The new edition is now in 4-color and introduces a new chapter on web design.. . This textbook is for journalism students and professionals alike. It is loaded with examples, advice, design ideas, and exercises that teach students how to manipulate the basic elements of design (photos, headlines, and text); create charts, maps, and diagrams; design attractive photo spreads; add effective, appealing sidebars to complex stories; create lively, engaging feature page designs; work with color; and redesign a newspaper.

    Now, in his first book of nonfiction, Percy challenges the notion that literary and genre fiction are somehow mutually exclusive. The title essay is an ode to the kinds of books that make many readers fall in love with fiction: science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, horror, from J.R.R. Tolkien to Anne Rice, Ursula K. Le Guin to Stephen King. Percy's own academic experience banished many of these writers in the name of what is "literary" and what is "genre." Then he discovered Michael Chabon, Aimee Bender, Cormac McCarthy, Margaret Atwood, and others who employ techniques of genre fiction while remaining literary writers. In fifteen essays on the craft of fiction, Percy looks to disparate sources such as Jaws, Blood Meridian, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to discover how contemporary writers engage issues of plot, suspense, momentum, and the speculative, as well as character, setting, and dialogue. An urgent and entertaining missive on craft, Thrill Me brims with Percy's distinctive blend of anecdotes, advice, and close reading, all in the service of one dictum: Thrill the reader.

    You'll get up to speed quickly with this straight forward guide, full of practical step-by-step visual instructions. Full color screen shots help you learn visually and quickly become productive. <br><br>From the best selling author of the Top 100 Tips for iPad.

     The plan works on any budget. It works for the wealthy busy professional as well as for the struggling artist short on funding. About the Author ~ As the founder of Online Book Club, Scott Hughes has spent over a decade in this new industry, working with thousands of authors to advertise books online. Scott Hughes has worked in the ebook marketing industry before the Kindle ever existed!

    Professor Lynne Murphy is on the linguistic front line. In The Prodigal Tongue she explores the fiction and reality of the special relationship between British and American English. By examining the causes and symptoms of American Verbal Inferiority Complex and its flipside, British Verbal Superiority Complex, Murphy unravels the prejudices, stereotypes and insecurities that shape our attitudes to our own language.With great humo(u)r and new insights, Lynne Murphy looks at the social, political and linguistic forces that have driven American and British English in different directions: how Americans got from centre to center, why British accents are growing away from American ones, and what different things we mean when we say estate, frown, or middle class. Is anyone winning this war of the words? Will Yanks and Brits ever really understand each other?

    Weiland With over 300 pages of step-by-step guidance, these two individual books have 440+ five star reviews on Amazon and have helped thousands of authors write better books. Can Outlining Help You Write a Better Story? These bestselling guides will help you choose the right type of outline to unleash your creativity, guide you in brainstorming plot ideas, and aid you in discovering your characters. --OUTLINING YOUR NOVEL-- Award-winning author K.M. Weiland’s bestselling Outlining Your Novel shows you how to embrace outlines in a way that makes the writing process fun, inspiring, and easy. Writers often look upon outlines with fear and trembling. But when properly understood and correctly wielded, the outline is one of the most powerful weapons in a writer’s arsenal. Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success will help you choose the right type of outline for you, guide you in brainstorming plot ideas, aid you in discovering your characters, show you how to structure your scenes, explain how to format your finished outline, instruct you in how to use your outline when writing the first draft, reveal the benefits of outlining, and dispel the misconceptions. --OUTLINING YOUR NOVEL WORKBOOK— Now it’s time to put those lessons to use! The Outlining Your Novel Workbook presents a guided approach to getting the bones of your story down on paper, identifying plot holes, and brainstorming exciting new possibilities. Containing hundreds of incisive questions and imagination-revving exercises, this valuable resource will show you how to: Create your own personalized outlining process Brainstorm premise and plot ideas Discover your characters Choose and create the right settings Organize your scenes And so much more! This accessible and streamlined workbook will empower you to create a powerful outline—and an outstanding novel. Start writing your best book today!

    "Every author can find something to add to their writing process from reading this book.." - A. Davis "...felt like having a cup of good coffee with a friend and learning from his experience." - K. Struggling to finish your novels? Learn how to tweak your workflow process and write one in only FIVE DAYS! After taking way too long to write a fantasy epic, author and educator Scott King refined his writing process so that he could crank out a novel in five days! Through easy-to-follow tips and helpful examples, Scott takes a theme and shapes an entire story around it. Let him walk you through the prewriting process, slogging through a first draft, and doing the rewrites. In this book, you’ll learn: How to get in the right mindset How to cut distractions & manage your time The ingredients necessary to form a story How to stay focused and keep writing How to plan your rewrites The things to look for when line editing If you like honesty, no bull, a bunch of humor, and tons of examples in your writing guides, then you’ll love Scott King’s behind-the-scenes look at how to write a novel in five days. Buy THE 5 DAY NOVEL today and start writing tomorrow!

    As the editor and publisher of the area’s popular free newspaper, Dan’s Papers, Dan Rattiner, has been covering the daily triumphs, community intrigues, and larger-than-life personalities for nearly fifty years.A colorful insider’s account of life, love, scandal, and celebrity, In the Hamptons is an intimate portrait of a place and the people who formed and transformed it, from former residents like Andy Warhol and Willem de Kooning, colorful locals like bar owner Bobby Van and shark fisherman Frank Mundus (who the character Quinn from Jaws was based on), and literary figures like John Steinbeck and Truman Capote, to present-day stars like Bianca Jagger and Billy Joel. An insider who lived there—as well as a Jewish outsider amid the WASP contingent—Rattiner both revels in and is rattled by all he witnesses and records in one of the world’s most famous places. With dry wit and genuine affection, he shares a story of the Hamptons that few know, one defined by the artists, painters, fishermen, farmers, dreamers, hangers-on, celebrities, and billionaires who live and play there.

    But it’s also not as difficult as you imagined.” Dufresne’s smart, practical, hard-nosed guide is for the person who has always wanted to write a novel but has been daunted by the sometimes chaotic, always challenging writing process. A patient teacher and experienced writer, Dufresne focuses his expertise and good humor on helping aspiring novelists take their first tentative steps. His six-month program variously calls attention to the key elements of good fiction writing and offers exercises that are designed to sharpen writers’ command of novel-length storytelling. After six months of guided writing, the users of this book will finish what might have once seemed impossible—a rich and compelling first draft of a novel. Is Life Like This? may well be the most important addition to the aspiring writer’s library.

    But for the inexperienced author, trying to make sense of--much less master--the available platforms can be a frustrating experience. The variety of social media options alone is dizzying enough: WordPress, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, and more.That's where this guide comes in. Whether you're just starting to create an audience or looking to refine your online presence, Social Media for Writers will equip you with the essential tools you'll need to succeed. In this book you'll learn how to:Develop an editorial calendar: schedule consistent, quality content for your blog and work with other authors on guest posts and blog toursCreate an online brand: write content for several different networks, and tie them together to develop an authoritative, trusted voiceUtilize "best practices": learn the ins-and-outs of the online community and how to maximize the potential of each platformBuild a community: make connections and create a fan base to endorse your workYou'll also find appendixes that show you how to set up the major social media platforms and perform basic functions. With all of these strategies, techniques, and applicable information, Social Media for Writers is a comprehensive source for all your social media needs!

    With passion and wit, Mary Oliver skillfully imparts expertise from her long, celebrated career as a disguised poet. She walks readers through exactly how a poem is built, from meter and rhyme, to form and diction, to sound and sense, drawing on poems by Robert Frost, Elizabeth Bishop, and others. This handbook is an invaluable glimpse into Oliver’s prolific mind??—??a must-have for all poetry-lovers.

    In Beyond the First Draft he offers essential and original insights into the art of writing—and rewriting—fiction.Through anecdotes about other writers’ methods and habits (as well as his own) and close readings of literature from Aristotle to Zola, the essays in this collection offer “suggestions about things to do, things to think about when your writing has got you lost in the woods.” In “Dogma and Anti-dogma” Casey sets out the tried-and-true advice and then comments on when to apply it and when to ignore it. In “What's Funny” he considers the range of comedy from pratfalls to elegant wit. In “In Other Words” he discusses translations and the surprising effects that translating can have on one’s native language. In “Mentors” he pays tribute to those who have guided him and other writers. Throughout the fourteen essays there are notes on voice, point of view, structure, and other crucial elements. This book is an invaluable resource for aspiring writers and a revitalizing companion for seasoned ones.

    36 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more – everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion and a Free Quiz on On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King.

    Not since School House Rock have adjectives, adverbs, articles, conjunctions, interjections, nouns, prepositions, pronouns, and verbs been explored with such infectious exuberance. Read If You Catch an Adjective, Kill It and: Learn how to write better with classic advice from writers such as Mark Twain (“If you catch an adjective, kill it”), Stephen King (“I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs”), and Gertrude Stein (“Nouns . . . are completely not interesting”). Marvel at how a single word can shift from adverb (“I did okay”), to adjective (“It was an okay movie”), to interjection (“Okay!”), to noun (“I gave my okay”), to verb (“Who okayed this?”), depending on its use. Avoid the pretentious preposition at, a favorite of real estate developers (e.g., “The Shoppes at White Plains”). Laugh when Yagoda says he “shall call anyone a dork to the end of his days” who insists on maintaining the distinction between shall and will. Read, and discover a book whose pop culture references, humorous asides, and bracing doses of discernment and common sense convey Yagoda’s unique sense of the “beauty, the joy, the artistry, and the fun of language.”

    Before and After the Book Deal: A Writer's Guide to Finishing, Publishing, Promoting, and Surviving Your First Book has over 150 contributors from all walks of the industry, including international bestselling authors Anthony Doerr, Roxane Gay, Garth Greenwell, Lisa Ko, R. O. Kwon, Rebecca Makkai, and Ottessa Moshfegh, alongside cult favorites Sarah Gerard, Melissa Febos, Mitchell S. Jackson, and Mira Jacob. Agents, film scouts, film producers, translators, disability and minority activists, and power agents and editors also weigh in, offering advice and sharing intimate anecdotes about even the most taboo topics in the industry. Their wisdom will help aspiring authors find a foothold in the publishing world and navigate the challenges of life before and after publication with sanity and grace.Are MFA programs worth the time and money? How do people actually sit down and finish a novel? Did you get a good advance? What do you do when you feel envious of other writers? And why the heck aren’t your friends saying anything about your book? Covering questions ranging from the logistical to the existential (and everything in between), Before and After the Book Deal is the definitive guide for anyone who has ever wanted to know what it’s really like to be an author.