In How to Write a Selling Screenplay, he takes writers through the entire process, from developing a story to finding the best agent. Using an annotated version of an often-optioned screenplay of his own, and citing examples from movies ranging from Casablanca and Lethal Weapon to Sling Blade and The English Patient, he discusses how to create three-dimensional characters, find a compelling story, build an airtight plot structure, fine-tune dialogue, and much more. Keane's tips on the difference between writing for film and television, as well as his advice on dealing with Hollywood movers and shakers, make this an essential companion for people writing their first--or their fortieth--screenplay.

    "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!

    Heroic characters can be broken down into sixteen archetypes. By following the guidelines of the archetypes presented in this comprehensive reference work, writers can create extraordinarily memorable characters and elevate their writing to a higher level. Throughout the book, the authors give examples of well-known heroes and heroines from television and film so the reader can picture the archetype in his or her mind.At the very core of a character, every hero can be traced back to one of the eight major archetypes, as can every heroine. The core archetype tells the writer the most basic instincts of heroes or heroines - how they think and feel, what drives them and how they reach their goals. Whether you are a seasoned professional or a novice, The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes & Heroines will help you improve your own writing and help you create truly memorable characters.

     When you are planning to write a new story, all you need to focus on are the characters, and how they are going to change during the course of the romance as a result of the relationship. That is what will make your story both unique and compelling. Advanced story craft techniques are very handy at the editing and revision stage when you shape your story for the reader – but not here! Instead, we use the power of character arc and emotional conflict to create a simple but effective emotional story map for your romance novel. As you write your romance, your characters will come to life on the page, and reveal their true personalities through what they say and do. But first you have to get those characters onto the page and interacting with one another – fast! This is the six-step writing process professional romance authors use to develop their novels – and stay motivated and excited by their story. Now you can do the same. And keep your pants on! Find out how to outline your romance novel when you don’t know a thing about story structure and the whole ideas of pre-planning your story freezes you. And enjoy doing it!

    Baxter's experience from decades as a career martial artist make this book a valuable resource for writers who want to understand what fighting is all about - what it really feels like and what does and doesn't work - and how to factor those things into their writing to make their fight scenes visceral, realistic page turners. Baxter won't tell you how to write, but he will tell you what makes a great fight scene.

    Almost everything you've read about formatting pictures for Kindle is wrong. The advice offered by Kindle experts and even Amazon itself can give images that are tiny, blocky, noisy, or wildly inconsistent on different Kindles. Aaron Shepard, author of acclaimed books on both Kindle and print publishing, brings his years of experience in book design, webmastering, and photography to bear on a single question: How do you make pictures look great on the Kindle? He answers that question, while also providing beginners a basic course in picture editing. Along the way, he discusses how to keep Microsoft Word from sneakily degrading your pictures; how to adjust HTML code to show images at their best; how to make part of a picture transparent against colored backgrounds; how to boost the power of your cover image as a marketing tool; and how to create anything from children's books to photography books to poetry books within minutes with the Kindle Comic Creator. Nowhere else will you find such in-depth info on working with Kindle images. Whatever kind you're using -- photos, paintings, drawings, diagrams, tables, screenshots -- you'll find -Pictures on Kindle- an essential guide. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// Aaron Shepard is a foremost proponent of the new business of profitable self publishing, which he has practiced and helped develop since 1998. He is the author of -Aiming at Amazon, - -POD for Profit, - -Perfect Pages, - and -From Word to Kindle, - Amazon's #1 bestselling paid book on Kindle formatting. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// REVIEWS -Far and away the best resource I know for self publishers who plan to include photos or other graphics in their Kindle books. From tips on taking photos, through sizing, optimizing, and placing, this book wastes no space in giving you exactly the information you need. Highly recommended.- -- Joel Friedlander, TheBookDesigner.com -A detailed, comprehensive guide to getting the best out of your images on Kindle. From taking photos, to scanning, to optimizing, Aaron covers every possible step in making sure your images display well in Kindle format. In addition, he provides very useful explanations of the Kindle's image handling, for those of us who like to understand the reasons behind the steps. I for one will be adding this to my list of reference materials.- -- Jim Brown, JimandZetta.com (ebook services) ///////////////////////////////////////////////// CONTENTS Getting Started 1 PICTURE BASICS File Formats Resolution Color Mode Color Space 2 PICTURE SOURCES Photography Scanning 3 PICTURE EDITING Cleanup and Repair Cropping Contrast, Brightness, Tint Sizing Sharpening Transparency Lines and Letters 4 PICTURE HANDLING Positioning Pictures in Word Pictures in HTML Fixed Format 5 PICTURE PUBLISHING Submitting and Previewing Cover Images Production FAQ

    Despite this, little has been written to help authors hone their craft to truly connect with this audience. Writing Great Books for Young Adults gives writers the advice they need to tap this incredible market. Topics covered include: Listening to the voices of youthMeeting your young protagonist Developing a writing styleConstructing plotsTrying on points of view Agent Regina Brooks has developed award-winning authors across the YA genre, including a Coretta Scott King winner. She attends more than 20 conferences each year, meeting with authors and teaching.

    Grammar Girl, is determined to wipe out bad grammar—but she's also determined to make the process as painless as possible. A couple of years ago, she created a weekly podcast to tackle some of the most common mistakes people make while communicating. The podcasts have now been downloaded more than twenty million times, and Mignon has dispensed grammar tips on Oprah and appeared on the pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing covers the grammar rules and word-choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. From "between vs. among" and "although vs. while" to comma splices and misplaced modifiers, Mignon offers memory tricks and clear explanations that will help readers recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules. Chock-full of tips on style, business writing, and effective e-mailing, Grammar Girl's print debut deserves a spot on every communicator's desk.

    200,000 copies of the Smashwords Style Guide have downloaded!This guide offers simple step-by-step instructions to create and format an ebook using Microsoft Word.The Smashwords Style Guide is required reading for any author who wants to distribute their book via Smashwords to major ebook retailers such as the Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo and Diesel. Authors and publishers who don't yet use Smashwords can still benefit from the Guide. It provides detailed information on how ebook formatting is different from print formatting, how to create a reflowable ebook, and it offers step by step illustrated instructions on how to tame the beast of Microsoft Word.INSIDE THE SMASHWORDS STYLE GUIDEGETTING STARTEDWelcome to Smashwords!Do-it-yourself, or hire help?Good formatting examplesWhat Smashwords publishes, what we don’t publishFive common formatting mistakes to avoidHow Smashwords publishes booksHow Smashwords distributes booksHow ebook formatting is different from print formattingHow we convert your book into multiple ebook formatsThe three secrets to ebook formattingHow to avoid (and fix) AutoVetter errorsIntroduction to Meatgrinder conversion systemYour required source fileUnderstanding the different ebook formatsFREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONSFORMATTINGPre-PrepMaking Word BehaveStep 1: Make a back upStep 2: Activate Word’s Show/HideStep 3: Turn off Word’s “AutoCorrect” and “AutoFormat” featuresStep 4: Eliminate text boxesStep 5: The Nuclear MethodFormattingStep 6: Unify Manuscript around Normal paragraph styleStep 7: Managing and modifying paragraph styles, fontsStep 7a. How to choose the best paragraph separation method (first line indent or block?)Step 7b: How to implement your chosen paragraph separation methodStep 7b-a: How to define a proper first line indentStep 7b-b: How to define trailing “after” space for block paragraphsStep 7b-c: Special tips for poetry, cookbooks and learning materialsStep 7b-d: How to define proper line spacingStep 8: Check your normalized textStep 9: Why you should never use tabs or the space bar for indentsStep 10: Managing paragraph returnsStep 11: Managing hyperlinksStep 12: Designating chapter breaks, page breaks, section breaksStep 13: Working with imagesStep 14: Text justificationStep 14a: Centering textStep 15: Managing font sizesStep 16: Style formatting, symbols and glyphsStep 17: Headers and footersStep 18: Margins, page sizes and indentsStep 19: Add the Heading style to your Chapter headers (optional)Building NavigationStep 20: Building navigation into the manuscriptStep 20a: Creating the NCXStep 20b: Creating the linked Table of ContentsStep 20c: Advanced link building (Footnotes, Endnotes)Step 20d: Troubleshooting and testingFront MatterStep 21: Front matterStep 21a: Blurbs (optional)Step 21b: Title and copyright page (required!)Step 21c: Add a Smashwords license statement below copyright pageThe End of Your BookStep 22: The end of your bookPOST-FORMATTINGStep 23: Preparing your cover imageStep 24: Review requirements for Premium

     Imagine having a large list of happy readers who devoured every email you sent. Or launching a book and activating an army of fans who did the selling for you. You could be that person, with the help of Newsletter Ninja. Newsletter Ninja is a comprehensive resource designed to teach you how to build and maintain a strongly engaged email list—one full of actual fans willing to pay for the books you write, rather than free-seekers who will forget your name and never open your emails. • Learn new ways to think about your email list • Re-energize your existing subscribers • Embrace not just the basics, but next level methods • Improve engagement and watch those open/click rates soar • Build a happy list of passionate readers • Launch your books into the charts You’ll get a handle on open rates, click rates, and engagement—while also learning about yourself, your readers, and what you’re really selling when you send an email. (Spoiler: it’s not your books.) Whether you’re building a mailing list, want to grow an existing one, or simply want to raise your email game, Newsletter Ninja has solutions that will work for you.

     DOWNLOAD:: Write Your Book on the Side - How to Write and Publish Your First Nonfiction Kindle Book While Working a Full-Time Job You'll learn:     How much money you can make from a kindle book     The only thing that matters in the entire book-writing process     How to launch your book to Amazon #1 Best Seller status     How to pick a topic that people actually want to read     How to define your audience and outcome to narrow down your book's topic     How to write your book quickly using 13 time-saving strategies     How to design a cover for your book     How to publish it on Amazon KDP in 20 minutes And much, much more...Here's are the steps that are covered in the book:     Step 1: Choose a General Topic     Step 2: Narrow It Down     Step 3: Choose a Title and Subtitle     Step 4: Test and Iterate     Step 5: Outline Your Book     Step 6: Write Your Book     Step 7: Edit Your Book     Step 8: Format Your Book     Step 9: Design a Cover     Step 10: Publish Your Book     Step 11 [Optional]: Launch Your Book     Step 12 [Optional]: Turn Your Book into an Amazon #1 Best Seller     Step 13 [Optional]: Gather Emails from Readers     Step 14 [Optional]: Expand Into Other Formats Would you like to learn more? Download the book now and start writing your book today.

    KDP is a fast and easy self-publishing tool that lets anyone upload and format their titles for sale in the Kindle Store.

    But as any writer can tell you, the blank page can be daunting. It's tough to know where to get started, what details to include in each scene, and how to move from the kernel of an idea to a completed manuscript. Writing great fiction isn't a gift reserved for the talented few. There is a craft to storytelling that can be learned, and studying writing techniques can be incredibly rewarding - both personally and professionally. Even if you don’t have ambitions of penning the next Moby-Dick, you'll find value in exploring all the elements of fiction. From evoking a scene to charting a plot to revising your drafts, Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques offers a master class in storytelling. Taught by award-winning novelist James Hynes, a former visiting professor at the famed Iowa Writers' Workshop, these 24 insightful lectures show you the ins and outs of the fiction writer's craft. Get tips for developing believable and memorable characters, explore how to craft plausible dialogue that serves the purposes of your narrative, compare the advantages of different points of view, and more. A wealth of exercises will inspire you to practice the many techniques you learn. Professor Hynes is an able guide, showing you what has worked for him and other novelists, and pointing out pitfalls to avoid. Writing Great Fiction is truly an exceptional course for anyone interested in storytelling.©2014 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2014 The Great Courses

    . . just haven't gotten around to it. No Plot? No Problem! is the kick in the pants you've been waiting for.Let Chris Baty, founder of the rockin' literary marathon National Novel Writing Month (a.k.a. NaNoWriMo), guide you through four exciting weeks of hard-core noveling. Baty's pep talks and essential survival strategies cover the initial momentum and energy of Week One, the critical "plot flashes" of Week Two, the "Can I quit now?" impulses of Week Three, and the champagne and roar of the crowd during Week Four. Whether you're a first-time novelist who just can't seem to get pen to paper or a results-oriented writer seeking a creative on-ramp into the world of publishing, this is the adventure for you.So what are you waiting for? The No Plot? approach worked for the thousands of people who've signed up for NaNoWriMo, and it can work for you! Let No Plot? No Problem! help you get fired up and on the right track.

    WITHOUT the quality suffering.