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May 29, 2016 By Anne R. Allen 37 Comments

Editing and Editors: A Writer’s Guide

Editing and Editors: A Writer’s Guide

9 Ways Editors Can Make You Look Good…and 7 Ways They Can Make You Miserable by Ruth Harris   As a former editor, I’m biased but, as a writer, I’ve learned that for me (and for just about every writer I know), editing is the most productive and transformative part of writing a book. Whether […]

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Filed Under: Self-Publishing, The Publishing Business, Writing Craft Tagged With: Belinda Pollard, Decades, Editing, how to find an editor, Joanna Penn, Kristen Lamb, Ruth Harris, self-editing tips, Victoria Mixon

November 8, 2015 By Anne R. Allen 69 Comments

5 More Delusions That Can Block a Writer’s Success

5 More Delusions That Can Block a Writer’s Success

by Anne R. Allen Last week I wrote about five delusions that can keep a new writer from professional success. I admit to succumbing to most of them myself at one time or another. Writers need to be a little delusional to embark on a road that we know is fraught with obstacles. It’s the […]

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Filed Under: The Publishing Business, The Writing Life, Writing Craft Tagged With: Authors Publish, Jane Friedman, Jessica Bell, Joanna Penn, Kristen Lamb, Molly Greene, Nathan Bransford, Stephen King, The Camilla Randall Mysteries, Writing tips

May 24, 2015 By Anne R. Allen 88 Comments

10 Tips for Choosing the Right Book Title

10 Tips for Choosing the Right Book Title

by Anne R. Allen   I’m not going to pretend that picking a title for your book is easy. In fact, it gets tougher all the time. We have to consider a lot more than how grabby a title looks on a bookstore shelf these days. In choosing a title now, we have to think […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, Writing Craft Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Bad Book Titles, Book title analyser, Book titles, Frances Caballo, Joanna Penn, So Much for Buckingham, The Best Revenge, Title makeovers, Writing tips

July 27, 2014 By Ruth Harris 44 Comments

EDITS, EDITORS, EDITING—The Secret Weapon of Every Successful Writer

by Ruth Harris   Editing is life. The blue tie? Or the yellow one? Peter or Paul? Or Mary? You’re an editor—whether or not you know it yet—because to edit is to choose. As a former editor, I’m obviously biased. As a writer, I’ve learned that for me (and for just about every writer I […]

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Filed Under: The Publishing Business, Writers Dealing with Reviews and Rejection, Writing Craft Tagged With: Belinda Pollard, book editing, Joanna Penn, Ruth Harris, Self-Editing, Style Sheet, The Chanel Caper, Types of Editing, Victoria Mixon

August 25, 2013 By Ruth Harris 22 Comments

METADATA 101: A Non-Techie Does Her Best to Explain Metadata (and Why it Matters) In Plain English

METADATA 101: A Non-Techie Does Her Best to Explain Metadata (and Why it Matters) In Plain English

by Ruth Harris   First of all, what the &%^# is metadata? AccordIng to Wikipedia, it’s “data about data.” But we’re writers and we’re talking about books, so, huh? Let me try again: when it comes to a book, metadata can be defined both by what it is and what it isn’t. Metadata’s everything in […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Self-Publishing, Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: Amazon categories, Back Matter, Blurbs, Front Matter, ISBN, Joanna Penn, Joel Friedlander, Metadata, Product Description, Ruth Harris, The Chanel Caper, Writers Cafe

May 26, 2013 By Anne R. Allen 37 Comments

Short is the New Long: 10 Reasons Why Short Stories are Hot

Short is the New Long: 10 Reasons Why Short Stories are Hot

 by Anne R. Allen   Ruth Harris will be posting on June 2 instead of today. She kindly switched with me because I’m going to be out of town next weekend, celebrating my Mom’s 92nd birthday. Thanks to all of you who downloaded my mom’s pioneer saga, ROXANNA BRITTON, and sent it to #1 in […]

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Filed Under: The Publishing Business, Writing Craft Tagged With: 21st Century writing, Anne R. Allen, bogus writing contests, history of the novel, Joanna Penn, Kindle Serials, Kindle Singles, Leslie Kaufman, literary journals, Olivia Lewis, short stories

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writers digest 101 best websites for writers award

Anne R. AllenAnne R. Allen writes funny mysteries and how-to-books for writers. She also writes poetry and short stories on occasion. She’s a contributor to Writer’s Digest and the Novel and Short Story Writer’s Market.

Her bestselling Camilla Randall Mystery Series features perennially down-on-her-luck former socialite Camilla Randall—who is a magnet for murder, mayhem and Mr. Wrong, but always solves the mystery in her quirky, but oh-so-polite way.

Ruth Harris NYT best selling authorRuth is a million-copy New York Times bestselling author, Romantic Times award winner, former Big 5 editor, publisher, and news junkie.

Her emotional, entertaining women’s fiction and critically praised novels have sold millions of copies in hard cover, paperback and ebook editions, been translated into 19 languages, sold in 30 countries, and were prominent selections of leading book clubs including the Literary Guild and the Book Of The Month Club.

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