remove any manual indents. Th...

The Insecure Writer's Support Group

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

I feel like I live a double life! And both author and publisher are very, very busy at the moment.

Still making progress on my own book. All five stories are in various stages of writing & editing. Once I have them ready, I will need to find some critique partners for this genre, which is new to me. I love reading paranormal romance, but this is my first time writing it.

If y...

Your Turning Point and Best Promotional Advice

The Thing That Turned Me anthology from Stay Classy Publications is set to release on June 30.

In celebration, I posed the following two questions to some of the anthology authors:

1 - What was your own personal turning point?
2 - What’s your best book promotion advice?

From Randi Lee, owner of Stay Classy:

1 - My own personal turning point came when I gave birth to my daughter; I knew it wasn't just about me anymore. Her birth inspired the birth of Stay Classy Publications, a venture designe...

What NOT to Say to a Publisher

The IWSG is now on Twitter!
There are a lot of wrong things to say or do to a publisher. And it’s not always writers who are the culprits.

Publishing is a business. Correspondence and communication going both directions should be professional and polite.

Sometimes it’s just due to a lack of knowledge or understanding how the industry works.

While the list is endless, I’ve compiled a few key items that can garner a negative reaction or destroy a potential working relationship:

1 - The mass quer...

The Insecure Writer's Support Group and Parallels: Felix Was Here

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Today I’m also visiting Natalie at Literary Rambles discussing what Dancing Lemur Press is looking for in its queries.
Things have been hopping the past two months! We signed three new authors (two for Dancing Lemur Press and one for Freedom Fox Press), submissions are flooding in, and we had a book release on Tuesday. (More on that in a minute.)

Through all of the work - reading,...

Emotion, Please! By Chrys Fey

Writers infuse their books with emotion to engage readers. Some writers are marvelous at adding emotion to every sentence, but find it tricky to write action. I am not one of those writers.
My specialty is action. The more, the better! While I do include my character’s emotions, I don’t always add it in my first draft. Sometimes I get so caught up in the events happening that I forget to include their feelings. Fortunately, that’s where good beta readers and editors come to the rescue. One of...

Writing Proper Queries and Submissions

I am visiting Elizabeth S. Craig today.
Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C. has seen a lot of really good and even more really bad queries. You don’t want to fall into the latter category.
To find out more about writing proper queries and submissions, please visit Elizabeth S. Craig.Writing, Publishing & Promoting Tips from SpunkOnAStick!