How Writing Goes from Good to Great

By Sophfronia Scott There’s a review of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden that I find so striking and inspiring that I keep a copy of it on my desk. Here’s what it says: “A novel planned on the grandest possible scale…One of those occasions when a writer has aimed high and then summoned every ounce [...]

How to Stand Up for Your Story

By Sophfronia Scott On a recent flight I sat next to a businessman who described his wife’s love of writing. But she held back from writing the stories she really wanted to write for fear of offending her family. He wanted to know how he could encourage her to follow through. “Would your wife defend [...]

How to Edit a Book

By Sophfronia Scott Editing is a very necessary, yet most maligned step in book publishing. But, as I shared with my students in a recent Business Book Bootcamp class, I believe this comes from both fear and a misunderstanding of the editing process. Editing is the step that makes your book shine, so don’t skip [...]

Creating Your Writer’s Presence on the Web

By Sophfronia Scott, “The Book Sistah” A few years ago having a website was a nice little feature to have for your business or to keep your family and friends up to date. But these days, especially in the book business, having a smart website is a necessity. The site has to do many things: [...]

When NOT to Write!

By Sophfronia Scott, “The Book Sistah” I spent the past few weeks interviewing applicants for my Book Sistah Inner Circle Workshop and, not surprisingly, we spent quite a bit of time talking about why the books they wanted to write weren’t being written. Some of these writers were quick to chide themselves for lack of [...]

Comments & Criticism: What To Do With Them

By Sophfronia Scott, “The Book Sistah” As you progress with your book project and begin to discuss it with others who may or may not have read pages from your manuscript, you’ll surely get comments or criticism on your plot, characters, writing style, etc. Some of the comments may make you want to gnash your [...]

Submitting Your Manuscript: Getting Started

By Sophfronia Scott, “The Book Sistah” I am often asked “Do you know of a publisher who would be interested in my book?” There’s no easy way to answer this question. You see, according to the PMA Newsletter, there are over 86,000 publishers in existence (http://parapub.com/statistics). It would be impossible to know what each one [...]

The Sound of Your Book

By Sophfronia Scott, “The Book Sistah” In his Entertainment Weekly column Stephen King recently extolled the virtues of the audiobook. I agreed with his take, especially the stressing that most writing is, after all, about story-TELLING. But it’s interesting to me how many writers go about their work without considering how their words will sound [...]

Using Quotations: When You Need Permission

By Sophfronia Scott, “The Book Sistah” First of all, here’s my disclaimer. I’m not a lawyer. The following is based on my own research and, as you’ll see, every situation is different. That’s why the use of quotes can be confusing. I do hope, however, that this can help you to make better decisions when [...]

Putting the Critics in Their Place

By Sophfronia Scott, “The Book Sistah” I once read that if you were a writer, it wasn’t enough to just write. “You must publish what you write” was the given advice. I believe that’s true and it’s great advice. But when you do that, you have to know at least three things are going to [...]