Anne R. Allen's Blog, page 44
October 30, 2016
Slang, Jargon and Insider Lingo: 11 Ways to Find the Language that Brings Fiction to Life
Slang, jargon, insider lingo and the perfect word make dialogue authentic and put your dancers en pointe. by Ruth Harris 1. A few words about words: Big words and little words. Everyday words and words for special occasions. Polite words and the other kind. The right words, well considered and well chosen, can take a […]
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October 23, 2016
Book Titles: 10 Tips for Choosing the Right Title for Your Book
Book titles are tough. Even the greats don’t always get them right. by Anne R. Allen Book titles are so important. Would the novels Trimalchio in West Egg, First Impressions, or Private Flemming, His Various Battles have succeeded if their publishers hadn’t changed the titles to The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, and The Red Badge […]
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October 16, 2016
Amazon’s New Review Rules: Should Authors Be Worried?
Amazon’s New Review Rules: Nobody expects the Amazon Inquisition! by Anne R. Allen Amazon has been tweaking its customer review rules. Some revisions appeared in late September and others debuted early in October. So how do they affect authors? Should we be worried? Is the Amazon Review Inquisition going to excommunicate more reviewers and banish our reviews? […]
The post Amazon’s New Review Rules: Should Authors Be Worried? appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
October 9, 2016
Finish That Half-Written Novel! Here’s How to Fix those “Fatal Flaws”
Finish that novel! Janice Hardy can help. By Janice Hardy Fatal flaws can sink a story, but don’t lose hope if you find one in your novel. They require a bit of work to fix, but they usually are fixable. Review your manuscript objectively, pinpoint where the problem lies, and then take steps to […]
The post Finish That Half-Written Novel! Here’s How to Fix those “Fatal Flaws” appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
October 2, 2016
Fear of Success: 5 Signs You May Be Secretly Afraid of Publishing Success
Fear of success: If you never publish, you can keep believing Midnight in Paris is a documentary. by Anne R. Allen What is “Publishing Success?” Our culture attaches all sorts of romantic ideas to the business of writing. Beginning writers tend to conjure up nostalgic writer fantasies like Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris reveries and ignore the boring […]
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September 25, 2016
First Drafts: Are you a Plotter? Pantser? Somewhere In Between?
First drafts can be like mazes. The way through is never a straight line. by Ruth Harris A first draft is a maze you create that you have to find your way out of. Like a maze, the first draft doesn’t proceed in a straight line from start to finish, from beginning to end. In […]
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September 18, 2016
Email Marketing: 5 Things Authors Should NEVER Do
Email marketing: the Holy Grail of book sales or Spamalot? by Anne R. Allen Email marketing is the only way to sell stuff online these days, we’re told. Get yourself an email address list and customers will beat a path to your buy page door, desperate to buy your deathless prose. Authors are abandoning blogging […]
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September 11, 2016
Selling Books on Social Media: 4 Steps to Less Wasted Time
Selling books on social media can be a time-suck by Chris Syme A mind-boggling 78 percent of Americans have a social media profile. And a little over half of them are on more than one channel. It is a given that authors can develop loyal audiences and sell more books with the help of social media. […]
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September 4, 2016
Critique Groups: 6 Ways they May Hurt Your Writing…and 6 Ways they Can Help
Critique groups have their pros and cons. by Anne R. Allen I often advise new writers to join critique groups. Groups are usually free and they’re a great way to learn the basics of the writing craft. They can get writers out of their “writing garrets” and help newbies navigate the treacherous waters of the […]
The post Critique Groups: 6 Ways they May Hurt Your Writing…and 6 Ways they Can Help appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
August 28, 2016
Create Memorable Characters: The Secret’s in the Details
Create memorable characters using carefully chosen details by Ruth Harris The 20th Century architect, Mies van der Rohe, designer of iconic contemporary buildings like Crown Hall in Chicago and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC, and classic chairs like the Barcelona and Brno, said: “God is in the details.” His […]
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