Labeling the Chapters in a Work of Fiction

 

Labeling the chapters in a work of fiction deserves a lot of thought and creativity. However, it shouldn’t be something to fret about. If you have struggled in the past with finding the right title for each chapter in your novel, these easy-to-use tips will make the task of labeling your book chapters much easier.

Use thematic chapter titles for fiction

Just like there is a primary theme for your whole manuscript, there is also a subtheme for each chapter. The subthemes can be twisted into short words or replaced with words nearest in the description for the chapter. However, you should be careful not to spill out everything about the chapter in the label. To avoid spillage, use few words. It could be a word or two to three words.

For example, if a chapter in your book deals with a certain expedition, or even a search for something, whether abstract or not, using a label such as “The Quest” will do just fine.

Another example is if a chapter talks about how a character finds it difficult to forgive another character, then employing the name of the character receiving the action is OK. e.g. “Forgiving Brian”

Other examples include, “The carnival” “Birthright” and so on.

 Use chapter settings

Another way to get creative with your book chapter label is by using the settings. Don’t forget settings in literature deals with time and place. So labeling your chapters with titles such as: “After Dawn”,  “When the moon embraces the sun”, “Oji River” and so on will give more life to the chapter.

While the first example simply talks about sunrise, the second talks about the evening. The last example, however, is the name of a place.

Also Read: Five Types of Fiction That Get the Attention of Publishers

Use suspense-filled words

Your label is not just meant to sit above your chapter content; it can play an effect on your reader. Using labels that arouse the interest of your readers can make them read a whole chapter at once no matter how long it is, in search of answers.

Check Out these Four Common Writing Mistakes Authors Make

For example

Labels such as “Heaven can wait” will spur a reader’s interest to find out how and why, especially for readers who are so avid about religion.

Also, a chapter with a label like “A dance with the devil” can create some thrilling effect for readers.

Finally, you can combine numbers with words when labeling the chapters in a work of fiction. Whichever way you choose, be sure to do it the right way.

Chima Rachael J.

What Are the Major Advantages of Online Book Publishing?

 

Traditional book publishing methods have long been a lengthy and difficult process. Getting your book printed and published can be challenging, not to mention expensive. Have you got a great book but you don’t want to spend the time and money on finding a publisher to print it? Instead, you should consider online book publishing.

The number of ebooks purchased reached its peak last year as there were over 266 million units sold. Now is the best time to start publishing online.

Why Should You Consider Online Book Publishing?

Online book publishing could be the best and cheapest way for you to get your book out there. You won’t have to pay any ridiculous fees, and you get to keep the sales profits!

So, what are the advantages? Here are some reasons you should consider online publishing for your book.

1. It’s Much Easier

The biggest reason why people choose online book publishing is that it’s so much easier. You could either self publish it or go to an ebook publisher.

To do self online book publishing, all you need to do is have the finished book ready to convert into a PDF. Then, all you need to do is make it available on your website. We also recommend you copyright it, which you can do online too.

With an ebook publisher, you’ll need an ISBN for your book and to format it to the publisher's guidelines. After you submit it, it will be available on their website immediately.

Ebook publishers are great for getting your book to a wider audience. They can make your book available in popular online bookstores like Amazon.

2. Get Your Book Seen

If you wait for your book to be printed via traditional methods, you could be waiting for a very long time. It could take many years for publishers to even see your book, never mind publishing it.

But online publishing means your book is available for people all around the world in an instant. It makes it so much easier for people to see and read what you’ve written.

Traditional publishing is ‘the old-fashioned way’ for a reason – it’s outdated. Up to 40% of book sales revenue is down to e-book sales. Online publishing will ensure your book is available to everyone, everywhere.

3. It’s a Great Marketing Tool

Ebooks aren’t only a great way to get your book out there, but they’re awesome marketing tools. An ebook is a great way to express your expertise in your niche. It can help establish your brand as a reliable one.

It’s also a great way to expand your reach. If you have company magazines that are available in print, turn them into digital. Digital magazines mean you can reach a wider audience and boost your readership.

Ebooks can also contain links, so they can boost click-through rates and SEO rankings!

4. You Can Make Edits After Publishing

The problem with traditional print media is that once it’s published, you can’t go and change it. If you want to amend a statistic or add new information, you can’t..

With online publishing, you can make changes whenever you’d like. You can revise your writings as much or as little as you’d like online, that’s the beauty of it.

If you want to add links or amend sentences you don’t like anymore, it’s easy to go in and make those changes.

5. Reach a New Audience

The best thing about the Internet is that it has the ability to reach everyone. With print media, you may have a tough time breaking through to a wider audience or new demographic.

Online publishing lets you push your ebook to a much wider audience. You can promote your book via social media and on your website. If you have an ebook publisher, they can make your book available on popular platforms.

You can also check analytics to see how many people have followed the link to your ebook and who is reading it. You can use this information to further define your demographic and adapt to it.

6. Make More Money

If you publish your book via traditional methods, the chances are you won’t see most of the royalties. If your book does well, you can expect to see only 10-15% of the price of each book sold.

If you choose to publish online, you’ll be able to net most of the profits made. If you go through a company like Amazon you’ll keep up to 70% of the listed price of each book.

7. Longer Shelf Life

When you publish via traditional methods, your book may only be available in stores for a few months. This means there’s not a lot of time for an audience to grow and you could lose out.

But if you opt for online publishing, your book will stay available forever. What goes on the Internet stays there, and this is a great thing for your book. It gives it the chance to build an audience and for people to find it years down the line.

Your book will be available to read at the click of a button. You can write as many as you’d like and people can still find your earlier works with ease.

8. Keep the Rights to Your Book

If you go with a traditional publisher and your book does very well, it can be great! But, it sometimes means you’ve signed away a lot of rights to your book.

When a traditional publisher takes on your book, they will partly own it. If your book does well and has the possibility of becoming a TV show or movie, they will profit off it too. It also means you won’t have full creative control.

With a self-published online book, you keep all the rights. You can do whatever you want with the book at any time. If you do get opportunities like these, you’ll keep your rights to the book.

Online Book Publishing Is the Way to Go

If you’ve been considering whether to publish your book online, now’s the time to do it. Ebooks are a great way to get your book out there without having to rely on anyone else. You can reach a greater audience and keep full control of your book.

Culled from Mag Loft

20 Writing Tips from Fiction Authors

 

Writing success boils down to hard work, imagination and passion—and then some more hard work. Fire up your creative spirit with 20 writing tips from 12 bestselling fiction authors.

Use these tips as an inspirational guide—or better yet, print a copy to put on your desk, home office, refrigerator door, or somewhere else noticeable so you can be constantly reminded not to let your story ideas wither away by putting off your writing.

Tip1: "My first rule was given to me by TH White, author of The Sword in the Stone and other Arthurian fantasies and was: Read. Read everything you can lay hands on. I always advise people who want to write a fantasy or science fiction or romance to stop reading everything in those genres and start reading everything else from Bunyan to Byatt." — Michael Moorcock

Tip 2: "Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you." — Zadie Smith

Tip 3: "Introduce your main characters and themes in the first third of your novel. If you are writing a plot-driven genre novel make sure all your major themes/plot elements are introduced in the first third, which you can call the introduction. Develop your themes and characters in your second third, the development. Resolve your themes, mysteries and so on in the final third, the resolution." — Michael Moorcock

Tip 4: "In the planning stage of a book, don't plan the ending. It has to be earned by all that will go before it." — Rose Tremain

Tip 5: "Always carry a note-book. And I mean always. The short-term memory only retains information for three minutes; unless it is committed to paper you can lose an idea for ever." — Will Self

Tip 6: "It's doubtful that anyone with an internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction." — Jonathan Franzen

"Work on a computer that is disconnected from the internet." — Zadie Smith

Tip 7: "Interesting verbs are seldom very interesting." — Jonathan Franzen

Tip 8: "Read it aloud to yourself because that's the only way to be sure the rhythms of the sentences are OK (prose rhythms are too complex and subtle to be thought out—they can be got right only by ear)." — Diana Athill

Tip 9: "Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." – Anton Chekhov

Tip 10: "Listen to the criticisms and preferences of your trusted 'first readers.'" — Rose Tremain

Tip 11: "Fiction that isn't an author's personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn't worth writing for anything but money." — Jonathan Franzen

Tip 12: "Don't panic. Midway through writing a novel, I have regularly experienced moments of bowel-curdling terror, as I contemplate the drivel on the screen before me and see beyond it, in quick succession, the derisive reviews, the friends' embarrassment, the failing career, the dwindling income, the repossessed house, the divorce . . . Working doggedly on through crises like these, however, has always got me there in the end. Leaving the desk for a while can help. Talking the problem through can help me recall what I was trying to achieve before I got stuck. Going for a long walk almost always gets me thinking about my manuscript in a slightly new way. And if all else fails, there's prayer. St Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers, has often helped me out in a crisis. If you want to spread your net more widely, you could try appealing to Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, too." — Sarah Waters

Tip 13: "The writing life is essentially one of solitary confinement – if you can't deal with this you needn't apply." — Will Self

Tip 14: "Be your own editor/critic. Sympathetic but merciless!" — Joyce Carol Oates

Tip 15: "The reader is a friend, not an adversary, not a spectator." — Jonathan Franzen

Tip 16: "Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you have the knack of playing with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can throw them in by the handful." — Elmore Leonard

Tip 17: "Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong." — Neil Gaiman

Tip 18: "You know that sickening feeling of inadequacy and over-exposure you feel when you look upon your own empurpled prose? Relax into the awareness that this ghastly sensation will never, ever leave you, no matter how successful and publicly lauded you become. It is intrinsic to the real business of writing and should be cherished." — Will Self

Tip 19: "The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you're allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it's definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I'm not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter." — Neil Gaiman

Tip 20: "The nearest I have to a rule is a Post-it on the wall in front of my desk saying ‘Faire et se taire’ (Flaubert), which I translate for myself as ‘Shut up and get on with it.’" — Helen Simpson

Even famous authors sometimes have a tough time with writing; they also go through periods of self-doubt. Despite this, they always manage to come up with the goods. So take a lesson from them and stop putting off your writing plans and get started on your publishing journey today.

Credit: iUniverse

Why Every Consultant Needs to Write a Book

 

If you are like most consultants, you’ve thought about writing a book. You know intuitively that it will be valuable to your brand and your consulting career. Here are reasons why as a consultant, you should definitely write a book:

1. Your book is a marketing tool. A book can generate new business, close a pending deal, and remind previous clients that you are still available. Consider all the ways you can use your book to market your consulting. You can give it to contacts who will spread the word about you, your book, and your skills. You can send it to potential clients. You can send a copy to people you would like to meet or with whom you’d like to network or partner. A book can be a powerful tool to help open doors that may not have been within your reach in the past or close a deal that’s been hanging open for a while.
2. Your book helps you establish your expertise. You are probably already an expert in what you consult about, but a published book adds legitimacy to your career. When people see that you have a published book on bookshelves, they naturally assume that you are a top-notch authority—more brilliant than before you wrote your book. And actually you will be. When you write a book, you are forced to think more clearly and more deeply about your area of expertise. The content that readers can hold between the two covers in their hands boosts your credibility.
3. Your book can help you build your reputation and your brand. If you write a book about your consulting practice, it sets you apart from the rest. If given a choice of someone you would hire to solve your most pressing problem, whom would you choose? A published author or an unknown entity? Yep! Most people would choose the author. By writing about your models or the principles upon which your consulting practice is based, you help your clients and potential clients understand what you represent, what you value, and how you will be valuable to them. A book demonstrates the philosophy, skills, and tools you incorporate into your work better than any discussion can.
4. Your book can increase your name recognition. You will be viewed as a thought leader, and people will recognize your name and the name of your book. It raises both your profile and respect for your company. This can help when submitting proposals to speak at conferences or to keynote for corporate or association events. Your book generates attention, raises your visibility, and gives you multiple excuses for media coverage. A book can position you as the expert in your field.
5. Your book can help you make money. Don’t be fooled into thinking you will get rich from book sales. Almost no one does. However, your published book gives you and your consulting practice the legitimacy to increase your rates and an entrée to attract more work with less marketing investment. A book can help potential clients find you. When people look for experts, they often search for “who wrote the book on…?” Having a book helps people find you with their search. That’s one of the reasons selecting a title is extremely important. Remember, you will make more money through the business it generates than the sales it produces.

Culled from Business Writers Exchange

13 Lessons From an Epic Book Tour

 

Months before my book, Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean, came out, I teamed with several publicists to build a twelve-month, 100-event tour. Yes – 100!

We targeted the coastal regions of North America, including Canada and Alaska. We booked events at universities, book stores, grammar schools, breweries, museums, aquariums, libraries, Audubon Societies, surf shops, outdoor stores (L.L.Bean, REI), land trusts, literary conferences and festivals, science centers, and specialty clubs (yacht clubs, book clubs, and the Explorers Club). The tour was shaped, of course, by the fact that my book is non-fiction and about the ocean.

None of the publishing professionals I worked with had seen a tour this large, or even close. They thought I was crazy.

It’s now August. The book has been out six months and I’ve given 75 talks in about 60 cities and towns. Here are 13 things I’ve learned:

1. Events drive media; media drives sales

The speaking event itself is important, but what happens around it is even more important. My publicist often described events as “anchoring,” because they’re the foundation on which media attention is built. Even if your event itself draws a small audience, hundreds of people — maybe thousands or tens of thousands — will learn about your book through event-driven media – radio, newspaper, or TV. The event is the pebble thrown into the pond.

2. Plan ahead

Many of the best speakers series are planned six or eight months in advance. If you get in early, you’ll have more flexibility in scheduling. Be open and persistent. Sometimes good things take a long time to happen, and sometimes they don’t. Don’t force it: your event will be more successful if the organizers are excited about having you and claim full ownership for it.

3. Find good partners

If you schedule events with groups that have well-established and well-attended speaker programs, they’ll have nice venues, good tech support, and an ability and willingness to spread the word. (Don’t be your own producer or schedule with a group that hasn’t done this before!) Some groups are nationwide, like The Audubon Society, so once you get in with one, the door opens to others.

Some of my best events involved multiple partners. In Port Angeles, Washington, for example, we encouraged the local bookstore to partner with the library, college, local science center, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). We got lots of publicity and a hundred people turned out for the talk. One organization takes the lead; the rest help spread the word (they get their name on it, which should make them happy). Another good partner was the Nature Conservancy of Canada, who sponsored four great events in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (around the Bay of Fundy). The events were scheduled, catered, and well publicized by the NCC.

4. The Goldilocks Scenario

Medium-sized cities are often easier to book an event, get media attention, and attract a good-sized audience. In the big cities you’re competing with many other worthy events. We scheduled talks at most of the major coastal cities – LA, Seattle, Boston, New York, D.C, etc. — but had some of our most successful events in mid-sized towns like Port Townsend, WA, Astoria, OR, and Santa Barbara, CA, on the west coast, and Camden, ME, Boothbay, ME, Woods Hole, MA, and Martha’s Vineyard, MA on the east coast. This doesn’t mean you should focus only on mid-size and smaller towns. It’s not either/or; it’s both/and.

5. Midweek evenings are the sweet spot

Weekend or day events tend to draw smaller crowds.

6. Universities, no. Bookstores, maybe

If your goal is to sell books and get the word out, I recommend staying away from universities. The audiences are usually small, less attentive, and made up mostly of students who don’t have the money to buy books (nor the time to read outside their assigned texts). Bookstores are a natural, but your event will almost certainly be scheduled during business hours, which can be distracting to both you and your audience. Additionally, bookstores tend to schedule a lot of author events, which means yours will not get special attention from either the bookstore staff or the media. The good thing about a bookstore event, however, is it allows you to meet the staff. If they like you, they’ll recommend your book.

7. Intangibles matter, too

I agreed to give a talk at the Library of Congress because, well, an author just doesn’t say no to that. I flew to LA to be on a panel exploring “Memoir and Travel” with Mark Kurlansky at the LA Times Book Festival. I think I sold three books, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. And, for a favor and because I like kids, I agreed to meet with 80 grammar school kids in Santa Cruz.

8. You’ll pay – literally

Don’t expect anyone to care as much about your book as you do. And don’t expect anyone to work as hard as you will. For free. You won’t get paid for giving talks (occasionally you’ll receive a token $100 or $200), and most publishers have limited funds to support a tour.

9. Treat your presentation seriously

Develop it with the same care you gave your book. Keep it to 35-40 minutes and allow time for questions afterward. Memorize it. Read from the book, but no more than five minutes. Don’t give everything away; leave them wanting more. Send a suggested script for your introduction, as well as a press kit with links and photos for the venue to use for advertising. If you have technical needs (I have images and a short video), bring a kit of connectors that will allow you to plug into any system, and show up an hour early for testing. I even brought my own speaker (small but powerful) that saved me many times.

10. Sometimes you’re lucky and sometimes you’re not

Luck has many dimensions, and it always plays a role. A blizzard blew up on the eve of my talk at the Harvard Bookstore. Only fifteen people showed up. At Providence Library, Rhode Island, my event landed on the first sunny day of spring. It was my smallest audience – nine. On the other hand, The Oregonian printed a review two days before my talk at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, and I was interviewed on NPR the day of. We sold out the 320-seat theater and turned away 70

Every author has a story of reading to an audience of one or two. It happens. Don’t fret or judge. See the big picture. Do your job. In setting up my tour, we aimed for audiences of 50 or more. In the end, we ranged from 9-320, with an average of 70. One advantage of having lots of events is that you’re less inclined to get attached to the success or failure of any one of them.

11. Booksellers and books sold

Don’t handle books yourself, if possible. Have a local bookstore do it (you have enough to do!). So far, actual book sales have varied wildly from event to event, with no apparent reason. Sometimes 10% of the audience bought them, and sometimes 100%, with an average of about 25%. Remember that there will be couples in the audience who will buy just one, if they buy at all. Book sales tend to begin a couple weeks prior to an event (assuming there’s publicity) and continue for a couple weeks after, so total books sold for each appearance could be double or triple what you sell at the event itself.

12. Drink water. Swim at the YMCA

Touring is tough on the mind and body. It’s a workshop. A marathon. If you care about what you eat and drink and if you thrive on exercise, as I do, the road is especially challenging. I drink lots of water, especially when I’m on a plane. I also try to drink less alcohol, generally, and take walks and swim at the YMCA. They saved me!

13. Why tour at all?

When a new book is released, authors traditionally embark on a 10-15 event tour, covering 4-6 major cities. With the growth of social media, where you can reach thousands of people at a key-tap, some say tours are a thing of the past. My experience is otherwise. The key-tap approach is important, but there’s nothing more valuable than engaging with people face to face, especially about a subject you – and they – care about. The results of even the briefest encounter can be surprising and far-reaching.

Almost every author I know complains about how little their publisher did to promote their book. My experience with my first book, Talking on the Water, was so disappointing that I decided to hire an independent publicist for this one. My rationale was this: If I was going to spend seven years researching and writing this book, I wanted a publicity effort to match. From the start, I vowed that I would leave no crumbs of regret on the table – either in the writing or in the promotion. By year’s end, I’ll have spent a lot of money and been away from home about 120 days. But I’ve left no crumbs.

Culled from Writers Digest