The bestselling grammar book has been updated and revised to include the latest and greatest on the basics and subtleties of English, and features a new chapter on the language of the Internet.

    5,000 Words Per Hour also has a companion app available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch! The fastest way to succeed as an author is to write more books. How do you do that with a day job, family, school or all your other time commitments? The secret is efficiency. 5K WPH will help you maximize your writing time by building effective habits that both measure and increase your writing speed. - Create an effective writing habit - Track and improve your Words Per Hour - Stop the endless editing and tinkering so you can finish your draft - Use voice dictation software to dramatically increase words per hour. It’s time to shift your writing into high gear.

    But what if the stories you love to write aren’t the kind that are selling like ice water in July? How do you create a career in writing that you both love and hits the financial success you need to justify the hours spent at the keyboard? For Love or Money talks about writing for love (and how to sell that) as well as writing for money (and how to love it). It contains serious strategies about making money with your books, living the freedom of indie publishing, and stretching yourself creatively in your career. For authors willing to take a hard look at themselves and the market, this book will lay out the necessary steps to create your dream writing career. For Love or Money is meant to be used in tandem with The Indie Author Survival Guide (Second Edition), the first book in the Crafting a Self-Publishing Career series. Together, these two books will set you on a path of turning your love for storytelling into a career. **JOIN THE FOR LOVE OR MONEY FACEBOOK GROUP** Connect with your fellow self-published authors and share information about writing and publishing. Susan hosts monthly consultation giveaways and shares updates on the constantly evolving publishing landscape. JOIN HERE: http://smarturl.it/LoveOrMoneyGroup **Table of Contents** Author's Note Crafting Your Dream Writer Life 1.1 Choosing Your Mountain 1.2 Park Your Biases At The Curb 1.3 Embrace Your Freedom 1.4 My Journey 1.5 Decide For Yourself 1.6 Bite-Sized Summary Writing For Love 2.1 Writing Challenges Me 2.2 Forget About Readers 2.3 Joyful Writing 2.4 Take Your Craft Up A Level 2.5 It Will Always Be Hard 2.6 Bite-Sized Summary Turning Love Into Money 3.1 Don't Give Up Too Soon 3.2 All The Marketing Tricks 3.3 Making What You Love More Commercial 3.4 My Biggest Failure/Learning Experience 3.5 Why Isn't My Book Selling 3.6 Build Your Backlist 3.7 Bite-Sized Summary Writing For Money 4.1 Writing What Sells 4.2 What's In Your Wheelhouse 4.3 Don't Try This At Home 4.4 Bite-Sized Summary Balancing Writing And Life 5.1 Staying Sane in a Crazy (Indie Publishing) World Managing Your Career Appendix: Your Self-Publishing Toolkit

    It explains that freelancers can negotiate for more money and better terms without risking their careers, shows that editors are not the writer-gobbling monsters many freelancers fear, and explains how to establish and foster work relationships. In this updated second edition there are more ideas, more rules to break, and more resources to get started, including a suite of appendixes covering topics such as contract procedures, getting paid, services for freelancers, generating ideas, and doing research. As inspiration, the book includes examples of real writers who have gone against "expert" advice and flourished. Being shy doesn't pay, and following the rules puts a writer in a long line of other sheep; with this text as a guide, writers can step out of the herd and build a successful business in a crowded market.

    But the truth is that while good writing may be technically correct, it's also strong, concise, and specific.This guide identifies the seven writing weaknesses that editors everywhere must fix again and again; in fact, almost all of an editor's corrections on any piece of writing will come from the material covered in this book's lessons. In an engaging solve-the-mystery format, you'll solve these cases:The Tantalizing Tale of Passive VoiceThe Peculiar Puzzle of the Vague -ing WordThe Confusing Caper Concerning the Super-Long SentenceYou don't have to wade through hundreds of pages of dry grammar references to improve your writing. Rather than memorize the picky details that very few people care about, learn what really leads to good writing in this easy-to-use and friendly book.

    Throughout, the emphasis is on promoting a plain English style. This little book can help you communicate more effectively by showing you how to enliven your sentences.

    The next month Amazon posted a press release revealing that Crosbie had made $46,000 in one month, with one book. Previously to this, his novel was rejected one hundred and thirty times by traditional publishers and agents.In the months that followed, My Temporary Life and its sequel have been consistent sellers, often sitting atop Amazon’s rankings. Crosbie’s story has been mentioned in Publisher’s Weekly, Forbes online, and other media outlets around the world. In fact, Amazon referred to him as one of their 2012 success stories in their year-end press release.How I Sold 30,000 eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle-An Easy-To-Follow Self-Publishing Guidebook tells the story of how he became a full-time writer, detailing the specific steps he took to find and connect with his readers. Plus, it describes how to adjust and tweak your strategy as Amazon changes their systems.

    Complete with self-critique questions to help you assess your work, these exercises challenge you to experiment with the diverse writing styles as you clarify your own.Make the most of Josip Novakovich's insightful, mind-expanding workshop and come away with a stronger voice, a broader perspective and better fiction.

    "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!

    New York Times best-selling author Jennifer Probst reveals her pathway to success, from struggling as a new writer to signing a seven-figure deal. Write Naked intermingles personal essays on craft with down-to-earth advice on writing romance in the digital age. Probst will teach you how to:Commit to your current work-in-progress, get focused, and complete it on scheduleReveal raw emotions and thoughts on the page to hook your readersAssemble a street team to promote and celebrate your booksOvercome writer's block with easeDevelop themes that tie together your books and seriesWrite the most difficult elements of romance--including sex scenes--with skill and styleRegardless of the genre, every novelist faces a difficult task. Creating authentic characters and an engaging plot are challenging enough. But attempting to break into the hotter-than-ever romance genre, which is constantly flooded with new titles and fresh faces? It can feel impossible. This is where Probst's Write Naked comes in. To survive--and thrive--you need the help and wisdom of an expert. Written in Probst's unmistakable and honest voice, Write Naked is filled with the lessons and craft advice every writer needs in order to carve out a rewarding career.

    And while there are many resources out there on the "craft" of writing or how to find your creative voice as an "artist," there is little by way of practical advice on how to actually set about writing genre fiction for a career. Fiona McIntosh, one of Australia's most successful commercial authors across a range of genres, is here to set the record straight, and set aspiring novelists on a realistic path. She believes that if you have a tough hide and a philosophical attitude—as well as a damn strong work ethic—anyone can make a living from popular writing. And she's here to show you how.

    Although the rules of composition popularized in William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White's Elements of Style have been de rigueur for decades, they won't exactly set your writing free.To the rescue comes Spunk & Bite, a guide to bold and radiant language and style. The secret, according to bestselling author and former publishing executive Arthur Plotnik, is to embrace those qualities that composition rulebooks sidestep, among them, surprise, personality, engagement, edge, and fearlessness. Drawing on selections from today's most exciting writers: Jonathan Franzen, Sandra Cisneros, Bill Bryson, Maureen Dowd, and many dozens more.Plotnik reveals the tricks and techniques that make prose fresh, forceful, and publishable. For all types of writing: novels, articles, poems, ad copy, blogs, and even e-mails,this uncommon handbook reveals how to make your words so fetching that readers beg for more.

    His reporting about Enron’s bankruptcy and the controversy surrounding it was being used by NPR, he was hot on the trail of a possible connection to an Army Secretary, and he was one of the few reporters granted an interview with Enron President Jeff Skilling. And then it all came crashing down.When Salon was forced to take down Leopold’s article about Army Secretary Thomas E. White’s role in the Enron bankruptcy, his world began to unravel. Ostracized from the mainstream media, slipping into a deep depression, with no prospects on the horizon, Jason Leopold was forced to start from scratch.News Junkie is Jason’s story, an addict to the core, he traded an early life of drugs and crime for the equally addictive world of breaking news. From the top of the reporting world to its dregs and back again, Leopold takes us on a journey through some of the biggest events of the recent past, all the while letting us into his inner struggles.With an unforgettable array of characters, from weepy editors and love-starved politicos to steroid-pumped mobsters who intimidate the author into selling drugs and stolen goods, News Junkie shows how a man once fueled by raging fear and self-hatred transforms his life, regenerated by love, sobriety and a new, harmonious career with the media.

    Create Complex CharactersHow do you create a main character readers won't forget? How do you write a book in multiple-third-person point of view without confusing your readers (or yourself)? How do you plant essential information about a character's past into a story?Write Great Fiction: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by award-winning author Nancy Kress answers all of these questions and more! This accessible book is filled with interactive exercises and valuable advice that teaches you how to: •Choose and execute the best point of view for your story•Create three-dimensional and believable characters•Develop your characters' emotions•Create realistic love, fight, and death scenes•Use frustration to motivate your characters and drive your storyWith dozens of excerpts from some of today's most popular writers, Write Great Fiction: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint provides you with the techniques you need to create characters and stories sure to linger in the hearts and minds of agents, editors, and readers long after they've finished your book.

    Its hands-on, completely accessible approach walks writers through each stage of the creative process, from the initial triggering idea to the revision of the final manuscript. It is unique in combing the three main aspects of creative writing instruction: process (finding inspiration, getting ideas on the page), craft (specific techniques like characterization), and anthology (learning by reading masters of the form). Succinct, clear definitions of basic terms of fiction are accompanied by examples, including excerpts from masterpieces of short fiction and essays as well as contemporary novels. A special highlight is Alice LaPlante's systematic debunking of many of the so-called rules of creative writing. This book is perfect for writers working alone as well as for creative writing classes, both introductory and advanced.