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Writers Inspiration

Posted on 19 April 2010 by KarishaPrescott

Writers are constantly asked about their inspiration for hit sensations. I wonder what it is about the human mind that people are constantly questioning ‘how’, ‘why’, and ‘when’ someone came up with an idea. I’m sure a majority of the questions are from aspiring authors, authors wanting to achieve the same success and hopeful that there is a process somewhere that could just be ‘duplicated’ sort of like an assembly-line process.

But an assembly line is a little too far fetched. Should novels, stories and fiction be crafted by a machine I am fairly certain it would come out reading like stereo equipment instructions. My theory is a good one because machines (as of this date) don’t FEEL human emotions and human connections. So how could a machine retell a human emotion and create a human connection if it doesn’t know how, why or when to create that feeling.

There I go with my own How, Why and When.

Inspiration can come from so many places when it comes to writers. A lot of the time you hear about a subconscious awakening – or in laymens terms: A dream happened and the writer simply wrote it down.

This is one of the best methods. I wish I could just go to sleep – see a ‘dream movie’ and wake up going ‘Gosh, that whole thing is perfect’ and word-vomit the entire thing on paper verbatim without missing a beat. I think that would be the number one persuasion for any drug dealer trying to get me to buy LSD. (I don’t condone drug use – Say no to Drugs – It was meant as a sarcastic, humorous bite and I would never partake in an activity that could damage myself or others)

So the Subconscious Mind is a really big factor for some writers when it comes to writing. For the rest of us, we have to rely on People, Places and Things a lot of the time. We have to rely on meeting people that sparks an idea for a character, seeing a Place that we remember in such a way that it would be perfect to write and describe, and Things that we come across in life that we could implement in the story. There are infinite combinations of variables that go into making a really great story – I’m almost positive about it.

Then you have your Collective Life Experiences. I have to say that this could be a big one for a lot of writers as well. Perhaps the writers that dream, the writers that put live people in their books and writers with traumatic/interesting pasts don’t overlap, but I’m sure you have heard about or read about at least a handful of writers that would fit into each category.

Then comes the adventurer. This is the writer that WANTS to live a certain life but does so through words on the page. There is nothing wrong with that. Create a story, create an experience that so many wish they could experience in real life and share it. Just because a writer writes about a serial killer on a killing spree doesn’t mean the writer has first hand knowledge of being a serial killer, or being a forensic scientist or a detective in a busy Miami precinct. It takes research, a willing to learn and a desire to retell a specific story enough to find out what it is like – even if it is just through a Google search.

All of these things leads to writing a story and providing emotion after emotion on paper to create an overall experience that the reader can relive over and over from the comfort of their favorite reading corner. That is the magic of writing. Weaving words into a sirens story, leading the reader to the rocks to show them death and then giving them a happily ever after – or whatever ending you end up writing.

It is amazing  – the Danger portrayed in a story can quicken the pulse and have you sitting straight up in your chair but in another instant the book can be closed, the pages lost and the reader finds they are still sitting safely in the comfort of their living room.

It’s the most dangerous and safest adventure you could offer. It’s a great expectation and a great experience.

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Writers Haven

Posted on 18 April 2010 by KarishaPrescott

Every writer needs a haven. This is a little place to call your own, to sneak off to and write in quiet, comfort and seclusion. Sometimes writers can’t find it. Sometimes writers have to go on ‘retreats’ and write their entire novel in the span of a few weeks in an uncommon surrounding.

Don’t get me wrong, even under pressure and in the worst surroundings I think a writers story will always come out. All stories are meant to come out. That is why a writer is a writer. They can’t eat, sleep or dream of anything but writing. It’s a sickness, an illness that eats away at your thoughts, prevents sleep and even when you finally find the elusive dreamland it is riddled with plot questions and twists your subconscious dreams up to stump you or help you.

Yes, a writer needs a haven. It could be a plain wooden desk with nothing more than a few sheets of paper, a sharpened pencil and a cup of coffee. Or you could have four walls painted in elaborate colors that are only known to the writer because every inch of wall space is covered in sticky notes for ideas and posters with quotes for inspiration.

I know I have talked about science fiction like decorum and tools. I know that I have talked about writers retreats to get away from the life and the distractions, but the mark of a true writer is being able to write no matter what. The dog could be chewing on your pant leg begging to be let out, the phone could be ringing relentlessly and the door could have a rapid knocking but the only thing that comforts the pounding heart are your fingers typing on the keys trying to keep pace.

As frantic as life gets, try to designate your writers haven even if it means putting all your clothes on the floor and moving into your cramped closet. So long as you have a flashlight and you can somehow prevent the door from opening, it will be your haven. Now…whether or not your hideaway stays secret and sacred for long…it’s anybody’s guess.

But that is my suggestion today. Find a writers haven, create one, borrow one from a friend or lease one from a retreat, but have one. Have a haven where you can get away and write. The closer and more readily available it is, the better.

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Top Ten Reasons You’ll Never Write A Novel…

Posted on 11 April 2010 by KarishaPrescott

There are plenty of tips and guides online that will tell you how to write a novel. There are thousands of tips and tricks for writing. I wanted to take a different perspective and look at the 10 things that unpublished authors do consistently.

This is the list I think every writer can take to heart. It’s the perfect length, the perfect amount of content and you can know immediately whether or not you’re following this path of “never writing a novel” or at least never finishing it.

1. You Never Make Time to Write

This is the big one. This is an obvious one. You will hear this from every single writer around the world, “you have to make time to write” and that holds true no matter what situation. If you’re not writing, you’re just not writing. If you’re not writing, you will never write your novel.

2. You Never Make Time to Better Your Writing

You don’t just wake up one day and have written an entire full-length novel. If you’re not writing, which is number one on our list, a simple solution could just be that you’re not making time. If you’re not making time for writing that you’re not writing. If you’re not making time and are not writing, then you’re never going to write your novel.

3. You Think You’re Already A Perfect Writer

You are not an idiot savant. If you were, the world would already know your name. But that same reasoning, you’re not a perfect writer. Continuing with this reasoning, you can’t just sit down and write the perfect novel whenever you get around to it. You need to research writing, learn more about writing, about plot development and character creation to make your novel perfect. The educational writer is never done. If you think you’re already the perfect writer, you will never write your novel.

4. You’re a Perfectionist Editor

I talked about this topic several times. You can spend six months editing the first paragraph and it could be perfect but you will still have over 300 pages to go with no idea whether you’re plot or your characters work. It stands to reason that your perfectionist editor, you’re never going to write or finish writing your novel. A word of advice, perhaps should send the editing out of house.

5. You Don’t Take the Time to Write an Outline

Some great writers can do this. They can go into a novel without any idea how it’s going to turn out and they can spin it into gold. You, however, will not do that. You need an outline. The majority of writers do, it’s just a fact. If you’re not working on a plot for your novel, then you’re never going to finish your novel.

6. You Don’t Set Goals for Yourself

A life without goals is a life without direction. That means if you don’t have a set routine every day with goals, you’re never going to finish your novel. You need to break your novels up into goals that are attainable. You should have a daily word count to reach, or an editing goal, or some other goal related to your writing that keeps you on track. It’s not only good so that you’ll be able to measure your success in writing and progressing in the creation of your novel, but deadlines are very important thing to be on time for. If you don’t set goals for yourself you’re never going to finish her novel.

7. You Let Other People or Excuses Get In Your Way

excuses, excuses, excuses. The cats in the room, the kids are too quiet, the kids are too noisy, there’s a fire in the kitchen, all of these things can be ignored or deferred to another person, within reason. I could go back to making time to write, and making sure it’s one you’ll have to least distractions. But letting other people and little distractions be your never ending excuse for not writing will ultimately lead to never finishing your novel.

8. You Don’t Let Anyone Give You Feedback

Feedback is critical. After reading and rereading, editing and reediting, you’ll need a fresh perspective and a fresh set of eyes to take a look at your novel. It’s not just about punctuation; it’s about the flow and the characters in the story. You need a list of people you can trust to read your novel and give you constructive feedback. They are getting feedback on your novel then you’re never going to finish it.

9. You Don’t Consider Yourself A Writer

If you are writing, anything at all, no matter what you’re writing, you are a writer. If you don’t consider yourself a writer you’re not going to make your writing a priority in your life. That means the phone ringing, the dog barking, your excuses, other people’s excuses, are going to be constant factors in never writing or publishing your novel. If you don’t consider yourself a writer, you will never write your novel and you’ll never be a writer.

10. You Don’t Think You Will Ever Finish Your Novel

Diligence and dedication is what separates the amateurs from the professionals. None of us ever thought were going to finish our first novel. I mean, we did but some days it seemed impossible. You just have to keep at it. It’s got a something you love, something you can do every day and never regret.

When you find out writing is more than just a potential job, something that’s part of you, you’ll figure out that it’s not ‘if’ you will ever finish your novel but ‘when’ you finish your novel. If you don’t think you will ever finish your novel, you never will unless you start trying.

So make time to write your novel. Make time to write it and then write it. Learn as much as you can about writing, the publishing industry, and everything else you can learn. It can never hurt you to know too much about something you love. Actually, I’m pretty sure that would make you an expert at something you love.

Make time, write, learn, grow and live. Don’t look for outside definitions of what makes you a writer. If you’re a writer then you already know it, so get writing.

Photo Credit: Origami Madness

Thank you for visiting The Official Karisha Prescott Website! For more top posts, try the Featured Articles page or Writing page for more free tips. Like this article? Subscribe to my RSS feed in an RSS reader to keep up with my most recent posts.
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Fiction Genres and Sub-Genres

Posted on 07 April 2010 by KarishaPrescott

There are two types of fiction. There is commercial fiction and literary fiction. What sets literary fiction apart from commercial fiction is the tendency to use a certain writing style. The work of literary fiction could be compared with the likes of authors Charles Frazier, Toni Morrison, and Barbara Kingsolver.

We’re going to be focusing on commercial fiction which has several genres and many sub-genres. You’ll see many more sub genres in the online world in comparison to the traditional brick-and-mortar bookstore and this is because of space constraints.

It’s a good idea to pick one main genre for the book you’re writing. You can pick several sub genres but it’s very important to choose the right main genre for your book so that it can be correctly categorized and found by readers. The main genre tells bookstores where to place your book and readers where to find your book.

So even though you have a love story between two lesser important characters, if your book is about solving a mystery you’ll want to label it as a mystery genre and not a romance.

It would be very easy for writers to get bad reviews and become skipped over on bookshelves simply from being mis-categorized in a genre.

If you just can’t figure out what your main genre is there’s nothing wrong with asking your test readers or friends and family. Taking a general poll will point you in the direction of the genre that your book will best fit.

Sub-genres are usually categorized by hyphenation. Such as mystery-thriller, paranormal-Romance, historical Romance, and similar listings.  Sub-genres are almost endless.

A quick overview: Most fiction is commercial fiction, with one main genre and one or more sub genres. The main genre is the overall theme of your novel where the sub genre has to do with strong subplot or underlying themes.

Common Genres:

Historical: Relative to dates in history (Historical-Romance is a popular sub-genre of Historical Novels)

Romance: One of the most popular Genres in the entire publishing industry.  Sub-genres are almost limitless, from Romantic-Comedy to Paranormal Romance.

Science Fiction/ Fantasy: Set in fictional worlds with fictional creatures is a more ‘catch-all’ way to look at science fiction and fantasy. Also, Sub-genres can be Romantic Fantasy to Science Fiction-Thriller.

Western: are commonly fitting into ‘Historical’ genres. This is a specific time period, for western ‘Cowboys and Indians’ themes. Western-Mystery is just one of many possible sub-genre combinations.

Mystery : Mysteries are often blended into other genres and vice versa. Mystery genres are some of the more popular genres next to romance. Romantic Mysteries, Mystery-Thrillers, and so on.

Thriller: Thrillers are action packed and fast paced. This is an easily integrated sub-plot while also subgenres of almost every category are easily added onto any well written thriller.

Horror: Most famous writer of horror is Stephen King. Also a well known category of writing, subgenres are commonly Horror-thrillers. I don’t think I have yet to see a Horror-Romance but I’m sure I will be surprised eventually.

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The Dangers in Editing your Novel

Posted on 05 April 2010 by KarishaPrescott

When it comes to writing, your work is only as good as your last edits. Sometimes a writer will choose to send their work out to be edited. When you’re on a budget or when writing is simply a hobby, you may want to do your editing in house.

To Edit or Hire an Editor?

If you decide to hire an editor it is very important to choose an editor you know you’ll get along with. It’s important to be very clear of your expectations before beginning the project. Also, if you decided to write a series you may want to keep the same editor for all the books in the series for consistency. It’s also important to build a relationship with your editor so you’ll become a seamless team as you continue to write books and your editor already knows what you expect.

Whether you’re editing your works yourself or sending you’re editing out, there are few basic things you should think about through this process, regardless.

Don’t edit while writing your draft

This is essential. If you edit each paragraph as you write you will end up killing the flow and even the personality of your story. You’ll be spending so much time thinking about writing the perfect paragraph that you’ll forget that you’re writing a full-length novel. So do yourself a favor and separate your writing from your editing. When you’re writing, you should be writing. There will come a time when you can focus on the editing.
Don’t edit as soon as you’re finished.

This is another common mistake that writers make. After spending countless hours writing your masterpiece the last thing you want to do is jump right in and start hacking away at it. Give yourself some time to mull over your novel. Once you’ve given yourself a little bit of time you may want to read through it once without a pen so you can take a look at the big picture.

Don’t keep at it until it’s done.

If you think you can edit your novel in one sitting you’re absolutely insane. And it really sound like common sense, but you’d be surprised how many people think that they can sit down and knocked out half of their book edits in one afternoon. Pace yourself. Otherwise, after a few hours of edits you will find a lot of letters begin to look like punctuation and vice versa.


Over-editing is the death of a story.

Each novel a writer writes is like a new child in the family. You want to make sure it’s just perfect. You want to make sure it’s the best novel you can make it. But in the process of editing it is possible to over edit.

You risk losing the voice, passion, and even the flow of storytelling by over editing. Some writers worry about word count or page count and this is the wrong approach. If it’s meant to be a novella or if it’s meant to be a little bit long, then it’s just meant to be that way. Don’t fluff or hacker away too much of your novel or you risk destroying the story. You should find a healthy balance.

Overall, editing is one of the most essential parts of writing. It’s one of the last processes before it goes to print and the final edit is what your readers will be seeing forever, excluding digital.

Personally, I like the idea of sending my editing out but even I am worried about losing the voice of my novel. But as far as grammar and punctuation goes the last thing I want to do after writing a novel for six months is to start picking away at it. I’d rather leave the little details to somebody else and work on my next story.

It’s all about personal preference. Either you want to edit your novel yourself or save yourself the trouble and hope that everything turns out okay in the hands of a professional editor. More often than not it will work out fine.So remember not to edit as you write, to retain the voice of your writing through your edits and not to be too much of a perfectionist by over editing your story.

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Thank you for visiting The Official Karisha Prescott Website! For more top posts, try the Featured Articles page or Writing page for more free tips. Like this article? Subscribe to my RSS feed in an RSS reader to keep up with my most recent posts.

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D is for Dedication to Writing

Posted on 03 April 2010 by KarishaPrescott

Anyone can sit down and say that they’re going to write a novel. Writing takes basic skills that anyone could acquire but above all else a writer must be dedicated.

Dedicated to your Writing

It takes a special kind of person to weave together words and be able to foresee the finished product of thousands of words. You have to be dedicated on a daily, weekly, monthly or even yearly level. Writing’s about doing whatever it takes to attain the finished novel. This is a labor of love, of the heart; it requires dedication above and beyond a hobby. Writing is a kind of calling.

Dedication to your Characters

A writer will spend countless hours researching, rewriting, building and getting to know their characters. This also takes a certain level of dedication. It’s more than describing the physical features of a person you’ve mismatched together in your mind and it’s another thing to describe their air of walk, their mannerisms, their personality, their passions and dislikes. To maintain a full cast of characters in the novel could be considered exhausting. No two characters are alike, none answer a question the same, they don’t walk the same, and for the most part they even have different backgrounds.

It takes diligence and determination.

Dedication to your Skills

Character development, plot, structure, punctuation, grammar, writing styles, marketing, advertising, publishing, blogging, micro blogging, social networking, and the list goes on. This is only a short list of a long list of skills that are required of a writer in today’s publishing atmosphere.

It takes a serious dedication to your craft to constantly research on these topics, to learn new aspects and angles. Writing conferences, networking events, advertising and marketing classes, and the list goes on. Constant search for knowledge in your field, that’s dedication.

Dedication to your Routine

Every day should be a day that you’re writing. Whether it’s one sentence or 1000 words, you should be writing. A day without writing is like a day you’ve missed work. Except there’s no boss to tell you you’re in trouble, that you’re wrong, or to inflict a punishment. It’s all up to you.

You have to write every day, you have to prioritize, and you have to manage your time very efficiently. Because when you’re writing a novel you’re not working on a three day project before the weekend. You’re working on a three, six, nine, or even 12 month project. To go from writing, editing, to rewriting, to re-editing, advertising, marketing, to print and you have to keep your routine.

Because after you’ve done all this you have to begin again.

So you have to have a profound dedication to writing.

Dedication to your Readers

This is the most important. You have to be dedicated to providing your readers with exactly what they want. It has to be a great story, exactly the story they wanted to read, with emotions and experiences that draw them in and make them never want to leave.

The dedication to your readers is the most important.

This is where blogging comes into play. This is where micro blogging like twitter comes into play. You have to reach out to your readers, your fan base, and have to make them interested in you and your book. You have to sell them on the idea, give them your novel and hope that your last year of writing gives them the experience you promise.

The standards and expectations are pretty high on both sides.

This is why you have to be dedicated from beginning to end. You have to show the world you love to write, write the best thing you can, tell everyone about it and last-but-not-least deliver an experience worthy of reading. If you can do all that, you really are dedicated.

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Thank you for visiting The Official Karisha Prescott Website! For more top posts, try the Featured Articles page or Writing page for more free tips. Like this article? Subscribe to my RSS feed in an RSS reader to keep up with my most recent posts.

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C is for Characters!

Posted on 03 April 2010 by KarishaPrescott

In the world of writing and the world of fiction you have to learn many different aspects about fiction and novels. There are many different components that go into making a great novel. You have to have many different parts like a plot, structure, good setup, suspense  or even a little romance. But the one thing you can’t have a novel without are characters.

This is why character development is so important. Without believable characters you won’t have a believable story. This is why there is never too much you can read on the subject. Any author writing their first or 20th novel knows the importance of writing great characters.

From your protagonist (main character) to your antagonist (opposition) to all the supporting roles in between, your characters breathe life into your novel. As an author, Character Development is one of the most important functions you have in telling a good story.

Your character has to experience what you want your reader to experience. He or she has to experience the height of joy and the depth of sorrow that you wish for your reader to know. The characters have to react to one another in a way that propels the story forward and makes the most of the novel you have inside of you.

There are so many different aspects to characters and character development. You can never read too much on the topic, and you can never truly be an expert because there is always something to learn. By the time you’re done writing your novel you will have fallen in love with your characters and if your readers don’t do the same then you didn’t do them justice.

I hope this stresses the importance of character development and how much it means in every novel to every author and most importantly to every reader.

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Thank you for visiting The Official Karisha Prescott Website! For more top posts, try the Featured Articles page or Writing page for more free tips. Like this article? Subscribe to my RSS feed in an RSS reader to keep up with my most recent posts.

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B is for Blogging and Authors

Posted on 03 April 2010 by KarishaPrescott

Cuarts Blog

If you’re an author or aspire to be then you should be blogging. This is a fairly new standard in the publishing industry. But before you start thinking that blogging doesn’t apply to you, especially if you’re self-publishing, think again and then start blogging.

There seems to be the common misconception that blogging is a lesser form of writing. To those people I say ‘You are wrong and you’re missing the point.’

Before you think anything about blogging you need to know its purpose. In its most basic form, blogging is about reaching out to people and showing that you yourself are a real person.

In the publishing world your number one priority is to reach people. You will commonly hear it referred to as “building a platform.” Building a platform is a stepping stone to building readership. It’s interesting because in the online community a platform is usually the type of software used to blog.

So, the term ‘building a platform’ could be translated into ‘building a blog.’  You build a blog to develop a readership, a following, or more commonly known ‘ a fan base.’

The second function of blogging, though still very important, is to deliver information. This can be information of a personal nature, which is why we have personal blogs, or about your profession also known as professional blog.

Looking at KarishaPrescott.com you’ll notice that it’s both a personal and professional blog. I write about writing and I write about being a writer but also about being me as a person.

Some would argue that taking a hobby and making it a lot of work that you won’t enjoy it anymore. But I argue if you love writing, all kinds of writing, it’s never a labor. But that’s something to remember in the writing world. Blogging is a form of writing, so if you don’t love to write all kinds of things from novels to blog, to query letters, to synopsizes, then you should probably be picking up authorship as a part-time hobby; because in the world of writing, you will do a lot of writing.

In our world, that should always include a blog.

***

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A to Z Challenge for April!

Posted on 02 April 2010 by KarishaPrescott

My friend Charmaine Clancy over at Wagging Tales has a great idea going which she got from Tossing It Out. ‘Blogging from A to Z Challenge’ (26 posts) where, you guessed it! The challenge is to blog 26 posts in the month of April from A to Z!

I think this is a GREAT idea! Thanks Charmaine Clancy!

I’m going to add links to all the blog posts for this month in this post, but you will be able to see them on the home page. Good luck to everyone taking this blog challenge! I’m sure we will all do great and I’m really looking forward to this challenge!

For my A to Z Challenge, I am going to keep everything as relevant to Writing, Publishing and Novels as possible! Wish me luck!

So to kick this Blogging Challenge Off…

A is for Advertising!

B is for Blogging and Authors!

C is for Characters!

D is for Dedication to Writing!

E is for Dangers of EDITING Your Novel!

F is for Fanbase Creation!

G is for Fiction Genres and Sub Genres!

H is for Writer’s Haven!

I is for Writers’ Inspiration!

Feel free to link your A to Z Challenge blog in the comments section!

Good Luck and Thanks for Reading!

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Thank you for visiting The Official Karisha Prescott Website! For more top posts, try the Featured Articles page or Writing page for more free tips. Like this article? Subscribe to my RSS feed in an RSS reader to keep up with my most recent posts.
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Advertising for Authors

Posted on 02 April 2010 by KarishaPrescott

Because no one will know that you wrote a book unless you tell them.

A lot of new writers and authors think that only self-publishing authors are in charge of their own advertising. This is a common misconception. More often than not, publishing houses are leaving advertising and marketing in the hands of the authors. Unless you’re a big name, like Stephen King, you’ll be handling your marketing and advertising regardless of whether you self publish or are traditionally published.

When it comes to advertising the best way to go is online. This sounds easier than it actually is. Where print publishing and advertising has a set place in the physical world, online advertising and marketing is ever-changing real estate.

Advertising online is a complex system and strategy.

To list just a few of the advertising options:

  • Google Adwords
  • Blog link exchange
  • Kontera Link Ads
  • Social networking profiles
  • Micro-blogging
  • Blogging
  • Author website
  • and so much more

While this is just an overview of the advertising aspect of being a writer and author, you can find countless articles and books on the subject of advertising online. I will attempt to cover as much as possible on this site to help you gain some perspective on online advertising.

It’s important to point out that advertising is just as important, if not more so, than any other aspect of publishing. You could write the next New York Times bestseller and absolutely know in it in your heart, but if no one knows you wrote it then it will never achieve the success it deserves.

So don’t be scared of advertising. Be excited, be willing to learn, learn from others, take classes if you have to, and get the word out about your book.

After all, no one is going to care more about your novel than YOU.

***

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September 2010
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