Writing and publishing articles by author Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD
I call the sixth error of self-publishing, font abuse. That not as prevalent and it once was, font abuse is using multiple font styles, with varying point sizes throughout a manuscript. The author may view this as creative formatting, but the only thing it accomplishes is irritating the reader. At best, this barrage of fonts […]
If we avoid the first four errors of self-publishing (poor content, cover, title, and editing), we can still ruin our hard work with formatting errors. Just because a book looks good in Microsoft Word, doesn’t mean it’s going to convert nicely to an e-book. Even one conversion error will lower a reader’s esteem for our […]
After poor content, cover, and title, the fourth error is skipping or scrimping on the editing. Our books deserve quality editing. I’ve never met anyone who could self-edit with complete success. Yes, some writers are better than others. And, with time, we can all improve our self-editing skills, but we will never catch every error […]
Do I Need to Changes How I Collect Email Addresses on My Website? I don’t think anyone fully understands the practical implications of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) for the European Union. And we may not for a few years. Here are my thoughts on it. (Reminder: I’m not a lawyer, and this isn’t […]
In past posts, we’ve covered the importance of content and cover. The next element is the book title. People browsing books (be it online or in a bookstore) generally look at the cover first. If the cover grabs their attention, then they’ll read the title. If the title reinforces the cover or further interests them, […]
Last week, I said that the primary error of self-publishing is poor content. The second error, almost as critical, is a lousy book cover. People do, quite literally, judge a book by its cover—and even more so when buying online. Don’t Make Your Own Book Cover Unless you make a living designing book covers—or have […]
Great writers can teach us about writing and inspire us to write with excellence Here are some of my favorite quotes from great writers and other famous people: “Truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” -Flannery O’Connor “The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.” -Muriel Rukeyser “Having fun isn’t […]
Share photos and videos with friends on Instagram In past months we’ve talked about a lot of social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Goodreads, Google+, and Pinterest. Another social media platform is Instagram, a place to share pictures and videos from your smartphone (and now computer).ur As far as social media sites […]
Check out these inspiring quotes about books and the value of reading I recently shared some quotes about writing, and in the past, I’ve published two other posts with quotes about writing here and here. My favorite of all these is what the Bible says about writing. Here are some quotes about books. Here are […]
In developing as a writer, it is critical to write every day—or at least almost every day. We need to discover when to write. The first step is to determine the best time for you to write. If writing is important, then give it the best part of your day; make it a priority. Don’t […]