Podcast: Don’t use pompous language in nonfiction book

Don’t use pompous language in nonfiction book

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an era where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.


Podcast: Types of lists you can create for your book

Types of lists you can create for your book

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an era where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.


5 Elements of an Infographic

5 Elements of an Infographic

Learn More About Self-Publishing:
Whether writing a novel or nonfiction, whether planning to print a paperback or an ebook, 7 Minutes a Day to a Self-Published Book guides you through the self-publishing process, from the title page to the index, from designing a cover to formatting your text.


5 Elements of an Infographic

5 Elements of an Infographic

Professional Book Editor:
Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



7 Tips To Make You A Better Nonfiction Writer

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Why you must research your nonfiction book 
Where to research info for your nonfiction book
How to conduct an interview for book research 
Keep research notes for your book organized
Enhance book with sidebars, breakout boxes 
Place hyperlinks in your nonfiction ebook
Create an index for your nonfiction book

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



How to create a bulleted list in your book

One of Sticky-notes-2247431the best ways to convey connected bits of information is through a bulleted list.

Such a list sets each item on a single line after a bullet point. For example...

The five most visited U.S. national parks are:
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park – 11.3 million annual visitors
• Grand Canyon National Park – 5.9 million
• Yosemite National Park – 5 million
• Rocky Mountain National Park – 4.5 million
• Zion National Park – 4.29 million


A bulleted list makes information easier for readers to digest and to refer back to later.

Only create a bulleted list when you’ve got at least two items to include. Even that is iffy, though, for readers probably could just as easily understand your text in a couple of sentences as they could by reading a list. Three to six points – which are more difficult to pick out of a paragraph – are ideal for a bulleted list.

Once your bulleted list gets to seven or more points, however, then it’s time to rethink it. You probably can consolidate points. Or perhaps you may need to split the list into two’s or three’s.

Begin the bulleted list by writing a lead-in line. This is a phrase, clause or sentence that introduces a vertical, bulleted list. It typically appears after the headline and immediately before the first bullet point. In the above example, The five most visited U.S. national parks are: is the lead-in line.

Next comes the bullet point. To create one, in MS Word hit NUM LOCK then after that hit at the same time ALT and the 7 in the keypad.

The bullet point is the beginning of the bulleted line; in the above example, • Yosemite National Park – 5 million is a bulleted line. There are several widely-accepted rules for creating a bulleted line:
• The list of bullet points either can be aligned left or indented.
• Place a blank space between your bullet and the first letter of the text that follows.
• Don’t start bullet point text with articles (a, an, the).
• Only capitalize the first word of the bulleted text, unless the word is a proper noun.
• Use the hanging-indent style; that is, if the text from the first line of bulleted text spills onto a second line, indent the second line and all subsequent text of the bulleted item so it begins beneath where the first line of text started. (Note: This blog does not follow that style to avoid transcoding problems when it is read on different devices.)
• Only use a period at the end of bulleted line if the text forms a complete sentence. Each bulleted line either should be written either as a complete or an incomplete sentence but not a mix of them.
• All text following a bullet point should line up vertically.
• Avoid starting different bullet items with the same word.
• When text after the bullet point is only a line or two long, use compact list format, meaning no space or empty lines between each bulleted item. When most text after the bullet points are three or more lines long, use loose list format, meaning a space or empty line appears between each bulleted item. This list is in compact list format to avoid transcoding issues.
• If the list consists of keywords/phrases followed by definitions/explanations, place the keywords/phrases in boldface and seperate it with a space/en dash/space then in regular font the definitions/explanations
• Sublists follow the the same rules with two exceptions:
○ Use a clear disc (known as an “empty circle”) for the bullet point; to make one, in the keypad hit NUM LOCK then at the same time hit ALT and the 9.
○ Start the new bullet point even with the first left of the text.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



Types of lists you can create for your book

Among the 00000000000000000p best ways to convey information in your nonfiction book is through a list. Lists are easy for readers to scan, and later when needing to recall key takeaways, they can be found quickly.

Lists generally can be broken into two types – run-in or vertical – based on the way they appear in your text.

A run-in list is part of the paragraph rather than separated from it. This usually is a good technique if you have three items in your list. If the items consist of a single word, commas can separate them; if the items consist of phrases, a colon introduces the list while a semicolon is used between items. For example:

The five elements of a story are plot, setting, characters, point of view, and theme.

The five elements of a story are: what happens; when and where it takes place; who is involved with what happens; the perspective from which the events are narrated; and the message or moral.

One kind of run-in list is a numbered list, in which items are separated by numbering them. The numbers are placed in parenthesis. It follows the same aforementioned comma/semicolon rule:

Five types of conflict are: (1) man vs. nature; (2) man vs. man; (3) man vs. society; (4) man vs. God(s); and (5) man vs. himself.

A vertical list separates the points from the sentence and presents in a bulleted format. For example...

The five elements of a story are:
• Plot – What happens
• Setting – When and where it takes place
• Character – Who is involved with what happens
• Point of view – Perspective from which the events are narrated
• Theme – Message or moral of what happened

Once a list is given, you then can elaborate on each item via paragraphs if needed. In such cases, the list essentially introduces a section’s major concepts or supporting points for a statement.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



Create infographics to support your book

Among the 5 Elements of an Infographicbest ways to present information on your blog, website or in your book – especially if writing nonfiction – is an infographic. A representation of information in visual form, you can see an example of one to the right of this text (The infographic is a visual representation of part of this entry!); click on it for a larger version.

Visitors to your blog and website are up to three times more likely to click an infographic than other types of content, such as videos, pictures and text. After all, which looks easier for you to read – this article or the infographic to the right?

That’s because when done right, infographics are easy to digest in very little time and they are engaging thanks to being visually pleasing and sometimes fun.

Even if you have no design experience, you still can make an infographic with ease. Start by writing the text. Then select a design platform to make them; a lot of software and even online apps have templates, sometimes for free. Among the possibilities for designing infographics are Adobe InDesign, Canva, Piktochart, Infograph.ly.

Most infographics include five elements:
Headline – Catchy and engaging, the headline in a few words tells you what the infographic is about, such as How to Be a Better Writer or 5 Tips for Creating the Perfect Pen Name. The headline should be in larger letters than the text that follows it. Sometimes a secondary head or subhead appears below the headline in a smaller font size to elaborate on it.
Text – This consists of the words that support the headline. They often are written as incomplete sentences and in bulleted lists so that they can be quickly read. Always be sure to include the source of the data or information used to create the text.
Imagery – Pictures or illustrations can be used to enhance the text. For example, in the infographic The 5-Step Writing Process, a number might be used to show which step the text represents (such as a 1 for brainstorming) or icons might be used, such as a pen on paper for the third step of drafting.
Whitespace – Whitespace is the empty unfilled space that appears between headlines, text and imagery. Think of whitespace as the canvas upon which you aesthetically balance headlines, text and imagery to maximize readability. It doesn’t have to be white or even a lone color.
Branding – Always include a link to your website on the infographic, usually at the bottom where it won’t compete with the text and imagery. A company logo, if you have one, also is a good idea. As your infographic is shared on the Internet, branding gives you free advertising.

Ideally, you want to construct an infographic that appears in your book. This helps maximize the benefits of your efforts – you enhance the readability of your book while at the same time have an item that be posted on social media platforms to promote the title and your author’s website.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



Writing nonfiction: Direct quotations, paraphrases

When writing Quotation-39627_1280 academic papers or nonfiction books, you’ll likely needed to include the thoughts and observation of experts to bolster your positions or explain your points. These experts’ statements can be presented either as direct quotations and as paraphrases.

A direct quotation provides the expert’s words exactly as they were written or spoken. Should the quotation be shorter than 40 words, they need to be placed in quotation marks:

Bignell (2013) asserts that writing talent likely isn’t genetic: “There’s no doubt, however, that some people spend their formative years garnering the experiences and mastering the skills that later will make them good storytellers.”

If the quotation is 40 words or more, then you would use a block quotation:

Bignell (2013) posits that hard work can play a greater role than genetics in becoming a great writer:

In any case, there are those with “less” talent who work at making themselves writers – and their writing shines brighter than many who are talented. Remember, George Orwell once was viewed as an average kid with no talent; today he is considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

Depending on which style (MLA, APA, Turabian, Chicago Manual, etc.) you’re using to write the paper or nonfiction book, you’ll need to cite the quotation by including at least the name of the quoted expert, the year the book was published or speech given in which the quote appears, and probably the page number in the book. When researching, always write down the author, book title, year the book was published, the publishing company and the city it was published in, and the page number for every quotation and note taken; this will save you time later.

A paraphrase is restating the expert’s words in your own. Sometimes you can state the expert’s ideas in a short or more exciting way; sin such instances, a paraphrase is preferable to reading a long or a dull passage. You also want to cite the expert when paraphrasing, though often a page number isn’t required.

The previously used quotation could be paraphrased as:

Bignell (2013) believes that even if some people are genetically inclined to be great writers, hard work still can produce quality literature, as was the case with Orwell.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.