Anymore vs. Any more

Nicholas C. Rossis

I recently came across Writing Explained, a grammar website that can be an invaluable resource for authors. This little gem is from one of their posts. If you enjoy learning about the English language’s intricacies, this is the perfect website for you!

So, what is the Difference Between Anymore and Any more?

The traditional (although now less common) spelling is as two separate words: any more. In the last 50 years or so, the single word anymore has increased in use and a distinction between the one-word and two-word spellings has emerged.

Any more as a Determiner

What does “any more” mean? When “any more” is used to mean an indefinite quantity of something or even the smallest amount, it is functioning as a determiner. For example,

• Do you want any more food?
• Is there any more pie left?
• I can’t eat any more food; I am completely stuffed.
• I…

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How To Write a Cozy Mystery

Get It Write

—-Lea Wait

So – you want to write a mystery? You don’t know too much about police procedures, or regulations for private detectives, or the law, but you enjoy settling in with a good book in which the bad guys are caught and the good guys (and gals) win out in the end?  Writing a mystery might just be your cup of tea.

Or thimble of arsenic.

Why not try? Traditional mysteries, also known as cozies, are in the Agatha Christie tradition where, it’s often said, “more tea is spilled than blood.” They’ve been popular for decades, and, despite today’s increased popularity of suspense and noir books, are still selling well.

Their readers and authors are predominantly, but not exclusively, women. They even have their own conference, Malice Domestic, held each spring just outside of Washington, D.C., and their own awards: the Agathas, named after you-know-who.

The first book in my Shadows Antique Print Mystery series, Shadows…

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Infographic: March of the AI

Nicholas C. Rossis

My latest book, A Heaven for Toasters, takes place in the 22nd century. Naturally, I refer to a number of novel technologies, including the use of Artificial Intelligence assistants and androids. But AI also includes anything from automatic vehicles to chatbots. Even though we usually associate it only with virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa, AI is already surrounding us, controlling anything from cochlear implants to Google’s search results.

Techjury recently shared an amazing Infographic with the history of AI… and some amazing predictions:

• By 2025, the global AI market is expected to be almost $60 billion; in 2016 it was $1.4 billion
• Global GDP will grow by $15.7 trillion by 2030 thanks to AI
• AI can increase business productivity by 40%
• AI startups grew 14 times over the last two decades
• Investment in AI startups grew 6 times since 2000
• Already 77% of the devices we…

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5 Tips for More Effective Writing

Nicholas C. Rossis

This is a guest post by Liana Simmons of Ewritingservice.com. Ewritingservice provides effective communication of your message across to the reader. 

Good writing is not necessarily effective writing but effective writing leads to good writing. While everybody has their own idea on what constitutes good writing, defining effective writing is simple: it gets the job done.

When writing, your message should be plain, simple, and well understood by others. Writing is a form of communication. Just as a person may not communicate effectively when talking, one might fail to get their thoughts across in writing, too.

1. The objective

Ask yourself what you want to achieve with your writing. The written word is more than just a means for informing the reader. To achieve the objective of your writing you need to be clear about it yourself: do you want the reader to feel…

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Free Transparent Logos and Images

Nicholas C. Rossis

I recently posted about free fonts and free 3D mockups. This latest resource rounds up nicely these two design-related posts by throwing some great images into the mix.

PNGkey has a stunning number of free PNG resources. For those unfamiliar with PNG, it is a graphics file format that allows transparency. This lets you download a resource such as the flames below and spruce up an existing design, as I do in the example below:

Here is an image of flames I downloaded from PNGkey

Here is a 3D mockup I made with DIY Book Covers

I combined the two for a more impressive design

Alternatively, you can use the images to create a new design from scratch. With thousands of images, you’re spoiled for choice:

Finally, you can add logos to designs such as banners or websites.

I hope you find PNGkey useful. Once again, many thanks to…

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Using Instagram to Promote Your Book [Long Post]

via Using Instagram to Promote Your Book [Long Post]

“Instagram is a relatively new social media platform that focuses on photo and video sharing. Users can browse post by tags (the good old #hashtag) and by location.

It’s fairly new in comparison with some other social media you may use (see my post on Twitter), but it is the fastest growing of all social media platforms and as such, should not be overlooked. As I did for so long [smacks forehead].”

Merlin, Tamer of Dragons

Nicholas C. Rossis

Merlin the wizard (c. 1400). Image: Vintage News

Everyone knows the story of Merlin, the wizard genius behind Arthur’s reign. As the Vintage News reports, a chance discovery by historians at the University of Bristol added a new angle to the old tale: dragons.

The historians found a set of important 13th-century manuscripts hidden inside a younger book. The manuscript fragments contain extracts from a previously unknown version of the Vulgate Cycle, a set of Old French texts that tell the story of King Arthur.

The seven handwritten fragments of parchment tell a familiar story from the Vulgate Cycle, but with a number of key differences that may shed new light on the history of the Arthurian legend.

The Vulgate Cycle

King Arthur. Image: Vintage News

The story of King Arthur and his wizard Merlin was a popular medieval romance, most notably written down as Le Morte d’Arthur by

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Infographic: Facebook Ads Placements

Nicholas C. Rossis

Even though I’ve personally switched from Facebook Ads to Amazon and Bookbub ones, I’m well aware that Facebook advertising is far from dead. However, every Facebook update seems to change everything, including where you can advertise. Adding to the confusion is the fact that Facebook now lets you advertise on Instagram and Messenger as well as the so-called Audience Network, Instant Articles, and Facebook itself.

If all this makes your head spin, here’s a helpful Infographic, courtesy of Jomel Alos. First published on Spiralytics, it not only describes where your Ad will appear in each of these networks but also explains how to pick your desired network based on your objectives. Do you want to let everyone know your name–aka brand awareness? Facebook and Instagram are best. Do you want to increase sales? Ignore Instagram. And so forth.

Check out the Infographic below and read the full post on…

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Choosing your Audiobook Voice

Nicholas C. Rossis

Image: Pixabay

As audiobooks are the fastest-growing segment in publishing, I have been researching that market. One thing I realized is that choosing a narrator is probably the most important decision you make when you turn your book into an Audiobook. People who love audiobooks may buy your audiobook because they like your work, your genre, your cover, or your price. When they actually start listening to your audiobook however, one of the most important factors to decide whether they’ll continue listening to the end, is the quality of the reading.

So, how do you choose the right voice? Leaving out the financial aspects (if you can afford to pay the narrator the fee he is asking for or if you choose a royalty scheme), there are a few issues to take into consideration, from “demographics” to acting performance. Here are a few tips.

Demographics

So. Man or Woman? Younger…

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A Free Mockup Book Cover Maker

Nicholas C. Rossis

I recently discovered DIY Book Design (thank you, Krystallia!) and just had to share the news.

DIY Book Design has a number of useful tools and tutorials, all aimed at helping you produce the perfect image for your book. From a number of tutorials helping with the design of your book cover to taking that cover and transforming it into a great-looking 3D mockup, DIY Book Design has got you covered.

It’s this last feature that caught my eye. You get to choose between a Single and Composite look for your books. The Single look lets you display your book as a Kindle/tablet/mobile/paper standalone image:

The Composite view lets you design a combination featuring various formats:

Generating the mockup is as simple as 1-2-3, as the interface guides you through the entire process. You get the option of creating a white or transparent background for your books. The whole process…

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