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Manuscript Appraisal Agency

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Self-publishing

Show, Don’t Tell

Kit Carstairs · September 4, 2018 · 2 Comments

Show, don't tell

If you've ever received an appraisal from The Manuscript Agency, in all likelihood we would've talked about ‘showing, not telling’ at some point in the report. It’s not because we like repeating ourselves, or regurgitating information to make our lives easier – it’s because … [Read more...] about Show, Don’t Tell

Filed Under: Editing, Guide To Writing, Self-publishing

Author interview with action/thriller writer Keith McArdle

Kit Carstairs · November 28, 2017 · 1 Comment

Author, Kieth McArdle

We took a moment to chat with Keith McArdle; author and sometime MAA client. We wanted to know a little more about his life as a writer; how he writes, what he writes and what drives him. He was kind enough to take the time to tell us all about it… Can you tell us a little bit … [Read more...] about Author interview with action/thriller writer Keith McArdle

Filed Under: Adventure fiction, Australian Authors, Australian fiction, Australian Writers, Author interview, authors, Book marketing, Books, Creative Writing, Crime fiction, Editing, Fiction, Genre, Keith McArdle, Manuscript Appraisal, Manuscript Assessment, Manuscript critique, Manuscripts, Military fiction, Narrative, narrative structure, Novel Writing, Novice authors, Plot, Publishing, Publishing sales and marketing, Self-publishing, Thriller fiction, Words, Write a novel, Writers Tagged With: Author interview, Book marketing, editing, Keith McArdle, Military fiction, publishing, self-publishing, Suspense fiction, Writing

Editing Part 1 – What is editing?

Kit Carstairs · October 17, 2017 · 2 Comments

Editing is a job that is mostly misrepresented and overwhelmingly misunderstood. Behind most great works of literature is a dedicated editor. As an editor one of the most frustrating misconceptions about our role is that we simply fix spelling and punctuation errors. In fact, … [Read more...] about Editing Part 1 – What is editing?

Filed Under: authors, Books, Creative Writing, Editing, Manuscript Appraisal, Manuscript Assessment, Manuscript critique, Manuscripts, Narrative, narrative structure, Non-fiction, Novel Writing, Publishing, Publishing myths, Self-publishing, word choices, Write a novel, Writers Tagged With: appraisals, Books, copy editing, editing, editors, Grammar, literature, manuscript critique, manuscripts, novel writing, Publishing Houses, spelling and punctuation, structural editing, Writing

Writing a Cover Letter

Kit Carstairs · April 14, 2016 · 40 Comments

When I wrote my article on Writing a Synopsis, I mentioned that it was one of the most challenging tasks for authors. The cover letter (otherwise known as a Query Letter), by comparison, should actually be pretty simple. The main aim of your cover letter is to give the … [Read more...] about Writing a Cover Letter

Filed Under: authors, Book marketing, Books, Cover letter, Cover letters, Literary agents, Manuscripts, Narrative, Publishing, Publishing sales and marketing, Self-publishing, Synopses, Synopsis, Write a novel, Writers, Writing a cover letter Tagged With: agents, authors, cover letters, editors, Publishers, publishing, synopsis, Writers, Writing

#ConfusedWords: ANY MORE vs ANYMORE

Kit Carstairs · November 26, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Well, like everything with the English language, everyone has a different opinion on this… and as it is an ever-evolving language often all the thoughts are valid. Here are the schools of thought on this particular ‘debate’: Why are we talking about this? ‘Anymore’ is simply … [Read more...] about #ConfusedWords: ANY MORE vs ANYMORE

Filed Under: #confusedwords, Anymore vs any more, Books, Confused words, Editing, Manuscripts, Publishing, Self-publishing, word choices, Words, Write a novel Tagged With: adjective, adverbs, any more, anymore, authors, confusing words, determiner, English, language, word choices, words, Writers, Writing

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From The Blog

  • Author Interview with adventure/thriller writer, Terry Quinn
  • Show, Don’t Tell
  • Author Interview with fantasy fiction writer, Laurie Bell
  • Author Interview with fantasy fiction author Katie Taylor
  • Author Interview with aged care professional Felicity Chapman

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Manuscript Appraisal Agency

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Katoomba NSW 2780

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