by Ragini Werner | 20 January 2025 | Publishing, Writing
Publishing can be an expensive endeavor. But self-publishing offers many inexpensive options. Following the success of her first guest post on the Bashful Blagger, indie author Valerie Fuqua now shares what she has learned about cost-cutting in self-publishing, and...
by Ragini Werner | 12 January 2025 | Real life, Writing
Don’t you just love looking things up? I do. For me the habit started when I was a kid in New Zealand. One day a travelling salesman knocked on our door. Dad answered and before the man could finish his spiel, Dad held up a hand to stop him: “We’ll take it.” The poor...
by Ragini Werner | 6 January 2025 | Marketing
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not showing you Amazon’s rankings for my book because the scores are so terrific. They’re not! They only hint at the vast scale of its competition. What can we do to help people looking for a good read to pick our book out of so many...
by Ragini Werner | 30 December 2024 | Sapphic, Writing
And now, for something completely different! Instead of my usual (earnest) blog, this week I’m celebrating the new year by posting a spot of SapphFic that’s supposed to be… funny. Introducing the dyke-namic duo, Sappho Watergate and Rachel PaperKlippe. Enjoy! Scroll...
by Ragini Werner | 23 December 2024 | Writing
“Tis the season to be jolly” so let’s start with a jolly riddle. Q. Why are Santa’s Elves shy? A. Because they have low Elf esteem. On a less jolly note, another question. Have you ever wanted to write but can’t because you know that whatever you put down on paper...
by Ragini Werner | 16 December 2024 | Writing
No bones about it, we all know length matters. Given the choice between the long and the short, I know which match I’d pick, any day. Long is safe, it’s seductive, it’s impressive. The longer, the stronger, they say, and in many cases I’d agree with that happily. In...
by Ragini Werner | 8 December 2024 | Editing
This week’s blog showcases Valerie Fuqua (sounds like Few-kway), an indie author/artist who’s worked as a freelance developmental editor for over ten years. Valerie is deeply immersed in several author communities devoted to helping fellow writers improve their work....
by Ragini Werner | 2 December 2024 | Editing, Writing
So, you’ve finished your masterpiece. You’ve had it reviewed. You’ve revised it, polished some more, and at last you feel ready to release it to . . . no, not the world! What you need next is an editor. Here guest blogger Arlene Prunkl from PenUltimate Editorial...
by Ragini Werner | 25 November 2024 | Real life, Sapphic
Em Buckman is the award-winning author of Bent Is Not Broken (LGBTQIA+ history/memoir). She is currently working on a new novel, Women Of Note (historical fiction). In this guest blog, Em explains why she—a cis-het person—is an outspoken ally of our demonised,...
by Ragini Werner | 18 November 2024 | Writing
If you’ve never been hit by writer’s block, either by luck or because you’re stuck in… a river in Egypt, this blog is not for you. For the rest of us, read on! Here some survivors of the block, writers found mainly on Facebook, share their thoughts on how to beat it....