Anne R. Allen's Blog, page 21
March 21, 2021
Three Things Your Query Letter Needs to Stand Out
Today we have a guest post on writing a query letter from literary agent Lucinda Halpern. I realize many of our readers are indie authors or plan to publish independently. But these rules are important for any kind of query: to a reviewer, editor or blogger as well. by Lucinda Halpern Writers put so much love and […]
The post Three Things Your Query Letter Needs to Stand Out appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
March 14, 2021
Reader Pet Peeves: How to Avoid Writing Stuff Readers Hate
by Anne R. Allen This week I saw links to a couple of threads on social media about reader pet peeves. Then Buzzfeed weighed in, listing some of the biggest complaints from fiction readers. Some peeves are predictable but others are kind of surprising. I do some of this stuff myself, so I was grateful […]
The post Reader Pet Peeves: How to Avoid Writing Stuff Readers Hate appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
March 7, 2021
Beast Your Amazon Bio and Sell More Books
How’s Your Amazon Bio? Can it sell books by the truckload? Today’s guest post is an excerpt from How to Sell Books by the Truckload on Amazon: 2021 Amazon Ads Powerhouse Edition by Penny Sansevieri, Founder and CEO of Author Marketing Experts, a cutting edge book marketing firm. By Penny Sansevieri Since I first published […]
The post Beast Your Amazon Bio and Sell More Books appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
February 28, 2021
Fast. Cheap. Easy. The Modest, Unassuming Notebook—Digital or Paper—is Your Superpower.
by Ruth Harris Who has used this secret superpower to achieve success? Tom Brady, Quarterback. A recent article on the sports page about Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Quarterback Tom Brady preparing himself and his team for the Superbowl grabbed my attention. According to the story, one of Brady’s habits throughout a season is to create a […]
The post Fast. Cheap. Easy. The Modest, Unassuming Notebook—Digital or Paper—is Your Superpower. appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
February 21, 2021
Five Common Beginning Writer Storytelling Mistakes
Storytelling isn’t as easy as it seems by Anne R. Allen Making mistakes is how we learn. Some beginning writer mistakes are so common they’re almost a rite of passage. Here are five I see all the time. I think I did every one when I was starting out. Taking “Show Don’t Tell” to Extremes […]
The post Five Common Beginning Writer Storytelling Mistakes appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
February 14, 2021
Why You Shouldn’t Live with a Fictional Romantic Hero … During a Pandemic
A romantic hero is great on Valentine’s Day, but will ever-aftering be happy? by Tara Sparling Introduction: We love our romantic heroes, both on the page and onscreen. But what would it be like to truly live with one in real life… during a pandemic? It’s Valentine’s Day. And for the first time in forever, […]
The post Why You Shouldn’t Live with a Fictional Romantic Hero … During a Pandemic appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
February 7, 2021
Is Your Novel Ready to Publish? 12 Signs You’re Still in the Learning Phase of Your Writing Career
Are you ready to publish? by Anne R. Allen If you’ve used the pandemic lockdown as a time to write that novel you always knew you had in you, congratulations! You’ve taken the depressing, horrific lemon that was 2020 and turned it into literary lemonade. You deserve a great big “Congrats!” and several pats on […]
The post Is Your Novel Ready to Publish? 12 Signs You’re Still in the Learning Phase of Your Writing Career appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
January 31, 2021
We’ve Got Mail—Nice, Nasty, and Just Plain Nutty. Writers Review Readers.
by Ruth Harris My encounters with reader mail go back a long way. My first job as a very young editor at Bantam included slogging through the slush pile and answering reader mail. No internet or email those days. Everything was done the old fashioned way — by hand. I’ve written before about my adventures in […]
The post We’ve Got Mail—Nice, Nasty, and Just Plain Nutty. Writers Review Readers. appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
January 24, 2021
Authors: Know Your Rights! Key Provisions in a Publishing Contract
by Joseph Perry You finally received the call from your agent that you’re going to be a published author. Congratulations! All the hard work and months (or years) of attending workshops, writers’ groups, and revising and revising again have paid off. As excited as you may be, the next step, negotiating the publishing agreement, may […]
The post Authors: Know Your Rights! Key Provisions in a Publishing Contract appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
January 17, 2021
The Six Online Bios Every Author Needs
by Nate Hoffleder If you Google author bios you will find a million different articles, each with their own recommendation. Be short and too the point. Use the third person. Simply say who you are, and give your publishing credits. Be formulaic. A lot of this advice is good, but I also think it is […]
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