Category: Better Writing

Learn tips for honing the writing craft.
Make the most of writing time.
Pack punch into writing with power words.
Be smarter than a 5th grader – grammar-wise.

HARM’S WAY AVAILABLE ON KINDLEUNLIMITED – tips for TheImageApothecary.com & Canva.com

Be a Better Writer for K.M. Saint James teaching tips

HARM’S WAY NOW AVAILABLE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED! As I push for completion on the second book in THE DONOVAN LEGACY, CHASING DESTINY, I have moved HARM’S WAY to Kindle Unlimited. I’ve spent the past several days on THEIMAGEAPOTHECARY.COM downloading multiple images for book release ad-building. Special thanks to FLIP-FLOP SISTER, and fellow author, Mary Karlik for the author & marketing friendly insight into THEIMAGEAPOTCHECARY. I downloaded the images into my local PAINT folder and then moved them into Canva.com for actual manipulation. I’ve designed several ‘work’ graphics and brochures on CANVA.com so I had a basic understanding of the graphic design site. Again, user-friendly, and there is a FREE version so you can check it […]

How to entice Readers . . . 5 Writing Tips to Building Book Teasers!

How to write better book teasers

Writing . . . writing . . . and writing. The book is nearing its end. What’s next for the author? Before you go crazy considering ALL the things to do for a book launch, focus on something closer to your current writing mind-set. Every writing day is about producing new words. But it is also about editing what’s on page. You polish scene consistency, authentic characters, snappy dialogue, and just enough narrative to set any scene. So, while completely enmeshed in the writing and rewriting, here is the perfect opportunity to search out book teasers for the upcoming book launch. Remember, writing as a PROfessional requires authors to hone their craft, daily. Teasers — […]

Book Club Pro – an author promotional and marketing option!

Be a Better Writer for K.M. Saint James teaching tips

I’ll start with the obvious. This is a blog about BookClubPro, a promotional and author marketing environment for the Twitter feed. I discovered this opportunity on Twitter via Stacie Sultrie, a Paranormal Romance Author. Registering for Book Club Pro took about 30 minutes out of my schedule. The registration sheet is comprised of basic questions, book links, author bio, book blurb, and if you have them in your wheelhouse, COMPRESSED TWEETS that Book Club Pro can use to promote your book. As I did not have all this information gathered, there was a bit of maneuvering between my Amazon site and my word document that contained my compressed tweets, but the entire process was painless. […]

A Writer’s Magic – as close as fingertips!

Harry Potter used a wand. Bewitched twitched her nose. Harry Dresden wielded a staff. Writers come with their own special form of magic. Whether it’s pen to pad, stylus to tablet, or keyboard to PC . . . a writer’s magic is as close as fingertips. New writers often feel that they must pursue fiction writing as they don’t carry a bag of non-fiction writing tricks. Don’t allow the concept of non-fiction writing to intimidate. Consider the 3 easily defined categories: Educating: How-to-manuals, directions, historical explanations, or scientific explorations fall into this category. Influencing or persuasive: Every sales brochure, each editorial, even academic critiques are designed to persuade the reader to a certain conclusion. Narrative: […]

Marketing Plan of Action – how to start simple and build to great!

Marketing Plan of Action tips by K.M. Saint James

Tim Grahl, author of Your First 1000 Copies and founder of booklaunch.com believes that Marketing doesn’t need to be a ‘eew’ prospect. So, I’ve read over a few of his techniques and decided to break-it down into a Plan of Action. New Year . . . New Goals . . . and all that. More importantly, it’s about finding a way to market that doesn’t make the author in me cringe at the idea. READ ALONG & SEE IF YOU AGREE According to Tim, MARKETING is about creating long-lasting connections. I’d say this is sound business whether you’re selling books, artwork or cars off the used lot. None of us want just the ONE-AND-DONE customer. […]

Snapping Photos?? Breathe LIFE into Writing . . .

Breathing Life into Writing

I’m old enough that Kodak still means cameras to me. Instant camera was our phrase from the 60s & 70s. Of course, considering today’s technology, it’s ludicrous to think those were instant pictures. 1) First to film – The lucky owned a 35MM, which meant loading the camera was always a treat. Lining it up – perfectly – to catch the leading edge of the film reel (and hoping like crazy that you’d really accomplished that feat so you’d be taking pictures instead of just turning the hand crank). For the novice photo buff, it started with a Kodak Instamatic: a pop-and-click camera. 2) No do-overs — As you shot the roll of film, it […]

Chasing Destiny – The Donovan Legacy, Book 2

As I’m currently working through edits — CHASING DESTINY — and always on the look-out for snippets to share during release, here are a few that caught my Tuesday morning muse. My favorites for the day . . . 1) Garrick glanced toward the unopened bottle and glasses. She seemed far too at home, too at ease in his house. How long had this lovely stranger been living here—alone—with his father? “Enough of the cat and mouse game. Who are you?” Some strange woman, with endless mahogany eyes, was making herself quite comfortable. He would have his answer, and now. Sultry voice and cooking skills included, she could be a dangerous distraction for any guy, […]

Teaching an Old Dog (writer) New Tricks. Secrets to Better Writing.

The Donovan Legacy (HARM’S WAY – current release) actually started with a prequel. CHASING DESTINY CHASING DESTINY was written a year in front of HARM’S WAY and then promptly buried among all my floppy disks. Yep, that long ago.  Having recovered my earlier works, I realized the characters of CHASING DESTINY (Garrick & Jaycee) deserved their own release. To that end, the rewrites began. The process has been enlightening: good & bad. And that tenuous, often painful, process deserved to be shared as well. Producing better writing is hard work. Short cuts are not generally the answer, but you can learn to be a smarter writer by following some of these writing tips. New eyes […]

Book Review – Tempting Mr. Townsend by Anna Campbell

Book Review by K.M. Saint James

Suffering from historical romance fever? Burning to read about past-times filled with heroes & heroines? Then an Anna Campbell romance is the perfect cure. In TEMPTING MR. TOWNSEND, author, Anna Campbell once again captures the incurable romantic heart. In this dashing widow selection, Lady Deerham has known and lost true love. Comfortable in her widow’s shell, Fenella is resolved to raise her son alone and spend her remaining years without the comfort of a man’s presence. That is . . . until a bear of a man burst into her quite proper drawing room, and conveys her cross- country to find her missing son. Anthony Townsend has never wanted a woman as he does Fenella, […]

Writing It Right with Wordle.net

Chasing Destiny by K.M. Saint James

Breathing new life into an older manuscript (Chasing Destiny) brought me to Wordle.net Writers . . . do you want to know your most commonly used words in a chapter? Writers . . . Do you know your most common words in your blogs, newsletters, query letters? Here’s how to find out: DIRECTLY FROM THE WORDLE WEBSITE: ‘WORDLE is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, […]