Book editor Kristen Hamilton is the owner and sole employee of Kristen Corrects, Inc., where she provides manuscript editing services for self-publishing and traditionally publishing authors. Several authors whose books she has edited have won awards and have topped Amazon's best sellers lists. Reading is Kristen’s passion, so when the workday is over, she can usually be found curled up with a good book alongside her three cats. In her free time she enjoys playing video games, dancing adult ballet, speaking French, watching scary movies, tending to her courtyard, and traveling to tropical destinations. She lives with her husband and sons outside of Boise, Idaho.
Pen names are becoming more popular than ever for a variety of reasons: they can help your author name be unique and memorable, protect your privacy, or differentiate you from other writers in your genre. But pseudonyms aren’t for every author—there are some things to… Read More »Choosing a Pen Name: What You Need To Know Before Using A Pseudonym
I’ve often written about how the most prolific authors are those who have written many books. In the world of self-publishing, this is especially true. Almost all authors who have risen to the top of Amazon bestsellers lists have one thing in common: they’ve built… Read More »3 Reasons Why Writing A Book Series Will Make You A More Successful Author: Pt. 1
In last week’s blog, I shared with you why series authors like Lou Paduano (known for his Greystone series) are generally more successful than authors who write a single book. The self-publishing industry is so saturated. If you’re a self-publishing author, you need to stand out from the… Read More »3 Reasons Why Writing A Book Series Will Make You A More Successful Author: Pt. 2
In parts 1 and 2 of this mini blog series, I spoke with Greystone series author Lou Paduano about what makes a series author more successful than an author who will publish a one-off book. First, we learned that book series are more successful because readers… Read More »3 Reasons Why Writing A Book Series Will Make You A More Successful Author: Pt. 3
The preface, the introduction, and the foreword of a book are introductory pieces that belong in a book’s front matter—before Chapter 1. Many authors think that these are all interchangeable terms, but this is a common misconception. So what’s the difference between a preface, introduction,… Read More »Preface, Introduction, or Foreword: What’s the Difference?
If you’ve written a great book, chances are readers will turn to the very last page to see who, exactly, is this masterful writer. Your author bio should tell a story about you that your readers can connect with. There are two places where your… Read More »How to Write a Smashing Author Bio
Being a book editor means I have edited some incredible books over the years. Unfortunately, not all of the books I have edited have done well in terms of sales, mostly because authors incorrectly assume that if they publish a book, people will immediately know about it… Read More »Why You Should Get Your Self-Published Book Reviewed
One of the best ways to get the word out about your book is to do a book signing event or attend a book festival. Here in Boise, for example, in the past I attended the Boise Book Fest—where admittedly, I stand out like a sore… Read More »6 Critical Things Authors Should Bring to a Book Signing
Every time I go through an author’s manuscript, I find words or phrases that don’t always lend themselves to making the author sound eloquent. To put it a different way: Too much wordiness in a sentence can make an author sound amateurish. As a book editor, one of… Read More »#1 Tip for Avoiding Wordiness in Your Novel
Many times, I’ve checked back with a client on the progress of their manuscript only to find that they haven’t made much progress at all. “What happened?” I ask them, expecting something major—like a house fire, a financial catastrophe, or a death in the family.… Read More »How to Overcome Writer’s Block