Debra L. Butterfield's Blog, page 24
April 12, 2016
The Eternal Perspective on Building a Platform
As I look at what the coming months hold for me—teaching at 4 writers conferences, learning new software, writing another book, maintaining my blog, and somewhere in between all that paying the bills and keeping my apartment clean—I totally understand the writer’s dilemma of finding time to build one’s platform. The publishing world demands authors […]
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April 4, 2016
How Is a Query Letter Like a Sledge Hammer?
When it comes to tools in the writer’s toolbox, the query letter is a must. I can always tell newby writers (or those who refuse to learn the tools of the trade), by their query letters. These letters are either chock full of the wrong information, or have barely any information at all. I’ve even […]
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April 1, 2016
Removing the Cliché from Your Characters
Guest Posting today is Jennifer Slattery Every first draft I write seems to be crammed with cliché characters. The Sunday school teacher with silver hair pulled back in a bun. The buff and burly loan shark. The alcoholic husband who burps and slurps and does all sorts of other crude things unfit to share in […]
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March 22, 2016
Customizing the Scrivener Toolbar
Making Scrivener work for you—rather than the other way around—can start with customizing your toolbars. Scrivener offers a lot of tools to make things easy. As you discover them, you’ll want the ones you use most, on your toolbar for easy access. Last time we were talking about snapshots and I promised to tell […]
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March 21, 2016
Has fear sabotaged your voice?
I’ve been reading an excellent blog series by Erin Buterbaugh found in the archives of Chip MacGregor’s blog. It’s about voice—something that seems to elude writers, beginning writers especially. To quote Erin, voice is “the personality of the author as revealed through the writing.” When I first started writing with the intention of earning money […]
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March 18, 2016
The Value of Critique Groups
Author interviews have become one of my favorite posts. While there are similarities to the publication journey, there are always unique perspectives and experiences that come from each author. I hope you glean information and strategies that will aid you in your journey. Today’s interview is with Vickie Phelps. Her book, Postmark from the Past, […]
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March 8, 2016
How to Use Snapshot in Scrivener
In my pre-Scrivener days of writing, I used MS Word. It got the job done, but when it was time to revise I got paranoid. What if I didn’t like all the changes I had just made? What if I liked most of them, but not all? What if deleted an entire scene, then two […]
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March 7, 2016
No More Monday Marketing
It’s Monday, and normally you would find information on how to market your stories or on markets accepting submissions. But my heart is no longer in it. I’m going to pull back on how much I post about marketing—because I’m not an expert, and there are so many others out there whose specialty is marketing […]
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February 29, 2016
Should Leap Day Be a Holiday?
It’s Leap Day! That weird day that happens once every 4 years. That alone qualifies it as a holiday in my book. What about you? Because it’s leap day and the 5th Monday of the month, I thought I’d have a little fun. What’s the deal with February anyway? I mean, all the other months have […]
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February 23, 2016
How You Can Save Money in the Editing Process
We all know hiring a professional editor can be an expensive proposition. So finding ways to help your editor save time in editing your book is a good thing. I can’t take credit for today’s idea. I learned this tool from author and publisher Mark Gilroy at a Heart of America Writers Conference I attended […]
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