Ouch, right? I had no idea what voice was let alone how to have a ‘confident’ one. It sent me on a one woman quest to find out what voice was and, in the process, I discovered my own.

So, what is voice?

Ask twenty authors and you’ll receive twenty answers. For me, voice is that unique ‘x-factor’ that makes your work stand out from others. It’s the aspect of writing that enables you to differentiate a James Patterson novel from a J.K. Rowling novel. To be more specific, it is the point of view you tell a story from as well as the way that you say it.

Why is voice important in writing?

First of all, it sets your writing apart from other authors. Can you imagine if every book was written the way Jane Austen wrote? Or Stephen King? It would become quite tedious and boring. Unique voice also makes your writing enjoyable to read (or it should).

How does an aspiring writer develop voice?

The six techniques I used in my search for voice are:

1.              Relax. Don’t force it. Allow the words to flow uncensored from your subconscious. Remember voice comes naturally with plenty of… (See number 2).

2.              Practice, practice, practice. I cannot stress this enough. The more you write, the quicker your voice will develop.

3.              Write every day: even holidays, even your birthday. This ties in with point two.

4.              Write a variety of things. If you are a blogger, give an article a try; if you are a column writer, try a short story; if you are a novelist, try an article.

5.              Give writing prompts a try. There are a handful of free programs online that generate writing prompts for you. I have used some of these. Type ‘free writing prompt software’ into your search engine to find one you like.

6.              Read different genres and authors. Yes, that is not a misprint. Reading will help you develop your voice. By seeing how others express their voice, you will gain a better sense of what works for you and what doesn’t. Read a wide variety, not just the genre you write in. I am a romance writer, yet I read everything: thrillers, crime, classics, fantasy, paranormal, autobiographies and gothic.

If voice is something you are struggling with, give one or more of the above tools a try and you’ll see the difference it makes.

Bio: A.K. Leigh is an Australian romance author, freelance writer and blogger. She is a feature writer for Spirit and Spell magazine and her debut novel will be released later this year. She is a proud member of Romance Writers of Australia. She can be contacted via her website www.fallinlovewithleigh.com or her Facebook page www.facebook.com/AuthorAKLeigh.

Bird’s Thumb publishes three annual editions, in February, June, and October, each with work from around 40 writers. They accept submissions on a rolling basis. The cutoff dates to submit for each edition are December 1^st, April 1^st, and August 1^st, respectively.

Poets may submit three to five poems per submission cycle. Bird’s Thumb does not accept prose poems. Fiction writers may submit up to two stories per submission cycle, 1,000 to 5,000 words each. Bird’s Thumb accepts all styles of fiction except genre fiction. Nonfiction writers may submit up to two essays per submission cycle, 2,000 to 5,000 words each. Bird’s Thumb prefers not to receive essays with religious and spiritual themes. Bird’s Thumb also accepts interviews and book reviews, which can be submitted by querying the prose editor at prose@birdsthumb.org.

Bird’s Thumb accepts simultaneous submissions, but requests that submitting writers contact them immediately if their work is accepted elsewhere. They do not accept previously published work, including work that has been published on personal webpages. Writers may submit work online, but not by post or email. Submitting writers may email their work, along with contact information and an informal biography.

If you would like to learn more or submit to Bird’s Thumb, please visit their website at http://birdsthumb.org/submit/.

But first, a bit about our contest series.

Every week we are going to have a contest on our Facebook Page. The contests will change from week to week but the winners will always be published in the magazine. The contest winner and the runners up are chosen by a voting system, and then the editors of Authors Publish will select several additional entries from the rest to be the Editor’s Choice winners.

Below are all the winners of this week’s contest, their challenge was to write a poem using only ten words. A very difficult task indeed.

Next week’s contest starts at 9am PST on Saturday, and ends at 10 am on Monday morning.

Winner

Runner Up

Editor’s Choice

]]> https://authorspublish.com/skypony-publishing-accepting-book-manuscripts/ https://authorspublish.com/skypony-publishing-accepting-book-manuscripts/#comments Thu, 17 Apr 2014 17:13:12 +0000 http://www.authorspublish.com/?p=1533 Updated March 2024

Sky Pony Press is a division of Skyhorse Publishing, which we reviewed recently. Sky Pony is the division of Skyhorse that focuses on publishing work for children. This includes picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and YA fiction and nonfiction. They are open to any genre and style. They are seeking work that is “new and different”.

Skypony only considers work submitted electronically via email. They expect all work to be attached either as a word file or if it contains images as a jpg file.

When you submit include a query letter that contains  relevant information about yourself, including your publishing history, any institutional associations you have, your occupation, and a website link if relevant. If the book is informational include your qualifications.

In the past Sky Pony and more specifically Skyhorse had a number of complaints about alleged un-payment of authors. To learn more about it, read this thread here. But in the past couple of years things seem to have turned around significantly.

They do not specifically request a pitch or plot synopsis, but your query letter will look more professional with them. Also they do not mention anything about simultaneous submissions so you should be fine submitting your work elsewhere at the same time as long as you notify them if your work is accepted elsewhere.

To learn more or submit please visit their website here.

Put them in a normal situation, or rather, what would be a normal situation for them. Do they work at an office building? Place them there. Do they go out and party a lot? Put them at a party with friends. Or driving home from work, or picking up groceries, or any number of other normal every day things.

Once you have them placed in this normal setting on this normal day, pull the plug, and turn the power off. Not just for your main character but for most of the people surrounding them.

Now proceed from there in any direction that you wish. This story could be scary, funny, or romantic, it could go any number of directions, but when the power goes out people tend to behave differently.

The last time there was a major power outage in North America, people ended up walking for hours, having dinner with neighbors they never met, playing board games they hadn’t played in years, all sorts of unusual things. 9 months later a much larger number of babies were born than are usually born that time of year.

So have fun with this. The power is out. What will happen next?