Blog Archives | Inspired Quill Publishing

How to Write a Standalone (but Interconnected) Fantasy Novel

As a reader, I love a long string of books set in the same fantasy world. As far as I can tell from experience, these types of interconnected books seem to come in two varieties. Sequels Vs Series: Wh...

A blog feature image showing a young Black woman sat on the floor looking overwhelmed as she's surrounded by books with the title '9 Tips To Help You Escape Your Reading Slump' over the top

How To Escape Your Reading Slump: A Practical Guide for Book Lovers

You’re determined to dive into the top book on your teetering TBR pile, so you grab the paperback (or fire up your kindle), sit down in your favourite reading-nook, open the front page and… …your eye...

A blog feature image showing a pink-highlighted dictionary definition of 'translation' with the title '8 Women In Translation' over the top

8 Women In Translation for 2024

If you agree that reading diverse benefits your brain, you’re probably open to reading novels in translation. Why Should I Read Translated Works? If language affects thought, there can’t be a better w...

Should Climate Fiction Be Scary?

Good climate fiction, in my mind, should enchant you. Draw you in. And then scare the shit out of you. With a little hope, there will be enough scared readers out there to protest, take up public offi...

5 Near-Future Climate Fiction Must-Reads

Good near-future climate fiction isn’t preachy. It isn’t pandering. It’s anxious and desperate and begs you to pay attention, lest it becomes prophecy. Dystopian post-apocalyptic fic...

A blog feature image showing an open book with the pages in a heart shape and a edge-facing books in the background 'wearing' a set of headphones with the title '3 Benefits of Audiobooks' over the top

Listen Up! The Benefits of Audiobooks

As with eBooks, Audiobooks are simply a different way to enjoy stories. Just when we thought the ‘eReader versus paperback’ debate was losing steam after almost twenty long years, the new clash seems ...

5 Speculative Climate Fiction Must-Reads

A lot of the best speculative climate fiction feels like it belongs to the non-fiction shelf. Anxiety-inducing, because it speaks the truth and invites us to take a peek around the corner, at what’s c...

A blog feature image showing a hand holding a flash camera with the title 'What Is Flash Fiction?' over the top

How to Write Effective Flash Fiction

Flash Fiction provides an appealing alternative to longer forms of literature, offering readers the opportunity to experience a complete narrative in a short amount of time. As a result, the genre has...

A blog feature image showing a robot lying on its front reading a book with the title 'Artificial Intelligence: IQ Publishing Workflows' over the top

Independent Publishing and Artificial Intelligence

Traditional publishing doesn’t exactly have a reputation for being fast-paced, but the onslaught of AI (artificial intelligence) tools, ‘scandals’ and borderline (and over-the-line!) misuse might just...

A blog feature image showing a skull sitting next to a candle atop an old book with the title 'Monsters as Metaphor' over the top

Historical Context of Monsters as Metaphors

Monsters can take many forms in literature and popular culture, but what’s interesting about them is that they often represent the beliefs of an era or appear as metaphors for human fears. Monsters ha...

Mother Language Day Blog Image showing a young person looking at old bookshelves

Mother Language Day for Authors and Publishers

In 1999, UNESCO designated 21 February as International Mother Language Day. It’s an opportunity for all of us to acknowledge and celebrate language diversity and to resist the suppression of minority...

A blog feature image showing a young Black woman packing books with the title '3 Eco-Friendly Tips for Posting Books on a Budget' over the top

How to Post Books on a Budget: Our Top 3 Tips

While the e-book was (incorrectly) hailed as “the death of the paperback”, many readers still love to see a well-stocked bookshelf standing pride of place. There’s just something about a friendly disc...

What Happens to Unsold Books?

If you’re environmentally conscious, don’t work in online relisting. The wastefulness will terrify you. As just one example, Amazon destroys millions of items of unsold stock (including books) in only...

A blog feature image showing a small leafy branch and scrabble tiles spelling 'Mental Health' with the title '5 Novels with Authentic Mental Health Depictions' over the top

5 Novels with the Best (Authentic) Mental Health Depictions

Mental health is a popular theme in fiction but negative stereotypes abound. Charlotte Brontë has a lot to answer for with her madwoman in the attic in the classic novel Jane Eyre. As a former clinica...

What Should I Read Next? 7 Strategies to Choose Your Next Read

We’ve all been there — you finish the last page, you close the book you were reading, and a feeling of emptiness crashes over you. You hopefully enjoyed the book, and if it was a particularly good one...

A pile of Inspired Quill books and the text

10 Steps to Get through Your TBR Pile

Most readers have a TBR pile, even if they don’t know what a TBR pile is. In book lingo, a ”TBR Pile” is your to-be-read pile. It’s all those books that you’ve stacked up with the honest intention of ...

A close up of an old woman holding a book with the text

Why We Need More Older Characters in Fiction

In a 2013 Guardian article the novelist Penelope Lively, then aged 80, bemoaned the depiction of older characters in fiction: “The stereotypes of old age run from the smiling old dear to the gru...

How to Get the Most From Your Writing Group

Before I began writing fiction, I was an academic living in a publish-or-perish world. I submitted articles to journals that accepted them, rejected them or (most often) asked me to revise and resubmi...