

Why Stories Can Save Lives
Why stories can save lives . When I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 41 my friend called me up, “make something good come of it,” she told me. I knew then I would write about it and that became my 5th book Love and Above. My way, like so many other storytellers who have lived through the centuries, is to share stories by writing or telling them. We tell them in social gatherings, on a stage, in a book or in a diary. But we must tell them because storytellers have a c
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CHAPTER SUBMISSION: The Countdown to Publishing Your Book
CHAPTER SUBMISSION: The Countdown to Publishing Your Book
Essential Steps to finding an agent or publisher
By Sarah Bullen
‘I wasn't going to give up until every single publisher turned me down, but I often feared that would happen. JK Rowling
As a literary agent with 17 years working with authors I read a lot of manuscripts, and I get a lot of query letters. It always amazes me the huge effort and investment it takes to simply write a full length book. When I get a MS i
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Should you plan or just write?
There is only one answer to this question (in my view). YES of course you should plan a book!
I believe in writing with intent if you want to get published.
If you are writing non-fiction you are going to be 100% clear about what is going to go into your book. You are going to have a clear list of your chapters and what material you will cover in each. Your planning will become your book proposal and it will guide your entire book.
But is a novel different? No.
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How to write poems that get published
By Miriam Sagan for Writers Digest No poet likes to hear the expression "slush pile"_ it implies that our creations have gone into a heap...
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What’s the theme of your story?
Your book needs a theme. A theme is closely aligned to your plot and often the words are used interchangably. I see them as different howeve
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What are publishers looking for in 2025-2026?
Once again we look forward to the publishing market for the upcoming publishing cycle. It is so useful for an author to be aware of...
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Some Things You Need to Know as an Author
What does it actually t ake to write a book? Below is a list of 10 things (five short and five longer ones). Join me in 2025 and finally...
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How to write a great back cover book blurb
Think of your back cover blurb like a movie trailer. There is a good reason movie trailers are not made by the writer. It’s so hard as...
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What if my book sucks?
Here's the question we all ask. What if my book sucks?
It doesn’t matter how many books you have written (like me); lalunching a book is a
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Original and Wild Voices in Storytelling
Chapter excerpt from “ABOUT ORIGINAL & WILD VOICE IN SPEAKING AND WRITING”, from “Tending the Creative Fire manuscript” by Dr. Clarissa...
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The 7 writing styles
See if you can find yourself and your writing style in my article below where I detail The 7 Kinds of Writers. You may have a laugh. Are...
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Creation Story—Greek Goddess-Style
Janis Petzel joined us on the Greece Writing Retreat where storytellers gathered and magic filled the air. This is her account of her...
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The summer of sex, Osho and sannyasins
This is an extract from the book Love and Above: A journey through shamanism, coma and joy. The book is available on Amazon, in stores in...
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I stopped mucking about and finally wrote my book - Zoe Scholz
Zoë Scholtz, June 2020 Early in January 2020, it was a weekday, a day like any other. I was at the office minding my own business,...
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My Greek Writing Adventure - Not Shirley Valentine but close!
As I faced the prospect of retrenchment a year ago, I spent some time with my friend Google, searching his pages for direction to my...
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A writing retreat on a lesbian island? It shouldn't happen to a lawyer
Write your Book' the post read. 'Join us on a writing retreat on the beautiful Greek Island of Lesvos’. I had in fact written a book,...
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