Tag: editing tips

author interviews

Inspirational Journeys Presents: Editing Q&A with Kelly Martin

ann Harrison Author
Photo of Kelly Martin

This week, My special guest and I talk about writing briefly, but I pick her brain about editing, which is one of the things I’m finding that I love to do. Grab a cup of coffee, sit back and come hang out with us as we talk all things editing and a little about writing.

INSPIRATIONAL JOURNEYS PRESENTS!

Kelly Martin!

Hello:

I’m proud to announce the following guest for your listening pleasure.

Please be sure to read onward after the following message to learn how you can be my guest here on INSPIRATIONAL JOURNEYS.

Thanks for listening and do write to let me and my guest know what you thought of this presentation.

WHO?

Kelly Martin

WHEN?

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

WHERE?

YouTube video

Podcast episode

MORE ABOUT GUEST AUTHOR Kelly Martin…

Kelly Martin lives in a possibly haunted house in a small southern town. While she’d like to say paranormal things have only happened to her at her home, it would be a lie…

She is an active member of the Horror Writers Association and an international #1 best selling author in horror, paranormal, contemporary, historical, young adult, and mysteries. All of Kelly’s books have one thing in common– imagine the real world is tilted slightly on its side. You don’t really know what’s going on, what’s missing, but there is a tilt, a hum you can barely hear, telling you that something is off.

Email Kelly Martin at kelly @kellymartinbooks.com (no spaces). Visit her website at http://www.kellymartinbooks.com

Kelly’s featured book is entitled THE BAD ONES (sequel to Fake Nora)

Description:

Shadows come from the mirror…

And then there are nightmares.

A month after Nora and her friend from the mirror, Jesse, defeated the doppelganger who haunts mirrors, life has returned to normal. For Nora. A relic from a past era, thirteen-year-old Jesse has a difficult time adjusting to the twenty-first century.

Jesse fears the ghosts of souls, the Bad Ones, lurking in the reflections, are planning on seeping through the mirror and dragging him back.

Only when the voice of a friend from the past begs for his help from inside the mirror, Jesse has to choose between living in fear or facing the Bad Ones in the mirror once and for all.

Lies.

Betrayal.

Hope…

Nothing is as it seems.

Purchase link:

https://books2read.com/u/mZQa2E

Excerpt:

FAKE NORA

The sign over the covered antique mirror said DO NOT TOUCH. Twelve-year-old Nora wished she had listened.

Mirrors reflect what is in front of them, but what happens behind the glass—to the reflections themselves? Nora finds out when her own reflection, aka Fake Nora, changes places with her one night. Nora is shoved in a place that looks exactly like her house with no echoes, dull lights, and muted sounds. It isn’t her home at all, simply a shell of a place she loves.

Fake Nora is living her best life in Nora’s house, feeding on the fear of her little brother while no one else at the house knows anything is wrong.

Inside “reflectionland,” Nora meets thirteen-year-old Jesse, who has been stuck in his mirror since the forties, and he warns her that they aren’t alone in the house. There are others sneaking around, known as the bad ones—spirits of people who gave up after vanishing in the mirror.

Refusing to stay a reflection forever, Nora conjures a plan to escape, but Fake Nora isn’t about to give up her life in Nora’s home. And Jesse? He could become a bad one forever.

connect with Kelly at the following links:

Website: www.kellymartinbooks.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/kellymartinbooks

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kellymartinauthor

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@kellymartinauthor

Twitter: www.twitter.com/ReadKellyMartin

BE A GUEST…

As authors, creative artists and entrepreneurs, we often find it hard to stand out above the constant chatter on the internet. If that sounds like you, I’d like to help you boost the visibility of your brand. My name is Ann Harrison-Barnes and I run a podcast called Inspirational Journeys. On my podcast I post solo episodes of value to my listeners, led by the Holy Spirit. I also talk to authors, creative artists and entrepreneurs who want to share their inspirational journeys with the world. If you’re interested in being a guest on my show, please send an email to annwrites75@gmail.com with Inspirational Journeys in the subject line of your email, so I can send you my featured book questionnaire.

 Thanks for listening to Inspirational Journeys and have a Blessed Day.

Follow me on Social media:

https://www.facebook.com/annwritesinspiration

https://www.youtube.com/user/annsmusic1

#WritingTips, marketing tips, publishing

#InspirationalJourneys Presents: Weekend Wrap up, Furious Fiction and Women in Publishing Summit Highlights

ann Harrison Author


Hello, to everyone in the blogosphere. Today, I have a couple of things I want to talk about. I explain them in greater detail in my latest podcast episode.

First of all, I would like to celebrate my first entry submitted to the monthly furious fiction competition, which takes place the first weekend of each month. This contest is sponsored by the Australian Writers Center and stories can be no longer than 500 words. The contest if free, and you have a chance to win $500 each month that you participate. The writing prompt for March was as follows: Your story must have a character in disguise. Your story must be set in a park and it must contain a mirror. I wrote a story entitled Calm before the Fall, using the victim from A Journey of Faith: A Stepping Stones Mystery.

The second topic in today’s episode of #InspirationalJourneys is my highlights from the Women in Publishing Summit March 2-8, 2020. The nuggets I found from the various presentations are as follows. Each of these nuggets are explained in greater detail in the episode linked below.

Editing

Although an author writes one draft of a story, don’t expect your first draft to be ready to send to an editor. One of the editors said either she or one of her clients revised their manuscript seventeen times, before it was ready to publish. There are different types of editors: developmental/content editors, line editors, copy editors and proofreaders. Don’t rely on one editor to do all the various types of edits.

Self-publishing your book:

Self-published or Indie authors wear three hats: The author hat, when you write the book, the publisher’s hat, when you get your book formatted, edited and hire a cover designer, upload your book to the different platforms etc., and the marketer’s hat once your book is published.

What readers look for:

In a bookstore, a reader checks the cover, the blurb and the author’s writing style, among other things, to determine whether or not the book is worth the purchase. Readers also look for books that are in a series first, genre specific books second, and books by their favorite authors third. I also learned that poetry books are often published in series.

Click the link below for today’s episode of the #InspirationalJourneys podcast:

#Amediting, #WritingTips

Changing Point of View During the Editing Process

ann Harrison Author


Hello everyone in the blogosphere,
I have a couple of writing tips to share, one of which is changing the point of view of your novel during the editing process. I wrote an entire book in Third Person, but my main character told me in no uncertain terms that she needed me to let her tell her story, at sometime after 4 AM on February 20, 2020. That same afternoon, I started rewriting Chapter one in First person. As I did so, I realized that my Main Character’s questions could be written in the narration of the story, instead of internal dialogue in italics.
The second tip, after you’ve decided which POV is the right fit for your book, is to ask yourself why elements of your story and your characters develop the way they do.

‘to see my quick tip video, visit:

To hear my discussion of these tips in greater detail, listen to my latest podcast episode:

Connect with me on social media:
https://www.facebook.com/annwritesinspiration

https://www.youtube.com/user/annsmusic1

Inspirational Journeys Podcast:

If you’d like to be a guest on Inspirational Journeys or subscribe to my newsletter, please do one of the following:
send an email to annwrites75@gmail.com with “newsletter” in the subject for email list subscriptions and “Inspirational Journeys” in the subject line to be a guest on my podcast
Send me a message on social media with your name and email address and whether you’d like to subscribe to my newsletter or be a guest on my podcast, or fill out the contact form below.

Blessings,
Ann

#Amediting, #amwriting, #WritingTips

3 Tips for Making Your Book Babies Shine

ann Harrison Author

Hello everyone in the blogosphere,
Today I have another writing related post to bring you. If you’d like to hear the latest episode of the Inspirational Journeys podcast, where I talk about the tips I’m bringing you, and share my reason behind these tips, please visit:

Last night, I started reading a book called Don’t Quit While You’re Ahead, by Cynthia MacGregor, when the Holy Spirit convicted me to revise A Journey of Faith: A Stepping Stones Mystery. I’m glad I started on it, because I found that one of my character’s name was misspelled, along with other obvious mistakes in the book that I was unaware of at the time of publication. If you find yourself in the same situation, here are three tips you can use, to make your book babies shine.

Don’t Rush the Publishing Process

This holds true, especially for aspiring authors. I know you’ve finished your story and you’re excited about getting your book into the hands of readers, but you want to revise and polish your manuscript before it goes out on the market. You only get one chance to shine, so you want to make it the best it can be. I learned this the hard way when I made my first publishing mistake. Since then, my writing has improved, and I’ve gotten good feedback about my book. However, I relied too heavily on the publisher to make sure it was in tiptop shape. I learned a valuable lesson when I started editing my book last night. No matter who publishes your book, it’s your baby; therefore, it’s up to you to go over your manuscript with a fine-toothed comb and make sure you’re satisfied with the end result.

Check all Proof Copies for Mistakes

If you’re working with a small press, or you’re self-publishing, make sure each proof copy of your book is as error free as possible. Taking this step will save you time and money.

It Never Hurts to Edit Previously Published Work

All you Indie authors can take advantage of this tip, especially if you’ve uploaded an eBook. Paperbacks can be updated as well, but they would be published as new editions to your book. Not only am I working through this process for my own book, I have a friend who has updated her four of her Bible devotionals after publishing her fiction work and poetry.

Now that I have shared my tips with you, I challenge you to revisit your previously published manuscripts. Are you satisfied with them? Do they need a major overhaul, or just a simple minor fix? If the answer is no to any of these questions, then you may want to consider reworking them if possible. However, if you’ve answered yes to any of them, then you’re good to go.

I hope these tips will help you during, or after your publishing process. Stay tuned for a special guest interview with the author mentioned at the top of this post. Until next time, happy writing.
Blessings,
Ann