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Updates Made by Gayle Martin
Monday, February 29, 2016 2:20:31 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled So How Long Should a Chapter Be?:
Gayle said, "Someone recently posted this question on a writing group I belong to, and it certainly got some interesting responses. While my answer is based on fiction writing, those of you who write nonfiction may find it helpful as well.When I write my..." more
Friday, February 26, 2016 3:12:01 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Why Having The Cloud of Other Off Site Storage is a Must:
Gayle said, "It's happened to me twice now. That oh so sickening feeling I get when I go to open up a file, and either half of it's gone, or I get an error message telling me it's missing off my hard drive altogether. Computers are mysterious creatures. I..." more
Monday, February 8, 2016 1:05:44 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Are You Including Photos in Your Book? What You Need to Know About Copyrights:
Gayle said, "Photo © 2014 by Gayle Martin. All Rights Reserved.When one of my authors sent me the photos he wanted to include in his memoir, I noticed several of them were family portraits, taken by professional portrait studios. Many of you may not be aware..." more
Monday, February 8, 2016 1:05:44 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled And Now, For the End of Our Story:
Gayle said, "Every story ever written has two things in common--a beginning and an ending, and it's at the end of the story where we, as storytellers, deliver the punch lines that impact our readers.Regardless of your genre, most readers want, and expect, a..." more
Friday, January 29, 2016 11:51:14 AM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Knowing When to Quit, Part 2:
Gayle said, "Photo by CanStockPhoto.comIn my earlier post about how to avoid overworking your story I talked about redundancy. This time around I'll discuss another way to overwork a story -- and that is by creating over the top scenarios or plot lines which..." more
Wednesday, January 27, 2016 4:52:41 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Watch Out for Exclamation Points!!!:
Gayle said, "Filmmakers have certain advantages over writers, particularly fiction writers. They get to use musical scores to help build the tension. We've seen it dozens of times. The unsuspecting protagonist goes into the seemingly deserted mansion, ..." more
Thursday, January 21, 2016 8:50:23 AM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled One of the Pitfalls of Social Media:
Gayle said, "As writers we've all been told that social media is an essential marketing tool, and it truly is. I've made fans and sold books on social media. It can also be a double-edged sword, so it must be treated with respect at all times. Let me give you..." more
Saturday, January 16, 2016 10:35:54 AM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Is Entering Your Book in a Literary Competition a Good Idea?:
Gayle said, "From time to time my email box fills up with calls for entries for all kinds of book awards, and I'll admit to having mixed feelings about entering them. So, here is my list of pros and cons regarding book competitions.First, I'll start with the..." more
Wednesday, January 13, 2016 9:15:39 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Knowing When to Quit, Part 1:
Gayle said, "Photo by CanStockPhoto.comBack in my college days, when I was majoring in art, one of my painting professors made a profound statement that I'll always remember. He said, "Every painter needs to have someone standing behind him to shoot him when..." more
Tuesday, January 5, 2016 11:32:51 AM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled How to Have an Effective Book Trailer:
Gayle said, "Book trailers are great marketing tools, especially for those of you who write fiction. A book trailer is a preview of coming attractions, and the most effective ones look like movie trailers. This means a video of you, sitting on a park bench,..." more
Monday, December 28, 2015 4:38:24 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Writing Fiction? How to Keep the Drama Flowing:
Gayle said, "Photo © by Gayle Martin. All Rights Reserved.As you fiction writers no doubt know, your plot lines revolve around tension and conflict, regardless of the genre. The conflict is what keeps the drama flowing and keeps your readers involved with..." more
Tuesday, December 22, 2015 7:35:37 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Not Every Idea Works:
Gayle said, "Sometimes even the best ideas don't always work out the way we thought. Two years ago I decided to start a new blog specifically for my publishing company, Good Oak Press, LLC., as From the Writer's Desk was originally set up to promote my..." more
Tuesday, December 22, 2015 7:35:37 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Is Writing Your Memoir a Good Idea? Part II:
Gayle said, "This is an update from a previous post, and I think it's worth a second look.Writing memoirs has been a popular trend for sometime now, and, as a publisher, I often get inquires from authors wanting to publish their memoirs. Unfortunately,..." more
Friday, February 28, 2014 1:16:30 AM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled What Makes a Professional a Professional? Is it Getting Paid? Or is it Acting Like a Professional?:
Gayle said, "Not too long ago I read an interesting discussion on Facebook about professionalism and the arts. It was started by a musician who believes the only time a musician can call him or herself a professional is when he or she can make a living full-time..." more
Friday, February 28, 2014 1:16:30 AM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled It Takes a Team to Write a Book:
Gayle said, "Photo by CanStockPhotoBack in the 1990s, a political slogan went, "It takes a village to raise a child." Well, there is a version for authors, and it goes, "It takes a team to write a book." So, who's on the team?First and foremost would be the..." more
Friday, February 28, 2014 1:16:30 AM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Why I Don't Recommend Using the F-Bomb:
Gayle said, "So this morning I'm looking at a sample chapter from a novel, (not one that I wrote), and there, in the second sentence of the opening narrative, is the dreaded, "F-bomb." That was it. I was done. The book may have had an intriguing title, but as..." more
Friday, February 28, 2014 1:16:30 AM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled The End of an Era--Sort Of:
Gayle said, "It's official. The print editions of the Luke and Jenny series of books are now out of print. My publisher, Five Star Publications, decided that the time had come to take them out of print, as the books have become somewhat outdated. And, like any..." more
Thursday, September 5, 2013 7:03:25 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Why I've Stopped Doing Free Kindle Giveaways:
Gayle said, "We've all heard this one. Sign up for KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) Select and do a five-day giveaway. You'll get a bump in Kindle sales ranking and sell more books once your giveaway has ended.This is a perfect example of how technology is..." more
Thursday, September 5, 2013 7:03:25 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Why I Prefer a Blog Over Social Media:
Gayle said, "As authors we've all been told, dozens upon dozens of times, to use social media to market our books. And yes, there is some truth to this, but I've also come to the conclusion that social media is highly overrated.One thing I've seen far too many..." more
Saturday, March 16, 2013 3:59:53 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Let's Stop Putting Labels on People:
Gayle said, "Not too long ago I was out in public and struck up a conversation about what I do with someone I didn't know. When I told her I was a writer, and that I wrote novels, she honest to goodness looked at me and said, "Oh, so that means you must have..." more
Friday, December 7, 2012 2:05:04 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Lessons Learned from Self Publishing:
Gayle said, "This week marks the end of an era. I've finally sold the last remaining copies of my first self-published book, Anna's Kitchen. I learned a lot from the experience, and since that time I've done my best to share what I've learn with the rest..." more
Wednesday, December 5, 2012 7:13:02 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Just When I Think I've Heard It All:
Gayle said, "Just when I think I've heard it all someone comes along and surprises me.This morning I came across a thread on an on-line forum that I simply could not believe. Someone had honest to goodness posted a question to the effect of: Where I can go to..." more
Friday, November 30, 2012 8:41:04 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Why a Bad Review Can Be Good:
Gayle said, "Few things can be more maddening for an author than a bad review, particularly one that appears to have been posted out of spite. And if you haven't had someone post a malicious review for one of your books just wait, it will happen.Gone are the..." more
Saturday, September 22, 2012 2:21:17 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled One Lovely Blog Award:
Gayle said, "I am pleased to announce that From the Writer's Desk, along with one of my other blogs, The Accidental Ghost Hunter, have both been nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award by my good friend, David Lee Summers. David is a steampunk and science..." more
Friday, March 11, 2016 10:02:30 PM
Gayle Martin wrote a blog post titled Is This the End of eBooks?:
Gayle said, "It wasn't that long ago that eBooks were the rage, and if you didn't offer an eBook edition of your book, your sales would suffer. Now the popularity with eBooks seems to be waning, but I wouldn't call them dead. People are still buying them, ..." more