Three Houses Press

Building a Book: The First Line | Unlike Edward Bulwer-Lytton, you can write the perfect first line. Or, frankly, don't worry about it too much.

“It was a dark and stormy night.” For years, this iconic first line from Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s novel Paul Clifford has stood out for the right, and the wrong, reasons. But something truly comical about this line is that while almost everyone agrees that it’s one of the worst first lines in literary history, to the point that it inspired a worst-line contest sponsored by San Jose State…

When Your Draft Isn't Working | Hard truth: your draft might not be working. Here's what to do next.

Have you ever seen an ugly baby? Before you get on your “nice person” high horse and tell me that no baby is ugly with a perfectly coiffed scoff, I am just going to chime in and say you’re wrong. Babies are aliens that have been squished into a shape so it can fit through a hole far too little for it to fit through so they can come into the world. It’s amazing that any of them manage to come out…

Why You Should Have a Blog | Are you on the fence about starting a website or blog? Well, let me convince you that now is the time...

Want to know what the real difference between a successful writer and an unsuccessful one is? It’s not talent, it’s not even luck. It’s marketing. You can fight me on this if you want to. You’d lose. In a previous episode of our podcast (shameless plugs always), we discussed how essential it is for up-and-coming authors to have a presence on social media. This is an excellent, free way to build…

April Recap | Did you manage to keep up with Three Houses Press this April?

Guess what? It’s gonna be May~ This April, Three Houses Press was showered in vaccines. I am thrilled to report that all three of us are now vaccinated and one step closer to getting back into the world in a way that is safe for ourselves and others. If you haven’t done so, talk to your doctor about receiving a vaccine yourself. We are facing a war of misinformation, so make sure you contact a…

The Basics of Writer Finances | One of the biggest challenges of being a professional writer? We'd say it's definitely finding the money to live on.

So often, people want to be a “writer.” They envision themselves spending their days in moody rooms, sipping on coffee or dark liquor while honing their latest work, checking their email now and then for their agent to contact them about the book-to-film deal you’ve known was coming since the moment you thought up the story. At the end of the day, they’ll close their laptop and have a totally…

There is so much to the story of writing a book. In this series, we are going to take you through the whole process from brainstorm to final manuscript.

I feel like every other article I write, I say some iteration of the phrase, “Your lifelong goal of writing a book.”  I say this for a reason: So many people out there have “writing a book” on their bucket list. Think I’m exaggerating? Tell a handful of people you have a master’s degree in publishing and see just how many respond, “You know, I have this friend who wants to write a book.”  Some…

Oh February, you coy mistress... Want to know what we were up to this month? Catch on up...

February is, in the timeless words of BLACKPINK, “Bada-bing, bada-boom-boom-boom.” I’m sure they coined the phrase.  For the shortest month of the year, February did not disappoint the world-at-large. On one end, we watched helplessly as extreme cold swept across the midwest, devastating many communities in Texas. On the other, we were able to take a couple of days to celebrate love in its many…

The tour continues with manufacturing and distribution! Don't count this part out -- it is critical to your book succeeding.

Wow! We are back on our whirlwind publishing house tour! As we start moving, we ask you to look to your left as we quickly leap from the building to the sunny skies of the Midwest and China. Because those are close enough together to see in one view. It’s casual. Welcome, folks, to Manufacturing and Distribution! While this may be difficult to hear as you fork out $29.99 or more for a…

Love shouldn't hurt. Love shouldn't be messy. Love should just be love.

I was in high school the night I woke up to the sound of an argument outside the house. Looking outside the window, I saw my mom’s boyfriend rushing down the driveway, his father, who was visiting for just one night, chasing after him.

Curious, confused, but mostly nosey, I reached the living room just as my mom came into the house in tears. If I hadn’t been there, catching her in the middle…

When Life Gives You 2020

What. a. year.

I am almost as sick of talking about 2020 as I am living it. But the events of this year are inescapable and completely beyond our control.

What is within our control, however, is how we choose to deal with it.

For many, writing provides the opportunity to help you deal with all of the stresses that life throws your way. And, let me tell you, 2020 has given us all a…

Our tour continues today as we walk away from the editorial department (finally!) and into production.

In my incredibly biased opinion, production is the department that will make or break a book. Without a quality production staff, a book is going to struggle to make its way into the hands of a reader. Want proof? Browse your bookshelves and see how many books you first pulled off the shelf…

Worldbuilding: Part 3 So you've done the work with worldbuilding, but are you doing all that you should to fold that into your book?

At last! The final part of our series on worldbuilding—one of the most fundamental parts of any good book.

If you haven’t yet read part 1 or part 2… I guess…go do that?

So far, we have talked about the importance of investing time and energy into worldbuilding and finding ways to integrate your world into your book from start to finish through things like dialogue, foreshadowing and…

Worldbuilding: Part 2 You've done the leg work, but now what? Avoid info dumps by finding better ways to introduce the world of your novel.

Let’s just walk through this quick…

You have read Worldbuilding Part 1 (ahem—right?) and learned how important it was to develop a rich, thoughtful, and dynamic world. You heeded that oh-so-valuable advice and rushed to compile a world that would take your book to the next level. You have then twiddled your thumbs for WEEKS in anticipation of this very article.

And now here we are……

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

Maya Angelou

Welcome to Worldbuilding!

This was a series that was never intending to be a series. A note on our editorial calendar to create an article on worldbuilding and continuity turned into an article on worldbuilding, which then in turn turned into a “I’ve written how many pages?”

So, you get a series. Three parts, moving from getting started and managing scope (you’re here!), integrating the…

Use the dialogue:

“Any last words?”

“It wasn’t me…”

"Don't tell me the moon in shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." - Anton Chekov #writerscommunity #motivation

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.

Anton Chekov