Riley Adams's Blog, page 96
December 1, 2016
10 Minute Marketing
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Sometimes there is so much promo-related stuff to do that it can seem overwhelming.
And, once we actually feel as if we get a handle on everything, that’s when something changes. There’ll be a new marketing approach or a new platform to use.
For me, it’s been helpful if I approach promo the same way I approach writing a book. It’s sort of like the saying: how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
If I can make at least a little progress each day, I feel as if I’ve really accomplished something.
It might be most helpful to make a list of things you want to update or areas you may want to learn more about.
Some of these tasks you may want to break down into several days of projects. Breaking them down makes them even less intimidating to tackle. For example, if you were completely new to Goodreads: read for 10 minutes about the site, set up a login, create your profile, link to your books, sign up for a giveaway, etc.
Promo Tasks for 10 Free Minutes (or to Break Down into 10 Minute Increments)
Brainstorm blog post ideas
Plan out these posts on your editorial calendar
Make sure Amazon Author Central has all your books linked and your updated information
Work on a newsletter template for MailChimp
Write a status update for Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook
Clean up each Amazon book page
See if your keywords need updating for online retailers
Make sure Goodreads links to all your books
Update your website copy (or at least one page)
Begin collecting information for your media kit
Review book sales and pricing and make any needed adjustments (a sale can be good promo and a good way to get reviews)
Add content to LinkedIn: evergreen blog posts, video URLs, a presentation to SlideShare, books: or update LinkedIn
Spend a few minutes learning something: website SEO, a new platform (BookTrack, ACX).
Backup your website. While you’re at it, backup your book, too.
Add a newsletter signup link to our email signature
Start a list of all your book metadata.
Update your back matter for the next book.
Set up Kindle Preview on your site or on LinkedIn
Start a list of all your ISBNs
Start a list of all your books’ Amazon Affiliate links
Study a promo-related blog post you bookmarked
Create an Amazon Author Central profile on international sites
Create a Gravitar for yourself for blog commenting
Have you got any ideas for short promo work? What have I missed?
The post 10 Minute Marketing appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
November 27, 2016
10 Things You’ll Find in Every Bestselling Book
By Sarah Juckes, @WWonthebrink
What makes a bestselling book? And how can you, as a writer, ensure that your book is the very best it can be?
The answer will differ from genre to genre, but at The Writer’s Workshop, we’ve found there are some things that every good fiction book will include.
1) A killer concept
What? Look at the most notorious books in the last ten years, and you’ll find an irresistible idea at the centre of each of them. Dan Brown’s hunt for the Holy Grail in The Da Vinci Code for example, was the perfect hook for his publishers to sell to the masses, as was McEwan’s Atonement and Smith’s White Teeth.
How? Is your concept going to capture attention? To answer this, you should first know your market inside out. What books are selling and why? Next, try to condense your concept into fifty words or less. Will this spark the interest of readers?
2) Protagonist motivation
What? Most bestselling books are centred around one character – the protagonist. In every story, the protagonist must want something. This could be something simple like the acceptance of the people around you, as in the case of Wonder by R. J. Palacio, or it could literally be the difference between life and death.
How? Understand what your protagonist wants and make it matter to the reader, too. Ensure that it is clear and consistent throughout the book. If it doesn’t matter to the protagonist, then it won’t matter to the reader.
3) Jeopardy
What? The stakes are raised and things start to get worse for the protagonist. Their motivation in the beginning matters much, much more now. In the Harry Potter series for example, the jeopardy rises when the people around Harry are put in danger, and Harry’s motivation to kill Lord Voldemort increases.
How? Try mapping the jeopardy in your book. You should find that the stakes for your protagonist increase, before they are resolved.
4) Unforgettable characters
What? These can be ordinary characters in extraordinary situations, like Bella in Twilight. Or they can be extraordinary characters in themselves, such as James Bond. They will all be memorable, consistent, and real.
How? Strong characters are built on knowledge. Get to know your characters inside out by completing this exercise. They don’t have to be likeable, but they do need to appear real.
5) Real relationships
What? Most bestsellers will contain a romantic relationship or two. Some of them, like John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, are so well-drawn that they’ve become a cultural phenomenon.
How? Use your secondary characters to increase jeopardy, or progress plot. Do they help or hinder your protagonist’s motivation? Make them real by adding the quirks, flaws and inside jokes that you find in your own relationships.
6) Dramatization
What? This is the stuff that keeps a reader on the edge of their seat. Action unfolds on the page in real time, and the reader is with the protagonist as it happens.
How? This is down to the age-old mantra of: ‘show, don’t tell’. Don’t simply write, ‘he fell down the stairs’. Instead, describe what it feels like to hit every step.
7) Good writing
What? It sounds simple, but words can make or break a book. Good writing will carry the plot, describe the characters and progress the story. Bad writing will have your readers putting your book down, no matter how great the concept is.
How? Avoid cliché in your sentences, and by that, I mean be accurate. Does a breeze really whisper through trees, or does it send the leaves clapping? Being economical with sentences, cutting down on the simile and metaphor, and avoiding repetition are also brilliant ways to keep readers reading. Complete this checklist with your work.
8) Trust in the reader
What? You might mention something the reader has heard of before, and trust them to remember it. Or, you might trust your reader to know that your character’s ‘gritted teeth’ mean he’s trying not to say something.
How? Avoid spelling things out for your reader. Explanation slows the pace and many readers love a bit of detective work. Again, this comes down to ‘show, don’t tell’.
9) Rhythm
What? Long sentences are brilliant for descriptions, whereas short sentences are perfect for climatic scenes.
How? Just like in music, good writing will use both of these together to create a harmony, rather than a monosyllabic beat. Alternate between the two and make your writing sing.
10) An excellent editor
What? Most readers will never know the man-hours involved in creating a bestselling book, not only from the author, but from a whole team of editors, designers and promoters. If a book hasn’t seen the eye of a good editor though, it will be noticeable.
How? Most traditional publishing houses will supply an editor as part of your contract, and some authors benefit from speaking to an expert before they start submitting to agents, to make their book the best it can be. If you are self-publishing, editing is an essential part of the book writing process. Don’t skip it!
Of course, there are examples of books that have done well without these elements, but they are exceptions rather than the rule. Take time to understand your market, construct wonderful sentences and create real characters, and you’ll give your book the best chance of reaching the bestseller lists.
Sarah Juckes works with The Writer’s Workshop, one of the largest editorial consultancies in the UK, and Agent Hunter, a comprehensive online database of literary agents. For more information on how honest feedback can improve your writing, see The Writer’s Workshop advice pages.
Sarah Juckes (@WWonthebrink) shares 10 things you'll find in every bestselling book:
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Photo via Dustin Lee via VisualHunt
The post 10 Things You’ll Find in Every Bestselling Book appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
November 26, 2016
Twitterific Writing Links
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.
Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 39,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.
Creativity and Inspiration / Miscellaneous
For a More Creative Brain, Follow These 5 Steps @GoIntoTheStory
Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration
9 muses for indie authors @publishingtalk
Is Writing a Novel a “Someday” Dream for You? @aliventures
8 Reasons to Write Your Book Now @SukhiJutla
Mentor a Writer @FictionNotes
To Improve Creative Output, Go Inward @CreativeKatrina
5 Tips to Help You Fall in Love with Creating Again @emily_tjaden
How to Harvest Creative Writing Ideas from the News @WritingForward
Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers
Off the Rails @SignatureReads
7 Books That Explore the Boundaries of Language @SignatureReads
Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation
30 Minutes, 30 Days @aperfectsturm2
Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly
4 Qualities of Productive Writers @lornafaith
Want to finish your novel? Try talking to yourself @NathanBransford
10 Ways to Own NaNo (And the Other 11 Months, Too) @KristenLambTX
Creativity and Inspiration / Success
How Do You Sell 100 Million Copies of a Book? @joebunting
The Successful Author Mindset @thecreativepenn
Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life
Making Time to Blog or Write @kikolani
Author Eugene Mirabelli on the loss of his wife and ‘Renato After Alba’ @lithub
Forgive yourself @DanBlank
What it Takes to Be a Writer @Wordstrumpet
3 Ways to Keep Sugar from Killing Your Creative Mojo @colleen_m_story
8 Tips to Help You Thrive through the Holidays @wendypmiller
Living the Laptop Lifestyle @DeniseWakeman
Genres / Fantasy
Fantasy and Maps – Does Your Story Need One? @lauralzimm
What to research when writing fantasy @Brianna_daSilva
A Look at the 20 Key Scenes of a Fantasy Novel @CSLakin
Vampires: Origins, Evolution, and Role in Fantasy Fiction: by Leo Elijah Cristea
Genres / Horror
Horror and Swords and Sorcery @FletcherWasp
Genres / Memoir
How to Write Your Memoir @111publishing
Genres / Poetry
R Is for Rewriting @tspoetry
6 Steps to Writing the Polished Acrostic @tspoetry
Genres / Screenwriting
Screenwriting @GoIntoTheStory
Screenwriting @GoIntoTheStory
Promo / Miscellaneous
10 Ways to Breathe New Life into an Older Book @Bookgal
Just Say Yes @WriterUnboxed
3 Marketing Strategies Geared to Motivate People to Buy @KarenCV
Help Readers Find You with 12 Book Discovery Tools @WhereWritersWin
The Basics of Book Metadata and Keywords @carlaking
Promo / Ads
7 Ways to Target Readers Using BookBub Ads @DianaUrban
Promo / Blogging
Brainstorming blog posts @NinaAmir
Promo / Book Signings and Launch parties
How to Put on an Author Event @brandigranett
Promo / Newsletters
How to Automate Your Book Marketing @timgrahl
Promo / Social Media Tips
13 Social Media Rules that Every Author Needs to Know @NovelRocket
How to Automatically Reshare Your Social Media Updates Using Free Tools @SMExaminer
4 Easy Ways to Market Your Book @Bookgal
Create a Call to Action that Gets Results @EmilyWenstrom
How to Choose the Right Social Media Channels to Sell Books @cksyme
Is It Time for Authors to Stop Using Google+? @CaballoFrances
Promo / Websites
What does an author’s website need to succeed? @donnatalarico @TheWriterMag
Publishing / News / International Publishing
In Germany @pubperspectives
An agent on selling books written in a language he can’t read @pubperspectives
Intl. Publishers Assoc. Joins in Appeals for Condemned Mauritanian Blogger @Porter_Anderson
Closing the Gap Between Brazilian Literature and the World @pubperspectives
Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing
What Does It Mean to Be an ‘Indie’? Myths dispelled @WriterUnboxed
4 Things to do before Self Publishing Your Book @pattywrites
Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying
Publishing Interviews @LandRAgency
Publishing / Process / Legalities
Illustrating a book? Know your rights to protect your work @BetterNovelProj
Writing Craft / Miscellaneous
7 Tips to Become a Better Writer @ZoeMMcCarthy
Readers Have Goals Too @ZoeMMcCarthy
Writing Craft / Characters / Development
How to tell if you have too many characters @Brianna_daSilva
Finding Your Character’s Hook @AngelaAckerman
Beyond Good vs. Sucky @CockeyedCaravan
What Are Your Characters Thankful For? @Janice_Hardy
Writing Craft / Endings
How to Write Endings that “Wow” @KristenLambTX
Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film
Did We Come Across Town For This? Revisiting A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving @cloudy_vision
Writing Craft / Literary Devices
How to Write Similes That Shine @LHowardWrites
Hyperbole in Description @ZoeMMcCarthy
Writing Craft / POV
Backgrounding Your World Through Point of View @JulietteWade
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting
How To Plan Your Novel Using The Three-Act Structure @WritersEdit
Crafting a Killer Undercurrent for Your Story @SeptCFawkes
Revelation Turning Points: by Shawn Coyne
Elements of a Good Story @CockeyedCaravan
Building Stories @susan_bischoff
Story Structure for Screenwriters @CockeyedCaravan
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research
Write What You Don’t Know @mythicscribes
Beyond Google @KillerNashville
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Concept
Stop Killing Your Ideas @lornafaith
Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar
How to Punctuate Dialogue @MarcyKennedy
How to Punctuate and Format Inner Dialogue @ProWritingAid
3 Cases of Dangling Participles @writing_tips
Writing Craft / Revision
How Long Should Your Book Be? The Complete Guide @standoutbooks
30+ Words To Watch Out For As You Write @LizaWiemer
Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques
How to Digest a Tough Critique @Ava_Jae
How to Form a Critique Group @ceciliaedits
Writing Craft / Tension
Character Tension @YAtopia_blog
Mastering Stylistic Tension @SeptCFawkes
Writing Tools / Miscellaneous
Product Review @chris_shultz81
Hiveword 5 Year Retrospective of Services and Software for Writers @Hiveword
Uncategorized
Twitterific Writing Links – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig A weekly roundup of the best writing links …
8 Poets to Discuss Over the Thanksgiving Table @My_poetic_side
Audiobook Options for Indie Authors (and when it’s worth paying for production yourself) @GoblinWriter
The top writing links of the week are on Twitterific:
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The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
November 19, 2016
Twitterific Writing Links
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.
Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 39,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.
Hope all of my American readers have a Happy Thanksgiving this week! I’ll be taking the week off from posting in observance of the holiday, and will be back next Sunday.
Conferences and Events / NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo: When It Goes Wrong: https://t.co/0PBED304BJ @KhaosFoxe #wkb83
Creativity and Inspiration / Miscellaneous
5 Places to Stir Your Creative Senses: https://t.co/kjSobt9xPU @cathysbaker #wkb85
The Fantastic @ursulakleguin : https://t.co/nPyF9PwLTT @jcfphillips @NewYorker #wkb85
Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration
Five Storytelling Lessons From Hamilton’s America: https://t.co/oacR5PaYeL @ChuckWendig #wkb32
Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing
On Creating (Flexible) Schedules: https://t.co/ktSUUhay6G @Ava_Jae #wkb34
Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block
Dealing with a slump: https://t.co/7zSdoayNQ5 @DanBlank #wkb36
How to master the art of deliberate procrastination: https://t.co/AfUVAILWco @word_smiths #wkb36
Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly
5 NaNoWriMo Hacks To Keep Words Flowing: https://t.co/jVRbjSrBcS @AngelaAckerman #wkb39
Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life
5 Tips for Making the Most of a Writing Retreat: https://t.co/n3c8Tethdk @besscozby #wkb31
Top 8 Foods and Drinks for Writers: https://t.co/1vEWdjfvg9 @McgannKellie #wkb31
7 Benefits of Journal Writing: https://t.co/EpD427xbt9 @TheIWSG @LyndaRYoung #wkb31
Little Changes Can Make a Huge Difference: https://t.co/Y7VTPZBuOS @zen_habits #wkb31
5 Simple Mental Health Tips For Writers: https://t.co/5I86eXsia0 @Hannahclarke26 #wkb31
Dance lessons for writers from @ZadieSmith : https://t.co/glhuq7hVaM @GuardianBooks #wkb31
What If We Revised Some of the Memories That Hurt? https://t.co/5gKP9p1nZ6 @BrynDonovan #wkb31
Genres / Miscellaneous
What is Your Novel’s Genre? Is it YA, MG, New Adult, or Adult? https://t.co/ISO9tGUyA7 @Roz_Morris for @annerallen #wkb86
Genres / Fantasy
6 Ways Flight Changes a Fantasy Setting: https://t.co/mP6cOwevTL by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants #wkb43
10 Foundational Scenes of a Fantasy Novel: https://t.co/4axyDatmZO @CSLakin #wkb43
Genres / Historical
The Art of Historical Fiction: Making the Past Come Alive https://t.co/PExnPOIzSu @jchiaverini @SignatureReads #wkb52
Genres / Picture Books
5 Tips on Writing & Illustrating Children’s Books: https://t.co/vhERumI94o @inkyelbows #wkb4e
Genres / Romance
How to create romantic couples with chemistry: from 1000 Story Ideas https://t.co/YnJlgDdJPf #wkb45
Genres / Screenwriting
Writing Tricks That Work: Transcribe Screenplays: https://t.co/43OCGlJGqB @GoIntoTheStory #wkb48
A Conversation with the Screenwriter of ‘The Girl on the Train’: https://t.co/9jNDzjmAS4 by Tony Phillips @SignatureReads #wkb48
Promo / Miscellaneous
Six tips for selecting a book excerpt: https://t.co/57Z3BVLSNi @SusanLeighNoble #wkb87
5 Reasons Every Author Needs a Media Kit https://t.co/vcWd2IyRP9 @BuildYourBrandA #wkb87
How A Book Foreword Can Help An Author’s Career: https://t.co/WR6HUgplMl @jckunzjr #wkb87
4 Tips To Writing A Sell Sheet’s Calls-To-Action: https://t.co/lvVbaqKCLA @jckunzjr #wkb87
How Authors Can Network Effectively (Even If You Hate Networking): https://t.co/Hc1ltXnIeh @DeannaCabinian #wkb87
How to Use Reddit to Market Your Books (Carefully): https://t.co/tdTDrV8ieK @RicardoFayet @JaneFriedman #wkb87
Promo / Ads
5 Ways That Authors Can Use Facebook Advertising: https://t.co/46wTMrJseN @thecreativepenn #wkb6b
5 Facebook Advertising Features You Probably Didn’t Know Existed: https://t.co/SWnMfUIuet @dottimedia #wkb6b
Promo / Book Reviews
How to survive a scathing book review: https://t.co/CBIjgGLroD @DeannaCabinian #wkb73
How to Write Respectful Reviews: https://t.co/XSnjcO1BLu @RobinRWrites #wkb73
Promo / Book Signings and Launch parties
Tips for book launch parties: https://t.co/hJmQy2xVRe @mkinberg #wkb77
Promo / Newsletters
What’s Your Newsletter Plan? https://t.co/Cgiwk8odAv @JamiGold #wkb6d
Promo / Social Media Tips
How to Run Short-Term Social Media Campaigns: https://t.co/1ta9suwIjU @cksyme @JaneFriedman #wkb71
Instagram for Authors: Reach New Readers in Ten Minutes a Day: https://t.co/lzwhJRbGUN @StephScottYA #wkb71
7 Ways to Improve Your Search Rank With Social Media: https://t.co/VXMaGx1kiZ @ducttape #wkb71
Sick of Social Media? 10 Steps to Revive Your Enthusiasm: https://t.co/EqUmyoKWiF @CaballoFrances #wkb71
Promo / Websites
Author Website Redesign Case Study: @RachShane https://t.co/phm1B5Cvtc @DianaUrban #wkb6f
Publishing / Miscellaneous
How does a literary agency sell its authors? https://t.co/ocvAUGMgkB @andrewlownie #wkb88
7 Tips for an Irresistible Table of Contents: https://t.co/1nFnEwcUlU @KatyKauffman28 #wkb88
Audiobooks 101: a Beginner’s Look at the Process: https://t.co/Tvb0trev1U @anna_elliott @WriterUnboxed #wkb88
What to do about market saturation? https://t.co/p77mO9oFOx @Janet_Reid #wkb88
Publishing / News / International Publishing
Turkish Censorship; Amazon Awards Spanish-Language Fiction: https://t.co/CMe8CQ808F @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives #wkb64
Can a Computer Judge a Book By Its Cover? https://t.co/p60Q5DlKvH @DennisAbrams2 @pubperspectives #wkb64
Young Readers in China; Young Publishers in the US: https://t.co/74kcsBwhXF @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives #wkb64
The Amer. Libraries Assoc. on Adapting to the Times: https://t.co/whsMeFGL1C @rogertagholm @pubperspectives #wkb64
Denmark’s Bogforum Book Fair: Bringing Readers, Authors and Publishers Together: https://t.co/vRH6mGNPTK @MarieBilde #wkb64
Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing
5 Benefits of Self-Publishing Your Book: https://t.co/KZKbLc4Gu7 @lornafaith #wkb69
Publishing / Process / Author Assistants
Book Marketing with Virtual Assistants and Media Kits: https://t.co/37m1vssqVW @carlaking #wkb5d
Publishing / Process / Book Design
Tips for Formatting Your Book Cover: https://t.co/04vsF16i7O @WriteandCover #wkb58
Cover design tips: https://t.co/UA876eoqjd @tamrogers #wkb58
Publishing / Process / Legalities
What co-authors should know before tying the knot: https://t.co/5TiZJSmDUT @HelenSedwick #wkb5c
How to Properly Reference Quotes in Your Book: https://t.co/FNuxFTsKkH @shelleyhitz #wkb5c
Rights of Writers: Can I Use a Photograph of Scarlett Johansson on the Cover of My E-Book? https://t.co/dRRA61gTlB @RightsofWriters #wkb5c
Publishing / Process / Self-Publishing
Business Musings: The Curse of Early Adopters: https://t.co/4ltntO1P7l @KristineRusch #wkb5f
Taking The Next Step. Lessons Learned by @thecreativepenn from The Coast Masterclass 2016: https://t.co/AS8RT9OfeT #wkb5f
Own Your Author Business in 7 Steps: https://t.co/PpNAEZvb6B @carlaking #wkb5f
Publishing / Process / Translation
H.M. Naqvi on the Complexities of Translating Urdu: https://t.co/fbOvdwE8HE @DennisAbrams2 @pubperspectives #wkb5b
Writing Craft / Miscellaneous
5 Tips for Writing Vivid Descriptions: https://t.co/J2f4Pex7hs by George Clark @mythicscribes #wkb89
7 Steps to Write a Story Description: https://t.co/VvhG7z0RG1 @woodwardkaren #wkb89
Writing Basics: The Act Two Disaster: https://t.co/qf8Rl2XGDM @Janice_Hardy #wkb89
Using Questions to Engage Your Reader: https://t.co/6LamVZ42IF @MartinaABoone #wkb89
Writing Craft / Characters / Development
A Character Building Toolkit: https://t.co/sg115FciU5 @AngelaAckerman @verbaleyze #wkb1
Top 10 Things To Give Your Characters That Will Make Them More Vivid: https://t.co/6TN98D6nkp @10MinNovelists #wkb1
4 Reasons Your Characters Might Resist Being Written: https://t.co/FYiSm9YmkD @wendypmiller #wkb1
Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists
Writing An Unsympathetic Heroine: https://t.co/45BIA8x62u @julietgreenwood @WomenWriters #wkb4
Save That Cat! The Easy Secret To Introducing A Hero: https://t.co/yJj5ZiZaAN @standoutbooks #wkb4
Writing Craft / Common Mistakes
What Is “Head-Hopping” In Writing, and Why Shouldn’t You Do It? https://t.co/2aJtfgtVDJ @BrynDonovan #wkb11
Are Filter Words Weakening Your Story? https://t.co/81SR4riu1a #wkb11
Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film
Writing and the Creative Life: John Cleese on Boundaries of Space, Boundaries of Time: https://t.co/mOeM8YzVpb @GoIntoTheStory #wkb14
3 Lessons ‘Supernatural’ Taught me about Writing Authentic Characters: https://t.co/hh1tHTD2RK @JoEberhardt #wkb14
Writing Craft / Literary Devices
The Search for Home in American Fiction: https://t.co/KICBFdirhr @SarahDomet @lithub #wkb2d
Writing Craft / POV
#EditTip: Picking a Point of View: https://t.co/65CgqlaU1a @JeriWB #wkb10
Taming POV: Think Camera Placement: https://t.co/u3zuEUGaA7 @JohnGilstrap #wkb10
3rd Person Omniscient vs 3rd Person Limited: https://t.co/PM68569495 @ReedsyHQ @KristenStieffel and Rebecca Heyman #wkb10
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting
Plot Doctoring: 9 Steps to Build a Strong Plot: https://t.co/wVKcBx4Nak @Creativindie #wkb20
Why Your Stories Need to be Filled with Secrets: https://t.co/XTafe68W8R @SeanPlatt #wkb20
A 10-Step Guide to Plotting a Practice Novel: https://t.co/DF430LB2kP @Janice_Hardy @WriterUnboxed #wkb20
Dehumanization in Fiction: https://t.co/V8uJfbTDNL @ThereseWalsh #wkb20
Building a Believable Chain of Events in Your Novel: https://t.co/2uWMhlJQjD @readstevenjames for @JaneFriedman #wkb20
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Concept
5 Ways to Brainstorm Story Ideas: https://t.co/6pyOqEatON @tonya_writes #wkb1e
Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar
Canceled or Cancelled? https://t.co/Tt8DYcSzEQ @GrammarGirl #wkbd
Writing Craft / Revision
On editing published books: https://t.co/MTRI6uguO9 @JamiGold #wkbb
Planning Your Edit Like a Pro: https://t.co/G5WraB82oW @Rachel_Aaron #wkbb
11 Ways To Rescue A Failed Story: https://t.co/57yPOTJXU6 @Yeomanis #wkbb
List of the Best Book Editors and How to Select Them: https://t.co/ZJkfeCEgrr @DaveChesson #wkbb
Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques
The Challenge of Story Revision Requests: https://t.co/6MlgTLfC3J @jamietr #wkb2b
Writing Craft / Scenes / Conflict
Understanding Goal, Motivation, and Conflict: GOAL: https://t.co/h8mrXUG6yP @MarcyKennedy #wkb7
Writing Craft / Tension
7 Ways to Use Consequences in Stories: https://t.co/VALSqukuFV by David Mesick @mythcreants #wkb18
Readers Thrive on Tension So Make It Worse: https://t.co/iTBW4vGTWh @ZoeMMcCarthy #wkb18
Writing Craft / Voice
4 Ways To Develop Your Non-Fiction Voice: https://t.co/lbROUjtnwy by Keith Rawson @LitReactor #wkbe
The Perils of Author Voice: https://t.co/WjhdoUYjUC @jamesscottbell #wkbe
Writing Tools / Miscellaneous
Mike Fleming of @Hiveword unveils new feature for the WKB search engine for writers: https://t.co/phwXFPqBvI #wkb8a
Writing Tools / Services for Writers
Service Spotlight: Instafreebie as Lead Generator: https://t.co/o61YhcBg80 @AngelaQuarles #wkb82
Uncategorized
Find out the latest in social media and promo strategies with this post by @CaballoFrances : https://t.co/RQuifQcSNK
Twitterific Writing Links – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig A weekly roundup of the best writing links … https://t.co/t4l6HkGlyO
More functionality for my tweets and the https://t.co/tjn3OfwnLH : https://t.co/divd5K0Eeb
From @Hiveword , the creator of the writers’ search engine https://t.co/FvvUyBW1nL https://t.co/yttzLGught
5 Ideas To Keep In Mind Writing A First Draft: https://t.co/gtkZRj3Mlt @Mad_Hat_Writer
Updates – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig Here’s an update on promo approaches, platforms, etc. that … https://t.co/FxTiDJkya5
[bctt tweet=”The top writing links of the week are on Twitterific: ” username=”elizabethscraig”
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November 17, 2016
Updates
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Here’s an update on promo approaches, platforms, etc. that I’ve been working with. Not only does this type of post help me assess what’s working, hopefully you might be able to find something here to experiment with, yourself.
ACX: This remains an important platform for me (audiobook). I think I’m just lucky to have gotten an excellent narrator there, Judy Blue. I was at an event in western North Carolina in late-summer and a lady came up to tell me how much she enjoyed Judy’s voice acting. It really helped me realize how widespread audiobook listening is and how readers rely on it as a way to enjoy books. I know many authors have seen a drop-off in royalties because of royalty restructuring there. I have too, but I have so many books on the platform that it’s still a nice source of income for me.
MailChimp: Many more subscribers. Some is due to participating in group contests, some due to the freebie for signup that I offer. I’ve also done a better job updating my back matter in older books to mention my newsletter.
Speaking of updating books, I recently updated a slew of books for back-matter and for random typos. I’ve found it’s just easiest to correct a Word doc, upload it to Draft2Digital, check the mobi and epub versions, download the PDF, and then upload it to Amazon and CreateSpace (letting D2D distribute everywhere else).
Distribution: I’m leaning more heavily on Draft2Digital as opposed to Smashwords these days, mostly because I find the process and interface both streamlined and easier at Draft2Digital. And, if I run into a problem at D2D, I have quicker, better support.
Wattpad: I’m continuing publishing serially (these are books that have already been published…I’m not writing serially, I’m just publishing serially) on this platform. I can look at the map of my readers and see that I’m growing an international audience and reaching a more youthful audience. I took a break over the summer and had quite a few readers there ask me when I was going to upload another story. Since I have an unusual series for the site (an octogenarian protagonist where many Wattpad users are under the age of 18), this was another encouraging sign.
Print: Again, a nice source of income. I use both CreateSpace (US print sales) and Ingram (international). For my last reporting period, I actually made a great deal more from Ingram than CreateSpace. This may be related to the fact that now my print books are less expensive to obtain (Ingram has international printers). I’ll be interested to see if that continues.
ISBNs: I just bought 100 more. I do need them for Ingram and I’m just too old-fashioned, besides, not to get them.
Booktrack: I’ve got my cozy zombie book on Booktrack–a platform that matches a music track with the story, keeping pace with where the reader is on the page. Up-tempo for exciting parts, sound effects, etc. I haven’t seen a lot of sales here, but I feel like it’s important to make my book available on platforms where someone may discover it. It’s also available in a different audio format: read by narrator Julia Farmer.
Library Self-e (and Indie Author Day): I love having my books available in libraries. For me, discoverability is incredibly important and having readers discover them in libraries means they may try to buy others. The connection between Self-e and local libraries is also a good way for authors to be known locally–I enjoyed the Indie Author Day event put on by an area library.
Patreon: I finally set up a profile with Patreon (a crowd-funding platform), after reading this post by John G. Hartness on his success there. So far I haven’t gotten any traction there, but there was some sort of glitch with the site (I know, not very encouraging) and my entire profile and even my login disappeared. It popped up again after I opened a ticket with their support. I have linked to it on Wattpad and in my back matter for books I’ve updated and upcoming books. As I write this post, I can’t find my profile there by searching for it, although the link now takes me directly to it. Odd. May need to open up another ticket there.
LinkedIn SlideShare: I decided to repurpose some of my powerpoint presentations by putting them up on LinkedIn’s SlideShare, which is their presentation channel. This ties in with another thing I’ve set up recently: my speaker page.
Speaker page: It’s generally recommended that authors who are interested in getting more speaking engagements need to indicate on their website that they are available and interested in speaking. :) I was slow to do this, but I’ve gone ahead and set up a special page on my site. Nothing fancy. I also listed my speaking in my LinkedIn summary, as I’ve read it’s important to do. We’ll see how it goes.
This is all I’ve got right now. Actually, looking at my list, it sort of makes me feel tired! Just know that these are things I research and set up a very little bit at a time.
What have you been experimenting with lately? Any tips for us?
Updates on promo and platform experiments for writers:
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Photo credit: ai3310X via Visualhunt.com / CC BY
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November 13, 2016
The Tell-tale Tweet
by Mike Fleming, @Hiveword
Ah, mysteries. Who doesn’t love a good one?
Elizabeth does.
Have you noticed the mysterious codes in her recent tweets? This one, for example:
How to create romantic couples with chemistry: from 1000 Story Ideas https://t.co/YnJlgDdJPf #wkb45
— Elizabeth S Craig (@elizabethscraig) November 13, 2016
Or this one:
Plot Doctoring: 9 Steps to Build a Strong Plot: https://t.co/wVKcBx4Nak @Creativindie #wkb20
— Elizabeth S Craig (@elizabethscraig) November 12, 2016
Whatever could they be?
But first, some backstory. I know, I know. I hear the groans, but I’d like to bring everyone up to speed on the Writer’s Knowledge Base (WKB) because it’s key to the codes. Plus, it builds anticipation!
First of all, I’m Mike Fleming, developer of the Writer’s Knowledge Base which is a search engine for writers. As you know, Elizabeth tweets links to great articles on writing a dozen times or so every day. You probably also know that she blogs a list of all the tweets for that week on Sundays. What you may not know is that those same tweets (and links) feed the WKB so that you can easily find articles on, say, characters or plotting. Think Google for Writers. It’s pretty cool if I do say so myself. You can read about the WKB birth story here.
Now, the WKB will be six in January. I’m not sure where the time goes but for most of those years I’ve wanted the WKB to categorize the articles. I would have done that with machine learning algorithms for automatic classification. It would be fun to develop but it would also be complex and, frankly, even with nearly 40,000 articles in the WKB it might not be enough to train the algorithm properly.
At this point we’ll pause a second because your eyes are starting to glaze over from the technobabble…
OK, now that you’re back I can tell you about the codes. Finally.
Epiphany. What a wonderful word. I had one recently that would solve the categorization problem in a low tech way. Now, so far in this post we have a mystery, some backstory, foreshadowing detail, and a bit of suspense. What are we missing? Dialogue!
“Elizabeth, it would be awesome if we could categorize the articles,” I said. “We’ll just come up with some categories, give them a code, and then use that code as a hashtag in the tweet.”
“Groovy!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
We call this dialogue “poetic license,” folks. ;-)
Elizabeth has been curating articles on writing for many years and came up with a thorough set of categories. You can see that #wkb2f, for example, is the code for “Writing Craft / Plot Holes” but there are a ton of others.
So, from here on out, most of Elizabeth’s tweets will have the category codes. What does this mean for you?
It means you’ll be able to:
See a tweet and find more like it by searching Twitter for the WKB hashtag code
See all of the categorized tweets for the week on Elizabeth’s blog on Sundays
Peruse all categorized articles on the WKB site
Receive daily or weekly emails on articles matching categories you choose
#1 and #2 are fairly straightforward. For #2, Elizabeth mentioned that many folks have asked for categorization so now they’ll get their wish. Also, #1 and #2 are ready now and you’ll see the categorized tweets on Elizabeth’s blog starting this Sunday.
#3 and #4 are not ready yet but will be very cool in my opinion.
For #3, the WKB will now be a combination of search engine and a directory of articles on writing. The categories can also be used to inform the search engine by giving the results a boost based on the category. That’s tech-talk for “the search engine results should get a little better because of the categories.”
#4 delivers categorized articles right to your inbox. Via the WKB site you’ll be able to specify categories of interest and a delivery schedule such as daily or weekly. The email will contain the new articles for those categories. How cool is that?
It’s also possible that the semi-defunct WKB newsletter could be revitalized by delivering all of the categorized articles each week. This, however, would be a duplication of Elizabeth’s Sunday blog post but it shows up in your inbox, instead. The choice is yours.
With the climax and denouement out of the way it’s time for a nice epilogue. Here it is:
You can start enjoying the categorized articles today on Twitter search. Starting Sunday you’ll have weekly blog posts of all the categorized articles. If you are interested in keeping abreast of the improvements to the WKB you can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or my blog.
Thanks for reading and thanks to Elizabeth for giving Mike the mic for telling you about categories!
Now it’s your turn: Do you find this capability useful? Can you think of other cool ways to leverage the categorized articles?
About the author:
Mike Fleming runs Hiveword which is a suite of online writing tools. The flagship product, Hiveword, is a free novel organizer. Integrated within Hiveword is the Writer’s Knowledge Base and Knockout Novel which is a paid add-on from acclaimed writing coach James Scott Bell.
Mike Fleming of @Hiveword unveils new feature for the WKB search engine for writers:
Click To Tweet
Photo credit: marlenedd via Visual Hunt / CC BY
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November 12, 2016
Twitterific Writing Links
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.
Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 39,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.
How to Write When Life Turns Upside Down: https://t.co/KHkZDDazQW @RuthanneReid
On Making Comic Books For the Blind: https://t.co/EbRqGh9a6L @ingredient_x @lithub
How to Write a Novel in Six Months: https://t.co/Wk2SZ4m2S8 @monicamclark
Tips for tightening up our writing: https://t.co/1aoeOy0AwR @inkylinks
Promoting a Sequel in a Book’s Back Matter: https://t.co/qoPRHywEi4 @DianaUrban @BookBub
Finding your Voice as a Horror Writer: https://t.co/DJTB8SPJfV @parttimescribe
Master Outlining and Tracking Tool for Novels: https://t.co/G6ofc9Hfof by Iulian Ionescu @FantasyScroll
Should Published Stories Be Set in Stone? https://t.co/XQvBIlyKOC @JamiGold
The importance of keeping our website updated for 2017: https://t.co/EqZT5hcjTR @AnneKnol1
An Evernote Guide for Writers: 5 Ways to Use it for All Your Projects: https://t.co/JPD6B5pz2E @jkwak
Creating Single-Author Box Sets: https://t.co/6OEabKeM9N @MarcyKennedy
7 Point Story Structure [Resources]: https://t.co/C6ulTzT6EH @HunterEmkay
10 Easy Jokes for Your Dialogue: https://t.co/morEO99ftT by Chris Winkle @mythcreants
Hadbawnik on Translating Virgil: ‘An Exercise in Failure’ https://t.co/FHnN9Yh60B @vestigiaflammae @DennisAbrams2
10 Questions To Ask Yourself About Your Author Ethics: https://t.co/FyNMasQSlx @10MinNovelists
Problem Solve POV with Color: https://t.co/UuHvsnYC6b @NeelyKneely3628
How to Prepare for Author Appearances: https://t.co/RkoApjHfjs @WhereWritersWin
Why Being (a Little) Selfish Might Be the Best Thing for Your Writing: https://t.co/mQC3KixB3N @aliventures
Storyteller’s Rulebook: Tone Deafness is Consistently Funny: https://t.co/op9jygRYfm @CockeyedCaravan
A Simple Outline for Writing a Killer Book Blurb: https://t.co/1EE2EV2kQ9 @ink_and_quills
Twitterific Writing Links – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig A weekly roundup of the best writing links … https://t.co/4KhqcfHXni
Surviving Writing Slumps: https://t.co/aIbCftZsR1 by Elethwyn
How to Write about Something You Know Nothing About: https://t.co/Xra14l7XBH @marthamconway @WomenWriters
7 Types of Writing Days: https://t.co/HJtsO8QcNS @NatePhilbrick
The Benefits of Free-Writing For Authors: https://t.co/HpjpEtnKgt @SukhiJutla
Now is the Time to Promote Your Amazon Affiliate Links Extra Hard: https://t.co/vNdXb2E4ex @nickdaws
6 Tips to Optimize Your Facebook Page: https://t.co/GcFZ8Rpp42 @Ben_CoSchedule
The Importance of Fiction: https://t.co/A5kAseodHR @KristineRusch
Making a Familiar Premise Fresh: https://t.co/QznGq5fCB0 @Kid_Lit
Tips on balancing pace with reader inclusion in a scene: https://t.co/hyp6calFi2
Sex, Drugs, and Bestsellers: The Legend of the Literary Brat Pack: https://t.co/S0rqcUmofZ @harpersbazaarus @imjasondiamond
50 YA Horror Novels: https://t.co/YDQRi97TUn https://t.co/7dQCloWrci and https://t.co/AZxujM5iEr @jimbomcleod
Writing Advice Examined: Should You Write What You Love To Read? https://t.co/hbgi9iP56z @StephMorrill @GoTeenWriters
3 Tricks to Build Suspense and Engage Your Readers: https://t.co/zznE0aqMQr @jeffelk
Beating writer’s block: https://t.co/6hioHrCIZx @janetlaneauthor @RMFWriters
“Why I Decided to Stop Writing About My Children” : https://t.co/MwbSv8GEq5 @ElizabethBastos @nytimesbooks
10 Things We Can Learn About Writing from ‘You’re the Worst’: https://t.co/pYtxvWOxNw @GiveMeYourTeeth
Thinking in Sequences: https://t.co/8lYOzNwdU2 by Shawn Coyne
Pitch your book to holiday gift guides: https://t.co/prAGsxPue1 @sandrabeckwith
Why you need cover blurbs: https://t.co/DwqrUVmmDX @sandrabeckwith
4 Pinterest Tips to Reach a Local Audience: https://t.co/C1t8iwFUfJ @SMExaminer @ana_gotter
How Marketing Improves Writing: https://t.co/KbtTxh6Mhc @Lindasclare
3 Ways to Hook Readers at the End of a Chapter: https://t.co/p5GPw5jemz by Janine Mendenhall @NovelRocket
Dreaming of a Writing Career: 6 Things New Writers Can do NOW: https://t.co/FEXVBIXYu7 @annerallen
So you want to write a comic book? https://t.co/Y6yfmTAVD2 @rgluckst @ReedsyHQ
A different approach to book promotion: https://t.co/U2zkfslTHs @NinaAmir
5 Cases of Erroneous Usage: https://t.co/Ougvdzynxo @writing_tips
5 Signs You Need to Shake Up Your Writing Routine: https://t.co/JARY4tbNS4 @colleen_m_story
On Balance vs. Burn-Out: https://t.co/wGsduBtvzB By Bonnie Randall
How to Use Data Science To Create And Sell More Books: https://t.co/rRQumpTenH @ScholarlyFox @thecreativepenn #wkb63
Slang, Jargon, Insider Lingo: 11 Ways to Make Dialogue Authentic: https://t.co/mJBQZJWTth @RuthHarrisBooks #wkb29
Finding Your Way Into Your Story: https://t.co/n1uf8I5Ldn @beccapuglisi #wkb8
Visual Marketing and 12 Image Creation Tools: https://t.co/yd4GKZ0sGU @CaballoFrances #wkb74
Writing a Series: How Much Do We Need to Plan Ahead? https://t.co/rVp9ZKirEU @JamiGold #wkb15
Writing Sad Scenes: Why to Avoid Tears: https://t.co/SlPxZzn8Pl @ryancaseybooks #wkb27
7 Tips for Avoiding Book Marketing Trends That No Longer Work: https://t.co/Shl07L5dFB @Bookgal #wkb71
7 Remedies For Writer’s Apathy: https://t.co/JtkMxwnapx @_GinnyCarter @BookBaby #wkb36
3 Tips to Help Increase Writing Output: https://t.co/KTkRaCU5Vt @JodyHedlund #wkb39
3 Pillars of an Author Platform: https://t.co/LVGlQVWZWT @pronoun
How to Write a Book Trailer: https://t.co/oeLyTSvqik and https://t.co/unUmgtD9rf @ineswrites @pronoun
The Importance of Being Scared: on Fairy Tales and the Necessity of Fear: https://t.co/8bHCXuKbha @brainpicker #wkb27
Denmark’s New Palatium: Curating Indie Books for Subscriptions: https://t.co/WOnugSZmlj @Porter_Anderson #wkb64
You’ve Written it, now Own it: Understanding your Author role: https://t.co/EC9IHk4JeB @jayartale @yenooi @IndieAuthorALLI #wkb30
What’s New with Box Sets? https://t.co/CtSInrbIKH @ChrisMarieGreen @pronoun #wkb6e
A genre glossary: https://t.co/gvg5bSrX7G @literaticat
Don’t plot, just play ‘Fortunately-Unfortunately’: https://t.co/BEn9zvhlMM @emma_darwin #wkb20
How to Deal with People’s Expectations when You Write a Book: https://t.co/dBYWJwudoW @lornafaith
Genre Fiction Rules: https://t.co/h8M48D9TBb @WritersRelief
Raising the story stakes to help readers connect with characters: https://t.co/mhx9WcjpP8 @MichaelMammay #wkb18
On Writing: Go for the Long Vision: https://t.co/ddChqZTG0w @patricegopo #wkb3c
Idioms: Literary Shorthand: https://t.co/BinNNXqz5e @yanquiwoman #wkb2d
Working With Feedback On Your Writing: https://t.co/mJXhRW9WQq @andrewwille #wkb2b
Coping strategies as an element in crime fiction: https://t.co/ANQcVEpUFp @mkinberg
Why characters should change in every scene: https://t.co/Vp5KftM9mL @MichaelMammay #wkb2
On internal narrators: https://t.co/H6NDYLCazf @emma_darwin #wkb11
Poland’s Legimi Expands Its Subscription Service to Germany: https://t.co/IzNHl7Fass @jaroslawadamows @pubperspectives @malaczynski #wkb64
How To Use Twitter Cards & Twitter Ads To Boost Your Indie Author Business: https://t.co/MoG4XSaE7m @StonehamPress @IndieAuthorALLI #wkb71
Spotlight on War Poets: https://t.co/u6JF71IWiH @My_poetic_side #wkb47
How to Choose Your Virtual Assistant: https://t.co/jMF0goHaJX @EricaJMonroe @pronoun #wkb5d
Psychic Distance: what it is and how to use it: https://t.co/KD0FucX0Vm @emma_darwin #wkb2d
Tips for updating a Facebook Page: https://t.co/wwBqpJdP00
The Publisher Who Rejected Jane Austen: https://t.co/Bd1D3Mtf8l @ShelleyDeWees @lithub #wkb67
12 Books to Read in Your 20s: https://t.co/7K49MaMK5D @nytimesbooks #wkb3b
The Lost Virtue of Cursive: https://t.co/sgs0srvUFt @markopp1 @NewYorker #wkb31
The Gone Girl With The Dragon Tattoo On The Train: https://t.co/smp7RGktJY by Emily St John Mandel @FiveThirtyEight #wkb3c
4 Ways to Use Experience to Fuel Your Writing: https://t.co/PyjZ8VqOUd @Candacerobin #wkb32
A Punny Calendar Reimagines Authors As Animals for 2017: https://t.co/xYVP5pWjn8 @gayonabudget @bustle #wkb31
Copyright Rules for Settings: https://t.co/DWnrcAbiVH @SusanSpann @RMFWriters #wkb5c
15 Tips to Boost Facebook Engagement for Indie Authors: https://t.co/gugM2NlwzF @CaballoFrances #wkb71
5 Things Learned About a Writing Career While Running A Half-Marathon: https://t.co/IRbK7UOa2S @TeeMonster @ChuckWendig #wkb32
Rwanda’s Huza Press Founder on the Challenges of Her Market: https://t.co/cxYn4jgoTS @SharonW97 @louiseumutoni @DennisAbrams2 #wkb64
Tax Matters for Indie Authors: https://t.co/WIUmhSWnBl @kareninglis @IndieAuthorALLI #wkb88
Tips for a Great Book Description: https://t.co/ivLh8a5OAX @pronoun #wkb87
Can Social Media Really Sell Your Books? https://t.co/VnZsRbSbP4 @CaballoFrances @JFbookman #wkb71
Planning Your Edit Like a Pro: https://t.co/G5WraB82oW @Rachel_Aaron #wkbb
5 Tips for Avoiding Convenience and Coincidence: https://t.co/A8Vp1KppSS @ceciliaedits #wkb11
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November 10, 2016
Updating a Facebook Page
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I don’t spend the time on Facebook that I probably should (it’s never been my favorite platform). But I understand the importance of Facebook to my overall social media presence. I know it’s where my readers are and I hear from them regularly there. I want to make sure that I’m available on the platform so that I can easily connect with my readers.
I realized last week that I really needed to perform some sort of Facebook page tune-up. Sure enough, I found lots of things that needed to be updated or tweaked.
Ideas for areas to address on your own page:
First of all, it’s always a good idea to check your security settings and basic profile information. I discovered that, in my contact section, Facebook had once again in all its wisdom decided to display my cell phone number. I removed it.
How is your bio? Is your newsletter signup mentioned there? A link to your book page?
You have the ability on your Facebook page to add a call-to-action button. For authors, one of the best options may be the ‘shop now’ button (the newsletter signup button would also be a valuable option). I link mine to my website’s book page, which links to all three series and each book at each retailer. That way anyone can find my books at any retailer or on any reading platform.
A couple of other things are worthwhile to consider. One is adding milestones to your Facebook page. A milestone, when read in order, reads as a story on your Facebook page. You can add a milestone (and back-date it) to your Facebook page by going to your timeline and clicking ‘offer, event +’ and then clicking ‘milestone.’
There are probably plenty of ways we could implement milestones. I chose to go very simply with it–I only correlated milestones with the releases of each book of each series. You could do release dates, conferences, panels, great reviews: anything that helps you put across your brand and story best.
There is also an area where you can add videos. I do have a couple of videos of me talking about mystery reading and writing (one that I uploaded to my Amazon Central page and one I was asked to create for an event that I wasn’t able to attend in person), so I did upload those to my Facebook page.
Unfortunately, checking the ‘do not show on my newsfeed’ box doesn’t mean your followers won’t get notified about your milestones or videos. So, just a heads-up…if you update everything at once (as I did), you might be unintentionally spamming your followers on Facebook.
Another important thing to check is newsletter signup integration. If you use a service like MailChimp (free for up to 2,000 subscribers), have you connected your MailChimp account to your Facebook account? Readers can then sign up for our newsletter from our Facebook page. I went into that process a little more in depth in this post.
Have you done a Facebook page tune-up lately? How do you use your Facebook page to connect with readers?
Checklist of Updates and Tweaks for Your Facebook Page:
Click To Tweet
Photo via Visual Hunt
The post Updating a Facebook Page appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
November 6, 2016
Balancing Pace with Reader Inclusion
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Sometimes in my stories, I want to pick up the pace, especially to move the mystery along. I’ll quickly move through a scene, summing up something that’s happening–a party, a walk that several friends are taking, a picnic–to get to what I think of as ‘the important part’…whatever that might be at the time.
One of my editors at Penguin would frequently type notes in Track Changes at these spots: “Could you expand on this scene and let the reader see this happening? I think they’d enjoy being part of it.”
The truth is that showing takes time. It takes time to write and read. But my editor was right: there are parts that I shouldn’t rush through as a writer, even when I feel the pace of the narrative needs to pick up.
For a while, I just gave completely in. Let’s say we’ve got a carnival going on as a good set-up for our protagonist to be able to casually speak to another character in the story (this character supplies information of some sort for our protagonist).
If I’d originally felt like the story were dragging a little, I might have said something like:
The carnival was fun and exhausting at the same time. The bright lights, the barkers’ calls, the heavy food combined to make John ready to head home. Although he wouldn’t have wanted to miss the highlight of the evening: when he beat his best friend at the strongman game.
John was finally making his way toward his car when he was surprised by a bitter voice behind him.
That sort of wraps up the carnival in a couple of sentences before moving into a dialogue with a catalyst character.
This is a good example of a spot where my editor might have asked me to elaborate and bring the reader into the carnival. Before, I might have done that by writing a page or more as to what John and his best friend did and saw, did, and ate at the carnival. To make sure this wasn’t skimmed by the reader, I’d have provided some character development along the way, or maybe developed a subplot at the same time.
Now I’d (usually) handle it a different way. I still want to move the mystery along. But I’d want to let the reader experience the carnival, too. It would go more like this:
The carnival was fun and exhausting at the same time. The bright lights, the barkers’ calls, the heavy food combined to make John ready to head home.
“You look worn out,” said Peter.
“I think I’m ready to call it a day.” John patted his pockets to find his car keys.
“Which is fine, but not until we play the High Striker. You know, the strongman game.”
John sighed, shoving his keys back in his pocket. “Even though I was just saying I was tired?”
“The perfect time for me to win!”
Another few quick lines could be added to show John winning the game and heading back out.
By interspersing dialogue and exposition, readers can get an inside look at the action surrounding the protagonist and feel part of the scene, while I move things along. It took me a while to learn to balance these elements.
How cognizant are you of pace in your story? Any other tricks to edit for pace?
Tips on balancing pace with reader inclusion in a scene:
Click To Tweet
Photo credit: B Gilmour. via Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-ND
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November 5, 2016
Twitterific Writing Links
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.
Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 35,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.
Nail That First Line: http://ow.ly/yein305satR @PBRWriter
3 Tips for Collecting a Wealth of Humorous Material: http://ow.ly/guy0305sbCD @JeanWilund
How to Write When Life Turns Upside Down: http://ow.ly/Mh6O305vAHG @RuthanneReid
On Making Comic Books For the Blind: http://ow.ly/rxFL305N5dF @ingredient_x @lithub
How to Write a Novel in Six Months: http://ow.ly/It4w305vACG @monicamclark
Tips for tightening up our writing: http://ow.ly/vvXX305vBrE @inkylinks
Promoting a Sequel in a Book’s Back Matter: http://ow.ly/NQzX305vAqz @DianaUrban @BookBub
Finding your Voice as a Horror Writer: http://ow.ly/Yeof305vBa2 @parttimescribe
Master Outlining and Tracking Tool for Novels: http://ow.ly/EvSu305vAN9 by Iulian Ionescu @FantasyScroll
Should Published Stories Be Set in Stone? http://ow.ly/x5mC305vAnS @JamiGold
The importance of keeping our website updated for 2017: http://ow.ly/CpVg305vBjv @AnneKnol1
An Evernote Guide for Writers: 5 Ways to Use it for All Your Projects: http://ow.ly/cwIR305vAAi @jkwak
Creating Single-Author Box Sets: http://ow.ly/Mqrx305vAkQ @MarcyKennedy
7 Point Story Structure [Resources]: http://ow.ly/5qvl305eumF @HunterEmkay
10 Easy Jokes for Your Dialogue: http://ow.ly/ObVP305euwJ by Chris Winkle @mythcreants
10 Tips for Writing Through Family Stress: http://ow.ly/1KPg305xTxj @bclaypolewhite
Hadbawnik on Translating Virgil: ‘An Exercise in Failure’ http://ow.ly/PaGI305LZZJ @vestigiaflammae @DennisAbrams2
10 Questions To Ask Yourself About Your Author Ethics: http://ow.ly/GRx0305xTCV @10MinNovelists
Problem Solve POV with Color: http://ow.ly/cfTm305xTAi @NeelyKneely3628
The Secret to Writing Dynamic Characters: It’s Always Their Fault: http://ow.ly/8ESJ305sahV @KMWeiland
5 Ways to Stay Motivated in Your Writing Journey: http://ow.ly/Lczh305samg @WritersRumpus @amycourage7
Author @VivWrites on the importance of your first sentence: http://ow.ly/FjrJ305QqzE
Character Motivation Thesaurus Entry: Having a Child: http://ow.ly/7Elq305sb54 @beccapuglisi
Sharjah Book Fair’s Professional Program: Business in the Arab World http://ow.ly/rNgX305LZRa @Porter_Anderson @mtamblyn
Connecting with an audience means sharing your voice: http://ow.ly/9dIT305sazE @DanBlank
Perks and Pitfalls of Twitter Pitches: http://ow.ly/LsGh305sac0 @jeribaird11
5 Apps to Help You Revise Your Manuscript: http://ow.ly/DCeO305saRq @WhynottEdit
10 Steps to Nail Your Story: http://ow.ly/8zeE305sbaF @diannmills
3 Problems with Suspensive Hyphenation: http://ow.ly/Kpyq305sa9v @writing_tips
3 Steps to Engaging Your Readers By Making Your Characters Vulnerable: http://ow.ly/CKeq305saKR @AngelaAckerman
What Makes Fantasy Epic? http://ow.ly/Sxbg305sagV @JillWilliamson
Why Writers Should Schedule Distractions: http://ow.ly/KipX305saTS @RosanneBane
On Writing the YA Voice: http://ow.ly/1ktp305saIN @Ava_Jae
“Help! My book isn’t selling!” 9 Things to Consider Before Giving Up: http://ow.ly/IiyP305rBUt @Bookgal
5 Easy Steps To Make Readers Laugh Using The Absurd: http://ow.ly/hXbi305sbgJ @JeanWilund
How to Write Better Headlines for Facebook, Twitter and Search: http://ow.ly/4BuM305r4Hs @Ashread_ @buffer
Ultimate list of Best #Author Tools: http://bit.ly/2dBybJY @BirdsOAFpress @IndieAuthorALLI
The UAE Exempts Books From VAT, Gives Workers Reading Time: http://ow.ly/nI6f305LZuG @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives @JoseBorghino
17 Questions for Writers to Ask Themselves While Reading: http://ow.ly/gKq5305rC0l @Writers_Write
How A Sacred Work Space Will Help You Write and Live Better: http://ow.ly/Yuil305rBSW @katekrake
5 Books That Make You Wish You Had Magic: http://ow.ly/PFQk305rBNi @sarahbethdurst @tordotcom
Creating Your Villain’s Journey: http://ow.ly/ZBOC305rC95 by Chris Winkle @mythcreants
Real Life Diagnostics: Where to Put Your Dialogue Tags: http://ow.ly/Mptn305sbtt @Janice_Hardy
5 Essential Questions to Ask Yourself Before Hiring a Book Editor: http://ow.ly/ZoCa305rBLJ @ValBreitEditor
What Ann Patchett Can Teach Us About Giving Away Your Story: http://ow.ly/bU4e305rBXo @jennienash
5 Ways to Hang Onto Motivation: http://ow.ly/tM6p305rBPn @KateMColby
Giving Characters Too Little Information: http://ow.ly/vV30305oDWd @Kid_Lit
The Hot Sheet: industry newsletter for authors (30 day free trial): from @Porter_Anderson & @JaneFriedman: http://ow.ly/xy3W305MCqs
5 Sci-Fi Books That Make Use of Music: http://ow.ly/vWrt305mrqi by Christopher Priest @tordotcom
Children’s Book Summit: @Nielsen on Kids, Their Trends, and Their Parents: http://ow.ly/jY90305LZjb @Porter_Anderson @NIELKristen
The Best of Genre + The Best of Literary Fiction = Awesome: http://ow.ly/8O6r305lSmZ @Benjamin_Percy @lithub
Rejections: Serenity, Courage, and Wisdom: http://ow.ly/y64s305LOyi @ChrysFey @TheIWSG
Hermione Granger: More Than a Sidekick: http://ow.ly/IvYS305oEdx @gaileyfrey
The Importance of Genre Specific: http://ow.ly/fzaF305oDD5 @oosuzieq
John Green on Mental Illness and Creativity: http://ow.ly/Jnwb305oDGl @johngreen
How to Broadcast With YouTube Live: http://ow.ly/AcNk305oDtb @kristihines @SMExaminer
The Truth About Adverbs http://ow.ly/bzp1305oE0O by Michael McDonagh @QueryTracker
What it Takes to Be a “Real” Writer: http://ow.ly/EQrH305oDNo @KristenLambTX
Getting Published by a Traditional Publisher: 7 Ways to Look Your Best: http://ow.ly/hroQ305oDwG @LisaTener
10 of the Best Books on Writing: http://ow.ly/6dwY305oDBj @Kristen_E_Pope
3 Kinds of Story Arcs: http://ow.ly/zYk2305oDSN @beccapuglisi
Where Drama Really Comes From: http://ow.ly/1mbn305mr5M @LisaCron
On Writing, Mothering, and Slouching Towards Fulfillment: http://ow.ly/9nzb305mree @scurtisgraziano @brevitymag
Stephen King’s 2010 Essay on ‘The Blair Witch Project’: http://ow.ly/qLrd305mryR @FreddyInSpace @BDisgusting @StephenKing
Top 5 Reasons Authors Need a Mailing List: http://ow.ly/YwK2305mrE7 @RMNSediting
The Tipping Point For Successful Authors: 9 Authors With Tips: http://ow.ly/EAZN305GUih @GarryRodgers1
11 Legendary Literary Hoaxes: http://ow.ly/DX4i305lSbp @WithEdSimon @lithub
New Deadline for German Translators, New Jefferis Winner for Australia http://ow.ly/ZLOt305CSoc @Porter_Anderson
Novel Plot Mistakes: 7 Don’ts: http://ow.ly/bLlW305mrut @nownovel
Steve Martin: a Wild and Crazy Role Model: http://ow.ly/2MgU305mr9j @sarahrcallender
How (And Why) You Should Plan A Podcast To Market Your Book: http://ow.ly/fRsb305mrmm @standoutbooks
7 Myths About Creative People: http://ow.ly/lwag305mrIn @emily_tjaden
How to Find Writing Inspiration from African American History: http://ow.ly/D8Hv305mrw2 @monicamclark
Creating a support system for your creative work: http://ow.ly/enLs305mrju @DanBlank
The 5 Most Realistic Ways to Make a Living as a Writer: http://ow.ly/e2OS305j8rS @GlenLong
The Ultimate List of #NaNoWriMo Tips: http://ow.ly/deFZ305IASH @YeseniaVargas32
Prepping for #NaNoWriMo 2016: http://ow.ly/vGK5305koAy @NovelEditor
#NaNoWriMo Prep: Getting To Know Your Characters: http://ow.ly/R3mP305koI0 @KhaosFoxe
What’s Scary For Writers: http://ow.ly/PgBU305H2d1
Diving into #NaNoWriMo Preparations: http://ow.ly/iuxK305koXC @NatePhilbrick
Writing a Novel in a Month: #NaNoWriMo Prep: http://ow.ly/rfpP305koTL @nownovel
10 Creativity Catalysts to Win #NaNoWriMo: http://ow.ly/rgiF305kokY @joebunting
What is #NaNoWriMo? 10 FAQs and resources: http://ow.ly/kdrZ305kowg @nownovel
#NaNoWriMo Prep: Plotting, Planning, And Outlining: http://ow.ly/zswV305koDN @KhaosFoxe
Pre- #NaNoWriMo Tips: http://ow.ly/QcPs305koPh @Ava_Jae
#NaNoWriMo Prep: World Building: http://ow.ly/NWR1305koLY @KhaosFoxe
Top 5 #nanoprep tips: http://ow.ly/5xVC305koZE #nanowrimo @KattyB3
Doing #NaNoWriMo? Nail it with this resource kit: http://ow.ly/TTAE305koqX @Roz_Morris
Triumphing at #NaNoWriMo: 4 Important Ways to Get Ready: http://ow.ly/lFou305kmlh @KathyEdens1 @ProWritingAid
#NaNoPrep, NaNoPlanMo or Preptober [Resources]: http://ow.ly/vgJJ305klDD @HunterEmkay #nanowrimo
#NaNoWriMo: After 8 Years and a Contract: http://ow.ly/LTiF305kkL1 @jamieraintree
7 Reasons Fall Is The Best Season To Read Outside: http://ow.ly/IvjT305Fy6Z @juliaseales
Hiring the Self-Publishing Services You Need At The Right Price: http://ow.ly/H5Rz305rj6A #IAF16 @reedsyhq @IndieAuthorALLI
5 Tips for #NaNoWriMo Learned from a 825-Day Writing Streak: http://ow.ly/SIqd305klWV @jamietr
5 Types of #NaNoWriMo Participants and the Tools You Need: http://ow.ly/tXWK305kkZD @Magic_Violinist
How To Write 50,000 Words In A Month With @grantfaulkner http://ow.ly/pcaT305kmav @thecreativepenn
How To Plan Your #NaNoWriMo Novel In 15-Minute Sessions: http://ow.ly/RW6A305kkR9 @Write_Tomorrow
Preparing for #NaNoWriMo (Write Good Books Podcast): http://ow.ly/FjHn305klkt @jasonbougger
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