8 Beta user acquisition strategies for a strong launch

Whether it’s your first or 100th product, the excitement of launching never gets old. The pre-launch phase is an exciting time for any SaaS company. After months or even years of percolating, your product is finally ready for users to test, and it’s your chance to gather valuable feedback and insights to shape the future … Read more

Crafting Your Novel’s Key Moments With John Matthew Fox

Podcast: Download (Duration: 52:29 — 42.2MB) Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS | More What are the crucial linchpin moments in your novel and how can you keep a reader turning the pages? John Fox gives fiction writing tips in this interview. In the intro, writing and publishing across multiple … Read more

40 Coming of Age Story Ideas

Every single person comes of age in their own unique way. From childhood to adulthood, we all experience transitions that change who we are. Today, we share some coming of age story ideas to help you write your own story of growing up.  What is a coming of age story?  Growing up is a universal … Read more

What To Do After You Write Your Book

You worked hard. You stayed up late, got up early, pushed through writer’s block, and finally, you finished writing your entire book. Wahoo! You’re thinking, “I wrote a book! Now what?” What do you do after you write a book?  If this is your first book, or first book that you’ve finished, you’re probably asking … Read more

To Set Beta Reader Expectations, Have an Honest Conversation

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán Ask the Editor is a column for your questions about the editing process and editors themselves. It also features first-page critiques. Want to be considered? Submit your question or submit your pages. This month’s Ask the Editor is sponsored by Book Pipeline. The 2023 Book Pipeline Unpublished contest awards $20,000 for … Read more

Is it Toward or Towards? Upwards or Upward?

English is full of words that seem the same, but have subtle differences in their spelling and usage. These tricky words seem designed specifically to trip you up. Recently, we tackled ensure vs. insure. Today, let’s take on another vocabulary conundrum: Toward or towards? And upward or upwards? Or does it even matter? The Short … Read more

When Your Publisher Gets the Cover Wrong—Very Wrong

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash Today’s post is excerpted from the new revised edition of Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive by Joni B. Cole (@JoniBCole) This story starts about eight years ago, with the arrival of a much anticipated email from the publishing house where the first edition of my book, Good Naked: … Read more

How to Write Nonfiction When You’re Not an “Expert”

Photo by Darina Belonogova Today’s guest post is by book coach and editor Liz Green. Join us on May 31 for Memoir or Self-Help? Worried you’re not enough of an expert to write your book? That’s OK. You don’t need to be the annoying expert who knows it all. There’s another—far more effective—approach you can … Read more