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How to Hire an Editor: Use the Golden Rule

By Barbie Halaby | July 3, 2018

You Know You Need an Editor After you have written a book, a story, a series, even a poetry collection, and you decide to share it with readers, you are likely to find out pretty quickly that you should hire an editor. It’s probably why you are reading this. There are many resources to help…

cover of Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me

Book Review: When You Reach Me

By Barbie Halaby | June 15, 2018

I had been in a bit of a routine with my reading, firmly in the young adult and middle-grade camps, when I picked up When You Reach Me. There were many reasons for this, from the practical (I was grabbing a few of my son’s library books when he’d finished with them) to the profound…

More Words You Don’t Need

By Barbie Halaby | September 18, 2017

Last time we talked about the trifecta of unnecessary words: nodding (heads), shrugging (shoulders), and blinking (eyes). If you have learned to eliminate these from your writing, congratulations! It might seem small, but this is a big step in writing tight prose. Now perhaps it’s time to take the next step. Come to Your Senses…

Words You Don’t Need

By Barbie Halaby | September 15, 2017

When you are writing, you want your prose to be tight, efficient. No matter what genre you write in, this is the type of thing that keeps readers engaged. To accomplish this tight, efficient writing, you need to carefully think about which words you use. Use only as many words as you need.   Now…