Good morning Story Empire readers, PH here with you today with more tips and information to help you along with your writing career. Since I began self-publishing several years ago, it’s been a long journey of learning, often through trial and error. Because I got off to a slow start marketing my book, there was a steep learning curve. Because of time spent learning, I also became someone more willing to try different things, maybe even make a few more mistakes.

With that understanding in mind, let’s explore a few more things that I’m working through for my marketing. One of my goals is to have more engagement with my reading audience. This is a little tougher than it seems and the fantasy audience for which I write can often be somewhat silent because there are a lot more men reading science fiction and fantasy. Men tend to be less…

Hey, SE Readers. Joan with you on this hot July day. Hey, we’ve made it halfway through 2020! That’s an accomplishment. But I prefer not to write about the year some people refer to as the twilight zone.

Honestly, I have a couple of topics for future posts, but I haven’t put them together. So, today I thought I’d write a lighthearted post about something near and dear to all authors.

Words.

A few weeks ago, the SE authors were chatting about words that aren’t often used these days. Dastardly, meaning wicked and cruel, is one of my favorites. Can’t help but think of Dick Dastardly and Mutley. (I love to hear Mutley laugh.)

The English language is forever changing. Words that once were common are now almost obscure, while others are used regionally.

• Skedaddle – to flee; run away hurriedly
• Rapscallion – a mischievous person
• Gobsmacked – astonished; utterly…

Hello, SEers. As you can see, today we are going to talk about the best foot forward position should you get the opportunity to do a video interview or presentation on YouTube or elsewhere. Before getting into the tips, let’s set the stage. You are launching a new book, and you get a call from someone wanting to know if you would like to do a video interview. Does your heart freeze? Do your palms turn to fountains and your stomach to a butterfly storage unit? If so, then you have come to the right place. There is no need for any of these feelings if you remember the tips I’m going to share.

The tips fall under one of four areas Light, Sound, Material, and Delivery. Let’s take them one at a time.

Light – I’m sure you have seen videos where you almost believe the recording is…

If you’re out and about, take a book with you on your wanderings. If you’re stuck at home, here are some reads to while away the time.

This month my offering of reviews includes fantasy, historical fiction, poetry, a thriller, a murder mystery, and more. I hope you enjoy browsing my 4 and 5-star reviews.

Click on the covers for Amazon global links.

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The Mermaid and the Bear by Ailish Sinclair

I finished this book a few days ago and it’s stuck with me. I didn’t realize until I’d reached the end that it’s historical fiction based loosely on real women in 16th century Scotland when witches were rounded up, tortured, and murdered. Somehow it was easier to read when I thought it was pure fiction. After getting to know the characters, the author might as well have stabbed me in the heart.

The whole book is beautifully written…

Hi gang, Craig here today. One thing good fiction requires is a bit of turmoil. Your main character has to have something unsettling going on in his or her life. I write speculative fiction, so it’s fairly easy to give an example or two.

I could dive right into an alien invasion or zombie apocalypse and have all the turmoil I need. In these examples it’s something the main character never wanted, but now has to come to grips with, maybe even defeat.

Something unwanted might apply in a more realistic setting when settlers have to flee an Indian uprising, or survive a starvation winter because the ships didn’t come.

There are also divorces, loss of employment, sick children, that kind of thing.

Another form of turmoil involves getting what you want, but it turns out to be problematic. Think about that new marriage that leads to her entire family…

Hi, Folks! Hope your day is going well so far, you’ve been staying safe and healthy at home, and you’re now ready for another #WhyWriteWrong post. 😊

LET’S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD! 

As you might imagine, I have loads of these misunderstood words and phrases at hand, because many of us do use them incorrectly now and then, including me. So I keep a list, both as fodder for this series of posts, and as a reminder to be on the alert when using any of them in my own books.

Again, these are not words that have been mistyped, but rather, words that are frequently misunderstood, and thus used incorrectly way more often than they should be. The goal of these posts is to help us all avoid such mistakes. Since I believe a humorous approach is often easier to remember, that’s my preferred method, so…

Image courtesy of bigstock.com

Hello SErs. Harmony here.  As promised, here is  part eleven in the post series dedicated to taking a step-by-step look at how to get your finished manuscript from your computer and on sale on Amazon in both ebook and paperback.

If you’d like to take a look back at the previous posts in this series, please click on the links at the end of this post.

So, here’s Part Eleven: How to Preview Your eBook.

The quickest and easiest way is to use Amazon’s online previewer to view your eBook. However, it is always best–if you can–to check how your finished book looks on as many devices as possible … more on that later.

As we saw in Part Ten, once you’ve uploaded your eBook, you can click on ‘Launch Previewer’ at the bottom of your eBook details page.

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