• Writing Tips for Poets

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    Here at Xulon Press, we regularly see wonderful collections of devotional and creative poetry. Poetry is an art form that pours from the heart, encompassing a wide range of passions, from joy and thanksgiving to sorrow and grief. But poetry is both beloved and reviled, with many readers feeling uncertain of how to interact with such a subjective genre. Indeed, poets themselves often struggle with the balance between artistic license and necessary structure when penning their poems. To help navigate these difficulties, we have a few basic poetry tips for how to write and publish your best poetic work. Clarifying…

  • How to Pick the Right Title for Your Book

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    The moment has finally arrived: you’ve finished writing the book you’ve dreamed of and labored over devotedly. Now the time has come to brand it with a title and send it out into the world. But what will you call it? How can just a few words embody everything about your glorious book? Fear not, for we have a few fail-proof tips that can help you get started on the journey of picking a concise and catchy title for your book. Hook the Reader You want the title to be something epic and unforgettable. It should jump out at readers…

  • Grammatical Gray Areas: Subject-Complement Agreement

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    Celebrating National Grammar Day and National Proofreading Day March is a month that calls for grammar nerds—like us—to celebrate. After all, March 4 is National Grammar Day, and March 8 is National Proofreading Day. On days like these, authors, editors, and proofreaders finally get the respect we deserve! (Oddly enough, I’m still waiting for my Grammar and Proofreading Day gifts to come flooding in. . .) In all seriousness, we editors at Xulon Press have a passion for proper grammar usage. To celebrate grammar rules and style, we’d like to discuss a not-so-rare gray area that comes up frequently in…

  • Writing Strong Female Characters

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    In an age of Women’s Marches and calls for equal pay for women, the question of femininity and what makes a strong woman is in the spotlight. Art reflects life, and the presence of strong female characters in fiction is in high demand, as girls and women alike look for characters to read about and emulate, from Elizabeth Bennet to Laura Ingalls Wilder to Hermione Granger. So how can you ensure that your work includes strong female characters? For that matter, what is a strong female character? Strong female characters are not perfect. Strong characters, regardless of gender, have character flaws…