Jade Varden Official Blog

This is my one hundredth post, so instead of doing a new Writing 101 lesson I'm going to re-do all of them...after a fashion. And since I've done so many Writing 101 posts in the past few months, there are a lot of them -- so we haven't got any time to waste. (Almost) Every Step of Writing eBooks  Once inspiration hits and you've got a great idea, get to work and create an outline . Start thinking about your main character , and all the other characters in the book, as you plan out the plot. Give your characters plausible-sounding names . Research your plot and your setting to fill your book with realistic, coherent details. Format your manuscript properly, and save yourself some trouble. Always set the justification , and make sure you know what you're doing if you start adding page numbers, headers and footers . As you write, be particular about how you format your chapter breaks and scene breaks . Don't ever, ever use the tab button ...unless...

Yes, the sad truth is that Indie Author Month is coming to an end. I've truly enjoyed visiting Aside From Writing every day in May and discovering new, talented indie authors -- and I'm thrilled to say that today is my day! The month has been peppered with wonderful paranormal tales, heart-wrenching romances, chilling suspense and even fascinating historical novels, to name just a few. Now, it's going to end with a healthy dose of madness, courtesy of The Tower. I'm participating in the event by giving away 5 copies of The Tower, so sign up if you want to win. In fact, there are several giveaways (including the main prize) which are still open. Scads of books are available, not just mine, so don't miss your chance to get some free goods.

 Even the most celebrated and well-loved authors show off quotes from colleagues, reviewers and prestigious publications. For indie writers, review quotes are a valuable commodity. Many indies make it a habit to tweet review quotes to market their work, and some include them in their book blurbs and websites. I even put some of mine in one of my trailers. Movies, books, magazines, music -- lots of products are promoted with glowing, intriguing and enticing quotes from critics and supporters. But there is a certain finesse to choosing review quotes, and to displaying them, that some indies don't seem to possess. How do you use yours?  On Review Quotes I've been writing on the topic of reviews a lot lately, but only because they're an endless source of fascination. I also happened to see something a little strange recently, and can't help but to blog about it. Besides, it naturally follows that once you've learned how to get reviews , you're going to wa...

We already discussed writing reviews , and now it's time for a topic that might be even more important to indie writers: getting reviews. Be willing to devote time to it, because reviews will help you as a writer in multiple ways. How to Get Reviews I feel confident in saying all indie writers want to get reviews from readers. Good reviews can add a certain appeal to your book, and they make it plain to book shoppers that someone, someday, read your book and felt strongly enough about it to write a review. People want what other people like; that's just human nature. Having reviews can increase your sales and make your book look more interesting to readers. Now, all you've got to do is go out and get some.  Publish your book . If you want to get reviews, it helps to publish your book in multiple places. If you're using Amazon's KDP Select program, you actually don't have this option -- but you can still list your book at Goodreads . A social media ...

I have a new interview up today where I talk about why I write, what I've been doing lately and what I wish I could change about the Deck of Lies series. Find out what I'm reading right now, which book I love reading over and over and how I came up with the Deck of Lies.

When you're trying to format a manuscript into an ebook, it's helpful to know some html . But there's no reason you should run right out and sign up for a programming class just to get your book out there. If you can use a few simple ebook codes, you can create a well-formatted story -- and nobody has to know that you don't really know what you're doing. eBook Codes You Need to Know You don't really have to learn a bunch of html to get your ebook together, because there's a limited number of codes that are actually relevant. Even if you're adding a bunch of different in-text formatting , pictures , links and other fun stuff, the ebook codes you need to use are pretty simple. Links . Add links to your book using the <a> tag. Many authors include a link to their personal blogs or websites in the "About the Author" section of their books, which often appears at the end. My link will look like this: Visit <a href=jadevarden.bl...

Shakespeare did it with quills and candles, Mark Twain did it on a typewriter, but today's authors don't even need paper to tell their stories. We live in a modern age, and the modern writer is more Internet presence than person. Our books are online, our photos are online, our words are online -- it's only natural that we get online to do the writing, too. Use online writing tools to help you get the job done, and maybe even make it a little easier. Paper's totally overrated, anyway. Writing Tools Online  Going online to research isn't always easy. It's hard to find reputable sources, and it takes a long time to seek out specific information. But the Internet isn't just a source of information for writers; it can actually help you get the job done. There are lots of writing tools online that will make it much easier for you to get from the first page to the last page of your book. Names . In a previous post , I talked about about using certain Inte...

A fair amount of indie writers are at least partially obsessed with the reviews they receive for their books...if indie writer forums are any indication, anyway. Many indies have felt the staggering heartbreak of a 1-star review, of a reader blatantly saying "I hated this," that ugly sting of rejection. No one is so self-assured that they can completely shrug off all judgment all the time, certainly no writer. To be a writer is to bleed on the page -- and when a reviewer knifes you in the back, it might cut deep. But I happen to be a fan of 1-star reviews, and I'm trying to convert other indies to my twisted way of thinking. In the spirit of embracing all of your reviews -- good and bad -- I'd like to play a game. What's Your Favorite Book? What's your favorite book? It crops up in forums all the time, it's an easy topic of conversation, it's something that may change with the weeks for some readers. For me, it is (and undoubtedly will alway...

 Love to read? Read a new excerpt from Justice (Deck of Lies, #1) at Loves 2 Read , and meet one of the fan-favorite characters from the series.

The publishing industry has changed, and some forecast an end to paper books in the not-so-distant future. Like everyone else, authors are now online -- and so is their publicity. When you get involved in self-publishing, it's likely you'll run into the phrase "blog tour" at some point. When you write and market your own books, the phrase could become pretty important to you. The Old Way Book stores still exist. They're going out of business all over the place, but they still exist. Traditional writers still go out on tour across the land, traveling from book store to book store to sell signed copies of their work. But it's started to become old-fashioned. Why should fans travel all the way to a book store when they can connect to their favorite writers on Twitter, Facebook and through their blogs? Self-published authors don't always have the resources, or the paper books, to go out on tour and market their work...so they've found a much mor...

 Visit There For You , a blog that celebrates the written word, to get a look at an exclusive excerpt from Justice (Deck of Lies, #1).

Sometimes, writers need to make specific words stand out visually from all the rest. By themselves, words are a very powerful tool -- but it's easy for a single word or phrase to get lost in the surrounding sea of text that is a full-length book. But before you start using in-text trickery like italics, bold and underlining, figure out how to use it the right way. In-Text Formatting When you start venturing into those buttons on your word processor's toolbars, you're moving into tricky territory. There are extremely specific rules in writing, and anyone who's ever wrestled with grammar and punctuation knows that's true. Plenty of writers have thrown caution to the wind and introduced new ideas, strong language and vivid twists into their books -- but even the most out-of-the box authors stick to certain rules when it comes to sentence structure and word usage. The rules of in-text formatting are pretty specific, and it's your job to observe them. You wa...

Spend time on a computer regularly, and it's bound to happen to you: data loss. Power outages, viruses, various meltdowns, there are all sorts of reasons your computer might malfunction and cause you to lose something you'd rather keep. But when it happens to your manuscript, it's the deepest cut of all. Don't lose your work! There are ways to avoid the problem, and ways to fix it when you haven't been avoiding it arduously enough.   Saving Your Book I'm a little on the obsessive side when it comes to saving my work, because I've agonized through more than one crash in the past. But I've learned others aren't quite so psychotic about hitting the "save" button repeatedly. In fact, the computer makes it pretty easy to get lazy. Any word processing program worth its hard drive space will have an auto-save feature that automatically saves your progress, pretty much every time you pause. Even online programs, like blogger and gmail, ...

Dawn Smith Books , a blog dedicated to writers and writing, has kindly named me as their official blog tour stop for the week! Visit the site to get all the details on the first two books in the Deck of Lies Series, Justice and The Tower. You'll find the blurbs, the reviews, the trailers and more.

The English language doesn't always make a whole lot of sense. The word "subtle" has an inexplicable b in the middle of it, "knife" is spelled with a k ...and a single letter can totally change the meaning of a word. So when you're writing, are you getting farther along in your book -- or are you getting further along in your work? Maybe you're doing both, and either way you'd better know the difference. Farther vs. Further It's an epic word battle, and one I personally struggle with every single time. No matter what I'm writing, the minute I want to use further or farther , I'm forced to stop what I'm doing and look up the differences between them. It's just one little vowel, but it makes a big difference if you end up using the wrong one. In fact, it changes what you're writing entirely.

In the indie community, writing reviews isn't a courtesy -- it's pretty much expected. Indies know how hard it is for other indies to get reviews (or readers at all), and there are lots of different groups, review swaps and deals happening all over the indie book community at any given time. Because of the helpful spirit, the tit-for-tat review deals and the strong desire among indies to get more and more reviews, writing reviews is something a great many indie writers have to face. So if you're going to do it, make sure you know what the hell you're doing. How much do you know about writing reviews?  Reading, Writing Many writers are also readers, because to practice the craft you've got to love it. Reading someone else's work is the only thing that keeps me sane at times...and other times, it's enough to drive me insane. That's because reading within the indie community isn't the same as dipping into the mainstream fiction pool. There a...

Yes, the rumors are true: I've finished the first draft of Death, Book 3 in the Deck of Lies series. I still have some serious editing to do, but a few very brief passages are suitable for public viewing and I'm going to share one of them! (image from the official trailer, yet to be released) Excerpt from Chapter ?     I was striding across the grass with a smile frozen onto my lips. I was wearing a bit less eye makeup, and my mascara had been re-applied with a shaking hand, but no one looked at me oddly as I moved toward the milling party guests -- so I guess I did a good enough job of repairing my appearance.     Things were in full swing, now. All of the Japanese lanterns were lit, their colorful shades creating a haze of light that made it difficult to see the stars above. Voices were louder now that the beautifully-garbed people had been here long enough to enjoy more than one of the complimentary drinks that were being doled out by the tr...

If you've read any books in the Deck of Lies series, you've probably noticed that I'm into fashion. I label-drop constantly, and I've tried to create a distinct style for Rain and many of her supporting characters (I've even blogged about those styles). But I don't get to write about fashion in my books as much as I'd like, so I've started writing for VAR magazine to get my fashion fix.  I write about vintage fashions and current vintage trends in Issue 1 of VAR , which was just released this month. VAR is packed with fashion-centric photos and articles. It's based in New York, and even though I'm not I'll be contributing articles on a freelance basis to the magazine from time to time (when I'm not writing about murder plots and family intrigue). You have to buy the issue to see it all, but various snippets and articles will be available on the VAR site soon. Issue 1 features Alysha Nett, Bai Ling, Bernadette Macias, Dave Navarro...

You were careful to choose great words for your book. You sweated it out through the editing process. You went through the formatting line by line to make certain every page is perfect. If you don't price your books the right way, you're going to watch that hard work go to waste. If you want readers, you've got to take a hard look at your book pricing. How Much is Your Writing Worth? A lot of factors are at play when writers are pricing their books. For any given book, whether it's a short story of a full-length novel, every page represents hours of work in formatting, writing, editing and reading. If authors charged by the hour, every book would cost hundred of dollars. But that's not really feasible for the readers, is it? As a writer, you're expected to love your book. You've poured soul into it; sweat, blood, tears, heartache. And, if you're like many writers, you probably want to do nothing but write full-time. It's easy to get lo...

 How many times does the word very appear in your book? You really ought to find out, because really, the word is very, very unnecessary. In fact, some writers have made it a point never to use the word at all. Very in Literature "Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very'; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be." This was Mark Twain's opinion of very...and most anyone will agree that Twain was, and remains, a very successful writer. Very hasn't got much of a place in literature because it is a very empty word.  Most of the time, the word very has very little meaning when it's used in writing. It's a word that exists almost solely for emphasis alone, except for when it's used in a very specific circumstance. Very can also denote something precise or exact ( those were her very words ), but most of the time it's used as a word of emphasis rather than as a synonym for...

Have you ever been to a book burning? To this day, people still protest against some of the material in Mark Twain's books. Schools around the world ban Catcher in the Rye , written way back in 1951. When you're writing from the heart, and writing something that's going to resonate, creating a real world using nothing but your words, you might end up stepping on a few toes. Offensive and adult subject matter might creep in, and sometimes touchy subjects have to be included in a work to create the powerful effect the author wants. But when you start stepping on toes, you've got to be prepared to get kicked right in the pants. Let's Write About Sex Dare you to sit through just one hour of television without finding some reference to sex, either overt or well-hidden. It's in the beer commercials where the women run around braless, it's in the dating commercials where the two mildly attractive people lock eyes and stare suggestively at each other. It'...

Being a wordsmith is just plain hard. Writers have to face daily challenges like the affect/effect conundrum, the dreaded compliment/complement crisis and the altogether horrifying further/farther battlefield. Tackle all that and you've still got to think about dangling prepositions, misplaced modifiers and whether or not a semicolon is viable punctuation (for the record, I'm a firm believer that it is). But if you think knowing words is hard, just try learning HTML. Because you're going to have to, you know -- it goes hand-in-hand with being an indie author. It's Raining Internet Code Internet language is everywhere, though we rarely see it. HTML is the invisible force that drives every Tweet, every blog, every singly little thing on Facebook. It's also behind every ebook, and that's why it's relevant to you. You can't simply take your manuscript, convert it into an ebook and call it a day. Why? Because of HTML. Don't know it? You're g...

Where did I come up with the idea for the Deck of Lies series? Who in my real life inspired an important character in Rain's life? And which one of my characters would I bring to life if I could? I answer all of these questions and more in my latest interview , conducted by Books Books & More Books. But if you skip all my answers, you'll get to the really interesting part: I'm giving away books ! Sign up to win a free copy of Justice, and try to find the truth in the Deck of Lies.

It happens to the best of us, and no matter how we try to avoid them they still have a way of sneaking up on us. They're called homonyms, and they are the scourge of the English language. But if you think you can get through an entire book without getting wrapped up in them, you're wrong. Today, we're going to discuss a dastardly pair that's sure to strike even the most brilliant grammarians: affect and effect. Yes, they are evil. But don't worry; I know how to defeat them. Affect vs. Effect If you use the word effect improperly, it's definitely going to affect your work. To be honest, there are plenty of readers who plain won't notice the difference...but there are those who will. In the interest of perfection (isn't that what we're all chasing?), it's important to know exactly why affect and effect are totally different words, even though only one vowel separates them. I'm willing to come clean: I still have to look up the diff...