Writing and publishing articles by author Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD
Rejection hurts. We’ve all heard stories of popular books that had scores of editors or publishers reject them before someone realized the potential and published them. The rest is publishing history. Since writers deal with a lot of rejection, Writer’s Digest had the idea to provide a creative outlet for them to vent their frustration. […]
Last week we celebrated the short story, a work of fiction between 1,000 and 7,000 words. But what about shorter and longer works? Let’s start by looking at the types of fiction. Types of Fiction At the shorter end of the spectrum is flash fiction. With less than 1,000 words, flash fiction is gaining traction, […]
Though e-books receive all of the hype, printed books are still important, for both readers and authors People like to talk about what is new, what is exciting, and what is fresh. That’s why the book publishing industry has so much buzz about reading digital books and listening to audiobooks. I’m not going to dismiss […]
Just as you would outline a book, you can also outline a series. Consider your series outline as listing the main objective you want to accomplish for each book. Just as each book will have an arc, your series will also have one. Your series outline should reflect the series arc. Your series outline can […]
I blogged parts of two books, and the posts serve to draw readers into my topic, and then point them to my books. Some people turn blog posts into a book, while others blog parts of their book once they have written it, and a few people blog the book as they write it. This […]
To find an editor, your best option is to go with a freelancer. There are many qualified professionals available to edit your work. Here are some ways to find them: Search Online You can do an online search for editors and wade through the responses. This method is time-consuming. Ask Other Writers A better idea […]
In my post “5 Reasons Why a Writer Should Go With a Traditional Publisher,” I gave five advantages of traditional publishing. Although these reasons are compelling, there are also some downsides of traditional publishing. Consider These Five Downsides of Traditional Publishing: 1. It Takes Longer Unless a book is “fast-tracked” it will typically take eighteen […]
There are different types of writers. They have different motivations, are at different places in their writing journey, and have different goals. Here are five common scenarios: 1. The Aspiring Writer: I’ve heard many people refer to themselves as aspiring writers. But they’re misusing the label. They say aspiring because at this point in their […]
Part 6 in the continuing series on using WordPress for blogging: a platform-building, book-selling tool. Today we’ll cover plugins. In many ways a WordPress plugin is similar to a WordPress widget: both enhance the functionality of a blog or website. Though widgets are visible to readers, plugins generally work behind the scenes. If a widget […]
I’ve read many self-published books and looked at even more. Too many of them scream “Self-published!” This distresses me. I love self-publishing and the many options it offers, but I loathe seeing it done poorly. This begins a series of posts on the Errors of Self-Publishing. The primary error of self-publishing is poor content This […]