A Blog About Book Publishing & Marketing

How to Overcome the Fear of Working with an Editor

Of all the fears first-time authors face, working with an editor certainly ranks highly. I described this fear—as I once felt it—in the introduction to my book on editing, Don’t Fear the Reaper: In the single second you first glance at your work of art turned into an open-heart surgery gone wrong, you will not want to be open to correction. You will not want your blind spots revealed, your technical problems made known, or your gaping plot holes laid bare. The part of your soul that you poured [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:22:24+00:00Author Website, Book Editing, Book Publishing, My Blog|1 Comment

The Writer’s Notebook

Playmate, Workshop, and Landing Place for the Muse Just as every artist needs a sketchbook, every writer must have a writer’s notebook. This is your laboratory, your studio, your portable workshop. Your writer's notebook is the place you write down those images that come to you while you’re out in the world. It can even teach you to pay attention to that world. It's your junk drawer, your playground, the cupboard where you store ingredients for your writerly stew. Your writer's notebook is where you jot down those [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:22:26+00:00Author Website, Book Editing, Book Publishing, My Blog|1 Comment

Blessing Babel: Writers Who Switch Languages

“A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people,” wrote Thomas Mann. How much more difficult would writing have been for Mann himself if he had attempted to write his fiction in English rather than his native German. Exiled to southern California while the Nazis were in power, Mann did not abandon German to write his formidable novel Doktor Faustus: Das Leben des deutschen Tonsetzers Adrian Leverkühn, erzählt von einem Freunde (1947; Doctor Faustus). Nor, though living in Princeton, New Jersey, [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:22:29+00:00Author Website, Book Editing, Book Publishing, My Blog|0 Comments

Editing Your Own Writing

Every writer needs an editor - so what do you do if you don’t have an editor? Sometimes you do need to hire one. But there are also times when you need to edit your own work. Thank God I had professional editors scrutinizing my book The Editor’s Companion. However, I can’t turn to a professional editor every time I write a blog post, a letter to the editor, or a short article, but my writing needs scrutiny just the same. As a writer, where do you turn when [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:22:30+00:00Author Website, Book Editing, Book Publishing, My Blog|2 Comments

Bring Your Story to a Satisfying Close with Bookends

It isn’t always easy to decide where to begin – or end – your story. Many authors take too much time “warming up” instead of starting a scene where something is happening. Others (or the same ones) trail on too long at the end, perhaps trying to explain everything that happened. But a strong beginning and a satisfying ending are important – and “bookends” may help you decide what those should be. Strong stories have a distinct beginning (introducing the main character and problem), middle (where the character [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:22:31+00:00Author Website, Book Editing, Book Publishing, My Blog|0 Comments

Tell the World Your Story

I began writing when I was a child. Although I practiced other forms of creative expression, I was most attracted to writing. Through words, I could paint pictures and make music. Through words, I could make people laugh and cry and think. The first story I wrote was called The Magic Pen. This story was about a pen, that when used, created stories without the use of any human input as if a sacred power came through the ink of the pen. I could have never known that [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:22:33+00:00Author Website, Book Editing, Book Publishing, My Blog|0 Comments

Why Should You Offer an Audiobook Version?

Introduction If you’re the author of a book, you probably offer it in both a digital and a print edition. But if you don’t have an audiobook version as well, you may be leaving money on the table. Read on to see why. Why Offer an Audiobook? The truth is you don’t have to. Many authors live out successful careers without ever recording their own audiobooks. But there are still a number of advantages to consider: It is an additional revenue stream. Authors, especially self-published authors, need to [...]

Radu Balas2017-03-07T09:22:34+00:00Marketing, My Blog|0 Comments

The 13 Best First Sentences in Fiction

If you are interested in promoting your book and growing your community on a stable author platform you might also enjoy this LinkedIn article, where I have outline the foundation for your book selling platform. Stephen King's phenomenal writing career continues to show no signs of slowing down, with the prolific author selling over 350 million copies of his many books thus far. He thinks that the first sentence of a book is so important, that he spends weeks, months, even years on it! "The best first line I ever [...]

Mihai2017-10-09T13:23:23+00:00Inspiration, Book Editing, My Blog|0 Comments