Ask the Book Doctor

By Bobbie Christmas Q: Is it ever appropriate for an author to express an opinion in a novel in an effort to influence readers? I’ve heard it’s called author intrusion,…

by Bobbie Christmas Q: When writing a thriller, should I begin the first chapter of the story with action from the protagonist or antagonist (villain), or does it matter what…

by Bobbie Christmas Q: I’ve written a cookbook. I do not have any pictures of my recipes, but would like to have them in the final book. Do I need…

by Bobbie Christmas Q: Will you tell my writing group if there is a better way to punctuate the following? “Oh. Right. I remember.” A: If the purpose of the…

by Bobbie Christmas Q: Is there a secret to writing a good query letter to an agent or a book publisher? A: I would not call it a secret, but…

by Bobbie Christmas Q: Is there anything wrong with incorporating real live events that have happened to me in a nonfiction love story? Is this a stupid question? A: A…

by Bobbie Christmas Q: I have written a novel that could be described as conversational style. There are large blocks of text in which one of my characters is telling…

by Bobbie Christmas Q: I listed my book on Amazon. As you know, they charge a fee, which they take out of the money due to you from sales. I…

by Bobbie Christmas Q: I want to sell my nonfiction book to a specific publisher that requires a proposal. How much is enough to send in a proposal? A: How…

by Bobbie Christmas Q: My writing organization is preparing an anthology. Would standard manuscript format apply? We are unsure of individual submission formats at this point. Please advise. A: Standard…