Charles Dickens, Beatrix Potter, Marcel Proust, and Edgar Allan Poe all self-published their books. If you're planning to do the same, you're in good company. Today you can publish your manuscript with just the click of a button but be sure to research your options first.

I'm pleased Amanda Zieba is able to join us again. Amanda is an author, a word nerd, a mom, a wife, a teacher, and so much more. Today she gives us excellent tips on revising your work. (In my opinion, there are never enough tips to get me through this phase of writing!)

I joined my very first critique group, Chicks of the Trade, in January of 2008. Six women writing everything from romance to sci-fi to horror to mainstream contemporary fiction (me). We gathered at an Italian restaurant in Rockford, Illinois with our first chapters in hand.

Swap out a beach read for a reference book — or a social media account

Wow, it’s hard to believe that spring is here with all the snow we’ve been getting. UGH—I’m so ready for warmer weather! (Kudos to whomever coined the new word "sprinter" to describe this horribly snowy spring.)

I’m in the thick of writing conference season, which means I wouldn’t be outside much anyway, but at least I’m indoors with some lovely company in the form of other writers.

The benefits of putting words on paper

One of the best parts of writing fiction is the ability to name your cast of characters. I know when I wrote my first stories I didn’t approach this in a scientific or logical way. I just picked names I liked that fit the idea of the character in my head.

I met Bonniejean Alford at one of my favorite writing conferences, the University of Wisconsin Writers' Institute.

We all crave connections--real, meaningful person-to-person connections. It doesn't matter if we work in a solitary profession like writing or if we're in an occupation that just feels solitary. So when I saw Amanda Zieba's year-end post about her Word of the Year, CONNECTIONS, I immediately set aside time to read.