Just Because My Publisher Did Something Cool
There are a lot of reasons (many of them noble) to buy ebooks — saving trees, saving the ozone, lower cost — but here’s a new one: saving democracy.
There’s a big push on to buy ebooks instead of print books to…[Read More]
Why Being Uncertain Ruins Your Writing (I Think)
Imagine you climb into a taxi and the driver says, “I don’t know. It’s over there somewhere.”
Now, imagine you climb into a second cab and the driver says, “Yeah, I know exactly where it is. We go up three streets, make a right, and it’s two miles on the left.”
You’d feel a lot better getting in the second car, right?
That’s a lot like writing.
Imagine those taxi drivers are authors. The first driver/writer will meander, appear lost, look for the next turn or destination, and you’re not sure your trip is ever going to pay off or bring you to a good destination.
But your feel like the second driver is in control. He may go a way you don’t know or expect, but you’re always confident you’ll reach your destination.
Uncertain writing has the same effect. But with the first writer, you don’t climb out of the car, you abandon the book. You stick with the second writer until the end.
How to Avoid Uncertain Writing
How to Create a Great Title and Eye-Catching Cover
A few decades ago, most book covers were a solid color with a standard font and a title that almost always told you nothing about what was inside if you didn’t already know. Those days are long gone. Today, we judge books by their covers in a nanosecond, so your cover not only has to stand-out as a thumbnail image, it has to hold a potential reader’s attention for five seconds or more, and have a title that is alluring and able to be listed on page one in Amazon’s search engine.
That’s a lot to cram into one image and three to ten words
So, how do you do it?
Below are
Why We Like Satire Even When Things Don’t Change
In 1729, A Modest Proposal shocked a staid and stiff England. Readers were immediately repulsed by the anonymous author’s suggestion that people eat children in order to stop children from starving. They rose up and demanded that action be taken to stop the immense poverty sweeping Ireland. Aristocrats and scholars, the primary targets of A Modest Proposal, quickly threw money and workable solutions at the problem. That satire, one of Jonathon Swift’s many masterpieces, produced sweeping changes.
We’ve had a three-hundred-year drought since then.
So why do we keep reading satire?
Book Birthday: A Vote for Jesus Releases Today!
A Vote for Jesus, an old-fashioned political satire that confronts modern politics, releases today. While bookstores unfortunately remained closed due to COVID-19, print and ebooks can be ordered through Amazon, … Continue reading
What to Do When Your Best Book Isn’t Your Bestelling
As Jonathan Swift’s life drew to a close and dementia set in, he would crawl into bed, read his favorite book and say, “My God, I was brilliant once.”
Which book was that?
If you said Gulliver’s Travels, that’s understandable.
If you said A Modest Proposal, I wouldn’t blame you.
But nope, it was his first book…
Book Birthday: Just for Kicks! Just Released
Just for Kicks!: 600 Knock-Out Jokes, Puns and Riddles About Sports hits the shelves today! Kids love jokes. Kids love sports. Just for Kicks offers completely original sports jokes for … Continue reading
Creating the Perfect Book Dedication
Should your book’s dedication be personal, professional, or commercial?
New authors often think dedicating a book is easy, and for that first book it usually is. You dedicate it to “My loving wife” or “My devoted husband.” After all, you want to keep peace in the house. No reason to start a fight over a few poorly chosen words, right?
Of course, you might also dedicate your book to your children, particularly if it’s a children’s book, or a dear parent or grandparent. Perhaps a mentor, teacher, professor. Perhaps a fellow author, or your editor. Maybe your inspiration for the book. Maybe even a celebrity.
Suddenly, your list of possibilities gets very long, particularly if you’re working on a series, or this is your tenth book and you’ve run out of spouses, children, and close family members who should get that big thank you.
So, how you decide who gets your cherished book dedication?
Hilarious Picture Book Lands on Several Best of the Year and Holiday Lists
ALBANY, N.Y. – Dec. 19, 2016 – PRLog — Several notable media outlets have awarded Leaping Lemmings!, written by John Briggs and illustrated by Nicola Slater, spots on their “Best … Continue reading
Does Your Book Need a Sequel?
Should your book be part of a series or a stand-alone? Creating sequels to books is big business these days. It’s the popular thing and profitable thing to do, spurred … Continue reading
John Briggs Books 