Rosie’s #BookReview Of #NonFiction Writing Short Stories To Promote Your Novels by @RayneHall

Writing Short Stories to Promote Your Novels by Rayne Hall

4 stars

Writing Short Stories To Promote Your Novels is a non-fiction book from Rayne Hall’s Writer’s Craft series. This provides useful insight and exercises in forming tools which can be used in a variety of ways.

The book has three distinct parts; the first gets the writer to evaluate themselves, their current writing genres and their audience. It then moves on to suggest ways to brainstorm book titles, and how to start plotting the short story. Next Rayne makes the writer consider characters, themes, settings, dialogue, and how to keep the short story structure tight.

In part two, Rayne discusses lots of ways that a writer can then use their short story as a promotional tool, while pointing out some of the pros and cons.

The last part of the book are samples from Rayne’s own writing and cover around fifty percent of the book, however, these can also be useful tools for writers to read. I like Rayne’s easy-to-read writing style and how it is broken down quickly into useful exercises. This is another book from the Writer’s Craft series that I shall be recommending to writers.

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A short story is the perfect tool for promoting your novel. Readers who love your story will look for more fiction by the same author.

Here are some ideas: post a story on your website as a free read or give it to another writer of the same genre to display it on their website. Publish it as a short free ebook, bolstering your list of published books. Offer it as a giveaway on blog tours. Submit it to a magazine, ezine or anthology where it will get read by lovers of your genre.

This book is structured like a workshop, based on an online class I taught. As you progress through the chapters, you’ll build your story step by step, from the spark of an idea to the polished version that will wow your readers and make them eager to buy your novel.

For powerful promotion, writing a great story is not enough. It needs to be a particular kind of story to target your audience, win fans and sell books.

To get the most from this book, you should have at least one novel to promote, whether traditionally or indie-published. You need to have mastered the basics of the fiction writer’s craft, though not necessarily of the short story form.

If you’re a fiction writing novice or are still working on your first novel, it’s too soon to follow this programme, although you may find useful inspiration.

If you enjoy writing, and if you have a novel you want to promote, you’ve come to the right place.

AmazonUK | AmazonUS

My #BookReview of #NonFiction Writing Vivid Characters by @RayneHall #WritingTips

Writing Vivid Characters: Professional Techniques for Fiction Authors by Rayne Hall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Writing Vivid Characters is a non-fiction guide to help writers create compelling characters about whom the reader really cares. Rayne Hall gives you some deep, soul searching methods to make your characters feel real, fascinating and memorable, long after the book has ended.

If you are at a loss as to how to develop characters, but yearn for them to become your reader’s next best friend, then this book offers you many tools. There is advice on: the number of characters a book could have, their name choices, roles and methods to decide if the character enriches the story enough for you to keep or cut them.

Rayne suggests some serious role play may be the answer if ever you’ve had feedback with phrases like these: a too-large cast of characters, I didn’t connect with the protagonist, I didn’t care about what happened, I found myself skipping the boring bits.

A useful book for aspiring writers and ideal to read alongside another of Rayne’s Writer’s Craft books, Writing Deep Point Of View.

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Book Description

Do you want to create compelling characters about whom the readers care deeply?

This book reveals professional techniques to invent individuals who are so real that your readers will love or hate, fear or root for them, and so fascinating that your readers will remember them forever.

About the author

Rayne Hall writes fantasy and horror fiction, some of it quirky, most of it dark. She is the author of over sixty books in different genres and under different pen names, published by twelve publishers in six countries, translated into several languages. Her short stories have been published in magazines, e-zines and anthologies.

After living in Germany, China, Mongolia and Nepal, she has settled in a small Victorian seaside town in southern England. Rayne holds a college degree in publishing management and a masters degree in creative writing. Over three decades, she has worked in the publishing industry as a trainee, investigative journalist, feature writer, magazine editor, production editor, page designer, concept editor for non-fiction book series, anthology editor, editorial consultant and more. Outside publishing, she worked as a museum guide, apple
picker, tarot reader, adult education teacher, trade fair hostess, translator and belly dancer.

Currently, Rayne Hall writes fantasy and horror fiction and tries to regain the rights to her out-of-print books so she can republish them as e-books.

Her books on the writing craft (Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes, The Word-Loss Diet, Writing Dark Stories, Writing About Villains, Writing Short Stories to Promote Your Novel, Writing About Magic, Twitter for Writers) are bestsellers.

Goodreads | AmazonUK | AmazonUS | Twitter

My #Bookreview of #NonFiction Writing Deep Point Of View by @RayneHall #WritingTips

Writing Deep Point Of View: Professional Techniques for Fiction Authors by Rayne Hall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Writing Deep Point of View is a non-fiction guide for writers who want to improve their work.

Rayne Hall explains how using the deep point of view perspective will give readers a more vivid reading experience, making them feel part of the story. They will hopefully get hooked from the start and continue to live inside the character’s head for the duration of the book.

Split into easy read chapters, the book has plenty of examples and simple exercises to try out. I particularly enjoyed the ‘Get Inside Your Character’s Head’, assignment, which gave me lots of ideas to think about.

There are a good number of chapters about such character aspects as emotions, body language and differences between how men and women see things. Even though I’m more of a reader than a writer I found plenty to take away from this book. I now understand why I enjoy some books more than others, even if they are written about a similar subject matter.

Recommended for those who want to improve their writing skills.

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Book Description

Do you want to give the readers such a vivid experience that they feel the events of the story are real and they’re right there? Do you want them to forget their own world and worries, and live in the main character’s head and heart?

The magic wand for achieving this is Deep Point of View.

Readers love it, because it gives them the thrill of becoming a different person. The reader doesn’t just read a story about a gladiator in the arena, an heiress in a Scottish castle, an explorer in the jungle, a courtesan in Renaissance Venice—she becomes that gladiator, heiress, explorer, courtesan.

Deep Point of View hooks readers from the start. After perusing the sample, he’ll click ‘buy now’ because he simply must read on, and when he’s reached the last page, he’s grown addicted to the character, doesn’t want the story to end, and buys the next book in the series at once.

A reader who has been in the grip of Deep Point of View may find other books dull and shallow. Who wants to read about a pirate, when you can be a pirate yourself? Immersed in Deep PoV, the reader enjoys the full thrills of the adventure from the safety of her armchair.

In this book, I’ll reveal the powerful techniques employed by bestselling authors, and I’ll show you how to apply them to rivet your readers. I’ll start with the basics of Point of View—if you’re already familiar with the concept, you can treat them as a refresher—and then guide you to advanced strategies for taking your reader deep.

This is not a beginners’ book. It assumes that you have mastered the basics of the writer’s craft and know how to create compelling fictional characters. If you like, you can use this book as a self-study class, approaching each chapter as a lesson and completing the assignments at the end of each session.

Now let’s explore how you can lead your readers deep into your story.

About the author

Rayne Hall writes fantasy and horror fiction, some of it quirky, most of it dark. She is the author of over sixty books in different genres and under different pen names, published by twelve publishers in six countries, translated into several languages. Her short stories have been published in magazines, e-zines and anthologies.

After living in Germany, China, Mongolia and Nepal, she has settled in a small Victorian seaside town in southern England. Rayne holds a college degree in publishing management and a masters degree in creative writing. Over three decades, she has worked in the publishing industry as a trainee, investigative journalist, feature writer, magazine editor, production editor, page designer, concept editor for non-fiction book series, anthology editor, editorial consultant and more. Outside publishing, she worked as a museum guide, apple
picker, tarot reader, adult education teacher, trade fair hostess, translator and belly dancer.

Currently, Rayne Hall writes fantasy and horror fiction and tries to regain the rights to her out-of-print books so she can republish them as e-books.

Her books on the writing craft (Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes, The Word-Loss Diet, Writing Dark Stories, Writing About Villains, Writing Short Stories to Promote Your Novel, Writing About Magic, Twitter for Writers) are bestsellers.

Goodreads | AmazonUK | AmazonUS | Twitter

Dr Rayne’s Guide To Writerly Disorders by @RayneHall Fun Books #Humour #AmWriting #wwwblogs

Dr Rayne’s Guide To Writerly Disorders: A Tongue-in-Cheek Diagnosis For What Ails Authors by Rayne Hall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dr Rayne’s Guide To Writerly Disorders: A Tongue-in-Cheek Diagnosis For What Ails Authors is a speedy read at just 35 pages. With around 80 quick witted and fun disorders which may affect any writer at any time, this book would make a good present for an author you might know. Some of my favourites were:

Distypea – the tendency to hit the wrong key,

Mad Blogger disease – mentally composing blog post material and tweets continually.

Mad Reviewer Disease – which I most definitely have.

Proof Blindness.

Reichenback Falls Syndrome – when a character is killed but refuses to stay dead.

And Technobabble syndrome – a compulsion to insert scientific jargon which slows the book and makes little sense to the reader.

Recommended to bring a chuckle to any writers or avid readers.

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Book Description

Do you suffer from Synopsisitis, New Novel Itch, Mad Muse Attack, Reality Blindness or Reichenball Falls Syndrome?

If people think your behaviour is weird, this book will convince them that you’re perfectly normal for a writer. You are simply afflicted with a Creatively Transmitted Disease.

Compare your symptoms, discover the cure (if there is one) and diagnose your writer friends.

Compiled by veteran author Rayne Hall, this book is a short, fun-to-read guide and suitable as a gift for yourself or the writer in your life.

British English.

About the author

Rayne Hall writes fantasy and horror fiction, some of it quirky, most of it dark. She is the author of over sixty books in different genres and under different pen names, published by twelve publishers in six countries, translated into several languages. Her short stories have been published in magazines, e-zines and anthologies.

After living in Germany, China, Mongolia and Nepal, she has settled in a small Victorian seaside town in southern England. Rayne holds a college degree in publishing management and a masters degree in creative writing. Over three decades, she has worked in the publishing industry as a trainee, investigative journalist, feature writer, magazine editor, production editor, page designer, concept editor for non-fiction book series, anthology editor, editorial consultant and more. Outside publishing, she worked as a museum guide, apple
picker, tarot reader, adult education teacher, trade fair hostess, translator and belly dancer.

Currently, Rayne Hall writes fantasy and horror fiction and tries to regain the rights to her out-of-print books so she can republish them as e-books.

Her books on the writing craft (Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes, The Word-Loss Diet, Writing Dark Stories, Writing About Villains, Writing Short Stories to Promote Your Novel, Writing About Magic, Twitter for Writers) are bestsellers.

Goodreads | AmazonUK | AmazonUS | Twitter

EUPHONICS FOR WRITERS: PROFESSIONAL TECHNIQUES FOR FICTION WRITERS by @RayneHall #Bookreview

Euphonics For Writers: Professional Techniques for Fiction Authors by Rayne Hall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another winning book from Rayne Hall’s Writer’s Craft series. As Rayne explains this book is about learning how to touch your reader’s subconscious with subtle tricks. There are sounds which effect our psyche and choosing which words you write can influence how a reader feels. This can then enhance the reading experience and may lead to a positive review of your book.

Set in two parts, part 1 deals with the different feelings and sounds letters of the alphabet make to our subconscious. For instance words with “m” are warm and motherly and make us feel cosy, roll these words over in your head; Mother, warm, comfy, welcome, how did they make you feel?

Part 2 deals with sound placement and writing rhythm. Rayne discussed alliteration, consonance & assonance, sentence lengths, starter words, the use of repetition of words, asyndeton & polysyndeton (how to make a piece of writing fast or slow paced)

Even though I am not writing a book at the moment, I am excited to try out some of these techniques in simple everyday pieces I write.

Learn how to touch your readers’ subconscious with subtle tricks.

Certain sounds have certain effects on the psyche. By using words which include those sounds, you influence how the reader feels.

Euphonic techniques are popular in poetry, but seldom used in prose. This guide shows how you can apply them to make your prose fiction sparkle.

For the purpose of this book, I define euphonics as the use of sound devices for prose writing. Poets, musicians and special effects engineers have their own definitions.

I’ll show you which sounds to apply to manipulate your reader’s psyche the way you want. You’ll learn how to impress your readers with power, how make their hearts race with urgency, how to creep them out and how let them linger in a sensual scene.

Part 1 is a thesaurus of sound effects where you can look up the best sounds to enhance the mood of your scene.

In Part 2, you’ll learn how and when to apply the sounds and how to combine them with rhythm for best effect.

This book isn’t meant as a definitive scholarly tome for academics. but a practical kit for working authors who want to refine their voice. I’ll avoid literary theory and grammatical jargon. Instead, I’ll give you useful tools.

Novice writers can have inspiring fun playing with euphonics. In the hands of skilled writers – for whom this guide is intended – euphonics are power tools.

Euphonics can’t replace basic fiction crafting skills, but they can add impact and polish to a well-written piece.

In print, the effects are very subtle, serving only to enhance what’s already there, and need to be combined with other techniques. But if you plan to perform author readings or release an audiobook, the euphonics will hold listeners enthralled with poetic power.

I’m writing in British English. Some spellings, grammatical rules and word choices differ from American English, but the euphonic effects are the same.

Now open your manuscript draft to give it that special polish.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

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GETTING BOOK REVIEWS by @RayneHall #WriterTips #SundayBlogShare

Getting Book Reviews: Easy, Ethical Strategies for Authors by Rayne Hall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Getting Book Reviews is a book most suitable for Indie writers although there are some tips for published writers too. Rayne reminds the reader that reviews help sell books and with more people using online book shops for their purchases it is very noticeable that readers are drawn to the books with many reviews. She explains that this is a basic psychological buying factor, people are attracted to what others have and they too want to share the experience.

There then follows easy to read chapters with proven achievable strategies about how to get reviews. These include simple ideas like a polite paragraph at the end of your book asking readers to write a review, using your fans and followers, and asking your beta readers to write a review.

There are also chapters on the muddier waters of review swaps, review circles and paying for reviews. My favourite chapters were the “Approaching a book blogger”, as a book blogger I appreciate an author who is considerate and takes an interest in my blog and stays interested after my review. My other pick would be the “Ways to send a book to reviewers” I am astonished by the number of authors who approach me for a review with only a PDF or Word Document of their story.

I enjoys Rayne’s writer’s craft books because of their simple easy to use advice and common sense and I often recommend them to authors when I feel the advice they offer will be of help.

Reviews help sell books.
When browsing online for their next read, most readers are drawn to the books with many reviews. More and more readers glance at what other readers have to say about a book before they hit the ‘buy now’ button. The more people have read and liked the book, the more they want to experience it for themselves. This is a known psychological factor called ‘social evidence’, and it plays a big role in purchasing decisions.
The more reviews your book has, the better, especially if they are genuine, personal, thoughtful and positive. Reviews can multiply your sales and catapult your book to the top of bestseller lists – but how do you get them?
Perhaps you’re a new author and can’t get those crucial early reviews to start the train rolling. Maybe you’re a seasoned author and your books have garnered reviews, but not as many as you need to break out. Or perhaps you’ve gone the corporate publishing route, and find that your publisher’s publicist isn’t getting your book the attention it needs.
This book shows you many proven strategies to get the reviews your book deserves. Instead of urging you to labour through tedious, spirit-draining procedures, I’ll reveal quick, fun, empowering tricks.
All my suggestions are legitimate and ethical. In this book you won’t find methods for manipulating, faking and cheating. Strengthen your readers’ bond with you, don’t sabotage it.
Most of the methods I suggest are free, although some incur expenses. You will definitely need to spend time. You can apply them all these techniques, or cherry-pick the ones you like now and keep the rest for another time or a different book.
At the end of most chapters, I’m sharing mistakes I made and learnt from. They all seemed a good idea at the time.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

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The Word-Loss Diet by Rayne Hall

The Word-Loss Diet by Rayne Hall

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So you’ve written a book and you are either ready to self-publish or you’re thinking about sending it off to publishers. This book could just save you from rejections letters, save you from poor reviews and save you from floundering amongst the billions of mediocre books on the market.

Rayne offers to help you strip layers of “fat” from your writing and expose your unique author voice. She uses easy step by step instructions with examples of “Obese” writing and alternative “Slim” possibilities.

Editors will spot a novice writer a mile off. Rayne gives a list of common words all first time writers innocently use and shows you how to remove over-used words that water your writing, create barriers with the reader and how you can tighten your plot.

At just a few £’s/$’s this is a good investment for authors entering a market place which is reaching saturation point. Another good book from the Writer’s Craft series.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Tighten and tone your writing style, and use simple revision tricks to slim down your manuscript. Shed thousands of words without changing the plot.

Strip away the word fat and reveal the muscle of your unique author voice.

This book is short, but potent.

It is perfect for
– self-editing before you submit your book to agents and publishers, or before self-publishing
– understanding why your stories get rejected, or why so few readers buy your book after downloading the sample chapters
– taking your writing craft skills to the next level
– polishing your writing style for the move from amateur to professional

The book is based on Rayne Hall’s popular class of the same title which has helped many writers shed word weight and develop a leaner, stronger writing style. Some authors say the class was the best investment they ever made. Now you can study the techniques in book form at your own pace.

Why Does My Book Not Sell? By Rayne Hall

Why Does My Book Not Sell? 20 Simple Fixes by Rayne Hall My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is most suitable for published Indie writers, people who are out there trying all they can to sell the books they have worked so hard to write. People who want to boost their marketing ideas and inject a fresh approach to connecting to their readers who are overloaded with choice.

Rayne’s book is split into 20 chapters which talk about the blocks that hinder your book sales. They range from your book cover, the book blurb, your promotions and the way you meet your readers. Is your current marketing plan intrusive or permissive?

What do readers find if they read the free first 10% of your book? Do they get straight into the story or do they find pages of off-putting dedications, thank-you messages and other people’s reviews?

Is your Twitter feed filled with tweets which say “Buy my Book” or “Must-read”, empty tweets which get passed over? Instead you need to learn to engage with your readers and show them you are human too.

Rayne writes down to earth no-nonsense writer’s craft books from her own experience and she happily admits her own mistakes along the way. Well worth a few pounds spent and a little time reading.

 

Does your book sell as well as it deserves?

If it doesn’t, one of twenty blocks may hinder its sales—blocks you can easily remove once you’re aware of them. Sell more books!

Many authors who’ve used this guide for a few weeks already report a significant increase in sales.

Each chapter reveals one area where indie authors are sabotaging their books’ success, and shows how you can free yourself from that trap. Whether you want to sell 100,000 copies or would be happy with just 100, this guide helps you raise your book above the hundreds of thousands of titles competing for attention. All strategies are proven and ethical – no cheating, no aggressive methods, no hype.

Rayne Hall is the author of over 60 books published under several pen names, in several genres, in several languages, by several publishers … and all the recent ones are indie-published. As a trained publisher with thirty years experience, she knows the business. In this book she reveals the strategies that worked for her, and the mistakes she made and learnt from along the way.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Twitter for Writers by Rayne Hall

Twitter for Writers by Rayne Hall

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Twitter: Love it? Hate it? Don’t know how to get the best from it? I thought I was doing ok until I opened this treasure trove of a book. It doesn’t matter if you are completely clueless or an advanced user, there is something for all authors in the book.

Rayne discusses your Twitter platform and talks about increasing your followers by engaging with them and attracting them with your content. She tells you how to make those brilliant images that some people tweet and how to let others to eavesdrop on a conversation and thus gain their attention.

There is advice on lists and how to use them to filter much of the tweets that no one wants to read. Plus there is advice on really using Twitter to add content to your marketing. Perhaps you could hold a Twitter party or a contest, Rayne tells you how she achieved her success and she tells you what not to do.

I’ve been putting into practise some of the ideas already and I was really pleased when I spotted a piece about fake followers who want a free book and who are likely to then sell that book on e-bay, Amazon or worse, I just knew that my suspicions about a contact were correct.

This book definitely gets 5*s.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

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Rayne  will be our guest tomorrow with some tips on using Twitter better. Meanwhile check out @RayneHall for yourself.