Scrivener How-To Books

Books on Scrivener

The writing and story development program Scrivener is taking the world by storm. This amazing software has the ability to take users through the basic processes of structuring a full-length novel, writing and developing the story, then delivering it either as a manuscript for an agent or publisher or as an ebook direct to Kindle or iBook. The books below take you through the steps to becoming a successful writer, using Scrivener's host of features you can mold the program to work most efficiently for you.

Take Control of Scrivener 2

By Kirk McElhearn
In Take Control of Scrivener 2, an eBook from TidBITS Publishing, experienced author and senior Macworld contributor Kirk McElhearn walks the reader through using all of Scrivener’s main features for a real-world writing project. Note that this book currently covers only the Mac version of Scrivener. Available in ePub, PDF and MOBI. Buy now ($10)

Writing a Novel with Scrivener

By David Hewson
Excerpt from Amazon.com: Bestselling author David Hewson, creator of the successful Nic Costa series, offers a personal, highly-focussed guide to using this powerful application to create a novel, now newly-updated to cover the brand new release version for Windows.
Hewson, a Scrivener user for years who’s written five of his popular novels in the application, takes users through the basic processes of structuring a full-length novel, writing and developing the story, then delivering it either as a manuscript for an agent or publisher or as an ebook direct to Kindle or iBook.
Alongside the practical advice, he offers a working novelist’s insight into the process of writing popular fiction. And this book is, of course, created entirely within Scrivener itself, from development through to publication on Kindle, a process followed in detail in the book. Available in Kindle format. Buy at Amazon.com ($5.99)

Scrivener for Writers

By Ivan Pope
Excerpt from Amazon.com: They say everyone has a book in them, but writing any long piece is a complicated process, from the original idea, marshalling of sources, research, filing of texts, creation of structure, rough drafting, editing and production of final document.
From outlining ideas through to output of a formatted hard copy for an agent or publisher; from organisation of research through to the automatic generation of a Kindle ready copy, Scrivener for Writers helps you maket he best of this superb and economic piece of software.
Over 300 pages of content and illustrations include How to Write a Book; Getting Started; Get to grips with Projects; Getting Set Up; Finding Your Way around; Planning your Project; Writing and Editing; Managing Your Writing; Backup and Saving; Output and Printing
This is the Apple Mac OS X edition. Available in Kindle format Buy at Amazon.com ($4.99)

Scrivener for Dummies

By Gwen Hernandez
Excerpt from Amazon.com: Whether you’re a planner, a seat-of-the-pants writer, or something in between, Scrivener provides tools for every stage of the writing process. Scrivener For Dummies walks you step-by-step through this popular writing software’s best features. This friendly For Dummies guide starts with the basics, but even experienced scriveners will benefit from the helpful tips for getting more from their favourite writing software.
From idea inception to manuscript submission, Scrivener for Dummies makes it easier than ever to plan, write, organize, and revise your masterpiece in Scrivener.
Buy at Amazon.com ($4.99)

Her Majesty's Explorer: A Steampunk Bedtime Story

Her Majesty's Explorer: a Steampunk bedtime story It's a dirty job, but he loves it. St.John Murphy Alexander walks the world exploring for the Queen. He sees the most extraordinary landscapes, creatures and weather. He gets very, VERY dirty. Exhausted, he returns to H.Q. and gets ready for a well deserved rest and some sweet dreams. This gentle book, written by Steampunk novelist Emilie P. Bush and brilliantly illustrated by William Kevin Petty, is the perfect wind-down for your little adventurer.




Reviews from around the Steampunk world: 

 "The illustrations are adorable!" ~ Beyond Victoriana Blog

 "I did enjoy Steamduck. A wonderful whimsical story so real you might feel a little seasick. But in a good way." Jenny ~The Bloggess

 "St John Murphy Alexander marches the young reader through the excitement of exploration and duty, and lulls us with the tender familiarity of a comforting bedtime routine. The story is curious and intrepid, yet ready to be tucked in for a good night's sleep." ~ Nancy Overbury, Overbury Ink.

 "St. John Murphy Alexander, "Her Majesty's Explorer," is literature's most charming mechanical man since L. Frank Baum's Tin Man." ~ Jim Barnes Independent Publisher Magazine.

 "I just finished reading Her Majesty's explorer to Chloe (9 years old) and Isabella (just 6). They both loved it, and both wished they could have their very own Steamduck." Captain Robert of Abney Park.

 "Utterly charming" ~M.K. Hobson, Steampunk Novelist

 "This is the perfect childhood book for steampunk parents to introduce their children to the steampunk subculture. I use that term loosely. Steampunk has managed to increasingly wedge its way into popular culture and this book drives that opening wider and opens it to the youngest of readers." John Iwasz, ComicBooked.com

 "My syn­apses have always fired for a bot in uni­form..." ~ S. J. Chambers, co-author of The Steampunk Bible

 "A story that is sweet and dreamy-a perfect bedtime story and a great introduction for children to Steampunk." ~ Benito, Corral, Betwixt Book Reviews.

 "Absolutely charming. It is the Dr. Seuss of Steampunk, and... I LOVED it." ~ DJ Doctor Q, The Artifice Club and The Steampunk Chronicle.

Curiosity Quills Kindle Giveaway

For those of you who love free stuff, here's a great contest from Curiosity Quills.  Visit their site for more details, but here is their post with the details.

"In case you haven’t heard, Amazon has recently announced their new Amazon Kindle Fire - a 7″, color, Android-powered successor to the respected and ubiquitous Kindle family.
As someone who bought two third-generation Kindles for my family, two more as gifts, and use the Android Kindle application extensively, I can safely say that the electronic reading experience is getting better and better with every iteration.
Needless to say, the whole Curiosity Quills Press team is excited. And to celebrate, we’re throwing a GIVEAWAY! Yes, one lucky winner will be receiving their very own bundle of fiery book-loving joy. Drawing will take place on December 1, 2011, so hurry and get your entries in! We hope you’ll participate and win!"

Why not take a chance.  Enter and win!

Curiosity Quills Now Open For Submissions

Curiosity Quills is now accepting submissions.  The following announcement is taken from their website:

Curiosity Quills Press is the publishing arm of Curiosity Quills, a boutique publisher of hard-hitting dark sci-fi, speculative fiction, and paranormal works aimed at adults, young adults, and new adults. We are also a purveyor of anthologies thereof. We provide our authors with a flexible array of quality premium services, marketing support, and technical know-how, while ensuring that these literary marauders are truly the cream of the crop through a highly selective acquisition process.

Curiosity Quills is now taking submissions.  The following announcement is taken from their site:

We’re Looking For
Thought-provoking, mind-twisting rollercoasters – challenge our mind, turn our world upside down, and make us question. Those are the makings of a true literary marauder.
Serialization Potential - If your work was made with serialization in mind, we want to hear from you. If not – that’s okay! We still want to hear from you.
Agented submission are not required, but will receive precedence over unagented ones.
Length Guidelines: Keep in mind, these are just guidelines – we DO make exceptions.
Novellas: 15k-45k words
Young Adult: 45k to 75k words
New Adult / Upper YA Novels: 60k-100k words
Adult Novels: 70k-120k words

Instructions
To submit a manuscript for consideration, please send an email to editor@curiosityquills.com with the following:

A one-page query letter containing your genre, title, wordcount, and a brief blurb about the book.
The first five (5) double-spaced pages
For serialized works, please include information about update frequency, update length, and projected series duration.
Established authors are welcome to query with a standard proposal package of three chapters, a synopsis, and a query.
PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE ANY PERSONAL WRITING CREDENTIALS, AWARDS, REVIEWS, OR PROMOTIONAL LINKS

Format Requirements
If your manuscript is requested, please make sure to format it according to the following:

RTF files only
12 pt Times New Roman font
double-spaced
.5″ indents
Note: Unless we request a revise and resubmit, full manuscript rejections are final.

Note: In addition to published works, we are also interested in blogger contributions to our literary portal.

Good Luck!
http://curiosityquills.com/submission-guidelines/author-submissions/

Fantasy or Science Fiction?

Looking for some fantasy or science fiction?  Here is a flow chart from SF Signal with the top 100 NPR Fantasy and Science Fiction Books.   If you’re new to genre, then now is the time to get familiar with it.  Last month, NPR polled readers to determine the top 100 sci-fi and fantasy books of all time. The creative minds at SF Signal have transformed the NPR list into a nifty flowchart that will help you choose the right novel for you. You can see a much larger version of the graphic if you click the photo. Where do you end up?  I got Michael Moorcock's, The Elric Saga. Have fun!

Zoe Winters Free Ebook - Kept

Greta is a werecat whose tribe plans to sacrifice her during the next full moon. Her only hope for survival is Dayne, a sorcerer who once massacred most of the tribe. What’s that thing they say about the enemy of your enemy?

If you would like to receive a coupon code for the Zoe Winters book Kept, free in the ebook format of your choice, please subscribe to her newsletter by doing the following:

Send a blank email with the subject line: “Subscribe” to: FreeKept@gmail.com IMPORTANT NOTE: Do NOT use the contact form. You must send an actual blank email to FreeKept@gmail.com in order to get Kept free.

Zoe only sends out newsletters when she has a new release or something big (like a contest) to announce. If her work is not to your taste, you will have the option to unsubscribe from the newsletter when you receive one. Please use a valid email address or she won’t be able to send Kept to you.

Self-Publishing Success Story

I may be late to the party for Amanda Hocking. Partly due to recently stumbling over her blog post from last August. While I have never been a proponent for self-publishing, her comments seem to lend some legitimacy to the trend. Her candor is refreshing as she describes how her success began and what she has learned during the process. Amanda shares her self-publishing success:

"Also on Monday, I released the fourth book in my vampire series. It peaked #25 in the entire Kindle store. If you're wondering how many sales it took the book to get that high: 150 in a two hour period. Also on Monday - in one 24-hour period - I made $1200. Working at my day job full time, the most I'd ever made in a month is $1000. I just made more in a day than I used to make in a month.

Things that should be noted: I just released a book people were excited for. That isn't my average sales. That fourth book is already about to slip out of the top #100 and it's only been in it for four days. So don't think that's usually how awesome my sales are. It's not. I know that. I don't expect days like that to happen very often. But it was still an awesome day."

While poking fun at her clichéd topics and characters, her self-publishing success is real. Yet, she tempers it with the knowledge that it isn't necessarily going to continue at the pace it has. Her use of Twitter, facebook, goodreads, Amazon and writer's blogs to spread the word of her e-books should read as book promotion 101.

Not bad when you consider she started with a love of writing, but her self-publishing success was spurred by the desire to earn a couple hundred dollars to go see the Jim Henson exhibit coming to Chicago.

Check out her article here, it is genuinely interesting and a good read.



Edit:  After reading more on Amanda, I found an informative article by Nathan Bransford (most of you should know him, if not bookmark his blog now!).  He talks about Amanda's success and the breakdown of traditional vs. agency e-book vs. self-published e-book.  You can read his appraisal here.