Riley Adams's Blog, page 119

How to Use Pinterest to Communicate with Your Cover Designer

by Hanna Sandvig, @hanasu

I’m a big Pinterest user, and as a cover artist nothing makes me more happy than an author who also uses Pinterest.  Cover designers are, by our nature, very visual and Pinterest is a purely visual way of conveying ideas, making it the perfect way to work with your cover designer.  Designers often don’t have time to read your book before working on the cover (and often the book is still being written when I get started!) so communicating your story through images gives us a way to read your mind, which is a pretty handy trick. Here are a few ways you can use Pinterest to communicate with your cover designer:

Make a board to communicate details about your story and characters

Do you have a specific celebrity or a photo in mind when you create the look of your characters? Pin your reference photos with a description that includes the characters name, and maybe what it is about the photo that reminds you of the character.  Sometimes it’s not just one photo, but the hair from one, the tattoo from another, you get the idea.  Pin them all!  I’ve seen boards with thirty images (photos, artwork, movie stills) about one character.  By looking at all those inspirations I can get a really clear idea of who the character is.

Characters are the most central part of your story, but you can also pin images of clothes, the setting, any details that are important.

Make a board that conveys the mood of your book

This is usually a board that you’ve created to provide inspiration while writing your book.  Especially in fantasy/sci-fi stories and historical fiction, I see a lot of boards that include all sorts of inspirations.  I love to see artwork and movie stills in boards like this.  Emotional photography, images that tell a story.   When you combine all those images together, I can get a great sense of the books tone.  Is it dreamy? Dark? Whimsical? Gritty? Romantic? You can tell me what the mood of your story is, but if I see your inspirations I can really feel it with you. Nailing the mood for your cover is the best way to attract the readers who will truly love your book.

Pin book covers that you really love 

Create a board for book covers, and whenever you come across one that inspires you, pin it with a note saying, specifically, what you like about it.  So you might pin a cover and make a note in the description that you love the font, or the layout, or the photo.  The more covers you pin, the better sense your designer will be able to get of your taste.  Don’t just pin one or two and expect them to copy the elements you like, you want a cover that suits your story and genre without being a rip-off of someone else’s work.

Try to stick to covers that are in your genre.  Readers can spot a book they will love by the way a book looks, so you don’t want to pull too much inspiration from covers outside your niche, no matter how pretty they are.  A good cover designer will research and understand the market, but you should always be an expert in what’s selling well in your genre.

Create a shared board with your designer

If your designer uses Pinterest, you can create a board for the cover project and add them as a pinner using the little “invite” button in the board’s header. This allows you both to pin images and collaborate visually.  You can share covers you like, stock photos you think could work, or different font choices.  If you don’t want the world to see the cover design process, just set the board to “private” when you create it.  Anyone you invite to a private board will be able to see it and pin on it with you.  Shared boards are a fantastic way to swap ideas about the cover and keep each other in the loop as you’re working.

I believe that the best covers are created by the designer and the author working as a team.  The author has the knowledge of the story and the market, and the designer knows the artistic side of it.  The better your communication with each other, the better the result.  So learn your designers language and work with us as visually as you can!

Do you have any questions about using Pinterest or collaborating well with a cover artist?  Let me know in the comments!

Use Pinterest to communicate with your cover designer (via @hanasu):
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Hanna Sandvig is the cover artist behind The Book Cover Bakery. She specializes in covers for Romance, Cozy Mystery and Chick-Lit novels featuring custom illustrations, original photography, and hand lettering. She is passionate about helping indie authors connect with the readers who are waiting to hear their stories.

Hanna lives in the mountains of BC, Canada, with her husband and two little girls.

The post How to Use Pinterest to Communicate with Your Cover Designer appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

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.

50 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Author Platform:  http://ow.ly/LnY7I @amcbooks

Writing Tip: Dialogue:  http://ow.ly/Lo0JY @lindasclare

The Ups and Downs of Indie Life:  http://ow.ly/LnYUj @Nicholas_Rossis               

5 Things 1 writer learned from Fifty Shades of Grey: http://ow.ly/Lo0GP @s_lovett

Promo basics:  http://ow.ly/Lo1gp @niniehammon

Speaking out on issues as an author:  http://ow.ly/LqRwC @mikemartinez72

15+ Tactics for Writing Humor:  http://ow.ly/LqP9E  @SeptCFawkes

10 things 1 writer learned while writing his last book:  http://ow.ly/LqR0d @austinkleon

Expand, Deepen, and Create Motion–3 Tweaks that Keep Details Interesting:  http://ow.ly/LqPIj  @SeptCFawkes

Writing a story from the villain’s POV:  http://ow.ly/LqRgQ @EimhWrite

4 Writing Processes: What Is Your Red-Zone? http://ow.ly/LqQyf @RogerDColby

Crime Writers: How To Properly Rot Your Corpses: Postmortem Decomposition:  http://ow.ly/LqQIO @LeeLofland

Writing Oneself Back to Life: http://ow.ly/LqOPB by Jamie Luce @_TheChangeBlog

The Complete Guide to Italicization:  http://ow.ly/LqP1Q @epbure

How to Write What’s Not Written (Subtext):  http://ow.ly/LqPkq @SeptCFawkes

Structure for building your novel:  http://ow.ly/LqRaR @YAtopia_blog

6 Ways to Sell Books:  http://ow.ly/LqQWa @tobywneal

5 Ways to Balance Freelance Writing Jobs and Personal Projects:  http://ow.ly/LvLIO  @charityscraig

How to Build Your Platform and Sell More Books with Podcasting:  http://ow.ly/LvLKq  @juicetom

Find your writing voice:  http://ow.ly/LvM6z by Meredith Quinn @TheWriterMag

Manuscript Pitch Websites: Do Literary Agents Use Them? http://ow.ly/LvM3g @victoriastrauss

The Query Process: laughably bad rejections:  http://ow.ly/LvLZ4  @JaneLebak

Online Writer Resources Roundup:  http://ow.ly/LvLNu @ava_jae

Eliminate Unnecessary Infodumps:  http://ow.ly/LvLGX @Janice_Hardy

What to Put On Your Author Website:  http://ow.ly/LvLRU @LEEandLOW

Tips for describing a main character: http://ow.ly/LvLDv @glencstrathy

When books don’t live up to their names:  http://ow.ly/LvLUX by Moira Redmond

How to Polish Your Writer Brand:  http://ow.ly/LvM24 @NicoleLautore

Difference Between Novels and Tales:  http://ow.ly/LvM0L @noveleditor

13  Picture Books Celebrating the Lives of Great Artists, Writers, and Scientists:  http://ow.ly/LxtYC @brainpicker

When Writing Comes Easy, Don’t Make These Mistakes:  http://ow.ly/LxtbC @vgrefer

Screenwriters: On Writing “Rules”: 8 Things to Remember:  http://ow.ly/Lxtht @bang2write

We’re all genre readers now:  http://ow.ly/LxBFL @passivevoiceblg @magiciansbook

Giving Readers Surprises and Revelations:  http://ow.ly/LxtrO  @davidfarland

The 50 Best Genre-Bending Books: http://ow.ly/LxsRn @emilypekar

10 Things That Make a Book Un-Put-Downable:  http://ow.ly/LnYiU @JohnnyBTruant

4 Tips for the Aspiring Professional Writer:  http://ow.ly/Lo0Ye @the_squishyness

Pursuing a Trad Published Dream:  http://ow.ly/LnZjG  @SueColetta1

Need – The Protagonist Wants Something:  http://ow.ly/Lo0N9 @woodwardkaren

How To Make An Author Video:  http://ow.ly/Lo0wB  @BenMWallace @mollygreene

Talking about setting: Time:  http://ow.ly/Lo0Bl @nownovel

Your Brand Needs a Visual Style Guide: Here’s How to Create One:  http://ow.ly/LnYvd @canva

At London Book Fair, talking Frankfurt Book Fair:  http://ow.ly/LFtKc @Porter_Anderson @TheFutureBook

How 1 writer improved her writing productivity by 100%:  http://ow.ly/LnWkF @novelexperienc3

4 Mistakes When Naming Characters:  http://ow.ly/LnUrd from Ima Work in Progress

The Difference Between “Flawed” Characters and “Too Dumb to Live”:  http://ow.ly/LnVTm @kristenlambtx

How the Rule of 3 Can Help Writers Avoid Backstory Slumps:  http://ow.ly/LnU4T @lindasclare

Creating to-do lists that incorporate mind, heart, and body:  http://ow.ly/LnSXL @mlvwrites

3 Essential Editing Tips For Writers:  http://ow.ly/LnT6J  @DonnaRadley

How Mirror Characters Can Illustrate Literary Themes: http://ow.ly/LnUcV @SaraL_Writer @DIYMFA

The importance of change in a setting:  http://ow.ly/LnUgC @nathanbransford

The Terror and Wonder of Watching Your Book Get Made Into a Movie:  http://ow.ly/LnVKW @TheDanWells

1st pass editing–16 questions to ask yourself:  http://ow.ly/LnVZv @KLGoing

Help for Women Writers Seeking to Bridge “The Confidence Gap”: http://ow.ly/LnTVh @themegduffy

Tips for plot time jumps and getting bogged down:  http://ow.ly/LDc3w @deanwesleysmith

Series? Stand Alone Books? What Should You Write?  http://ow.ly/LDltE @JulieMusil @AlexJCavanaugh

Tools for Novel Writers: The Editing Checklist:  http://ow.ly/LnWa4  @coolcarsoncraig

A closer look at the ebook subscription model: http://ow.ly/LwL5V #FutureChat recap @Porter_Anderson

Writing A Book According To Pinterest:  http://ow.ly/Lmvci  @larin20

How To Create The Perfect Plus Sized Heroine:  http://ow.ly/Lmvtu @DarlaGDenton

3 Simple Steps for Creating Engagement on LinkedIn:  http://ow.ly/Lmwbs @mktgcopywriter

Having Too Many Ideas: Solutions: http://ow.ly/LmvBR @jonathanballcom

3 Reasons Twitter and Writers are a Perfect Match:  http://ow.ly/Lmw2V @EdieMelson

Create a Call to Action for Your Blog:  http://ow.ly/LmvZG  @BlotsandPlots

How to take an author photo:  http://ow.ly/LBuD7 @Pages2Type

Keys to Discoverability:  http://ow.ly/LBrGf @kristinerusch @SteveCampbellFL (podcast)

Tired Of Doing It All? A Virtual Assistant Can Help:  http://ow.ly/LBm6d  @artconnectsus @thecreativepenn

How Not to Get Overwhelmed with Revisions:  http://ow.ly/Lmw6H @ava_jae

Protagonists: Making vs. Following Fate:  http://ow.ly/LmvH4 @Kid_Lit

Pop-culture and obscure references in fiction:  http://ow.ly/LmvjC @RobertJSawyer

Infographic: 50 of the World’s Most Translated Books:  http://ow.ly/Lmvfg @InkBitsPixels

A series on scenes:  http://ow.ly/LmvPu @kayedacus

Make Your Novel Salable in 7 Steps:  http://ow.ly/Lmvw2 @DeniseDrespling @WriteAngleBlog

Help with Facing Writing Fears:  http://ow.ly/Lm9mG  @ingridsundberg

Writing Nonfiction Ebooks: Easy Ideas:  http://ow.ly/Lm92b @angee

7 Ways to Make Facebook Worth Your Time:  http://ow.ly/Lm9KQ @amcbooks

Flesh Out Character Development:  http://ow.ly/Lm9Co @Janice_Hardy

Adjusting to Expectations After Publishing Your 1st Novel: http://ow.ly/LyNMy  @bryonq

7 Visual Ideas to Increase Your Social Engagement:  http://ow.ly/Lm8pn @marcushokh

Indies Hitting The Big Time: Jasinda And Jack Wilder At Berkley Books:  http://ow.ly/LwJId @Porter_Anderson @JasindaWilder

How to Build a Compelling Novel Concept:  http://ow.ly/Lm8Hs @CSLakin

11 Writers on Writing Inspiration:  http://ow.ly/LwD4D @nownovel

6 Simple Ways To Handle Viewpoint Changes:  http://ow.ly/Lm9W7 @writers_write

Do clichés have any place in writing?  http://ow.ly/LwDiu @silas_payton

5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting an Author Podcast:  http://ow.ly/Lma5y @amcbooks

Publishing For Digital Minds Conference Opens London Book Fair Today:  http://ow.ly/LwJQT @Porter_Anderson

Political movements in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/LwJsL @mkinberg

3 Mistakes Nonfiction Writers Make and How to Fix Them:  http://ow.ly/Lm9gb @ninaamir

Book Bloggers: Where to Find Them and How to Win Them Over:  http://ow.ly/Lm9x8  @BlotsandPlots

Finding Media Outlets and the Pitch:  http://ow.ly/Lm8D3 @SpunkOnAStick

Building characters with hard-boiled dialogue:  http://ow.ly/Lm9cz @Jake_Lassiter

3 Insights Into Writing about Social Issues:  http://ow.ly/LdMYe @LisaPBennett

How To Write A Memoir:  http://ow.ly/LdNaE  @berkun

Writing Devices: Pros and Cons of Connectivity: http://ow.ly/LdMAF @JAZarins

Self-Editing for Point of View: http://ow.ly/LdMFP by Rachel E. Newman

7 Crucial Logline Mistakes and How to Fix Them:  http://ow.ly/LdNf9  @therealtimothy @scriptmag

What Fresh Hell Is This? On rewriting your novel: http://ow.ly/LdN65 @ChristaDesir

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

Audio as a Means to Connect and Learn

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

It’s taken me a while to come around to enjoying audio and podcasting. I prefer to read transcripts of podcasts.  I skim, pick out the wheat from the chaff.  And then I move on to the next thing I’ve got to do.

But when I had a back injury last year…from sitting…ha…I unfortunately ended up spending a lot more time at the gym as a result. Podcasts are lovely ways to distract ourselves from the unpleasant task at hand. That unpleasant task might be the frustration of a traffic jam for those of us in urban areas, the boredom of a transit commute, or the tedium of exercise. And podcasts are often jam-packed with information.

For those who are interested in completely forgetting about the fact that they’re exercising (as I am), here are some of the podcasts I’ve enjoyed (mixture of writing business and writing craft):

Jeff Rutherford’s Reading and Writing Podcast

The Author Biz from Stephen Campbell

Joanna Penn’s Podcasts at The Creative Penn

The Self-Publishing Podcast with David Wright, Sean Platt, and Johnny B. Truant

Author Marketing Institute (AMI) Podcasts

Rocking Self-Publishing with Simon Whistler

Dead Robot Society (various authors contributing)

Self-Publishing Roundtable  (various authors contributing)

And then I really started reading posts on the benefits of podcasting. Joanna Penn states during her podcast interview with Tim Grahl:

“…I still think as authors if you get into multimedia, you are so ahead of most authors, because most authors will not go through the pain barrier of learning some basic technical stuff and putting your face and your voice out there.”

And Joanna’s interview with author audio marketing expert Viv Oyolu was also fascinating and made excellent persuasive arguments for the power of audio.

And I thought: no, I really, really don’t have the time for this.  In fact, I have so little time for podcasts that if I elected to regularly tape one, I believe my family would brandish pitchforks.

But I do want to connect with readers. I agree that it’s a personal way to stand out. Do I hate my voice?  Of course I do.  Don’t most of us? But heck, if recording my voice will help me connect with my readers, I’m happy to do it…as long as I don’t encounter pitchfork-brandishing family members.

After all, it was my choice to connect with writers.  My sites and efforts have been overwhelmingly writer-focused for six years.  I’m ready to swing the pendulum back in the other direction.

I decided to figure out SoundCloud (which I heard about through the Joanna Penn interview with Viv Oyolu that I referenced above), interview myself,  and embed it on the reader-related pages on my site (books, buy my books, etc.)  I get pretty much the same reader questions over and over so I picked a few of the most common and answered them.  I decided I could do this as often as I had time, changing things up when I could.  SoundCloud is free for up to three hours of content.

Here’s how I did it:

I wrote a script, then recorded myself on the free voice recorder that came with my phone.  Then I emailed the file to myself on Gmail (surprisingly it wasn’t a big file).  I downloaded the file.  Then I signed into SoundCloud and uploaded the file.  I set it as private (which becomes public on the blog, but not on the SoundCloud site), uploaded an audio jpg cover as the cover for the file (I have audiobooks on ACX), added a link to my Amazon author page under metadata. So we can link to a buy-link. That’s very cool.

I downloaded a WordPress plugin called SC Ultimate (or SoundCloud ultimate). I activated it and connected it (via the plugin’s instructions)  to SoundCloud, allowing access to SoundCloud.

To embed the audio clip, I go to wherever on the page I want the audio clip, go to text editor, and put in a  code.  The track link is found in the sidebar under the orange SC Ultimate/Your SC tracks/ and Track URL.

Here’s a link for the process on WordPress from SoundCloud’s team.

Here’s a link for the process on Blogger from SoundCloud’s team.

And here’s a video for the process on Blogger from misterandrade1

Is this as effective as a podcast?  Well, no, probably not. Because listeners subscribe to podcasts that are regular programs. This is obviously more deliberate: interested readers visit our sites and click on the audio portion.  But an important benefit of podcasting is the same for this small bit of embedded audio…a more personal approach. And for those of us who are wanting to have a stronger, more personal connection with our readers,  I believe this is a good place to start.

A recommendation from Tom Corson who guest posted on Joel Friedlander’s blog (and appears to have an interesting podcast himself) was to be a guest on podcasts. He recognized that some authors might have schedules that prohibit regular podcasting.  He states:

“You can make a name for yourself by being interviewed on popular podcast shows in your market and area of expertise.”

This is something I’ve done.  I’ve been featured several times on different podcasts, as well as traditional radio.  You don’t really need any special equipment for it…I’m usually interviewed through Skype (occasionally on the phone) and I do have a USB-style microphone, but half the time I end up using my laptop’s internal mic. I do have a cautionary tale for parents of young children, but other than that, these types of interviews are easy.

I won’t always be this busy (knock on wood).  I won’t say I’ll never podcast.  In the meantime, guesting on others’ programs and embedding interviews fills the gap.

Have you podcasted?  Been interviewed on a podcast?  Tried audio on your blog?

Using audio to connect with readers and learn:
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Adjusting to Expectations After Publishing Your First Novel

by Bryon Quertermous, @bryonq

I’d always hoped that I would have my second book written before my first book was published and before the reception (good or bad) of the first book was known. Alas, I was not able to pull that off and I’m only about halfway through writing the sequel. In addition to writing under a deadline for the first time and the general issues that come with writing about the same characters again and keeping them fresh, the thing I’ve struggled with most is how much to stretch myself as a writer.

I’ve been very lucky to have a great reception for my first novel. It’s received great reviews,  seems to be selling well, and the notes I get from readers are mostly positive. So it would seem to make sense that if I’m writing another book I’d want to do whatever I did the first time that got me this great reception, right? Well, sort of. I certainly want to keep readers happy, but I’ve had horrible luck any time I’ve ignored my instincts and tried to write toward what I thought readers expected. But I’ve also seen friends publish well-received novels and then get slammed when their next book goes in a different direction. I sure don’t want to torpedo my career before it’s even begun.

Aside from style and subject matter, there’s also the issue of confronting one’s weaknesses as a writer and whether or not to stretch and get better. For myself, this is plotting. I SUCK at traditional mystery plotting. In an effort to keep readers in suspense I end up over-complicating my plots to an absurd degree. It’s so bad that I don’t really anticipate facing down that demon until several more books down the line. Does that make me a weak writer? Maybe. But that’s the thin line an artist walks when they share their work with the world. I’ve always had high commercial ambitions for myself and that means making sacrifices once in a while. The key is to find a way to give readers what they want and what they expect in a way that maybe they don’t expect.

In the case of the next book I’m working on, I plan on stretching myself with my characters. I have a tendency with my supporting characters to create them more as caricatures than living, breathing people. This is a benefit of writing series fiction. I have the opportunity to go back to characters I may have just sketched out in book one and start filling in the details and shading that make for great characters. I also plan on stretching myself by not relying on easy jokes and meta jokes to power my narrative. I solved a lot of story problems in my first book by having the main character point to the fact that he wasn’t in a story and things in real life don’t always go the way they do in fiction. I think it worked well for the first book but it’s not a well I want to go back to again.

So that’s what my balance looks like. How about the other writers out there? Is it better to sacrifice some readers to attempt things that might fail but can make you a better writer? Is it better to forget stretching at all and keep giving readers what they want book after book?

Bryon Quertermous is the author of the novels Murder Boy and the forthcoming Riot Load. His short stories have appeared in Plots With Guns, Thuglit, and Crime Factory among others, and in the anthologies Hardcore Hardboiled, The Year’s Finest Crime and Mystery Stories, and Uncage Me. He was shortlisted for the Debut Dagger Award from the UK Crime Writers Association. He currently lives outside of Detroit with his wife and kids.

Adjusting to expectations after publishing your first novel via @bryonq:
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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

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.

Irony— The Final Cliché:  http://ow.ly/LdN9c  @DavidCorbett_CA

The Big ‘W’ and Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey Story Arc:  http://ow.ly/LdNbH @writeabook

7 Ways End Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/LdNwz @enderawiggin

5 Price Points to Consider For Your Book:  http://ow.ly/LdNCj @amcbooks

Tips and Tools to Make Your Writing Life Easier:  http://ow.ly/LdNIq  @ecoversed

Is a Writing Retreat Right for You? http://ow.ly/LcL1A @LynnHBlackburn

How Writers See Themselves And How Others See Them: http://ow.ly/LcKVW @AlienNextDoor

How to Create an Author Newsletter:  http://ow.ly/LcLi3 @klbusti

The 4 Most Important Things To Remember About Pacing:  http://ow.ly/LcLxV @writers_write

10 Tips To Get Your Profile Found On LinkedIn:  http://ow.ly/LcLxk  @askkim

How to Punch Up a Blurb or Query:  http://ow.ly/LcLe5  @julie_glover

A Great Villain Can Save Your Story:  http://ow.ly/LcKYo by RK Troughton

Writing Women Characters as Human Beings: http://ow.ly/LcKV5 @KateElliottSFF

5 Ways To Get Out Of A Writing Funk:  http://ow.ly/LcL9m @NanciPanuccio

How to Always Have a Bagful of Exciting Writing Ideas:  http://ow.ly/LcLuz @TalValante

It Is Never Too Late To Start Writing Your Bestseller:  http://ow.ly/LcLf8 @galleycat

Make Your Writing Clearer: 6 Tips for Re-wording Sentences:  http://ow.ly/LcLaq by Allison VanNest @Grammarly

Self-Pubbing Picture Books: 2 Agents Weigh In:  http://ow.ly/Lbk2l @sangeeta_editor

Nonfiction: Your Past is a Source of Inspiration:  http://ow.ly/LbjYA @ninaamir

Main character descriptions in 3rd and 1st person:  http://ow.ly/LbiGH @LazetteG

5 ‘Show Don’t Tell’ Danger Zones:  http://ow.ly/La5n8 @Diana_Hurwitz

How Independent Publishers Can Stay Profitable:  http://ow.ly/Lbjuo by Liz Bury @pubperspectives

House of Cards: 5 Lessons for Writers from Season 3:  http://ow.ly/LbkEj @MandyCorine

7 Stages Of Novel Revision:  http://ow.ly/LbjCO @VeronicaSicoe

11 Things to Know About Query Letters: http://ow.ly/LrFxh @ColbyMarshall

6 Easy Steps to Great Character Mapping:  http://ow.ly/Lbjhi @robinrwrites

How big is the “prestige factor” for trad-published writers?  #FutureChat 4pBST / 11aET (now)  http://ow.ly/LqS97  @Porter_Anderson

The Rules of Writing … or Not:  http://ow.ly/LbiPw @storyfix

21 Surefire Ways to Sink Your Writing Career http://ow.ly/Lbj2O @deborahdeetales

Using ‘what ifs’ and other strategies to develop story ideas:  http://ow.ly/LqLY1 @AlexJCavanaugh

When a Writer Becomes a Target: http://ow.ly/LbiXj @rachellegardner

How Do You Know When You’re Done?  http://ow.ly/LbjUb @berkun

Analyze the Scene Structure:  http://ow.ly/La5ff @Janice_Hardy

Modify Your Modifiers:  http://ow.ly/La4Nj from Melissa Gilbert

How Does Your Novel Grow? The Writing/Gardening Connection http://ow.ly/La4TO @Katrinakittle

On Heroism in Romance:  http://ow.ly/La4FE @dearauthor

Amazon Advertising Services for Indie Authors, Yea or Nay? http://ow.ly/La4DA @goblinwriter

7 Key Elements of Pacing a Novel:  http://ow.ly/La5bA @MartinaABoone

Reading is the Training Ground for Becoming a Better Writer:  http://ow.ly/La4Ko @jodyhedlund

How to Find Your Trademark Writing Style:  http://ow.ly/La5kO @CSLakin

Query question: more on comp titles:  http://ow.ly/La4QJ @Janet_Reid

5 Strategic Mistakes In Self-Publishing:  http://ow.ly/Lo2Ck  @benmwallace

When Rejection is Necessary, or Rejecting All the Fear:  http://ow.ly/La4XU @msheatherwebb

Create Dialogue From the Outside In:  http://ow.ly/La4Hj @jackieblain

Fall in Love with Your Characters (So The Reader Will Too): http://ow.ly/La57m  @Author_J_White

Writing Clear Accessible Sentences:  http://ow.ly/L5DGq @lindasclare

Dr. Seuss On Writing:  http://ow.ly/L5B21 @writers_write

Tips for introducing a character:  http://ow.ly/L5BzT @EimhWrite

The need to reform copyright:  http://ow.ly/L5C5W @JAKonrath

The mythology of the starving, tortured writer: http://ow.ly/L5BQE @mikemartinez72

Rediscovering the joy of writing:  http://ow.ly/L5DmZ @nownovel

Artistic Freedom vs. Crowdsourcing, Censorship, and the Dunning-Kruger Effect:  http://ow.ly/L5BFw @annerallen

Helpful Websites for Authors to Learn About Self-Pub:  http://ow.ly/L5AMe @amcbooks

Why risk aversion is killing publishing innovation:  http://ow.ly/L5CAN  @JanetKGrant

Create A Protagonist Audiences Will Relate To:  http://ow.ly/L5Dvb @woodwardkaren

Book Trailers And Using Video For Book Marketing: http://ow.ly/L5CTe @thecreativepenn

The Rise of the Nameless Narrator: http://ow.ly/LfcTY @newyorker by Sam Sacks

Character Development – Making the Reader Care:  http://ow.ly/LffqK @behlerpublish

1 author considers stopping marketing and writing more books:  http://ow.ly/Lfbcv @JamiGrayAuthor

Lessons from a great book jacket designer:  http://ow.ly/Lfe57 by Alan Rinzler

Can a small publisher make ‘pay what you want’ model work? http://ow.ly/LfdE9 @asap_jonathon @flavorwire

Focus the Narrative Drive:  http://ow.ly/Lfb7b @janice_hardy

Navigating a Big Writer’s Conference:  http://ow.ly/LfeER @writeabook

Can A Book Teach You How To Write?  http://ow.ly/Lff8w  @lawz_m

Screenwriting: Hitchcock’s POV Says You’re A Psycho:  http://ow.ly/LfcCz @ozzywood

On School Visits from an Author’s Perspective:  http://ow.ly/LfaRt @dawnafinch

Anthropomorphic: Definition and Examples for Writers:  http://ow.ly/LfenP @joebunting

NASA’s Space Educators’ Handbook (for SF Writers):  http://ow.ly/Lfccz

Things ‘Justified’ Teaches About Writing:  http://ow.ly/L1ogF  @misskyokom

Upcoming conferences and a surprising look at the Indian book market:  http://ow.ly/LeUQ5 @Porter_Anderson

Attracting Readers to Our Newsletters:  http://ow.ly/LeShc

Stress-Free Mingling And Conversation Starters At Conferences:  http://ow.ly/L1oCy @writersrelief

Effective Use of LinkedIn:  http://ow.ly/KYpAa @terrywhalin

Why 1 Writer Quit Goodreads (or, The Bookternet Is Not Safe for Women):  http://ow.ly/L1oUN @passivevoiceblg @brennacgray

3 ways to lead Amazon search bots to your book: http://ow.ly/L1owO @niniehammon

The Declaration Every Great Writer Makes:  http://ow.ly/L1oGY @jeffgoins

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Your Manifesto:  http://ow.ly/KYiHa @danasitar

Reasons why querying writers may not be getting requests:  http://ow.ly/L1pov  by Kim English

Whose Story Is It? Self-Editing for Point of View:  http://ow.ly/L1pza by Rachel E. Newman

Juxtapose like Banshee to Make Work Resonate with Readers: http://ow.ly/L1ol1 @lansi26

Don’t Wait for the Mood to Strike to Write:  http://ow.ly/L1p0d @ediemelson

The Venn Diagram Stage of Writing:  http://ow.ly/L1pgI by Elisabeth Sharp McKetta

As The World Gets Smaller, Authors’ Jobs Get Bigger: http://ow.ly/LdkTF @Porter_Anderson

The author assistant relationship needs to be a partnership: http://ow.ly/KY9cU ?@SKWillsAuthor @patricia_eddy  @K8Tilton

22 Free Online Courses for Writers:  http://ow.ly/KY7ye @ShelleySturgeon

Why Writers Need Marketing Plans:  http://ow.ly/KY8LE  @KristenJett

How to add value to a novel to sell more:  http://ow.ly/KY8hG  @lansi26

Has KDP Pre-order helped level the playing field for authors? http://ow.ly/KY6Jp @thecadencegrp

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

Eleven Things You Should Know About Query Letters

by Colby Marshall, @ColbyMarshall

You’ve done it. You’ve finished and polished your first manuscript. Let’s see, what’s next.  Whaaat to do next…

Oh, no… Not that…

*cue Jaws theme*

The query. You have to write a damned query.

This one page pitch beast is to publishing what that obnoxious 900 sheet stack of mortgage paperwork that requires a signature every page is to a homebuyer who just wants the damned key to their house already. But it’s a necessary evil. And it’s not easy.

Query letters vary greatly in quality, and the range of reactions they elicit can be as diverse as the types of queries themselves.  I’ll go ahead and tell you, this post isn’t a how-to on writing a query letter, nor is it all-inclusive regarding elements to include in a query letter.  The topic of how to write a query letter has been covered more than the measles outbreak at Disneyland, the Obamacare debate, and every Walking Dead theory ever conceived of combined.  If you need something more instructive, check out this wonderful post of Elizabeth’s:  http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2010/12/querying.html . It contains lots of links with that sort of info and was very helpful to me when learning to write a query.

So, I won’t give you a tutorial, but I can relay some things I’ve noticed along my way: a few intricacies people tend to over-think, some successful techniques, and a few aspects of queries that sometimes don’t get quite as much emphasis as they should. I can’t offer a final, perfect query formula. This powerful dark magic does not yet exist. But what I can do is pass along some things I’ve learned through securing an agent and getting editor requests over the years that will hopefully add a little extra insight. So without further ado, I give you the Top Eleven Things I’ve Learned About Query Letters:

11.)  Go the extra mile when researching an agent or editor’s preferences.

We’ve all been told it’s a Cardinal sin to mass blast a query to 100 agents and to be sure to address them by name instead of “Dear Agent. But more in depth preferences on how some agents wish to be address can fall through the cracks. I once queried an agent who, deep in the bowels of his blog asked that all queries address him as Neil* (the names have been changed to protect the particulars). While Mr. For-Some-Reason-Doesn’t-Like-Seeing-His-Last-Name-on-Queries might not send you a form rejection just for using the surname that shall not be-erm-named—after all, it is standard querying practice and you bothered to personally address him—obliging his request can only show you did your homework and maybe give you a leg up.

10.)  Just say no to attachments.

Agents and Editors (and anyone on the internet with a brain) know opening attachments from unknown senders could result in a nasty virus.  Not only that, but e-mails with attachments coming from anyone other than regulars in that agent or editor’s inbox are spam folder magnets.  You might think that Best Agent Ever would rep you in a second  if only she saw your first five pages/your professional headshot/a picture of your kitten Squishy Face. Only the first of those is possibly wanted, but the point is, she won’t see your query letter (or Squishy Face) at all if the attachments give it a one-way ticket to the spam folder.

9.)  Pimp your bio

Traditionally, at least one paragraph of a query letter is devoted to a bio of the author.  Obviously, the agent or editor reading wants to know more about the person behind the work she’s considering.  But some pieces of bio information benefit your cause more than others.

In addition to your education info, published works, and awards or other writing-related credentials, pack your bio with facts relevant to your book or a potential platform you have or are building that could make you more marketable as an author.  If your main character is a meteorologist and so are you, include your day job, but if you’re a theme park tour guide, maybe hold that one back for this book. Is your book set in Italy and you lived there for five years?  Yep.  Mention it.

8.)   Suppress the urge to—*ahem* “enhance” your bio.

You’d think this would go without saying, but don’t lie in your bio. It’s never good to start off a business relationship with dishonesty.

7.)  It’s okay to leave out that couple of sentences in which you gush about a connection you don’t have.

Lots of articles about how to write a query letter encourage writers to include a sentence or two about why they’re querying this agent specifically. Some advise mentioning some of the authors or books you love that the agent represents or editor edits, or to explain you thought agent/editor might be a good fit for you and your book since agent/editor’s client’s book showed a similar writing style, sense of humor, or appreciation for main characters with smokin’ fictional six-packs.  If you have read and enjoyed agent/editor’s client’s work and/or legitimately have a similar writing style, then it can’t hurt to say so.

If you have another genuine, specific reason you’re queryingthis agent or editor, by all means, include it.  Maybe you’ve followed their blog for years and think your personalities would mesh based on her penchant for sarcasm and low tolerance for people who mispronounce the word “pecan.”  Perhaps you heard him speak on a panel and what he said about his approach to agenting appealed to you.

Bottom line: personalization is great. But as long as you’ve researched the agent’s preferences thoroughly, it’s ok to let the query explain for itself why you think the agent might be right for your book.

6.)   It’s definitely  okay to include a couple of sentences to gush about strong connections you do have.

Definitely include that time you met her at a conference (unless the meeting involved you ambushing her with your pitch as she exited a stall in the ladies’ restroom).   Even if Conference Agent doesn’t remember meeting you specifically (agents and editors shake lots of hands at conferences!), it’s a subtle indicator that you’re serious enough about your craft that you attend industry events.  Also be sure to tell her if you’re querying because you were referred by one of her clients or if you have a manuscript that just happens to be that modern retelling of To Kill a Mockingbird  set in space she’d raved about on her blog in a list of books she’s dying to represent.

5.)   Yes, your letter should have a paragraph providing your manuscript’s vital stats.  No, its placement will not make or break your chances.

You know the essentials: title, word count of the complete manuscript, genre…Any query destined to receive a manuscript request includes these.  Easy, right?

And yet, for some reason, writers agonize over whether the placement of those few little pieces of information will be the difference between a request and a rejection.

“Leading off with it bores agents before they even get to your pitch!  Put it last!”

“Always open with the basic, pertinent information.  It’s a professional, strong opening!”

But here’s the truth, and you can take me to the bank on this one, because I’ve written queries both ways and have gotten requests off of both versions.  It doesn’t matter where the “specs paragraph” is located.  All that matters is that the pitch leaves the agent in crisis wanting more.

4.)   It’s all about the voice, baby.

Many queries are so bland they could be served on a heart patient’s diet tray alongside cottage cheese and boiled cauliflower.  You can’t knock them too hard, though. It’s tough to condense an 80,000 word book into a one page intriguing explanation.

Sometimes, stepping out of synopsis speak and stepping into your story’s voice can take a good query to a great one.  Say you’re pitching your MG novel SPELLS AND SNEEZING SPELLS.  This first paragraph might intrigue an agent:

11-year-old Alex is like every person in his family: magic.  He’s also the only one who happens to be allergic to magic.  So, he keeps to himself and tries to steer clear of mysterious orbs, but one day, he comes home from school to find his whole family vanished, a ransom note left in their place.  It looks like the only way to get his family back is to follow the magic-steeped clues the kidnappers left and hope he doesn’t run out of Kleenex along the way.

But this first paragraph might intrigue him more:

How could this be happening to him? Eleven years old and Alex had never once so much as had to use his epi-pen, despite the epidemic of magic that runs in his family and the health hazardous by-products they expose him to. He wants nothing more than to come home from school and avoid his obnoxiously magical parents and siblings, and, by extension, having to run to the store for more Kleenex. But when his family is abducted, replaced by a note demanding Alex use his own peculiar brand of magic for their schemes as ransom, he musters his bravery, arms himself with inhalers, and charges into a terrifying maze filled with pixie dander, dusty magic carpets, and high faeries higher in histamine.

3.)    Make your protagonist pop.

Your pitch should let the agent know who your protagonist is and what his conflict is, but you can do more to highlight the right things about your hero.  Instead of telling about me that Dark headed, fifty-five-year-old Tom is about to find out he’s the only person who can stop the murder of someone he doesn’t even know, tell me about how agoraphobic Tom hasn’t been out of his house since he was held up as a teller at the bank he worked at four years before. A hostage is being held across town, and Tom knows he has the only information that can save this stranger. But the only way to pass along what he knows is in person.  Unless details like age or hair color are relevant to the story, skip them in favor of your main character’s compelling features.

Another way to make sure your main characters shines his brightest is to make sure your pitch includes your character’s actions regarding his conflict and not just thing happening to him. Aladdin is much more compelling after going into a dangerous place to retrieve this mysterious lamp than he would’ve been if he’d just been sleeping under a tree when it dropped and fell on his head.

2.)   Compare, but compare alike.

If all the agents and editors got together and took a shot every time a hopeful writer’s query said his books were similar to James Patterson’s or Nora Roberts’, there’d be some pretty nasty hangovers the next day. It’s ok to compare your work other authors that your work is actually similar to, but try to control the urge to call yourself the next Stephen King.

1.)   Doing something unconventional or debatable can be an amazing or a volatile thing. 

Sure, there will always be the Cinderella stories of how someone landed an agent because they queried their dream agent even though that agent wasn’t accepting submissions at the time.  Sometimes, out-of-the box pitches like a query letter written from the point of view in the kidnapper in her manuscript, demanding a request in exchange for the safety of the character in the book who is kidnapped.  It might just cool enough to garner a request, or it might creep the agent out and send her running.  It depends on the individual agent.  So weigh risks wisely, and always remember your story has to sell itself.  Rules aren’t a bad thing, and your query can stand out even if you play by every single one.

How do you try to make your query stand out from the pack?

Writer by day, ballroom dancer and choreographer by night, Colby has a tendency to turn every hobby she has into a job, thus ensuring that she is a perpetual workaholic.  In addition to her 9,502 jobs, she is a proud member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime.  She is actively involved in local theatres as a choreographer and occasionally indulges her prima donna side by taking the stage as an actress.  She lives in Georgia with her family, three mutts, and an array of cats that, if she were a bit older, would qualify her immediately for crazy cat lady status.  She’s uniquely qualified to write about Dr. Jenna Ramey’s synesthesia, because she has the rare condition.

Learn more about Colby and her books by visiting her website at www.colbymarshall.com

ABOUT DOUBLE VISION:

New from the author of Color Blind…FBI profiler Jenna Ramey has synesthesia, a neurological condition that causes perceptions of color to flash through her mind, triggered by seemingly unrelated stimuli. But she has learned to understand and interpret these associations. They help her do her job. They can help save lives…

A little girl has witnessed a mass shooting. What she knows may be the key to finding the man responsible. Jenna has been tasked with drawing her out, figuring out what she saw, what she remembers, what it means.

But Molly is an unusual child. She is sweet and bright, and eager to help, but she has a quirk of her own: an intense preoccupation with numbers. It helps her notice things that others don’t. It also leads Jenna into a maze of speculation that could turn into a wild goose chase while the body count continues to rise.

Jenna and Molly view the world through their own filters. In some ways, they speak different languages. Now Jenna must learn to communicate, to break Molly’s code, to understand the mind of a murderer…

11 things to know about query letters via @ColbyMarshall:
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Attracting Readers to Our Newsletters

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I may have been slow to the email newsletter party. I believe, in fact, that I was the last guest to show up.  I’m finally making up for lost time.

I mentioned recently that I’d actually decided to subtly promote my reader newsletter.  This may not really qualify as promotion since it actually means I’m helping readers just locate the newsletter signup. It was almost secret before. If readers somehow found their way to my website, perhaps they could miraculously locate my newsletter signup in my crowded sidebar.

Realizing that this was (however accidentally) rather anti-reader in approach, I thought the whole thing through a bit more.  I started putting my newsletter signup in my email signatures, on my profile at Wattpad, on Goodreads, on Facebook, and other places that readers were likely to congregate or look me up. I also pitched my newsletter on this site on the reader-oriented pages (books, buy my books, etc.) This has resulted in over 30 signups since I started this drive in mid-March.

I’ve been reading noticing on writer sites/blogs that many writers have a visual prompt, sort of an ad, for their newsletter. I decided that I’d like to come up with a visual that would hopefully stand out to readers.  Designs that I create myself tend to be hideous.  This is why I hire professionals for covers, websites, etc. But for something small like this, I decided I could do it myself with Canva.

I wrote about Canva here.  It’s a free tool that helps me handle small projects that I would rather not pay for. No design skills?  No worries! The ability to drag and drop is all that’s really needed for Canva.

Now…don’t judge.  But with minimal work (ten minutes?), I was able to come up with this:

So, pretty simple elements here, nothing fancy. Book cover, call to action that sort of looks like a button, a bit of text, and a picture of me.

While I was on Canva, I made the whole image hyperlinked to the signup page for my newsletter. So readers can click anywhere on the image and it will take them to my newsletter signup page.  I use Mail Chimp (free for up to 2,000 subscribers) for my newsletters.  Here is a link to Mail Chimp’s directions for generating a link to your signup form.  You scroll about a quarter of the way down the page.  Basically, you’re going through the ‘Lists’ tab on your account and then clicking ‘signup forms’ to get Mail Chimp to generate a link.

But the big thing here is the incentive to sign up…a free book. I recently watched a very informative free video series from author Nick Stephenson on, among other things, the importance of incentives for newsletter signups. What’s more, the incentive is not my perma-free book, it’s a book that, while inexpensive to begin with, would cost readers several dollars if they were to pay for it online.  So a fairly decent incentive…a free full-length novel.  But then I do have 8 books in this series, so I can afford to give this one away.  I put it on my reader-oriented pages on this site.

I also had this newsletter ad placed in the back of one of my books.  I had my formatter (thanks, Rik Hall) stick it at the end of the perma-free book. So the readers who are being introduced to the series via the freebie get another freebie for signing up. The perma-free book acts, as Nick Stephenson put it, as a funnel that draws in new readers and the incentive encourages them to sign up for the newsletter. Works for me.

What if you don’t have 8 books in a series?  What if you don’t want to give away an entire book?  There are other incentives for signups out there.  I’ve seen things like “sign up for my newsletter and automatically be entered in a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card.”  I’ve seen short stories and novellas as giveaways.  You can give away swag like notepads, tee shirts, coffee mugs. Putting your cover image on these things is easy and cheap(ish) through VistaPrint or CaféPress or Zazzle. The sky is really the limit.

Obviously, the cooler the giveaway, the more likely it serves as encouragement for readers to sign up.

My reader newsletters are fairly chatty updates.  I know my readers pretty well and I create the newsletter with them in mind. I give a (somewhat) personal update, I include Southern recipes, I tell them what I’m working on, and lately I’ve given book recommendations based on what I’ve been reading.

How do you encourage readers to sign up for your newsletter?  What types of things go into your newsletter?  If you haven’t started up a newsletter, it’s never too late…I promise.

Tips for attracting readers to our newsletters.
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Image: Death to the Stock Photo

The post Attracting Readers to Our Newsletters appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

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.

If you’re one of my readers…I have a new book out. :)  Body at Bunco released April 2.

And Happy Easter to all who celebrate.

Could You Benefit From a Website Redesign?  http://ow.ly/KY5je @chrismjane

10 Key Questions for Evaluating Your Book’s Competition: http://ow.ly/KY6el @KPickett_Editor

7 Deadly Sins of Dialogue:  http://ow.ly/ @manzanitafire

Not investing in…(an) ISBN…relegat(es) your title to the shadow realm: http://ow.ly/KY52j  @Goodereader

30 Websites for Authors to Learn About Self-Publishing:  http://ow.ly/KY4Sv @amcbooks      

2 Video Tutorials on Nailing Your Concept:  http://ow.ly/KY5sT @storyfix

Organization in Writing: Brainstorming: http://ow.ly/KY5V9 @rsmollisonread

Responding to suggestions in a rejection letter:  http://ow.ly/KY0Re @Janet_Reid

How to Conduct a LibraryThing eBook Giveaway:  http://ow.ly/KY7VM  @shelleyhitz

Lightning Source vs. CreateSpace: http://ow.ly/KY6u2 @KPickett_Editor

How to Format Your Amazon Description to Stand Out: http://ow.ly/KYbJx by Jordan Smith

Post Roundup: Hundreds of Blog Post Ideas for Writers:  http://ow.ly/KY7g8 @ShelleySturgeon

Do You Know Your Book Publishing Goals? http://ow.ly/KY7aU @thecadencegrp

Pros and Cons of Head Hopping: http://ow.ly/KY62z @jenniferlellis

How Authors Can Build Content Communities: http://ow.ly/KY11v @HalRobinson

Becoming a Student of Your Own Creative Process:  http://ow.ly/KY0U4 @DanBlank

You Bought the Rights to that Music, Didn’t You?  http://ow.ly/KY4wn @passivevoiceblg @jacquelynlynn

Screenwriting: each story deserves to have its unique structure and elements:  http://ow.ly/KVBsG @ivoraza @scriptmag

Why digital natives prefer reading in print:  http://ow.ly/KVB35 @mikerosenwald

Book Marketing Must Center (Mostly) on the Author:  http://ow.ly/KVB8h @berkun @Janefriedman

7 Literary One Hit Wonders:  http://ow.ly/KVD13 @GuyPortman

Being Indispensable as a Writer:  http://ow.ly/KVB01 @kristinerusch

15 ingredients of authorial voice:  http://ow.ly/KVB9x @stephenwoodfin

Author Blogs: What is Your Primary Blog Goal? http://ow.ly/LaoGi @jimhbs

The infuriating practice of cliffhanger endings: http://ow.ly/KVCAY @DeborahJay2

The Independent Author Professionalism Manifesto: http://ow.ly/KVCIV by Jordan Smith

What Should You Charge for an Indie eBook?  http://ow.ly/KVD6Q  @henrybaum

Join today’s #FutureChat on ebook subscription providers:  4pBST/11aET/8aPT (now) @Porter_Anderson

Ebook subscription services and “taking the model even further”: http://ow.ly/Laqye @Porter_Anderson @jwikert

How to Use Lyrics Without Paying a Fortune or a Lawyer:  http://ow.ly/KVCWJ @HelenSedwick

How to Produce Audiobooks with Amazon ACX:  http://ow.ly/KVBim  @daveBricker

A Step-by-Step Guide to Dealing with Content Theft:  http://ow.ly/KVCT8 @HelenSedwick

US authors: want your indie ebook available in your state’s library system?  http://ow.ly/LapKx @Porter_Anderson @libraryself_e

7 steps to overcome writing or publishing fears: http://ow.ly/KSg94 @jamigold

Tips When Writing Multiple POV Novels:  http://ow.ly/KRZNf @lisagailgreen

Exploring Genres in Creative Nonfiction Writing:  http://ow.ly/KRZHX @WritingForward

Verb Tense: how to say when we mean:  http://ow.ly/KSezV by Emily Leverett

Using dictation software instead of typing:  http://ow.ly/KS0be @karenvwrites

The Units of Story: The Subplot:  http://ow.ly/KS01a by Shawn Coyne

To Be Eaten in Case of Emergency: Inspiration and Comfort for Writers: http://ow.ly/KSf3x @EdanL

The Philosophy of Villains:  http://ow.ly/KSgmy @epbure

Woe to Those Who Love Writers (cartoon):  http://ow.ly/KSfSO via @behlerpublish

10 Links That Demonstrate Your Self-Published Book Looks Cheap & Amateurish: http://ow.ly/KSe61 @10MinuteNovelists

“Every Book Still Kicks My A**” Words of Solidarity from SCBWI 2015:  http://ow.ly/KSeUu @DianaZipeto

Ins and Outs of Creating a Launch Team for a Book Release:  http://ow.ly/KSeHP @jodyhedlund

Description in worldbuilding: its role varies by genre:  http://ow.ly/KQaIK @JulietteWade

How to Write Cliffhanger Chapter Endings:  http://ow.ly/KQ7Th @CherylRWrites

5 Philosophies of Social Media:  http://ow.ly/KQ5Zx @Janefriedman

7 Qualities of High-Concept Stories:  http://ow.ly/KQ7Gb @storygeeks  @writersdigest

Character Archetypes:  http://ow.ly/KQagG @KMWeiland

7 Rules of Choosing Names for Fictional Characters:  http://ow.ly/KQ834 @ESimsAuthor @writersdigest

Isn’t It Time For Self-Publishers To Get Over Self-Publishing?  http://ow.ly/L5G37 @Porter_Anderson @thecreativepenn

A Big Storytelling Don’t: Messing with Timelines:  http://ow.ly/KQbbA @fictionnotes

25 Editing Tips for Tightening Your Copy: http://ow.ly/KQ9Un @thewritelife

34 Ways to Use Pinterest to Market Your Book and Your Brand:  http://ow.ly/KQa0v  @writerplatform

3 Simple Prewriting Strategies:  http://ow.ly/KQ9CB  @writeathome

25 Things Most People Don’t Know About Self-Publishing:  http://ow.ly/KQ7eb @amcbooks

Authenticity in Children’s Fiction:  http://ow.ly/KQ6Tu  @agentsaba

Homicide info for Writers:  http://ow.ly/KM50y @FionaQuinnBooks

The Art of Description:  http://ow.ly/KLVz8  @AnneMarbleAAR

Can writing be taught? And what do writing teachers teach? http://ow.ly/KLVb1 @Roz_Morris

Tying Character Types to Plot, Suspense, and Emotion:  http://ow.ly/KLVoJ by Jeanne Cavelos

15 Tips For Writers On Social Media:  http://ow.ly/KM3X3  @MiaJouBotha

Revision Prep: Create a Revision Plan:  http://ow.ly/KM58b @Janice_Hardy

Why writers should care when a bookstore files for bankruptcy:  http://ow.ly/KM4nq @JanetKGrant

Word Counts – How long should your novel be?  http://ow.ly/KM40U @writers_write

Today is World Backup Day €” March 31st. Have you backed up your work lately?  http://ow.ly/L1qsO

Topic Twists Or How To Generate A List Of Story Ideas:  http://ow.ly/KLVhx by LuAnn Schindler

How to Personalize Your Blog in 3 Simple Steps: http://ow.ly/KM4ko @BlotsandPlots

How to Create Picture Ebooks for Kids:  http://ow.ly/KM5hk by Laura Backes @Janefriedman

Today is World Backup Day €” March 31st. Have you backed up your work lately?  http://ow.ly/L1qdw

10 strong sci-fi novel opening lines:  http://ow.ly/KM48R @joelwillans

The appeal of late-night crime in mysteries:  http://ow.ly/KZhJw @mkinberg

The Lazy Author’s Way to Identify and Overcome Writing Weaknesses: http://ow.ly/KJ6fD @KMWeiland

The difference between self-pub and indie-published: http://ow.ly/KIZ0Y from Writing Questions Answered

Things Indie Writers Learned in 2014:  http://ow.ly/KJ67Y @kristinerusch

Real Life Diagnostics: Does This YA Sci Fi Prologue Work? http://ow.ly/KIVx8 @Janice_Hardy

6 Reasons Why Some Books Will Never Be Bestsellers:  http://ow.ly/KIVGM  @selfpubreview

How to choose book cover image? Genre, quality count, but beware clones:  http://ow.ly/KJ6Qj @ChrisKridler

Returning to a Writing Habit:  http://ow.ly/KIWdC from Paperback Writer

Tips for Back Cover Copy:  http://ow.ly/KJ6tX  from Richard S. Todd

The Writer vs the Author: http://ow.ly/KZgFH @megwolfewrites

Why 1 author will take her trad. series to self-pub:  http://ow.ly/KXYQJ

Guest Blog to Grow Your Platform:  http://ow.ly/KIV4y @FinishedPages

Talents and Skills Thesaurus Entry: Super Strength:  http://ow.ly/KIUXZ @beccapuglisi

Query Question: what if an agent asks for an outline from a non-outlining author?  http://ow.ly/KIVeo @Janet_Reid

5 Myths About Self-Publishing:  http://ow.ly/KJ5bK @Wiseink

What You May be Missing about ’50 Shades of Grey': Story Physics: http://ow.ly/KFAJk @storyfix

Writing More Diverse Characters-The TCI:  http://ow.ly/KFAQF from The Writer’s Helpers

Structuring Phase–The 2nd Stage of Building a Book:  http://ow.ly/KFuDg @writeabook

Unsure about your attempt at describing diverse characters? A free crit service:  http://ow.ly/KFvvK from Writing With Color

How to Become a Writer as a Second Career:  http://ow.ly/KFuN7 @flexjobs

You think writing’s a dream job? It’s more like a horror film: http://ow.ly/KFwhh @passivevoiceblg @timlottwriter

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Making A Writing Partnership Work

by Jacques Ravenne and  @LeFrenchBook

Eric Giacometti and I have written nine books together in a series that begins with Shadow Ritual, which was just released in English. It’s a curious experience, one that requires organization…and diplomacy.

Eric and I take about nine months to write a novel: one month for the outline, two months of research, and the six remaining months for writing.

When we come up with the outline, we see each other nearly every day. We set up the plot, balancing narration and characters, weaving in suspense, planning the cliffhangers. It’s meticulous work and often raises more questions than answers. At the same time, it’s a fascinating phase, as we watch a structure rise out of nothingness. It is both fragile and seductive, and in it, the novel will take root and blossom. It is also technical, and we use a lot tools, from Excel sheets to mind maps, to help us better visualize the novel’s structure and see where it could be unbalanced. For example, maybe there is a major character who doesn’t appear often enough in the narration and that quickly becomes problematic. We can fix the problem right away. It’s like being a goldsmith.

When we go into the research phase, the work is very solitary, because we have already defined who does what. It’s very exciting work, a mix of web research, hours spent in libraries, and travel, often abroad, to soak up an atmosphere or prepare descriptions. There are intense moments, like for one of the novel that focuses on Casanova, when we absolutely had to go spend some time in Venice. The hard life of a writer.

Then comes the longer, harder work of writing. The novels in the series after Shadow Ritual are built around two plot lines—one is set in modern day times with our protagonist, Inspector Antoine Marcas, while the other is historical, and can take place in the Middle Ages or during the French Revolution, for example, depending on the story. We each are responsible for one of the plot lines, but the two have to be written at the same time in order to include foreshadowing and other effects that work like a system of echoes, allowing our readers to go from one period of time to another smoothly.

So, at the same time, we each write two chapters, which we then exchange by email. This way, we can follow in real time the progression of the narrative, suggest changes and smooth out effects. This work also includes a key phase of rewriting. Each of us has our own style. Eric, with his background as a reporter, likes short, nervous sentences, while I’m more of an academic, and prefer long, dense sentences. We don’t want our readers to feel like they are changing pace or tone, so we rewrite each other’s text. This requires a delicate touch, as writers are always very sensitive about their writing. Fortunately, Eric and I have known each other since we were teenagers, and we resolved our ego problems some time ago.

In the end, we write our novels twice. So if you thought that two writers could write faster and more easily than one, you were wrong. In fact, you multiply the questions and problems…by two.

Picture by Melania Avanza

Eric Giacometti and Jacques Ravenne are bestselling French thriller writers, with a nine-book series that has sold 2 million copies worldwide and translated into 17 languages. In March the series made its debut in English with Shadow Ritual, an electrifying thriller about the rise of extremism. Eric is also an investigative report who has covered a number of high-profile Freemason scandals, and Jacques, himself a Freemason, is also a literary scholar who has written a biography of the Marquis de Sade and edited his letters. Together they have created this very successful series about a French Freemason cop. Douglas Preston calls Shadow Ritual “phenomenal.”

Making a writing partnership work (via @LeFrenchBook )
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When You Know It’s Time to Move On

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

In October, my agent received an email from my editor.  I have a release scheduled in the Southern Quilting series this June (book 5).  My editor knew my contract for the series was about to run out and asked me to come up with some ideas for additional books for the series.

I developed two book outlines but never emailed them.  My editor wrote my agent last month to say that print sales had decreased (I’ve no doubt…they’re only a fraction of my digital sales for my self-published books) and Penguin Random House wanted to stop printing the series.  Instead, they were interested in my exploring their e-only line, InterMix.

And…I asked for my character rights back.

The publisher promptly returned a non-renewal notice for the series and a permission grant for me to continue it via self-pub.

I know my ebooks have been selling well—I get royalty checks.  I haven’t drunk the Kool-Aid here.  I know what I need a big-five traditional publisher for…expansive print distribution into bookstores.  But this is now becoming less and less important as indicated by my publisher moving away from printing this series.

I read my agent’s email and immediately knew I wanted to self-pub the series before I’d even finished the email. I’m fortunate enough to have a decent reader base at this point, making this the right decision.  Would I discourage everyone from accepting an e-only deal?  I wouldn’t.  But I’d add that we really need to go into these types of arrangements with our eyes open.  What do we want to get out of it?  We should do some soul-searching.

Admittedly, I didn’t give InterMix a chance. I didn’t explore their royalty structure. I didn’t ask questions. I didn’t query. I just pulled out. This is completely based on my current contracts for digital books and the small percentage of royalties I receive on net.

Challenges for me will be maintaining the series branding without making it too close to the publisher’s covers, for copyright reasons.  The quality I’ve got to match/approach is evident as you look at the cover on the right for my upcoming June release. Another challenge will be ensuring the same level of quality in writing, editing, and production.  I think I can swing it.

It’s tricky.  But I’ve done it before.  That’s how the Myrtle Clover series started out.

The nice thing is that I have a strong audience for the series and it had a good push from the publisher and visibility at retailers. Luckily, I have that as a base.

Also nice is that now I have two outlines ready to go.  :)

Important for writers, I think—don’t let these types of decisions become personal.  I love my editor…I’ve had a fantastic working relationship with her.  My agent and I have worked together well.  This isn’t about relationships…this is business.  This is about my making a living.

I think they understand that. There are no hard feelings.  I’m not just taking my ball and going home out of pique. E-only isn’t a good fit for me…that’s all there is to it.

When Midnight Ink dropped my Myrtle Clover series in 2010, I was extremely disappointed. My characters, I thought, would never come to life on the page again.  In 2015, I know that my characters can keep having adventures as long as I choose to write them and the readers are interested in reading them.

With this series moving to self-pub and with the end of the Memphis series (an orphaned series that I don’t have the rights to self-pub) I thought, “This is it—now I’m 100% indie.” Before realizing that….no, not really.  I have nine traditionally published books with a tenth on the way in June.  I receive income from those as long as they keep selling and they’re always for sale online.  With that in mind, I guess I’ll always be a hybrid.

My editor invited me to pitch Penguin Random House another series.  I never like to say never.  But—I’d have to have a really good reason to pitch.

What direction is the weather vane pointing for you?  Hybrid, traditional, self-pub?

Why 1 author will take her trad. series to self-pub.
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Image: MorgueFile: Bosela

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