Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 41

Studying the Market: Is There a Place for Your Book?

Yesterday I did several online searches looking for books on a particular topic. First, I checked Novelist Plus. If you don’t know this app, it allows you do search for books by an author or on a topic. Pretty much whatever you can key in goes. When you click search, you almost always get a … Continue reading Studying the Market: Is There a Place for Your Book? →

The Importance of Cover Design

This past week, I took Renee Roberson’s class on writing true crime. I’ll have to share a link with everyone when the class is up for registration again. I learned so much. One of the things that Renee discussed was using true crime stories to inspire fiction. And I have to say that this cover … Continue reading The Importance of Cover Design →

Your Opening Scene Must…

Mystery, romance, science fiction or fantasy, there are four things that your opening scene has to do. Create a contract with your reader.  In the opening scene, you tell your reader what type of story this is going to be.  No, you don’t come out and SAY but a humorous scene promises humor throughout.  A … Continue reading Your Opening Scene Must… →

Graphic Novels and Young Readers

Last week, I spent some time catching up on my graphic novel reading. My focus was the Hilo series by Judd Winick. This series is geared toward the 3rd grade reader. Hilo isn’t like the other kids in the neighborhood. For one thing, he fell from the sky. For another, he can fly. But he … Continue reading Graphic Novels and Young Readers →

What Editors and Agents Want

Not long ago, a writing friend showed me the book that she was reading. It was a YA best seller and she shook her head. “It is so badly written. I hate it and I hate that a publisher wanted this but all I get are rejections.” I’m not going to lie. This is a … Continue reading What Editors and Agents Want →

When You Know a Topic Too Well

Sometimes you are just too familiar with something to immediately understand how other people will see it. One day when my family was here, my sister asked if I had any chocolate handy.  She knew the answer would be yes.  She just wanted to know where it was.  Note: This happened a long time ago. … Continue reading When You Know a Topic Too Well →

Primary Sources at the Library of Congress

Am I the only one who loves spending time in the archives, seeing what was what 150 years ago? Historic photos, old letters, printed invitations, play bills, and more can be found among the primary materials at the Library of Congress and many other archives around the world. The Library of Congress has an ongoing … Continue reading Primary Sources at the Library of Congress →

Scenes that Need to Go

A couple of days ago I was getting caught up on my email and clicked open Scott Dikker’s newsletter post, “Cut This Scene from Your Story.” I knew without a doubt what scene he was talking about. It was so obvious. He talked about how it slows things down. He talked about how he’s scene … Continue reading Scenes that Need to Go →

Being a “Real” Writer

Last week, I read a piece from an online magazine. The author lamented how old she was before she started writing creative nonfiction. This is someone who wrote for various business newsletters and software companies. But until she started writing creative nonfiction, she didn’t consider herself a REAL writer. I’ll be honest with you. I … Continue reading Being a “Real” Writer →

Rewriting and Revising

I laughed really hard at this. I would love to say that I never find this type of mistake in my own writing. I’m not likely to write “to funny,” but I am very likely to type “right” instead of “write.” And that is super embarrassing. I have a manuscript to turn in today so … Continue reading Rewriting and Revising →