When you’re writing a book, at some point you will need to review its structure. This approach varies from writers who do this at the very start of their book process and continue refining it as they write their book, to those who just start writing with a very loose agenda. A well-structured book is crucial to its readability: too much jumbling and flitting from one point to the next and your reader will have a hard time keeping up – at worst they will stop reading the boo

I’m going to start by saying working with an editor doesn’t mean you’re a terrible writer or you are failing with your book. All the best authors out there work with an editor (just take a look at the acknowledgements: the editor(s) is often one of the first people an author thanks!). Taking that first step to work with an editor is a huge one, so well done if you’re thinking about working with an editor to shape and hone your book. Having your book professionally edited wi

Copyediting is your book’s final edit. It’s the line-by-line edit that amends any grammatical or spelling errors, and makes revisions to improve flow and readability. This means once you receive your book back from the copyeditor, you are expected to focus on which revisions you agree with, rewriting or deleting huge chunks of your book. Once your book has been copyedited, the next stages in the publishing process are typesetting (formatting your manuscript into a book) and

When you think about punctuation, do you ever think this applies to bullet points? It took me a while to love copyediting bullet points. I used to get easily flustered by the varying options for punctuating them, especially when the style guide for punctuating bullet points is down to me (as I work with self-publishing authors). But I’ve now honed my bullet point punctuation, so punctuating bullet points is something I now look forward to! Now I’m sharing my perfected pun

Do you write the book you want, or the one you think you should? I hadn’t planned it this way, but the start of a new year (January 2026) is a natural time to think about writing or publishing a book. New year, new goals might be a bit of a cliché, but we just can’t help setting new or revised goals for the year, and for many aspiring authors, this will be the year you write your book. But before you start on chapter one, there’s an important question to consider: are you g

When it comes to publishing your book, I bet you’ve heard of editors (hi!), book cover designers, proofreaders, and marketers. But have you heard of beta readers? You’re not alone if you haven’t. Most first-time authors I speak to haven’t heard of beta readers, but it’s something I recommend any self-publishing author adds to their publication timeline. By the end of this blog post, you'll know: - What a beta reader is - Why you should use beta r

Microsoft Word is still regarded as the industry standard for writing and editing. There’s nothing to stop you using the likes of Google docs or Apple’s Pages, but they won’t have the full capability offered by Microsoft Word. However, it’s important to stress here that writing and editing is not the same as publishing. When it comes to formatting and getting content ready to publish, you need to remember that Microsoft Word is a word processor. So it’s top dog for writing

Self-publishing a top-quality book involves more than just writing great content. One crucial element that could make all the difference to producing a professional and polished book is including the right front and back matter – from the contents page to the acknowledgements, and how to get those wonderful reviews for your front cover. Executing this with finesse will elevate your book so it’s on an equal footing with traditionally published books. This blog post will guide

Have you ever wondered when you’re supposed to use digits and when to write out numbers in non-fiction? Perhaps this isn’t something you’ve considered before, but now you’re wondering whether your manuscript contains an unintentional mixture of the two and you have no idea how to put it right. I can help with that! I’ll guide you through the standard principles for how to write numbers in non-fiction − with a special section dedicated to memoir. Why am I treating memoir

Autobiography is not the same as memoir I’ve noticed a growing trend with celebrities writing ‘memoir’ when they really mean ‘autobiography’. I imagine this is because it sounds more literary or even trendy to say memoir rather than autobiography. Before I go into the detail of the differences between an autobiography and memoir, let me clarify one crucial point. There is nothing wrong with writing an autobiography! If you’ve written an autobiography, then call it that (said

Does your writing bank comprise various blog posts, journal entries, letters, sheaves of thoughts and notes? And are you now struggling to come with some sort of structure or arc to turn these into a book? One option is to STOP forcing this content into some sort of structure and instead let its power come from the composition, message, and intention of each entry. There are two further options within this approach: 1) turn them into a book of essays or letters 2) create a hy

If you’ve been writing for a while or you’ve studied the writing craft then you’ve probably heard of (and are maybe sick of!) ‘show don’t tell when writing’. I work best when I have examples to work from, so I’ve included a few examples of what great ‘showing’ looks like in writing. Show vs tell is especially pertinent in fiction, but it’s also vital in memoir and narrative non-fiction. Oh, and don't worry, you don't have to turn into Dylan Thomas to be great at writing you

Yes, I am mentioning Christmas in August. But seeing as Christmas is a popular deadline for launching books (who doesn’t love getting a book for Christmas?), let’s see what’s involved to get your book published for Christmas. I imagine you’re thinking that August to Christmas gives you LOADS of time for publishing, but if Christmas is a deadline you’re working towards, there are several factors to consider. While I am referring to self-publishing your book in time for Christm

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been sharing my thoughts and advice on how to switch your mindset towards your first draft, so that you can expect less and achieve more. Here, I collate my various analogies and reminders so you have somewhere you can turn to the next time you think ‘This book is rubbish!’. Read on to find out why your book is like a pancake; the difference between a first and final draft; what the first draft is for; why I don’t want to read your first draft,

Rachel Ann Cullen has published four non-fiction books. Her first two books were published by Blink Publishing, whose featured authors include Josh Widdecombe, Katherine Ryan, and Lou Sanders. Her first book was published in 2018 and her second followed in 2020. Her third book was published in 2022 by Vertebrate Publishing. In December 2022 I received an unexpected Christmas present. It was clearly a book, but I didn’t recognize the return address. When I opened it on Chris

I’m sure you’re aware of the power of storytelling in your non-fiction book, especially if you’re writing a memoir. But are you telling stories or simply stating your version of events? Here’s what I mean to explain the difference. Version 1 I finally got an appointment with the physio. She identified the cause of my knee pain and gave me some exercises to do, and was hopeful I’d recover in 4 to 6 weeks. Version 2 After 19 long weeks I finally got an appointment with the phys

Whatever type of business you have, writing is an important part of getting it seen by the right people. Whether it’s social media posts,...