Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 103

The Danger of Responding to Reviews

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Last week I read a Washington Post article about doctors who were angered by bad Yelp reviews from patients.  They fired back at these patients, revealing confidential information in the process. (“Doctors Fire Back at Bad Yelp Reviews–and Reveal Patients’ Information Online” by Charles Ornstein.)

The crux of this particular piece was that doctors who responded angrily to the patients were violating patient privacy.  But to me, it was just another reminder of the inherent danger of responding to reviews.  Any reviews.

It’s very difficult for me to imagine a time where an author comes out looking good after responding to reviews.

This doesn’t mean that I’m not itching to respond to some of my reviews.   I’ve received plenty of reviews that were downright irritating.  My most-reviewed book, Dyeing Shame, has 684 reviews.  684 mixed reviews.

Many times I wished I could argue in my own defense.  For example, I’d love to explain that Amazon’s shipping issues don’t actually reflect on my book’s content or quality.

But there wasn’t a single instance in which I felt my response wouldn’t sound argumentative, thin-skinned, condescending, or downright priggish. Or even arrogant, like some of the defensive doctors in the Washington Post story.

Commenting on good reviews?  For me, that’s also a bad idea, although I didn’t think so when I was first published.  Now I consider it author intrusion of a different sort.  Most reviews are intended by readers for readers.  They’re hardly ever directed at me.

The one time in my memory that I’ve responded to comments was very recent.  It was for my trad-published book, Pretty is as Pretty Dies.  The publisher suddenly updated the digital file and, in the process, omitted chapter seventeen and included two chapter sixteens.  As you can imagine, readers were dinging me over this.  I was baffled because this book has been live since 2010.  I immediately contacted the publisher to correct it.  Then I set to apologizing to the readers who complained…offering to email them the missing chapter immediately from my own draft from over six years ago.   This is the only time I felt it was appropriate for me to respond…not to defend myself, but to apologize and offer a fix.

Reviews do have their place.  Glowing reader reviews can be an important part of our editorial review section on our book’s page on Amazon and other retailers.  We can tally our best reviews to make marketing statements: “100+ 5-star reviews!”  We can learn from our bad reviews, if they have something valuable to impart to us.

And, for me anyway,  practice the challenging art of patience while remaining silent.

Have you had any reviews you’ve been itching to respond to?  Do you read your reviews at all?  Have there been times in which you did respond to reviews or felt you needed to?  How did that go?  What’s your own policy on responding to reviews?

The danger of responding to reviews:
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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

The Secret of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë : http://ow.ly/Qpzb300rvhY @JudithShulevitz @TheAtlantic

Do Overused Words Lose Their Meaning?  http://ow.ly/4kUg300rvqw @asap_jonathon @flavorwire

3 Marketing Fallacies That Writers Should Be Wary Of:  http://ow.ly/afs1300rvyB @DanBlank

Instagram is changing the way we buy and sell books:  http://ow.ly/7OvA300rvDp @jopiazza @dailydot

The Ultimate Guide To Using Trello As A Writer:  http://ow.ly/to13300oXW7 @misfitalexa

5 Easy Techniques to Bulk Up a Paper-Thin Character:  http://ow.ly/3O38300p1xd @ZoeMMcCarthy               

The Bug Sheet: An Editing Process Your Writing Will Thank You For http://ow.ly/96Vx300p20s @katekrake @writeturninfo”

How to crowdfund your book:  http://ow.ly/PpBR300p5kk  @BenGalley @publishingtalk

Reading the Literary City:  http://ow.ly/jNix300rdLg @TobiasCarroll

Ebook Conversion Online:  http://ow.ly/fPyP300rvaY @dkudler

Which Social Media Channel Sells The Most Books? http://ow.ly/83eK300rv8E  @BadRedheadMedia

Check Your Scribd Sales for a Pleasant Surprise:  http://ow.ly/ho4M300rv5Q @Jason_Matthews

We Need More First-Hand Books About Urban Poverty: http://ow.ly/34AW300rdCY @RealLiveCritic @thelithub

Editing and Editors: A Writer’s Guide:  http://ow.ly/96ZF300UIRR @RuthHarrisBooks

How to build an effective content strategy:  http://ow.ly/Hdi6300p4A0 @publishingtalk @jonreed

Think Twice About Hosting a Telesummit or Accepting an Invitation to Speak:  http://ow.ly/S3sl300Tz0J @taragentile

Basing Characters on Real People Without Getting into Trouble:  http://ow.ly/dwrE300p1Vd @katekrake @writeturninfo

5 Cases: How to Write Infrequent Phrases:  http://ow.ly/edtP300p1oe @ZoeMMcCarthy

4 Ways Camp NaNoWriMo (Upcoming in July) Will Improve Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/vwI0300oXRJ @misfitalexa

Don’t Hate the Query Letter: Master It:  http://ow.ly/6V4Z300rv32 @AnnieNeugebauer

3 Steps to Parlaying Random Encounters Into Book Sales (Without Being Pushy):  http://ow.ly/XXGJ300ruZe  @NicoleCDFauthor

Evaluating Our Website’s SEO:  http://ow.ly/Ra3I300Tf8q

It’s Time to Ditch Discoverability:  http://ow.ly/SQgo300ruV3 @jamesscottbell

Secrets of the Book Designer: “Sometimes I Don’t Read the Whole Book”:  http://ow.ly/swCg300SNHf @thelithub by Oliver Munday

26 Obvious Signs You’re a Writer:  http://ow.ly/uCD8300tBfn @jesslaw

“The Boxcar Children” and the Spirit of Capitalism:  http://ow.ly/FDXg300SNsh @jiatolentino @NewYorker

Authors on Twitter: 43 Stunning Header Image Examples:  http://ow.ly/GHEw300tB87 @DianaUrban

3 Writing Tips We Can Learn from Beyoncé:  http://ow.ly/7VCF300tB1B @monicamclark

George R. R. Martin and what an author owes his readers: http://ow.ly/TIae300T6Qe @austinkleon

Starting an Email Newsletter:  http://ow.ly/fkwc300ruSP @kikimojo @JaneFriedman

Building Your Professional Author Website: WordPress vs Squarespace:  http://ow.ly/gnJu300ruKF @wingmanwebworks @JaneFriedman

The Suicide Memoir: a Brief Look at a Dark Genre:  http://ow.ly/eRX7300rdtl by Candace Opper

How to write science fiction:  http://ow.ly/is6F300p5YQ @MDeAbaitua @publishingtalk

6 ways to overcome procrastination and beat writers’ block http://ow.ly/qhK1300p4LM @Eva_Bec @publishingtalk

The Rule of 3 (And How it Helps Our Writing):  http://ow.ly/RU8a300oTIp @Janice_Hardy

5 Cases: How to Write Infrequent Phrases: http://ow.ly/RrAm300oUw7  @ZoeMMcCarthy

Sweden’s Successful Subscription Service: http://ow.ly/WXqL300RuEE @storytel @MarieBilde @pubperspectives

Write a Book Without Losing Your Mind: 10 Tips: http://ow.ly/SLbw300oUbS @jenny_blake

101 Writing Tips To Improve Your Writing Today:  http://ow.ly/4UAh300oUnZ @BryanJCollins

Multilingual Wordsmiths: @lydia_davis  and Translationese:  http://ow.ly/Sg6l300oV3V

Actually, Criticism Is Literature:  http://ow.ly/QrRl300RusK @jrc2666 @thelithub

How to Define Your Creativity and Be a Better Writer:  http://ow.ly/hoPV300oUCP  @katekrake  @writeturninfo

Writing Dialogue, And How It Relates To Plot And Character:  http://ow.ly/NWsB300oU1S @ChuckWendig

Treating Your Setting as a Character:  http://ow.ly/NLjq300PT26 @QuillShift

5 Ways Handwriting Will Make You A Better Writer: http://ow.ly/maoa300oUkY @misfitalexa

Are You Taking Time to Breathe and Be? http://ow.ly/yVDn300mvAY @JanalynVoigt

Remove hedging words from your manuscript: http://ow.ly/sJdx300oU8m @JerryBJenkins  @CSLakin

Using Alternative Media Formats in Your Novel (such as comics) http://ow.ly/48UR300oUY0 @LauraWMcCaffrey @MartinaABoone

5 ways to boost your creativity:  http://ow.ly/8PQR300oUAb @pubcoach

8 Tips for How to Write Child Characters:  http://ow.ly/s6s8300oTRo @KMWeiland

6 Ways To Self-Edit & Polish Your Prose:  http://ow.ly/nDsl300oUga @KristenLambTX

Nielsen Stages a First Romance Book Summit at RWA:  http://ow.ly/GbzW300FKbd @Porter_Anderson @Nielsen

A Snapshot of The Philippines as a Reading Nation:  http://ow.ly/XAPH300OhVr @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

The Hot Sheet: industry newsletter for authors (30 day free trial): from @Porter_Anderson & @JaneFriedman: http://ow.ly/mmQv300OivO

Crime Writers: Crime Scenes: Writing and Processing:  Chat with @CalebPirtle and @SueColetta1  @ 3pm EDT Wednesdays #ACrimeChat

5 Ways To Renew Faith In Your Work And Yourself: http://ow.ly/tzJi300BwlA @colleen_m_story

BookBub and Goodreads: Worldwide Expansion, Ads,Deals to Increase Discoverability:  http://ow.ly/eRuH300Oh8l @Porter_Anderson @suzanneskyvara

How Science Fiction Redefines Who We Are, and What We’re Becoming: http://ow.ly/exO0300mn5D @SteveToutonghi @thelithub

Real Housewives of Jane Austen: How ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘Kardashians’ Emulate Austen’s Work:  http://ow.ly/qjug300Nxbl @sophieGG @TheAtlantic

Are You Being Taken Advantage of as a Writer? http://ow.ly/h40g300mnJb @Janice_Hardy

Horror most profound: The many layers to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic ‘The Birds’: http://ow.ly/SnMF300mo7T @GChintamani @firstpost

5 Tips for Sparking Creativity Through Writing Pro-Bono Work http://ow.ly/BpEC300mnWQ @thevolcanodiary

Media Kits for Writers: A Beginner’s Guide: http://ow.ly/umiG300moAT @allindiewriters

Place Matters in Lit Fic: http://ow.ly/2Iin300mnln @pshares  by  Bryan Washington

10 Tips for Guest Blogging: http://ow.ly/I6lv300mvm5 @annerallen

Time Management for Writers:  http://ow.ly/QOf9300mnTy  @katemoretti1

The unstoppable wave of ‘girl’-titled books: http://ow.ly/stOR300mndm @robinwasserman  @thelithub

Are Books on the Writing Craft Worth it?  http://ow.ly/r9Hb300muXB @Lindasclare

Creating Easy Branded Images for Your Blog and Social Media: http://ow.ly/trRu300mmVN @kikimojo @JaneFriedman

What Modern Horror Filmmakers Can Learn From The Twilight Zone”:  http://ow.ly/AwVV300mokQ @brendanmorrow  @BDisgusting”

Middle Eastern Writers Find Refuge in the Dystopian Novel:  http://ow.ly/qlvn300Lz4o @xanalter @nytimes

Why shorter is better for writing: http://ow.ly/sQnJ300LyT3 @p2p_editor

When No One Shows Up To Your Reading:  http://ow.ly/sXM5300LyHV @TheNormanNation @thelithub

INscribe Introduces INdemand for Publishers: A ‘Faster, Easier Path Into Print?’   http://ow.ly/7Hs8300FK57 @Porter_Anderson

Why Write in Poetic Form?  http://ow.ly/sQ54300hbGw @hinxminx @PoetryFound

27 Blogging Tips To Grow Your Business:  http://ow.ly/9KgO300jQs7 @Writers_Write

Why pictures matter in picture books:  http://ow.ly/1gv1300jQng by Claudia Cangilla McAdam

Why Are All the Cartoon Mothers Dead?  http://ow.ly/WUl8300jRp2 by Sarah Boxer @TheAtlantic

4 Tips to Keep Your Writing Momentum:  http://ow.ly/I4jO300jRgF @soniaroth

Head-Hopper POV: An Example and Correction:  http://ow.ly/wEct300jQDb by Tina L. Jens

How the Best Commencement Speech of All Time Was Bad for Literature:  http://ow.ly/zXX8300jQhh by Emily Harnett @thelithub

How to Build an Author Business: http://ow.ly/paSj300jQv8 @HelenSedwick  @thecreativepenn

Telling a Story Within a Story:  http://ow.ly/H3cM300jR47 by Anne Marie Gazzolo

Building an Author Website on WordPress: How to Start Smart:  http://ow.ly/ffpM300jQ4P @JaneFriedman

Focusing on Small Details:  http://ow.ly/Fe2c300jR9F @AJHumpage

How to Build an Audience for Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/m7jF300jRdX @FauziaBurke

How to Write Powerful Flashbacks: http://ow.ly/oQoN300hauk by Marry McAleavey

Plot Obstacles: Too Easy, Too Difficult, or Just Right?  http://ow.ly/wd3q300ha6X @JamiGold

The ethics of novelizing autobiography: http://ow.ly/CCL3300ham9 @diski

How to Launch a Book on Facebook:  http://ow.ly/iYzo300Hyfi @amebuckley @IndieAuthorALLI

3 Things We Can Learn From Marvel’s Civil War:  http://ow.ly/tqC3300ha8W @tamsinsilver

Avoid this plotting pitfall when writing drafts at speed:  http://ow.ly/2t4o300F3bO @Roz_Morris

What Makes an Essay American?  http://ow.ly/V0qU300haE0  @vcunningham @newyorker

Book Plot vs. Character Arc and How To Reconcile the Two:  http://ow.ly/Gi6H300evX2 @monicaleonelle

How plot grips us, from Dickens to Game of Thrones:  http://ow.ly/qgSO300hbPp by John Mullan @GuardianBooks

Don’t Accidentally Give Your Characters a Time Out:  http://ow.ly/Scyw300ha4c @LisaCron

How to Write Characters Who Don’t Sound Like You:  http://ow.ly/jQnn300haxY @Janice_Hardy

Royalty Clauses in Publishing Deals: How (& How Much) Authors Get Paid:  http://ow.ly/1kjJ300haAf @SusanSpann

How to get a great book contract in 5 steps:  http://ow.ly/rLeq300hacA by Ron Van Cleave

Reading Proust on a Cell Phone: http://ow.ly/2kuW300hbwH by Sarah Boxer @TheAtlantic

Do Print Books Have a Future in Tomorrow’s Classroom? http://ow.ly/lmbp300Eebd @nealgoff @bookbusinessmag

Books’ Prices and Writing’s Value: Careful What We Asked For? http://ow.ly/FFnK300HycH @Porter_Anderson @WriterUnboxed

Winning the World’s Largest Online Writing Contest:  http://ow.ly/RmSV300Hy3G @ReedsyHQ @oakenthoughts

How to Deal With an Unending Shift in Priorities:  http://ow.ly/INL8300ew3y @monicaleonelle

Beat Writer’s Block with Grimms’ Fairy Tales:  http://ow.ly/ok6l300evOW @Jffelkins

Tips For Writing Emotion With @cjlyonswriter  http://ow.ly/UR8A300evIx @thecreativepenn

The @nytimes is doing a series on writing spaces called ‘A Writer’s Room’: http://ow.ly/SxKa300EbvO

Smarter Storytelling Framework:  http://ow.ly/Flwr300evBO @monicaleonelle

Productivity of pulp writers: http://ow.ly/Zc7P300evox @DeanWesleySmith

The top writing links of last week are on Twitterific:
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Evaluating Our Website’s SEO

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve recently become very interested in how my site, books, and bio show up in Google searches.  This interest in search engine optimization, or SEO, has led me to make some changes on my site.

I read about a free tool called the SEO Site Checkup tool in Jane Friedman’s Electric Speed newsletter (click here for the archives to see if her newsletter might work for you).  I typed in my website name, clicked ‘checkup,’ and it delivered a list of issues that I should resolve to improve my SEO.

The way it was set up was very informative.  It provides passed checks (what I’m doing right and why it’s right,  failed checks, and warnings.  Each area that my site performed poorly on had a red, clickable box with ‘how to fix’ on it. I learned both from what I was (accidentally, I’m sure) doing right and what I was doing wrong from the fix it offered.

I read a lot of articles on the importance of search engines being able to find our books, our sites, and our bios. But frequently, the articles don’t outline ways to improve what we’re doing.  Even increasing the image size to optimize it for Google (and so that the post will stand out when being shared on social media) helped the SEO…and that was a minor, easy tweak.  Other tips involved creating a favicon for the site (icon representing the site in a bookmark or browser tab).  Others might get tips to make their site easier to read on mobile devices, etc.

It only takes about a minute for the site to check your SEO (and it’s free to check a single site):  SEO Site Checkup tool .  How does yours fare?

Evaluating our website's SEO:
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Twitterific Writing Links

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 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Thanks to those heroes who sacrificed their lives in military service.   I’ll be away  tomorrow for Memorial Day but back on the blog on Friday. 

Infinite Complexity: On Translating David Foster Wallace into Greek:  http://ow.ly/yL9H300z9cf @ScottEsposito @thelithub

Essentials For Self-Publishing Authors: 7 Must-Haves:  http://ow.ly/OpXN300ev6p @KifferBrown @IndieAuthorALLI

13 Tips for the Writing Newbie:  http://ow.ly/Qiw5300d443 @LZMarieAuthor

How to Use Guest Blogging to Promote Your Book: http://ow.ly/Jtgg300d47M @BethJHayden for @janefriedman

8 Writing Lessons from Hamilton: The Revolution:  http://ow.ly/WeXI300d4g1  @robwhart @thelithub               

All About Google+ For Writers:  http://ow.ly/5BR3300d4aC @111publishing

How to Choose a Blog Topic That’s Pre-Programmed for Success: http://ow.ly/Js20300d46d by Jason Gracia

Planning Your Story: What George Lucas Can Teach You (Not) to Do: http://ow.ly/EXUQ300d42Z @KMWeiland

On Translating Stoner in Japan:  http://ow.ly/z4tT300zaYP by Motoyuki Shibata

Why we should be selfish with our time:  http://ow.ly/IF0q300evtm @InkyBites

How the writer edits:  Julian Barnes’s method: http://ow.ly/SzDN300E76x @FreemanReads @thelithub

Turn your Facebook page into a marketing tool:  http://ow.ly/TG82300d3CZ @Bookgal

Writing:  When It’s Not Like a Movie:  http://ow.ly/kSGJ300d3F0 @joeberhardt

The Art of Paying Attention:  http://ow.ly/Opaf300d664 @sarahrcallender

3 Ways That Handwriting With A Pen Positively Affects Your Brain:  http://ow.ly/nRqn300euDo by Nancy Olson @Forbes

Who’s buying books? How are they finding them? Data from @Nielsen:  http://ow.ly/K2VW300FK01 @Porter_Anderson  @pubperspectives

Understanding our writing process:  http://ow.ly/xb63300euVm @DianeMacKinnon

10 Amazing Tools For Indie Authors:  http://ow.ly/H7jw300evbu @PaulTeagueUK @IndieAuthorALLI

How 1 Writer Failed at Promoting a Novel with Amazon Advertising: http://ow.ly/fC6k300GvjX  @ReedsyHQ @eliotpeper

Do Authors Need A Media Kit?  http://ow.ly/ONKt300d49S @111publishing

Conference Collisions: Spread Out Publishing Cons:  http://ow.ly/7D3j300FJS1 @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Can We Support Women in Publishing Without ‘De-Supporting’ Men?:  http://ow.ly/7FQJ300d3NQ @Porter_Anderson

How to Become a Novelist: 10 Top Authors’ Tips: http://ow.ly/toPr300d4eZ @nownovel

10 Can-Do Traits Every Writer Needs: http://ow.ly/w59z300d44Q @LZMarieAuthor

30 Top Book Writing Tips:  http://ow.ly/vuIG300d4e6 @nownovel

Pursuing other agents after an offer of representation falls through:  http://ow.ly/Svfb300d40r @Janet_Reid

At the GrubStreet Writers of Color Roundtable: http://ow.ly/6yMN300E7x9 by Swati Khurana

What is Literary Fiction?  http://ow.ly/acvW300d3hX  @VinitaNangia @timesofindia

Paring Down Your Social Media Presence: http://ow.ly/9dRt300F4jw

Why Write Flash Fiction?  http://ow.ly/iCMO300d3f9 @PBRWriter

The Benefits of Tracking Your Time:  http://ow.ly/twAk300d3jT @RoniLoren

The 6-Month Book: From Concept to First Draft Completion: http://ow.ly/SW6h300eus7 @amiemccracken @IndieAuthorALLI

We Need More Diverse Superheroes:  http://ow.ly/ECZB300d33a @DavidWalker1201  by Maurice Boyer @PublishersWkly

Tips to avoid discussing your WIP with others:  http://ow.ly/YBTd300d3qQ @lyndacloigman

The 16 Most Misleading Book Covers Of All Time:  http://ow.ly/2TeY300EWVm @bustle  @CharlotteAhlin

When a Novelist Becomes an Ultramarathoner:  http://ow.ly/nlSA300E6TG @ahream @thelithub

Here’s Where Innovative Publishers Need to Focus:  http://ow.ly/1JG8300EdO8  @jwikert @bookbusinessmag

Characters whose situations prefigure fates that might await the hero:  http://ow.ly/nGPr300c9J0 @CockeyedCaravan

Do Americans Hate Foreign Fiction?  http://ow.ly/yrpT300z90R @anjalienjeti @thelithub

7 Bad Excuses for Putting Off Writing:  http://ow.ly/ZCQi3009X1q @JerryBJenkins

5 Tips For Writing Cross Genre: http://ow.ly/Oc1Y300d324 @thecreativepenn

How To Write A Book When You Have A Full-Time Job:  http://ow.ly/Hasy300d3mV @gregdybec @EliteDaily

What’s your writing persona?  http://ow.ly/wDsY300d3tw @LZMarieAuthor

Character Archetypes: “The Wizard of Oz”: http://ow.ly/sJf33009XuL @GoIntoTheStory

Sell More Books with Audible Clips (video):  http://ow.ly/X0Xa300aqy3 @MichaelLaRonn

3 Legs of Fiction Writing:  http://ow.ly/d3zc3009WTY @Lindasclare

5 Unusual Strategies to Capture Readers:  http://ow.ly/Bgss3009XdW @kikolani

5 Ways to Prevent Back Issues for Writers and 8 Exercises to Help:  http://ow.ly/33qj300Bwcj @colleen_m_story

Contemporary Innovators of the Short Story: A Reading List:  http://ow.ly/O89j3009X9l  @Rebecca_Schiff  @ElectricLit

High Concept Defined:  http://ow.ly/Ys7k3009WX3 @Lindasclare

6 Ways To Tell the Difference Between a Supportive and Toxic Writer:  http://ow.ly/DELn3009Xh7 @DCampoamor  @WritersDigest

A Translator on the Challenge of Genderless Characters: http://ow.ly/fLek3009b5M @StefHayes1 @TheAtlantic

Greek writers revolutionizing poetry in the age of austerity:  http://ow.ly/BO2u3009aW6  @martabausells @elenistefanou

4 Tips To Craft a Killer Novella:  http://ow.ly/o6cI3009WRk  @EM_Denning

Writing Lessons From Benjamin Franklin:  http://ow.ly/9u7G3009XkM @hodgeswriter

5 Ways to Use Dialogue to Spice Up The Middle of Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/orRh3009Xx0 @MartinaABoone

20+ Social Media Hacks and Tips From the Pros: http://ow.ly/B8lp3009XYA  @LisaDJenkins @SMExaminer

Bolder and Brighter Book Covers: Right Now, It’s All About Yellow: http://ow.ly/ox8d300z7U7 @lucy_feldman @WSJ

How to Save the Cat:  http://ow.ly/MFPE3009XV9 @briannehogan @CreativeScreen

Beating Block and Fostering Flow:  http://ow.ly/fiP0300eukG @thebookwright @IndieAuthorALLI

The Magic of 20 Minutes: http://ow.ly/AVvI300p3QV @michaelnobbs

Against Neutrality, Capital Letters, and Easy Translation:  http://ow.ly/wswz30085xn @dclarkwithane @worldlittoday

Elements of journal plots: http://ow.ly/QKXm30084hN @HeatherJacksonW

The Man Who Made the Novel:  http://ow.ly/11oL30085Uc  @adellewaldman @NewYorker

12 Steps From Inspiration to Finished Novel:  http://ow.ly/YxJF300eucQ @SueJohnson9 @IndieAuthorALLI

Cutting the Fat from Your Story:  http://ow.ly/u4n6300871q @RayneHall

Did Melville’s Illicit Romance Float ‘Moby-Dick’? http://ow.ly/YVjI300yZzD @Brenda_Cronin @WSJ

The Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Newsletter and Email List:  http://ow.ly/efV330086BM @patflynn

A Writer Hopes to Write Himself Out of Crushing Despair:  http://ow.ly/qqbG300z1lA @amzoltai

“Why I Quit Being a Writer”:  http://ow.ly/r0PM30086Ul by Jaime Clarke @thelithub

The Ideal Marriage, According to Novels:  http://ow.ly/Rmp130085YX @adellewaldman @NewYorker

How (and When) to Develop Multiple Streams of Writing Income:  http://ow.ly/anrL30086F7 @aliventures

Elements of gothic fiction:  http://ow.ly/f0y330084fa @RobinRWrites

Interview with @mark_haddon on banned books, hate speech and childhood memories:  http://ow.ly/Pnf830084sI @danpjsheehan

Why 1 Writer Reads Her Goodreads Reviews:  http://ow.ly/lov730086I0 @theladygreer

How To Use Audio as an Author For Book Sales and Marketing: http://ow.ly/5fTl30086mH @thecreativepenn

Curation in a world with too many things to read: http://ow.ly/muUx300woeL  @MarkPiesing with Michael Baskhar @pubperspectives

How to Find and Inspire Your Super Fans:  http://ow.ly/C5zM300eu0i @Bookgal @IndieAuthorALLI

In the UK, A ‘Settling Down Rather Than a Reversal’ of Digital Reading:  http://ow.ly/pQcj300wnRD @Porter_Anderson @benedictepage

The most common words in poetry:  http://ow.ly/rYBg300wiZh by Joanne Jeffries and Julian Yanover @My_poetic_side

The Power of Sitting Still:  http://ow.ly/WUhB300p3Ib @michaelnobbs

If You’re a Writer You May be an Empath:  http://ow.ly/Hvza300uSCc @p2p_editor

Plots with closed settings: http://ow.ly/JRI73006jZN @RobinRWrites

Creating Your Main Character:  http://ow.ly/5A193006kjj from The Writing Hole

Disorganized? How One Freelance Writer Uses Trello to Track Her Ideas:  http://ow.ly/77N83006koM @decorcione

Turning your FB page into a marketing tool: http://ow.ly/zOna3006klb @Bookgal

What Children’s Publishers Want:  http://ow.ly/uKUX3006k3o by Jill Roman Lord

How to Make the Magic in Your Story Magical: http://ow.ly/RPNb3006kpY @RidethePen

5 of the Most Creative Monsters:  http://ow.ly/VYo73006kcQ @GarthJennings

Happy ending plots: http://ow.ly/lq2w3006jUf @HeatherJacksonW

4 Mistakes to Avoid When Using Mailchimp:  http://ow.ly/bxDe3006kgy @sacha_black

5 Tips For Indie Book Promotion:  http://ow.ly/7vZQ3006kxX @HelenScheuerer

The Multiple Personalities of Omniscient 3rd Person: Spotlight on “Head-Hopper” : http://ow.ly/HNJO3006kCW by Tina L. Jens @BlackGateDotCom

A digital content strategist on archiving projects for major magazines:  http://ow.ly/26BD300uftD @erinlcox @pubperspectives @MattDellinger

5 Illogical Design Choices in Spaceships:  http://ow.ly/kvWZ30057st by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

What it Takes to Run a Small Press: ‘A Lot of Lonely Labor’:  http://ow.ly/CRho300ub13 @DennisAbrams2 @pubperspectives

Tips for local book marketing:  http://ow.ly/IawO300etTa @DebbieYoungBN @IndieAuthorALLI

Building Your Facebook Fan Page:  http://ow.ly/aPdT3002aRs @JAHuss

Stroll your way to a more satisfying creative life:  http://ow.ly/fT7I300p3Cg @michaelnobbs

Inbox Zero: A Tried and True Secret (video):  http://ow.ly/NiNi3002btk @Schmittastic

Setting as a Vehicle for Conflict:  http://ow.ly/q9dA300ty1G @beccapuglisi

Writers share their personal turning points and best book promo advice:  http://ow.ly/LH0Q300u6QD @SpunkOnAStick @DancingLemurPre

How cultures can impact crime fiction: http://ow.ly/IYD9300u6n7 @mkinberg

Top 100 Short Story Ideas:  http://ow.ly/zOK53002bne @joebunting

5 Tips on Turning Pro for Writers from Steven Pressfield:  http://ow.ly/WOKg30057kp  @lornafaith

Jane Austen’s Ivory Cage:  http://ow.ly/97Hr30056pP @MikitaBrottman @TheAmScho

How to Promote a Memoir:  http://ow.ly/XqsI300skZU @sorenarded @ReedsyHQ

Virginia Woolf on how affection for an author is based on more than their stories: http://ow.ly/4Tz6300562V  @voguemagazine

The 5 Most Common Mistakes I See in Beginners’ Manuscripts:  http://ow.ly/sSvW3002bq0 @JerryBJenkins

How to become a children’s book illustrator: 7 secrets for success:  http://ow.ly/b4Pg300p5rc @2dscumptious @publishingtalk

How To Use Audio as an Author For Book Sales and Marketing:  http://ow.ly/GcTo3002aUU @thecreativepenn

How to Deal With an Unending Shift in Priorities:  http://ow.ly/sc3E3002aHC @monicaleonelle

A Non-Designer’s Guide to Creating Engaging Images for Social Media:  http://ow.ly/CbkK3002bkc @RoyBoss  @buffer

How to Launch a Book: http://ow.ly/mBYS30029Sx @JAHuss

Entire Originality Workshop Now On YouTube:  http://ow.ly/q6XE30029YH @DeanWesleySmith

Book Plot vs. Character Arc and How To Reconcile the Two:  http://ow.ly/r2lG3002a1u @monicaleonelle

15 Ways to Boost Your Social Media Marketing in Under an Hour:  http://ow.ly/jrgd3002abG @Ashread_  @buffer

A Description Mistake to Avoid: http://ow.ly/nQmY30029Pr @JerryBJenkins

The top writing links of last week are on Twitterific:
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Paring Down Your Social Media Presence

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Do you have a social media presence that is gathering cobwebs and making it hard for you to sleep at night?  Okay, maybe you’re not losing sleep over it, but it’s on your mind or somehow making you feel guilty?

Here is a terrific website that takes you directly to the page you need to delete your presence on that particular platform: http://justdelete.me/  . The site bills itself as “A directory of direct links to delete your account from web services.”

I set up, with the best intentions, a Facebook profile for a pen name in 2009 or early 2010.  I can say now that it was a tremendous mistake.  I already knew that I didn’t enjoy spending time on Facebook (I had a personal profile on the site).  Plus, I soon set up a page for myself on Facebook under my real name.  I simply couldn’t keep up with several Facebook profiles on top of maintaining a presence on Twitter, my blog,  Goodreads, LinkedIn, and Google Plus, among other places.

Because I was so rarely on the pen name Facebook profile, I missed a lot.  Readers would write on my wall, asking about upcoming releases.  They’d message me.  I was getting so many notifications from Facebook on the three profiles that many times these important communications from readers would get lost in the shuffle.

I’d sign in every couple of months to find that I had 20 or more friend requests or messages. Since I’m someone who usually stays on top of communications from readers, this stressed me out.

And yet!  I continued to hang onto the account.  That’s mainly because I felt my author page on Facebook was more for writers than for readers.

I finally, a week ago, sat down and really considered the issue.  Of course people were trying to communicate with me on that neglected profile.  That’s because I wasn’t trying to shift them somewhere else.  I realized the profile had been a continual problem from the start and it needed to be deleted.

There was a real sense of relief after I received this hardly earth-shattering revelation.  I immediately logged into the account, winced at all the missed friend requests, etc., and asked readers to like my page or follow me on Instagram (which I’m developing as a place where I can interact with readers).  I had a good response to this request and, several days later, I took steps to delete the account.

Specifically for Facebook:
From Facebook:
To deactivate your account:


Click the account menu at the top right of any Facebook page.
Select Settings.
Click Security in the left column.
Choose Deactivate your account then follow the steps to confirm.

Or, to delete (again, from Facebook):

“If you do not think you will use Facebook again and would like your account deleted, we can take care of this for you. Keep in mind that you will not be able to reactivate your account or retrieve any of the content or information you have added.

If you would still like your account deleted, click “Delete My Account”.”

Do you have a neglected social media platform that makes you feel guilty? How thin are you stretched online?

Reduce stress by paring down your social media presence:
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Setting as a Vehicle for Conflict

by Becca Puglisi, @BeccaPuglisi

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that a good book should have conflict in every scene. This is wise advice, since well-written conflict begets tension for our characters, which can be passed on to readers, who will sense a rise in energy as they feel that nervous, jittery sensation signaling them that something is going on. We all want readers to have that heightened awareness and interest when they’re reading our stories, and a good way to bring that about is through conflict.

While the most obvious source of conflict is an antagonist who opposes our hero and his goal, it’s simply not reasonable (or sensible) to drag him into every chapter. As a result, we have to find other struggles that make sense for each scene. It may not seem like the most intuitive choice, but I’d like to propose that the setting is one of the handiest sources of conflict, for a number of reasons. First, every scene has a setting, so it’s already built into your story. And with the sources of conflict inherently included in each location, there’s no need to fabricate them—no lengthy set-up involved to put these difficulties into your protagonist’s path. If you’re wondering what sources of conflict I’m referring to, consider the following:

Physical Roadblocks

This kind of conflict is great because it’s so literal. Washed-out roads, a blizzard, the parade that shuts down half a city’s streets—all these obstacles keep the protagonist from getting where he physically needs to be. And roadblocks like these are easily incorporated into a variety of settings. Keep in mind, too, that literal obstructions don’t have to be large and impressive to be effective. A locked door or a small but loud dog can provide the resistance necessary to make things difficult for your character.

Mirrors to a Painful Past

Everyone has baggage—including our characters, if we’ve done our job well in the backstory department. While every location has conflict, there should be some settings that are especially problematic for your protagonist. Forcing him to revisit one of these places at a pivotal point in your story can act as a trigger, heightening his emotions and encouraging a bigger, more dramatic response.

Consider John Rambo, from the movie First Blood. Being arrested on a technicality by a prejudicial sheriff wouldn’t be a pleasant experience for anyone, but most people could navigate the situation and bring it to a resolution. For Rambo, being locked up brings to mind his time as a POW. When he’s taunted by a group of officers and threatened with a straight razor—the same item used to torture him in Vietnam—he flips out. His current situation directly mirrors a traumatic experience from the past, and he reacts violently, setting in motion a series of events that can’t be undone or made right.

If you know your character’s past, you’ll know which settings can act as emotional triggers. To ramp up the conflict and tension in an important scene, have your protagonist revisit one of those places.

Peripheral Troublemakers

While the antagonist should be the Biggest Baddie in your story, there are plenty of other rabble-rousers that can make things difficult for your hero, and you don’t have to go far afield to find them. You usually don’t have to look past the people who naturally inhabit your setting.

Let’s take a fitness center, for instance—not exactly the most combative location. But there are so many people naturally found here who could provide conflict: inexperienced guests, demanding trainers, overzealous managers pushing memberships, competitive guests with huge egos, ‘roid-raging bodybuilders…the list goes on and on.

The truth is that every setting has its own built-in cast of troublemakers. So when it comes time to write a scene, ask yourself: what does my hero want to achieve here? Consider what kind of characters might get in his way, then pick a setting where those people abound, and voilà: instant conflict.

Family Dysfunction

It’s sad to say, but in real life, it’s not the strangers and acquaintances that cause us the most heartache and drama. Usually, it’s our family members. Because of our history with them, tension easily builds before they’ve even done anything. They’re great at pushing our buttons, and their constant proximity makes us more sensitive to their quirks and jabs.

If you’re looking to add some tension to a scene, set it in a location where certain family members are likely to turn up: the backyard, a child’s birthday party, the shopping mall, or at church. Then sit back and watch the sparks fly.

The beauty of using a setting to provide conflict is that you can approach it from a number of ways. One method is to choose a setting based on the conflict needs of your scene. With this approach, the location is flexible; it can be any of a number of places. As you plan out your scene, decide what brand of conflict is necessary and choose a locale that contains that kind of trouble. Alternatively, if you already have a place in mind for a given scene, look for naturally occurring sources of conflict within that setting and use them to ramp up the tension. Either way, the location you choose can provide a ton of realistic conflict for your story.

As you can see, the setting is an incredibly versatile tool that can do more than simply set the stage. Turn your lazy locale into a multitasking one by using it to ramp up the tension in every scene.

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels, including The Rural Setting Thesaurus and The Urban Setting Thesaurus, which will be available for purchase in June. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library filled with description and brainstorming tools to help writers elevate their storytelling. You can find Becca online at both of these spots, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

Setting as a vehicle for conflict by @BeccaPuglisi
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Twitterific Writing Links

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 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

How To Cheat on Your Writing Without Getting Caught:  http://ow.ly/3vaw3001hfg @Wordstrumpet

6 Ways to Make Your Writing More Cinematic:  http://ow.ly/nzMW3001hly by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

Giving Your Protagonist Tough Choices:  http://ow.ly/kDr63001her @ceciliaedits

Distribute More Books In More Territories:  http://ow.ly/CiBf300etHh @publishdrive @IndieAuthorALLI               

How to Worldbuild a Good Sandbox: 4 Rules from the 40K Universe: http://ow.ly/EGJ03001hfN @mharoldpage

How to Embrace Imperfection as a Writer http://ow.ly/uulF3001hcv @powellwriter

How to End a Chapter:  http://ow.ly/w8h43001hhS @jennienash

How to Tell the Difference Between a Scene and a Chapter: http://ow.ly/uxAY3001hj3 @jennienash

Unsung Heroes of the Poetry World:  http://ow.ly/6pH3300rdqq @clangswell @thelithub

Tips to Help You Write What You Know:  http://ow.ly/SN1Q3001hkL @CSLakin

How to Write Dialogue that Hooks Readers:  http://ow.ly/tehp3001h9M @nownovel

4 Writing Secrets Blatantly Stolen From Taylor Swift: http://ow.ly/1mYE3001hmF @Chris_Kokoski

Why We Must Write Introverted Characters:  http://ow.ly/2QuC3001hjL @livequiet

How Author Associations Help Your Self-Publishing Career:  http://ow.ly/UUhL300etLz @kimbookless @OrnaRoss

Worldbuilding: The Nihilistic Architect and the Negligent Gardener:  http://ow.ly/8roq3001hgP @ngfclark  @FantasyFaction

Mastering Your Author Persona:  http://ow.ly/dWSq3002a7W @Rachel_Aaron

Respect the Power of the Teenage Girl as a Writer: http://ow.ly/Z5cZ300rd3w @robinwasserman @imjasondiamond @thelithub

Writing Believable Action Scenes:  http://ow.ly/Qx553000AwC @NakedEditor

5 Books Where Assassins Are the Good Guys:  http://ow.ly/o52Z3000Axx @muirwoodwheeler

Reconstruct Your Criticism: Worksheet to Assess Feedback: http://ow.ly/JVwA3000Azg @EvaDeverell

Writing the Fool Triumphant:  http://ow.ly/dFWT3000ABW @HeatherJacksonW

Dissecting Books: Reading as a Writer:  http://ow.ly/NbAY3000ADR @MarcyKennedy

.@JessicaSaenger: Germany’s @boev backs Constitutional Court complaint (on Copyright): http://ow.ly/nFJW300p2T0  @Porter_Anderson

A Writer Learns to See Through Photography:  http://ow.ly/NyS83000Ab4 @swan_tower  @tordotcom

Quick tips for writing a book review, even if you’re not a reviewer: http://ow.ly/Q8kG300qE9j @rxena77

Managing a day job while writing 40 books and building a story universe platform with @jonguent:  http://ow.ly/IOIA300qDy6 @Hiveword

10 Tips on Navigating Twitter as an Indie Writer: http://ow.ly/QPK83000Amq @FlynnGrayWriter

.@Nielsen Data on the US Book Market: http://ow.ly/zEHl300p2qo @Porter_Anderson  @kemptonm  @pubperspectives

3 Tips for Writing Character Change:  http://ow.ly/s7FO3000Akv @HeatherJacksonW

10 Thriller Story Ideas:  http://ow.ly/i9GP3000Aab @RuthanneReid

9 Rookie Errors to Avoid When Plotting Your Novel: http://ow.ly/miaK300oTUF @Roz_Morris @IndieAuthorALLI

Social media: hate or love it? The pros and cons for writers:  http://ow.ly/dPZ8300p58c @EmilyBenet @publishingtalk

Stereotypes Surrounding Epilepsy in the Entertainment Industry:  http://ow.ly/4nuBZj  @LJKelley1

3 Cautions For Adding Research Into Stories http://ow.ly/4nuALK @JodyHedlund

How to Get Readers Hooked:  http://ow.ly/NOX83000Ap9 @MorganMandel

Final Fixes for Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/Iblv3000AqW @AnthonyEhlers

The Law of Writing Good Bad Guys:  http://ow.ly/hvOS3000AiV @LeeLofland

Great literary gardens: from ‘Hamlet’ to ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover: http://ow.ly/juBI3000xqF @FT by Caroline Thorpe

Writers Steal Your Life and Use it For Fiction: http://ow.ly/WDdp300mvGT @thelithub @aboutrichard

6 Tips to Help You Finish Your Book:  http://ow.ly/4nuCbo @KMWeiland

Getting Your Novel to the Finish Line: http://ow.ly/4nuCeX @Janice_Hardy

Tweaks to make our books visible on Google: http://ow.ly/PnLb300oRAk

.@SalmanRushdie on Poetry, Being a Reader, and Going to the Movies:  http://ow.ly/oZ54300mmGE  @holdengraber @thelithub

15 Tips for Writing Poetry:  http://ow.ly/4nuC4H @WordDreams

How to Turn an Idea into a Story:  http://ow.ly/4nuClk @DelilahSDawson

Organizing Your Hard Drive:  http://ow.ly/4nuBgM @AngelaQuarles

Concept vs. Premise: The Inherent Opportunity in Understanding the Difference: http://ow.ly/4nuCuc @storyfix

12 Ways Not to Write a Mystery Novel:  http://ow.ly/v8gR300mv5B by Jacqueline Diamond for @annerallen

Freelancing to pay the Bills:  http://ow.ly/G8eI300etwp @jlynchauthor  @IndieAuthorALLI

Charles Dickens and the Linguistic Art of the Minor Character: http://ow.ly/4nsadm by Chi Luu @JSTOR_Daily

International Transmedia: StoryDrive in Beijing:  http://ow.ly/awRl300jUfV @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Digital Printing and What it Means for Publishing:  http://ow.ly/mJGv300mlMK @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Working Without Distractions in Scrivener:  http://ow.ly/4nuB9Y @Gwen_Hernandez

Write Better Stories, Faster:  http://ow.ly/iZK7300cxkF @sterling_stone @IndieAuthorALLI

Pronoun services for the selfpubbed author:  http://ow.ly/4nuBR5 @JohnDoppler

How to Use a Plot Planner:  http://ow.ly/4nuChJ @plotwhisperer for @JaneFriedman

Are You A Creator Or A Consumer?  http://ow.ly/4nuAQC @InkyBites

Writers, The Loneliest Artists of All:  http://ow.ly/4nsaYo @readandbreathe @thelithub

Men Have Book Clubs, Too: http://ow.ly/4nsaGP by Jennifer Miller @nytimesbooks

Crafting a Killer Opening: 4 Writing Contest Finalists Share Their Tips:  http://ow.ly/4ns91H @Ava_Jae  @MartinaABoone

A storytelling experiment closes 9-1 if @craigmodcan archive the project:  http://ow.ly/gbK7300jT6y @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Stephen King: What We Can’t Say Enough:  http://ow.ly/4ns9oE @JonathanJanz

Reach Readers While Looking After Yourself (video):  http://ow.ly/QvRF300esUB @DanBlank @IndieAuthorALLI

On the Quest to Write in a 3rd Language:  http://ow.ly/4ns9FD @LakhousAmara @thelithub

What Comes Before Part 3: A Whole Lotta Character: http://ow.ly/4ns8Vc  @mileconnors

Get In Front Of Influencers: How To Spread The Word About Your Book: (video) http://ow.ly/nSQV300esGS @WhereWritersWin

Best Handguns for Fictional Detectives: http://ow.ly/4npgRV @benjaminsobieck

Surviving Hard Knocks U.: A Writer’s Guide: http://ow.ly/4npgDr @RuthHarrisBooks

The upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair: 3 points of interest:  http://ow.ly/Jq8I300jRLb @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Putting Words in your Mouth: The Whimsical Language of Food:  http://ow.ly/4nsaTz by Chi Luu @JSTOR_Daily

Updating an old book, one author discovers 25 years ago is ancient history:  http://ow.ly/4ns8z5 by Johanna Hurwitz

The Shape of Horror to Come:  http://ow.ly/4ns97I  by Nathan DeCorte @The_Minaret

Use the right word to breathe life into your stories:  http://ow.ly/4ns8QZ @RayneHall

Developing Themes In Your Stories: Symbolism:  http://ow.ly/4ns9xF  @SaraL_Writer

How to Write for Teens Without Sounding Like an Adult Writing for Teens: http://ow.ly/4ns9ti @KurtDinan

10 Ways To Make Your Story Good: http://ow.ly/4ns8Jj @10minnovelist

Use your distributor to market your books: http://bit.ly/IAF-BEA-DW http://ow.ly/zYqf300cxgI @IndieAuthorALLI @danwoodok @Draft2Digital

Writing business: steps to take in case of our demise or disability:  http://ow.ly/4npgH1 @Diana_Hurwitz

The Exemplary Narcissism of Snoopy:  http://ow.ly/YAwl300hjrK @TheAtlantic by Sarah Boxer

Tips for dealing with writing conference overwhelm:  http://ow.ly/4npgkn @CaraLopezLee

5 tips for a better author bio:  http://ow.ly/2SpS300cs0L @bryancohenbooks @IndieAuthorALLI

10 Great Novels of Exile and Dislocation: http://ow.ly/4nmDhh @patricia_engel @ElectricLit

Novel? Screenplay? Comic? How to Choose the Right Medium For Your Story:  http://ow.ly/4nmD3e  @kpsmartypants @thelithub

The Eternal Loneliness of the Writer:  http://ow.ly/4nmCRl by Adam Haslett @thelithub

Why A Poet Stopped Submitting To Lit Mags and Publishes to Wattpad:  http://ow.ly/4nmsV1 @MariahEWilson

How to Make Boring Story Parts Exciting:  http://ow.ly/4nph2i @RidethePen

Using Family Photos, Letters and Stories in a Book: Legal Ramifications:  http://ow.ly/4nphqL @HelenSedwick

Adding an emotional stance for characters:  http://ow.ly/4nph8K @Kid_Lit

Crime Fiction Writing: On the Job With New York Crime-Scene Cleaners:  http://ow.ly/4npgVR @TheAtlantic  @sairakh

Tips for writing a blind character: http://ow.ly/4nphkz @snarkbat @ChuckWendig

Writing What You Really Think Will Make You a Better Writer:  http://ow.ly/4nphdh by Deena Nataf @WritetoDone

The IPA, the Arab World, and ‘Building Dialogue’:  http://ow.ly/zhS5300eBBc @Porter_Anderson @Bodour

The Point When Everything Changes:  http://ow.ly/4nmuN4 @stdennard

Why You Should Theme Your World:  http://ow.ly/4nmtgD by Chris Winkle @mythcreants

Why is text-to-speech only an afterthought? http://ow.ly/LbWm300csw6  @jwikert

Tech Tools and Promo Tips for Writers: http://ow.ly/Ci3e300eBqy

Simple Tricks to Unstick Your Plot: Where Is Everyone? http://ow.ly/4nmv05 @stdennard

This year’s BEA: light attendance, ‘hard truths’ on publishing: http://ow.ly/9kAQ300eB3G @Porter_Anderson @jakonrath

6 Crucial Steps before you launch your #indieauthor book:  http://ow.ly/w8ne300crWz @IndieAuthorALLI @bublishme

Blurb writing formula: http://ow.ly/4njAaM @VictoriaMixon

6 Ways to Ruin Your Book Marketing Campaign: http://ow.ly/4njA5z @selfpubreview

The Myth of the Average Reader:  http://ow.ly/4njCc4 @cathyyardley

Emotion Takes Time:  http://ow.ly/w3ZA300eAWm @p2p_editor

Teaching Writing with Mentor Texts: Reading Like a Writer:  http://ow.ly/4nmtre @BethMooreSchool

The Art of Captivating First Lines:  http://ow.ly/4nmtVc @AJHumpage

How To Lead Readers to a Satisfying Ending: http://ow.ly/4nmtB2 by Margo Dill

Writing Better Villains:  http://ow.ly/4nmtKZ by Vincent Langford @mythicscribes

4 Publisher Responses and Author Reactions:  http://ow.ly/4nmtZf by Sarah Tipton @YAtopia_blog

Writing a Novel Within a Novel:  http://ow.ly/4nmt4u @YonaMcDonough

Grow Your Author Business with a Learning Plan (video): http://ow.ly/ySbr300aqbB @MichaelLaRonn

Download the Ultimate Free Collection of Book Marketing Examples:  http://ow.ly/4njCuy @DianaUrban

Writers staying in touch with their readers:  http://ow.ly/4njAjL @stephenwoodfin

Africa Has Always Been Sci-Fi:  http://ow.ly/4njCf7  @snamwali

How to Use Surprise to Build Suspense:  http://ow.ly/4njAhX  @janekcleland

Disability in Kid Lit: Scoliosis in Books: What’s Missing? http://ow.ly/4njAcK by Emma Yeo

Crime Fiction Writers: Buried Alive: Escaping a Grave: http://ow.ly/vsVl300cwYh  @SueColetta1

Copywriting is creative writing: http://ow.ly/GhT3300crPO  @bryancohenbooks @IndieAuthorALLI

Ghost-writers and their soul projects: http://ow.ly/hgpZ300d63h  @Roz_Morris

Going From Being a Fan Fic Writer to a Published Author Before Turning 18:  http://ow.ly/LJLs3009V7A  @singsongash

Tips for Torturing Characters:  http://ow.ly/4njAmd  by James R. Preston

What it means being an African author on Amazon:  http://ow.ly/cxWb300csoi  @DaWitKop

The top writing links of last week are on Twitterific:
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Making Our Books Visible on Google

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Today I give you what is likely an incredibly boring post on something I know very little about.  But, because I think it’s important, I’m trying to learn more about it and also share my kernel of knowledge on the subject with you. With that disclaimer, let’s move on. :)

Much is said by industry observers about the problem of visibility for writers. After all, the number of books is growing and it’s harder for readers to find us.

One way that we might be able to give our books a push is in searches.  This can mean making our SEO better on Amazon by tweaking keywords and BISAC.  This may also mean tweaking our sites and individual book pages so that Google can make our book stand out in a search.

This means, in a nutshell,  structured data markup.  This means inserting code/metadata on our site that helps Google understand and organize information to deliver rich results for searches.

Or, if that all sounded like gobbledy-gook (which it sort of did to me and I wrote the sentence), then basically, to deliver something that looks like this when searching for my title Pretty is as Pretty Dies:

So a reader, when searching for this book title, gets this closeup of my book in their sidebar. It shows them the cover,  my name, gives them the opportunity to preview it, gives a description, publication year, and even links to reviews.  Basically, it gives them a really nice (rich) search result.

To find out more  information on this, read on Google:

An introduction.

A gallery of structured data that produces rich results (of different types…from recipes to products, reviews, and even events).

If you click on one of the types of results on the gallery page, Google shows you the metadata you’ll fill in. 

Google’s introduction to structured data. 

Let’s go back now to what I did, specifically, to make that result show up.   Because this was a traditionally published book and the first in a series that I now self-publish, I started with this book.  I included reviews from Foreword and Kirkus, but it looks to me you could do this with any type of review.

I used a schema creator site to make it easier on me.  The site creates a review schema for you.  You can also do this for any product/book: http://schema-creator.org/product.php  or http://www.microdatagenerator.com/pro... .

After you’ve received code back, you can test it with Google to make sure it looks accurate .

You paste in the code you were given and it shows you what it will look like:

Then you need to put it on the page.  Sometimes I can stick code on a page and it doesn’t show up.  This did show up, so I had to find a way to put it on the page without it seeming out of place (could one put this in their header or footer? I didn’t experiment for that long).  I pulled up the individual book page, put the page in text composing mode instead of visual composition mode, and pasted the code in.  You can see the result of that here.

I gave Google a little time and it came back with a terrific search result (clearly on Google, not Yahoo search or other engines.  But Google is, currently, the big dog).

When I haven’t set up a book page that way, a search for one of my titles comes back like an ordinary search result.

I think, eventually, if our books get enough sales and traffic, Google indexes us anyway.  Like this book of mine:

But you’ll notice that, unlike the example above, it doesn’t have a preview or reviews.  That’s because I haven’t had the time to set up the schema for the book.

Or this result.  This is a regular search result for my more-recent release, Murder on Opening Night.  No rich result. In fact, it even suggests someone else’s book:

This is all I can say and, sadly, all I really know on this topic.  My next steps are to read up more when I can and add this code to all of my book pages for optimal results on Google.

Do you use  a schema on your website?  Do you, hopefully, know a lot more about this topic and can share with us? :)

Tweaks to make our books visible on Google:
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Tech Tools and Promo Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Here are a few updates on what I’ve found helpful or interesting lately in the promo and writing worlds.

For the writer who has multiple releases a year, a Coming Soon page on your website. This was suggested to me by a reader who was having a hard time keeping up.  The important thing with this page is to keep it updated since it’s not one of the pages we’re on very often.

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 struggle with design issues and use design too often to just continually outsource it to a real designer.  I’m getting by now with Canva for Twitter and blog headers/backgrounds, but I’ve recently discovered Designfeed.io.  Although I’ve gotten very handy with Canva, so far I’ve found Designfeed a bit quicker, at least in terms of throwing images up on the blog.  It has a feature where it matches your headline text to Creative Commons images, which is a timesaver.  Again, my design skills are limited and I’m sure you could do better, but today’s and yesterday’s posts demonstrate my dabbling with it (for only about 5 minutes).  It’s free and in beta.  Might be worth playing around with (not sure if there will be a pay version once it moves from beta).

Pirating my content, I’ll be honest, hasn’t even been much of a concern of mine.   Many pirate sites are dummy set-ups to get the unsuspecting reader’s info without delivering the goods. Plus, I just don’t think the majority of my readers are out there trying to beat the system. However, I know many, many writers are concerned about pirating.  There is an interesting way to dispense with unauthorized use of your content with a free tool called Blasty.  Like Designfeed.io, it’s also in beta and currently free.  I heard about it from a mention in Jane Friedman’s excellent Electric Speed newsletter full of digital media tools and resources (view her archives here for a wealth of info and to see whether her newsletter might be right for you).   With Blasty, you register with the site, they verify you are the owner of the content, and then they alert you to illegal copies.  With one click, you can eliminate them (although monitoring this could be a real time suck.)

Indie writers with audiobooks through ACX will be familiar with the complimentary Audible download codes that they provide in their effort to get more readers to give audiobooks a go. It took me a while to get to the point where I actually knew the best way to use these. I’ve found that my last newsletter campaign to readers has worked really well so far.  It, luckily, corresponded with a new release so the newsletter had details about the book launch, a couple of recipes (standard fare for my list), a plea to follow me on Instagram (more on that below), and an invitation to enter a giveaway for one of the 25 free downloads.  I set up a special page on my website, linked to the address in my newsletter, put up the audiobook’s back cover copy and cover, and then embedded a Rafflecopter giveaway (I use the free version). So far I’m at 60ish entries.  You can ask your readers to share a link to a giveaway or follow you on social media for extra points, etc.  Anyway, a nice way to use those codes.

As I mentioned above, I started an Instagram because I felt I needed a really dedicated place online where I specifically hung out with readers.  My platform is very writer-centric since that’s my comfort zone.  When I set up the Instagram account, it automatically connected to my personal Facebook account (which made me really peeved since this was not supposed to be a personal Instagram account).  Since my followers there were getting really lopsided with non-readers, I asked my newsletter readers to follow my new account on Instagram…”since my teenage children feel sorry for me.”  Which is absolutely the truth…my 19 year old was liking pictures out of pity and finally called me on the phone from college to ask me what I was trying to do on Instagram.  Luckily, my plea worked and my reader numbers have greatly improved. I think, hopefully, this will become a more organic process from here with Instagram’s algorithms suggesting my page to others.

I had my newsletter in draft form on MailChimp for several days so that I could be more thoughtful about what material I included in it.  I rarely send newsletters and wanted to ensure that I used this device wisely when I did.

And that’s all I’ve got for now!  What have you been working with or found helpful lately?

Tech Tools and Promo Tips for Writers:
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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Survey: Translated Fiction Outsells English Fiction in the UK:  http://ow.ly/6Oi83009TIq @DennisAbrams2 @pubperspectives

How Crutch Words Are Holding Back Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/4ni9oi by Ian Chandler @write_practice

Classic adventure plot notes:  http://ow.ly/4nia3x @robinrwrites

Writing for Kindle Worlds: the Good and the Ugly:  http://ow.ly/ThMW300crl1 @IndieAuthorALLI  @tobywneal

5 Elements for Crafting a Compelling Story:  http://ow.ly/4nia0n @WillBluntAU

Why Your Business Biography is Killing Sales: http://ow.ly/4ni8Yw  @MilesAllen1

Learning from Literary Short Fiction:  http://ow.ly/4ni9ji @artofstoriesAB    

“Buddy Love” Plot Notes:  http://ow.ly/4niaaH @HeatherJacksonW

Book Signings: Best Tips:  http://ow.ly/4ni8Wn @MilesAllen1

IDPF’s Con at BEA: ‘Is IDPF on the Way Out?’:  http://ow.ly/Q7Bt3009U28 @Porter_Anderson

Are you making these mistakes with your Amazon book description?  http://ow.ly/4ni92X @sandrabeckwith

6 Hard Truths Every Writer Should Accept :  http://ow.ly/4nia1l  @DanaElmendorf

Storyteller’s Rulebook: Give Them a Big Hole to Fill:  http://ow.ly/4ni9Yu @CockeyedCaravan

4 Classic Conflict Types:  http://ow.ly/4njA3l @Janice_Hardy

The Fine Art of Story Resonance:  http://ow.ly/4njCjb @stdennard

Germany’s Inkitt: Using Algorithms to Predict Successful Books:  http://ow.ly/QtXt3009UcB  @DennisAbrams2 @pubperspectives

Battling Tired Tropes: Hate-at-First-Sight Love Stories:  http://ow.ly/4njCr2 @stdennard

Maintaining Passion for a Story:  http://ow.ly/4njCoB @stdennard

Know Your Enemy: Procrastination:  http://ow.ly/4ni9gQ @artofstoriesAB

“The Hatred of Poetry”: Does Poetry Make Us Human?  http://ow.ly/4ni9Il by Ben Lerner @PoetryFound

What Most Antagonists Lack:  http://ow.ly/4nhieF by David Ben-Ami

9 Ways to Include Libraries in Your Book Marketing Plan:  http://ow.ly/4nhjgP @tspoetry  @charityscraig

African Short Stories: Shortlist for 17th Caine Prize Announced:  http://ow.ly/dDbx3009TNv @DennisAbrams2 @pubperspectives

Writers Need An Escape Hatch:  http://ow.ly/4nhhFP @jayewells

10 Dirty Secrets of Publishing:  http://ow.ly/zWY6300crAu @cjlyonswriter  @IndieAuthorALLI 

More on Wattpad Studios: http://ow.ly/NHXy3009Top @Porter_Anderson @AronIsHere

5 Tips for Writing Book Two:  http://ow.ly/4nhhWp @AmyBearce  @DIYMFA

Count Words but Make Words Count:  http://ow.ly/qmxB3009WYO @Lindasclare

Europe’s ebooks ‘stalling even earlier’ than in the US and UK: http://ow.ly/bU3S3009T6s @Porter_Anderson @wischenbart

Do You Harness Your Day? http://ow.ly/4nhjdf @AngelaQuarles

How Can I Get Help Writing a Book? 7 Tips: http://ow.ly/4nhjqY @nownovel

How a Creative Approach to Book Signings Sells Books: @JanetShawgo  @MillCityPress

To Agent or Not To Agent?  http://ow.ly/4nhjvg @MistyMassey

What Are Your Characters Not Saying? http://ow.ly/4nhhTQ @Janice_Hardy

5 Strategies for Prolific Reading:  http://ow.ly/4nhjCp @gyoung9751

Adding a Theme to Our Book:  http://ow.ly/4nhhQz @JillWilliamson

How to Become a Full-Time Writer:  http://ow.ly/4nhiYt @joebunting

Improve Your Writing Skills with 5 Storytelling Exercises:  http://ow.ly/4nhhLf @MarianSchembari

Writing Dreams and Nightmares:  http://ow.ly/4nhhE7 @Ava_Jae

Romance Novels: Why You Need to Go Beyond the Tropes:  http://ow.ly/4nesEE @willvanstonejr

In Defense of Grown Men Crying: Writing as Exploration: http://ow.ly/P5h23009bd4 @LeeMartinAuthor @thelithub

The fine art of literary hate mail:  http://ow.ly/zr2m30087so @NewRepublic by William Giraldi

Which Publications Pay Freelance Writers (and How Long it Takes to Get Paid):  http://ow.ly/YA0p3009dQ1 @manjulamartin

Noir Is Protest Literature: That’s Why It’s Having a Renaissance: http://ow.ly/4neAcT @nicholas_seeley

5 tips for street teams:  http://ow.ly/C7be300832X @Danika_Stone

Sidekick Archetypes:  http://ow.ly/4nezT2 @kylieday0

What is the theme of all great novels? http://ow.ly/4neAuy @CalebPirtle

The art of the story hinges on orphans: http://ow.ly/78wh30087bw @mikesmariani  @Hazlitt

5 Fight-Writing Tactics:  http://ow.ly/4nesjZ @blairmacg

Things Daredevil Teaches About Writing: http://ow.ly/4nesXY from She Who Writes Monsters

Shaken but Not Stirred. The Racy Side of Sexpionage:  http://ow.ly/4nezFo @BishsBeat

Publishing Exhaustion:  http://ow.ly/4nezKT @CEMcKenzie1

Infiltrating Literature’s Secret Societies:  http://ow.ly/4neApD @TobiasCarroll  @thelithub

Mapping Character:  http://ow.ly/4nezOM @AlmitraClay

How to create a memorable character:  http://ow.ly/4net2N @Peter_Rey_

Why Are There So Many Novels About Famous Writers? http://ow.ly/4neAk5 @hellermcalpin  @thelithub

Foreword Vs. Preface Vs. Introduction: http://ow.ly/4ndKhi @jckunzjr

5 Ways Authors can be Tweeps, not Twits:  http://ow.ly/4ndKfx @heatherdgilbert

What to Post on Social Media Plus 38 Examples:  http://ow.ly/4ndKcW @CaballoFrances

The Joys (and Perils) of Literary Tourism:  http://ow.ly/4ndD7Z @laura_jbarnett @thelithub

5 tips to keep bullying at bay in your blog comments:  http://ow.ly/4nbLXt @cksyme

Using Crime Fiction to Present Fully Formed Muslim Characters: http://ow.ly/ehdS3002k6G @AusmaZehanat @GraffMarni @thelithub

10 Pages You Should Include in Your Author Website: http://ow.ly/4nesdy  @shelleyhitz

6 Ways to Set Up Scrivener for Writing:  http://ow.ly/4nessg @ckmacleodwriter

The Cycle of Action-Reaction in Novel Scenes:  http://ow.ly/4nesma @CSLakin

Amazon Themes and Keywords: Optimizing Your Book Page: http://ow.ly/4nerWf @Bookgal

Use KindleSpy for Genre Competitive Analysis:  http://ow.ly/4nbKGt  @worderella

When you don’t agree with your editor:  http://ow.ly/4nbJLx @DeborahJay2

Anton Chekhov: A Post-Modernist Ahead of His Time:  http://ow.ly/3wpr3002jvT @thelithub by Peter Constantine

3 Groups of Words or Phrases to Edit in Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/CaO430057bk @lornafaith

Why Fiction Needs More Women Scientists:  http://ow.ly/rM6930055NF @EileenPollack @thelithub

How Mapping Alice Munro’s Stories Helped One Writer: http://ow.ly/4nbLbH by Elizabeth Poliner @thelithub

“The population of Japan is…a third of the US, but the book market is comparable:”  http://ow.ly/PXCO3002fPl Alvin Lu and @Porter_Anderson

Why we love reading to cry:  http://ow.ly/4nbLpD by Lindsay Lynch @thelithub

What Level of Editing Do You Need?  http://ow.ly/4nbJB4 by Jessica West @K8Tilton

How to Give Your Facebook Page Likes a Quick Spike:  http://ow.ly/4nbIgv @cksyme

Mastering Metadata: the Key to Marketing Your Books:  http://ow.ly/4nbKKE @carlaking

Building Your Author Mailing List:  http://ow.ly/4nbIjv @pbackwriter

To Swear Or Not To Swear in Our Books:  http://ow.ly/4nbKDl @RobinStorey1

Turning a feature film script into a novel:  http://ow.ly/4nbKQa @Meinertzhagen  @ElectricLit

Handling The Pressure Of Being An Indie Author:  http://ow.ly/4nbKuc @ShadowChaosFox

Should you convert your Facebook profile to a page?  http://ow.ly/4nbJnU @cksyme

Crafting Serial Fiction: http://ow.ly/4nbJsV @mlgardnerbooks

5 Top Snapchat Tips for Marketers:  http://ow.ly/4n6ofe @Ashread_

The links I shared last week:  http://ow.ly/bVvR3002gxg All the links (30K+ free and searchable) I’ve ever shared: writerskb.com

Why rural lives and literature are in crisis:  http://ow.ly/uxaE3002jKn @thelithub by Matthew Neill Null

Why Are Subscription Services Outside the US Succeeding? http://ow.ly/5oN33002fJQ @pubperspectives @Porter_Anderson

Two Body Language Ninja Moves:  http://ow.ly/L3OI3003Hod @p2p_editor

5 Comparisons Not To Make For Your Book:  http://ow.ly/4n6nId @ChuckSambuchino

How to Price Self-published Books: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself: http://ow.ly/4n6msE @DebbieYoungBN

Garage sales in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/SSOr3002cVT @mkinberg

Is literature a dying animal?  http://ow.ly/AHNf3002jVT @GuardianBooks by Edna O’Brien

Pros and Cons of Changing Genres:  http://ow.ly/iQFu3002gtJ

What NOT to Say to a Publisher:  http://ow.ly/uxJE3002g8m @DancingLemurPre @SpunkOnAStick

A Global Update on ‘the State of Copyright’:  http://ow.ly/5rkl3002fhU @MJHealy @Porter_Anderson

What 1 author learned at the London Book Fair: http://ow.ly/4n6n9b  @SukhiJutla

Advice on handling criticism:  http://ow.ly/aT2S3002cNa @pubcoach

How to be a Good Critique Partner:  http://ow.ly/5voU3002c0f @LyndaRYoung @TheIWSG

Writing Motivation Comes From a Sense of Control:  http://ow.ly/4n6nPj  @Wordstrumpet

Why authors need a mailing list:  http://ow.ly/4n6njh @SukhiJutla

Getting to The End: How to Finish a book:  http://ow.ly/4n6o3q  @KAMcCleary

How an Agent helps 1 Writer Succeed as a Hybrid Author: http://ow.ly/4n6n2d @srjohannes

The Writer’s Guide to Building an Email List:  http://ow.ly/4n6nG7 @KimberleyGrabas

A Simple System for Great Character Creation:  http://ow.ly/4n6nVz @Rachel_Aaron

Want to Write a Novel? How to Get Started:  http://ow.ly/4n6o8c @aliventures

Set Up Your WordPress Blog in Under 15 Minutes: http://ow.ly/4n6nCS @KimberleyGrabas

Top 4 Editing Tricks for Creating a Seamless Narrative:  http://ow.ly/4n6nqV @KMWeiland

Creating Tension: Change It Up:  http://ow.ly/4n3zoc @ShanDitty

8 Things That Will Derail Your Writing Goals the Fastest:  http://ow.ly/4n3ApX @EdieMelson

Motherhood vs. Art: There Is No Wrong Choice: http://ow.ly/bXfS3000xBO @ndianaolde @thelithub

Last week's top writing links are on Twitterific:
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