If you’re an aspiring author, pursuing a career in the world of words, or just writing an email to your boss later today, chances are your work will need some editing. New to the world of books, I quickly learned the best sentences can become even better by using some great free tools at your disposal. No, I’m not talking about the pamphlets we received in grade school. I’m talking about how anyone can be their own editor, and it’s only a few clicks away. As a recent college graduate, I knew how important grammar was for making any piece of writing clear and concise without dulling one’s own personal writing style. When I began serving as an intern with Swenson Book Development, I was further enlightened to how poor grammar may affect my impressions upon my colleagues and potential employers. On a personal level, I’ve completed several rounds of manuscript edits for my own novels, and utilizing free editing sites to check my grammar has never been easier. Open up a web browser on your computer, smartphone, or tablet and you can find great reference sites which make DIY editing easy. Here are some free online tools which will help to relieve the hassle of grammar in your daily lives: Grammarly Upload your documents on Grammarly’s free website and they will help check over 250 grammar rules you may have missed. Download it to your computer and it will notify you instantly about an error as you’re typing. …
The work of being a writer is never ending. When you’re not writing, you’re reading. When you’re not reading, you can listen! Podcasts are a wonderful way to learn about new books, hear authors talk about their writing practice, learn new skills, improve your writing craft, and gain fresh perspectives on the business of publishing. Here’s a short list of some of my favorite podcasts… [Read More]
Filed Under: Fresh Air, Grammar Girl, Guardian Books Podcast, Longform Podcast, Longorm, Memory Palace, Nerdette Podcast, Nerdist's Writers Panel, New Yorker Fiction Podcast, Odyssey SF/F Writing Workshop Podcasts, Poem of the Day, Radiolab, Reading and Writing Podcast, SCBWI, Writer's Almanac, Writing Excuses
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Perhaps you got hooked on podcasts last year by listening to Serial. From the creators of This American Life, produced by WBEZ Chicago, and hosted by Sarah Koenig, Serial offered listeners a true story told over the course of a season with weekly episodes. The first season focused on the disappearance in 1999 of Hae Min Lee in Baltimore and the conviction of her boyfriend,… [Read More]
Filed Under: Ann Marie Ackermann, Crime Writers, In the Dark, John Ferak, podcasts, Reveal, Ron Chespesiuk, Serial, True Crime
Last week here I shared a dirty little secret. Authors get the blues. Depression strikes when you least expect it: upon the successful publication of your book. I did not intend to discourage writers from pursuing the path to publication, though it may have had that effect on those who hadn’t realized how much hard work and personal sacrifice might be involved. Today I’d like… [Read More]
You spend years working toward the publication of your book. Take writing classes. Attend workshops. Mingle at literary conferences. Develop your craft. Work with a writing coach. Write the manuscript. Hire an editor. Revise and rewrite. Build a website and blog every week. Grow an audience platform. Write reviews of books by authors you admire. Polish a proposal. Query agents. Receive rejection after rejection. And… [Read More]
Filed Under: agent, Depression, fame, fortune, post-publication, Publishers, Rejections, royalty statement, sadness of success
This week Rowman & Littlefield releases Compassionate Critical Thinking: How Mindfulness, Creativity, Empathy and Socratic Questioning Can Transform Teaching by Ira Rabois. In his new book, Ira demonstrates how to use mindfulness with instructional effectiveness to increase student participation and decrease classroom stress, and it turns the act of teaching into a transformational practice. Many books teach mindfulness, but few provide a model for teaching… [Read More]