thanks this hleped a lot for me to get started

THANK YOU SHAELIN! I wish I could amplify this 100,000 times. I've been trying to get people to comprehend this for YEARS. Too many people try to tell me about which rules I'm following or not, without understanding what decisions I've made or not. This is the main drawback with most writing collaborations that I've had. People are so hung up on "the rules" that they can't just read something and understand what is actually good writing or not. Not all of my writing is good writing. But when someone tries to remove something I know is good writing, I stop listening to them. It's a real problem.

Can you teach without the background music? I want to listen to you, not the music , ( not being negative) just a question, do a survey, ask ur Audience to put 1 in the comments if they like the music or 2 if they don't want the music😊

OH NO! We will miss you!!!!

After watching this video I felt as if I was transported to 1994 before Amazon and online publishing and ebooks became a huge phenomenon! 😅

Vocal fry

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤love thank you for your wonderful advice for all as writer we will miss you dearly❤❤❤❤❤😊❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

There are still great poetry and poets existing today. Sometimes you find them in music. An artist such as Ville Valo is one example. Fans like myself still try to decipher his words. And we are only left with our own interpretations. And I think about old poetry and how it was a secret language of the writer and to who the writer was addressing, if at all.

I used to write poetry often in my youth. I still have some along the pages of my journal. ❤ I look forward to your content on poetry ❤

This helps SO much. Thank you. My problem is that my characters sit around and complain. I’m projecting too much.

Cope

I hired a worthless editor from Reedsy, Nick Mould. Completely incompetent and unprofessional. Reedsy's protection program was worthless. They rushed to his defense even though he couldn't even cite a newspaper properly and they deleted my negative review of him. Don't be scammed by Reedsy. There are much better ways to find competent help.

My first zero draft is evolving from an attempt to outline after a long ongoing brain dump. I needed to flesh out enough of my story to see how things have to happen in the story, but by then I KNOW some of the bunnies and even full scenes that I want to put in my story, so I'm plotting/zero drafting in one document with outlined plot points/beats as headings, then points, phrases, or entire paragraphs where I know what needs to happen at a certain point in the story. I'm sure my process will become more efficient as I continue working, but this allowed me to realize that my story was going to be a 3-book series. Yes, it looks like a hot mess now, but I've made a ton of progress in the past few months after 5 years of kicking this story around blindly. I'm so excited to continue! Yay zero drafts, whatever that looks like for everyone. Write on y'all! 🫶

I think I understand, from this, the general unity desired in pitches. If that is the way of wording it. If I can make my book "all one idea," with various facets, AND make the reader care, then blammo I have hit on it. Thanks so much for these critiques. Entertaining as well.

How can I submit for first line critique please?

For me, the writing craft is like a skeleton. We all have one, but we are all so different.

Good luck! I have to thank you because you showed me a lot of poem forms that I didn't even know for. I'm sad that you leave, but I wish you all the best in the future! 😊😢

Don;t waste your time with these small-time crooks and cons. Their protection plan is worthless. They delete negative reviews and cover up for incompetent copy editors like bozo Nick Mould, who can't even cite a newspaper properly.

Well she's amazing! Thank you so much, Caroline Leavitt!! I watched the video twice! And thanks to Reedsy!

Just finished watching the video. Trying to understand all the facets of self-publishing. I found this video to be really helpful! Thank you for the help 🥰

I attended the LIVE and took notes, here they are! 5:05 Writing - Write the book that ‘haunts’ you, not to the market - You need a premise (helps communicate what your book is about) - Write the skeleton blurb 08:47 After the draft - First chapter: Start in the middle (not description) of the problem or inciting action - First chapter asks a question (Jaws example: will the town survive); Last chapter (Jaws example: the town survives) - Line editing (what you do with the language): distill everything to it’s most powerful - Show not tell (unnecessary adjective and adverbs) - see if you can replace it with a strong verb 12:10 Before the agent - Have someone else read it (beta readers = not friends/family) like writing group, published authors - Novel sweet spot 60.000-95.000 words; anything over 100K is too long (increases cost to publisher and reader) 13:12 Hire a development editor - To get a set of fresh eyes - They’ll check pacing, characterisation 14:35 Self publishing - Recommend for certain genres (bodice rippers, sci-fi, romance, self-help); not really for literary fiction - No gatekeepers - No agent to self-publish - Complete control - More money back - Competition is higher (anything can be published) - Harder to book events 17:16 Big 5 Publishers (USA) Random House, Hachette, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, MacMillan - Big 5 have smaller imprints - You need an agent - Name recognition - Bigger advances - Less control 19:44 Smaller Publishers - Need an agent - Prestigious - No huge advances 20:20 Hybrid Press - You pay them: 5.000-10.000 dollars to get published - They’ll do your publicity - Make sure they’re not vanity press (get transparency) 21:00 Agent Search - Make a list of 60 agents (recommended to query all at once) - you can start making list before book is finished - Agent Query (website) - Poets & Writers have a literary agent database - Read acknowledgements in books - Google search the agents (Twitter) - Publish short stories/essays to increase visibility - Social media - Website - You don’t pay agents (except sometimes a reading fee) 24:55 Query Letter - 1st paragraph: about the agent, personalise - 2nd paragraph: pitch the story / comp titles - 3rd paragraph: about me - 4th paragraph: thank you - Wait time: more than 3 months you can check on the status - Send it on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday 28:57 What kind of agent do you want. 29:25 The Book Deal - Expect further editing - It takes about a year before it’s published 32:09 Publicity (book ahead of time); get blurbs (reviews from well known people); publishing houses don’t do this like before; they’re expensive and research them. 34:47 Rejection 36:05 Writer’s community - Write personal message to a writer - Show up at readings - Help other writers, praise their work - Your writing career will not look like anybody else’s

why would you not read example? baffling

How do I contact this writer?

I'm sorry but her info on self-publishing is mostly off. Indie romance authors are absolutely huge. The vast majority of authors making six and seven figures are self-published romance writers. On top of that, TikTok has caused a massive boom in dark academia and romantasy, largely with indie books.

So many of my favourite authors would not be published today because of today’s culture of censorship and political correctness. Self-publishing is probably a better pick for free thinkers.

This was a fantastic video! So informative. Thank you, Caroline and Martin.

Thank you so much for this information! Can't professionals in the publishing industry figure out your comp writers? It's agonising to compare yourself to a high-selling author as an unpublished writer! (rhetorical question)

Excellent. Lots of great advice, Tom is extremely knowledgeable, and I love the humour between the two of you. Move over Morcombe and Wise… Always a pleasure to watch these episodes. More, please…

I use Reedsy for my dev, copy edits and they’re amazing. I’ve learned so much from my editors for sci-fi.

Great video! I learned a lot! Thanks!

This talk was interesting. Notes taken. Thank you.

Thank you for this. Barrett Ashton Anders from Palm Coast Florida.

Given your workload and productivity, how you have avoided burnout prior to this will always boggle my mind. Best wishes, and thanks for the back catalogue you leave behind.

Somethings i just cant do 😢

Thank you Shaelin! You have past on so much wisdom over the last 6 years and I wouldn't have felt so comfortable in my writing without your videos for guidance. All the best for the future. ❤

It's okay, yet I found it lacked depth. Floated only on the surface...

Reedsy is a bunch of smalltime crooks and con artists. I hired one of their so-called experts, a copy editor, Nick Mould in the U.K. He was completely incompetent. Couldn't even cite a newspaper (The New York Times) properly. I filed a complaint for poor work. Reedsy was completely crooked. Their protection plan was worthless. Reedsy defended hid incompetence and lack of professionalism. Reedsy deleted my negative review of Nick for his awful work. Reedsy claimed it's too hard to follow Chicago style to know how to correctly cite a newspaper. This is how stupid and idiotic and crooked they are. Will never use them again for anything. Halfwits and numskulls. Just know that Reedsy manipulates its reviews of its dimwitted "professionals."

Reedsy is a bunch of smalltime crooks and con artists. I hired one of their so-called experts, a copy editor, Nick Mould in the U.K. He was completely incompetent. Couldn't even cite a newspaper (The New York Times properly). I filed a complaint for poor work. Reedsy was completely crooked. Their protection plan was worthless. Reedsy defended hid incompetence and lack of professionalism. Reedsy deleted my negative review of Nick for his awful work. Reedsy claimed it's too hard to follow Chicago style to know how to correctly cite a newspaper. This is how stupid and idiotic and crooked they are. Will never use them again for anything. Halfwits and numskulls. Just know that Reedsy manipulates its reviews of its dimwitted "professionals."

Saying there cant be any original stories anymore because there are only 7 plot types would be like saying you cant write original songs anymore because there are only 12 notes

Thank you for explaining this method. I share this video with my friends who are first time writers.

You gave me a lot on information in a short period of time. Now I need to look at your links and assimilate what I need to do to promote my book. Thank you for sharing!

Wow thank you so much Tom Bromley and Reedsy, that was so useful and has really helped 😊

I'll miss you mucho, Shaelin. Been watching you on here for years, you've helped me so much. Best of luck on your new adventure!

Thank you for all the amazing insights and advice!!

All the best in your new undertaking, Shaelin. ❤️🙏🏼

Thank you Shaelin and all the best for the future

Thank you, Shaelin, for all of your writing advice! And thank you for inspiring me as a writer! Stay awesome! Also, I'm sad to see you go. I hope you will continue to post videos on your other channel! Take care! And thanks for everything!

Your amazing I’ve learned a lot from your videos and I wish you luck

Good Luck ☘

Thank you for all your insightful advice and great delivery. Good luck on your next adventure!!!