Riley Adams's Blog, page 103

Mysteries as a Reader and a Writer

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

What makes a solid mystery?   What is it about murder mysteries that draws readers to the genre? How good are mystery writers at picking out the killer as readers?

Today, I hope you’ll join me at Benjamin Thomas’s excellent blog, The Writing Train, where I discuss these questions and others…including why Scooby Doo could be counted as one of my major influences.   :)

Hope you have a great weekend.

 

The post Mysteries as a Reader and a Writer appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Let’s Get Sensory: Powering Scenes Using The 5 Senses

by Angela Ackerman, @AngelaAckerman

There isn’t a writer alive who doesn’t believe description is important. We know that the key to pulling readers into our fictional world lies in how well we can describe each scene, giving it color and texture, and infusing it with emotion and substance. And one of the very best ways to achieve this is to use sensory detail: the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and sounds that our POV character or narrator experiences.

Emotion factors heavily in sensory description because the mindset of the POV character influences what they notice (which also determines what details the reader is privy to). A character sitting by a river to enjoy a happy, reflective moment after graduating university may be drawn to clusters of green shoots along the muddy bank that slant in the direction of the sun.  She might note the sharp, clean scent of pine needles and how each breath makes her feel renewed. The give of moss, the gentle breeze, and the sound of the water chuckling across stones…all of these details may lull her (and the reader) into a sleepy state of satisfied bliss.

However, a character dropping behind an uprooted tree along the riverbank to hide from her enemies would focus on different details: the poke and scrape of wood against her back and arms as she presses tight against the fan of roots. The cold river water seeping into her shoes as they sink in the mud which reeks of decay. The snap of branches, the shouts of her pursuers, the squeezing rush of her own shuddering breaths.

As writers, we can do so much with sensory detail, adding tension and painting each scene with emotion and mood. Choosing the right sensory description not only helps readers feel like they are drawing breath alongside the protagonist, it also triggers their emotional memories. A well-placed sensory detail will cause a past moment to surface, a time when the reader felt the same sensations and emotions as the character. This powerful “shared experience” is what we want to strive for as we describe, because it lays the groundwork for empathy.

A big struggle for writers is thinking beyond what is seen, and working in other sensory details: sounds, smells, tastes, and textures. Usually these take a bit more thought, but they make the experience so much more memorable and vivid for readers. Here’s a checklist you might find helpful, listing how each sense can elevate the scene. Feel free to pin it on pinterest, share it on social media, or print it out to have on hand as you write.

Multisensory details are important, but don’t feel that you have to use all five in every scene. We want to achieve a layering effect that creates an experience, but it needs to always fit with the action and mood of the scene. For example, in the throes of deep emotion or high action, the POV character’s attention will not always be on the world around them to the same degree, so we should only include details that can be worked in naturally.

For more tips on filtering in multisensory description that adds to (rather than pulls away from) a scene, check out The Urban Setting Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to City Spaces.

Rock The Vault

If you’d like to take a crack at busting open the Writers Helping Writers prize vault, stop in! Becca and I are celebrating all week and giving away some phenomenal prizes as we welcome two new books into our Thesaurus family.

Angela Ackerman is a writing coach, international speaker, and co-author of the bestselling book, The Emotion Thesaurus: a Writer’s Guide to Character Expression, as well as four others including the newly minted Urban Setting and Rural Setting Thesaurus duo.  Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors and psychologists around the world. Angela is also the co-founder of the popular site, Writers Helping Writers, as well as One Stop For Writers, an innovative online library built to help writers elevate their storytelling.

Power Your Scenes With the 5 Senses by @AngelaAckerman
Click To Tweet

The post Let’s Get Sensory: Powering Scenes Using The 5 Senses appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

3 tips for newsletters:  http://ow.ly/pG4w300Bv6P @austinkleon

What makes bad writing bad?  http://ow.ly/T2Se300F2g4 @GuardianBooks  @tobylitt

6 Cases: How to Write Infrequent Phrases:  http://ow.ly/Nk5F300F2CJ @ZoeMMcCarthy

Top 10 fictional houses with personality: http://ow.ly/UcIW300EZlu @TomEaston @GuardianBooks

Knife or Gun: Which is Better in Close Quarters? http://ow.ly/qoEd3016GCD @benjaminsobieck @JChaseNovelist

Infusing Emotion into Every Scene and Chapter: http://ow.ly/En5L300F2A6 @JordanDane               

11 Exercises That’ll Make Book Lovers Excited To Work Out:  http://ow.ly/OPHc300EYIQ  @FarrahPenn @PBlackk

10 Popular Baby Names Invented by Authors:  http://ow.ly/V46j300EYBJ @CharlotteAhlin @bustle

Can text in different colors help you tackle the most difficult books? http://ow.ly/dga6300F21s @timchester @mashable

The Hard Truth About Being a Professional Writer: http://ow.ly/n8OP300F2cn @KristenLambTX

5 Things a Writer Learned Writing Her 1st Book: http://ow.ly/rE6N300F2Gy @KatWithSword

Tips for Increasing Conflict: http://ow.ly/9Mw6300F2ul @Eileenwriter

11 Writing And Drawing Tips From Brilliant Graphic Novelists | Bustle http://ow.ly/yc3N300F3l4

On Superheroes and the Myths of American Power:  http://ow.ly/LuSr300F3DY @sallyrooney @thelithub

A Publisher on 2 Maddening Things Reviewers Say:  http://ow.ly/8qKE300Hbo9 by Agatho

Using The Audiobook Service ACX: http://ow.ly/88m7300Hc1E @RamiUngarWriter

Types of Christian fiction:  http://ow.ly/qQAV300Hbw1  @IolaGoulton

Music rights and streaming give insight into publishing’s subscription model:  ahttp://ow.ly/2dYd3019aDj @AudiamMusic  @erinlcox

When (and How) to Tell Your Editor No:  http://ow.ly/N9dt300Hbpz by Jessica West @K8Tilton

How to Write a Winning Book Proposal:  http://ow.ly/xeG7300p6eG @sarahsuch @publishingtalk

Uganda’s Newest Publishing House:  http://ow.ly/vkKx3019apr @DennisAbrams2 @pubperspectives @nyanaKakoma

Crime Writers: Shoot to Kill or to Wound? Here’s the Answer: http://ow.ly/NBve300Bvhy @LeeLofland

Observations and tips on taking a trad-published series to self-pub: http://ow.ly/7A4F3018QGj

A Crowd-Driven Publisher: http://ow.ly/bZI33019a0e @erinlcox @adamgomolin  @pubperspectives

Master plots: vengeance: http://ow.ly/VHD6300BvDP @HeatherJacksonW

Crime Writing: Can a Government Database Match a Gun to a Person? http://ow.ly/wJCN3016GgN @benjaminsobieck

Car trouble as a catalyst in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/OKra3017zQe @mkinberg

10 Ways to Win with WordPress:  http://ow.ly/i5es300p69o @jonreed @publishingtalk

Awesome Story Stakes with Bill and Ted:  http://ow.ly/7sZ8300Bvon @dougeboch

3 Cases of Missing Commas:  http://ow.ly/ngei300BvxM @writing_tips

Indie Author Marketing: 5 Essentials For Profits:  http://ow.ly/xJhE300BvrG @angee

11 email mistakes: http://ow.ly/1MUN300BvQe @pubcoach

Writing Scary Scenes: 6 Tips:  http://ow.ly/JkmB300BvKV @RayneHall

Master plots: out of the bottle: http://ow.ly/8G6F300BvH5 @RobinRWrites

How To Share Your Protagonist’s Deepest Feelings With Readers:  http://ow.ly/9jwC300BvAR @AngelaAckerman

On Screenwriting: 8 Things to Know Before Signing a Writing Contract:  http://ow.ly/GeYt300Bvkb @dougeboch

Indie Publishing is the New B-Movies. Here’s Why That’s A Good Thing: http://ow.ly/SpHy300yZmL @Adam_Cesare

10 Books to Read for Pride Month:  http://ow.ly/LSSY3015mP7 by Cassidy Foust @thelithub

Actually, All Writers Steal:  http://ow.ly/i7AB300yZHR @RufiThorpe @thelithub

Crime writers: shotguns aren’t idiot-proof: http://ow.ly/Wfsm3016G7F @benjaminsobieck

6 Questions Writers Must Answer When Writing Urban Fantasy/Paranormal:  http://ow.ly/6vuz300z09B @mishellbaker

Script Analysis: “The Silence of the Lambs”: Scene By Scene Breakdown:  http://ow.ly/BZ27300z10E @GoIntoTheStory

How to write about food:  http://ow.ly/61eL300p62u by Andrew Webb @publishingtalk

10 tips to learn from a creative writing lecturer:  http://ow.ly/tRq3300p5w1 @JuliaBell @publishingtalk

Ebooks in Mexico: slowed sales growth:  http://ow.ly/WyLC3014jCX @adamcritchley @pubperspectives

18 Speaking Tips to Rivet Your Audience:  http://ow.ly/6GLu300p1Nl @ZoeMMcCarthy

Developing Themes In Your Stories: The Inciting Incident: http://ow.ly/Mp2j300z02e  @SaraL_Writer

4 Lessons learned from super niche marketing:  http://ow.ly/ji3t300yZjf  @MarsDorian

How to Discover and Protect Your Most Creative Time for Writing: http://ow.ly/6HmF300yZwl @jkwak

Bloodline: A Study in Creating Conflict & Tension in Fiction: http://ow.ly/h8pw300z19g @crisfreese

How to Use Distraction to Your Advantage:  http://ow.ly/Alvl300yZUM @Psych_Writer

Big Publishing is Not as Big Anymore: http://ow.ly/ofrt300yZa8 @asap_jonathon @flavorwire

The Latest from @authorearnings : More Data, More Profitable Authors: http://ow.ly/lEik3014jzU @Porter_Anderson

Why You Should Ask Your Doctor If He Reads Fiction:  http://ow.ly/SZb2300BwsI @colleen_m_story

Why do mysteries trump romances in the UK? http://ow.ly/RoQQ3014jtI @pressfuturist @pubperspectives

Creating Your Author Brand:  http://ow.ly/d5a2300wkuE @carlaking  @BookBaby

4 Times an African Writer Rewrote a Western Classic and Nailed It:  http://ow.ly/XwCO3012Dzy @brittlepaper

Finding the Courage to Write About Abuse: http://ow.ly/NQcb300wkiY @KarenLeeAuthor  @WomenWriters

Neil Gaiman on His Favorite Horror Movie:  http://ow.ly/4DuI3012B7U @neilhimself @thelithub

Top 3 self-publishing mistakes and how to avoid them:  http://ow.ly/9yRK300p50Y @iamselfpub @publishingtalk

High Stakes: 6 Examples of Drug War Fiction Done Right:  http://ow.ly/zloG30104ua @adammaid @SignatureReads

5 of the Best Apps for Writers:  http://ow.ly/mDAQ300p2gh @katekrake @writeturninfo

3 Components That Help You Create a Strong Story: http://ow.ly/ASPi300p1Jh @ZoeMMcCarthy

How Hemingway’s Bad Behavior Inspired a Generation:  http://ow.ly/qoM93012Bcu  @lesleymmblume @thelithub

14 Things All Writers Have Said (And What They Actually Meant): http://ow.ly/schl300EXsz @CharlotteAhlin @bustle

Camp NaNoWriMo: Write a giveaway to build your mailing list:  http://ow.ly/cajM3011Kpv @NaNoWriMo @jayartale

How to Find a Niche Audience:  http://ow.ly/4Dt7300wk7n @Philip_Overby  @mythicscribes

What Is Your Potential? http://ow.ly/hxJc300wkyM @DanBlank  @WriterUnboxed

Flip Your Characters To Twist A Plot:  http://ow.ly/HHqg300wknI @Writers_Write

Tips to Crafting a Successful Novel Series: http://ow.ly/MNku300wkrp @CSLakin

Know Your Novel’s Premise: http://ow.ly/kDJY300vzex @Lindasclare

Kinship plots: http://ow.ly/idQw300wi3E @robinrwrites

Fixing coincidences in our novel:  http://ow.ly/rXPv3011KeI @p2p_editor

In Search of Obscure Words for Even Rarer Feelings:  http://ow.ly/433330100nx by Tiffany Watt Smith @thelithub

How to create an on-trend book cover in 5 steps:  http://ow.ly/a18k300p4W7 by Sarah Juckes @publishingtalk

Teaching Shakespeare in a Maximum Security Prison:  http://ow.ly/Ulji30100Xt @MikitaBrottman @thelithub

The Most Poetic Cities in the World:  http://ow.ly/YeJy3010uaM @My_poetic_side

Character Development: Psychological Personality Types:  http://ow.ly/8i4o300p2c9 @katekrake @writeturninfo

5 Techniques to Add Suspense to Your Story in Any Genre: http://ow.ly/PUZr300p1Fa @ZoeMMcCarthy

How to Quit Bad Scenes:  http://ow.ly/qvDb30104jA @RufiThorpe @SignatureReads

How To Stay Motivated For A Project When It’s Not New Anymore: http://ow.ly/qb7r300p1kt @misfitalexa

When My Authentic is Your Exotic: http://ow.ly/11BX300wivE  @SoniahKamal @thelithub

Designing Your Author Brand:  http://ow.ly/IPEa300whXS @Rachel_Aaron

Metamorphosis plots:  http://ow.ly/1oDD300wi97 @RobinRWrites

Become an Intuitive Writer: http://ow.ly/VjPP300whUz @JanalynVoigt

To the Unpublished Writer: You’re Doing Okay. http://ow.ly/ZJq0300wi0I @SeptCFawkes

Cluttered Writing Life: Causes & Cures: http://ow.ly/oO7K300whS9 @JanalynVoigt

Why Authors Should Use Instagram:  http://ow.ly/2Fq3300wisy @LizandLisa

Make a Living as a Writer: A Simple Strategy That Works:  http://ow.ly/d85x300XowC  @hopeclark

How to Survive Co-writing:  http://ow.ly/QYlw300tOYB by dnuenighoff

6 Ways to Create Conflict and Get Your Protagonist in Trouble:  http://ow.ly/1K9V300tPni @RuthanneReid

3 Strategies to Creating a Better (Fictional) World:  http://ow.ly/yS23300tPjW @Rachel_Aaron

How To Turn Your Setting Into An Obstacle Course: http://ow.ly/VzaD300tPgw @AngelaAckerman

Are You Planning Your Writing Career €¦ or Winging It? http://ow.ly/GoJg300tP8K @aliventures

Passive Voice and How to Make It Active:   http://ow.ly/Nhxa300tOPZ @ProWritingAid

13 Things Writers Are Tired of Hearing:  http://ow.ly/X9Lo300EXgk @CharlotteAhlin @bustle

Tennis featured in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/cQ45300Xo9P @mkinberg

The Danger of Responding to Reviews: http://ow.ly/y1vF300XV8Z

Twitter Fiction: What Is It? How to Write It. And Why You’d Ever Want To Try. http://ow.ly/3pn1300p25a @katekrake @writeturninfo

10 Fixes to Edit Unclear and Wordy Sentences: http://ow.ly/WEcy300p1B2 @ZoeMMcCarthy

Insecure Writer’s Support Group: What it Offers Writers:  http://ow.ly/3rCL300XmpB @TheIWSG

German Ebook Sales Up, Revenue Down: Have sales plateaued in Germany? http://ow.ly/byJL300XnWl by Ingrid Süßmann @pubperspectives

5 Free Online Resources All Writers Need To Be Using:  http://ow.ly/S3zQ300p1h7 @misfitalexa

5 Ways to Steal 30 Minutes of Reading Time:  http://ow.ly/M2jE300tOsx @DanaLeipold @DIYMFA

How to write sex scenes without cliché or embarrassment:  http://ow.ly/CZSc300p4RH @mitziszereto @publishingtalk

#MusicForWriters: Composer Lewis Pesacov: A 5,000-Year Love Story’s Moment In Eternity:  http://ow.ly/6dLd300W6j4 @Porter_Anderson

Fallow Fields: An Argument for Letting Your Creativity Rest:  http://ow.ly/efFz300tBEp@kristanhoffman

Against Clichés Against Clichés: A Manifesto:  http://ow.ly/ci24300tBt4 by Helen Betya Rubinstein @The_Millions

How To Make A Book Trailer: http://ow.ly/gN5P300rvWE @AngelikaAuthor @womenwriters

Auditioning an editor:  http://ow.ly/XSZe300VSpC  @ColeHeartedGirl @RWANYC

Could We Just Lose the Adverb?  http://ow.ly/wmrx300rvPq @xlorentzen @nymag @vulture

The Importance of Your Author Photo:  http://ow.ly/1q1Q300W5GV @Porter_Anderson @IngramSpark

The top writing links of last week are on Twitterific:
Click To Tweet

The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

From Trad-Pub to Self-Pub–Tips and Observations

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

This is the second time I’ve gotten the rights to my characters back from a publisher and taken a trad-published series to self-pub.  The last time I did this was five years ago.

There were some big differences between this time and last time.  The first time I’d had only one book released in the series before taking it to self-pub.  This time the series had five books in it.

This latest series had a nice following but I found that many of my readers for the Penguin series  seemed unaware of my self-published series.  They would email me asking when the next Southern Quilting Mystery was coming out and I would tell them…and then ask if they knew about my Myrtle Clover series.  Many times they didn’t.

One reason they didn’t is because Penguin didn’t want any non-Penguin books included in my author bio.  I can understand this.  So not only were my self-published books not included in my bio, the original trad-published book in the series (from Midnight Ink) wasn’t, either.

So that’s officially my favorite thing about taking this series to self-pub. I loved, loved, loved being able to advertise my self-pubbed series in the back of the book.  I’m hoping for some real crossover from my audience.

And now for the curiosities from this release.   Print sales have been very strong…I’ve ranked as high as in the top 15,000–18,000 for printed books on Amazon.  It’s also selling well through IngramSpark, which tells me that bookstores are ordering it for customers.

The oddest thing about that to me is that the book clearly isn’t competitively priced in print–it’s running at $10.99, which I think is pretty high.  But when you’re doing POD (print on demand) with CreateSpace and Ingram, that’s the kind of price you have to set to make a profit.

So…why are the readers buying it?  I suspect that’s because these readers always did buy this series in print.  They went to the bookstore and purchased them there.  They want the print edition.

But the book was in mass market paperback size as trad-pub…you just can’t get that in POD.  Are they going to ultimately be upset that this book isn’t exactly the same size as the other books in the series?  I think it would bother me when I looked at the bookshelf.

The ebook sales have been even stronger than the print.  I suspect this is because I set the ebook price at $4.99.  Other releases in the series are at $7.99.  I’m undercutting my other books and the releases of trad-published cozy writers. I had one reader email me in confusion … why was the new release less expensive than the older ones?  Regardless, it’s worked well as a sales strategy.

Takeaways from this and general tips for moving a series to self-pub: 

First off…don’t be afraid to ask for your character rights back for your trad-published series.  This is a lucrative decision.

Secondly, price wisely when you’re releasing the book to gain visibility in a crowded field.  The POD version isn’t going to be priced reasonably, but some readers won’t mind.

Use this opportunity to promote your other series, particularly any self-published series or books from other publishers that you weren’t allowed to promote previously.

Try to make sure the quality of the writing and production (design, editing, etc.) are as good as you can make them. Readers will hold the book to the same standard of the trad-published books.

Ensure Amazon adds your newest book to their list of the books in the series.  They haven’t for me (I just realized it) and that’s something I’ve got to immediately try to fix by contacting Amazon.

Now that you have your rights back, you can fully exploit them.  Consider an audiobook format of the book in the hopes of gaining new readers for the older books…especially if each book in the series reads like a standalone without a continuing arc.  You can even explore translation rights.

Look into putting your book up on IngramSpark so that bookstores are more likely to stock them or order them for customers (bookstores aren’t keen about buying from Amazon, for obvious reasons).  Many of our trad-published readers may be accustomed to buying from a bookstore and we want to get those sales.

Although I had a good experience with this series at Penguin, I feel so much more relaxed now that I’m in control of every aspect of its promo and production.

Now over to you.  Any other trad-pub to self-pub converts out there?  Any self-pubbed writers experimenting with IngramSpark?  What do your print sales look like as a percentage of your digital?

Observations and tips on taking a trad-published series to self-pub:
Click To Tweet

The post From Trad-Pub to Self-Pub–Tips and Observations appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

The Danger of Responding to Reviews

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Last week I read a Washington Post article about doctors who were angered by bad Yelp reviews from patients.  They fired back at these patients, revealing confidential information in the process. (“Doctors Fire Back at Bad Yelp Reviews–and Reveal Patients’ Information Online” by Charles Ornstein.)

The crux of this particular piece was that doctors who responded angrily to the patients were violating patient privacy.  But to me, it was just another reminder of the inherent danger of responding to reviews.  Any reviews.

It’s very difficult for me to imagine a time where an author comes out looking good after responding to reviews.

This doesn’t mean that I’m not itching to respond to some of my reviews.   I’ve received plenty of reviews that were downright irritating.  My most-reviewed book, Dyeing Shame, has 684 reviews.  684 mixed reviews.

Many times I wished I could argue in my own defense.  For example, I’d love to explain that Amazon’s shipping issues don’t actually reflect on my book’s content or quality.

But there wasn’t a single instance in which I felt my response wouldn’t sound argumentative, thin-skinned, condescending, or downright priggish. Or even arrogant, like some of the defensive doctors in the Washington Post story.

Commenting on good reviews?  For me, that’s also a bad idea, although I didn’t think so when I was first published.  Now I consider it author intrusion of a different sort.  Most reviews are intended by readers for readers.  They’re hardly ever directed at me.

The one time in my memory that I’ve responded to comments was very recent.  It was for my trad-published book, Pretty is as Pretty Dies.  The publisher suddenly updated the digital file and, in the process, omitted chapter seventeen and included two chapter sixteens.  As you can imagine, readers were dinging me over this.  I was baffled because this book has been live since 2010.  I immediately contacted the publisher to correct it.  Then I set to apologizing to the readers who complained…offering to email them the missing chapter immediately from my own draft from over six years ago.   This is the only time I felt it was appropriate for me to respond…not to defend myself, but to apologize and offer a fix.

Reviews do have their place.  Glowing reader reviews can be an important part of our editorial review section on our book’s page on Amazon and other retailers.  We can tally our best reviews to make marketing statements: “100+ 5-star reviews!”  We can learn from our bad reviews, if they have something valuable to impart to us.

And, for me anyway,  practice the challenging art of patience while remaining silent.

Have you had any reviews you’ve been itching to respond to?  Do you read your reviews at all?  Have there been times in which you did respond to reviews or felt you needed to?  How did that go?  What’s your own policy on responding to reviews?

The danger of responding to reviews:
Click To Tweet

The post The Danger of Responding to Reviews appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

The Secret of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë : http://ow.ly/Qpzb300rvhY @JudithShulevitz @TheAtlantic

Do Overused Words Lose Their Meaning?  http://ow.ly/4kUg300rvqw @asap_jonathon @flavorwire

3 Marketing Fallacies That Writers Should Be Wary Of:  http://ow.ly/afs1300rvyB @DanBlank

Instagram is changing the way we buy and sell books:  http://ow.ly/7OvA300rvDp @jopiazza @dailydot

The Ultimate Guide To Using Trello As A Writer:  http://ow.ly/to13300oXW7 @misfitalexa

5 Easy Techniques to Bulk Up a Paper-Thin Character:  http://ow.ly/3O38300p1xd @ZoeMMcCarthy               

The Bug Sheet: An Editing Process Your Writing Will Thank You For http://ow.ly/96Vx300p20s @katekrake @writeturninfo”

How to crowdfund your book:  http://ow.ly/PpBR300p5kk  @BenGalley @publishingtalk

Reading the Literary City:  http://ow.ly/jNix300rdLg @TobiasCarroll

Ebook Conversion Online:  http://ow.ly/fPyP300rvaY @dkudler

Which Social Media Channel Sells The Most Books? http://ow.ly/83eK300rv8E  @BadRedheadMedia

Check Your Scribd Sales for a Pleasant Surprise:  http://ow.ly/ho4M300rv5Q @Jason_Matthews

We Need More First-Hand Books About Urban Poverty: http://ow.ly/34AW300rdCY @RealLiveCritic @thelithub

Editing and Editors: A Writer’s Guide:  http://ow.ly/96ZF300UIRR @RuthHarrisBooks

How to build an effective content strategy:  http://ow.ly/Hdi6300p4A0 @publishingtalk @jonreed

Think Twice About Hosting a Telesummit or Accepting an Invitation to Speak:  http://ow.ly/S3sl300Tz0J @taragentile

Basing Characters on Real People Without Getting into Trouble:  http://ow.ly/dwrE300p1Vd @katekrake @writeturninfo

5 Cases: How to Write Infrequent Phrases:  http://ow.ly/edtP300p1oe @ZoeMMcCarthy

4 Ways Camp NaNoWriMo (Upcoming in July) Will Improve Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/vwI0300oXRJ @misfitalexa

Don’t Hate the Query Letter: Master It:  http://ow.ly/6V4Z300rv32 @AnnieNeugebauer

3 Steps to Parlaying Random Encounters Into Book Sales (Without Being Pushy):  http://ow.ly/XXGJ300ruZe  @NicoleCDFauthor

Evaluating Our Website’s SEO:  http://ow.ly/Ra3I300Tf8q

It’s Time to Ditch Discoverability:  http://ow.ly/SQgo300ruV3 @jamesscottbell

Secrets of the Book Designer: “Sometimes I Don’t Read the Whole Book”:  http://ow.ly/swCg300SNHf @thelithub by Oliver Munday

26 Obvious Signs You’re a Writer:  http://ow.ly/uCD8300tBfn @jesslaw

“The Boxcar Children” and the Spirit of Capitalism:  http://ow.ly/FDXg300SNsh @jiatolentino @NewYorker

Authors on Twitter: 43 Stunning Header Image Examples:  http://ow.ly/GHEw300tB87 @DianaUrban

3 Writing Tips We Can Learn from Beyoncé:  http://ow.ly/7VCF300tB1B @monicamclark

George R. R. Martin and what an author owes his readers: http://ow.ly/TIae300T6Qe @austinkleon

Starting an Email Newsletter:  http://ow.ly/fkwc300ruSP @kikimojo @JaneFriedman

Building Your Professional Author Website: WordPress vs Squarespace:  http://ow.ly/gnJu300ruKF @wingmanwebworks @JaneFriedman

The Suicide Memoir: a Brief Look at a Dark Genre:  http://ow.ly/eRX7300rdtl by Candace Opper

How to write science fiction:  http://ow.ly/is6F300p5YQ @MDeAbaitua @publishingtalk

6 ways to overcome procrastination and beat writers’ block http://ow.ly/qhK1300p4LM @Eva_Bec @publishingtalk

The Rule of 3 (And How it Helps Our Writing):  http://ow.ly/RU8a300oTIp @Janice_Hardy

5 Cases: How to Write Infrequent Phrases: http://ow.ly/RrAm300oUw7  @ZoeMMcCarthy

Sweden’s Successful Subscription Service: http://ow.ly/WXqL300RuEE @storytel @MarieBilde @pubperspectives

Write a Book Without Losing Your Mind: 10 Tips: http://ow.ly/SLbw300oUbS @jenny_blake

101 Writing Tips To Improve Your Writing Today:  http://ow.ly/4UAh300oUnZ @BryanJCollins

Multilingual Wordsmiths: @lydia_davis  and Translationese:  http://ow.ly/Sg6l300oV3V

Actually, Criticism Is Literature:  http://ow.ly/QrRl300RusK @jrc2666 @thelithub

How to Define Your Creativity and Be a Better Writer:  http://ow.ly/hoPV300oUCP  @katekrake  @writeturninfo

Writing Dialogue, And How It Relates To Plot And Character:  http://ow.ly/NWsB300oU1S @ChuckWendig

Treating Your Setting as a Character:  http://ow.ly/NLjq300PT26 @QuillShift

5 Ways Handwriting Will Make You A Better Writer: http://ow.ly/maoa300oUkY @misfitalexa

Are You Taking Time to Breathe and Be? http://ow.ly/yVDn300mvAY @JanalynVoigt

Remove hedging words from your manuscript: http://ow.ly/sJdx300oU8m @JerryBJenkins  @CSLakin

Using Alternative Media Formats in Your Novel (such as comics) http://ow.ly/48UR300oUY0 @LauraWMcCaffrey @MartinaABoone

5 ways to boost your creativity:  http://ow.ly/8PQR300oUAb @pubcoach

8 Tips for How to Write Child Characters:  http://ow.ly/s6s8300oTRo @KMWeiland

6 Ways To Self-Edit & Polish Your Prose:  http://ow.ly/nDsl300oUga @KristenLambTX

Nielsen Stages a First Romance Book Summit at RWA:  http://ow.ly/GbzW300FKbd @Porter_Anderson @Nielsen

A Snapshot of The Philippines as a Reading Nation:  http://ow.ly/XAPH300OhVr @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

The Hot Sheet: industry newsletter for authors (30 day free trial): from @Porter_Anderson & @JaneFriedman: http://ow.ly/mmQv300OivO

Crime Writers: Crime Scenes: Writing and Processing:  Chat with @CalebPirtle and @SueColetta1  @ 3pm EDT Wednesdays #ACrimeChat

5 Ways To Renew Faith In Your Work And Yourself: http://ow.ly/tzJi300BwlA @colleen_m_story

BookBub and Goodreads: Worldwide Expansion, Ads,Deals to Increase Discoverability:  http://ow.ly/eRuH300Oh8l @Porter_Anderson @suzanneskyvara

How Science Fiction Redefines Who We Are, and What We’re Becoming: http://ow.ly/exO0300mn5D @SteveToutonghi @thelithub

Real Housewives of Jane Austen: How ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘Kardashians’ Emulate Austen’s Work:  http://ow.ly/qjug300Nxbl @sophieGG @TheAtlantic

Are You Being Taken Advantage of as a Writer? http://ow.ly/h40g300mnJb @Janice_Hardy

Horror most profound: The many layers to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic ‘The Birds’: http://ow.ly/SnMF300mo7T @GChintamani @firstpost

5 Tips for Sparking Creativity Through Writing Pro-Bono Work http://ow.ly/BpEC300mnWQ @thevolcanodiary

Media Kits for Writers: A Beginner’s Guide: http://ow.ly/umiG300moAT @allindiewriters

Place Matters in Lit Fic: http://ow.ly/2Iin300mnln @pshares  by  Bryan Washington

10 Tips for Guest Blogging: http://ow.ly/I6lv300mvm5 @annerallen

Time Management for Writers:  http://ow.ly/QOf9300mnTy  @katemoretti1

The unstoppable wave of ‘girl’-titled books: http://ow.ly/stOR300mndm @robinwasserman  @thelithub

Are Books on the Writing Craft Worth it?  http://ow.ly/r9Hb300muXB @Lindasclare

Creating Easy Branded Images for Your Blog and Social Media: http://ow.ly/trRu300mmVN @kikimojo @JaneFriedman

What Modern Horror Filmmakers Can Learn From The Twilight Zone”:  http://ow.ly/AwVV300mokQ @brendanmorrow  @BDisgusting”

Middle Eastern Writers Find Refuge in the Dystopian Novel:  http://ow.ly/qlvn300Lz4o @xanalter @nytimes

Why shorter is better for writing: http://ow.ly/sQnJ300LyT3 @p2p_editor

When No One Shows Up To Your Reading:  http://ow.ly/sXM5300LyHV @TheNormanNation @thelithub

INscribe Introduces INdemand for Publishers: A ‘Faster, Easier Path Into Print?’   http://ow.ly/7Hs8300FK57 @Porter_Anderson

Why Write in Poetic Form?  http://ow.ly/sQ54300hbGw @hinxminx @PoetryFound

27 Blogging Tips To Grow Your Business:  http://ow.ly/9KgO300jQs7 @Writers_Write

Why pictures matter in picture books:  http://ow.ly/1gv1300jQng by Claudia Cangilla McAdam

Why Are All the Cartoon Mothers Dead?  http://ow.ly/WUl8300jRp2 by Sarah Boxer @TheAtlantic

4 Tips to Keep Your Writing Momentum:  http://ow.ly/I4jO300jRgF @soniaroth

Head-Hopper POV: An Example and Correction:  http://ow.ly/wEct300jQDb by Tina L. Jens

How the Best Commencement Speech of All Time Was Bad for Literature:  http://ow.ly/zXX8300jQhh by Emily Harnett @thelithub

How to Build an Author Business: http://ow.ly/paSj300jQv8 @HelenSedwick  @thecreativepenn

Telling a Story Within a Story:  http://ow.ly/H3cM300jR47 by Anne Marie Gazzolo

Building an Author Website on WordPress: How to Start Smart:  http://ow.ly/ffpM300jQ4P @JaneFriedman

Focusing on Small Details:  http://ow.ly/Fe2c300jR9F @AJHumpage

How to Build an Audience for Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/m7jF300jRdX @FauziaBurke

How to Write Powerful Flashbacks: http://ow.ly/oQoN300hauk by Marry McAleavey

Plot Obstacles: Too Easy, Too Difficult, or Just Right?  http://ow.ly/wd3q300ha6X @JamiGold

The ethics of novelizing autobiography: http://ow.ly/CCL3300ham9 @diski

How to Launch a Book on Facebook:  http://ow.ly/iYzo300Hyfi @amebuckley @IndieAuthorALLI

3 Things We Can Learn From Marvel’s Civil War:  http://ow.ly/tqC3300ha8W @tamsinsilver

Avoid this plotting pitfall when writing drafts at speed:  http://ow.ly/2t4o300F3bO @Roz_Morris

What Makes an Essay American?  http://ow.ly/V0qU300haE0  @vcunningham @newyorker

Book Plot vs. Character Arc and How To Reconcile the Two:  http://ow.ly/Gi6H300evX2 @monicaleonelle

How plot grips us, from Dickens to Game of Thrones:  http://ow.ly/qgSO300hbPp by John Mullan @GuardianBooks

Don’t Accidentally Give Your Characters a Time Out:  http://ow.ly/Scyw300ha4c @LisaCron

How to Write Characters Who Don’t Sound Like You:  http://ow.ly/jQnn300haxY @Janice_Hardy

Royalty Clauses in Publishing Deals: How (& How Much) Authors Get Paid:  http://ow.ly/1kjJ300haAf @SusanSpann

How to get a great book contract in 5 steps:  http://ow.ly/rLeq300hacA by Ron Van Cleave

Reading Proust on a Cell Phone: http://ow.ly/2kuW300hbwH by Sarah Boxer @TheAtlantic

Do Print Books Have a Future in Tomorrow’s Classroom? http://ow.ly/lmbp300Eebd @nealgoff @bookbusinessmag

Books’ Prices and Writing’s Value: Careful What We Asked For? http://ow.ly/FFnK300HycH @Porter_Anderson @WriterUnboxed

Winning the World’s Largest Online Writing Contest:  http://ow.ly/RmSV300Hy3G @ReedsyHQ @oakenthoughts

How to Deal With an Unending Shift in Priorities:  http://ow.ly/INL8300ew3y @monicaleonelle

Beat Writer’s Block with Grimms’ Fairy Tales:  http://ow.ly/ok6l300evOW @Jffelkins

Tips For Writing Emotion With @cjlyonswriter  http://ow.ly/UR8A300evIx @thecreativepenn

The @nytimes is doing a series on writing spaces called ‘A Writer’s Room’: http://ow.ly/SxKa300EbvO

Smarter Storytelling Framework:  http://ow.ly/Flwr300evBO @monicaleonelle

Productivity of pulp writers: http://ow.ly/Zc7P300evox @DeanWesleySmith

The top writing links of last week are on Twitterific:
Click To Tweet

The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Evaluating Our Website’s SEO

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve recently become very interested in how my site, books, and bio show up in Google searches.  This interest in search engine optimization, or SEO, has led me to make some changes on my site.

I read about a free tool called the SEO Site Checkup tool in Jane Friedman’s Electric Speed newsletter (click here for the archives to see if her newsletter might work for you).  I typed in my website name, clicked ‘checkup,’ and it delivered a list of issues that I should resolve to improve my SEO.

The way it was set up was very informative.  It provides passed checks (what I’m doing right and why it’s right,  failed checks, and warnings.  Each area that my site performed poorly on had a red, clickable box with ‘how to fix’ on it. I learned both from what I was (accidentally, I’m sure) doing right and what I was doing wrong from the fix it offered.

I read a lot of articles on the importance of search engines being able to find our books, our sites, and our bios. But frequently, the articles don’t outline ways to improve what we’re doing.  Even increasing the image size to optimize it for Google (and so that the post will stand out when being shared on social media) helped the SEO…and that was a minor, easy tweak.  Other tips involved creating a favicon for the site (icon representing the site in a bookmark or browser tab).  Others might get tips to make their site easier to read on mobile devices, etc.

It only takes about a minute for the site to check your SEO (and it’s free to check a single site):  SEO Site Checkup tool .  How does yours fare?

Evaluating our website's SEO:
Click To Tweet

The post Evaluating Our Website’s SEO appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Thanks to those heroes who sacrificed their lives in military service.   I’ll be away  tomorrow for Memorial Day but back on the blog on Friday. 

Infinite Complexity: On Translating David Foster Wallace into Greek:  http://ow.ly/yL9H300z9cf @ScottEsposito @thelithub

Essentials For Self-Publishing Authors: 7 Must-Haves:  http://ow.ly/OpXN300ev6p @KifferBrown @IndieAuthorALLI

13 Tips for the Writing Newbie:  http://ow.ly/Qiw5300d443 @LZMarieAuthor

How to Use Guest Blogging to Promote Your Book: http://ow.ly/Jtgg300d47M @BethJHayden for @janefriedman

8 Writing Lessons from Hamilton: The Revolution:  http://ow.ly/WeXI300d4g1  @robwhart @thelithub               

All About Google+ For Writers:  http://ow.ly/5BR3300d4aC @111publishing

How to Choose a Blog Topic That’s Pre-Programmed for Success: http://ow.ly/Js20300d46d by Jason Gracia

Planning Your Story: What George Lucas Can Teach You (Not) to Do: http://ow.ly/EXUQ300d42Z @KMWeiland

On Translating Stoner in Japan:  http://ow.ly/z4tT300zaYP by Motoyuki Shibata

Why we should be selfish with our time:  http://ow.ly/IF0q300evtm @InkyBites

How the writer edits:  Julian Barnes’s method: http://ow.ly/SzDN300E76x @FreemanReads @thelithub

Turn your Facebook page into a marketing tool:  http://ow.ly/TG82300d3CZ @Bookgal

Writing:  When It’s Not Like a Movie:  http://ow.ly/kSGJ300d3F0 @joeberhardt

The Art of Paying Attention:  http://ow.ly/Opaf300d664 @sarahrcallender

3 Ways That Handwriting With A Pen Positively Affects Your Brain:  http://ow.ly/nRqn300euDo by Nancy Olson @Forbes

Who’s buying books? How are they finding them? Data from @Nielsen:  http://ow.ly/K2VW300FK01 @Porter_Anderson  @pubperspectives

Understanding our writing process:  http://ow.ly/xb63300euVm @DianeMacKinnon

10 Amazing Tools For Indie Authors:  http://ow.ly/H7jw300evbu @PaulTeagueUK @IndieAuthorALLI

How 1 Writer Failed at Promoting a Novel with Amazon Advertising: http://ow.ly/fC6k300GvjX  @ReedsyHQ @eliotpeper

Do Authors Need A Media Kit?  http://ow.ly/ONKt300d49S @111publishing

Conference Collisions: Spread Out Publishing Cons:  http://ow.ly/7D3j300FJS1 @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Can We Support Women in Publishing Without ‘De-Supporting’ Men?:  http://ow.ly/7FQJ300d3NQ @Porter_Anderson

How to Become a Novelist: 10 Top Authors’ Tips: http://ow.ly/toPr300d4eZ @nownovel

10 Can-Do Traits Every Writer Needs: http://ow.ly/w59z300d44Q @LZMarieAuthor

30 Top Book Writing Tips:  http://ow.ly/vuIG300d4e6 @nownovel

Pursuing other agents after an offer of representation falls through:  http://ow.ly/Svfb300d40r @Janet_Reid

At the GrubStreet Writers of Color Roundtable: http://ow.ly/6yMN300E7x9 by Swati Khurana

What is Literary Fiction?  http://ow.ly/acvW300d3hX  @VinitaNangia @timesofindia

Paring Down Your Social Media Presence: http://ow.ly/9dRt300F4jw

Why Write Flash Fiction?  http://ow.ly/iCMO300d3f9 @PBRWriter

The Benefits of Tracking Your Time:  http://ow.ly/twAk300d3jT @RoniLoren

The 6-Month Book: From Concept to First Draft Completion: http://ow.ly/SW6h300eus7 @amiemccracken @IndieAuthorALLI

We Need More Diverse Superheroes:  http://ow.ly/ECZB300d33a @DavidWalker1201  by Maurice Boyer @PublishersWkly

Tips to avoid discussing your WIP with others:  http://ow.ly/YBTd300d3qQ @lyndacloigman

The 16 Most Misleading Book Covers Of All Time:  http://ow.ly/2TeY300EWVm @bustle  @CharlotteAhlin

When a Novelist Becomes an Ultramarathoner:  http://ow.ly/nlSA300E6TG @ahream @thelithub

Here’s Where Innovative Publishers Need to Focus:  http://ow.ly/1JG8300EdO8  @jwikert @bookbusinessmag

Characters whose situations prefigure fates that might await the hero:  http://ow.ly/nGPr300c9J0 @CockeyedCaravan

Do Americans Hate Foreign Fiction?  http://ow.ly/yrpT300z90R @anjalienjeti @thelithub

7 Bad Excuses for Putting Off Writing:  http://ow.ly/ZCQi3009X1q @JerryBJenkins

5 Tips For Writing Cross Genre: http://ow.ly/Oc1Y300d324 @thecreativepenn

How To Write A Book When You Have A Full-Time Job:  http://ow.ly/Hasy300d3mV @gregdybec @EliteDaily

What’s your writing persona?  http://ow.ly/wDsY300d3tw @LZMarieAuthor

Character Archetypes: “The Wizard of Oz”: http://ow.ly/sJf33009XuL @GoIntoTheStory

Sell More Books with Audible Clips (video):  http://ow.ly/X0Xa300aqy3 @MichaelLaRonn

3 Legs of Fiction Writing:  http://ow.ly/d3zc3009WTY @Lindasclare

5 Unusual Strategies to Capture Readers:  http://ow.ly/Bgss3009XdW @kikolani

5 Ways to Prevent Back Issues for Writers and 8 Exercises to Help:  http://ow.ly/33qj300Bwcj @colleen_m_story

Contemporary Innovators of the Short Story: A Reading List:  http://ow.ly/O89j3009X9l  @Rebecca_Schiff  @ElectricLit

High Concept Defined:  http://ow.ly/Ys7k3009WX3 @Lindasclare

6 Ways To Tell the Difference Between a Supportive and Toxic Writer:  http://ow.ly/DELn3009Xh7 @DCampoamor  @WritersDigest

A Translator on the Challenge of Genderless Characters: http://ow.ly/fLek3009b5M @StefHayes1 @TheAtlantic

Greek writers revolutionizing poetry in the age of austerity:  http://ow.ly/BO2u3009aW6  @martabausells @elenistefanou

4 Tips To Craft a Killer Novella:  http://ow.ly/o6cI3009WRk  @EM_Denning

Writing Lessons From Benjamin Franklin:  http://ow.ly/9u7G3009XkM @hodgeswriter

5 Ways to Use Dialogue to Spice Up The Middle of Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/orRh3009Xx0 @MartinaABoone

20+ Social Media Hacks and Tips From the Pros: http://ow.ly/B8lp3009XYA  @LisaDJenkins @SMExaminer

Bolder and Brighter Book Covers: Right Now, It’s All About Yellow: http://ow.ly/ox8d300z7U7 @lucy_feldman @WSJ

How to Save the Cat:  http://ow.ly/MFPE3009XV9 @briannehogan @CreativeScreen

Beating Block and Fostering Flow:  http://ow.ly/fiP0300eukG @thebookwright @IndieAuthorALLI

The Magic of 20 Minutes: http://ow.ly/AVvI300p3QV @michaelnobbs

Against Neutrality, Capital Letters, and Easy Translation:  http://ow.ly/wswz30085xn @dclarkwithane @worldlittoday

Elements of journal plots: http://ow.ly/QKXm30084hN @HeatherJacksonW

The Man Who Made the Novel:  http://ow.ly/11oL30085Uc  @adellewaldman @NewYorker

12 Steps From Inspiration to Finished Novel:  http://ow.ly/YxJF300eucQ @SueJohnson9 @IndieAuthorALLI

Cutting the Fat from Your Story:  http://ow.ly/u4n6300871q @RayneHall

Did Melville’s Illicit Romance Float ‘Moby-Dick’? http://ow.ly/YVjI300yZzD @Brenda_Cronin @WSJ

The Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Newsletter and Email List:  http://ow.ly/efV330086BM @patflynn

A Writer Hopes to Write Himself Out of Crushing Despair:  http://ow.ly/qqbG300z1lA @amzoltai

“Why I Quit Being a Writer”:  http://ow.ly/r0PM30086Ul by Jaime Clarke @thelithub

The Ideal Marriage, According to Novels:  http://ow.ly/Rmp130085YX @adellewaldman @NewYorker

How (and When) to Develop Multiple Streams of Writing Income:  http://ow.ly/anrL30086F7 @aliventures

Elements of gothic fiction:  http://ow.ly/f0y330084fa @RobinRWrites

Interview with @mark_haddon on banned books, hate speech and childhood memories:  http://ow.ly/Pnf830084sI @danpjsheehan

Why 1 Writer Reads Her Goodreads Reviews:  http://ow.ly/lov730086I0 @theladygreer

How To Use Audio as an Author For Book Sales and Marketing: http://ow.ly/5fTl30086mH @thecreativepenn

Curation in a world with too many things to read: http://ow.ly/muUx300woeL  @MarkPiesing with Michael Baskhar @pubperspectives

How to Find and Inspire Your Super Fans:  http://ow.ly/C5zM300eu0i @Bookgal @IndieAuthorALLI

In the UK, A ‘Settling Down Rather Than a Reversal’ of Digital Reading:  http://ow.ly/pQcj300wnRD @Porter_Anderson @benedictepage

The most common words in poetry:  http://ow.ly/rYBg300wiZh by Joanne Jeffries and Julian Yanover @My_poetic_side

The Power of Sitting Still:  http://ow.ly/WUhB300p3Ib @michaelnobbs

If You’re a Writer You May be an Empath:  http://ow.ly/Hvza300uSCc @p2p_editor

Plots with closed settings: http://ow.ly/JRI73006jZN @RobinRWrites

Creating Your Main Character:  http://ow.ly/5A193006kjj from The Writing Hole

Disorganized? How One Freelance Writer Uses Trello to Track Her Ideas:  http://ow.ly/77N83006koM @decorcione

Turning your FB page into a marketing tool: http://ow.ly/zOna3006klb @Bookgal

What Children’s Publishers Want:  http://ow.ly/uKUX3006k3o by Jill Roman Lord

How to Make the Magic in Your Story Magical: http://ow.ly/RPNb3006kpY @RidethePen

5 of the Most Creative Monsters:  http://ow.ly/VYo73006kcQ @GarthJennings

Happy ending plots: http://ow.ly/lq2w3006jUf @HeatherJacksonW

4 Mistakes to Avoid When Using Mailchimp:  http://ow.ly/bxDe3006kgy @sacha_black

5 Tips For Indie Book Promotion:  http://ow.ly/7vZQ3006kxX @HelenScheuerer

The Multiple Personalities of Omniscient 3rd Person: Spotlight on “Head-Hopper” : http://ow.ly/HNJO3006kCW by Tina L. Jens @BlackGateDotCom

A digital content strategist on archiving projects for major magazines:  http://ow.ly/26BD300uftD @erinlcox @pubperspectives @MattDellinger

5 Illogical Design Choices in Spaceships:  http://ow.ly/kvWZ30057st by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

What it Takes to Run a Small Press: ‘A Lot of Lonely Labor’:  http://ow.ly/CRho300ub13 @DennisAbrams2 @pubperspectives

Tips for local book marketing:  http://ow.ly/IawO300etTa @DebbieYoungBN @IndieAuthorALLI

Building Your Facebook Fan Page:  http://ow.ly/aPdT3002aRs @JAHuss

Stroll your way to a more satisfying creative life:  http://ow.ly/fT7I300p3Cg @michaelnobbs

Inbox Zero: A Tried and True Secret (video):  http://ow.ly/NiNi3002btk @Schmittastic

Setting as a Vehicle for Conflict:  http://ow.ly/q9dA300ty1G @beccapuglisi

Writers share their personal turning points and best book promo advice:  http://ow.ly/LH0Q300u6QD @SpunkOnAStick @DancingLemurPre

How cultures can impact crime fiction: http://ow.ly/IYD9300u6n7 @mkinberg

Top 100 Short Story Ideas:  http://ow.ly/zOK53002bne @joebunting

5 Tips on Turning Pro for Writers from Steven Pressfield:  http://ow.ly/WOKg30057kp  @lornafaith

Jane Austen’s Ivory Cage:  http://ow.ly/97Hr30056pP @MikitaBrottman @TheAmScho

How to Promote a Memoir:  http://ow.ly/XqsI300skZU @sorenarded @ReedsyHQ

Virginia Woolf on how affection for an author is based on more than their stories: http://ow.ly/4Tz6300562V  @voguemagazine

The 5 Most Common Mistakes I See in Beginners’ Manuscripts:  http://ow.ly/sSvW3002bq0 @JerryBJenkins

How to become a children’s book illustrator: 7 secrets for success:  http://ow.ly/b4Pg300p5rc @2dscumptious @publishingtalk

How To Use Audio as an Author For Book Sales and Marketing:  http://ow.ly/GcTo3002aUU @thecreativepenn

How to Deal With an Unending Shift in Priorities:  http://ow.ly/sc3E3002aHC @monicaleonelle

A Non-Designer’s Guide to Creating Engaging Images for Social Media:  http://ow.ly/CbkK3002bkc @RoyBoss  @buffer

How to Launch a Book: http://ow.ly/mBYS30029Sx @JAHuss

Entire Originality Workshop Now On YouTube:  http://ow.ly/q6XE30029YH @DeanWesleySmith

Book Plot vs. Character Arc and How To Reconcile the Two:  http://ow.ly/r2lG3002a1u @monicaleonelle

15 Ways to Boost Your Social Media Marketing in Under an Hour:  http://ow.ly/jrgd3002abG @Ashread_  @buffer

A Description Mistake to Avoid: http://ow.ly/nQmY30029Pr @JerryBJenkins

The top writing links of last week are on Twitterific:
Click To Tweet

The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Paring Down Your Social Media Presence

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Do you have a social media presence that is gathering cobwebs and making it hard for you to sleep at night?  Okay, maybe you’re not losing sleep over it, but it’s on your mind or somehow making you feel guilty?

Here is a terrific website that takes you directly to the page you need to delete your presence on that particular platform: http://justdelete.me/  . The site bills itself as “A directory of direct links to delete your account from web services.”

I set up, with the best intentions, a Facebook profile for a pen name in 2009 or early 2010.  I can say now that it was a tremendous mistake.  I already knew that I didn’t enjoy spending time on Facebook (I had a personal profile on the site).  Plus, I soon set up a page for myself on Facebook under my real name.  I simply couldn’t keep up with several Facebook profiles on top of maintaining a presence on Twitter, my blog,  Goodreads, LinkedIn, and Google Plus, among other places.

Because I was so rarely on the pen name Facebook profile, I missed a lot.  Readers would write on my wall, asking about upcoming releases.  They’d message me.  I was getting so many notifications from Facebook on the three profiles that many times these important communications from readers would get lost in the shuffle.

I’d sign in every couple of months to find that I had 20 or more friend requests or messages. Since I’m someone who usually stays on top of communications from readers, this stressed me out.

And yet!  I continued to hang onto the account.  That’s mainly because I felt my author page on Facebook was more for writers than for readers.

I finally, a week ago, sat down and really considered the issue.  Of course people were trying to communicate with me on that neglected profile.  That’s because I wasn’t trying to shift them somewhere else.  I realized the profile had been a continual problem from the start and it needed to be deleted.

There was a real sense of relief after I received this hardly earth-shattering revelation.  I immediately logged into the account, winced at all the missed friend requests, etc., and asked readers to like my page or follow me on Instagram (which I’m developing as a place where I can interact with readers).  I had a good response to this request and, several days later, I took steps to delete the account.

Specifically for Facebook:
From Facebook:
To deactivate your account:


Click the account menu at the top right of any Facebook page.
Select Settings.
Click Security in the left column.
Choose Deactivate your account then follow the steps to confirm.

Or, to delete (again, from Facebook):

“If you do not think you will use Facebook again and would like your account deleted, we can take care of this for you. Keep in mind that you will not be able to reactivate your account or retrieve any of the content or information you have added.

If you would still like your account deleted, click “Delete My Account”.”

Do you have a neglected social media platform that makes you feel guilty? How thin are you stretched online?

Reduce stress by paring down your social media presence:
Click To Tweet

The post Paring Down Your Social Media Presence appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Setting as a Vehicle for Conflict

by Becca Puglisi, @BeccaPuglisi

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that a good book should have conflict in every scene. This is wise advice, since well-written conflict begets tension for our characters, which can be passed on to readers, who will sense a rise in energy as they feel that nervous, jittery sensation signaling them that something is going on. We all want readers to have that heightened awareness and interest when they’re reading our stories, and a good way to bring that about is through conflict.

While the most obvious source of conflict is an antagonist who opposes our hero and his goal, it’s simply not reasonable (or sensible) to drag him into every chapter. As a result, we have to find other struggles that make sense for each scene. It may not seem like the most intuitive choice, but I’d like to propose that the setting is one of the handiest sources of conflict, for a number of reasons. First, every scene has a setting, so it’s already built into your story. And with the sources of conflict inherently included in each location, there’s no need to fabricate them—no lengthy set-up involved to put these difficulties into your protagonist’s path. If you’re wondering what sources of conflict I’m referring to, consider the following:

Physical Roadblocks

This kind of conflict is great because it’s so literal. Washed-out roads, a blizzard, the parade that shuts down half a city’s streets—all these obstacles keep the protagonist from getting where he physically needs to be. And roadblocks like these are easily incorporated into a variety of settings. Keep in mind, too, that literal obstructions don’t have to be large and impressive to be effective. A locked door or a small but loud dog can provide the resistance necessary to make things difficult for your character.

Mirrors to a Painful Past

Everyone has baggage—including our characters, if we’ve done our job well in the backstory department. While every location has conflict, there should be some settings that are especially problematic for your protagonist. Forcing him to revisit one of these places at a pivotal point in your story can act as a trigger, heightening his emotions and encouraging a bigger, more dramatic response.

Consider John Rambo, from the movie First Blood. Being arrested on a technicality by a prejudicial sheriff wouldn’t be a pleasant experience for anyone, but most people could navigate the situation and bring it to a resolution. For Rambo, being locked up brings to mind his time as a POW. When he’s taunted by a group of officers and threatened with a straight razor—the same item used to torture him in Vietnam—he flips out. His current situation directly mirrors a traumatic experience from the past, and he reacts violently, setting in motion a series of events that can’t be undone or made right.

If you know your character’s past, you’ll know which settings can act as emotional triggers. To ramp up the conflict and tension in an important scene, have your protagonist revisit one of those places.

Peripheral Troublemakers

While the antagonist should be the Biggest Baddie in your story, there are plenty of other rabble-rousers that can make things difficult for your hero, and you don’t have to go far afield to find them. You usually don’t have to look past the people who naturally inhabit your setting.

Let’s take a fitness center, for instance—not exactly the most combative location. But there are so many people naturally found here who could provide conflict: inexperienced guests, demanding trainers, overzealous managers pushing memberships, competitive guests with huge egos, ‘roid-raging bodybuilders…the list goes on and on.

The truth is that every setting has its own built-in cast of troublemakers. So when it comes time to write a scene, ask yourself: what does my hero want to achieve here? Consider what kind of characters might get in his way, then pick a setting where those people abound, and voilà: instant conflict.

Family Dysfunction

It’s sad to say, but in real life, it’s not the strangers and acquaintances that cause us the most heartache and drama. Usually, it’s our family members. Because of our history with them, tension easily builds before they’ve even done anything. They’re great at pushing our buttons, and their constant proximity makes us more sensitive to their quirks and jabs.

If you’re looking to add some tension to a scene, set it in a location where certain family members are likely to turn up: the backyard, a child’s birthday party, the shopping mall, or at church. Then sit back and watch the sparks fly.

The beauty of using a setting to provide conflict is that you can approach it from a number of ways. One method is to choose a setting based on the conflict needs of your scene. With this approach, the location is flexible; it can be any of a number of places. As you plan out your scene, decide what brand of conflict is necessary and choose a locale that contains that kind of trouble. Alternatively, if you already have a place in mind for a given scene, look for naturally occurring sources of conflict within that setting and use them to ramp up the tension. Either way, the location you choose can provide a ton of realistic conflict for your story.

As you can see, the setting is an incredibly versatile tool that can do more than simply set the stage. Turn your lazy locale into a multitasking one by using it to ramp up the tension in every scene.

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels, including The Rural Setting Thesaurus and The Urban Setting Thesaurus, which will be available for purchase in June. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library filled with description and brainstorming tools to help writers elevate their storytelling. You can find Becca online at both of these spots, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

Setting as a vehicle for conflict by @BeccaPuglisi
Click To Tweet

The post Setting as a Vehicle for Conflict appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.