Jody Lynn Nye is a writer of fantasy and science fiction books and short stories.

Since 1987 she has published over 45 books and more than 150 short stories, including epic fantasies, contemporary humorous fantasy, humorous military science fiction, and edited three anthologies. She collaborated with Anne McCaffrey on a number of books, including the New York Times bestseller, Crisis on Doona. She also wrote eight books with Robert Asprin, and continues both of Asprin's Myth-Adventures series and Dragons series. Her newest series is the Lord Thomas Kinago adventures, the most recent of which is Rhythm of the Imperium (Baen Books), a humorous military SF novel. She also runs the two-day intensive writers' workshop at DragonCon.

Her other recent books are Myth-Fits (Ace Books), Wishing on a Star (Arc Manor Press); an e-collection of cat stories, Cats Triumphant! (Event Horizon); Dragons Run (fourth in the Dragons series) and Launch Pad, an anthology of science fiction stories co-edited with Mike Brotherton (WordFire). She is also happy to announce the reissue of her Mythology series and Taylor's Ark series from WordFire Publishing. Jody runs the two-day intensive writers' workshop at DragonCon, and she and her husband, Bill Fawcett are the book reviewers for Galaxy's Edge Magazine.

Bill Fawcett & Associates has packaged over 350 books science fiction, fantasy, military, non-fiction, and licensed novels and series for major publishers. As an author Bill has written or co-authored over a dozen books plus close to one hundred articles and short stories. Bill has collaborated on several mystery novels including with Chelsea Quinn Yarbro including the Authorized Mycroft Holmes novels. As an anthologist Bill has edited or co-edited over 40 anthologies.

Once More, With Feeling by Jody Lynn Nye

The newest volume in the Million Dollar Writing series, Once More, With Feeling is a guide by New York Times Bestselling author Jody Lynn Nye to revising your finished manuscript. Nye goes point by point over the topics you should review when working toward a final draft of a new book. From narrative hook to resolution, with discussions of formatting, resources, and numerous examples of problem-solving, this volume should be by the elbow of any aspiring writer.

 
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

Congratulations! You finished a book. You're exhausted and excited. When you typed the words "The End" (or just acknowledged that the final period was the last one), you ascended into an echelon that fewer than two percent of all the would-be writers ever do: the ones who have finished something that they wrote.

Go ahead and pat yourself on the back. It's a real attainment. You have every reason to be proud. You put your ideas on paper (let's be real: on your hard drive). If it was nonfiction, you organized your facts and checked them, presented them in an interesting manner, and concluded with your observations about your chosen subject. If it was fiction, you built a world from scratch, peopled it with characters whom you like and believe in, set them on a journey in which they succeeded or failed to accomplish their goal, and had fun doing it.

You had fun, didn't you? If you didn't, I promise you your readers will be able to tell. But we can handle that part later.

Now is the time to celebrate in the way that you like best. Pop the champagne cork, buy yourself something to commemorate, go out to dinner with loved ones, sleep without feeling that the book is going to kick you out of bed in the middle of the night to write something you forgot. Take a break.

(Musical interlude)

Did you take a break? Good.

Now it's time to move onto the next stage. No, it isn't where you attach the document to a message and send it to your agent or publisher or an online book publication service. It's time to revise your manuscript.

When you write, you write as a reader. You wrote this book because you believed that it didn't exist before, and it needed to. You put into the story everything that you would love to find in a book. You fulfilled those fantasies. Scratched those itches. Brought the story to a satisfying and appropriate conclusion. Well done. Really. There is no sarcasm here. I mean it.

When you revise, though, you need to read it as an editor. Now is the time to make the book the best you can make it. Let's begin.