Janice Hardy's Blog, page 118

Things to Consider When Considering Self Publishing

By S.R. Johannes, @srjohannes

Part of the Indie Authors Series

JH: I have a fun new group of indie authors coming in for 2018, so I'm dipping into the archives this week while I get everyone settled in. With the new year, odds are some of you are considering your publishing paths and thinking about indie publishing, so here's another look at things to consider when considering self publishing. It's from 2014, but the questions are still valid for 2018. I've added some comments on things that have changed.

As you guys may (or may not) know, in 2011, I chose to self pub my young adult thriller series (Nature of Grace) after it had some close calls in the traditional world.

I would not change that decision for the life of me – I absolutely love self-pubbing and plan to continue it in some sense. And I love where I am. I have an awesome agent now to help push my traditional work and I have a great foundation and reader base for my self-pubbed books.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

What Can Fiction University Do for You?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Fiction University celebrates its 10th Anniversary this March. It's changed a lot over those ten years, growing from an author's blog to a site dedicated to helping writers achieve their writing dreams. 

With the new year starting, I decided it was a good time to hear from you guys about what you want from the site and how I can best help you with your writing journey.

If you have a few minutes, please answer this quick 9-question survey about the site and how it can better serve you. I would greatly appreciate the feedback.

Thanks!

ETA: Some folks are having trouble accessing the survey on pads and phones, so here's another link that ought to get you to it. Apologies for that, I didn't know it was a bit twitchy (grin).

Click here to go to the survey if you don't see it below.

Create your own user feedback survey Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Are You Looking for a Critique Group or Partner?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

It's Crit Time Again!

Back in 2013 I started a Yahoo Group called "Janice Hardy's Critique Connection" to help writers connect with like-minded folks looking for critique groups or partners. It was designed to help people find long-term, quality writing partners, not just places you can toss up your work and get quick feedback.

It went from a one-time thing to annually, and now to every six months (I open it up every January and July). If you're looking to join or create a group, add more to your existing group, or find a critique partner, odds are you'll find someone here.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Why You Should Do a Year-End Wrap Up

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy 

It's that time of year again--when bloggers do their year-end wrap up and reflect on how things went over the past 365 days. But this year, I'm not making it all about me. This year, I'm inviting you to do your own wrap ups, too.

I've found these posts to be a good tool to examine where I've been, what I've succeeded at, remind myself what I wanted to do and what was important to my career, and refocus my writing energy. I think every writer can benefit from writing down and looking at how their year went. Feel free to share your wrap up and goals in the comments.

Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Real Life Diagnostics: Would You Keep Reading this YA Fantasy?

Critique By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Real Life Diagnostics is a weekly column that studies a snippet of a work in progress for specific issues. Readers are encouraged to send in work with questions, and we diagnose it on the site. It’s part critique, part example, and designed to help the submitter as well as anyone else having a similar problem.

If you're interested in submitting to Real Life Diagnostics, please check out these guidelines.

Submissions currently in the queue: One 

Please Note: As of today, RLD slots are booked through January 6.

This week’s questions:

Does this opening work?

Are you lost or are you able to follow what's happening?

Do you get a sense of the kind of person the main character is?

Did you connect with her and care enough to keep reading?.

Does the scene grab your attention and make you want to know what happens next?

Market/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy (Contemporary/Urban)

On to the diagnosis…
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Stay Motivated With Writing Goals

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week's Refresher Friday revisits something I wrote for NaNo, but the tips and goals apply equally well to anyone gearing up for a new year of writing. And a good reminder that I need to do this again for 2018 myself!  

In the writing world, November (and much of October) tends to be filled with advice on NaNoWriMo, but the lessons learned are ones we can all put to good use any time of the year. NaNo is about hitting a target word count and training yourself to write when you have to, and these are skills that every writer can benefit from. Goals keep us motivated, give us clear and defined milestones to gauge our progress by, and give us targets to shoot for.

While word count is by far the easiest milestone to set for ourselves, it's not the only one. Some people are daunted by vast numbers of words or find it too constricting, putting the focus on quantity, not quality. For these writers, a different measurement is often more useful for gauging progress. Maybe it's chapters, or acts, or specific points in the story. Maybe a set amount of time per day is a better motivator. It all comes down to what tactics works best to help motivate you to achieve the goals you've set.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

The Organized Writer: A Case for Non-Fancy Bullet Journaling

By Angela Quarles, @AngelaQuarles

Part of the Indie Author Series

As we wrap up another year here at Fiction University, I thought I'd spotlight the biggest savior for me this past year, organization-wise. In of my earliest posts here I talked about how I found myself back to being a paper planner. I still am, though the type of planner has evolved. Now I believe I've found "planner peace" ever since settling on the bullet journal system.


What is a bullet journal?
Created by Ryder Carroll, at its simplest, it's a bulleted list of tasks that you write down. But there's also a way to log future tasks, which is where the magic comes into play. One of the problems I had with paper planners was that each day was different for me as an indie writer. Some days I had a ton of stuff going on, and other times, not so much. Plus there were some repetitive tasks, and also ones I needed to remember to do later and my paper planners were just not capturing this stuff for me. The pre-printed layouts were too confining.

Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

The 2018 Critique Connection Opens Next Week!

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Just a little advance notice that I'll be opening up my Critique Connection on Monday, January 1. This launches Year Five for the group, which hardly seems possible. The site itself turns ten in March, so I guess I have been doing this a long time now.


If you don't know what the Critique Connection is, it's a Yahoo Group I began for the sole purpose of giving writers a safe and private place to go to find critique groups and partners. Folks join, introduce themselves and say what they write, and like-minded people pair and group up and form their own groups and partnerships. This of it as happy hour for writers looking for feedback.

It's a great way to find others to trade and share critiques with, so if you're looking for a partner or a group, or you have a group that is looking for more members, check it out on Monday. Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Magic, Miracles, and Can’ts That Become Cans: Why We Love Our Christmas Clichés

By Bonnie Randall

Part of the How They Do It Series (Monthly Contributor)

As I write this we are less than a week from Christmas, yet by the time you read it, we’ll be on what we in Canada (and the UK) call ‘Boxing Day’ (our version of Americans’ Black Friday). This season I am chock-full of the Christmas spirit, more so than I can remember in ages. Perhaps it’s because I am getting older. Or maybe it’s because my family had a really rough autumn. Or maybe I am just finally getting this whole ‘attitude of gratitude’ thang and so am more dialed-in than I’ve been in the past. In any event, I am loving it; the decorated house, the mountains of homemade baking, and the carefully wrapped and tied-with-reams-of-curl-ribbon gifts set just-so under the tree. It’s all so good and so warm that, the other day when I tripped over a fairly caustic article on Christmas stories and why they suck, I was dismayed and (to my shock, actually), sort of hurt.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Working with a Freelance Editor (Part One)

Editor Mollie TraverBy Jana Oliver, @crazyauthorgirl

Part of the Indie Authors Series 

  I’m doing something different over the next two months: My guest is Mollie Traver, an intrepid Vermont native who now lives in California. Mollie is my freelance editor, however she and I first met when I was writing Young Adult fiction for St. Martin's Griffin (SMP) in New York.

For this month's post, we're doing a Q&A on what it's like to make that transition from a job at one of the Big Five to an editorial entrepreneur, along with some nuts and bolts about the editorial process. The January 2018 blog post will discuss indie author/freelance editor collaboration.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com