Author: Dean Koorey

Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Fewer or less?

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, useless chatter about whether to use “less”… Q: Hi there. I was at the

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Rule Britannica

This week, we sit down to a lesson in ligatures with our friendly Q & A participants… Q: Hello, do you think I have the Ebola virus?  A: No. Q: Okay, great, just thought I should check. Now I also want to ask about something I struggle with.  A: Your

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: 2, 4 ,6, 8! What’s the right way to write numbers?

They sit right there above the letters on the keyboard, but how do we go with using them? This week we examine numbers… Q: Hi there Australian Writers’ Centre, can I ask a question? A: Well, that capital Q in front of everything you say suggests that you can. What’s

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Some people are so possessive

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation… Q: Hi there, I have a question about possession. A: What kind of possession? We

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

George Clooney got married and we’re feeling rather possessive…

So, recently on the Q&A segment of our weekly newsletter, we were discussing possessives with proper nouns (names), and one example was compound possessives. When two (or more) people ‘own’ the same thing, and they are named, we only need to indicate possession on the final one: “I was invited

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Plan ahead! A conversational chat about tautology.

One of our Australian Writers’ Centre community recently asked us to clarify the use of the term “plan ahead” as being somewhat redundant. This led to more examples of tautology and somehow a party invitation… Q: Hi there AWC. I want to talk to you about the term “Plan Ahead”.

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: It’s very unique

Last week our Q&A used the term ‘very unique’, and in doing so, succeeded in waking up the interwebs. An ABSOLUTE catastrophe! Let’s take a look… Q: Well, wasn’t that a great Q&A last week? All ‘reality show’ themed and that. A: Oh, thanks. Um, who are those other people? Q:

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Build your profile and promote your book
Dean Koorey

Booktopia’s John Purcell shares 3 ways to sell more books

The rise of online shopping has revolutionised the way that we buy books. From a bookseller’s point of view, the playing field has been significantly levelled – with every book just a search and a click away. And from an author’s point of view, this makes marketing your book more important than ever.

One man who knows all about this is John Purcell, chief book buyer and head of marketing at Booktopia – Australia’s fastest-growing online bookstore. Not only does he decide which books to stock, but he’s also been a published author himself, seeing first-hand the effect good marketing can have on sales.

Clearly if you self-publish, by definition you do the sales legwork yourself. But when it comes to being traditionally published, don’t assume someone else will do it all. Finding success with a publishing house is definitely impressive (congratulations!), but this is no time to put your feet up and wait for the cheques to start flying through the door. Back in episode 5 of our top-rating podcast So you want to be a writer, we chatted with John Purcell and here are his 3 top tips for ensuring your book meets its marketing potential.

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Plurals, possession and apostrophes

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, a word or two about possession… Q: Hello. Every May and September I

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Competitions and Opportunities
Dean Koorey

Read the book, solve the puzzle, win millions!

There are millions of fiction books in the world, all different in some way, and yet all with one thing in common – they’re one-sided conversations. You begin reading, then the author tells you things until you’re finished reading. Next.

But what happens when the conversation becomes two-way? In this world of ebooks and global audiences, Sydney writer James Evangelidis has chosen an intriguing device to engage readers. With his debut book, Maze of Keys (being released online on 17 September), he doesn’t just ask you to read the book, he wants you to solve it too – and win big!

Okay, interest piqued. We hunted him down and asked a few questions.

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Competitions and Opportunities
Dean Koorey

It’s awards season! 6 writing competitions to enter.

Recently we were excited to learn that an Australian Writers’ Centre graduate had taken out the top prize in a local writing competition, pocketing herself a cool $1000 for what was only the second story she’d ever written! It’s pretty inspirational stuff, and brings up a great point about writing.

It can be easy to focus your energy on the big goal – a published novel, or perhaps a byline in your favourite magazine. But while you’re working towards that, entering a writing competition is an excellent way to hone your craft, and could give you some cash and recognition as well.

Here’s a selection of writing competitions currently out there – good luck!

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Or maybe it’s “Q & An”?

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation… This week, is it “a” or “an”? Q: Woooo, hi there guys, I just got in from

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Hone sweet home

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation… This week, which word is correct? Q: Hi guys, can you clear up whether it’s

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Years’ vs Years experience?

Each week, we take an informative and light-hearted look at the important punctuation and grammar issues of the day, including the much-maligned apostrophe. This week, inspired by one of our newsletter readers, we tackle a particularly knotty one… Q: Hi there, I was editing something the other day and saw

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Compliment vs complement

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation… This week, when do we use each of these two? Q: Hi Australian Writers’ Centre.

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Sow be it

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, sowing seeds of doubt… Q: Hi Australian Writers’ Centre, help!  I’m utterly confused about

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Exercising your but

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, we’re obsessed with buts. Q: Hi Australian Writers’ Centre, I was wondering why

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: There’s no need to obsess about it…

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation. This week, we share an obsession of ours… Q: Hi Australian Writers’ Centre, I’m obsessed

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Centres around vs centres on?

Each week, we take a look at a common confusions and ambiguities in the English language (that gives us about a century’s worth of material!) – making things easier through the power of friendly conversation… This week, which phrase is correct? Q: Hi there – a friend of mine wrote

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