Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 108

Goodreads Housekeeping and Book Stats

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Goodreads is a popular way for readers to discover new authors and talk about books.  As a reader, I’ve found some excellent recommendations there.  I frequently  hear my friends talk about the site.  And, when I was speaking once at a school, a teacher came up to me afterward and said, “I looked you up while you were speaking. You’re even on Goodreads!”

As a writer, I usually avoid Goodreads as much as possible. It’s sometimes not a warm and friendly environment for authors.  But then…it’s for readers.

My usual tactic in dealing with Goodreads is to avoid logging in until I get a message on the site.  However! This site is important enough for us that we need to do general upkeep and housekeeping there.  And there are some cool features to tempt us in.

Things to check on and update on Goodreads:

Is our series description effective?  Is it the same description that we have listed on our website and retail sites (consistency with metadata can be important for SEO, etc.)

Are all of our books listed under our name?

Are previews enabled on all of our books on Goodreads? If not, we’ll want to fix that.  The previews should be right below our books, as they are on Amazon.

If we’ve changed covers, have updated editions of our book, have we set the book we want as the primary edition?

If we go into our individual book pages on the site, have we included as much metadata as possible?  Who is listed as our publisher?

What’s listed as the official URL of the book (current practice is to have a page for each book on our website. I’ve listed my site’s book page as the official URL).

What’s the book’s setting?  Who knows, maybe there are readers specifically looking for stories set in a particular location?  Maybe local press may search for authors who write local settings.

Before saving/sending the changes, I made a short note (as one of the site’s “librarians”) saying I was just adding more information on each book.

Other things we can do on the site: 

Remember that we can make updates on both our author profile on the site (pull up one of your books and click on the name, after you’re signed into the site)  and through our author dashboard.  It might be a good idea to do a quick check to see if any updates are needed on either one.

We can add a Goodreads tag to our Facebook page.  This would likely be a smart cross-promo feature.

We can add a Goodreads widget to each individual book page on our website to make it easy for readers to add our books as “to read.”

We can enable Goodreads Author Q&A.  I’ve had some really nice interaction with readers that way.

Goodreads giveaways can be an effective way to get awareness for our books (and, hopefully, to generate some reader reviews).

Goodreads seems to be trying to capitalize a bit on the popularity of images.  There’s a feature where we can upload pictures (obviously images that aren’t under copyright) that tie into our book…or, I guess, they could be pictures we take of things that inspired us for our book or where we write, etc.

Have a book trailer or an interview on video?  Goodreads is a logical place to upload it.  You can add it right on your author profile page.

Have you mentioned your newsletter signup link in your bio for Goodreads?  This is a good place to do it.

Book Stats: 

One cool thing we can do on our author dashboard is see our book stats for Goodreads.  You can choose the type of graph you’d like to see. I will say that if you have a lot of books, it can look like a bunch of scribble.  If yours looks like scribble (like below), click on “click here for a breakdown” for a list that might make more sense. All I get from the chart below is that people really wanted to read “Body at Bunco” for some reason.

On that stats page, we can also see our total of books added and the total number of unique users adding them.   Plus we can see our total of Goodreads reviews. I apparently have 845 reviews on Goodreads. This is another reminder to me that, despite my reluctance to spend time on the site, it’s an important tool, I need to keep my presence there updated.

Are you on Goodreads?  Done any updates there lately?

Tips for making the most of our Goodreads profile:
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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.

How Writers Can Optimize Their Book’s Description on Amazon:  http://ow.ly/XsFpr @CSLakin

Authors United’s Divisive Stand on Amazon: http://ow.ly/XZkoI @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Roundup of the Top #AskBookBub Questions of 2015:  http://ow.ly/XsFCT @dianaurban

How to Find Beta Readers to Improve Your Book:  http://ow.ly/XsFWy @shesnovel   

3 Things That Accelerated 1 Writer’s Author Growth in 2015: http://ow.ly/XsFsp @monicaleonelle

How to Create an Author Brand: 4 Easy Steps:  http://ow.ly/XsFME  @suzannahwindsor

When is the Right Time to Discount Your Book? http://ow.ly/XsFEG @dianaurban

Goodreads Giveaways:  http://ow.ly/XsFy5 @cathryanhoward

Preview Widget: Amazon Book Marketing Tool:  http://ow.ly/XsFFV @fictionnotes

How To Consistently Write 3500-–4000 Words Per Hour:  http://ow.ly/XsFv8 @monicaleonelle

Problems for the Privileged in Crime Fiction: http://ow.ly/XZkFP @mkinberg

Free Cheat Sheets for Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and More: http://ow.ly/XYLrL @firstsiteguide @AnjaSkrba

Subtly Boost Your Dialogue’s Power With Body Language:  http://ow.ly/XqXyO @RidethePen

Basic MS Word: When Submitting a MS:  http://ow.ly/XuqeT from Interrobangs

26 fantastic no-cost tools for writers:  http://ow.ly/Xuqbh @pubcoach

Writing books versus Flash Fiction : http://ow.ly/Xuq1c @ClaireFuller2

How Writers Can Remix the Past: http://ow.ly/XuqHs @drewchial

What Exactly Does An Editor Do? The Role Has Changed Over Time : http://ow.ly/XuqK7 @LynnPNeary @nprnews

Should Published Authors Attend Conferences? http://ow.ly/XuqnJ @rachellegardner

Editing Tips for the Indie Author:  http://ow.ly/XuqQf @JoeMoore_writer

5 Ways to Tell if a Subplot is Leading You Astray:  http://ow.ly/XuqBP @Janice_Hardy

Dangling Modifiers:  http://ow.ly/Xuqs2 @Janice_Hardy

5 Reasons to Write a Short Story: Develop and Market Your Novel: http://ow.ly/XsFHQ @fictionnotes

Dictating a Book? Tips for Editing the First Draft:  http://ow.ly/XsFRE @byondpapr

The Search for the Unexpected: the Key to Voice and Plot in Fiction:  http://ow.ly/XuqED @MartinaABoone

4 Steps to Creating a Compelling About Page: http://ow.ly/XxrPt @VoicetoStory

Eavesdropping for story ideas and other tips from a veteran novelist:  http://ow.ly/Xxrti @WarrenAdler

Amazon’s New Warning Labels:  http://ow.ly/XZq6B

Authors Guild: The Fair Contract Initiative:  http://ow.ly/XYQfu @victoriastrauss

The Most Obvious Writing Tool You’re Not Using:  http://ow.ly/XsFOC @suzannahwindsor

10 #Wattpad Insights to Whet Your Appetite:  http://ow.ly/XYL6U @jayartale @OrnaRoss

The e-pub revolution isn’t over (regardless of what you’ve heard) http://ow.ly/XqXre @FuseLiterary @AgentSavant

Writing about Hacking: How To Hack: The Basics:  http://ow.ly/XWTCv @SueColetta1

5 Tips For Your Office Desk:  http://ow.ly/XpkOr from Feng Shui for Writers

Want to Speak at Writing Conventions? How to Write a Great Pitch:  http://ow.ly/XplFO @arinblackwrites

Tips For Balancing Writing and Life:  http://ow.ly/XqXoU @susankayequinn

3 Keys to Regain Your Writing Habits: http://ow.ly/XqXny @RuthanneReid

Building Blocks of a Novel: Word Choice: http://ow.ly/XqXDd @JulieEshbaugh

7 Ways to Help You Be Precise in Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/XqXJc by Dawn Field

Writers: How Succeed at “Building Platform” Without Really Trying:  http://ow.ly/XqXqm @annerallen

Back up your work:  http://ow.ly/XqXB4 @MarcyKennedy

Tips for cutting down on word count:  http://ow.ly/XqXMv  @KBullockAuthor

7 Mistakes You’re Making With Your Author Blog And How To Fix Them:  http://ow.ly/XqXue @thecreativepenn

Midpoints: A Breakdown:  http://ow.ly/XqXEn  @sjaejones

Scene Structure and Character Arc:  http://ow.ly/XqXLp @CSLakin

What’s Killing Your Creativity? Probably Not What You Think: http://ow.ly/Xpl3F @emily_tjaden

3 literary translators with tips and secrets:  http://ow.ly/XTnaP @Roz_Morris @fwdtranslations @Intralingo @alisonlayland

Beyond Me, Myself, and I: 4 Ideas for Escaping the First-Person Bubble:  http://ow.ly/X9LJP @benzbox

The power of the hero’s journey: http://ow.ly/Xphf7 @patverducci

Writing Worksheet: Villains:  http://ow.ly/XpgJt @EvaDeverell

1st Pages of Best-Selling Novels:  Nicholas Sparks’s  “See Me”: http://ow.ly/XplV3 @CSLakin

On Keeping a (Writing) Notebook (or 3):  http://ow.ly/XpgOX @brevitymag @RandonNoble

Breaking the Writing Rules:  http://ow.ly/Xpm5t  @MaryVeeWriter

Mastering the Art of the Cliffhanger Chapter Ending: http://ow.ly/XplQk  @rlbelliston

10 Character Cliches To Watch Out For:  http://ow.ly/XplnT @NatePhilbrick

A Revision Checklist:  http://ow.ly/Xpl9x @kelsieengen

3 fiction marketing mistakes that will hold you back: http://ow.ly/Xplxz @sandrabeckwith

Writing: Tension vs. Energy:  http://ow.ly/Xplja @DonMaass

10 Ten Tips to Write When You Don’t Feel Like It:  http://ow.ly/Xm6AP @FlynnGrayWriter

Planning out the year: where do you want to be 1 year from now? http://ow.ly/Xm7Em  @lisajjackson

BookFunnel: Low-Cost Ebook Giveaway Hosting: http://ow.ly/XH3PG @mollygreene

Motivated by Motifs:  http://ow.ly/X9LsM The Daily Post

3 Tools for More Productive and Organized Writing:  http://ow.ly/Xm6QV @jenn_mattern

1 Writer’s Rocky Road to Publication:  http://ow.ly/Xm71m  @CharlieDonlea

A Brief History of Book Illustration:  http://ow.ly/Xm7lF by Chris Russell

5 Traps and Tips for Character Development:  http://ow.ly/Xm6Xf @LifeRichPub

5 Ways to Maximize Your Morning When You’re Not a Morning Person:  http://ow.ly/Xm7K8  @besscozby

4 Personality Types That Will Derail Your Literary Event: http://ow.ly/Xm7gB by Tim Johnson

The Anatomy of a Love Scene:  http://ow.ly/Xm6xi  @spinellauthor

The Complete Guide to Query Letters: Nonfiction Books: http://ow.ly/Xm6GU @JaneFriedman

9 Ways to Stop Your Novel from Stalling:  http://ow.ly/Xm6M7 by Tracey Barnes Priestley

A way to organize blog posts you want to read: http://ow.ly/XjgQZ @cathychall

Drafting in Layers:  http://ow.ly/XMSdU

Thriller Writing Competition: free for US and UK authors to enter: cash and editorial assessment prizes: http://ow.ly/XGzyT @ReedsyHQ

Spring Cleaning: Reorganizing Your Blog:  http://ow.ly/X9Ly6 The Daily Post

7 Visibility Tips:  http://ow.ly/Xjhe0 @DeniseWakeman

4 Post-Its to Put Over Our Desks:  http://ow.ly/XjgMS @victoriamixon

How a Writer Turned Her Blog Into A Book : http://ow.ly/Xjh7U @hungrywriting @womenwriters

Considering Self-Publishing? You Might Want to Do This First: http://ow.ly/Xjh5n @chucksambuchino

Tips for our 2nd Draft: http://ow.ly/XjhoO  @JessicaPMorrell

How To Make Effective Goals When Facing The Unknown:  http://ow.ly/XjhH7 @stephmorrill

Keeping Resolutions 101: How to Relish a Challenge:  http://ow.ly/XjhCT @reallucyflint

First Pages of Best-Selling Novels: The Martian:  http://ow.ly/Xjhv6 @CSLakin

Do You Need a Literary Agent? The Definitive Pros and Cons List:  http://ow.ly/Xjhz4 @ClaireABradshaw

5 Ways to Improve Your Twitter Profile:  http://ow.ly/Xjhlf @DeniseWakeman

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

Make the Most of Repetition in Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/X9Ll7 @benzbox

5 Reasons Why You Stopped Writing Last Year:  http://ow.ly/Xgsfs @KelsieEngen

7 steps for goal creation and implementation:  http://ow.ly/Xgqnt @DIYMFA

5 Brainstorming Techniques for Writers: http://ow.ly/Xgt3d @LindaUKmasters

Why Money Matters in Fantasy:  http://ow.ly/XgqjV @EmilyFRussell

Writing a Prologue that Works:  http://ow.ly/Xgqln @lindasclare

7 Questions to Help Writers Set Meaningful Goals:  http://ow.ly/XgqY6 @colleen_m_story

The best writing links of the week on Twitterific:
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Follow Up–Amazon Warning Labels

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Once again, I chose to focus on being patient as my New Year’s resolution.  By this point,   it’s my top recurring resolution of all time.

As I’ve written recently, one interesting thing about being a self-published writer is how quickly we can become accustomed to…indeed, addicted to…control.  We have control over everything as a self-published writer, which is both a blessing and a curse.

Actually, however, we don’t have control over everything.  One glaring exception is our retailers.

For a week, my addiction to control and my patience were both sorely tested. 

As a quick review, I mentioned in my post on January 22 that I had received an email from Amazon about quality control measures they were implementing. The email requested changes to my book file.  If the changes weren’t made, the book would get a warning label on its product page at the first of February.   My email focused primarily on a formatting issue that needed correction–the file was formatted in 2011 by my previous formatter. The book received an attractive (and very pricey) interior book design.  Unfortunately, apparently the formatting doesn’t work well with the current Kindle devices.  Some elements apparently don’t show up…including chapter headings, the first letter of each chapter, the dedication…you get the idea.  The day I received the email, I made the corrections Amazon asked for, contacted my new formatter, and published a new file to KDP.

Amazon’s initial email implied that my uploaded and corrected file would be automatically reviewed.  However, since I’m now apparently something of a control freak, I decided to email Amazon on the 21st and open a ticket on the issue.  I’m withholding the names from the Amazon KDP customer service emails.

The timeline went  like this:

Jan. 20…received initial quality control email. I fixed all the problems with the help of my formatter and published the updated, corrected version.

Jan. 21…I wrote the KDP customer service team early in the morning to let them know I’d uploaded a corrected file and request a review of the book so that Amazon could note it was in compliance.

Jan. 21…from Amazon: Thanks for letting us know you’ve republished an updated version of your book. I’ve forwarded your information to our Quality team for follow-up. Our quality team will review your file. You should hear back from them in the next 1-2 business days. Thanks for your continued patience.

Jan. 29…I follow up with another email, concerned I was getting close to Feb. 1 and I hadn’t heard back from Amazon regarding a review.

Jan. 29…Email from Amazon again requesting the (same) corrections that I’d already made and stated on the 21st that I’d made.  And this: “Sorry for any delays in this review process and notification.”

Jan. 29…I wrote back (a bit panicky now): “Hi, All of the issues have been corrected over a week ago. Please have the review team confirm.

Jan. 30: From Amazon: “Hello, We’ll need a little time to look into this. We’ll contact you with more information by the end of the day on Tuesday, February 2. Thanks for your patience.”

Feb. 1: From Amazon: Thank you for resubmitting your content to us! We have reviewed the new content, but several serious new issues are now present in your book and we have had to block your book from sale. (Following that was a list of the same requested corrections that I had fixed on the 20th and stated on the 21st that I’d fixed).

So, Monday was a Code Red day. That was the day there was a warning label on one of my most popular books–a book that’s been available since 2011. As you can see below (sorry, couldn’t get it any larger without getting blurry, but you get the gist of it), I did get one of the dreaded warning label (“item under review”). Worse, the book was removed from sale (“book is currently unavailable”).   I wrote several emails back to Amazon.  These emails  all still contained the words “please” and “thank you,” (I am Southern, after all), but there may have been excessive use of exclamation points on my part.  :)  I included screenshots of the text locations in question, showing there were no remaining issues.

I mentioned that the book was one of a series. And that various readers had informed me that the first book in that series had been featured by Amazon a week earlier as one of the KDP Daily Deals for their mystery readers (bad timing for me).   I mentioned that the book that was removed from sale has quite a few reviews and is the free book I give to readers for subscribing to my newsletter.

The only good thing was that at some point in this process, KDP opened up phone support to me. At least, this is what a representative stated in an email. However, I’m wondering if  maybe we can receive phone support all the time.  Amazon linked me to a site where I could request a call-back “in five minutes.”  Here’s the page:   https://kdp.amazon.com/contact-us  .  Their hours are 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific time, Monday through Friday. They called right in that 5-minute window and I explained the timeline and the fact that everything had been corrected 10 or 11 days earlier.

The customer service rep accessed the book and verified on the phone that all requested changes had been made.  She sounded baffled and stated that she couldn’t understand why, when it only took a couple of minutes to check, the book had been flagged with the label.

I didn’t say, although I suspected, that the reason it had been flagged is because a real human being hadn’t verified my corrections.

The rep said that she’d note that all corrections had been made and verified by her, and that she’d forward the request/ticket over to the quality control department.

I assumed this might go into the same black hole as earlier, but my fears weren’t justified.

Although I never got notification that the warning label had been removed,  my frequent (obsessive?) refreshing of the book’s product page finally indicated that the label was removed on Tuesday, Feb. 2.

However, once it was removed, I received another email from Amazon:

Feb. 2:  (from Amazon): Hello, I wanted to let you know that I’m still working on this with the concerned team. It’s taking longer than usual to resolve this, and I’m very sorry about the delay. I’ll be in touch with you again with an update as soon as possible. Thanks for your continued patience. Regards, (name withheld).

My takeaways from this (besides that we all should keep a very close eye on our inboxes and spam filters for emails from Amazon):

Immediately address the requested corrections.  Even though I did immediately address the issues, I still ran into a problem.  But if I hadn’t  immediately addressed them, it would have been much worse.
Immediately, even though the Amazon email doesn’t specify this, let Amazon know that you’ve made the corrections. This opens up a support ticket.   I did immediately let Amazon know, but I still ran into a problem.  Again, if I hadn’t let them know, it would have probably taken even longer to resolve.
Amazon is very good on promptly returning emails….same day.
However, Amazon may not actually have human screeners looking for the mistakes.  Or, perhaps, the human screeners are overwhelmed.
Keep following up.  Escalate. I should never have waited until the 29th to follow-up. This was my main error.
If they open up phone support to you (or if it’s open all the time), give Amazon a call immediately.  This is your best shot at getting the problem taken care of.

This is, with any luck at all, my last follow-up on this.   I’m not going to lie, this stressed me out in a way that was far out of proportion to the scope of the problem.  But when you feel helpless and frustrated and your book has a warning label and is removed from sale?   There’s a bit of stress involved. I’ve got 19 books out and I can only imagine the kind of stress I’d feel if I had only one.  And, despite the many thanks from Amazon for my continued patience…I  apparently still have a lot to work on in the resolution department.

Amazon Warning Labels on Books Under Review:
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Drafting in Layers

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I had a question on Twitter last weekend from mystery writer K.B. Owen.  She was interested in finding out more about how I draft a story in layers.

The layering of my drafts started out as an almost procrastination.  There are parts of stories that I’m not as fond of writing as others.   I especially dislike writing descriptions of characters and settings and found that I’d put off working on my book sometimes because I didn’t want to write it. As a work-around, I decided that I would add all description in a separate draft and in one “layer” as I was working on my second draft.

After using this technique for a while, I found it was very helpful for a variety of different things.  For one, it helped me weave my subplots through the main plot in a more thoughtful way.

Those are now the two main things that I leave out until the end–descriptions and subplots.  But you could use this technique with nearly anything that trips you up in your story….maybe an area you need to research more.  Maybe you’re not great at writing fight scenes or love scenes and that’s keeping you from moving forward with your story.   It a very adaptable approach.

To me, this is a tool for pushing through a draft faster and taking a more organized, thoughtful approach to other elements in your story.

Description

I compose descriptions for all the characters and settings, etc. on a separate document.  I’ve found that I’m more thoughtful when I do it this way, use better diction, and…an added benefit…once I’m in the groove, I can not only work through all the description quicker, it’s better and more practiced and smoother.

When I add a layer of description,  I run no risk of repeating myself  because all of the descriptive elements are right there on the same page.  If I keep using the same adjectives, it’s going to be glaringly obvious.

I’ve found it’s quicker if I can mark my first draft, as I’m writing it, with spots that need additional description.  There are a couple of different ways to do this.  You can either make a comment in Track Changes in Word or you can assign a particular symbol to indicate the location for more description.  You’ll want to make sure it’s something unique (skip the dollar sign, maybe).  Then you just hit Control-F and look for the symbol when you’re ready to input your description.

Subplots

For subplots, I open a separate document and write what’s basically a short story with its own little arcs of plot or character development.  Bonus points if I can tie in the subplot to the main plot in surprising ways (or even help my sleuth solve the mystery with something going on in the subplot).

The subplot is cut up in a series of installments…I think of it as a short serial.

Because I can see the subplot all in one place, the subplot is especially coherent and non-repetitive.

Then I weave the subplot into the completed first draft.  I look for areas where there are good places to include a subplot…maybe a slowly paced spot or a spot in the first draft that needs a bit of transition help. This process also helps with the pacing of the subplot itself.

Hope this helps and gives you ideas on how you might be able to use layering in your own writing.  Do you use a similar approach?

Tips for writing a book in layers:
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Image: MorgueFile: kburggraf1

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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.

My blog readers are being offered a special discount on author and editor CS Lakin’s Targeting Genre for Big Sales course, now open for enrollment. It launches March 1, and if you register before March 15, you’ll get $100 off the regular course price of $397 by clicking here or by entering TARGET22 as your code.  This looks to be a good course for writers who are looking to optimize keywords, product description, etc. on their Amazon book page for reader discoverability. 

Creative Work is Performance. Assess Your Creative Health Now: http://ow.ly/X9JVD @DanBlank

10 Ways You Can Find Time To Write In 2016:  http://ow.ly/X9Kuf @10MinuteNovelists

Tips on How to Pitch Magazines Successfully:  http://ow.ly/X9JQy @FinishedPages      

What You Need to Be a Writer:  http://ow.ly/X9JG8 @FinishedPages

9 Practical Tricks for Writing Your First Novel:  http://ow.ly/X9KxI @janellison

Discoverability: Scaling the Wall of Content”: http://ow.ly/XFJXC @Porter_Anderson”

5 Bad Defenses of Bad Stories: http://ow.ly/X9JC7 by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

10 Misconceptions a College Education Taught 1 Writer about Writing http://ow.ly/XFKS4 @annerallen

Writing Secular American Jewish Characters:  http://ow.ly/X9JzF from Writing with Color

5 Reasons Canva is Your Blogging Design Heaven:  http://ow.ly/X9JYA @sacha_black

Talking Taboo: Writing About Sensitive Topics:  http://ow.ly/X9K25 from The Daily Post

To what degree does publishing need university people? http://ow.ly/XFRA8 @Porter_Anderson

WordPress: 5 Themes for Writers and Readers:  http://ow.ly/X9L54 by Cheri Lucas Rowlands

Quotes to Encourage, Motivate, and Reassure Writers: http://ow.ly/X9Kgp @colleen_m_story

Craft of Writing: Down with Adverbs?  http://ow.ly/X9Lbh @kristastevens

52 Memoir Prompts:  http://ow.ly/XFRZP  @JeriWB

The Truth about Writing Mechanics:  http://ow.ly/XgpoR @CSLakin

The Chosen Children of Portal Fantasy:  http://ow.ly/XgptS  @seananmcguire

5 Aspects of Science Fiction That Are Far From Childish: http://ow.ly/XgoUM @RyancBritt @tordotcom

Finding Balance as a Beginning Writer:  http://ow.ly/XgphB @MandyCorine

Writer’s Self-Assessment Worksheet:  http://ow.ly/Xgpkl @evadeverell

No Resolutions or Goals: One Word for 2016:  http://ow.ly/XgpLA  @Margo_L_Dill

George RR Martin: when writers just can’t finish their books: http://ow.ly/XgpEj @guardianbooks @michelledean

Make the Most of Repetition in Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/X9Ll7 @benzbox

Six Clichés to Watch Out For When Writing Fantasy:  http://ow.ly/XgrUX by Oren Ashkenazi

The 3 Dangers Of #Booktube:  http://ow.ly/Xgqfz @NatePhilbrick

This New Year Resolve to Read Socially:  http://ow.ly/XgrJj @artofstoriesAB

The 9 Traits You Need to Succeed as a Nonfiction Writer:  http://ow.ly/Xgqc1 @NinaAmir

5 Tips For Launching a Writing Career:  http://ow.ly/XgsSz @colleen_m_story

7 Questions to Help Writers Set Meaningful Goals:  http://ow.ly/XgqY6 @colleen_m_story

6 Writing Mistakes to Avoid in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones:  http://ow.ly/XFJMc @PAShortt

Kindle Preview Embed:  http://ow.ly/XFPMV

11 New Year’s Resolutions for Writers Who Want to Live Dangerously: http://ow.ly/XFKTL @RuthHarrisBooks

A corporate editor quits her job to write:  http://ow.ly/X9Ko4 @MCSnugz

4 Writer Superpowers that Will Get You into Trouble in Real Life:  http://ow.ly/X9KbW @Je55ieMullin5

‘Wattpad writers are celebrities’ in the Philippines:  http://ow.ly/XFQCL @Porter_Anderson @AshleighGardner #WattpadPresents

10 traits of an epic villain:  http://ow.ly/X9Kjq  @Brianna_daSilva

Track Changes and Comments in Word:  http://ow.ly/XD54n @JeriWB

New Year’s Resolution for Authors: Find Your Social Media Joy: http://ow.ly/X3uQL @brandilarsen

Who dunnit? Tips for writing detective fiction: http://ow.ly/XBW2m  by Rohan Gavin @GdnChildrensBks

Scene Structure: The First 3 Things You Need in Your Scene: http://ow.ly/X63e7 @CSLakin

Consumer Power, Author Responsibility and Why Book Reviews Matter:  http://ow.ly/X60xT @kristenlambtx

Writing Emotion: is less more, and how do you make it real? http://ow.ly/X62V9 @emma_darwin

Inventing Language:  Inspiration and Guidance:  http://ow.ly/X615j @leewind

7 Tips for Writing About Other Cultures:  http://ow.ly/X6317 @KathrynTanquary

2015 in Review from Watchdog Group Writer Beware:  http://ow.ly/X60qk @victoriastrauss

5 Essential Components of Scene Structure:  http://ow.ly/X60nP @CSLakin

Tips for Describing Movement:  http://ow.ly/X60kE @Janice_Hardy

The Broken Arc of Character Transformation:  http://ow.ly/X60CF  @DavidCorbett_CA

Re-Readability: Does Your Book Have It? (5 Ways to Make It Happen):  http://ow.ly/X60K6 @KMWeiland

Building Relationships with Indie Bookstores: Tips: http://ow.ly/X3uau @BookHopper @heatherconnor

5 Writing Apps to Help You Finish that Book: http://ow.ly/X3bmG @DIYMFA

Understanding Cultural Trends as a Writer:  http://ow.ly/WZy4w @standoutbooks

19 productivity and time management apps for 2016:  http://ow.ly/WZxRO @kikolani

Top 5 Publishing Markets for 2016: http://ow.ly/XAuBi @hannahsjohnson @pubperspectives

3 Ways Myths Inform Storytelling:  http://ow.ly/WZxCV @AnthonyEhlers

Free online conference Jan. 27:  http://ow.ly/Xjiw1  #LBF16 @Quantum16 @Porter_Anderson

Tips for hand and wrist care for #writers:  http://ow.ly/X3bDi @DebbieYoungBN

Lessons From the Awkward Writing of The Sword of Truth: http://ow.ly/X3a3f by Chris Winkle

Meta, Irony, Narrative, Frames, and The Princess Bride:  http://ow.ly/X3buE @BluejoWalton @tordotcom

The Stockholm Syndrome Theory of Long Novels:  http://ow.ly/X3bLs @mrkocnnll

5 Tips for Creating a Writing Office in Any Room: http://ow.ly/X3apf  @besscozby @DIYMFA

Creating a Successful Hero and Villain: http://ow.ly/X3a6a @ink_and_quills

Why images should be part of our book marketing strategy:  http://ow.ly/WZycj @standoutbooks

Cross-promotion ideas for writers:  http://ow.ly/Xzfe0  @silas_payton for @JAKonrath

Lesson in Subtext: “It’s a Wonderful Life”:  http://ow.ly/WZxKL @gointothestory

Are There Really “Secrets” to Self-Publishing Success? http://ow.ly/WWXQt @goblinwriter

Top 10 Things That Aren’t Impressive For Action Characters:  http://ow.ly/WZwYM @whitleybirks

How to Create Strong Mood:  http://ow.ly/WZy0Q @nownovel

The Hidden Value of a Handwritten Letter:  http://ow.ly/WZwG4  @hodgeswriter

Crime Writers: 10 Things A Police Officer Should Never Do:  http://ow.ly/WZwLg @LeeLofland

Using psychic characters without giving away too much of the plot:  http://ow.ly/WZygk from How to Fight Write

How to write a chapter: structuring your novel:  http://ow.ly/WZxVv @nownovel

What We Can Learn From Dan Brown About Writing a Book: http://ow.ly/WZx53 @angee

5 Ways Procrastinators Can Become Writers:  http://ow.ly/WZxFS @NinaAmir

15 Inspiring Writing Podcasts:  http://ow.ly/WZxHI @briannarbell

100 Best Websites for Writers in 2016:  http://bit.ly/100websites2016 #writing @thewritelife

Why Every Writer Should Freelance:  http://ow.ly/Xuwtb @hopeclark

2016 Publishing Predictions Plus @thecreativepenn’s Creative Writing Process:  http://ow.ly/WWXKM

Instead of Goals or Resolutions, Try Creating Rules :  http://ow.ly/WWXx6 @zen_habits

What Happens to Writers When They Unplug:  http://ow.ly/WWXYZ  @colleen_m_story

7 Questions to Help Writers Set Meaningful Goals:  http://ow.ly/WWY3Q @colleen_m_story

Learning in the New Year:  http://ow.ly/WWXTE @deanwesleysmith

“Losing NaNo This Year Does Not Make Me a Loser”:  http://ow.ly/WWY8U @RainaSchell

Tips for Building a Strong Writer’s Group:  http://ow.ly/WWYfA @BishsBeat

Pay Yourself First:  http://ow.ly/WWXDW @Rachel_Aaron

4 Lessons from Orphan Black on Character Development:  http://ow.ly/WWXHM @EmilyWenstrom

The Hero Is Dead:  http://ow.ly/WTjR4 @seanbhood

Avoid the hero’s journey: use inscrutable human experiences”:   http://ow.ly/WTio3 @seanbhood”

When Poets Don’t Read Poetry:  http://ow.ly/WTjfa @writingforward

Achieve diversity in writing: read diverse literature: http://ow.ly/XsqBu @sarahmedway @Porter_Anderson

Publishing Trends In 2016 With @JaneFriedman http://ow.ly/XsBxF @thecreativepenn

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

Fake it till you make it and other essential writing advice:  http://ow.ly/WTjl1 @JennyHansenCA

Radio Appearances for Indie Authors:  http://ow.ly/WTiC4 @DebbieYoungBN

Changing Text as You Format a Book:  http://ow.ly/WTjIX @noveleditor

4 Questions to Improve Your Character Development:  http://ow.ly/WTjFK @EmilyWenstrom

6 methods for character introduction:  http://ow.ly/WTiXX @fictionnotes

Writing Goals: 2016: How to Schedule:  http://ow.ly/WTiMD @gointothestory

The best writing links of the week on Twitterific:
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Kindle Preview Embed

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Do you read your newsletters from Amazon?  I’ll admit that I haven’t for years…not until the final couple of newsletters arrived in my inbox.  I’m not much of a newsletter person, usually.  This may explain why it pains me to send out newsletters to my readers. I feel as if I’m bothering them, even though they signed up for the thing.

This last email from Amazon had an interesting note about Kindle Preview (not Kindle Previewer, which is how we all proof our mobi files before hitting publish).  Kindle Preview is a bit of code that we can embed on our website to allow readers to see a preview of our book or purchase the book (from Amazon, naturally) without leaving our site.

We can also get a preview link if we’d rather share it in our email tagline, etc.

A nice feature offered is the ability to add our Amazon Affiliate ID to the embed so that we get credit/commissions for/from the sale.

Readers can use any browser and can preview without having to log in to Amazon.

The process was very easy.  I pulled up one of my books in my browser.  On the right, under the “buy now/give as a gift/add to list” options and next to the share buttons, there is a hyperlinked “embed,” as you can see (in the sadly rather blurry image)  on the right.

That opened a pop-up window. I chose the option to embed it, then clicked on “Amazon Associates ID.”

I typed in my Associates number (more about the Amazon Affiliate program here). It adjusted the embed code to include my ID.

Then I opened up my WordPress dashboard, clicked to each individual book’s page, changed the compose view to “text” instead of “visual,” and pasted the code.

We also have options to change the Kindle Preview image size, the placement of the buy button, and where we want the book content to appear.

It ends up looking like this:

Have you tried Kindle Preview? Do you read your Amazon newsletters (I’m starting to! New resolution. :)  )

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Writing Solo after Being Collaborative

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

For the first time, I’m writing one of the Southern Quilting mysteries on my own.  I got the rights to my characters back from Penguin Random House last year.

Although I was excited to keep writing the characters and their adventures, it’s been a bit unsettling. I wasn’t expecting to feel unsettled since this is the second series that I’ve gotten my rights back for.

But the first series had only one book traditionally published before I started self-publishing the rest.  This series had a good five books in it.

What’s more, I had written the Southern Quilting series as a collaborative effort with my editor.  We’d bounce around a few ideas, I’d send her an outline, she’d give her (always very thoughtful) opinion on it, and I’d usually make changes—small and large—before writing the manuscript.

The more I think about it, the more I recognize what a huge part she played in the series.

I’m far more used to being a lone wolf writer than a collaborative one. I’ve written something like fourteen books with minimal editorial input. With the exception of this one series.

Unfortunately, my editor was laid off from Penguin-Random House last summer, one of many victims of the merger.

The series, despite the fact that Penguin was pushing a digital-only contract on me last year, was successful. I get emails regularly from readers who enjoyed the books and are asking when the next one is coming out.

What I wonder is—what parts of the books were the readers resonating most with? Because my editor and I had very different areas that we focused on.

For instance, my editor was especially keen on adding lots of textual detail to the books. They are the Southern Quilting books.  If I didn’t include enough quilting scenes, she’d ask me to include more.  She promised me my readers would especially enjoy them.

I was always pretty restless with these requests. I’d honor them, but I also slipped in a hefty amount of plot or character development at the same time.  Perhaps Beatrice was working on a batik fabric in an arrowhead variation block.  But she was casting arrows at a potential suspect at the same time.

My editor also cared a lot about the settings and wanted more detail than I usually give. I did provide a lot more at her request. She also added a Yankee sensibility to my Southern books. She stopped me when there was something she didn’t understand or when she needed more information on a throwaway word that I thought everyone knew.

Clogging? What’s that?  she asked.

A type of  folk dance that’s popular in the mountain towns of the South, I wrote back with a mental shrug.

Can you describe it? she asked.

Describe clogging??

There were also recipes and quilting tips at the backs of the books, which my editor had expressly asked me to include.

As I’ve been working, solo, on this new book, I’ve been writing it as I usually would.  Without all the extra detail. I’d always add the detail in later, in a separate layer of writing. I’m wondering, now, how faithful I’ll be to the way I wrote the previous books.  Will I focus as much on the quilting subplots? Should I? Can I leave out the recipes and quilting tips or will I be dinged in the reviews for that—I do see readers mentioning them in customer reviews.  Clearly I should be more careful with my Southernisms, too.

Has your relationship with an editor ever bordered on collaborative?  Or have you co-written with another author?

Going solo with a series after collaborative writing with an editor:
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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.

Looking Into a Killer’s Eyes to Bring a Character to Life:  http://ow.ly/WR4HI @emilyross816

Writing the Hard Stuff:  http://ow.ly/WR4Mk @suddenlyjamie

4 Tactics to Create Your Novel’s Perfect Last Line:  http://ow.ly/WR4A8 @sacha_black               

Best Practices for Author Facebook Pages and Groups: http://ow.ly/WR4zj @JaneFriedman

Crowdsourcing your editor:  http://ow.ly/WR4NT @kseniaanske

Why Story Beginnings and Endings Must Be Linked:  http://ow.ly/WR4Bi @KMWeiland

Writing Characters with Mental Health Issues:  http://ow.ly/WR4FZ @oliviavetrano

3 Myths of Fiction Research:  http://ow.ly/WR4ri the Plot Line Hotline

Why the undead live on:  http://ow.ly/WR4td  @spikedonline by Tim Black

The Key to Publishing Success:  http://ow.ly/WR4Do by Chelsea Apple @wherewriterswin

Sculpting a Memoir :  http://ow.ly/WR5jy  @sfsculptor @womenwriters

7 Tips for Writing a Plot Summary:  http://ow.ly/WTj85  @josiskilpack

Writers renting shared work space:  http://ow.ly/WTjuQ  @SwansonWriting @thewritermag

Lesson from The Force Awakens:  http://ow.ly/WTjMI @noveleditor

A Breakdown of the Good and the Bad of True Detective Season 2: http://ow.ly/WTiF9 @seanbhood

8 Tips to Writing Unreliable Narrators:  http://ow.ly/WTjrF @debcaletti

Build Your Author Brand: http://ow.ly/WTk4l @damselwriter

Fiction Writing Checklist:  http://ow.ly/WR5hZ  @AJHumpage

Romantic relationships between police detectives in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/XpZ2d @mkinberg

How to Become a Freelance Writer While You’re in College:  http://ow.ly/WPEoJ @kirstinkelley1

Watch out for quality control emails from Amazon:  http://ow.ly/XpmWF

10 Ways To Beat Writer’s Block:  http://ow.ly/WPEvu @NatePhilbrick

How 1 Writer Gave Up On the Great American Novel and Got a Book Deal:  http://ow.ly/WPEqI  @EdTarkington @thelithub

Breaking the Curse of Distant Perspective:  http://ow.ly/WPEmR by Chris Winkle

Working on multiple projects at once: http://ow.ly/WPEz1 @KelsieEngen

Surviving Failure and Rejection:  http://ow.ly/WPEti @barbaraoneal

How to Correct Parallelism in Writing:  http://ow.ly/WPEkU @Grammarly

Tips for Developing Your Voice:  http://ow.ly/WPEx8 @writingforward

3 Tools for More Productive and Organized Writing:  http://ow.ly/WPEjT @jenn_mattern

A Step-by-Step Guide to Build Your Author Website:  http://ow.ly/WPEI8 @JaneFriedman

Overcoming Fear of Twitter:  http://ow.ly/WPECv @chrismjane

Honor Your Writing: Learning from Practicing Yoga:  http://ow.ly/WPEEb  by Sue Bradford Edwards

Rewriting Your Script: Scene-by-scene breakdown: http://ow.ly/WNpjv @gointothestory

5 Easy Tips for Dealing with Email:  http://ow.ly/WNpyr  @kayelleallen

Avoiding a ‘Mary Sue’:  http://ow.ly/WNpIO by Plot Line Hotline

5 Google Search Tips for Authors: http://ow.ly/WNpDc @virginiagkelly

Writing Romance is a Different Animal: http://ow.ly/WNp8u @CarolAnneMalone

10 Character Clichés To Watch Out For:  http://ow.ly/WNpdh @NatePhilbrick

When is a Book “Out of Print”?  http://ow.ly/WNpgI @susanspann

10 Pre-Publication Tips:  http://ow.ly/WNpvw @ceciliaedits

5 Ways to Squeeze Writing into Your Life:  http://ow.ly/WNpmr @kirsticall

Screenwriting: Using a Prologue:  http://ow.ly/WNpLQ @dougeboch

5 Things Writing Teaches About Life : http://ow.ly/WKfTh @womenwriters @meldecarlo

Anatomy of an Effective Book Trailer:  http://ow.ly/WKgq7 by Claudia Cangilla McAdam

4 Major Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Blog Posts:  http://ow.ly/XjhX1 @karencv

How important is SEO to novelists?The Hot Sheet: http://eepurl.com/bMNVw9 @Porter_Anderson @JaneFriedman

Free online conference Jan. 27 to mark on calendar:  http://ow.ly/Xjie1  #LBF16 @Quantum16 @Porter_Anderson

A New App Turns a Romance Novel Fantasy Into Reality:  http://ow.ly/XjdDa @claireefallon

When suspects tell half-truths in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/XjdwV @mkinberg

33 Ways to Write Stronger Characters: http://ow.ly/WKgbX @shesnovel

How to Use Either, Neither, Or, and Nor Correctly:  http://ow.ly/WKfLt @epbure

A History of Punctuation for the Internet Age:  http://ow.ly/WKgDM @AdrienneRaphel @NewYorker

Small Press/Big Press Pros and Cons:  http://ow.ly/WKgfB  @klingonguy

5 Lessons in First Person POV:  http://ow.ly/WKgm1 @sacha_black

Multiple Characters: Who’s Most Important?  http://ow.ly/WKg6i @artofstoriesAB

Writing Tense Scenes:  http://ow.ly/WKgv4 @NatePhilbrick

Teaching Writing: When to Pop Out of the Notebook:  http://ow.ly/WKgK7 @BethMooreSchool

The Best Way to Ensure Long-Term Success as a Writer: http://ow.ly/WKg2o @colleen_m_story

YA clichés:  http://ow.ly/WKfI1 @Brianna_daSilva

Want to Be a Better Writer? Cut These 7 Words: http://ow.ly/WKg9E @joebunting

How to Guarantee that You Stick to Your Writing Schedule:  http://ow.ly/WKfNP @ttamreyem

101 Book Marketing Ideas to Promote Your Book:  http://ow.ly/Xhysc @SmithPublicity

5 Newbie Mistakes Writers Make When Asking for Feedback:  http://ow.ly/WxkLn @Lexirad

Character perceptions in settings:  http://ow.ly/WH2cz @BookOmnivore

Making Document Goals in Scrivener: http://ow.ly/WH1Nn @KelsieEngen

The Force Awakens Was Great Until It Wasn’t:  http://ow.ly/WH1vg , http://ow.ly/WH1vv , http://ow.ly/WH1vM @cockeyedcaravan

3 Current Trends in Screenwriting:  http://ow.ly/WH2jO @dougeboch

4 Ways to Use Subplots:  http://ow.ly/WH2fT @dougeboch

6 Depressing Realities Of Writing YA Fiction:  http://ow.ly/WH1mp  @MenezesCracked

Stereotypical Perspectives:  http://ow.ly/WH23n @KrisMcmorris

The Metamorphosis of Darth Vader:  http://ow.ly/WH20r @gointothestory

Print to Digital: Cleaning Up Your Word File:  http://ow.ly/WH29v @byondpapr

How to Write a Novel Worthy of Publishing: http://ow.ly/WH1Tu @MCristianoWrite

The transformation of libraries:  http://ow.ly/Xdymy @Porter_Anderson

Should a Monster Ever Meet Its Metaphor? http://ow.ly/WFbgS @cockeyedcaravan

Crime novels in which sleuths fixate on one suspect: http://ow.ly/Xdxvl @mkinberg

Would you pay to turn the first page of this bestseller? http://ow.ly/WAGHU @RayRhamey

Tips for Dealing with Depression as a Writer:  http://ow.ly/WxkKb @Lexirad

Adding Suspense to Romance:  http://ow.ly/WFcf7 @jkcoi

Top 10 Winter Poems: http://ow.ly/WFbNw @lwlindquist @tspoetry

Writer Worksheet: Mind/Body: http://ow.ly/WFaOo @evadeverell

How to Put White Space Back in Your Life:  http://ow.ly/WFbul @C_Herringshaw

5 Common Character Mistakes:  http://ow.ly/WFbmd by Chris Winkle @mythcreants

Rewriting Your Script: Characters:  http://ow.ly/WFazR @gointothestory

Using Action Points to Tell a Good Story:  http://ow.ly/WFbWI @shalvatzis

Static Vs. Dynamic Scene Settings:  http://ow.ly/WFb54  @RichardWalterUC

10 Goals for Your Blog:  http://ow.ly/WFc6u  @WriteOnOnline

The links I shared last week:  http://ow.ly/Xca2Z . All the links I’ve ever shared (30K+, free and searchable): writerskb.com

5 Productivity Hacks Anyone Can Use to Write Books Faster:  http://ow.ly/WxkIS @Lexirad

What Opera Teaches About Writing:  http://ow.ly/WAGtB  @WriteToSell

The importance of details:  http://ow.ly/WAGZK @caroclarke

Color Code Your Senses:  http://ow.ly/WAHgm @SuddenlyJamie

4 Most Common International Ebook Discounting Errors:  http://ow.ly/WAGKV @dianaurban

Cognitive Dissonance and Writing:  http://ow.ly/WAHbm @DianeMacKinnon

How to Write a Killer Scene: http://ow.ly/WAGz2 @patverducci

The top writing links from last week on Twitterific:
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Amazon Pushing Quality Control

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Amazon is sending out emails warning authors that they need to upload corrections to their books or else receive a quality-related warning label on their book page starting February 3rd:

Starting February 3, 2016 we will begin showing customers a warning message on the Amazon.com Kindle store detail pages of books that contain several validated quality issues. We will remove this message for a book as soon as we receive the fixed file from you and verify the corrections – typically within 2 business days.

We understand that even with the best quality controls, defects sometimes make it through. That’s why we’ve limited this messaging to books with several issues. Books with more serious quality issues will continue to be suppressed from sale.

…

Before the warning message appears, we would like to work with you to ensure these issues are fixed. After you’ve made the corrections, please upload your revised content through the ‘Book Content’ section in your KDP Bookshelf and republish it by clicking “Save and Publish” so that we can verify the corrections and prevent the warning message from being displayed on your book’s detail page.

Sadly, I received one of these emails. As you can imagine, it made me jump into action.

The book was one of the first self-published books that I published.  In 2011, I paid a pretty penny for a formatted file with an absolutely gorgeous interior design.

Unfortunately, pretty penny or not, the formatting makes text either difficult or impossible to read on certain Kindle devices (many of which launched after the formatting was created in 2011), according to Amazon.  This includes my title page, dedication, chapter headings, and the first letter of each chapter.

I have a new formatter now and I sent it to him yesterday. Rik Hall was good enough to immediately take care of the issue.  I’ve already uploaded a corrected file to Amazon.

There were also two inexplicable items Amazon listed. They referred to two typos:

Issue: Typo. Details: "down" should be "down" ". Location: 1144.

Issue: Typo. Details: "moment" " should be "moment". Location: 2453.

But neither location included either of those words, either in dialogue or in the narrative. What exactly was the issue that they needed corrected?

The email, if you get one, does refer to an address to write for more help.  I did send an email (regarding the ‘moment’ and ‘down’ mentions) and heard back nearly immediately that they’d forwarded my email to their ‘quality team’ for follow-up and that I should hear back in a couple of days.

Despite the drop-everything-and-work-on-this-one-issue feeling that I got from the email, I’m glad that Amazon is implementing some quality control measures. I definitely want my book to be easy to read and as error-free as I can make it. That only helps me in the long run.

I do wish I’d heard of any formatting problems before now.  Maybe an email was in my spam folder for a while? Usually readers are quick to either email me regarding issues or write about problems on a review.  Hard to imagine this just popped up when the book has been out for 5 years.

But this post is just to say…watch your inbox for an email like this one.  None of us want warning labels on our book pages! Ugh.

Keep an eye out for quality control emails from Amazon:
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What I’ve Learned in 20 Books’ Time

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I realized a couple of weeks ago that I’m working on my 20th book.

A lot has changed since book one.  I shopped the first couple of books  to agents and traditional publishers since self-publishing wasn’t the great option it is now.   Digital publishing and digital reading hadn’t yet exploded on the scene.

Here’s some of what I’ve learned:

Process: 

Outlining helps me write faster.

However, writing from an outline doesn’t give me as much job satisfaction as when I make it up as I go along.

Readers sometimes enjoy my subplots better than the main plot. Lesson: don’t neglect the subplot.

Self-edit to make my manuscript as error free as I can. Printing it out, converting it to a format I can read on my Kindle, or reading aloud is a good way to get distance from it. This saves me money on my self-published editing.

Editors still read my carefully self-edited manuscripts and find errors big and small.

When writing a mystery, it’s important to keep track of all the loose ends and make sure they’re carefully tied up at the end. Lists help.

Pomodoro is a great technique to help me write. Particularly if paired with an energetic activity during the break time. Housework, for example. I’m always happy to stop with the housework and pick up with the story again.

Experienced editors can have excellent developmental suggestions. One of mine saved the life of a minor character who ended up being one of the biggest draws of the series.

When writing, it’s helpful to have a document with character traits nearby.

The more books that I have in a series, the more meticulous I must be in noting detail in a series bible.

If I get in a rut, I need to immediately analyze what’s going on.  What’s the problem with the story? Why am I reluctant to write it?

Don’t write on a laptop while sitting on a sofa with my feet on the coffee table. Don’t do it. I must commit to memory the $500 I paid for physical therapy. Kitchen counter writing is much better for me.

Sometimes the best thing I can do to make faster progress on a story is to change things up: write in longhand, dictate my story, write at the library or at the coffeehouse, or try writing at a different time of day.

I have to be flexible. I have to be able to grab 5 minutes here and there. I have to be able to write anywhere (EXCEPT on the sofa. See above).

My reader reviews on Amazon provide me with feedback that helps me tweak my stories for better commercial success.

Promo and Business:

Free promos work faster and better than anything else I’ve tried. The cost is merely the cost of lost revenue. I use Smashwords or Draft2Digital to get Amazon to price match.

Newsletters are excellent sales tools. I wish I’d started earlier with them.

Finding a social media platforms that I can tolerate and keep up with is important.

Publishing, marketing, and writing advice isn’t one size fits all.  It’s good to know the advice, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have to test it. The standard advice for social media is to interact and to avoid scheduling posts.  I decided not to take that advice for my Twitter account and it’s worked out well for me.

Brand under my real name. Don’t invest too much time in a pen name.

Go wide. Make my work available on as many platforms as possible, as soon as possible.

Keep a separate bank account for writing-related earnings and expenses.

Keep a database of cover designers, formatters, etc, just in case someone on my team needs to take a break from work for any reason.

Get on the calendar of my designers, formatters, and editors months in advance.

Keep up with industry news to learn of new opportunities and ways to experiment.

It’s good to learn how to do everything I outsource. Just in case.

It’s good to learn how to outsource.  Being a control freak isn’t healthy.

What advice do you have to share?  What kinds of things have you learned?

What 1 writer has learned while writing 20 books:
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