This is a quick description of the query process for beginning authors. Why write a query letter? Unless you already know a literary agent, book publisher, famous author, or are extremely lucky, a query letter is your best chance to get your foot into the publishing business. What is a query letter? A query letter…
Author: steve
Brief Discussion on Inductive/Deductive Profiling
by Dr. Maurice Godwin As a result of the vexing opinions concerning exactly what deductive and inductive profiling entails, I felt that it was necessary to address some important issues surrounding the use of these terms. Deductive reasoning was first developed by Thales, Pyuthagoras, Aristotle, and other Greeks of the Classical Period (600 to 300…
Plot vs. Story
based on material originally published at cinemoose.com, author unknown One of the things that every writer needs to know is the difference between story and plot. It’s very easy to confuse the two and many people often do. So what is the difference between story and plot? To put it simply, “plot” is the sequence…
An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge
by Ambrose Bierce I A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift water twenty feet below. The man’s hands were behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his neck. It was attached to a stout cross-timber above his head and the slack…
Great Openers
These favorite opening lines were originally collected by book clubs in New Zealand: Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person. Anne Tyler, Back When We Were Grownups Captain Ahab was neither my first husband nor my last… Sena Jeter Naslund, Ahab’s Wife My mother…
Print on Demand: Opportunites and Cautions
Since the original publication of this article in the early 2000s, traditional publishing has declined due to the loss of bookstores and the surge in ebooks. Print on Demand and ebooks are no longer stigmatized as they once were, and there are excellent cost-free Print on Demand services such as Amazon’s KDP. Nevertheless, caution is…
Middle Grade Non-Fiction
Click here to download a pdf version of Middle Grade Non-Fiction Teacher’s Guide
Comprehensive Character Attribute Form
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: A Synopsis
This is the foundation, the book that sets the stage for the series and introduces the major characters. The hero is Harry Potter, an 11-year-old boy reared Cinderella-style by his cruel aunt and uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley. In contrast, the Dursleys lavish gifts and attention on their son, Dudley. Harry spends the first years…
Hi/Lo Books: Writing for Reluctant Readers
by Eugie Foster As writers, we’re already sold on the premise that reading is fundamentally enriching as well as essential. However, reading is a skill that eludes a growing number of children, reluctant readers who have never been engrossed in a book, or who think of reading as a chore, work to do rather than…