An Establishing Shot Orients the Reader An establishing shot is a technique used in film, but many novels benefit from having a strong opening scene that gives the reader a quick overview. Photo Source The camera zooms over the mountains and moves in for a closeup of a solitary woman, walking along a beach. Right […]
Where can you find agents willing to represent your book? And, why should you try to find an agent when, these days, it’s easy to put your book up on Amazon? Photo Source Here are six reasons: The only way to have a major New York publisher “bring out” your book is to have an […]
An independent publisher could hold the key to you getting your book into print. Let’s face it. No matter how good a book is, writers have a tough time finding an agent. Some agents require you to already have an author platform, even though you’ve barely managed to finish your book. That’s just the reality […]
Photo Source Write what you know. That’s the most common piece of advice given to beginning writers. But, should authors stick to the mundane world of their ordinary lives, or is it okay to explore imaginary worlds? I’m not suggesting writers all rush to the side of the ship where fantasy, romance, zombie, thriller, and […]
Photo Source When I first read James Joyce, I walked the streets of Dublin. In college I met “Crazy Jane,” a woman accountable only to herself. I have not yet walked the cliffs of Ireland, except in the pages of books. For many Americans of Irish descent, Ireland is the Ur-land, the epicenter of a […]
If you’ve ever gone to Stratford (Ontario) for the Shakespeare Festival, crossed the border to see Niagara Falls from the Canadian side, or taken the ferry to British Columbia, you’ve no doubt visited a Canadian bookstore and noticed prominent displays that feature Canadian authors, not just those writing in English, but the Canadians writing in […]
Who’s going to want all those photographs of our grandparents and great-grandparents? What will our children, raised in the Instagram age, make of the stiff postures and posed portraits, the sepia tones and formal attire? And yet we know these images are important. We know in our hearts that the lives buried in these studio […]
Recent Comments