Riley Adams's Blog, page 96

December 17, 2016

Twitterific Writing Links

Bluebird with beak open

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.

Happy Holidays! I will be taking a blog break until I return two weeks from today for an especially long Twitterific that will include my top shared links for 2016. :)

Conferences and Events / NaNoWriMo

Editing Your NaNoWriMo Novel @_theverbs

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

Creativity Prompts for Writers, Journalers, Artists and Speakers @WritingReader

Ways for Caregivers To Support Children’s Writing Lives @MelanieMeehan1

Nurturing Our Notebook Work @rdgtchr13

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

Accomplish More with a 3-Item To Do List @joshua_becker

10 Tricky Things You May Have To Do To Achieve Your Goals @10MinNovelists

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / When to write

Why we were wrong about writing habits (but right about writing routines) @Write_Track

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

Don’t Be a Scaredy-Cat Writer @EdieMelson

Writer’s Block @JennyBravoBooks

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

How to trigger your writing routine @Eva_Bec

Beat Overwhelm @SukhiJutla

How to Make the Most of Writing Sprints (video) @Ava_Jae

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

For the French Gift Recipients on Your Holiday List @Porter_Anderson

The Writing Retreat From Hell @lesleykinzel

16 Ways to De-Stress This Holiday Season @emi1y_morgan

Beyond the Notebook @WriterUnboxed

30-Day Challenge For A Better 2017 @cksyme

The ‘Cannon’ of Literature @grantdraws

Choose Your Own Memoir @grantdraws

How to Keep Stress from Destroying Your Creativity @colleen_m_story

Is It Really Possible To Do It All? @KaraIsaac

Genres / Miscellaneous

Adapting Novels Into Comic Books @mythicscribes

Pros and Cons of Writing Cross Genre @paisleypiranhas

Genres / Horror

When Horror Isn’t Scary Enough @nataliezutter

Genres / Memoir

How to Write a Collage-Style Memoir @Tarn_Wilson

Genres / Non-Fiction

9 Women Writers Breaking New Nonfiction Territory @bustle

Genres / Romance

Should You Force Romance into Your Story? @Tamela_Murray

Genres / Science Fiction

19 Positive Approaches to Religion in SF and Fantasy @tordotcom

Genres / Screenwriting

The 2-Act Structure [Because You Write The Rules] @ozzywood

The Hero’s Journey vs. Superhero Stories @GoIntoTheStory

Create Your Pitch @CreativeScreen

An Introvert’s Guide to Film Festival Networking @scriptmag

Promo / Miscellaneous

Increase Book Visibility with Meta Tags in Your Book Metadata @IngramSpark

10 Tips Learned about Getting Book Endorsements @hopeclark

An Overview of Mason Canyon Book Tours @cluculzwriter

12 Surprises Found Marketing a Debut Novel @WordDreams

Launching Your Book @IndiesUnlimited

Promo / Book Reviews

7 Book Reviewer Complaints @IndiesUnlimited

Death of the hatchet job book review @NewStatesman

Promo / Social Media Tips

Simplify Social Media Promo @cksyme

How to create ‘best of 2016’ tweets with Twitter analytics:

Gaining more followers on Twitter @RMFWriters

Harnessing the power of YouTube for books @thebookseller

How to Sell More Books with Less Social Media @DigiBookWorld

Promo / Speaking

Public Speaking for Writers @AliciaOltuski

Publishing / Miscellaneous

Preparing for the Writing Battle @NovelRocket

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Rejections

A writer hits a milestone of 100 rejections @brevitymag

Publishing / Process / Book Design

Book Layout Basics @IngramSpark

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

How to Write Unexpected Story Events @KMWeiland

Writing Personal Essays With Help From @nytimes @NYTimesLearning

How-To Techniques to Establish Pace @ProWritingAid

Book Title Generator for the Holidays @annerallen

A Key to Great Writing: Make Every Word Count: by Stephen Wilbers

Backstory: How Much is Too Much? by Jaiden M. Pierson

Rhythm and Pacing of Writing @jennienash

Writing Craft / Arc

The Man In A Hole Arc: by Shawn Coyne

Writing Craft / Beginnings

Your Novel’s First Scene @JaneFriedman

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

5 Quick Tips For Crafting Believable Characters: by Amanda Fink

Writing Craft / Conflict

Understanding Inner Conflict @michael_hauge

Writing Craft / Drafts

9 Ways You Succeed When Your First Draft Fails @theladygreer

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

6 Keys to Writing Stories That Will Scare Readers @crisfreese

Writing Craft / Literary Devices

Irony Wakes Up Your Reader With the Unexpected @ZoeMMcCarthy

Heavy-Handed Imagery and Theme @Kid_Lit

Playing With Personification: by Bonnie Randall

Writing Craft / POV

Are Filter Words Weakening Your Story? @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Outlining

How to Write a Scene Outline You Can Use @KMWeiland

7 Details You Need to Think About When Writing Historical Fiction @WarrenAdler

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

The Key Event and the Difference From Your First Plot Point @standoutbooks

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

Commonly Confused Words of the Month: “I Could Care Less” by Chris Saylor

3 Cases of Unnecessary Punctuation @writing_tips

3 Sentences That Lack Just One Word to Be Correct @writing_tips

6 Ways To Shorten Your Sentences And Improve Your Writing @MiaJouBotha

Writing Craft / Revision

What is Developmental Editing and Does Your Story Need it? @katiemccoach

Turn Off the Static So You Can Hear the Tiny Whisper @virginiafranken

Revision Checklist @MartinaABoone

Writing Craft / Tension

High Stakes? ‘Death. Always Death’ – An Interview with @jamesscottbell @TheIWSG

Writing Craft / World-Building

World-Building Resources @jackalediting

Uncategorized

Twitterific Writing Links – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig A weekly roundup of the best writing links …

The top writing links of last week are on Twitterific:
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Published on December 17, 2016 21:02

December 15, 2016

What I’ve Learned in 2016

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

2016 felt like a very busy year for me, although my production slowed down slightly. I wrote and published two books and am sitting on a finished third until after the holidays. Usually I’d be halfway through a 4th book by now.

I think the reason it felt so busy was because of all the promo-related and distribution-related things that I learned and all the various platforms I tweaked. I sat down and tried to compile all the different things that I’d read about, studied, and implemented and came up with a list to show myself that I’d been even busier than I’d thought.

Here’s a roundup of some of the things I learned in 2016:

I learned how to find more newsletter subscribers. I participated in more group-related promo for my genre and was part of several massive giveaways with fellow cozy mystery authors. Readers entered by signing up for newsletter lists. My newsletter list grew very quickly in 2016 because of this (from a free to a paid list) and my open rate remained nearly the same.

I found that I can keep my income relatively stable, even though individual book sales are down, by producing more books, in more formats, available at more retailers.

I realized that Facebook needs my attention from time to time. I’ve had three profiles there (actually, two profiles and a page) since 2010. This year I deleted one of the profiles that I could no longer keep up with. I also created a timeline for my page, sent readers there to sign up for my newsletter, uploaded videos, and made sure my call to action button was updated. This post explains how.

I found that I could get more visibility on LinkedIn by making a few tweaks (and found that I didn’t realize all the different things we could do on LinkedIn). I uploaded videos and blog posts, added ‘speaker’ to my LinkedIn “headline,” and tried Slideshare. (Here are a couple of posts that explain the hows and whys: here and here .

I learned how to be more effective with Facebook ads. Ispent some time learning how best to create them and set a small budget for advertising. I found that I did get more newsletter signups through the ads.

I discovered that long pre-order periods may not work well for my audience (or, actually, for me either).

I learned that I could find out a lot more about my followers and readers with Twitter analytics and Goodreads book stats.

I learned that Wattpad readers will miss me if I don’t continue posting material there. And that I enjoy the support that I get from my young readers there more than I realized.

I realized international publishing doesn’t just mean publishing through CreateSpace and Kindle ebooks. It means distributing ebooks and print with a variety of companies…IngramSpark, PublishDrive, and StreetLib.

I found that sometimes it’s easier to have a company like InstaFreebie or BookFunnel take care of distributing our free books for newsletter and review giveaways. If readers aren’t sure how to load the ebooks on their readers, these 3rd party players give them support.

I discovered there are good ways to make our books more visible on Google (with structured data markup).

I learned that metadata is effective in making our books discoverable and that I save time when I track it.

I realized Amazon’s’ Look Inside’ preview is a nice addition to a book page on our website or on LinkedIn.

I learned readers have good suggestions. A’ Coming Soon’ page on our website helps readers remember what’s on its way to launch.

And a nice link to add to the Coming Soon page (along with other pages on our site) is a link to our Amazon Author Central page with instructions to follow us there. I just put a simple: ” Follow me on Amazon for release updates” up.

I’m thinking a lot of us had a 2016 like this. What are some things that you learned?

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Published on December 15, 2016 21:02

December 11, 2016

Twitter Analytics for ‘Best of 2016’ Tweets

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

If you’re like me, you’re in the middle of a very busy time of year. I’m trying to wrap up a project (definitely not releasing it in December…January is better, sales-wise) in the midst of shopping, decorating, and driving my daughter to her own events.

Besides all that, I’m still trying to keep up my online presence. One of the ways I make this easier around the holidays is to schedule my ‘top tweets of 2016’. The past couple of years I’ve used a very convoluted method of discovering and then scheduling these ‘best of’ tweets. But with Twitter analytics, I’ve found a better way.

First off, Twitter analytics is a very interesting tool, if you haven’t already been using it. Journalist and Publishing Perspectives Editor-in-Chief Porter Anderson explains why in his post “How to Use Twitter Analytics to Boost Your Social Media Marketing.” Even if you don’t want to schedule year-end tweets, if you’re not familiar with Twitter analytics, you should probably take a look. It’s interesting , at any rate, to see who your most influential follower is.

Here’s how to use it to learn your most popular tweets of the year:

If you left-click your profile picture, a drop-down box appears.

Click on Analytics

Click ‘View all tweet activity’

Click ‘top tweets’

Click the drop-down arrow next to ‘last 28 days’ and choose your date range

instagram_177f06a28e-compressor

The tweets will pop up

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You can also export tweets, but I found this less useful because I couldn’t get it to only download my top tweets. Instead, it downloaded all my tweets (and if you follow me on Twitter, you know that’s a lot of tweets). There was a lot of useful data in the spreadsheet, but it wasn’t what I was looking for right then. I just copy-pasted the tweets (individually), instead of exporting them.

Depending on what you’re looking for, you could tweet your highest performing tweet each month, all your top performing tweets for the month, etc.

I’d recommend making sure that there aren’t any dead links in your top tweets. I had quite a few since some bloggers had changed switched from Blogger to WordPress.

You can schedule tweets in advance by using a tool like Hootsuite (the application that I use). I added a hashtag to mine: #TopTweets2016.

Now I can keep up on Twitter while enjoying Christmas with family.

Have you taken a look at Twitter analytics? Do you schedule social media? What other tips do you have for making the holidays easier?

How to create 'best of 2016' tweets with Twitter analytics:
Click To Tweet

Photo credit: tonynetone via VisualHunt.com / CC BY

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Published on December 11, 2016 21:02

December 10, 2016

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

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

Business / Miscellaneous

6 Essentials for Co-authoring a Book @MelindaFriesen

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

4 Great Essays From Jodi Picoult on Writing @WritersDigest

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

4 Things Real Authors Have That Amateurs Don’t @JeffGoins

3 Tips for Making Rewards Work @KelsieEngen

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

Create a writing routine (without shortening your life expectancy) @TheWriterMag

Is busy-ness getting in the way of work? @pubcoach

Elimination @SukhiJutla

2 tips for balancing writing and marketing time @Roz_Morris

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

How to Be a Better Writer @ErinMFeldman

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

15 Quick Tips to Increase Productivity @KarenBanes

Crystallize Your Novel @jamesscottbell

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

Gifts for Writers @JaneFriedman

4 Ways to Write for Your True North @KCambronAuthor

100+ Sci-Fi/Fantasy Authors share personal stories about depression, PTSD @GailZMartin

Why Writers Feel Depressed and How to Deal @colleen_m_story

3 Simple Ways to Win the Argument With Your Inner Critic @losapala

Too Many Demands? Find Balance @JamiGold

How to get more interested in what you’re writing @pubcoach

12 Days of Christmas for Creative Minds @cathysbaker

Why Writers Need Challenges @NinaAmir

Writing with the Knowledge of Time @WriterUnboxed

20 Christmas Gifts for Writers @joebunting

How to Survive the Holidays When You’re a Writer @FinishedPages

Christmas Gift Ideas For The Talented Writer In Your Life @AngelaAckerman

8 Horror Films About Writers @The_Millions

Tips for Writing through the Holidays: by Aimie Runyan

Learning to Exercise Self-Care Through the Local Library @_ImAnAdult

Genres / Fantasy

Horses Are Not Machines: On Writing the Steeds of Fantasy Fiction: by Rosalind Moran

Genres / Horror

Well-Written Horror Films @chris_shultz81

Genres / Mystery

Police Call Signs @ChrysFey

‘Armchair Detecting’ as an element in crime fiction @mkinburg

Mysteries and Undercurrents – Withholding Info from the Reader @SeptCFawkes

Crime Fiction @mkinberg

Genres / Poetry

11 Gifts for the Poet in Your Life [infographic] @My_poetic_side

Genres / Romance

5 Mistakes When Writing Romance @CSLakin

6 Scenes Any Love Story Must Have @woodwardkaren

The Love Story and its 3 Subgenres @SPressfield

Genres / Science Fiction

The failure of the oracles (insights on science fiction) @nevalalee

Women @WomenWriters

4 Fictional Economies That Don’t Make Sense @mythcreants

Genres / Screenwriting

Great Scene @GoIntoTheStory

Script To Screen @GoIntoTheStory

Genres / Young Adult

6 Keys to Write a YA Novel That Connects With Teen Readers @write_practice

Promo / Miscellaneous

3 Reasons Authors Need An Online Press Room: by W. Terry Whalin

Promo / Blogging

Blogging @problogger

Promo / Social Media Tips

How to Use Twitter Analytics to Boost Your Social Media Marketing @IngramSpark

How to Use Social Media for Your Book Launch? 9 Tips @CaballoFrances

Promo / Speaking

Tips for public speaking:

6 Tips for Authors to Create Engaging Library Programs @andrawatkins

Promo / Websites

Your writing platform starts with your website @annkroeker

The 5 Best WordPress Plugins For Your New Blog @KarenBanes

Publishing / Miscellaneous

18 Things You Need to Know About Publishing a Book @OrnaRoss

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Nigerian Publisher on efforts to get books to readers through intl. partnerships @Porter_Anderson

Conference advises ‘putting disruptive technology to work’ @TheFutureBook

European Book Publishing 2015 Statistics @Porter_Anderson

Teaming Up @Porter_Anderson

Publishing / Options / Hybrid Publishing

5 Hybrid Authors @IndieReader

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing

What To Expect From An Agent @Kid_Lit

3 Things Your Traditional Publisher Is Unlikely to Do @JaneFriedman

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

3 Ways to an Acquisitions Editor’s Heart @ChadRAllen

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Rejections

Advice Received from Rejection Letters @jasonbougger

Publishing / Process / Translation

Competition Celebrates German Children’s Book Translators @pubperspectives

Diversity in Translation @wischenbart

Harry Potter and the translator’s nightmare @PassiveVoiceBlg

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

Generic Settings Won’t Do @AngelaAckerman

Finding the Perfect Novel Title @Lindasclare

Writing road trips @p2p_editor

Are you a word hoarder? @raimeygallant

Bestseller Book Title Checklist (Fiction) @Chris_Kokoski

How to Reveal Setting in Your Book or Screenplay @patverducci

Awful Titles Famous Authors Almost Gave Their Novels @ClaireEFallon

5 Visualization Techniques to Help Your Writing Craft @AngelaAckerman

When It’s OK to Listen to Your Inner Editor @SaraL_Writer

Writing Craft / Beginnings

The importance of the opening and examples of better ones @JacksBlackPen

How to Spark Your Story With an Inciting Incident @hodgeswriter

Beginnings @WritersDigest

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

2 Rules of Thumb for Character Creation @woodwardkaren

Writing Craft / Characters / Emotion

Creepy Clowns and Haunted Hotels – Unspooling Why Our Characters Get Scared: By Bonnie Randall

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

How to Craft an Active Protagonist @kylieday0

7 Traits of a Great Protagonist @ceciliaedits

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

Stupid Writing Rules @annerallen

Anachronisms and Other Ways to Make Readers Snicker @AnnetteLyon

Writing Craft / Humor

4 Ways to Use Humor in Your Fiction @CSLakin

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

“Friends” @crisfreese

16 Famous Writers on The Book They’re Most Thankful For @BuzzFeed

Writing Craft / Mood

Writing Creepy Scenes @RayneHall

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Story Structure @woodwardkaren

The Hero’s Journey as Explained by Puppets @FafaGroundhog

Mind Mapping for Authors: by Chris Fox

Writing Basics @Janice_Hardy

Write Your Query FIRST for a Better Novel @WomenWriters

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

5 Tips for Researching a Novel @MeredithMcP

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Concept

How to Attract a Readership Based on Concept Alone @JaneFriedman

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

Using Whom in Fiction @MarcyKennedy

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

4 Ways to Deal With Criticism @jkwak

All You Need To Know About Sensitivity Reads @justinaireland

Writing Craft / Scenes

Layering 10-20-30 Scenes in Your Novel @CSLakin

Writing Craft / Series

Tips on Starting a Series: by Linda Wilson

Taking Series Characters on the Road:

When & How Should Series End? by Kassandra Lamb @JamiGold

Writing Craft / Transitions

Scene transitions can sabotage characters @p2p_editor

Writing Tools / Apps

3 Apps for Your Writing Toolbox @pokercubster

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

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Published on December 10, 2016 21:02

December 8, 2016

Taking Series Characters on the Road

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve now written several books in two different series where I took my series characters on the road.

There were a few different reasons I wanted to do this. For one, I feel like it can be a good way to keep a series fresh for both readers and the writer. For one book, I particularly wanted to write a ‘manor house’ style mystery where the setting is confined to one, isolated spot (with a murderer in the group). For another book, I thought it would be an interesting hook to set the story at a place my protagonist despises: Greener Pastures Retirement Home.

My editor for the manor house story was leery about the idea. She said that readers tend to like their characters to stay in the same setting. I agree–that’s usually what I like as a reader, too. But I managed with that story to take many of the story characters with me (making it as believable as I could).

With the retirement home mystery, the setting wasn’t far from the characters’ usual home base. This allowed regular interaction between the main characters and some of the recurring ones.

But this time for my last Myrtle Clover book, I decided to try something different. Reader reviews were mixed on the series road trips. I did a good deal of planning for Crusing for Murder and the reviews have been much better. Readers have actually particularly mentioned in reviews that they enjoyed the change of scenery and pace (this is also book 10 in the series, so maybe they were ready for a change).

Differences this time:

I started and ended the book with the characters at home visiting with recurring characters who aren’t going on the road trip.

I had the recurring, non-trip characters ‘check in’ with my sleuth while she was gone. Myrtle checked her emails and even had some written messages (mysterious ones) left in her luggage by a friend.

I kept as many series tropes as I possibly could. Myrtle and Miles are insomniacs so I used it on the ship to help them run into various suspects. Myrtle puts out garden gnomes to irritate her son when he annoys her and I found a way to work that in.

I kept the location moving. Previously, I’d centered my “road trip stories” on a single location: an isolated house cut off by a storm, and a retirement home. Putting my characters on a cruise meant that I could keep the setting more entertaining for readers who might be disappointed not to have the story located in the characters’ hometown.

Have you taken your series characters on a road trip? How did you make that process easier on your readers? Do you like it when your favorite show or book series takes characters on the road?

Tips for taking your series characters on a road trip:
Click To Tweet

Photo credit: EJP Photo via Visualhunt / CC BY-NC-SA

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Published on December 08, 2016 21:02

December 4, 2016

Public Speaking Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

There are some writers I know who were born to be public speakers. They do a great job with audience engagement and can captivate a room.

Then there are the rest of us. :)

As I’ve said before, I’ve definitely made my peace with public speaking by this time and have grown to enjoy it. It’s has taken me years to finally embrace it (I’ll give a shout-out to Toastmasters, which provided a lot of help).

Here are some tips that I’ve learned along the way

Know your audience in advance. I’ve learned that this is essential. Sometimes, for example, I’m speaking to beginner writers. Sometimes I’m speaking to writers who know a good deal about writing and promo. If I mess up and make my speech too complex or too easy to understand, I’m going to lose audience interest and look unprepared. Usually the event organizer has some idea about who is going to be attending. And, obviously, it’s also important to know if you’re speaking to writers or to readers.

Get Q&A questions in advance to spur others later. If you’re speaking to a group, club, or organization, ask the event organizer to get some early questions. Or you could pass out index cards to the audience before the event.

When preparing the speech, focus on value for the audience. Once you know who the audience is, you can prepare a talk that will keep their interest with information that they find useful. This, to me, is half the battle of giving a good speech.

Arrive early. Arriving early helps for a variety of reasons. It helps us in case something has gone wrong (sometimes there are technology issues) and it helps us because we can greet audience members as they come in (which helps allay nervousness).

Ask the audience a question as a warm-up. When I speak to groups of readers, I’ll poll the audience by asking for a show of hands to a general question (for me, it’s usually ‘How many of you grew up reading mysteries?’). Not only is their answer interesting to me, but it usually functions as a great warm-up and gives me a little information about my audience.

Continue gauging audience interest. If audience members start looking bored, sleepy, or restless, I’ll change direction and try something else.

Move. Instead of standing behind the podium, it can be helpful to move around to engage the audience better. Although I think too much movement looks a little too restless.

If using a powerpoint, visuals are key. Reduce text. Create visuals using free tools like VisualHunt and Canva to make your slides. It’s generally said that slides with too much text are overwhelming.

Pause for laughter. If people are laughing, it’s best to wait instead of trying to talk over them and cutting the moment short.

Consider adding more value by making your notes and links accessible to audience members on a password-protected page on your website. This tip is more useful when speaking to writers’ groups and conferences.

If you’re ready to do more public speaking, create a ‘speaking’ page on your website and include ‘speaker’ in your LinkedIn headline. If no one knows you’re available to speak, you’re likely not going to get many invitations.

Do you do much public speaking? What tips can you add?

Tips for public speaking:
Click To Tweet

Photo credit: bionicteaching via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC

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Published on December 04, 2016 21:01

December 3, 2016

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

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

Conferences and Events / NaNoWriMo

#NaNoWriMo, and How It Changed My Life @lidywilks

NaNoWriMo for those who didn’t win @AshKrafton

Creativity and Inspiration / Miscellaneous

Welcome your artist to work today @gigirosenberg

5 Reasons Novelists Should Write Short Stories @Magzdozza

How to Find Collaborators to Work With @SeanPlatt

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

10 of the Best Books on Creativity @TobiasCarroll

How to Help Students Develop a Love of Reading @MediaShiftOrg

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

20 Reasons Why You Should Read Literary Magazines @The_Millions

10 Great Books about Going Home @ElectricLit

11 of the Greatest Fictional Parties Ever @ElectricLit

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

Why You Should Never Start With Your Most Difficult Task @MichaelHyatt

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

We Do Have Enough Time to Write @WritersCoach

How to trick yourself into writing @pubcoach

Creativity and Inspiration / Success

10 Things You’ll Find in Every Bestselling Book @WWonthebrink

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

5 Signs You Need to Shake Up Your Writing Routine @colleen_m_story

When parents are disappointed by their writing children @TheWriterMag

3 Tips to Grow Meaningful Online Relationships As A Writer @lornafaith

3 Ways To Embrace The Writer You Used To Be by Alicyn Newman @GoTeenWriters

Holiday Gifts for Writers @RuthHarrisBooks

Genres / Miscellaneous

Patti Smith on How She Writes a Song @lithub

Genres / Fantasy

The Craft @ChristelleWrite

10 Key Scenes of a Mythological Fantasy Novel @CSLakin

Genres / Historical

Writing a Historical Novel Set in an Era You Knew Nothing About @WritersDigest

7 Resources for History Research @JamiGold

Genres / Horror

The 10 Best Non-Monster Horror Villains @BDisgusting

Genres / Middle-Grade

Making the Shift to Middle Grade @KatZhang

Getting Middle Grade Voice Right @mdilloway

Genres / Mystery

The Structure of a Murder Mystery @woodwardkaren

Speaking to the press as an element in crime fiction @mkinberg

Using foils to reveal character in crime fiction @mkinberg

Genres / Poetry

Poetry Prompt @tspoetry

Genres / Romance

10 Secrets to Writing “Killer” Romantic Suspense @Brenda_Novak

Promo / Miscellaneous

Help Readers Find You with 12 Book Discovery Tools @WhereWritersWin

4 exercises to change your mindset about book promotion @NinaAmir

Should You Get Litsy? @theladygreer

5 Holiday Marketing Trends that Authors Can Use for Book Promotion @ricwol

Author Branding with multiple genres @damselwriter

10 Minute Marketing:

Promo / Connecting with Readers

Tips for reader engagement: by Deborah Lyn Stanley

Promo / Crowdfunding

What Writers Need To Know About Patreon @GalleyCat

Promo / Libraries

Why Self-Published Authors Need Libraries and Vice Versa @MediaShiftOrg

Promo / Pricing

How to Make your Book Free on Amazon KDP @ricwol

Promo / Social Media Tips

Does Twitter Have A Future For Self Published Authors? @justpublishing

Turning Social Media into the Grandest Writing Exercise Of All @maria_ribas

7 Snapchat tips for authors @ProudMumbles

5 Reasons to Reconsider Google+ for Marketing @hailleymari

Publishing / Miscellaneous

How Not to Spin Your Writing Wheels @NovelRocket

Audiobooks @pubperspectives

Traditional publishing & selfpublishing @Roz_Morris

Business Musings @KristineRusch

Publishing / News / Amazon

Amazon Limits Non-Purchase Reviews @Goodereader

Info on KDP Print @stapilus

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Wattpad Studio’s Next Move @UCPisTV @porter_anderson

Latin American Book Market @pubperspectives @porter_anderson

International Publishing Notes @stevelotinga @porter_anderson

Publishing / Options / Hybrid Publishing

The Hybrid Author @ChloeNKizer

Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing

6 Famous Authors Who Chose to Self-Publish @IndieReader

How to Research a Name for Your Self-Publishing Imprint @Wogahn

What You Really Want to Know About Self Publishing @Janice_Hardy

The Writer’s Guide to Self-Publishing Costs and Royalties @ink_and_quills

How to Self Publish and How Much it Costs @DiercksDuke

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

In defense of personalized queries (and 5 tips) @NathanBransford

What If the Agent Says Yes? @jennienash

10 Online Tools to Help Writers Find a Literary Agent @sarahannjuckes

5 Ways Unpublished Writers Can Make Themselves More Attractive to Publishers @MelindaFriesen

Publishing / Process / Legalities

10 tips for publishing rights professionals @pubperspectives

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

5 Helpful Lessons for Writing a Novel @WritersDigest

How to Write Excellent Plot Twists @Ava_Jae

Key Scene @woodwardkaren

Advanced Craft Tips @PBRWriter

How to Hook Readers with Nuanced Emotion @mythicscribes

Tips for Writing About Issues @suddenlyjamie

Knowing When To Kill Off A Character @Mad_Hat_Writer

Juxtaposition Boosts Comparisons – Behind the Scene @ZoeMMcCarthy

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

5 Ways to Get Into Character @WritersDigest

Making Your Characters Do Stuff @mileconnors

How To Write Characters Your Readers Will Love @woodwardkaren

The Appeal of Flawed Characters @WomenWriters

Which Character is the Heart of Your Novel? @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

What does ‘likeable’ really mean? @LisaCron

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

3 Common Protagonist Problems @Ava_Jae

Writing Craft / Conflict

A Surefire Way to Raise the Stakes in Your Story @KMWeiland

Writing Craft / Hooks

Setting Your Book’s Hook In One Sentence @Mad_Hat_Writer

Writing Craft / POV

Using Multiple Points of View @JaneFriedman

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Outlining

How to Outline Your Story @mythcreants

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

The Story Question in Fiction @NovelEditor

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

Tips for researching your story (primary sources and internet) @SueColetta1

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

3 Questions About Hyphenation with Adverbs @writing_tips

Writing Craft / Scenes / Conflict

10 Things Every Writer Needs To Know About Conflict @sacha_black

Writing Craft / Special Needs

Mentally Ill Women Belong In Your Stories, Too @tordotcom

Writing Craft / Tension

9 Ways To Build Suspense @SueColetta1

Writing Craft / Voice

Developing a Supernatural Edge @RMNSediting

3 Acting Tips to Strengthen Our Voice @LibbyHeily

Writing Tools / Miscellaneous

4 Tools To Make You A Productive and Creative Writer @SukhiJutla

Writing Tools / Apps

Hiveword 5 Year Retrospective of Services and Software for Writers @Hiveword

5 Reasons to Use Scrivener to Write Your Book @lornafaith

An Evernote Guide for Writers @jkwak

Uncategorized

3 Reasons You Should Write Poetry Today @McgannKellie

Twitterific Writing Links – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig A weekly roundup of the best writing links …

10 Things You’ll Find in Every Bestselling Book – By Sarah Juckes, @sarahannjuckes What makes a bestselling boo…

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Published on December 03, 2016 21:02

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?

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Published on December 01, 2016 21:02

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.