<span class="vcard">Adam Stemple</span>
Adam Stemple

Building an ARC Team for Reviews

Getting reviews might be the single biggest determinant for how well your book sells. In all the studies I’ve seen, number of reviews has been rated highest for whether a reader will pick up a book by an unknown author. But it’s a catch-22. You need reviews for readers to take a flyer on an author they don’t know; but to get reviews, people need to read and review your book. The way around this conundrum is to use ARC — Advanced Reader Copies. The publishing industry has been using ARCs for years. They print uncorrected proofs, often missing some...

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Writing Great Dialogue

Taking up as much as half of a book, dialog might be the most important part of writing to master. And it is far more likely that readers will remember what a character said, rather than how great a certain description was. But how do you write great dialogue, and how do you do it consistently? Dialogue Isn’t Speech Note that the title of this article is writing great dialogue, not writing realistic dialogue. Great dialogue sparkles, illuminates character, provides worldbuilding, moves the plot along, and creates memorable scenese for the reader. It is often, however, not very realistic. Real...

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The Three Act Story Structure

The Three Act Story Structure is one of the most basic story structures and one of the most useful, in my opinion. It gives the author plenty of room for inspiration, innovation, and invention while still keeping them on track to an exciting and satisfying conclusion. Some may need a more detailed plan (the 27 chapter structure extrudes this structure into granular detail), but for those who seek only a little order to help them tell their tale, this structure does the job.

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How to Avoid Cliched Phrases

Cliches are sneaky little things. The commonness that makes them cliches also makes them hard to spot; we use them so often in our normal life, we write them without thinking. “It was raining cats and dogs.” “He was bored stiff.” “I’m down in the dumps.” They are all descriptive and everyone will know what you mean, but use them too often and readers will eventually be bored with your prose. I’d rather have someone hate my book than be bored by it. Here’s some simple methods to remove cliches from your writing. 1. Use strong words Cliche phrases are...

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