Riley Adams's Blog, page 120

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.

How to Find the Number of Items in Each Amazon Category:  http://ow.ly/KDRcd @FullTimeFBA

Query Question: I think I have an agent but she’s not responding: http://ow.ly/KDRRH @Janet_Reid

Sell more at signings by engaging customers:  http://ow.ly/KDRwk @tombarry100

3 Magic Bullets for Success:  http://ow.ly/KDQSS  @mayachristobel

How to Import Word Comments into Scrivener:  http://ow.ly/KFuPZ @ava_jae         

Picture Book Tips:  http://ow.ly/KFvnH @Margot10

Tips for starting a story:  http://ow.ly/KFvPF from hkwithapen

Ebook Pricing in Australia, Germany, India: Infographic:  http://ow.ly/KFwuY @EdNawotka

11 Secrets to Writing Effective Character Description:  http://ow.ly/KFw66 by Rebecca McClanahan for @writersdigest

Conversational Writing: 10 Tips:  http://ow.ly/KFvVZ @zen_habits

How To Treat Your Writing Like A Business:  http://ow.ly/KDRXp  @DarlaGDenton

Amazon Kindle Voyage to Launch in India Soon:  http://ow.ly/KDQEz @Goodereader @Goodereadermike

4 tips for handling multiple perspectives in a third person narrative: http://ow.ly/KDS82  @NathanBransford

To Go Direct, Publishers Must Mean Business: http://ow.ly/KDRMJ from Emma Barnes

Saying No to a Book Offer (Bad Publishers and Vanity): http://ow.ly/KDR77 @stephenandroux

In Praise of the Crummy First Draft:  http://ow.ly/KDQMg  @JocelynGreen77   @breatheconf

How Digital Can Be a Companion for Print : http://ow.ly/KDRGw  @jwikert

Flog a Pro: would you turn this bestselling author’s first page? http://ow.ly/KDRPQ @RayRhamey

How to introduce a character:  http://ow.ly/KDQ3P @johnaugust

10 Famous Authors Who Show Up As Characters In Their Own Work:  http://ow.ly/KDQr7  @bwilson4815

5 Minutes to Your Next Blog Post Idea (+ Worksheet):  http://ow.ly/KDQ6H @finallywriting

6 Tips for Creating Healthy Writing Habits:  http://ow.ly/KDQcm @djeanquarles

How to Win a Literary Feud:  http://ow.ly/KDQnk @BillFerris

7 Ways Writers Live in Paradox:  http://ow.ly/KDQ5m @rachellegardner

How 1 writer found time to write:  http://ow.ly/KDPXm @jamietr

Don’t be a copycat when you title your book:  http://ow.ly/KDQpT  @michaelnmarcus

Literary Snobbery: http://ow.ly/KDQdu @sarasheridan @womenwriters

Before the Altar of Character:  http://ow.ly/KDPZA @kiersi

As an Author, Do You Need an Intern?  http://ow.ly/KDQ96 @muirmoir @womenwriters

Your Book’s Inciting Event: It’s Not What You Think It Is:  http://ow.ly/KDQse @KMWeiland

How “Strong Female Characters” Still End Up Weak And Powerless:  http://ow.ly/KBxWP @ChuckWendig  {lang}

Cliches to avoid when writing love triangles: http://ow.ly/KBDjv @EimhWrite

17 Signs Perfectionism Is Killing Your Writing Dreams:  http://ow.ly/KBD7I  @MandyCorine

What you need to know to host a Twitter Chat:  http://ow.ly/KBBy8 @ThereDGoes

Interview with #1 Amazon Bestsellers @mredwards and @LouiseVoss1:  http://ow.ly/KPvto @ReedsyHQ

Fine-Tuning Your Author Website (podcast with text version):  http://ow.ly/KBCO4 @CaballoFrances

A Reverse To Do List: Why What You Say No to Matters:  http://ow.ly/KBBP5  @jesslaw

18 Book Promo Secrets To Boost Recognition, Get New Readers, and Increase Sales: http://bit.ly/1NgYFKZ @ereleases

Body Language: Eyes: http://ow.ly/KByBx from Reference for Writers

Choosing a Writing Retreat? Watch Out for These 6 Red Flags:  http://ow.ly/KBB8n @writesuzanne

How to Use Comments in Scrivener:  http://ow.ly/KBB3P @ava_jae

50 Shades of Grammar (It’s Not as Bad as You Think):  http://ow.ly/KOQ4m @Grammarly @nikbaron by by Allison VanNest

How to write good, realistic dialogue : http://ow.ly/KDPMx @IsabelWolff @womenwriters

Character Personality Class: The Thinker:  http://ow.ly/KByrk  @MaryVeeWriter

The Art of the Chapter:  http://ow.ly/KBAlz @jrc2666

A blog to help writers get their medical facts right:  http://ow.ly/KyH2l @JordynRedwood

Always have a good mystery hidden away in your story:  http://ow.ly/KyJlF @CalebPirtle

A look at NetGalley and how it works:  http://ow.ly/KyIlZ  @IolaGoulton

5 Possible Reasons Why Your Book Might Not Be Endorsed:  http://ow.ly/KyGPX @JordynRedwood

13 Ways To Start A Story:  http://ow.ly/KyHQS @writers_write

10 Resources for Self-Publishing Authors:  http://ow.ly/KNuW8 @MTilburyAuthor

What Authors Can Learn From Startups:  http://ow.ly/KyGsW @ricardofayet

How to Make a Living as a Freelance Book Editor:  http://ow.ly/KyGxt @RFaithEditorial @ReedsyHQ

On writing novellas: http://ow.ly/KyGYv @jamietr

6 Copywriting Tips for Writing Video Content:  http://ow.ly/KyI2U @mktgcopywriter

A Blog Series on SFF and the Classical Past:  http://ow.ly/KyHvy @hawkwing_lb

10 Reasons to Write Short Stories: http://ow.ly/KyHoN @danielwilsonPDX @johnjosephadams

Can reviewing books hurt our chances with an agent? http://ow.ly/Ku1Q6 @Janet_Reid

Revision Prep: Create an Editorial Map:  http://ow.ly/Ku1KP @janice_hardy

A First Chapter Checklist:  http://ow.ly/Ku2SN @Suzanne_Writer @YAtopia_blog

What Makes A Villain? http://ow.ly/Ku1W8 @mistymassey

Writing Ergonomics: Avoiding Injury at Your Desk:  http://ow.ly/Ku3bh @daveBricker

10 Writers Who Took Themselves Too Seriously:  http://ow.ly/Ku2oL by Morris M. @passivevoiceblg

Finding a Good Editor, Talent Vs. Training, and Writing Banter:  http://ow.ly/Kuck6 @goblinwriter

CPs vs. Betas http://ow.ly/Ku1No @ava_jae

10 Grammar Pet Peeves:  http://ow.ly/Ku2Ok @Savage_Woman

The Dark Side of Being a Bestseller:  http://ow.ly/Ku2kx @1KTrueFans

Learning About Writing From Comic Books:  http://ow.ly/Kucqa @EmilyWenstrom

What Writers Can Learn from Letterman’s Top 10 Lists:  http://ow.ly/Ku2AQ @jonathanballcom

Music For Writers: Kronos On The Tundra With Tagaq:  http://ow.ly/KFFl4 @kronosquartet @Porter_Anderson @Q2music

Pomodoro and Procrastination:  http://ow.ly/KrSpn @JLeaLopez @WriteAngleBlog

Before You Start to Write Your Memoir:  http://ow.ly/KrR9T @ninaamir

‘But what if my writing sucks?’  http://ow.ly/KrRif @nownovel

Solving the ‘What Do I Blog About?’ Conundrum:  http://ow.ly/KrRxO  @writerplatform

Tips for networking and making friends with writers online:  http://ow.ly/KFENs @alexjcavanaugh @AprilA2Z

The Wonderfully Horrific World of Female Horror Writers: http://ow.ly/KrSGq @MartyDYoung

6 demons of creative blockage and how to exorcise them:  http://ow.ly/KrTSS @danbrotzel

8 Ways Writers Can Be More Reader-Friendly:  http://ow.ly/KrTZ8 @jodyhedlund

7 Smart Tactics for Describing a Character in First Person PoV:  http://ow.ly/KFtFe @RidethePen

8 Tips for Those with Social Media Commitment Issues:  http://ow.ly/KrRev @EdieMelson

Submissions call: culture-based writing for writers wanting build their resume:  http://ow.ly/KFq67 @CultVultures

Building Your Own World With Words:  http://ow.ly/KrR3S @PattyWG

A Structure For Short Stories:  http://ow.ly/KrTu0 @woodwardkaren

How to Write a Story Line: Plot in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth':  http://ow.ly/KrRL2 @RidethePen {lang}

Crime fiction with no sleuth:  http://ow.ly/KFFJh @mkinberg

Connect With Readers –Without Breaking the (Time) Bank:  http://ow.ly/KrT4x @CherylRWrites

The links I shared last week:  http://ow.ly/KEJ42 . All the links I’ve ever shared (30K+ free and searchable): writerskb.com

How NOT to Sell Books: Top 10 Social Media Marketing No-Nos for Authors:  http://ow.ly/KntWP @annerallen

Troubleshooting Macros in Word: http://ow.ly/KntOJ @CKmacleodwriter

“Is self-publishing a matter of choice? Or of necessity?  Or of do-it-yourself pride?” http://ow.ly/KEI3P @Porter_Anderson @jamesscottbell

A 6-part story outline:  http://ow.ly/Knvn6 @ShesNovel

4 Emotive Tools of Horror:  http://ow.ly/KnKdI @HeatherJacksonW

How to Write About Characters Who Are Smarter Than You:  http://ow.ly/Knw3b @MrGrahamMoore

How Much Are Free Books Really Worth?  http://ow.ly/KnKDb @booklaunchdemon

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

A Reverse To-Do List

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I read an interesting post recently by blogger Jessica Lawlor (@jesslaw)  “A Reverse To-Do List: Why What You Say NO to Matters More Than You Think.”  It was one of those post titles that made me want to learn more, since I still struggle with protecting my time.

I have gotten much better about protecting my time.  Last summer I mentioned that I had created a business manifesto and was measuring each opportunity against it…was the opportunity a true opportunity? Or was it a distraction from more important tasks?

I’ve done well since then. I’ve turned down a slew of things that I instinctively knew were going to either be time-sucks.  And I’ve said no to things I felt would somehow cost me money: in terms of time or actual cash outlay.  I’ve even been able to say no in person, which has always been hardest for me.

But the ‘nos’ have left me a bad taste in my mouth.  Was I passing up something good?  Limiting myself?  Or was I conserving energy and focus?

That’s why I was glad to run across Jessica’s article. As she states in the piece:

I’m keeping a running list of all of the things I’ve said no to so far this year. 

Jessica further explains:

The purpose for keeping this list or even sharing this list with you isn’t meant to say, “Look how great I am and look at all these cool opportunities I’ve said no to. No. Not at all.

Instead, the list is a constant reminder to myself that I always have a choice. WE always get to choose how we spend our time.

Because I’m usually not passing up something good.  I’m passing up something that’s pulling me away from either tasks that have proven successful (writing cozy mysteries) or a different task that I chose to work on or enjoy.

Some of the things I’ve rejected in the past few months:

Teaching a course
Reviewing books (I’m not a reviewer)
Blurbing/endorsing books (if I accepted every request, I’d be blurbing 4-5 books a month)
Speaking on a panel at a Virginia book festival
Beta testing software products/services for writers
Nonfiction opportunity from a university press

And personal things, too.  Requests for volunteering, for example.  I’m a volunteer, but the problem is that the same people tend to be tapped over and over again (and you volunteers out there know what I mean).

I’ve also accepted some things.  I’ve guest blogged, agreed to attend conferences, and just spoken at the Macon, GA Cherry Blossom festival.  I’ve come to see that it’s possibly even more important is that we say yes to some things.  Those would be things that give us an opportunity to grow, to stretch ourselves. Things that are actually opportunities that fit our business model/vision/philosophy/manifesto.

How do you feel about saying no?  When you’ve said no, do you feel relieved or conflicted?  How well do you protect your time?

A reverse to-do list for busy writers.
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Image: Death to the Stock Photo

The post A Reverse To-Do List appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

7 Smart Tactics for Describing a Character in First Person PoV

by Alex Limberg, @RidethePen

Would you like to be an actor in your own crazy play, a play you can make up any minute as you go along? That’s basically what telling your story in first person is.

If your narrator is a character in your story, his point of view does come with a couple of limitations though: What your narrator knows, what he sees, what he feels all have to go through the filter of your character’s personality. You can’t switch perspectives and fly from location to location as easily as a neutral narrator, you can’t stay as invisible as a neutral narrator… in short, you lack superpowers!

This post aims to offer a bunch of solutions for one problem in particular: How do you describe somebody when you can’t see him because you are inside of him, looking out, and you don’t even have a reason to describe him? How can you tell your reader what your character looks like through his own eyes?

If your hero suddenly drops a lot of info about her physique without any rhyme or reason, it can easily look like a bad clutter of information, a huge footprint of the author. And because I know flaws like these can easily be overlooked, you can find a free goodie below the post to help you discover problems with your perspective and any other imaginable part of your story (it uses test questions).

Sure, if you are writing your story in first person you could just say: “Hi, I’m Bob, I’m 5’ 7’’, have a greasy ponytail, a porn moustache and mustard stains on my Mickey Mouse t-shirt.” (Wanna meet him, anybody?) That would be very obvious though and also quite boring. Instead, it’s much more rewarding to smuggle information through to your reader carefully interwoven with your story; take her by the hand and gently guide her along into your illusion!

For quick reference, I have compiled the most creative and exciting ways to show what your narrating character looks like:

Good Old Mirrors

That’s the obvious one, and it might be a bit overused. The character could view herself in the bathroom mirror at home or at a restaurant, but there are also many other mirrors in our lives: Think of the rearview mirror of a car, your make-up kit or even a house of mirrors at an amusement park.

Any Reflecting Surface

Likewise, any reflective surface can be used for mirroring fun: Take the window of a train compartment, a shop window, any smooth water surface (whether it’s a lake, a swimming pool or your mom’s bathtub), metal surfaces like pots, sugar boxes of silver, door handles of brass, or any smooth industrially made metal plate like a metal table in a restaurant kitchen or a morgue slab (a pretty combination, right…?).

Some of these surfaces do reflect better than others – so make sure you only go as detailed in your descriptions as is realistic.

Any Portrayal of Your Character

Now we become less industrial and more human. Think of any photo your character could have hanging on his wall or standing on his nightstand, portraying himself. Why not let him flip through a family album?

The most likely photos would be from his childhood days or with friends or family; likewise on special days, for example in full-on wedding gear or at his graduation ceremony in robe and cap; a proud mugshot, whatever… Family photos on office desks are very popular with screenwriters looking to show off their characters’ family ties.

But your portrayals don’t have to come by lens, they could also come by brush. Yes, some people let themselves paint and hang it on their living room wall. Others receive paintings as gifts from relatives or from their poker club. And some will find their paintings even in galleries or over their cousin’s toilet; in fiction, the possibilities are endless, just play with your ideas and spice them up!

How about a scene in which a sidewalk artist paints a portrait of your protagonist, leaving ample room for conversation about his best physical traits and shortcomings?

Also, it doesn’t have to be precisely a painting, maybe it’s a piece of embroidery or a plaster-cast of his face or… you get the idea.

People Tell Him What He Looks Like

Lean back; you, the author, got nothing to do with it: Just let your characters describe him! The range goes from simple comments that he looks pretty or ugly to detailed remarks about his appearance.

Make sure to always give the speaker a really good reason for his remarks. For example, imagine a scene on the beach and somebody telling your narrator: “Get some sunblock, dude! Guys with your complexion look like crabs after five minutes.” What do we know about the character’s appearance now?

Imagine somebody telling a blonde joke and immediately apologizing to your narrator (just for the heck of it?). What do we know about her?

Putting Together the Details

You can sprinkle clues of what your character looks like throughout your story like raisins in a plum cake and let the reader combine all of the details.

For example, Martin needs to fold up like an accordion on airplane and theatre seats, which suggests that he is tall. Charlie strokes over his bald head frequently, which means he doesn’t need a hairdresser anymore.

Abstract Solutions

Now we get to the far out solutions. Not as far out as a giant bunny rabbit named James suddenly appearing to reveal to your character that she is beautiful – but still, if not done carefully, these tricks can leave a stale aftertaste in your audience’s mouth.

Here are the candidates:

Number one is the old author’s favorite for tying up impossible endings: It was just a dream! So your figure might for example see himself floating from above while sleeping. Now he has an opportunity to describe what he looks like.

Number two is a near death experience and would definitely involve floating from above, if you can believe the cliché. People who were clinically dead for some time have described this experience as “hovering in a white tunnel.” It has the side effect of letting your character take a good, hard look at himself.

Number three is indeed the introduction of an abstract figure, and it doesn’t have to be the giant rabbit. Take the grim reaper, angels or the devil, showing your character her body from outside. The experience could be induced by drugs, trauma or extreme sleep deprivation. As you can imagine, this is no everyday solution for your story…

Inner Monologue

Finally, let’s also mention that if nothing else works, you can always fall back on inner monologue. Again, make sure there is plenty of motivation for your narrator to judge or describe himself: Insecurity, vanity, or whatever else it may be – and I’m sure you can find some positive reasons as well… as soon as she is talking about her feelings, you can easily bridge the gap to her appearance.

So there you have it, a lot of options to choose from for this little problem. Now over to you: What’s your favorite way of letting your readers know what your characters look like, even if you don’t tell the story through their eyes? How do you tackle this challenge? Let us know in the comments!

About the author: Alex Limberg is the author of Ride the Pen, a creative writing blog dissecting famous writers (works, not bodies); his blog includes detailed writing prompts. Train your idea muscles with a 6-part writing exercise in his free e-book (download here) about ‘44 Key Questions’ to test your story.  Shakespeare is jealous. Alex has worked as a copywriter in a Hamburg advertising agency and with camera and lighting in the movie business.

7 Tactics for Describing a Character in First Person PoV by @RidethePen
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Image: MorgueFile: The Brass Glass

The post 7 Smart Tactics for Describing a Character in First Person PoV 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.

Why So Many People Write at Starbucks:  http://ow.ly/Kl2NW @theryanlanz

3 Career Reinvention Tips From A Reporter Turned Romance Writer:  http://ow.ly/KkYhI by Cindy Fazzi @forbes

5 Ingredients for Great Characters That You’re Not Using (Yet):  http://ow.ly/KkY7J @screencrafting

Music For Writers: A Quartet Named @ethelcentral & Guitarist @KakiKing http://ow.ly/KyzaY  @Porter_Anderson @EcstaticMusic @Q2music

Editing Clauses in Publishing Contracts: How to Protect Yourself:  http://ow.ly/KlUWl @victoriastrauss

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

The art of the political memoir:  http://ow.ly/KlWzM @bbcscotlandnews @BBCAndrewBlack

The 4-Step Process To Promoting Your Books: http://ow.ly/KlUFY @amcbooks

A Twitter Book Marketing Strategy: http://ow.ly/KlV7z @booklaunchdemon @Creativindie

How to Self-Publish Children’s Books Successfully: Notes From the Trenches:  http://ow.ly/KlVVD @fictionnotes @Janefriedman

5 Ways to Turn the Tables on Creative Indecision: http://ow.ly/KlV4Y  @CreativeKatrina

How Not to Develop Characters 101:  http://ow.ly/KlVDd @beccaquibbles

In Defense of Self-Publishing:  http://ow.ly/KlUzB @marcygoldman @passivevoiceblg

Writing Commercial Fiction and Loving It:  http://ow.ly/KlWbP  @hollyrob1

How to Write a Character Falling Out of Love:  http://ow.ly/KlULN @enderawiggin

The Most Important Scene In Your Script:  http://ow.ly/KlWFI @scriptshadow

4 Reasons You Might Be Missing Out on Your Best Plot Ideas:  http://ow.ly/KnKyX @Roz_Morris

‘Wheel of Time’ is the sad lesson of what can happen when you sell the rights to your books:  http://ow.ly/KnKva @tvoti

Children’s Picture eBooks: The Newest Publishing Wave:  http://ow.ly/KnK6Y @Write4Kids @writerunboxed

7 Ways to Disguise a Plot Twist:  http://ow.ly/KnwL9 by Casey Lynn Covel

A novice’s guide to travel writing:  http://ow.ly/KntCU @wanderlustmag

Is this the most interesting part of your character’s life? http://ow.ly/KnvHm by Matt Clang

Rewriting – Do You Really Need That Scene?  http://ow.ly/KkXTU @hayleymckenzie1

How To Write Screenplays For Amazon:  http://ow.ly/KkXaV @RoyPrice @seanbhood

Promo and Business Tools for Writers:  http://ow.ly/KzAX8

Public Speaking: How many authors are ‘stadium-friendly’? #FutureChat http://ow.ly/Kztvc @Porter_Anderson 4pGMT / noonET  (now)

Can the Protagonist Be the Antagonist? http://ow.ly/KkYau  @MichaelTabb

A 5-Minute Guide to Evernote | Tech Tools for Writers http://ow.ly/Kl2I8

Getting Your Editor to Edit:  http://ow.ly/KkYmc  @LynneCantwell

Who’s the digital reader?  http://ow.ly/KkXQ3  by Annemie Speybrouck

Clumsy dialogue: –your mission statement for a subtle scene: http://ow.ly/KkX96 @Roz_Morris

Why You Probably Won’t be a Top 10 Bestseller at Amazon:  http://ow.ly/KkY3I @David_N_Wilson

Can a writer’s original inspiration survive success?  http://ow.ly/KkXVa @nybooks @TimParksauthor

Don’t get Scammed on Self-publishing: What are Reasonable Costs? http://ow.ly/KzsYv @silas_payton

A Successful Book Launch — By The Numbers:  http://ow.ly/KhMqA  @nmeunier

The 5 Best Online Tools to Help You Outline Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/KizdS @writers_write

10 Simple Marketing Tools for Authors: http://ow.ly/KizCB @BookBubPartners

When to Stop Polishing a Manuscript http://ow.ly/KhMwz @davidfarland

Bars and Pubs in Crime Fiction:  http://ow.ly/KwT77 @mkinberg

Why Fan Fiction Is The Future of Publishing:  http://ow.ly/KhLO5 by Oliver Jones @passivevoiceblg

Semicolons: How To Use Them, And Why You Should:  http://ow.ly/Kiyl7 by @ClaireEFallon

How to Tell If Your Character Has PTSD: http://ow.ly/KhMgo @Writerology

Adding Evernote notes to a Scrivener project:  http://ow.ly/Kizn4 @Gwen_Hernandez

Story Lessons from South Park:  http://ow.ly/KhLn2 @KeithCronin

Apotheosis: Definition and Examples for Writers http://ow.ly/KhLim @epbure

Book Festivals: A Must for Your Marketing Toolbox:  http://ow.ly/KwSDu  @dmcdine

A Writer’s Take on Wattpad:  http://ow.ly/KwSrP @sjpemb @authorterryo

4 Research Hacks for Writing Thrillers:  http://ow.ly/KhzMA @RachelAmphlett

What’s Influenced Your Writing?  http://ow.ly/KhKAX @jamigold

Write a Lot by Writing on Schedule: http://ow.ly/KeP84  @jonathanballcom

Make Money Writing in 2015: Offer Mini Content:  http://ow.ly/KhyNJ @angee

Start a mailing list for your books:  http://ow.ly/KeOq8  @nmeunier

The Units of Story: The Beat:  http://ow.ly/Khzn0 by Shawn Coyne

How You Can Use Thunderclap To Promote Your Bookhttp://bit.ly/1yZCrF8 @trainingauthors

1 Important Thing Many Writers Neglect To Do While Waiting:  http://ow.ly/Khzhh @jodyhedlund

Has Social Media Changed How Readers Read?  http://ow.ly/KhyEa @MartinaABoone

How to Use Foreshadowing @kmweiland  http://bit.ly/1Cja4sO

A Daily Exercise That Can Revolutionize Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/KhySi @edcyzewski

Talking About Money: Why Writers Need to Be More Honest About How We Earn:  http://ow.ly/Khzf1 @lisatella

Authors, use headshots, not book covers, as avatars:  http://ow.ly/KudWn @Porter_Anderson @PubSenseSummit

Active and Passive voice:  http://ow.ly/Khz3r @Emily_Leverett

How to Write a Successful Synopsis http://ow.ly/KeOmg @monicamclark

Getting to Know Your Setting:  http://ow.ly/KbTag  @kayedacus

Screenwriters: Imitation Game – Cracking an Enigmatic Script:  http://ow.ly/KbT6f  by Paul Joseph Gulino

Novel Analytics: Plot Arcs with the Syuzhet Package: http://ow.ly/KbTWc @mljockers

3 Plot Structures Every Storyteller Can Use:  http://ow.ly/KbZzY  @tracilslatton

Top 5 Lit Mags With the Kindest Rejection Letters:  http://ow.ly/KbZfI @EmilyKLackey

Writing Character Sheets:  http://ow.ly/KbTOR @larin20

10 things 1 writer learned while writing his last book:  http://ow.ly/KbVF6 @austinkleon

How to Keep Motivated After the First Draft: http://ow.ly/KbNl5 @nownovel

Break into Trad. Pub. through Writer-for-Hire:  http://ow.ly/KbSVN  by Rebecca Langston-George via @MandyCorine

Why Google Plus Hovercard is the ultimate personal branding tool: http://ow.ly/KbTym @stephanhov

Commonly Confused Words:  http://ow.ly/Kr1Cf ,  http://ow.ly/Kr1Gy and http://ow.ly/Kr1Jz @JanetBoyer

6 Ways to Generate Ideas for Your Story:  http://ow.ly/KbTLP  @WriteToSell

Students and research–why books are better than the internet: http://ow.ly/KbNe2 @annerooney

Deciding the main character of your novel: 1 way to determine it: http://ow.ly/KoDCB @SusanKelley

Why we should choose an authoritative agent:  http://ow.ly/KoFLS @Porter_Anderson @agentkristinNLA

Tips for creating antagonists:  http://ow.ly/Knk9g by Jack Smith

One Simple Rule of Writing Horror:  http://ow.ly/K8Rck @HeatherJacksonW

4 reasons why your novel’s dialogue sounds stilted: http://ow.ly/K8QaN @Roz_Morris

Writing for a Diverse Audience:  http://ow.ly/K8Pqh @stacylwhitman

Your Novel’s Most Important Relationship:  http://ow.ly/K8Pm6  @WriteToSell

3 Plot Structures For Building Bestsellers:  http://ow.ly/K8PvZ @ShesNovel

Create a Distraction-Free Writing Environment with FORCEdraft:  http://ow.ly/K8Rm7 @chicklitgurrl

Literary Devices: Setting:  http://ow.ly/K8Qxx @danjmurphy91

Maybe novels should be written like movies:  http://ow.ly/K8SSv @CalebPirtle

Designing characters to fit the needs of the external plot:  http://ow.ly/K8PZL @glencstrathy

Who’s Running Your Writers’ Group? Why You Should Be Careful:  http://ow.ly/K6CQ5 @victoriastrauss

There Are No Ugly Words:  http://ow.ly/K8PiH @mitchelljkaplan

How to Write a Prize-Worthy Short Story: A Step-by-Step Guide:  http://ow.ly/K6vwd @JodieRennerEd

How To Make $225 An Hour Writing Poetry:  http://ow.ly/K6utC @LizSegran @FastCompany

How to build the ultimate author website (in 1 hour):  http://ow.ly/K6yEm @timgrahl

88 quotes to help you finish your novel:  http://ow.ly/K6tIF @nownovel

Writing A Book According To Pinterest:  http://ow.ly/K6xlh  @larin20

Subplots and the role they play in your story:  http://ow.ly/K6CwT @JoeMoore_writer

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Promo and Business Tools for Writers

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Recently, I mentioned that I’ve been working on a lot of different things…from foreign rights to promo.

My favorite type of promo is passive. I’ve learned that readers find me online and I don’t have to go through the unpleasant (and spammy) process of begging them to click over from Facebook or Twitter or anywhere else.  If they’re interested, they look me up.

But what I’ve recently realized is that I want them to be able to choose different ways of interacting with me and my books when they do look me up and go to my site.

Some readers like emailing me or contacting me through Facebook…and I link to my email and my Facebook in case they do.  Some would rather sign up for my newsletter and hear from me that way…with no actual interaction with me.  And then some…so far my youngest readers…want to interact with me less, but they want to interact with my books in different ways.

On Wattpad, I’ve been surprised by the readers who have asked me if my characters resemble various celebrities. These readers are younger and definitely seem more visual (since I’ve never been asked similar questions by older readers).  But…I still like readers to come up with their own visuals for my characters since I believe that’s more personal.  Besides—celebrities own their images and I’m leery about linking to them on Wattpad. Wattpad, however, encourages “casting” our books on the site with a widget in the sidebar expressly for that purpose (but only mentioning the celebrity names, not posting the celebrity’s image).

Instead, I decided to compromise and link to a short PowerPoint-type visual that would stand-in for a series trailer (these pictures don’t move, so to me they’re not a trailer). Microsoft has a new, free program called Sway.  I learned about it from Jenny Hansen’s post on the Writers in the Storm blog.  She called it a “digital scrapbook,” which I think is an excellent description. By using free CC (Creative Commons) license photos from different sites and arranging them into a digital scrapbook, I’m…well, I’m not coming remotely close to transmedia, but I’m taking a step that I hadn’t taken before.  The only visual representation of my books in the past have been the covers.  My modest effort is in the sidebar here and is also linked to on Wattpad.

Some of you have blogs where you interact with readers on topics that relate to your content (smart). I haven’t chosen to go in that direction with my blogging, but I still look for ways to build up my name and platform online to make me more visible and make it easier for readers to find me online.  When I bought a new phone last November, I saw it came with a new app—Flipboard. Silas Payton wrote a recent post that explains the benefits of using Flipboard, as a writer. With Flipboard, you can create a digital magazine on a specific topic (I chose writing, of course, since that’s what I’m curating, but you could choose something genre-specific if you’re trying to attract readers) and add links to your favorite posts related to the topic into the magazine.  Then your magazine (if it’s set to public) can be viewed and shared/favorited/followed by other users. Nice way to get extra exposure for your content, bring people to your blog, share resources, and network. And for people who do share links or curate online content, it’s a great way to find interesting articles to share, too.

One more tool. In my never-ending quest to get a handle on my sales tracking (by doing as little work as possible), I’ve downloaded TrackerBox to help me.  I found out about the program here in the comments of one of my posts. TrackerBox, created by writer Mark Fassett, is free for a 45-day trial (no credit card needed on signup) and then is a one-time cost of $60. I’m not affiliated with the site/author/developer in any way, I’m just a desperate author.   And, yes, I’m going to pay it once my trial runs out because I couldn’t pay anyone to track this stuff for me that inexpensively.

Basically, you upload your spreadsheet reports to TrackerBox and the program displays all sorts of interesting data for you in graphs and other formats.  You can see top sales, top vendors, sales trends over various periods of time (you actually get to choose lifetime sales if you want), net sales, top titles per retail platform….it’s just really useful when you’re trying to easily see how various books are selling and your income trends.

So that’s all I’ve got this week.  Oh, and “Click to Tweet,” which is also very useful, if I could ever remember to put it at the bottom of my posts. I think I’ll do it now.   More on “Click to Tweet” here in a post by Terry Odell for the Blood Red Pencil blog.  I downloaded the plugin for WordPress.   More detail on Click to Tweet in this post by Adrian Leighton for Ozone Marketing: “How and Why Sharing Click to Tweet Links Boosts Traffic from Blogging.”

Believe it or not, I finally even managed to finish writing that book this week.  Finally.

What have you been working on?  Found any helpful tools you can share?

Promo and Business Tools for Writers
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Creating Antagonists in Your Fiction

Guest Post by Jack Smith

Antagonists can be persons or larger forces—groups, institutions, the society as a whole, nature, or the cosmos.   Plots dealing with larger forces tend to embody conflicts with individuals as representative of these larger forces.  In conflicts with nature, individual antagonists can complicate these conflicts.

Let’s concentrate, then, on individuals…

Make sure your antagonist isn’t a one-dimensional or cardboard character, but is multi-dimensional—a worthy character to do battle with.

Avoid overshadowing your protagonist, but make your antagonist interesting enough to engage the reader; make him or her somewhat sympathetic, or at least empathetic, someone the reader can relate to.   Namely:

–Include a few individualizing traits, ones that create interest

–Give him a few biases or prejudices.

–For an interesting balance, find one or two things we might like about this antagonist

–Make him fallible:  Even if your antagonist is cunning and shrewd, have him stumble, mess up, or overlook a thing or two.

–Give your antagonist believable motivations.

–Give him an agenda of some kind, even if it’s not absolutely clear to the antagonist himself.

–If, a time or two, your antagonist overshadows your protagonist, this can work.  Just make sure it’s not the general case.  (Unless you want an anti-hero, but that’s a different story.)

In the case of two protagonists, each might view each other as antagonists. In this case, develop each fully, though you need to decide whose story, in the overall, it is.

–Make each a round or multidimensional character

— Make sure each is a dynamic character, one that can change. Create a character arc for each that is believable and compelling.

–Create each as a sympathetic or at least empathetic character

–Decide if one’s protagonist’s story is more important than the other’s, or if they are equally important, consisting of two sides of one coin.  Should one win out over the other?  Or should it be a draw?

Decide on your antagonist’s role in terms of your protagonist’s arc. This role can vary:

–The antagonist can serve to unsettle the protagonist in his beliefs or patterns of behavior. This can cause the protagonist confusion, pain, or anguish, but ultimately make the protagonist stronger (e.g. rite of passage)

–The antagonist can mirror some moral or psychological weakness in the protagonist, something that needs to be worked out for the protagonist to reach wholeness.  To the extent that this is the case, the antagonist becomes a psychic projection of some sort for the protagonist himself.

–The antagonist can represent the protagonist’s worst fears, something the protagonist ultimately needs to confront.

–The antagonist can represent a challenge that the protagonist has long desired to defeat.

Determine how the antagonist will help drive the plot, deciding how the protagonist will respond to a perceived or real threat:

–The protagonist may tend to react mostly—not precipitate action.  The protagonist isn’t the type who confronts trouble but hopes the problem will go away.

–The protagonist may bide his time but plan a confrontation, or aggressive action, at the most convenient time or strategic point.

–The protagonist may initiate aggressive action, thinking: “Settle it and be done with it.”

Plot-wise, don’t stack the deck against the antagonist. Make sure it’s a believable struggle to the end.

Readers want the conflict to come out of the characters and not from authorial manipulation.   Authorial deck stacking causes:

–the antagonist to be cheapened, however much you’ve developed this character as many-sided

–the protagonist to secure a win too easily, which doesn’t seem genuine, but a calculated trick or artifice

–the ideas and themes of the work to be suspect

What is a story or novel without an antagonist?  Perhaps there are several antagonists, serving secondary roles, prodding the protagonist in various ways and resulting in measurable movement and growth.  Yet perhaps your story or novel deals with one character whose struggle is mostly internal.  Then isn’t this the so-called “man against himself” pattern?   In this case, protagonist and antagonist reside in one character?  Two selves at odds?  I think we can safely say that in calling for conflict, fiction calls for antagonists of one kind or another, presenting varying degrees of friction for the protagonist to deal with or overcome.  The challenge is making antagonists function well in your fiction—in terms of both character and plot.

Jack Smith is author of the novel Hog to Hog, which won the George Garrett FictionPrize (Texas Review Press. 2008), and is also the author of Write and Revise for Publication: A 6-Month Plan for Crafting an Exceptional Novel and Other Works of Fiction, published earlier this year by Writer’s Digest. His novel ICON  was published in June 2014 by Serving House Book

Over the years, Smith’s short stories have appeared in North American Review, Night Train, Texas Review, and Southern Review, to name a few. He has also written some 20 articles for Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market, as well as a dozen or so pieces for The Writer. He has published reviews in numerous literary journals, including Ploughshares, Georgia Review, Missouri Review, Prairie Schooner, American Review, Mid-American Review, and the Iowa Review.

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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.

Query POV:  http://ow.ly/K443r @Janet_Reid

On School Visits: an author’s perspective:  http://ow.ly/K453N @dawnafinch

Writing on the Go:  http://ow.ly/K46eu @jpderosa

7 Crucial Logline Mistakes and How to Fix Them:  http://ow.ly/K46fn @therealtimothy @scriptmag               

3 Questions to Ask As You Cut Your Manuscript:  http://ow.ly/K444U  @SarahAhiers

A former MFA teacher on MFA students:  http://ow.ly/K46iP  by E. T. Moreno

Writing the Back Blurb:  http://ow.ly/K44zS @ShanAshleeT23

7 Key Character Motivations:  http://ow.ly/K44fp @thePenleak

On Writing Trends: http://ow.ly/K45ww @kristinerusch

10 Things to Say to a Writer Who’s on the Ledge:  http://ow.ly/K45zo @ediemelson

Weak Words And Their Use In Strong Writing:  http://ow.ly/K45E9 @woodwardkaren

Can a Novel’s Plot Be Reduced to Data Points? http://ow.ly/K455Y @DanPiepenbring @parisreview

Your Protagonist’s Mental Health: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You:  http://ow.ly/K6BDA @FriesenJonathan

Death Turns The Page: 7 Notable Literary Kills:  http://ow.ly/K6tuA @kornlock

6 Proven Tips for Getting into the “Write” Mood:  http://ow.ly/K6t7U @lformichelli

Why Authors Walk Away From Big 5 Publishers:  http://ow.ly/K6CdV @harryonthebrink

Writing and Publishing that Second Book:  http://ow.ly/K6z1b  @micheleyosto

9 Common Exposition Questions Answered:  http://ow.ly/K6tBd @bang2write

Problems in writing a violent scene, and 1 unexpected benefit:  http://ow.ly/K2Txn by Laura Droege

What does a good working relationship with an agent look like? http://ow.ly/K2TqA @Janet_Reid

Screenwriting: 6 Steps To Strategic Submissions:  http://ow.ly/K2TJc @bang2write

1 Writer’s Method for Loose Outlining:  http://ow.ly/K2Tpb @ava_jae

Should You Self-Publish? 5 Questions to Ask Yourself:  http://ow.ly/K2TNj @ClaireCookwrite

Using Canva: A Step By Step Guide for the Graphic Design Newbie:  http://ow.ly/K2RS9 @10MinuteNovelists

LinkedIn: 5 Quick Tips:  http://ow.ly/K2Unn @janaylampkin @shewritesdotcom

4 Ways to Show Respect for Readers:  http://ow.ly/K2TEW  @birgitte_rasine

How to Succeed as a Writer in 2015:  http://ow.ly/K2UcD @DeborahJRoss @passivevoiceblg

Join #FutureChat (now):different perspectives for trad-pub and self-pubbed authors: http://ow.ly/KitPE  @Porter_Anderson

Do you love your trad publisher? Some early results from the survey: http://ow.ly/KhtMK @Porter_Anderson

Picture eBook Secrets (podcast): http://ow.ly/K2UjN @DIYMFA

40 Places to Find a Critique Partner:  http://ow.ly/K2RWV @cathyyardley

Dear Teen Writer: Avoid the Perils of Perfection:  http://ow.ly/K2RUh @dianarenn

Picnics in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/KhwoY @mkinberg

Everyday Versus Every Day:  http://ow.ly/K0qT9 @brianklems

Why critique groups MUST DIE:  http://ow.ly/K0uAo @speechwriterguy

The Art of Story: When Telling Trumps Showing:  http://ow.ly/K0ouI @angelaackerman

How To Use Dialogue To Show And Not Tell:  http://ow.ly/K0uEE @MiaJouBotha

Building Buzz and Finding Readers: A Conversation with Publicists:  http://ow.ly/K0odv @EdanL

Your Best Friend Is a Horrible Fictional Character:  http://ow.ly/K0tUo  @ChristelleWrite

The problem with ‘dream agents': http://ow.ly/K0oYS @Janet_Reid

Do Writers Really Need to Use Social Media Anymore? http://ow.ly/K0oxq @jodyhedlund

What’s the Biggest Lie You Tell Yourself as a Writer? http://ow.ly/K0prZ @jamigold

That? Which? What…? http://ow.ly/K0oGx by  Melissa Gilbert

The part luck plays in the publishing process: http://ow.ly/K0uJu @fredventurini

The Indie Author’s Bookshelf: 20 Best Titles for Self-Editing: http://ow.ly/K0oOo @CKmacleodwriter  @CarlaJDouglas

How to Deal With Social Media Trolls:  http://ow.ly/JZgwO @RachelWisuri

7 Productivity Tips to Boost Creativity on a Deadline:  http://ow.ly/JZfQR @TaylorMHoll

3 Types of Procrastinators & What Motivates Them (infographic)  http://ow.ly/JZfpT @larrykim

Picture Book Submission Tips: http://ow.ly/JZebj  @RGrovePress

Tips for writing sports fiction: http://ow.ly/JZd3E  @KaplonMegan @thewritermag

Understanding freelance independent editors: http://ow.ly/JZdBc @victoriamixon

5 Ways To Create Fictional Conflict That Counts: http://ow.ly/JZdlD @writers_write

Writing YA? How to Know for Sure:  http://ow.ly/JZdSL @lindasclare

6 Tips for Re-wording Sentences:  http://ow.ly/K91mv @Grammarly

Nobody cares about your book: Why an essay struck a nerve with writers :  http://ow.ly/JZg8e @magiciansbook

How to Tell if Back Story is Sabotaging Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/JZdLw @Roz_Morris

How ‘Alien’ Teaches Horror Writing:  http://ow.ly/JZdpE @tordotcom @courtalameda

Flash Fiction: Why and How to Track Your Submissions:  http://ow.ly/JZerM by Cameron Filas

What Writing Has in Common With Happiness:  http://ow.ly/JUFUa @joefassler @theatlantic

The Morning Routine Experts Recommend for Peak Productivity:  http://ow.ly/JUF4U @bakadesuyo @TIMEIdeas

Build a Successful Writer’s Platform http://ow.ly/JUKG2 @everywriter

Tips for staying alert while writing: http://ow.ly/JUEEa  @chrisbaty

The New World of Publishing: what’s changed…what hasn’t:  http://ow.ly/JUKix @storyfix

5 Tips to Create a Winning Author Team: http://ow.ly/JUEPZ @wherewriterswin

How to Convert Scrivener to Word: http://ow.ly/JUGPF @jenn_mattern

Building Blocks: Avoiding Weak Sentence Construction:  http://ow.ly/JUKud @writerstarr

Finding your way back to the story after rewriting through crit groups: http://ow.ly/JUKn7 @Roz_Morris

5 common writing mistakes:  http://ow.ly/K8ZUE @Grammarly

7 Key Elements of Pacing Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/JUGge @MartinaABoone

Writing Your Character’s’ Thoughts:  http://ow.ly/JUKAS @lindasclare

How To Be A Better Writer: 6 Tips From Harvard’s Steven Pinker:  http://ow.ly/JUFwO @bakadesuyo

50 quick writing tips:  http://ow.ly/JTwNo @RoyPeterClark

2 Tools Self Publishing Authors Need To Succeed:  http://ow.ly/JTOSX @justpublishing

How to write good, realistic dialogue:  http://ow.ly/JTwGq @IsabelWolff

Should you get your book cover designed by someone on Fiverr?  http://ow.ly/JTOM2 by Frankie Johnnie

3 Types of Bios That Every Online Professional Needs: http://ow.ly/JTx1J @thewritermama @Janefriedman

7 Key Character Motivations:  http://ow.ly/JTxoK @mrJRPatterson @thePenleak

3 Ways to Prevent Publishing Agony:  http://ow.ly/JTxiK @cathyyardley

Roald Dahl on How Illness Emboldens Creativity:  http://ow.ly/JTwKh @brainpicker

How to Avoid Staring at a Blank Screen: http://ow.ly/K5Gu1 @ereleases

101 Proven Practices for Focus:  http://ow.ly/JTx7z  @jdmeier

Fiberead Helps Foreign Authors Break Into China’s E-Book Market:  http://ow.ly/K6vVe @catherineshu @TechCrunch

What Makes a Monster? http://ow.ly/JTxuV @SMarshallJones @ThisIsHorror

Finding Media Outlets and the Pitch:  http://ow.ly/K5GmU @SpunkOnAStick

Resources for plotting, developing characters, and more:  http://ow.ly/JTwAc from Write Like a Freak

Mentor relationships in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/K5R3j @mkinberg

5 things to know before sending that query letter:  http://ow.ly/JTOuz @onevignette @womenwriters

Why Pride and Despair Are the Two Great Enemies of Creative Work: http://ow.ly/JODVg @brainpicker

10 Tips on How to Write Believable Crime and Murder Scenes:  http://ow.ly/JODMK @garryrodgers1

Converting Excess Exposition into Dialogue:  http://ow.ly/JOEXy @DrewChial

How To Find Your Most Productive Zone–And Honor It:  http://ow.ly/JOEIT @ximenavengoechea via @FastCompany

10 Commandments of Writing Failure:  http://ow.ly/JOE2k @jamesscottbell

Poetry, Typewriters, and Johnnycakes:  the Best College Coffee Shops in the US:  http://ow.ly/JOF9u  @TravlandLeisure  @theurbanologist

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Newsletter Signups and International Readers

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I thought I’d share my efforts at better marketing and for thinking on more of an international scale with my work. Here’s what I’ve been doing:

Newsletter: Sharing the Signup Link

I’ve mentioned before that I was very slow on the newsletter bandwagon.  I read…oh… dozens of posts on the importance of email (newsletters) as a marketing tool for writers.  Finally, about a year and a half ago, I started a newsletter for readers.

Now I’ve got over 500 subscribers, which is pretty darn amazing since I’ve never shared the signup link anywhere.  It just sits quietly on my website with no real call to action.

Since I’ve noticed a (very) healthy spike in rank on Amazon whenever I send out a newsletter, I decided I should see if I could boost the subscriber number by just linking to the newsletter from different places. Clearly I wouldn’t do it on my Google Plus page and I wouldn’t do it on Twitter—those are my writer-related bases.

I decided that it would make the most sense to share the link in my email signature/tagline, on Facebook (I dislike Facebook, but the readers are there), on Wattpad, and on Goodreads (I also dislike Goodreads, but…well, see above).

Now how to get the link to the newsletter signup form.  I use Mail Chimp, which is free when you have up to 2,000 newsletter subscribers. Maybe I’m just seriously burned out, but it took me the better part of an hour, intensive studying of the Mail Chimp site, and Googling to find the answer. The word I should apparently have been searching for is form.  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’.

I got Mail Chimp to generate a link for me for signups.  Then I posted the link as an email signature tagline, on my Wattpad profile, and on Goodreads.  Mail Chimp states: “You can share the link to this form on your website, across your various social media channels, or even with a QR code.”

For Facebook, I was able to add an entire tab for newsletter signups with help from Mail Chimp’s “integrate with Facebook” panel.  You need a page and not a profile to do this on Facebook. It also took forever to find this info on Mail Chimp.  Is it not intuitive, or is it just me?

While I was on Facebook, I clicked ‘manage tabs’ and rearranged the order of what was there. I also updated some of the material there.  Here’s help from Facebook on how to rearrange your tabs.  Mine had things like “photos” on prominent display and I thought the newsletter signup tab could better use that visible location on the page.

International Pricing

I was listening to an interesting podcast interview of Joanna Penn on the Self-Publishing Podcast  by Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant, and David W. Wright (just a heads-up that some parts are NSFW…not suitable for work…and not because of Joanna..) and in part of the talk Joanna was speaking about pricing our books for the international market.  For instance, in referencing India, she said : “…you shouldn’t be above 150 rupees. If you leave your US price it will probably be about 400. No one’s going to pay 400 rupees.”

So I immediately went to my KDP bookshelf and sure enough, I had all of my international market prices set to match the US prices. My prices for India were exorbitant, judging from the information I’d just received.  It never occurred to me what I might be doing to that price in smaller markets (Joanna also specifically mentioned Mexico and Brazil).  I adjusted my prices for various markets. If you don’t remember how to change prices on your KDP dashboard, here is the help page from Amazon.

There is a transcript of the interview here.

Fiberead

Speaking of international sales, I came across an interesting article by Catherine Shu in TechCrunch: “Fiberead Helps Foreign Authors Break Into China’s E-Book Market.” Fiberead is a start-up that’s based in Beijing and is working to help provide foreign authors’ ebooks to the Chinese market.  They have 300 translators working for them. This is basically a revenue-sharing gig, similar in some ways to ACX (audiobooks for self-publishers).  Authors who sign with Fiberead would receive 30% earnings on sales and translators and editors share 40% with Fiberead keeping the remainder.

I can’t endorse the company because there is little information on them right now…nothing from Writer Beware or Preditors and Editors  (these are vital watchdog resources for writers that we should know about) yet.  I did go ahead and submit my information to Fiberead, which apparently means I’m put on a waiting list to await an invitation.  I’m assuming that then I hear back if there is interest in translating my series into Chinese.

I’ll look forward to getting more information.   I’m not doing much with my foreign rights at this point and China would obviously be a huge market.  I don’t usually think of China as being as much of an open market when it comes to ideas/content, so I’m curious how this works.  But I’m looking forward to hearing more because it always pays to be one of the few in a market.  The reason I did so well with the self-pubbed series is because I was underpricing all the other cozy writers (who were slow to self-pub)…small field of low-priced competition.

In some ways, I’m even more interested in just outright selling the series to a Chinese publisher. I’ve thought about using PubMatch for that purpose.   After all, I have absolutely no ability to promote or bring visibility to the series in China.  Fiberead states that’s part of its service, of course.

Once I get all the info on my choices, I’ll decide between translation/royalty share and selling rights outright.  I’m planning on listing my books on PubMatch and also listening to the folks at Fiberead and seeing what works best…if anyone is even interested at all.

I have other things I’ve been working on, too but I’ll share those in another post since this one is already getting  wordy.  What have you been working on, marketing-wise or rights-wise?  Thought about foreign rights and pricing?  Do you have a newsletter?

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How to Avoid Staring at a Blank Screen

by Mickie Kennedy, @ereleases

We’ve all been there. You have to write SOMETHING, but there is literally nothing going on or your brain. You’re tired, feeling fried, and that blank screen is just staring you down. For those of us writing blog posts or marketing material for a recently published book, it can be particularly hard to be creative when you feel that there’s no real news to share.

Stop stressing! This post will go over some tried and true strategies to relieve writer’s block, and provide some prompts when you think your content well has run dry.

If You’re Simply Blocked…

WIRMI Technique – Sometimes writer’s block rears its ugly head because you aren’t quite sure about your topic yet. Now is the time to finish the phrase “What I Really Mean Is…” (i.e. WIRMI.) Once you’ve answered this question, your content should flow much more readily.

Free Write – Rather than plug away at a piece that’s going nowhere, try free writing. This exercise consist of simply starting with a word or phrase and writing on the topic for 3-5 minutes. Never let your hand (or fingers on the keyboard!) stop moving. I’ve done this exercise countless times and have often found that my subconscious mind wanders back to the problem at hand – the press release or blog post I’m writing – during a free writing session. Give it a try!

Start in the Middle – Often, as a writer, you know what you want to say, but aren’t quite sure exactly how to say it. So simply start by writing what you want to say. Don’t even call it a “press release” or a “blog post” yet. Just get the idea down in rough form. You’ll find that once you have your idea on paper, it starts to take on a life – and format – of it’s own.

When You Think There’s Nothing to Say…

Sometimes you are filled with the urge to write but topics just aren’t coming to you. In this case, try these prompts to fill your screen:

Update an Old Topic – Was one of your blog posts especially successful? Revisit it, with updated information or insight.

Answer a Fan Question – For every email you get from a fan (or supportive friend), you can be sure there are 5 more out there wondering the same thing. So answer the question they haven’t even asked in blog post form.

Share Your Opinion – Perhaps you specialize in a particular genre that may now be aligned with a current piece of news. What do you think of the events unfolding? Share it on your blog, or even issue a press release venting your thoughts and opinions.

Write a Problem-Solving Piece – Write up the tale of that time you had a problem with writing/publishing, and how you got over it. Other writers – or potential writers – will see this story and relate.

This is a nice way to not only show how something gets solved creatively, but it also ties in an emotional story with it: your struggle and eventual triumph over the obstacle. People love to feel that they are getting the inside scoop on an author’s journey — even if they have little-to-no familiarity with the craft of writing. Just remember to keep it brief; you want people to read to the very bottom of your story, and a long, boring one won’t get them there.

What do you do when you can’t think of a topic to write about?

Mickie E Kennedy is the founder of eReleases and the author of the PR Fuel blog.  He lives in Baltimore, MD.

 

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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.

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

Simple Promo Tip: Call Your Book By its Name:  http://ow.ly/JLiry  @SharonBially

Why it’s a problem that writers never talk about where their money comes from:  http://ow.ly/JLic1 @annbauerwriter

How to Eke Out 2 Hours of Writing Per Day:  http://ow.ly/JLiJV  @amcbooks

5 Ways to Fall in Love With Marketing Your Work: http://ow.ly/JLitQ by Kent Bridgeman @DIYMFA  

Writers, suit up. Your game is on.  http://ow.ly/JLi15 @cathyyardley

5 Mindset Changes to Sell More Books:  http://ow.ly/JNsWZ @amcbooks

How To Build A Rich Setting For A Contemporary Story:  http://ow.ly/JNjNq @StephMorrill @GoTeenWriters

Why You Should (Almost) Always Use the Active Voice:  http://ow.ly/JNjWE  @cdtunstall @thePenleak

The Science of Creating Authentic Characters:  http://ow.ly/JNk06 @msheatherwebb

How to Survive a Publishing Trend Cycle: http://ow.ly/JNsrW @cathyyardley

Bringing a Daughter Back From the Brink With Poems: http://ow.ly/JNjBj by  Betsy MacWhinney @NYTimes

Nobody’s Sidekick: Intersectionality in Protagonists:  http://ow.ly/JNjJI @sl_huang

Freelancers: 7 Inspiring Thoughts to Cure Your Newbie Writer Jitters:  http://ow.ly/JNjyG @ticewrites

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

Demystifying the muse: 5 creativity myths you need to stop believing:  http://ow.ly/JNjx6  @pickcrew

4 Things you Must Know About your Narrator:  http://ow.ly/JNjPh @thePenleak

Tips for Writing Dialogue:  http://ow.ly/JNjTv @blindoggbooks

Confessions of a Comma Queen:  http://ow.ly/JOEms  @MaryNorrisTNY  @newyorker

The Character Most Writers Get Wrong (And How to Fix It) http://ow.ly/JOFvJ @MandyCorine

11 Completely Free Apps To Boost Your Productivity:  http://ow.ly/JOEUe from Plash

You Wrote a Killer Love Story–…But Did You Romance the Reader?  http://ow.ly/JOFpF @angelaackerman

Self-Publishing Best Practices from the Experts:  http://ow.ly/JOEBa @BookWorksNYC

Being a Writer-in-Residence:  http://ow.ly/JOGje @PaulineAFrancis @AwfullyBigBlog

How Not to Fumble Your Social Media Presence:  http://ow.ly/JLhHP @jamesscottbell

How Are You Going To Succeed As a Writer?  http://ow.ly/JLhMr @cathyyardley

How successful is Amazon internationally? #FutureChat: 4pGMT / 11aET (now) http://ow.ly/K0xLv @Porter_Anderson

Do publisher imprints matter? http://ow.ly/K0wH6 @Porter_Anderson @michaelbhaskar

Moderating Panels: How to be Rude in the Nicest Possible Way:  http://ow.ly/JLiHm @NancyFulda

Productivity Tips for the Scattered Writer:  http://ow.ly/K0wfn

How to Get a Custom Book Cover for $5 Using Fiverr by JP Medved:  http://ow.ly/JLiCB @goblinwriter

2 Red-Flag Sentences in Publishing Contracts:  http://ow.ly/JLhCk @victoriastrauss

Why you need an author bio both inside your book AND on the outside book cover:  http://ow.ly/JKqfR @creativindie

28 Things No One Tells You About Publishing:  http://ow.ly/JJ2Sr  @berkun

Writers and Gatekeepers–Are There Really Good Guys And Bad Guys? http://ow.ly/JZE3w @Porter_Anderson @jaelmchenry

Forget Fabio: DIY Covers:  http://ow.ly/JJ3kD @passivevoiceblg by Jennifer McCartney

DRM Destroys Value: Why Years Old, But DRM Free, Devices Sell For Twice The Price Of New Devices:  http://ow.ly/JJ2iV @techdirt

7 Keys To Write the Perfect First Line of a Novel:  http://ow.ly/JJ2Db @joebunting

6 Must-Have Elements of a ‘Wow’ Story Premise: http://ow.ly/JJ3f7 @KMWeiland

Business Musings: A Year of Experiments:  http://ow.ly/JJ2XV @kristinerusch

Free Writing Contest: Submit Scariest Short Fiction: http://ow.ly/JYgzh @theonlyshape @inkitt

What to Write Next: Deciding on Your Next Project:  http://ow.ly/JJ2oF @blogsandplots

7 Harsh Realities of Self-Publishing as a Side Hustle:  http://ow.ly/JJ2Iq @DeniseWakeman

Moving From Scene to Scene in Our Story:  http://ow.ly/JJ2un @Janice_Hardy

Volunteering: Marketing’s Best Kept Secret:  http://ow.ly/JJ2z1 @janice_hardy

Goodreads Giveaways: Don’t Do What You’re Told:  http://ow.ly/JJ42W @cathryanhoward

Creating Dimensional Characters: —The Blind Spot: http://ow.ly/JJ27z @kristenlambtx

The importance of hiring a cover designer:  http://ow.ly/JHomp @RicardoFayet @LawstonDesign

The Difference Between A Great Twist And A Mediocre Twist:  http://ow.ly/JHmOf @charliejane

Your Cover Letter Does Not Matter, and Other Insights from a Contest Judge:  http://ow.ly/JHpbF @ninabadzin

Writing in ‘Islands’–How 1 Writer Wrote Her First Memoir in 45 Days: http://ow.ly/JHnCV @writeabook

10 Great Ways to Find Character Names: http://ow.ly/JUKP0 @JanetBoyer

Oddest Book Title Of The Year: A Mercifully Short List:  http://ow.ly/JWqBE @Porter_Anderson @tomtivnan

3 Reasons to Bundle the Early Books in Your Series:  http://ow.ly/JHoe9 @goblinwriter

The Strategic Use of Book Giveaways:  http://ow.ly/JHntT @JaneFriedman

Is Your Editor Worth It? Or Not? http://ow.ly/JHnp5 @novel_gazing

How to Find an Agent:  http://ow.ly/JHo4c @Janice_Hardy

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

Writing in Kindle Worlds: Something All Novelists Should Consider:  http://ow.ly/JUG4C @silas_payton

How To Tell If You Are In A Soft Science Fiction Novel:  http://ow.ly/JHn9C by @mallelis

Corrections Are Good: How to Take Critique Like a Dancer:  http://ow.ly/JHnZM @KBullockAuthor

How to Avoid the 2nd Book Slump:  http://ow.ly/JHmu3 @janalynvoigt

Power of the Space Between Creative Bursts:  http://ow.ly/JElkW  @CreativeKatrina

10 Editorial Steps From the Agent “Call” to Published Book:  http://ow.ly/JEgAv  @martinaaboone

How to Stay Positive When Writing a Novel:  http://ow.ly/JElFq by Alyssa Boorman

4 Ways a Journalist Can Help Creative Writers:  http://ow.ly/JEh9C  @sharilopatin

How to Get Our Thoughts onto the Page:  http://ow.ly/JEgVy @jamigold

15 Tips for Reaching More Readers with Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/JElcj @JodieRennerEd

6 Uncommon Romantic Love Subplots –  http://ow.ly/JElqy @writers_write

Getting our character naming right:  http://ow.ly/JEfho @guardianbooks @Harkaway

13 mistakes writers make with fight scenes:  http://ow.ly/JEf7i @raynehall

Agent question: Is she just not that into me? http://ow.ly/JEgSN @Janet_Reid

—Don’t Wait for the Mood to Strike to Write:  http://ow.ly/JEfO4 @EdieMelson

A Copyeditor’s Perspective on 4 common indie author questions:  http://ow.ly/JEgsM @Dario_Ciriello

Writers: 5 Ways To Become More Productive in 2015:  http://ow.ly/JzZlF @thecreativepenn

‘Do You Love Your Publisher?’  A new survey of authors in digital times:  http://ow.ly/JQG4b @Porter_Anderson @Janefriedman

52 questions to go deeper with characters: http://ow.ly/JzZly @laurelgarver

Where the Error Is: Antecedents:  http://ow.ly/JzZlq @shay_goodman

6 ways emphasis can change meaning in dialogue:  http://ow.ly/JzZlh @AnthonyEhlers

Guides to writing fanfiction:  http://ow.ly/JzZl7  from rphelper

When a plot isn’t strong enough to make a full story:  http://ow.ly/JzZkZ from Keyboard Smashwriters

Humor in a Query:  http://ow.ly/JzZkP @behlerpublish

Using Click to Tweet:  http://ow.ly/JzZkI @authorterryo

Tips for Writing Children with Divorced Parents:  http://ow.ly/JzZkC from Fix Your Writing Habits

How to Write Faster: The Brainwave Blueprint:  http://ow.ly/JzZkr @writetodone

Use attitude when introducing characters. Here€™s how: http://bit.ly/1F0zZUh @JodieRennerEd

Writing Humor, Writing Quickly, and Well-Rounded Characters:  http://ow.ly/JzZkh @goblinwriter

Using Passive Voice in Creative Writing:  http://ow.ly/JzZka @EimhWrite

Music For Writers: Michael Gordon’s Wild Ride Called  ‘Dystopia’:  http://ow.ly/JMHWL @Q2Music @Porter_Anderson

Using Astrology as a Character Generator:  http://ow.ly/JwP09 @megwolfewrites

How to use dialogue for story development: Ibsen’s Ghosts”:  http://ow.ly/JNBnK {lang} @RidethePen”

5 Ways to Improve Your Writing Style:  http://ow.ly/JwP04 @RogerDColby

Two main impact characters? http://ow.ly/JwP00 @glencstrathy

Naming Your Characters – 4 Quick and Dirty Tips:  http://ow.ly/JwOZT by  Terrie Quincey

The links I shared last week:  http://ow.ly/JN6au . All the links I’ve ever shared (30K+ searchable and free): writerskb.com .

10 REAL Reasons Your Book Was Rejected: A Big 5 Editor Tells All:  http://ow.ly/JwOZR @RuthHarrisBooks

The 3 Basic Building Blocks of Writing a Memoir:  http://ow.ly/JwOZM @HaggertyCM

All Bloggers and Writers Should be on Flipboard: Here’s Why:  http://ow.ly/JN1dn @silas_payton

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