Shipping Agreements, I Could Care Less, and Referrals
by Bobbie Christmas Q: What is the most popular shipping agreement for when buyers want me to ship them a book? A: I don’t know what is the most popular,…
Ask the Book Doctor
Passive Voice, Who/Whom, and Journalism
by Bobbie Christmas Q: Why is using passive voice a no-no in fiction? A: Voice, when it refers to the verbs in a sentence, shows whether the subject acts (active…
Pseudonyms and Getting Started
by Bobbie Christmas Q: I’m publishing a book of rebuses. Should I use a pen name or my own name? I know some authors use another name when they switch…
Commas, Adverbs, and Genres
by Bobbie Christmas Q: I wonder if you’ve noticed the recent outbreak of unnecessary commas between adjectives in otherwise respectable publications (I’ve even seen it in The New York Times!)…
From Farsi to English, and Passive Voice
by Bobbie Christmas Q: I have recently written a novel in Farsi and I have translated the first seventeen pages of it to English. Even though the story line has…
All about Characters
by Bobbie Christmas Q: I have a challenge with keeping up with the characters in a trilogy I’m writing. From one book to another I forget small details that could…
Second-Edition Decisions, Capitalizing Titles, and Queries
by Bobbie Christmas Q: I wrote a book about fifteen years ago and sold the rights to a publishing house. The book sold slowly, but it finally sold out. The…
Permissible Changes to Quotations, Single Quote Punctuation, Capitalizing Directions, and Oceangoing Vessels
by Bobbie Christmas Q: I have two questions. In including a quote from [source redacted] in an article I’m writing, I have these challenges: 1. He was British so his…
Gift Books, Parallel Items in a List, Using an Editor, and Cover-Letter Format
by Bobbie Christmas Q: I’ve created a series of interactive gift books. I think my idea would be great for a company like Hallmark, Peter Pauper Press, or Abrams, but…
Single Quotation Marks and Times of Day
by Bobbie Christmas Q: How do you use single quotation marks to indicate significance? Which of the following is correct? He nodded ‘yes.’ “I told him ‘hello.’” ‘Safety’ is the…