#EmeraldBooksLLC

[emerald-books-llc]

Writing Tips For History

Thought I would share what I instruct my undergraduate history students to do in their writing. I think that particulars and specificities help historians make arguments and tell stories. Here they go!

Use the past tense to describe historical events.

Ensure your statement is specific. Never use such phrases as: “Throughout history” “Back in the day” “Mankind” or “humankind”. Designate the time and place of where you are talking about.

Never say “History shows…”

Gender: Never use “she” to designate a country. Never use “he” or “man” to designate an individual.

Treat religion critically. You are writing as historians—not about all Christians, all Jews, all Muslims, all Chinese. Think about the context—where and when?

ALWAYS make sure your story is situated in a specific time and place. Instead of “Christianity has a reputation for religious war.” Say “In Europe in the 1100s, Pope Urban II called on Europeans to fight a crusade in the name of Christianity. This was the beginning of centuries of wars that Christians waged on behalf of their religion.”

Correlation and Causation: It is a very common error to misattribute the cause of certain phenomena. “Christianity began losing influence in the 1500s, which prompted a religious war between Catholics and Protestants.” No. Instead state what happened that truly started the Reformation, according to what other researchers have found: “Historians tend to cite Martin Luther’s 95 Theses as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. His protest of indulgences resonated with many people, and began a movement that caused over 100 years of wars between Catholics and Protestants.”

If you don’t know why something happened, never guess. You may ask the question in your paper.

Avoid talking about religion in general unless you are discussing the secularization thesis or something.

Generalities: “religion” “history” “time” “people”—these words should never be the subject of a sentence.

Don’t try to connect everything together in a neat way. If they don’t connect, don’t force it. Or ask if they do.

After you write each of your example paragraphs, then add a sentence or two to transition from paragraph to paragraph.

Avoid the past imperfect—“Christianity has been blah blah blah throughout the years.” (Don’t make anything last from medieval Europe to now automatically.)

[emerald-books-llc]

Next Monday is February 1st! And you know what that means? Our monthly Newsletter is coming out! Are you excited? Haven't subscribed yet?! What are you doing!? Get on it

[emerald-books-llc]

Hello There!

As I work to post more and more on here, and try to connect to the author and reader community here on Tumblr, I thought it would probably be beneficial to introduce what Emerald Books is. 

First of all we are a hybrid publishing company. But what exactly are hybrid publishers?

-  Hybrid publishers have a slightly different model than your traditional publishing company. Traditionally, a publishing deal means that you receive around 20%-30% of your book royalties while the publisher keeps 80%-70% of profit made in sales, as they helped you edit, market, and release your book to the public. However, working with us, and other hybrid publishers means that authors pay for the editing, design, and marketing work, but we pay out 80% or 90% of the sales royalties to the author.

Some hybrid companies are predatory, since they don’t truly edit or use experienced designers. But if you find a trustworthy one, they can be a great way to get your book out there in a professional and timely way!

We are always on the lookout for an author to work with to help them succeed. When you choose to publish with us we promise a very close, reliable relationship where we put your vision first. 

In terms of who is the one behind the posts specifically here on Tumblr? That would be me, Nishtah Sharma, Head of Marketing and Social Media here at Emerald. 

Nice to meet you! Please feel free to email me at any time:

nishtah@emerald-books.com

[emerald-books-llc]

Clock the link to get your own free EPUB of our new novella, from the Willow Locke Series: The Demon’s Gift. By Isaac Peterson (a member of the Emerald Staff).  

[emerald-books-llc]

We’re so happy to announce that we now have a shop on Bookshop.org! You can now choose to support indie bookstores and buy our books here instead of amazon! Check it out in the link above! 

[emerald-books-llc]

Have you checked out our wonderful book of the week yet? In Case We're Made into Coats is available on Amazon in both Kindle and Paperback form! Stay tuned for exclusive sneak peaks into the story later today and throughout the rest of the week!

[emerald-books-llc]

Looking for your next Young Adult read? Check out In Case We're Made Into Coats (The Exotic Shapeshifter) on Amazon today!

[emerald-books-llc]

Yesterday we published our Newsletter for February! Did you get it in your email? 

If not, subscribe here.

Learn about upcoming projects, exclusive book deals, and updates on our publishing packages through one email every month!