Jade Varden Official Blog

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...