A word from Conan the Grammarian: Concerning the Critical Importance of look-alike words, or similar or commonly mistaken words. Learn the diffs! As Conan has often admonished writers, this is not advanced rocketry or even higher mathematics. In no particular order, these words often appeared incorrectly in this year’s contest manuscripts. Stanch & staunch The…
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Hocus Focus
Another one of those articles came across my feeds the other day. You know the ones? The ones where somebody with a book or two placed with A Real Publisher decries the sad state of authorship and how being poor but published is much superior to being one of Those People? There are fewer of…
The Beat Sheet
As I thought about this series, I realized in retrospect that I wanted a plan. And I wanted something for you readers to be able to follow along. And I wanted it to be totally available. AHA – a Beat Sheet. If you don’t know what beat sheets are, here’s the short description: The “beat…
Pack Up Your Media Kit and Smile!
As I sit down to write, I’m remembering that game we used to play as kids—the one where someone starts by saying, “I’m going on a trip and in my bag I packed…” You sit in a circle, and the starter names one item with each player listing previous items in turn and then adding…
Ocean Liner or Toy Boat?
Your book launch is like a ship christening, right? Pomp, circumstance. The whole bit. You invite as many people as you know, including every stranger you encounter in the weeks leading up. You bash yourself a little bit for not doing a better job of keeping your email lists tightly organized over the years. And,…