Preface, Foreword, or Introduction—which of these, if any, does your book need, and how are they different from each other? I’ll give you my advice as a substantive/developmental book editor with two decades’ experience editing both fiction and nonfiction. Novels don’t need any of them. Novels may, however, need a Prologue. (See my article ‘Does Your Novel Need a Prologue?’ Fiction authors, you can stop reading here, as the rest of this information is for nonfiction authors only) …
Read MoreDevelopmental Edit or Substantive Edit? Is There a Difference?
As a book editor, I’m sometimes asked what the difference is between a developmental edit and a substantive edit. Authors typically use the first term to mean something different than what it originally meant to editors. In so doing, they’ve created a new (popular) meaning for the term. This leads to all sorts of confusion, which hopefully this article will ... Read More
How to Write an Author Bio Page for Your Book
You’re writing the author bio page for your book, and are unsure what should go there and what shouldn't. There’s a right way and wrong way to do this, so let’s take a look. Keep it brief – Your book's author bio page should be short—just two or three brief paragraphs. Make it factual – Give us specific facts about your ... Read More
Branding Your Book Title and Book Cover
Branding is as important for a book as it is for a business. It starts with branding your book title and book cover. A book title needs to convey the genre and indicate the nature of the content, but it needs to do so much more …
Read MoreCraft a Book Title that’s Irresistible
It’s important to craft a book title that’s irresistible. Why is this so important? Because your book title, along with your book cover, are the first things a reader or buyer is going to see …
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