Mary Deal on Smashwords Category:  Publishing ISBN-10:  1458152192 Type: Non-Fiction Copyright: Jan 24, 2011 ISBN-13: 9781458152192 A compilation of many of my articles on writing to help authors make their prose the best that it can be. My eBook, Write it Right - Tips for Authors, Volume I, is available in all downloadable formats on Smashwords. You can read the first 30% free. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/39011 "Write it Right - Tips for Authors, Vol. I, written and compiled by an award-winning novelist, is a major source of information for breathing life into your prose. Learn how to polish your work with a collection of extraordinary tips and examples for making your writing the best that it can be." Excerpt Here is the entire Table of Contents: Acknowledgments About This Book Section 1: Preparation The First Time Writer 9 Tips for Beginners Sleep and Creativity Writing in the Dark Muse Creative Writing Prompts File of Notes Writing Rules Story: The Hawaii Muumuu, a Writing Aid Section 2: Things to Know to Help You Write Plot or Character Driven Plot Elements Parts of a Story Voice in Writing Choosing the Point of View Outlining a Story Character Sketches Breaking Stereotypes Character Arc Faces and Quirks Clichés and Jargon Know Your Genre Naming Characters Author Intrusion Story: Grandpappy’s Cows Section 3: Getting it Written Starting your Story Sentence Structure Building a Story Let the Dialogue Speak Dig Deep for Plot Remedies Drop the Words Emotional Release through Character Conflicts False Sense Forensic Evidence in Plots Foreshadowing Reader Empathy Repetition Offends your Reader Taking Liberties Talk Uppity Talk the Talk When I’m Stuck Words and Sounds Those S and ES Endings Scene Changes From Novella to Novel Story: Any Way you Distort It Section 4: Edit and Edit Again… and Again Get Away from Your Story Never an End When Editing Backfires River Boners Hidden Grammar Flaws Let Nothing Slip By Dead Words Story: The Editor Section 5: Soliciting Agents, Editors or Publishers About Copyrights Preparing the Manuscript for an Agent Choosing a Publisher Follow those Guidelines Designing Book Covers Section 6: The Business of Promotion Amazon Rankings What’s Your Book About? Writer’s Self-Esteem Your Public Persona Section 7: Some Final Thoughts A Second Volume About the Author

Matter-of-Fact Style
“Mary Deal’s articles first appeared in Mississippi Crow in 2006. Reader response was so good, that we invited Mary to send us more. Soon she was being featured in every issue. It wasn’t a quantum leap for us at that point, to bring Mary on board as an associate editor. Her articles are especially good for writers looking to learn more about storyline and character development, and even solving grammar and composition problems. Mary’s matter-of-fact style, seasoned with an occasional pinch of humor, gets to the “meat” of the subject without wasting the reader’s time--and in today’s busy world, this is a big plus.”

~ Nadia Giordana is the founding editor of Mississippi Crow, a literary and arts magazine dedicated to showcasing the work of emerging and up and coming writers, poets and artists. She is the author of the award-winning book, Thinking Skinny from Cloud 9 Publishing, and she hosts the BlogTalkRadio program, Interviews with Extraordinary Women. Links to each of these can be found at Nadia’s blog, http://www.nadiagiordana.com.


Mary Knows her Stuff
“Mary Deal has been a regular contributor to my website, www.mikeangley.com, for a very long time. Her writing articles have been a weekly feature on my blog, and my readers have warmly embraced them for their insightful tips about the craft. Between Mary’s articles and my weekly author guest-bloggers, people keep coming back for more. Her tips are a wonderful addition to my thriller genre focused website, but her advice and counsel are applicable across the spectrum of writing…all genres and sub-genres.
“Mary knows her stuff, and I personally have learned so much from her. (Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?) When she told me she was compiling her articles for a book, I knew she had a winning idea. While her advice for authors appears in scattered posts on my blog, having them all available in one place – this book – makes for a wonderful reference resource.
“What I enjoy the most about Mary’s articles is how straightforward she is in presenting information. She doesn’t mince words (a tip in and of itself), rather, she delivers short-cropped, to-the-point guidance. And very often she does it with a great sense of humor! There’s something for everyone: cliché avoidance, point of view adherence, repetition rejection…you name it. Each article is easy to read, register, remember and render into practice. Enjoy this book. Learn from it. Apply the lessons herein. Mary will make you a better writer, and put a smile on your face along the way.”

~ Mike Angley, Special Agent (USAF, ret), Colonel (USAF, ret). Award-winning Author of the Child Finder Trilogy, http://www.mikeangley.com