Jade Varden Official Blog

Even if you haven't read the books, or seen the movies, you've heard the name Nancy Drew. She's a famous book detective, and through the years she's been edited, adapted and re-packaged endlessly so she can keep on being relevant. And it's worked, because we all still know who she is -- and she's been a teenager since the 1930s. The Books Nancy Drew was born on the page in 1930, to be exact, with The Secret of the Old Clock . This first book spawned an entire series that's going on 83 years old. The many, many books in the series are written under the name Carolyn Keene, a person who does not exist. Several ghostwriters have been responsible for crafting Nancy's adventures over the years. Ghostwriters were also used to change those stories. Nancy underwent her first big re-branding in 1959, to eliminate racist stereotypes and other subject matter that didn't make for appropriate reading in those times of Civil Rights. Drew changed agai...

Receiving rejections is a wearing, wearying experience. Each brand-new letter brings a ray of hope. Every time the envelope is opened, that hope is crushed. It's like standing on top of a mountain for thirty seconds before falling to the Earth...and it's a long, long way down. One author refused to let that fall break her, and because she wouldn't give up all of us know her name. Being Stubborn Judy Blume was born in 1938 in New Jersey. As a child, she liked to make up stories in her head. After graduating high school, Judy attended Boston University, but went on to graduate from NYU with a degree in teaching. Teach she would, but not necessarily in the classroom. Judy went on to marry in the early 1960s, and became busy with a home and a young family. But all those stories were still in her head. So when her children started attending school, July Blume finally had the time to start writing them down. She wrote prolifically, and eventually got enough gumptio...

No, you haven't fallen into a time warp. Print marketing is still relevant, up to a point, and there are a whole lot of good reasons why you should be using it to market your self-published books.  Really, It's a Good Idea I know, I know. Everyone and everything is online these days, including self-published books. So what can print possibly hope to offer to a digital-savvy writer who's hip to social media and an entire world of e-marketing?  Bookmarks. Lots of people still love their paper books, and each one of those rectangles is a marketing opportunity. First, print them up using images from your book cover. Add pertinent info in easy-to-read text, like "available in print and online at Amazon.com" and maybe your author blog address. A quote or two praising the book probably wouldn't be out of hand, either. Remember to print images and text on the front and back.  Once you've got them, give them away. Go to your local bookstore (if y...

The first time she submitted Flowers in the Attic , V. C. Andrews was rejected. It was too long, the publisher advised, and boring. So Andrews went back to the book, eliminated about 100 pages and added the stuff that would "make [her] mother blush." It was a huge hit right away, leading to a movie, three sequels, one prequel...and a career that outlived the author herself. Authors don't always get it right the first time, especially self-published authors who have to learn how to do every bit copyediting, formatting and marketing on their own. There are lots of reasons why you might have to issue a re-release or a new edition of a book you've already published in the past. But if you do it, make sure you do it the right way. Re-Releases Re-releases are common in the book world, and there's no reason self-published authors can't join in. Books that have been re-released usually are not changed in any way; all the text of the book is the same....

Have you ever loved reading a book so much that you didn't want to finish it? Sometimes, writing a book can inspire the same sort of feeling. Writers spend a ton of time inside the world they've creating, looking into the minds of different characters, and ending the book is a very bittersweet experience. Sometimes, maybe too bittersweet. Getting to the end can be so difficult, authors end up putting it off...and ruining the story.  All Good Things... Once an author is really into the story and into their characters, the writing flows naturally. The dialogue style of a particular character, specific thought processes -- it all becomes second nature. Putting an end to all of that can be really heart-wrenching and difficult. Sometimes, authors may not even realize that they're having trouble getting to the end of the story...they just keep inventing more and more and more story.  Getting that deep into a particular story can create a one-way flow of creativity; ...

Lots of writers, even the most famous ones, advocate that if you're a writer you ought to be doing it every day. It's a good way to exercise your creativity, they say, and how else can you get finished with a book otherwise? Should you be writing every day? Habits, Hobbies and Obsessions I found a quote online where even Mark Twain himself advised writers to writer every day. Easy for him to say, right? Writers in the 1800s didn't have to think about tweeting, or blogging, or checking their own sales figures. It may come as a surprise to know that Mark Twain self-published, but you can bet he wasn't spending an hour wading through emails every day or digging through book blogs to find reviewers. And then there's the fact that Mark Twain became pretty famous in his own time, and his books sold quite well. So naturally, Twain had time to write every day because he was getting paid to write books. Lots of self-published authors aren't getting paid (at...

 "I loved the development of the story line right from chapter one."  "I would recommend this book to any young adult because it's the perfect amount of high school drama for any adolescent." Justice (Deck of Lies, #1) has been reviewed at The Rise of a Novelist. Go and read the whole thing , and get an inside look at how I get my reviews!

"This is a suspenseful, mystery book that has you gripping every lie as they multiply in the palm of your hands." "This book felt real and I will recommend it to everyone I come across." Addicted to Novels has reviewed Justice (Deck of Lies, #1). Read the whole thing to find out where to get your copy of the book!