Guest Blogger: Ann Everett – Baking and Booking

Baking and Booking (Some of my favorite helpful sites)

Writing a book is much like baking a cake. You need the right recipe, correct utensils, proper ingredients, patience and presentation. Once you’re done, you have to make sure the finished product is so delicious and appealing, your audience wants more!

Combine your ingredients.

http://www.angelfire.com/nc/tcrpress/plots1.html  Hatch’s Plot Bank lists over 2000 ideas for plots.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/xyz.html  Here, you’ll find the meaning and origins of phrases in alphabetical order. This is great if you want to develop a character who knows random stuff.

http://www.chacha.com  is where you can find answers to just about any question you ask.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/  explains thousands of topics from engines to lock picking to ESP, with video and illustrations.

http://www.dplylemd.com  Dr. D.P. Lyle will answer any medical question you send as long as you follow his guidelines. He’s written many books including Forensics and Fiction where authors can find out how to kill characters in a lot of different ways!

Blend in critique.

Nothing beats a local critique group where you read your work out loud and members offer help. If you don’t belong to one, I recommend finding a group you like. However, there are online sites that are also helpful.

http://www.thenextbigwriter.com, http://www.fanstory.com, http://www.critiquecircle.com, http://www.ladieswhocritique.com  Most of these sites work the same way. You pay a small fee, usually about $6 per month, then you read and review chapters to gain points and use those points to post your work. I’ve been a member of The Next Big Writer for several years. My readers range in age from twenties to senior citizens with a good representation of the U.S. as well as foreign countries.

Add editing, finely chopped.

You can’t beat a good editor. However, there are some programs that aid you in self-editing, before you send it to the “real” editor. The first two sites listed offer some free features, but to get everything, you’ll have to pay a membership or purchase price.

The last two sites are free.

http://www.prowritingaid.com, http://www.autocrit.com, http://www.editminion.com, http://www.wordcounter.com

This is what they’ll check~~overused words, sentence length, writing style, clichés, redundancies, sticky sentences, consistency errors. Percentage of pronouns.

Stir in Beta Readers.

Find these on Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook, or http://www.worldliterarycafe.com/forum/169

Spoon in Formatting.

If you want to do your own formatting for print, Create Space has templates and a step-by-step guide. https://www.createspace.com/en/community/docs/DOC-1482

https://www.createspace.com/en/coummunity/doc/DOC-1323

If you want to do your own ebook formatting, here is a great resource I’ve used. https://www.ganxy.com From Word to eBook. Cost is $1 and it will be the best buck you’ll ever spend. There is a trick I learned to improve the process so if you want to use this program, email me, and I’ll send you the additional step. This system also requires you to download an ebook converter. http://calibre-ebook.com. It’s free, but please donate something to help keep it free.

You can also use Scrivener which costs about $40. http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php Many authors swear by this program. There is a learning curve, but if you’re patient, it is a great program with many features. You might also check out http://www.bookwright.com

If you don’t want to do your own formatting or cover, you can find sources for hire at http://www.fiverr.com or http://www.guru.com I’ve used both sites for a number of things with mostly good results. Just make sure you get a vendor with good communication skills because they are from all over the world.

I’ve used several cover designers but won’t name them here just in case some of your readers do graphic design. I don’t want to step on any toes! But, if someone wants a recommendation from me, I’ll be happy to name those I’ve used. Email me directly or contact me through my website.

http://www.anneverett.com

Ann Everett lives on a small pond in Northeast Texas where she writes, bakes, and fights her addiction to Diet Dr. Peppers. You can check out all of Ann’s books at:

http://www.amazon.com/author/ann.everett

Ann is also running a giveaway at her blog. For more information, please visit http://www.anneverett.com/blog.

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