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You are here: Home / Archives for Belinda Pollard

Briefing a Beta Reader: The Approach

By Belinda Pollard 10 Comments

I’ve heard horror stories of people receiving snarky and offensive beta reports on their manuscripts — the kind of thing that can crush your soul. I’ve also known of beta reports that were so fluffy and insubstantial that they were a waste of everyone’s time.

Beta readers are those superheroes who read the manuscript for our novel, memoir or non-fiction book, and give targeted feedback to help us improve it. (Check out my beta reader series for more.)

Some beta readers are just a bad match to a particular writer or book. But often, that’s not the cause of those disappointing beta reports.

What’s the secret to getting a beta report you can actually use? I’ve found that the key is in the briefing. A thoroughly briefed beta reader, even one who is inexperienced or lacks confidence, can often give useful tips, if they know exactly what you want.

Filed Under: Beta Readers, Writing & Editing

Twitter for Writers: Writing a great bio

By Belinda Pollard 6 Comments

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Writers often feel pressured about writing their Twitter bio. Here are some tips for making the most of those 160 characters, without the stress.

Filed Under: Book Marketing

Twitter for writers: The start of a great profile

By Belinda Pollard 11 Comments

Creating a Twitter profile is an art and a science… and often nerve-wracking. The foundation of a good Twitter profile for an author is choosing the right username, or modifying the one you’ve got.

Filed Under: Book Marketing, Self-Publishing

4 good reasons for self-publishing a novel

By Belinda Pollard 7 Comments

It used to be a sign of failure to self-publish a novel, but the world has changed. Check out these four good reasons to publish indie fiction.

Filed Under: Self-Publishing

Putting your SELF into your writing: Exercise 1

By Belinda Pollard 7 Comments

Memoir is just one genre which benefits from personal stories, told well. They bring other types of books alive, including self-help, travel narrative and how-to.

Learning how to write our memories comes in handy for novelists too, as events from our own lives influence the experiences our characters enjoy or endure.

Use this practical exercise to help you access the rich personal stories that live and breathe inside of you.

Filed Under: Memoir & Personal Story, Writing & Editing

How to get 10 times as many blog readers without going nuts

By Belinda Pollard 33 Comments

Even if you can’t blog as often as you’d like, I’ve discovered you can still build a readership. This is how it happened for me.

Filed Under: Book Marketing

Book Trailer Ideas: Visual Books

By Belinda Pollard 4 Comments

If you’re writing a visual type of book such as a coffee table book, or possibly even a picture book, here are some ideas for making an effective book trailer at almost no expense.

Filed Under: Book Marketing, Self-Publishing

The one really scary thing every writer should learn to do

By Belinda Pollard 15 Comments

Title of post with image of road sign against a blue sky that says "public speaking"

Public speaking is scary for most writers, but it’s one of the most valuable skills to have in the marketing toolkit. This is why and how to learn it…

Filed Under: Book Marketing, Self-Publishing

The difference between editing and proofreading

By Belinda Pollard 21 Comments

Editing and proofreading are two separate parts of the publishing process. Every book needs both editors and proofreaders, and this is what they do…

Filed Under: Self-Publishing, Writing & Editing

How to get that book written this year

By Belinda Pollard 18 Comments

If your book is the one thing in your life that never gets finished (or started), what is the answer? The solution is to treat it like a project that actually MATTERS! Listen to some tips from management consultant Monique Beedles about organising the writing process to get results.

Filed Under: Writing & Editing

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Small Blue Dog Publishing

PO Box 310,
Lawnton, Queensland, 4501
Australia

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I hope to see you again soon. ~ Belinda

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