Anne R. Allen's Blog, page 2

You’re Not Failing to Get Published. You’re Building Inventory

  by Anne R. Allen I’ve been going through my blog archives, and I found one of the first pieces I wrote for the blog—15 years ago. This was before the “Kindle Revolution” had really taken hold, so almost all beginning writers were desperately trying to “land an agent.” (We seemed to treat agents like some […]

The post You’re Not Failing to Get Published. You’re Building Inventory appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.

Chekhov’s Gun: Does Your Story Have a Forgotten “Gun”?

by Anne R. Allen This week I’m visiting the writing blog, Writers In the Storm, talking about “Chekhov’s Gun.” “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise, don’t put it there.”…Anton Chekhov Chekhov, the Russian playwright, also wrote short stories, […]

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The Non-Linear Writing Process: What, How, and Why

by Jenny Hansen Was your writing process a long and winding road for anyone else here? And by writing process, I mean “a reliable way you’ve been able to approach the page that allows you to finish books.” I struggled for decades to find my process. And I do mean struggled. I’d open a Word […]

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Publishing Scammers are On the Prowl: the Latest Trends

by Anne R. Allen This week I’ve had a record number of blog comments and emails from authors who have been victims or near-victims of publishing scammers. So I thought I should update my scam warnings. The Times Square Billboard Scam The most popular new con seems to be the Times Square Billboard scam. Rachel […]

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Why Do We Read Murder Mysteries?

  This week I’m visiting the Sleuthsayers blog, with a blogpost about why murder mysteries are so popular in times of chaos and upheaval. Here’s the opener. Why Do We Read Murder Mysteries? By Anne R. Allen I once met an aspiring writer who been forced to move in with Mom after a year of […]

The post Why Do We Read Murder Mysteries? appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.

I’m Pretty Sure This Book Tried to Kill Me: Writing the Second Book in a Series

  by Melodie Campbell My friend and colleague John Floyd, on the blog Sleuthsayers, recently featured a fun post on movie sequels. (Are any sequels better than the original?  Yes!  We agreed that A Shot in the Dark is better than The Pink Panther, but I love both.) That got me thinking about writing series books, […]

The post I’m Pretty Sure This Book Tried to Kill Me: Writing the Second Book in a Series appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.

The Hidden World of Writing Scams: What Every Author Needs to Know

  by Rachel Thompson BadRedhead Media, LLC. I have written many posts about the various scams targeting authors. Here are snippets from each one, specifics to look out for, and examples of these scams. My Substack is free, so you can click on each link to read more if you’d like.  PR Scams Marketing and […]

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THE CLIP FILE (Every Writer’s Best Friend and Secret Weapon)

  by Ruth Harris The clip file. Remember those? Gone are the days of messy, torn-out newspaper and magazine articles jammed into over-flowing, disorganized files. Those ancient artifacts have been replaced now by their neat and spiffy digital counterparts. Writers are readers and what we read is (or should be) a rich mine of ideas. […]

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10 Pieces of Bad Advice New Writers Get from Unhelpful Friends

Bad advice and false friends can destroy a career before it starts by Anne R. Allen Happy Easter! I hope everybody is enjoying biting the ears of chocolate bunnies, eating expensive hen’s eggs you’ve dyed garish colors, and other fun seasonal rituals. Yes, I love them all, and I admit to nearly decapitating a chocolate […]

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6 Book Marketing Tips for New Authors

Multi-author anthologies are a great marketing tool by Anne R. Allen A couple of weeks ago, a European blogger asked if she could reblog a post I wrote 10 years ago. She said it was the best piece on marketing she’d ever  read. (Aw shucks. Here’s me blushing.) The truth is I’d forgotten all about […]

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