Tips & Tricks

All Posts
Writing
Publishing
Tips & Tricks
Behind the Story
Personal Stories

Sep 5, 2020
4 min

Feature Chat: Author Mallory McCartney

I sat down with author Mallory McCartney to chat about her experience as an author and dealing with a multi-layered story writing

100

Rachael Bell-Irving

Apr 4, 2020
3 min

Creating Creatures 101

Welcome to your class on creating original fantastical creatures

100

Rachael Bell-Irving

Mar 12, 2020
2 min

The Editing Chopping Block

Check out my list of words on the editing chopping block for when it's time to bring out the red pen

170

Rachael Bell-Irving

Mar 12, 2020
3 min

7 Tips to combat writer's block

No matter how many great ideas a writer may have, most of us struggle with mental creative blocks at some point. How do you tackle it...?

Rachael Bell-Irving

Feb 18, 2020
3 min

The Costs of Self Publishing

Is self-publishing expensive? Well, it can be depending on how you go about it. Here are some of my costs, and my experience with budgets...

270

Rachael Bell-Irving

Feb 8, 2020
6 min

Reflecting on the Past

I have learned a lot about indie publishing in a very short amount of time, and most of these lessons have been through trial by fire....

150

Rachael Bell-Irving

Feb 4, 2020
4 min

Beware the Vanity Publisher

The distinguishing difference between traditional publishing and independent (or indie) publishing is who holds the purse strings. In...

230

Rachael Bell-Irving

Nov 20, 2019
2 min

Crash Course to Writing a Book

15 steps to writing a book

100

Rachael Bell-Irving

Jun 13, 2019
2 min

It's All in the Name

One of the smallest details of writing a book, that often has a major impact on both writer and reader, is the name of characters....

Rachael Bell-Irving

May 23, 2019
3 min

So You Want to be an Author?

Whether you are interested in traditional publishing, indie publishing, or both, the world of publishing feels like a mysterious...

100

{"items":["5f400ac4190a8f0017f8feb2","5e7f926bf291360017bef301","5e0d31019536040017d6210b","5d859d26ffd9110017af3f8f","5dfa5d81f5c7620017eb0b55","5e27a26bdc2b2200175d9035","5e27b01bd1c35a001733aa55","5dd4caa09579190017cee1c5","5d8a6834c45fcd00175b9032","5d8a67c524bd2f001772d1fa"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"fill","cubeRatio":1.3333333333333333,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":30,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":32,"galleryMargin":0,"scatter":0,"rotatingScatter":"","chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":0,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCropRatios":"","columnWidths":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":3,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":0,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":true,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":"SHOW_BELOW","galleryTextAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"nothing","fullscreen":true,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","slideAnimation":"SCROLL","scrollDirection":0,"scrollDuration":400,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imagePlacementAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":350,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":50,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":1,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"jsonStyleParams":"","gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":292,"allowTitle":true,"allowContextMenu":true,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"itemBorderColor":{"value":"rgba(24,24,24,0.25)"},"showVideoPlayButton":true,"galleryLayout":2,"calculateTextBoxHeightMode":"MANUAL","textsVerticalPadding":-15,"targetItemSize":292,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|fill|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":true,"externalInfoHeight":350,"externalInfoWidth":0},"container":{"width":940,"galleryWidth":972,"galleryHeight":0,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}