Ebooks and e-courses in detail
Affa offers a selection of ebooks and e-courses for writers. Scroll down for information on each one.
HOW TO BE AN AWESOME AUTHOR
You can write awesome stories. All you need is an idea, some characters, a setting, a plot and-
Whoa there! This is starting to sound like hard work. And you know what? It is hard work, but it can still be fun. In this book you’ll find out lots of ways to make those awesome stories even more awesome.
You’ll learn about
· Ideas - Tools
· Beginnings - Middles - Ends
· Characters - Plots and paces
· Settings and periods
· Awesome words - Not-so-awesome words
· Dialogue - Editing
And lots and lots more.
How to be an Awesome Author is the handbook for writers who are seven - fourteen (though older people might find it fun as well) who want to turn their awesome stories into even more awesomely awesome stories. It is available as a large format paperback (see the Paperback Writing Courses tab) for $18.00 including postage within Australia, and for $5.00 as a PDF download. To buy the PDF, send $5.00 via paypal to sodgers(AT)iinet(DOT)net(DOT)au with Awesome Author in the subject line. Don't forget to add an email address so we can send your PDF.
You can write awesome stories. All you need is an idea, some characters, a setting, a plot and-
Whoa there! This is starting to sound like hard work. And you know what? It is hard work, but it can still be fun. In this book you’ll find out lots of ways to make those awesome stories even more awesome.
You’ll learn about
· Ideas - Tools
· Beginnings - Middles - Ends
· Characters - Plots and paces
· Settings and periods
· Awesome words - Not-so-awesome words
· Dialogue - Editing
And lots and lots more.
How to be an Awesome Author is the handbook for writers who are seven - fourteen (though older people might find it fun as well) who want to turn their awesome stories into even more awesomely awesome stories. It is available as a large format paperback (see the Paperback Writing Courses tab) for $18.00 including postage within Australia, and for $5.00 as a PDF download. To buy the PDF, send $5.00 via paypal to sodgers(AT)iinet(DOT)net(DOT)au with Awesome Author in the subject line. Don't forget to add an email address so we can send your PDF.
SURVIVING LONG-TERM IN THE WRITING BUSINESS
Few writers, as they begin, have any concrete game plan for their journey...
$2.50 as a PDF download. To buy the PDF, send $2.50 via paypal to sodgers(AT)iinet(DOT)net(DOT)au with Surviving in the subject line. Don't forget to add an email address so we can send your PDF.
Few writers, as they begin, have any concrete game plan for their journey...
$2.50 as a PDF download. To buy the PDF, send $2.50 via paypal to sodgers(AT)iinet(DOT)net(DOT)au with Surviving in the subject line. Don't forget to add an email address so we can send your PDF.
WRITING A MANUSCRIPT PROPOSAL
A ‘proposal’ is the document authors send to editors
when trying to sell a manuscript. This is sometimes
known as ‘pitching’ a manuscript. A proposal has a lot
in common with advertising copy. Its aim is to
persuade a commissioning editor (or an agent) that
your manuscript is worth reading and, with luck,
suitable for publication.
$2.50 as a PDF download. To buy the PDF, send $2.50 via paypal to sodgers(AT)iinet(DOT)net(DOT)au with Writing a Ms Proposal in the subject line. Don't forget to add an email address so we can send your PDF.
A ‘proposal’ is the document authors send to editors
when trying to sell a manuscript. This is sometimes
known as ‘pitching’ a manuscript. A proposal has a lot
in common with advertising copy. Its aim is to
persuade a commissioning editor (or an agent) that
your manuscript is worth reading and, with luck,
suitable for publication.
$2.50 as a PDF download. To buy the PDF, send $2.50 via paypal to sodgers(AT)iinet(DOT)net(DOT)au with Writing a Ms Proposal in the subject line. Don't forget to add an email address so we can send your PDF.
WRITING A PICTURE BOOK TEXT
Welcome to Writing a Picture Book Text, an interactive course from Affordable Manuscript Assessments. This course looks at assumptions writers have about the picture book genre, examines the anatomy of the genre from the writer’s viewpoint, and provides guidelines and strategies for avoiding many common mistakes.
Included are practical exercises, a template for writing your text, a trouble-shooting checklist and, on completion, the opportunity for a full (prepaid) assessment of one finished text. Instructions for accessing this assessment are included in the course.
$30.00 as a PDF download. To buy the PDF, send $30.00 via paypal to sodgers(AT)iinet(DOT)net(DOT)au with Writing a Picture Book in the subject line. Don't forget to add an email address so we can send your PDF.
Welcome to Writing a Picture Book Text, an interactive course from Affordable Manuscript Assessments. This course looks at assumptions writers have about the picture book genre, examines the anatomy of the genre from the writer’s viewpoint, and provides guidelines and strategies for avoiding many common mistakes.
Included are practical exercises, a template for writing your text, a trouble-shooting checklist and, on completion, the opportunity for a full (prepaid) assessment of one finished text. Instructions for accessing this assessment are included in the course.
$30.00 as a PDF download. To buy the PDF, send $30.00 via paypal to sodgers(AT)iinet(DOT)net(DOT)au with Writing a Picture Book in the subject line. Don't forget to add an email address so we can send your PDF.
WRITING WITH STYLE
Style is one of the most difficult writing concepts to explain, categorise or teach. This is partly because there is no absolute rule that can tell you whether style is “good” or “bad”, and partly because most writers prefer their own kinds of style (or possibly write in the style they prefer).
You might say style is the element that decides which words a writer chooses to put in a story. Style dictates the arrangement of words, the length and structure of sentences, the placement of scenes and the general tone of the writing. It can also dictate whether a story will be told in First or Third person, or in a mixture, and whether the story will be straightforwardly presented (linear narrative) or sculpted with flashbacks or changes of time and pace.
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Part of style is learning your own natural style of writing, exploring its boundaries, and finding out if and when you should try to use a variation. Some writers have a single style, while others can use or assume two or three or more. Those who do this might liken it to changing gear in a manual car. They consciously make the change, and then drive unconsciously in that gear thereafter until or unless they need to change again.
Choice of genre or sub genre often dictates style. What is appropriate for a romance novel might be inappropriate for a hardboiled crime thriller. But which comes first, the style or the choice of appropriate genre?
$5.00 as a PDF download. To buy the PDF, send $5.00 via paypal to sodgers(AT)iinet(DOT)net(DOT)au with Writing Style in the subject line. Don't forget to add an email address so we can send your PDF.
Style is one of the most difficult writing concepts to explain, categorise or teach. This is partly because there is no absolute rule that can tell you whether style is “good” or “bad”, and partly because most writers prefer their own kinds of style (or possibly write in the style they prefer).
You might say style is the element that decides which words a writer chooses to put in a story. Style dictates the arrangement of words, the length and structure of sentences, the placement of scenes and the general tone of the writing. It can also dictate whether a story will be told in First or Third person, or in a mixture, and whether the story will be straightforwardly presented (linear narrative) or sculpted with flashbacks or changes of time and pace.
z
Part of style is learning your own natural style of writing, exploring its boundaries, and finding out if and when you should try to use a variation. Some writers have a single style, while others can use or assume two or three or more. Those who do this might liken it to changing gear in a manual car. They consciously make the change, and then drive unconsciously in that gear thereafter until or unless they need to change again.
Choice of genre or sub genre often dictates style. What is appropriate for a romance novel might be inappropriate for a hardboiled crime thriller. But which comes first, the style or the choice of appropriate genre?
$5.00 as a PDF download. To buy the PDF, send $5.00 via paypal to sodgers(AT)iinet(DOT)net(DOT)au with Writing Style in the subject line. Don't forget to add an email address so we can send your PDF.
Creating Fantasy Settings
Fantasy is one of the most popular genres for first-time writers as well as for established practitioners. Fantasy novels come in all sizes and types, so, let's just take a moment to define the genre and look at some of the variations.
$5.00 as a PDF download. To buy the PDF, send $5.00 via paypal to sodgers(AT)iinet(DOT)net(DOT)au with Fantasy Settings in the subject line. Don't forget to add an email address so we can send your PDF.
Fantasy is one of the most popular genres for first-time writers as well as for established practitioners. Fantasy novels come in all sizes and types, so, let's just take a moment to define the genre and look at some of the variations.
$5.00 as a PDF download. To buy the PDF, send $5.00 via paypal to sodgers(AT)iinet(DOT)net(DOT)au with Fantasy Settings in the subject line. Don't forget to add an email address so we can send your PDF.
CHARACTERS TO GO
What Is a Character?
The word "character" can mean several different things.
A Chinese character is a written letter or a symbol.
To be "turned off without a character" meant to be fired from your job without a reference.
"Character dancing" is something children learn along with ballet and tap dancing.
"Character" means more or less the same thing as "personality" or may be synonymous with "moral strength".
"Getting into character" is something an actor does while preparing for a role in a play, television series or film.
And of course "a character" in a novel or a play is a person (or sometimes an animal) who plays a role in the story.
The words "character" and "actor" rhyme with one another. The spelling is different, but the similarity in sound hints at something authors do well to remember; a character is an actor in a story. And, just as actors use certain techniques to "put across" emotion, action and dialogue, so must authors.
Almost all novels have at least one human character to play a major role. Most have many more. Before we look at creating and drawing these characters, let's consider numbers and roles.
5.00 as a PDF download. To buy the PDF, send $5.00 via paypal to sodgers(AT)iinet(DOT)net(DOT)au with Characters to Go in the subject line. Don't forget to add an email address so we can send your PDF
What Is a Character?
The word "character" can mean several different things.
A Chinese character is a written letter or a symbol.
To be "turned off without a character" meant to be fired from your job without a reference.
"Character dancing" is something children learn along with ballet and tap dancing.
"Character" means more or less the same thing as "personality" or may be synonymous with "moral strength".
"Getting into character" is something an actor does while preparing for a role in a play, television series or film.
And of course "a character" in a novel or a play is a person (or sometimes an animal) who plays a role in the story.
The words "character" and "actor" rhyme with one another. The spelling is different, but the similarity in sound hints at something authors do well to remember; a character is an actor in a story. And, just as actors use certain techniques to "put across" emotion, action and dialogue, so must authors.
Almost all novels have at least one human character to play a major role. Most have many more. Before we look at creating and drawing these characters, let's consider numbers and roles.
5.00 as a PDF download. To buy the PDF, send $5.00 via paypal to sodgers(AT)iinet(DOT)net(DOT)au with Characters to Go in the subject line. Don't forget to add an email address so we can send your PDF