What Do We Really Mean When We Say “Show, Don’t Tell”?
Limit telling to between-scene summaries. In-scene, showing is what pulls readers into your story through clear actions and emotions.
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How Naming a Character Is Like Naming a Child
Choosing a name, either for a real human or a fictional one, involves a blend of logic and intuition and can feel deeply consequential.
Bottom Line May 2024 bestseller lists
The May 2024 bestseller lists are now available at the Hot Sheet website, free to everyone. Here are some points of interest.
May 2024 Bestseller Lists
Three distinctive monthly bestseller lists: top 50 hidden gems, top 50 self-published ebooks, and top 50 self-published print books.
When Writing Gets Hard: 3 Hidden Causes of Writer’s Block
When your writing hits a wall the solution is often to stop for a moment, take stock, and look deeper into what it is you’re trying to write.
Writing Lessons from Jane Austen: Story Questions and Northanger Abbey
As an early architect of the novel form, Austen’s use of a unifying thematic question contributed to the development of long-form narratives.
Crafting Memoir with a Message: Blending Story with Self-Help
When executed well, a memoir with a message can touch lives through the power of personal narrative combined with practical wisdom.
Choosing Story Settings Based on Genre
Whatever settings you choose, they need to align with your theme, support the plot, and help define your characters.
The Compounding Value of Small Group Writing Retreats and Intensives
A writing retreat attendee shares some of the unique benefits that intensive study offers versus conferences and online classes.
How to Stop Gaslighting Your Memoir Writing Process
If someone has repeatedly hurt you, trying to make them more redeemable on the page might hit your gaslight button. But it doesn’t have to.
Is Your Story “Big Enough” to Write About?
We all have limiting beliefs that essentially all say the same thing: you are not good enough so stop writing. They are not true.
Defining Negative Space in Story
When you manipulate spaces in between with intention, your readers will stay intrigued by emotion, mystery, and ambiguity.
The Double-Edged Sword of List Building Promotions
Third-party promoters who offer to pad your email subscriber list for a fee might be attracting the wrong type of readers.
How to Write Compelling Inner Conflict
When we show our character’s cognitive dissonance—wrestling with conflicting beliefs—readers can’t help but relate and empathize.
5 Reasons You Should Consider Writing Your Memoir in Present Tense
Present tense is tough to execute and doesn’t suit every writer or every memoir, but here are a few reasons to give it a try.
3 Book Marketing Misconceptions and What to Do Instead
Shifting your understanding and approach to book marketing can transform it from a dreaded chore to a rewarding part of our journey.
Bottom Line April 2024 bestseller lists
The April 2024 bestseller lists are now available at the Hot Sheet website, free to everyone. Here are some points of interest.
April 2024 Bestseller Lists
Three distinctive monthly bestseller lists: top 50 hidden gems, top 50 self-published ebooks, and top 50 self-published print books.
Embrace Complication to Develop a Can’t-Put-It-Down Narrative
Even if your plot is moving along nicely, a well-placed complication can jolt the action forward or sideways, or surprise your reader a little.
Your Small Press Submission Checklist
If you’ve decided to seek a press that accepts unagented work, here’s a checklist to help you make a submission list you can feel confident in.
Avoid, Persevere, Endure, Fight: 4 Goals for Unforgettable Opening Scenes
A strong story opening might introduce your character’s normal world, while also making clear the untenable situation they must change.
A Writer’s Secret Weapon: Add a Listening Pass to Your Editing Arsenal
Using a phone’s text-to-speech feature to read your story aloud while doing chores is a great way to catch errors that you might otherwise miss.
Turn Fact Into Fiction—Without Hurting Someone or Getting Sued
Imagine a friend reveals a secret past so compelling that no novelist could resist turning it into fiction. Here’s how one author went about it.
Boundaries Are About More Than Simply Carving Out the Time to Write
Boundaries within ourselves—our limits, standards, knowing which interactions are worthwhile—are as important as those we set with others.
Why Your Flashbacks Aren’t Working
Like a genie in a bottle, flashbacks can be wonderful and terrible things. If not carefully controlled, flashbacks can get disastrously out of hand.
How to Deliver Backstory Without Confusing the Reader
A brief but super-powered lesson from one of our recent webinars about the how to avoid overly coy and “mysterious” backstory in fiction.
March 2024 Bestseller Lists
Three distinctive monthly bestseller lists: top 50 hidden gems, top 50 self-published ebooks, and top 50 self-published print books.
How to Gain Traction in Your Career: Q&A with The Thriller Zone’s David Temple
Podcast host, author, and actor David Temple discusses his shift from being in radio to writing novels, landing all-star interviews, and more.
How to Teach Word a Scrivener Trick
MS Word is great for collaboration using Track Changes, but can it offer drag & drop organization like Scrivener? Yes, with a little know-how.
How Do You Know What Backstory to Include?
Backstory risks feeling clumsy or intrusive if it’s not directly relevant to the main, “real-time” story, and can stall forward momentum.
Using Beat Sheets to Slant Your Memoir’s Scenes
Identifying your story’s turning point or “beats”, and the function each one serves, can help shape your material into a more focused narrative.
Pay Attention to the Obsessive Workings of Your Mind
The headlines, facts, and observations that fuel your obsessions will seed your own work and grow it into the stories only you can tell.
Writing the Other: 4 Not So Easy (But Doable!) Steps
There’s no formula for “perfect” characterization of marginalized people, but these tips can pave the way to better representation—and better writing!
How and Where to Build Your Literary Community
Put your energy into people and places that are a good fit for you and your writing goals, and your literary community will thrive.
Going After the Widest Audience Possible: Q&A with Award-Winning Author Jami Fairleigh
The self-publishing author of cozy post-apocalypic fantasy was crowned 2023 Indie Author of the Year by the Indie Author Project.
February 2024 Bestseller Lists
Three distinctive monthly bestseller lists: top 50 hidden gems, top 50 self-published ebooks, and top 50 self-published print books.
The Case for Pursuing a Traditional Publishing Deal Without an Agent
Kicking off your publishing career with a small press is a great way to get to know the industry, build your author profile, and establish a reputation.
3 Elements That Make Historical Romance Successful
If you approach a book with a writer’s eye, even the most pleasurable, light reading can teach you something that can enrich your own storytelling craft.
Emotional Intimacy Between Characters Isn’t Just for Romance Novels
No matter what you’re writing, emotional intimacy between characters is important to creating authentic relationships on the page.
Workshopper Beware: Navigating the Risky Waters of Writing Classes and Retreats
Sometimes, for some writers, workshops are magical. But attendees should be prepared for all of it—the magic, the toxic and the just-plain-weird.
Substack Is Both Great and Terrible for Authors
Substack’s business model relies on you charging readers, but don’t discount the long-term value of what you offer for free.
Tropes: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Just as a painter uses brushes and colors to blend and create, writers can experiment with tropes to make stories both familiar and refreshing.
Author Platform Follows the Work
One author threw herself into platform building and engagement, only to lose sight of what really mattered—her writing.
Scene, Summary, Postcard: 3 Types of Scenes in Commercial, Upmarket, and Literary Fiction
Understanding how to use them, and how to balance different types of scenes within a single narrative, is crucial for becoming a skilled storyteller.
When—and Why—Reveals Don’t Work
It’s an author’s job to create questions that readers crave the answers to, but questions posed with unclear stakes or context can backfire.
Set Up the Perfect Online Press Kit
Help journalists and bloggers to help you, by providing promotional materials about you and your books in flexible, user-friendly formats.
Structure: The Safety Net for Your Memoir
The more faith you have in your story’s structure, the more you’ll become the safety net your reader is hoping for.
3 Ways to Experiment with Memoir Structure to Improve Your Narrative Arc
Playing around with different storytelling forms during manuscript revision can lessen anxiety and reveal new possibilities.
What Taylor Swift’s Vault Tracks Can Teach You About Not Killing Your Darlings
If a scene, storyline, character, or image doesn’t quite belong in your story, save it for later use—as Taylor Swift does with song ideas.
January 2024 Bestseller Lists
Three distinctive monthly bestseller lists: top 50 hidden gems, top 50 self-published ebooks, and top 50 self-published print books.