Is your protagonist one, two, or three dimensional? Between your characters and the plot, you develop a story. If the mix is right and the characters are believable, you can create a story worthy of publication. While there are many articles about creating believable characters, it’s an important topic, and reminders are always in order…
Author: Karen Cioffi
Karen Cioffi is an award-winning author and children's ghostwriter. She loves to help those who want to be the author of a children's book fulfill their dream. Contact Karen today to get your story started!
Self-Publishing – 3 Perks and 4 Warnings
It seems the majority of people are self-publishing. With the limited traditional publishing opportunities, it only makes sense. In addition to the difficulty in getting a traditional contract there are at least three perks to going Indie. 1. You are in complete control.2. Getting your book published and available for sales will take a fraction…
What is an Author Platform and How Do You Build It?
Building a writing career can be a long, and at times, difficult road. And, many new authors think writing itself is the tough part, but that’s not really the case. Writing a story that you intend to publish traditionally or self-publish has a beginning, a middle, and an end. You can create an outline as…
Small Home-Grown Book Publishers – Good or Bad?
I’m thrilled to announce that I have an article up at Writer’s Digest! It’s about the pros and cons of working with very small book publishers. What I mean by “very small” is the publishers that are primarily one-man or one-woman businesses. While these home-grown publishers can be a life-saver for the new author and…
Writing Success – Commit to It
Contributed by Suzanne Lieurance Become Totally Committed to Your Own Success. Why do some people succeed against all odds while others never live up to their potential? Those who succeed aren’t necessarily more talented or have more valuable contacts than those who don’t succeed. But what they do have is a total commitment to their…
Traditional Publishing and Self-Publishing – The Differences
It seems the publishing waters are getting murkier and murkier. I think the most significant difference between ‘real’ traditional publishers and services that are NOT ‘real’ traditional publishers (vanity presses, self-publishers, and others) is the cost. This is aside from ‘quality’ in many cases. If you are submitting to a ‘real’ traditional publisher, you will…
Children’s Writing – Creating your Main Character Part2
This is Part2 of an article about creating your protagonist. Well, not just creating him, it’s about creating a powerful and memorable main character (MC). And, it’s based on an article I read at Jerry Jenkins, author of 186 books. Part one discussed: – Naming your character – Making him quickly visible – Let the…
6 Power-Tips to Creating Your Main Character
View Post I read an excellent article by Jerry Jenkins who is an author of more than 186 books and a New York Times bestselling novelist. This is a writer who knows about writing. The article was about creating memorable heroes. Every author wants to be able to do this. So, below are the first…
Secondary Characters – Are They Important?
Before I get into whether secondary characters are important or not, what is a secondary character? A secondary character is any character in the story aside from the protagonist (main character) and the antagonist (villain or force in opposition to the protagonist). Just a side note here, an antagonist doesn’t have to be a character….
Be a Successful Writer Even if You Don’t Think You Have Enough Time
I always think about time and how there just isn’t enough of it to do all the things I must. Then, I look at two quotes that put time in perspective: “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur,…