Riley Adams's Blog, page 84

October 7, 2017

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 40,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately? Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox! Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Business / Miscellaneous

What makes a good fiction editor? @LouiseHarnby

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron To Open Frankfurt Book Fair: @Porter_Anderson

Conferences and Events / NaNoWriMo

You Do You – 5 Tips for Making the Most of NaNoWriMo: @MaggieWells1

How to Write Your NaNo Novel Like a Banned Book: @lidywilks

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

How to Make the Most of Your Time as a Teen Writer: @tessaemilyhall

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

Too Smart or Too Pretty? The Anne of Green Gables Paradox: @egabbert @lithub

5 Books Where the Hero Doesn’t Save the Day: @Artfulskeptic @tordotcom

10 of the Best Alien Books: @Keith_Rice1 @SignatureReads

5 Amazing Prequels To Great Fantasy Series: @shawnspeakman

13 Tips on Plowing Through ‘IT’ (or any long book) In A Few Days: @helpfulsnowman

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

Why You Should Work With a Writing Mentor: @beckorio @scottishbktrust

11 Pieces of Encouragement Writers Need to Hear: @_HannahHeath

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

How to Write a Book When You’re Too Busy: @Chris_Kokoski

5 Tips For Writing A Novel While Working Full-Time: @rsmollisonread

Tips for Making Time to Write Our Books: @NChristie_OH

When Writing Takes a Backseat: @JJ_Burry

The Cheap Retreat: More Writing, Less Money, Too Much Ice Cream: @cbramkamp

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

5 Tips To Write A Novella Fast: @angee

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

3 Things People Think About Writers: @SiouxR

7 Journaling Prompts for Taking Care of Yourself During Stressful Times: @writingthrulife

15 Famous Writers on the Perils of a Formal Education: @knownemily

Cringe-worthy Reader Questions: @ellajoyolsen

8 Ways Writers Can Keep Their Health in Balance: @tessaemilyhall

How to Avoid the Dangerous Trap of the “Perfect Writing Life”: @colleen_m_story @RMFWriters

How to Enter the Writer’s Trance: @RosanneBane

How to Write a Book With Traumatic Brain Injury: @AlicePoet @lithub

Genres / Fantasy

A Century of Fantasy: How the Genre’s Changed Since the 1920s: @ReedsyHQ

Genres / Historical

A First Look at Writing Historical Fiction: by Linda Wilson

Genres / Middle-Grade

5 Lessons Learned Writing a First Middle Grade Novel: @gmyrthilbooks @DIYMFA

Genres / Miscellaneous

The Pros and Cons of Cross Genre Fiction: @IsabellaMayBks @WomenWriters

Genres / Mystery

Casinos as elements in crime fiction: @mkinberg

Crime fiction elements: unforgivable sins in different professional fields: @mkinberg

Modern conveniences as elements in crime fiction: @mkinberg

Hazards to Avoid in a Cozy Mystery:

Genres / Non-Fiction

How to Become an Author Even If You’re Just a Blogger: @savilleneuve

Nonfiction Objects of Desire: @SPressfield

Genres / Paranormal

How to Write a Paranormal Romance Novel: The Ultimate Guide: by Georgina Roy @writingtipsoasi

Genres / Poetry

Writing Poetry for Beginners: @dianaraab @WomenWriters

Promo / Ads

Is It Ever Okay to Lose Money on Advertising? @MarcyKennedy

Promo / Back matter

Brainstorming Your Book’s Support Materials: @Book_Arch

Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting

Power-charge your blurb with hooks: @janetlaneauthor @RMFWriters

Promo / Book Reviews

7 Clever Ways to Leverage Reviews in Your Book Marketing: @EmilyWenstrom

Promo / Connecting with Readers

Your Author Platform: 4 Key Strategies: @LThompsonBooks

5 Tips for Marketing your Books in Person: @mariadismondy @thecreativepenn

Promo / Metadata

Keywords and Search Engines (The Bare-Bottom Basics Every Author Should Know): @KarenCV

Promo / Miscellaneous

Overcoming the Shame of Self-Promotion: @manzanitafire

Promo / Social Media Tips

3 Ways to Use Hashtags as Authors: @CaballoFrances

Promo / Websites

How Landing Page Frustration Lands You in the Dump: @MarshaIngrao

Publishing / Miscellaneous

US Ebook Revenue Up in May; Sourcebooks Signs With Gotham for Film: @Porter_Anderson

4 Tips to Meet Deadlines by @sarahsundin on @NovelRocket :

US National Book Award’s 20 Finalists Are Named: Four Categories: @Porter_Anderson

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Italian Frankfurt Rights Update: Piergiorgio Nicolazzini Highlights: @Porter_Anderson

Turkey’s Burhan Sönmez wins the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation award: @Porter_Anderson

Distribution Expansion: Germany’s Bookwire Acquires Brazil’s DLD: @Porter_Anderson

Canada’s Entertainment One Is Wattpad’s Newest Content Partner: @Porter_Anderson

Christmas In October: UK Rights Rustler Matt Haig Sleighs to Frankfurt: @Porter_Anderson @matthaig1

Kalimat Foundation at Göteborg Book Fair: Arabic Books for Children: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Turkish Literature Abroad at Frankfurt; Hungary Stages Five Authors: @Porter_Anderson

‘I Didn’t Believe It’: Kazuo Ishiguro Wins 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

Switching From Querying Agents to Querying Publishers: @KristenBrakeman @WomenWriters

Surviving the Querying Trenches: @sebastian_lk

Matching voice in query and sample pages: @ml_keller

Publishing / Process / Translation

Why We Need to Translate More Women Writers: by David Brookshaw @lithub

Writing Craft / Arc

The Series Arc: @Book_Arch

Writing Craft / Beginnings

Real Life Diagnostics: Does This Horror Opening Work? @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists

Villain Clichés That Work: 4 Lessons From The Dark Tower Movie: @sacha_black

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

Indirect Characterization: How to Reveal Character Subtly: @nownovel

5 Moral Dilemmas That Make Characters and Stories Even Better: by Nicolas Rossmiller

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

How and Why to Write an Anti Hero: @Je55ieMullin5

Writing Craft / Characters / Supporting Characters

Making Characters Stuck in the Background Pop Out: @SeptCFawkes

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

Do You Really Know How to “Show, Don’t Tell”? @CSLakin

Give Your Reader A Chance To Fill In The Rest: @Bang2write

5 Ways To Instantly Improve Your Story: @Chris_Kokoski

When Yay Becomes Yuck: by Josh Langston

Writing Craft / Conflict

5 Ways to Create Strong Internal Conflict: @Janice_Hardy

What’s Driving Your Plot? @Janice_Hardy @Ava_Jae

Writing Craft / Diversity

Reading Jane Eyre While Black: @tylachelleco @lithub

How White Writers Can Be Better Allies to Writers of Color: @NataliaSylv @WriterUnboxed

“American Girls” Taught 1 Writer That Diversity Is The Most Beautiful Thing: @KarisRogerson @LitReactor

Writing Craft / Flashback and Back Story

Weaving Backstory Into Frontstory: @jamesscottbell

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

12 Literary Writers on Stephen King’s Influence: @knownemily

Learning To Write Dialogue From ‘The Wire’ And ‘Anne of Green Gables’: @Spencimus

13 Writing Lessons From 13 Reasons Why: @jennienash

5 Stories That End With Bizarre Reveals: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Beat Sheet: @RubioSalva @savethecat

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

2 Questions about Story: by Art Holcomb @storyfix

Insights into Your Midpoint Scene: @CSLakin

The Trouble With Action: @VaughnRoycroft

The Structure of an Injury Plot: @scriptmedic

How to Empower Your Writing With a Brilliant Epigraph: by John MacIlroy @write_practice

Writing Craft / POV

Alternate POVs: @iamagemcrystal

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

5 Quick Fixes for a Sagging Middle: @WriteToSell

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

Injury Analysis: Misery: @scriptmedic

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

Punctuation Quiz: Capitalization: @writing_tips

Writing Craft / Revision

You Can’t Edit Your Own Book and Here are 7 Reasons Why: @batwood

10 Easy Edits to Improve Your Manuscript Right Now: @repokempt @LitReactor

Shakespeare and the art of revision: @nevalalee

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

4 Tips for Translating Critique-Speak: @kcraftwriter

Writing Craft / Series

The Art of Writing (and Ending) a Serie (podcast): @decastell @DIYMFA

Writing Craft / Series / Series Bible

How to Create a Series Bible For Your Fiction: @lornafaith

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

Developing Themes In Your Stories: The Setting: @SaraL_Writer

How to use the 5 senses for thrilling descriptions: @RidethePen

6 Ways Setting Can Create Conflict: @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Tropes

PubCrawl Podcast: Coming of Age Stories: @PubCrawlBlog

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

100+ Ways to Say “Sad”: A Word List for Writers: @KathySteinemann

Writing Craft / World-Building

3 Steps to Building Your Story World: @Janice_Hardy

Worldbuilding For Urban Fantasy: @KhaosFoxe

Writing Tools / Books

25 Must-Read Books About Writing: @thewritelife

Uncategorized

Stop comparing yourself to other writers: @PatHatt24 @TheIWSG @PatHatt24

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

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Published on October 07, 2017 21:02

October 5, 2017

Things to Avoid in a Cozy Mystery

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Believe it or not, there are ways to make cozy mystery writing complex. And I think cozies are fairly easy books to write.

At first I titled this post “Cozy Mystery Mistakes,” but I don’t think these things are all necessarily mistakes–they’re just elements that could make for potential problems.

Looking at my list, I’ve done nearly all of them at least once.

Too many characters: This is a very easy problem to have. Cozy mystery series can be rife with characters: you have 5(ish) suspects in each book, a sleuth, a sidekick, plus recurring series characters (sleuth’s family, co-workers, etc.) . Cozies are all about the quirky characters, and quirky characters have a way of multiplying.

The fix: Anytime that one of the characters has been ‘off-stage’ for a while, apply a tag or a short reminder in dialogue to help readers remember who the character is. Or, obviously, include fewer characters (although sometimes readers will ask after a recurring supporting character if they’re not part of a story).

Too much hook. The hook (quilting, knitting, cooking, horseback riding, birdwatching , gardening, antiquing) is definitely important in a cozy mystery. It can help the sleuth more naturally meet up with suspects for interviews. It can help the reader connect with the sleuth. It can help create interesting settings and subplots. But if the hook is overshadowing the mystery, there’s too much hook.

The fix: Look at your story and see if it’s a gardening book with a mystery or a mystery with some gardening. The mystery has to come first.

Too much mystery. The mystery has to come first, but there can’t be just mystery, either. If it’s straight mystery, it’s probably not a cozy.

The fix: Highlight the mystery in your text one color and highlight the subplots, hook, and other non-mystery parts of the story another. Aim for more of a balance.

Too short: Again, this is super-easy to do. Cozies are, by nature, pretty short. But if your book is getting into novella territory (and you’re shooting for a full-priced book), there’s a problem.

The fix: Usually for me, the culprit is the subplot. Or, rather, subplots. If there aren’t any relatively healthy subplots, you’ll probably find the book is too mystery-focused and too short.

Too dark: This is, obviously, a big no-no for cozy mysteries. Of all of these issues, this is the most problematic.

The fix: Is the murder method too gory? Too well-described? Are the potential motives for the suspects too dark? Is there enough humor in the story? Should you consider labeling this a different genre? Maybe the story should be a police procedural or more of a traditional mystery instead of a cozy.

Supporting characters that steal the show. With all the natural quirkiness of cozy characters, it’s almost inevitable that one of them will end up being a stage hog.

The fix: They’re going to need to tone it down a little if they’re not the sleuth. In dialogue with your sleuth, who’s leading the conversation? Who’s putting two-and-two together? If it’s the secondary character, switch it around as much as you need to in order to put the sleuth back in the driver’s seat again.

Looking back over my list, there are a couple of things that might work for other genres, too. What kinds of problem areas have you run into with your own writing?

6 potential problems to avoid when writing a cozy mystery:
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Published on October 05, 2017 21:02

October 1, 2017

Time to Write

Alarm clock sits on a table to the left of the frame and the post title, Elizabeth Spann Craig.

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Published on October 01, 2017 21:02

September 30, 2017

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Business / Miscellaneous

Prioritizing the Writer’s Life via a Business Plan: @beccapuglisi

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

Rebooting a Writing Career at a Writing Conference: @Victoria_Noe
At the Frankfurt Book Fair‘: A Book Is a Film Is a Game’ Networking Day Returns: @Porter_Anderson

Conferences and Events / NaNoWriMo

Your 6-Week Prep Plan for NaNoWriMo: @AlyciaMorales

Creativity and Inspiration / First Novels

You Want to Write Fiction. So Where Do You Start? @Janice_Hardy

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

Creative Writing Activities That Don’t Involve Writing: @WritingForward
How Hobbies Can Improve Your Writing: @woodwardkaren
Empower Your Creativity by Engaging The Practicing Mind: @practicingmind @lornafaith

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

On the Dark, Wondrous Optimism of Ray Bradbury: @GabbyBellot @lithub
5 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books Inspired by Jewish History and Culture: by Matt Stagg @unboundworlds

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

3 Essential Questions for Writers: @RuthanneReid
“On the Sophomore Slump and How I Beat It”: @theladypenumbra

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

How to Overcome 3 Things That Make You Feel Rushed for Time: @colleen_m_story
5 Lessons Learned on Writing Habits, Routines and Productivity: @lornafaith
Need More Writing Time? Learn to delegate: @lisajordan @NovelRocket

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

An Easy Trick for Nipping Creative Fear in the Bud: by Sarah Moore @AngelaAckerman

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

Tips for more productive writing sessions at home: by Pat Olsen @TheWriterMag
Dear Writer: Stop Releasing So Many Novels: @MCristianoWrite
Prep Yourself for Writing Productivity: @FinishedPages
What is reverse engineering for writers? @pubcoach

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

Self-Serving Writing is the Only Writing You Can Trust: @julietescoria @_chelsea_martin

Genres / Fantasy

Divorce Should Be an Option in Fantasy Fiction: @AniseKStrong @tordotcom

Genres / Memoir

Tips for Writing Memoir: @Roz_Morris @thecreativepenn

Genres / Non-Fiction

Becoming a Biographer: Telling Someone Else’s Life Story: by James Atlas @SignatureReads
7 Simple Steps to Gain Visibility for You and Your Nonfiction Book: @kathleengage

Genres / Picture Books

3 Things Nobody Told Me About Having a Children’s Book Published: @Patrickwensink

Genres / Romance

7 Tips For Writing Great Love Scenes: @JoyceScarbrough

Genres / Science Fiction

The Creatures We Base Aliens On: @NicolaAlter

Genres / Screenwriting

Writing The Short Film – Week One: @seanbhood

Genres / Short Stories

How to Keep a Short Story Short: @april_bradley
8 rules for writing historical short stories: @toddjamespierce @TheWriterMag

Genres / Young Adult

Why Young Adult Fiction Is Essential: @virginiawrites

Promo / Blogging

Blogging: write as if people are reading: @rxena77

Promo / Book Reviews

Easy author hack for more book reviews: @sandrabeckwith

Promo / Book Signings and Launch parties

Tips for book launches: @SurfCityJames

Promo / Miscellaneous

Amazon Keywords Learning Lab (podcast): @DaveChesson @cksyme
5 Ingredients You’ll Need to Get More Amazon Sales: @Bookgal

Promo / Platforms

How to Record an Audio Book: @maestrompc @TheIWSG

Promo / Podcasts

Podcasts: How they sell books and how to start one of your own: @altait @annerallen
Self Publishing Podcasts: Everything You Wanted to Know: @maifosz @publishdrive

Promo / Social Media Tips

Using Twitter Moments for Promo or Networking:
3 Ways How to Respond to Blogs on LinkedIn So You Look Like an Ace: Naked_Determina
Using Social Media to Grow Your Online Audience and Influence: @HelloMorganTimm
5 Ways to Use Facebook Pinned Posts to Hook Fans: @cksyme

Promo / Websites

4 Reasons Authors Need A Great Website: by Raymond Esposito @WritersAfterDrk

Publishing / Miscellaneous

6 Things Learned as a Professional Editor: @SeptCFawkes
Ntl Book Foundation Honors Annie Proulx, Scholastic’s Richard Robinson: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Tracey Armstrong on Women in Publishing: ‘Still Striving for Equal Pay’: @Porter_Anderson
3 Random Tips For Making Occasional Webcomics: by Pekoe Blaze
5 Good Reasons for an Author to Record an Audiobook: @clivefrayne
How Many Words in a Novel? Our Editors Have the Answers: @ReedsyHQ
National Book Foundation Names Its ‘5 under 35’ Debut Fiction Authors: @nationalbook @Porter_Anderson
When readers find unintended symbolism in your text: @Roz_Morris
Your Publicity Timeline: Is There a Best Month to Publish Your Book? @McKinneyPR

Publishing / News / International Publishing

OpenBook’s China Bestseller Lists for August 2017: Drone Delivery Races: @Porter_Anderson
Forward Prizes for Poetry Awarded in the UK: Best Collections and Poem: @Porter_Anderson @ForwardPrizes
Gurry, Pallante, Clemente To Speak at Intl. Publishers Congress: @Porter_Anderson
Canada’s $75,000 Cundill Longlist: Historical Takes on Today’s Issues: @Porter_Anderson @CundillPrize
Oxford University Press India Begins Publishing in Indian Languages: @Porter_Anderson @scroll_in
London Book Fair and Writer’s Digest Summit Announces Pitch Slam Agents: @Porter_Anderson

Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing

Traditional Publishing to Indie and Hybrid with @JohnBirmingham : @thecreativepenn

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Rejections

Don’t Tweet Your Rejections: @ShannaSwendson

Publishing / Process / Formatting

What You Need To Know About Formatting Your Own E-Book: @FredBobJohn @standoutbooks

Publishing / Process / Legalities

How Do I Register My Book’s Copyright? @ReedsyHQ @EmmanuelNataf

Writing Craft / Beginnings

What Psychology Says About the First Page of Your Novel: @SloanTamar
Fixing the First Page Feature: @Ava_Jae
Most Common Mistakes in Opening Chapters: @ml_keller

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

Why Introverts Make Great Heroes: @ClassicQuirkySG

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

How to revise a manuscript: fixing 5 common problems: @WriteToSell

Writing Craft / Conflict

Common Misconceptions about Conflict: Conflict = Tension: @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Dialogue

The Dos and Don’ts of Dialogue Tags: @MCristianoWrite

Writing Craft / Endings

How to Write an Ending that Fits Your Story: @AndreaWriterlea

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

Famous Characters Teach Us Characterization: @nownovel

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

Don’t Believe These Writing Myths: @Storygeeks
Conflate, and Tighten Up Your Story: by Nancy L. Erickson @BookBaby
A step-by-step guide to better sentence length: @pubcoach
How Many Words in a Novel? Our Editors Have the Answers: @ReedsyHQ

Writing Craft / Pacing

How to Use Your Word Count to Control Pacing: @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Diagramming Your Plot: The Big Picture: @SueBEdwards
Want to Find the REAL Story? Ignore Your Instincts: by Emily Ruskovich @beccapuglisi

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

Writing injuries: the recovery time for thoracic blunt/burn trauma: @scriptmedic

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

12 Idioms Commonly Seen with Homonymic Spelling Errors: @writing_tips
Punctuation Marks: The Exclamation Mark: @WritingForward

Writing Craft / Revision

How to Choose Which Scenes to Include in Your Novel: @Kid_Lit
5 Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your Manuscript: @LoucindaMcGary
My Story Is Unclear – What Do I Do? @Bang2write
Woodshedding for Writers: @helpfulsnowman @LitReactor
Self-Editing for Writers: @Lindasclare
3 Strategies for Fixing Exposition: @p2p_editor

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

Are You Dressing Your Characters For Success? by Paige Duke @standoutbooks
How Do Your Characters Inhabit Their World? by Sunny Singh

Writing Craft / Tension

Keeping tension in a story when you have a very powerful/skilled character: from How to Fight Write

Writing Craft / Tropes

Archetypes – Cataclysms and Survival Stories (podcast): by Pub Crawl

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

6 Ways to Reduce “-ly” Adverb Abuse: @KathySteinemann
Marilynne Robinson, Author of Gilead, on Finding the Right Word: @nytimesbooks

Writing Tools / Apps

Germany’s ‘oolipo’ Readies Tools for Storytellers: @Porter_Anderson @oolipo

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

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Published on September 30, 2017 21:02

September 28, 2017

Make it Easy for Readers to Contact You

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’m lucky to have a very good relationship with my readers. We frequently exchange emails.

I recently received an email from a reader of mine that I’ve corresponded with for years. She asked me if I could figure out a way to get in contact with another of her favorite authors. This reader was on email, but not on social media.

As a favor to her, I looked up the author’s books on Amazon to see if I could find her website through Amazon Author Central. She was not on Amazon Author Central.

I googled the writer and found a rudimentary website. There was no contact page or contact information on the website.

I looked up the writer on Twitter and found that she had an account. I sent her a tweet, letting her know that a reader of hers had a question for her. Two months later, I’ve received no reply.

I looked her up on Facebook and found she had a page there. I left the writer a direct message about her reader. Again, I haven’t heard back. I finally wrote back to my reader with the bad news that the author appeared to be unreachable.

Literary agent Janet Reid recently posted about her difficulties tracking down an author online. The author’s social media icons weren’t actually linked to the networks.

I’ve run into this before. There have been times when I’ve wanted to credit authors when sharing posts on Twitter and couldn’t find the author’s Twitter handle (although the author stated he or she was on the platform).

At the bare minimum, set up your Amazon Author Central account. You can provide an email address or website and other social media locations on that page.

If you’re on social media platforms, set up notifications for messages. Or check in once a week or so.

Every author website should include a contact page (or contact info in the sidebar, if you have a one-page website). At a minimum, this page/info should include an email address, name of the writer/pen name (you’d be surprised how many have a first name only: “Angela’s Musings”), and where to find you on the web.

If you’re not yet on social media, industry expert Jane Friedman has tips for getting started: choosing a network and what to post.

Do you have to be on social media? No. You just need to be available to readers with questions. You could skip social media altogether as long as you list ways of contacting you (email, P.O. Box, via your agent, etc.) and as long as you’re responsive when readers do try to reach out.

Have you made it easy for readers to reach you?

Make it easy for readers to contact you:
Click To Tweet

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Published on September 28, 2017 21:02

September 24, 2017

Twitter Moments

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I spend a good deal of time finding and scheduling content for Twitter, but not a lot of time on Twitter.

In the last month or so, however, I did get on the site long enough to check out their ‘Twitter Moments’ feature.

Twitter states:

Moments are curated stories showcasing the very best of what’s happening on Twitter. Our Moments guide is customized to show you current topics that are popular or relevant, so you can discover what is unfolding on Twitter in an instant.

That sounded just a little too airy for me. I found another description from Nate Swanner on The Next Web who stated:

Instagram and Snapchat have stories, which are literally the same thing. One snippet of text or media flows into the next, then it’s over.

Moments isn’t quite so hurried. You’re free to linger on a tweet or video, and scroll back through just as you would with your timeline.

Moments and Stories are the same in one way, though: you carry the narrative thread.

Twitter suggests that we “bring our Moment to life with photos, GIFs, videos, and Vines. ” They also recommend we limit a Moment to around 10 tweets.

What can we use for content? We can add tweets to our Moments from our own Twitter feed, from tweets we’ve liked or shared, or even from someone else’s Twitter feed.

How can this help us as writers? Since self-promotion is really frowned upon on the platform, we could instead compile a series that stays on our Moment. Maybe it could be a recent release (with the book cover as the ‘cover’ for the Moment), pictures from a book launch or book signing, and reviews from others or a tweeted book trailer as parts of the Moment.

Or we could curate helpful content for other writers while covering a conference: compiling tweets, videos, etc. that sum up the most helpful information that we found there.

We could have a Moment that brings together the most useful information that agents or editors have shared online.

In other words, this could be either an effective self-promotional tool, or one that can help us to network with other writers/writing professionals, or merely to help curate information for other writers. I plan on devoting more time to mine, but for the time being, I have a Moment set up for top tweets that I’ve curated on the site.

Moments are easy to set up. You click the Moments tab on your profile; click ‘create new Moment’; add a title, description, and cover; pull in content; and publish. Detailed instructions are here from Twitter.

More about Moments from Twitter here.

Have you created a Moment on Twitter? What other promo activities have you found lately?

Using Twitter Moments for Promo or Networking:
Click To Tweet

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Published on September 24, 2017 21:02

September 23, 2017

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

Frankfurt Book Fair Highlights and Outlook: ‘Optimism and Confidence’ @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

11 of the Worst Marriages in Literature: @carrievasios @ElectricLit

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

Getting to ‘the end’ – how to finally finish writing your book: @beprolifiko

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

Make the Most of Your Time with a Writing Pipeline: @annkroeker

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

5 Ways to Kill Your Inner Critic: @SiouxR
What happens when you run out of novels? @kcraftwriter
How to rediscover your writing mojo: @HelenaFairfax

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

4 Steps to an Inspiring Writing Routine: by Stacy Woodson @DIYMFA
12 Unusual And Achievable Productivity Hacks For Writers: @Bang2write
5 Practical Ways to Meet Your Daily Word Count: @AlyciaMorales

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

The Great Cursive Writing Debate: Lost Art or Vital Skill? by Kelly Gurnett
“The Time I Moved to New York City to Be a Poet”: @Jrbialosky @lithub
When will it get easier, as a writer? @DanBlank @danijshapiro

Genres / Dystopian

The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Post-Apocalyptic Novel: by Georgina Roy @writingtipsoasi

Genres / Fan Fiction

5 Tips for Writing in Kindle Worlds: @SueColetta1

Genres / Fantasy

Beneath the Shining Armor: The Paladin: by Codey Amprim @mythicscribes

Genres / Memoir

5 Secrets to Writing a Fascinating Memoir: by Dan Emmett @WritersDigest

Genres / Mystery

Competitiveness as an element in crime fiction: @mkinberg

Genres / Short Stories

10 Tips For Editing Your Short Story: by Sara Kopeczky

Promo / Blogging

How to Write Your Book and Blog at the Same Time: @ChadRAllen

Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting

Writing Back Cover Copy: A Secret for Your Novel’s Success: @A_K_Perry @DIYMFA
What’s in a Name? Choosing A Book Title: @SarahBolme @IngramSpark
Why you can’t format book descriptions properly: @HollowLandsBook

Promo / Connecting with Readers

All About Bookbot Bob for Ebook Promo: @mollygreene

Promo / Miscellaneous

28 book marketing tips from authors, publicists, and marketers: @sandrabeckwith
Don’t send spammy promo email: @Janet_Reid

Promo / Newsletters

Want to Get More Readers? Get Rid of your Subscription Popup! @annerallen

Promo / Platforms

Do it Yourself: A 10-Step Guide to Self-Publishing an Audiobook: @WarrenAdler

Promo / Pricing

Ebook pricing for a foreign market: Pricing an Ebook in Southeast Asia: @maifosz

Promo / Social Media Tips

Why Authors Should Not Enable the Facebook Reviews Tab: @cksyme
How NOT to Fall Foul of Twitter: @swirlandthread
Instagram for Authors: by Scott La Counte @IngramSpark

Promo / Websites

6 Common Sense Steps to Secure a WordPress Website: @JaneFriedman

Publishing / Miscellaneous

HarperCollins Readies Its 200th Anniversary Program for Frankfurt: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Publishing / News / Data

Nielsen on Book Sales Trends and Competition: @Porter_Anderson @AndreBreedt

Publishing / News / International Publishing

6 Marketing Tips for Pleasing an International Audience: @maifosz @publishdrive
The UK’s Publishers Commit Improve Diversity in Publishing Workforce: @Porter_Anderson @PublishersAssoc
Almost Half the 2017 Giller Prize Longlist Is From Canadian Publishers: @Porter_Anderson @GillerPrize
At Frankfurt: A First ‘Buchmesse Kickoff Run’ Benefits Room To Read @Porter_Anderson @KBM_books

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Pitches

Crafting a 35-Word Pitch for Your Novel: by Jaime Olin

Publishing / Process / Book Design

5 Ways a Book Cover Could Hurt Sales — And How to Fix It: @JohnnyBTruant @BookBub

Publishing / Process / Legalities

World Copyright Issues to Publishers Need to Watch: @MJHealy @porter_anderson

Publishing / Process / Services to Avoid

7 New Writer Mistakes that Make you Vulnerable to Predators: @annerallen

Publishing / Process / Translation

A Closer Look at Babelcube for Translation:

Writing Craft / Characters / Arc

Why Doubt Is the Key to Flat Character Arcs: @KMWeiland

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

5 Secrets to Creating a Compelling Series Character: @barrylancet
5 Tips For Creating Characters Readers Will Connect With: @irenabrignull
7 Character Non-Negotiables: @MichelleGriep
A Character Solar Eclipse: @wendypmiller

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

4 Ways to Plan Showing Vs. Telling in Your Novel: @AndreaWriterlea

Writing Craft / Dialogue

Why Strong Dialogue Matters So Much And 3 Tips to Write It: @writeabook

Writing Craft / Diversity

6 Signs Your Story Is Queerphobic: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

Writing Craft / Drafts

5 Steps on the Journey to the First Draft: @JJ_Burry

Writing Craft / Endings

4 classic ways to end a story: @Magic_Violinist

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

What Authors Need To Know About Commedia Dell’arte: by Hannah Collins @standoutbooks
On Memorizing Poetry: @SandraHeskaKing @tspoetry
How To Write Like Danielle Steel: @Chris_Kokoski
5 YA Books with Fabulous First Sentences: @erinbowbooks @tordotcom

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

Matching Horses to Use, Climate, and Characters in Fiction: @DanKoboldt
Inner Monologue Examples: Writing Characters’ Secret Lives: @nownovel
Book Editing As a Form of Creative Discovery: @Roz_Morris @IngramSpark
What a book coach does: @jennienash
10 Tips for Writing Characters with Anxiety: @_HannahHeath
Why writing in the past tense is better: by Harvey Chapman
3 Tips To Inject Novelty Into Your Writing: @rsmollisonread

Writing Craft / POV

5 Essentials of Omniscient Narration: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Outlining

Outlining for Pantsers: @THahnBurkett

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

The Heroine’s Journey: by Laurie Schnebly Campbell

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

Research 101: Going to the Library in the Internet Age: @AnneEJohnson

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

Proper Use of Hyphens and Dashes: @JamesJMurray1
Grammar Girl : Stop Calling Yourself a Grammar Nazi: @GrammarGirl

Writing Craft / Revision

Rewriting – How Do You Know When It’s Right? @NickPWilford @TheIWSG
How to spend less time rewriting: @pubcoach
How to Edit a First Draft: @AlisonPotoma

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

15 French Words and Phrases That Don’t Mean That in French: @writing_tips

Writing Tools / Apps

Top 10 Writing Apps for Android Smartphones: @writing_tips
Genre Hacks: Instagram as a Writer and a Director’s Tool: @seanbhood

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Published on September 23, 2017 21:01

September 21, 2017

A Closer Look at Babelcube for Translation

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

My strategy for the last couple of years is increase the income streams for my already-published books by branching into international publishing, libraries, and translation.

I’m about to publish my first translated book, A Dyeing Shame, in Spanish. My translator is the gifted Alfredo Moyano-Barroso. I was lucky that Freddy not only speaks Spanish and English fluently, but he lives in the US and was easily able to convey Southern US customs and traditions to a new audience. Right on that book’s heels is an Italian version of A Body in the Backyard, translated by Valeria Poropat, another wonderful translator.

Babelcube is a platform that allows indie authors to audition and retain translators for their books. Here is my experience working with them:

The Good:

The royalty-share agreement. For writers, there’s lots that’s good. There’s very little risk on our side as writers (except, perhaps, the risk of a bad translation). We pay nothing upfront. Babelcube handles payments to the translator, distribution of the books, etc.
Checkpoints for quality control. We have opportunities to end the translation process.
A partnership (for ebooks) with StreetLIb: a company I already do business with and respect a good deal. That expands the distribution options (although I wish that StreetLib would take over the print distribution–more on that below).

The Bad:

I have heard numerous complaints of bad customer service. I’ve actually experienced prompt replies to any queries there, but it’s worth noting that their reputation precedes them in terms of response.

The Ugly:

No print distribution except via CreateSpace/Amazon
No audio distribution
The contract is exclusive and the translated work(s) cannot be distributed in print or audio during the 5-year period of the contract, even though those formats are not currently offered by Babelcube.

What I Did Right:

I branched into translation, period.
I rejected several translation offers, holding out for a better candidate.
I didn’t immediately put my entire series up for translation, waiting instead to see how the first book went.
I asked Babelcube questions before acting, making sure I wasn’t violating any terms in my contract.

What I’d Do Differently:

I would find out what type of format (ebook? Print? Audio?) was best for the international audience the translation was targeting. If it’s print, I’d seriously consider holding off. Unfortunately, the ebook market in Spain has yet to take off and printed books are still preferred for much of the Spanish-speaking world. Without more print distribution options (Ingram generally is cheaper for online book buyers because they have POD printers internationally…reducing printing costs), sales may prove to be really limited.

Worth Noting:

Although it would be incredibly easy to upload a translated work independently of a platform like Babelcube, the problem comes when splitting profits with a translator. Would you have to set up a joint bank account? What would taxes look like? I think, right, now, the easiest option for the busy indie author is to go through a platform like Babelcube.

Have you branched into translation? How did it go for you?

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Published on September 21, 2017 21:02