Since time immemorial, clichés have sneaked in the door when we least expect them to. They're low-hanging fruit for writers…
There are plenty of good reasons to self-publish, but not all are profit-oriented or even rational. Before you invest in…
Verbs are the engines that move your writing and your readers, but many authors don’t spend enough time choosing the…
Selecting a book font seems simple enough, but important subtleties and fine points of typography are not obvious to the…
Find your favorite writer and give them this message: They no longer have to mire their writing down with awkward…
The following publishing advice is based on my own experiences and those of my clients. I hope you find it…
This article discusses the pros and cons of traditional publishing. Abandon your biases, study the business of publishing, and choose…
Writers often ask about the difference between "straight" or "dumb" quotation marks and traditional printers' quotes, commonly referred to as…
Two-word clichés are perhaps the least obvious kind. Unless we’re vigilant, they sneak into our prose, steal color, mask our…
Tom Morkes published The Perfect Book sales Page on his blog. I'm usually the first person to reject formulaic approaches…
If you’re not using your Word Processor’s Track Changes function, you’re missing out on one of the best writing tools…
Many self-publishers start their book projects with unrealistic expectations and misunderstandings about how publishing works. A huge industry has arisen…
This article explains how to produce and market a professional quality audiobook using Amazon ACX. Through ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange),…
Here's an addendum to Publishing Scams and How they Work. I wonder why so many authors, after spending thousands of…
This article explores ergonomic solutions to writers’ repetitive stress problems. As static as it may seem, writing is a physically…
This article explains the tab ruler found on every word processor and typesetting application. Understanding the simple and elegant split…
Page layout programs like Adobe Indesign and Quark, allow typographers to exert fine control over justified text to remove gaps…
The Oxford comma, or serial comma is a subject of constant debate among writers. Do we need that comma before…
So many writers get discouraged. This stinks. I quit. Others are overconfident. They've always had "a gift for words" so…
In my work with writers, I come across many common technical problems with manuscripts. These usually spring from the best…
A few years ago, I attended a nonfiction-writing workshop where I was told by the instructor that to qualify as…
You threw a grand party but nobody came. Your novel is so good but you're not selling books. What happened?…
Are images analogous to words? Is what makes a sentence sound "right" the same thing that makes an image "pop"…
"Passive writing" refers to a specific set of grammatical circumstances where emphasis switches from subject to object. The money was…
Generic descriptions are telltale signs of lazy writing. Add color to your writing by replacing overused and boring words. It's…
Dialogue presents challenges for writers. Some prefer to simply declare what was “said.” Many authors feel that “said” is both…
The word "that" is often abused. "That" is a perfectly useful pronoun but it's often the useless fat that slows…
How can speakers, indie writers, and self-publishers use a blog to build a platform? This article explains how to publish…
Part 1 of Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by its Cover critiqued "professional" covers taken from Amazon's Editor's choice…
I recently responded to a question in a writers’ forum from an author who was in the process of designing…
What do you think a professional editor's pay scale should be? Assume that a proofreader would be at the bottom…
Few subjects arouse more passion among writers and designers than the debate over how many spaces should follow a period.…
Nothing screams “amateur” like a poorly crafted book cover. The standards for book design aspired to by trade publishers are…
I recently published a post about the difference between vanity publishing and true self-publishing. Fundamentally, the article defines a publisher…
One question that loops endlessly on writers’ forums is “How can I sell more books?” The question is a natural…
What is true self-publishing? What is the difference between self-publishing and “vanity publishing” or “subsidy publishing?” How do these differ…
After completing the final draft of a manuscript for my fifth book, I wanted a reality check. I hired a…
The word processor has placed new burdens on writers to understand how to use italics, big and small capitals, dashes,…
Book reviews are critically important. Have you ever read a book hoping it would get better, only to find that…
Indie publishers complain that the mainstream publishing establishment acts as a "gatekeeper." Many readers rely on big publishing houses to…
The very idea of "book marketing" is vague. It's like subsuming advertising and fine art sales into a single realm…
Indie publishers are everywhere and so are indie bookstores, but apart from their names, the two have little in common.…
This section on dashes, hyphens and dots goes beyond typographic aesthetics to explore how we can communicate more effectively as…
The notion of real publishing as opposed to self-publishing and the stigma surrounding it is obsolete. I have no objections…
Many readers still love to feel the subtle emboss of letters stamped on paper with metal type. I was rummaging…
Book design is a lost art. Though book design discussions usually focus on covers, consider how much more time a…
Part 2 of Fundamentals of Book Design explores optical margins, paragraph formatting and spaces. Read about margins, layout and leading…
Designers, writers and publishers will benefit from Beatrice Warde’s eloquent perspectives on the craft of typography, the power of type…
Editing is one of the first hurdles you’ll encounter as an independent writer. Your fan club is your enemy. Encouraging…
There is a direct relationship between the number of sales you can expect from a book distributor and the value-added…
There are plenty of good reasons to self-publish, but not all are profit-oriented or even rational. Before you invest in…
A great technology is getting a bad rap for the wrong reasons. Print On Demand (POD) technology is often mislabeled…
Most book designers make the same errors. One sore spot for me and with many of my university design students,…
Irony—a figure of speech where the intended meaning is the opposite of the literal meaning. Here’s a soundbite from the…
Transcript Dave Bricker (00:07) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media…
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