Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 110

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.

CS Lewis with writing tips for new authors:  http://ow.ly/Vtp7o  @Goodereader

#FutureChat 11aET, 4pGMT (now): Creating apps from books–does the writing still matter? http://ow.ly/VKW5l @Porter_Anderson

4 author bio mistakes:  http://ow.ly/VtpXJ  @sandrabeckwith

How to Give a Presentation People Will Remember:  http://ow.ly/VtpQF @anthonyfrasier

Submissions Insanity: The Homer Simpson Guide:  http://ow.ly/Vtq5R @bang2write

The Secret Screenwriting Themes Behind All Pixar Movies:  http://ow.ly/VtplB @screencrafting

Screenplay Review: I Am Legend (the famous Logan draft):  http://ow.ly/VtoRh @scriptshadow

8 Writing Steps a Writer is Taking To Get Out Of Her Own Way:  http://ow.ly/VtpJr @Blondewritemore

Bringing hope into our writing:  http://ow.ly/Vtqks @DonMaass

Take a Staff Meeting With Yourself: http://ow.ly/Vtp2E @sowulwords @DIYMFA

11 Authors Who Became Famous After They Died:  http://ow.ly/Vtpre @endovert

Old books can help us understand our genre:  http://ow.ly/VwSPz @lanceschaubert

How to Leverage Keywords on Pinterest as an Author:  http://ow.ly/VwSVb @JayArtale

Spinning Hope From Rejection:  http://ow.ly/VwWZ8  @storyfix

Sometimes Writer’s Block is really Depression:  http://ow.ly/VwX1b @maryrobinette

Life After NaNoWriMo: Punch Up Narrative Arc and Character Development:  http://ow.ly/VwSzJ  @ProWritingAid

Self-Publishers: Are you a Book Planner or a Free Spirit? http://ow.ly/VwSRl @JFBookman

Take a Virtual Book Tour:  http://ow.ly/VwWUb @marketingwizard

How to Bring Characters in From the Cold: http://ow.ly/VwX9g @jamesscottbell

4 Questions Agents Ask Writers at Pitch Sessions:  http://ow.ly/VwSZX @FictionCity

DIY Cover Design:  http://ow.ly/VwXbJ @jenniferlellis

The Power Of Point Of View:  http://ow.ly/VwSKs  @mbtinsley

Actions vs Choices: Crafting Better Plots:  http://ow.ly/VwX67 @Janice_Hardy

Turning Out Words: Productivity:  http://ow.ly/VwYao @fictionnotes

Writing Characters Readers Trust But Shouldn’t:  http://ow.ly/VwYgt @angelaackerman

7 Ways to Jump Start Your Book Cover Design:  http://ow.ly/VwSXK  @carlaking

Using Pinterest as a writer:  http://ow.ly/VwYCW  @carriebeckort

How to Finally Finish Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/VwSFZ @prowritingaid

How To Launch A Book: For New Authors or New Series:  http://ow.ly/VwYiq @susankayequinn

7 Tips On Emotional Storytelling, Pixar-Style:  http://ow.ly/VtpDk @ joeberkowitz

Dealing With Square One:  http://ow.ly/Vtqcr  @TrueFactBarFact

Chipping Away at Writer’s Block:  http://ow.ly/VqfYU @robinrwrites

How to edit your novel: pic.twitter.com/ZB1GPN8BdA http://blog.reedsy.com/how-to-revise-a-novel-step-by-step-guide via @ReedsyHQ #NaNoWriMo

10 Common Grammar Mistakes Writers Make (Infographic) http://ow.ly/VHHCm @TheExpertEditor

An Open Letter to the Impatient Novelist:  http://ow.ly/VqfWa  @Write_Tomorrow

Tips for Experimenting on Wattpad:  http://ow.ly/VqipX @amzoltai

7 First Draft Dilemmas: http://ow.ly/Vqg4O @AnthonyEhlers

Story Alchemy: Lessons from Breaking Bad:  http://ow.ly/Vqf0u @ThereseWalsh

How a Reader Turns Into a Writer:  http://ow.ly/Vqfpp by  Daniel A. Roberts

How to keep writing despite fear, doubt, and self-criticism:  http://ow.ly/VqfLy @rxena77

Polishing a Novel:  http://ow.ly/Vqf6D @clairfuller2

How to ‘Fix’ Unlikable Characters:  http://ow.ly/Vqg2d @RuthanneReid

A toolbox to build character:  http://ow.ly/Vqflu @thewritermag

Writing Tips and Advice From @andyweirauthor, author of ‘The Martian’:  http://ow.ly/Vqfec @brianklems

How to Beat Writer’s Block and Get Back to Work:  http://ow.ly/Vnc2w @BrynDonovan

9 Productivity Hacks to Help Us Meet Our Deadline:  http://ow.ly/VncME @emily_tjaden

6 Writing Lessons From Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back:  http://ow.ly/VF1kQ @PAShortt

Surprises inside luggage in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/VF2jt @mkinberg

How Fanfic Can Help Transition Us to Original Fiction: http://ow.ly/VncT9 @msmariavicente

When to Start Sending Query Letters:  http://ow.ly/Vnd44  @msmariavicente

6 Tips To Hook A Reader on Page One:  http://ow.ly/VnbEe @carlywatters

Why Don’t We Just Call Them Micro-Bestsellers? http://ow.ly/VnbLI @stephenwoodfin

Character Archetypes Masterlist: http://ow.ly/VncG7 from Bella Writes

Polishing a Novel:  http://ow.ly/VnbTC @clairefuller2

3 Reasons to Love a Day Job:  http://ow.ly/VmRBe @jt3_gill

Let the critics choke on literary fiction:  http://ow.ly/Vnc8W @calebpirtle

How to Take a Critique:  http://ow.ly/Vncgp @AnnetteLyon

Creating a Vision for Your Writing Career: http://ow.ly/Vnbsj @RachelPhifer1

How To Handle Feedback: 6 Dos & Don’ts: http://ow.ly/VjDVf @HeatherJacksonW

When we should —and shouldn’t— use a hyphen: http://ow.ly/VjEyc  @lhbrockway  @PRDaily

Pinterest for Authors: Generate Traffic & Gain Readers: http://ow.ly/VCje0 @SueColetta1

#NaNoWriMo: Finishing Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/VjE7f @kimberlypurcell

Top 10 Things Writers Should Ask Their Characters:  http://ow.ly/VjCUN @HeatherJacksonW

7 Rules for Writing Dialogue: http://ow.ly/VjDJY @nownovel

Is it time to divorce the returns system:  http://ow.ly/VjEQa @jasminkirkbride @BookMachine

6 Bad Writing Habits to Drop Right Now: http://ow.ly/VjDcc @worddreams

10 Tips for Writing Thriller Screenplays:  http://ow.ly/VjDYW @bang2write

Evaluate Where You Are with Zig Ziglar: http://ow.ly/VjEjj @karencv

5 Secrets to Writing With Suspense:  http://ow.ly/VjDQJ  @katemoretti1

Chapter or Scene Break? How and when to use them:  http://ow.ly/VjDGK @AJHumpage

Matriarchies, Patriarchies, and Beyond:  http://ow.ly/VjDpC by Mike Hernandez

Feel Like A Fraud? Imposter Syndrome:  http://ow.ly/VjD16 @sacha_black

Looking for trust: Author Day to FutureBook 2015: http://ow.ly/Vzl7m @Porter_Anderson

How to Start a Blog: the Free Guide (+ PDF & Audiobook):  http://ow.ly/VzuwZ @firstsiteguide

5 Surprising Things About A Writer’s Conference: http://ow.ly/VfTqG @DIYMFA @kaylamacneille

Control and the Self-Published Writer:  http://ow.ly/VzxZS

Tips for Our Second Draft:  http://ow.ly/VyZEH  @JessicaPMorrell

Criminals who try to ‘go straight’ in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/VyZS0 @mkinberg

Pressure Points That Reveal Character:  http://ow.ly/VfSVH @angelaackerman

Fixing the First Page:  http://ow.ly/VfSQU @ava_jae

Simple 30 Minute Yoga Routine for Writers (No Flexibility Required): http://ow.ly/VfTCs @ink_and_quills

On Rejection:  http://ow.ly/VfT5l  @Paul_Genesse

Personal Branding and Writing:  http://ow.ly/VfTxL @edeckers

How To Read Like A Writer:  http://ow.ly/VfTJZ from Write Wild

Who’s telling the story anyway? (POV):  http://ow.ly/VfSab @JaniceErnest

How to Write a Nonfiction Book in a Month:  http://ow.ly/VfTmB @NinaAmir

The Writing Cave:  http://ow.ly/VfT0h  @ShanDitty

How to Identify and Cut Your Story’s Filler Content:  http://ow.ly/VfTaz @shesnovel

To do great work: embrace your limits:  http://ow.ly/VfTfM @DanBlank

10 Tools to Keep Writers Out of the Doctor’s Office:  http://ow.ly/Ve2MZ @colleen_m_story

Tips for author newsletters that will be opened: http://ow.ly/Ve27c @johnkrone_com

29 Plot Templates:  http://ow.ly/Ve3hL @fictionnotes

5 Ways to Use Instagram as an Author:  http://ow.ly/Ve25L @TeeMonster @PhillipaJane

5 Tips for Writing a Book Sequel That is Superior to the First:  http://ow.ly/Ve2Ub by Georgina Roy

Tips for selling books at conventions:  http://ow.ly/Ve327 @pattyjansen

How to Connect with Readers:  http://ow.ly/Ve3en @hopeclark

50 Ways To Kickstart Publicity: http://ow.ly/Ve30i @LindaWonder

 

Top writing links from last week on Twitterific:
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Scheduling Our Upcoming Year

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’m not so much of a fan of New Year resolutions. They seem too ephemeral for me…like a bucket list or something. There’s no meat to them. It’s a wish list. Instead I take what I want to accomplish, create a production plan, and put dates and ‘to dos’ on my calendar.

Although this makes me sound like a wonderful planner, I’m only a halfway decent planner. The truth is that I need to get on the calendars for my production team—in particular my cover designer.

Next year’s releases: At this point, I’ve also announced upcoming titles to my readers in both the backs of 2015 releases and on my website. This holds me accountable to my schedule and keeps me on track as well as ensures that readers are looking out for more launches in the series they’re reading.

I also like the idea of end of the year reflections, or at least would like to take a thoughtful look at the past year to see where I can continue successful practices and either discontinue what isn’t working for me or tweak it to make it work better.  I think these reflections accomplish a couple of things. For one, they help us acknowledge our successes, which are too frequently overlooked in the haste to get on to the next thing on our to-do list (for me: books published, technology learned, an email inbox that’s under control. Even the personal examples—I was able to sustain a modest exercise routine for the entire year which prevented a recurrence of my Unfortunate Writer’s Back issue from 2014). These reflections also help us make a more conscious effort to improve strategies (I need to create some canned responses on Gmail for things like guest post requests from content creation companies, etc.)

In the same vein is my search for time savers. For instance, I had a reminder every month this year on my calendar to print out the KDP reports. I was keeping them in a binder where I could look at them altogether and see the peaks and troughs of sales.  I don’t think I’m going to do this in 2016, although it’s not a bad thing to do.  I think I can just pull up the reports I’m interested in, online, instead.  This is a small example for me…for you it might be cutting back on blogging one day a week, cutting the cord on a social media platform that you’re not able to check in on enough, dropping out of a group blog, etc.

On top of that is a long-term to-do list. This is publishing-related, but not limited to writing. There are things that I would like to experiment with (ads, in particular) or things I’d like to learn how to do for the upcoming year (website related items, experiments with new forms of social media).

Then there are maintenance items that I schedule reminders on my calendar for. Some are tax-related—periodic reminders to me to include business-related expenses on a list for my CPA. Some are related to website maintenance…have I updated my site lately? Is all the information current? Am I still calling a title an “upcoming release” when it actually launched weeks ago?

I’m also, for 2016, trying to schedule in more downtime. Because, apparently, I don’t take downtime unless I see it on a to-do list (classic trait of type-A , maybe).  Since I did so great with exercising this year (which must be my all-time unfavorite activity), I’m now trying the same with other things that keep me from getting too stressed.  My husband and I enjoy watching plays and we have a favorite local theater in Charlotte that provides low-key entertainment. I’m looking ahead on their calendar and adding possible events onto mine.

And then I’ve got the reality check portion of my scheduling.  The school calendar is released for the following school year and I’m putting that in. On Gmail, I subscribe to a US Holidays calendar that automatically adds in dates I need to remember (especially Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, which have a habit of somehow sneaking up on me). You can do the same (or put in other calendars that automatically populate) on Gmail: go to the drop down arrow in the left margin next to ‘other calendars’ and click ‘browse interesting calendars.’  I also sync my calendar with the JV cheer calendar for the high school, etc…anything that I can do to keep from 1. dropping the ball and 2. having to input everything myself.  The reality check portion is to keep me from setting myself up for failure by expecting too much of myself during a busy time.

What kinds of tasks are you putting on your schedule for 2016?

Tips for writers for scheduling the upcoming year:
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Image: MorgueFile: bkornprobst

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Control and the Self-Published Writer

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Much has been written about the control that a self-published writer has over their career and their books. It’s usually portrayed as a good thing. We can choose when our book comes out, when its sequel comes out, what vibe our cover is sending out, when to run sales, how much our book should retail for.

Sometimes we’ll hear about the flip side of having this control—the overwhelming nature of it, the high learning curve in handling it, the realization that when our book seems to flop on release that it was related to something we did. Because no one else was in the driver’s seat.

What I have recently discovered is that the control…the good, the bad, and the ugly of it…is completely addictive. Until we feel, I think, a lot more ownership and responsibility for a book, even when we don’t have any control over it.

I’ve come a long way with how much control I’ve wanted to have. I remember when my editor at Penguin told me that a sequel for a book in my Memphis series was approved for release in 2013. That was two years after the previous book in the series launched.  I had serious reservations about this and I didn’t understand it.  I can write a book in three months, easy. If you push me, I can, technically, write a book in about 5 weeks.  I’ll be stressed out and snapping at family members, but sure, I can write it. So why the delay? Or, really, why not ask me to write a book sooner?  Why not ask me in 2011 to write the book, then decide if you want to publish it or not later?  It could have started its year-long production process a lot sooner. If they didn’t want it, I could probably have reworked it to fit a different series.

Did I say anything? No. Because I realized I was dealing with a process—one that was out of my editor’s hands. I just dealt with it.  It was the last book of the series.

As I’ve continued on my self-publishing path, though, I’ve felt more frustration with what happens with my trad-pubbed books.  I’m frustrated from a career standpoint. I want those books to continue doing well and I’m limited.

One Example: oddly, and out of the blue, an ebook that released in 2010 and had been retailing at about $10 for the life of the book (I know…) had its price dropped in half.  That part was great news. I’ve been fielding emails for years from readers asking why that book was priced so high when the rest of the books in the series (this is the series that started out in trad pub and that is now self pub) ranged from free to about $4.99.

The problem with this is now there suddenly is something wrong with the Kindle file.  I’m getting dinged on reviews because there are apparently two chapter sixteens and no chapter seventeen.  And the reviews are, for the most part, directed right at me.

I called the publisher on Friday.  I haven’t dealt with Midnight Ink for years.  I hit zero for the switchboard and gave them my editor’s name. Oh, she said, my editor had retired years ago.  So I told switchboard my problem and she figured out someone for me to talk to.  It wasn’t the right person, but he knew who in production would handle the issue.  And all the while I’m talking about the problem, I’m hearing the stress in my voice and telling myself to chill out.  I know that the stress is from lack of control. The problem would already have been fixed if it were a self-pubbed title. And I can’t control when or if they’ll fix it.  In the meantime, the emails and negative reviews will continue.

Another example. I got a publishing report from Penguin last week (this is new—an online dashboard that authors can sign into. It’s actually pretty cool and a step in the right direction).  My report stated that, for my June release, my sales so far were “58% physical, 42% ebook.”

All of my books from Penguin report this type of ratio. You can see the little pie graphs on the image file here for a handful of my books. And I’m not alone in the trad pubbed writing community in saying that we find it…strange.  For my self-published books, it’s more like 90% digital sales, 10% physical.  So…are these figures what Penguin has to work with?  Only BookScan reports, only certain retailers, only Ingram? Do they not include Amazon reporting (and I know Amazon is fairly closemouthed about ebook sales, but not to publishers, right?)

If these reports are accurate (and I’m trying to give them the benefit of the doubt here…but it sure would help if they told me where they’re pulling these numbers or what’s being reported to them), then why are they so skewed to physical sales? Are there that many readers still buying print from retailers?  Somehow only for trad pubbed books and not the same series for my self-pubbed titles?  Could this be because of the fact that publisher pricing frequently favors physical books?  If it’s that readers really are, for trade published books, favoring print, I’d like an idea why it’s that way—is it because of their product placement in bookstores? Are these actually printed copies from Amazon and online purchases? I’m curious.

And I have no control over learning more about their data. My editor for that series was, sadly, laid off a few months ago.

And returning to my control issues regarding the pricing.  I’d really love to run some sales to bump up reviews and visibility for the series starters. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do. I got my rights back for the series that was trad pubbed until June and plan on releasing a new title next spring. I’ll probably go fairly low with it, in terms of pricing, to see if I can stimulate some interest in the series as a whole. Then I can add a few more books to the series and play around with pricing. But I’ll never be able to make the first book perma-free. The first book in my Myrtle series is the same. I had to make box sets for the Myrtle series without the first book included.

I’m reading this post over and I’m thinking…blehhh.  Sorry y’all. Not that the problems I raise aren’t legitimate (and I’m intending this to be a cautionary tale to anyone who is toying with taking a series to trad pub…thinking they can always self-pub it later if needed), but I hate my frustration behind it. This is what it is and there’s nothing that I can do about it. I’ve just gotten addicted to the control.

On the positive side (ending on a positive note for a Monday!), my excellent editors taught me a lot with their global/developmental editing and I got a nice bump in visibility in 2010 when it was still mostly a physical book landscape.

If you’re a self-published writer or a hybrid writer, how have you reacted to the control you get? Is it overwhelming? Addictive? A little of both?

Control and the self-published writer:
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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.

The Risks of Offering a Freebie: http://ow.ly/Vvx0q @jamigold

How to Trust Your Writing: 3 Tips from Renowned Novelists:  http://ow.ly/V6Xeh @MandyCorine

10 Lessons from #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter http://ow.ly/Vvx6V @Andrea_Dunlop

4 Tips for People Who Want to Write for Children:  http://ow.ly/V6Wng by Sue Bradford Edwards               

4 Critical Edits to Make to Your Book’s Description Copy:  http://ow.ly/V6Xpo @dianaurban

7 Ways Author Websites Irritate Readers:  http://ow.ly/V6YfE @authormedia

Why Agents and Editors Often Stop Reading:  http://ow.ly/V9GdN @PaulaSMunier

7 Tips to Make the Most of Working with a Cover Designer:  http://ow.ly/V9GJt @MarcyKennedy

The Power of a Fiction Writer’s Pen:  http://ow.ly/V9F8E  @THahnBurkett

Ebook Conversion Tools:  http://ow.ly/V9GVo @dkudler

How to Write Multiple Antagonists:  http://ow.ly/V9Fy1 @KMWeiland

The Writer and The Market Should Be Friends: http://ow.ly/V9Gsz @jamesscottbell

Scrivener Fundamentals:  http://ow.ly/V9FZm @Gwen_Hernandez

3 Simple Tricks to Create a Character Different From You: http://ow.ly/V9FKK @RidethePen

Using Grammar to Strengthen Our Voice:  http://ow.ly/V9Frl @julie_glover

How A Pantser Outlines:  http://ow.ly/V9FV9 @mollygreene

When An Author Dies: Estate Planning With @KathrynGoldman:  http://ow.ly/V9Hlv @thecreativepenn

Signing Away Your Rights: Arbitration Clauses in Book Contracts:  http://ow.ly/V9H49 @victoriastrauss

Tips for author newsletters that will be opened: http://ow.ly/Ve27c @johnkrone_com

10 Tools to Keep Writers Out of the Doctor’s Office:  http://ow.ly/Ve2MZ @colleen_m_story

7 Rules to be Successful as an Author:  http://ow.ly/Ve3br  @JudithBriles

How to Optimize Your Amazon Search Keywords:  http://ow.ly/Ve2Lx from Fix My Story

The problem with writer negativity: http://ow.ly/Ve3fW @rachellegardner

What to Avoid in Your Cover Copy: http://ow.ly/Ve3jf @ceciliaedits

Boosting Sales For a Book:  http://ow.ly/Vtlf4

8 Obstacles to Completing Your First Novel:  http://ow.ly/V6XvX  @mrJRPatterson @thePenleak

Zero Draft Thirty: The Despair of the Blank Page :  http://ow.ly/V6XMm @gointothestory

Writers Discuss Prologue, Recaps, and Backstories:  http://ow.ly/V6XWL @SKathAnthony

Publishing an E-Book: Resources for Authors:  http://ow.ly/V6Wid @JaneFriedman

Tackling New Writing Challenges: http://ow.ly/V6Ww7 @MarinThomas @womenwriters

5 Writing Secrets From Ian Fleming:  http://ow.ly/V6WIG @AnthonyEhlers

Deliberate Practice and the Writer:  http://ow.ly/V6Y4a by Kathleen Moulton

Do You Know Your Genre?  http://ow.ly/V6X6d @patverducci

Is it time to drop the #selfpublishing tag? http://ow.ly/VsfQQ @DebbieYoungBN

Meals and other ordinary events as tension-filled backdrops in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/VqjFb @mkinberg

The Crave app for “new readers”:  http://ow.ly/VqjcB @Porter_Anderson @CraveRomanceApp @JudithCurr

Good Writers, Bad Books: A NaNoWriMo Debrief:  http://ow.ly/Vq7xJ @RFaithEditorial

How to Write 10,000 Words in a Day:  http://ow.ly/V4LIV @infobarrel @writerology

5 Ways To Keep Up Your NaNoWriMo Momentum All Year:  http://ow.ly/V4M1A @sydney_writer

The Ugly Work of Writing:  http://ow.ly/V4LAb @artofstoriesAB

31 Women Writers On The Advice They’d Give Their Younger Selves:  http://ow.ly/V4Lu8 @myfakeyelashes

The Business Model of Literary Journals (or Lack Thereof):  http://ow.ly/V4MFT @JaneFriedman

Writing Effective Queries:  http://ow.ly/V4Lof @Janet_Reid

Charater sheets: http://ow.ly/V4Mv3 from That French Helper

What We Can Learn By Reading 1 Star Reviews of Our Favorite Books: http://ow.ly/V4MXZ  @AmberSkyeF

Elevator Pitches:  http://ow.ly/V4LDQ  @wendylawton

The 1st Act: How to Write Beginnings:  http://ow.ly/V4Lhz @sim_ted

4 Painless Steps To Making The Most Of Networking: http://ow.ly/V4Mpl  @kj_bags

Amazon’s New Storywriter App for Screenwriters:  http://ow.ly/V0Z90 by Writer’s Circle

6 Tips for Finding a Cover Artist:  http://ow.ly/V0XLb @jamigold

4 tips for struggling writers:  http://ow.ly/V0XWE  @readjennymartin

5 Lessons for Indie Authors:  http://ow.ly/V0XRY @WriteOnTrack_L

Black Speculative Fiction is Protest Work:  http://ow.ly/V0XvQ @TroyLWiggins

The Risks of Offering a Freebie:  http://ow.ly/V0YfH @jamigold

How To Twitter: Tips For Newbies:  http://ow.ly/V0XOe @mollygreene

5 Tips for Writing a Book Sequel That is Superior to the First: http://ow.ly/V0Y3t by Georgina Roy

Setting the Stage: Hook Readers From Page One:  http://ow.ly/V0XxC @stefaniegaither

10 Lessons from #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter http://ow.ly/V0ZDd @Andrea_Dunlop

Tips for Writing Better Characters:  http://ow.ly/V0Yce  @PBRWriter

4 Puzzle Pieces to Hook Your Readers:  http://ow.ly/V0XB7 @jeancogdell

After #NaNoWriMo: A Writer’s Checklist:  http://ow.ly/VjvBv @amyfstuart

Lab coats, uniforms, and name badges in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/VfQUT @mkinberg

The Time It Takes:  http://ow.ly/UXPeg @deanwesleysmith

When Setting Trumps Character:  http://ow.ly/UXPM7 @TobiasCarroll

Is There Enough Death In Your Stories?  http://ow.ly/UXOCf @DBlakeAuthor

How TV And Movies Can Make You A Better Writer: http://ow.ly/UXOsl @DBlakeAuthor

How Professional Readers Read for Pleasure:  http://ow.ly/UXPA7 @thelithub @JessicaAFerri

What Book Tours Are Like in the 21st Century:  http://ow.ly/UXPqo @NoahCharney @theatlantic

3 Ways to Write Good Beginnings:  http://ow.ly/UXP2w @Magic_Violinist

The Negative Character Arc:  Devolving Into A Killer: http://ow.ly/UXORf @DBlakeAuthor

Translation For Indie Authors:  http://ow.ly/UXPlG @thecreativepenn

Writing to Market:  http://ow.ly/UXO3l @kristinerusch

4 Common Dialogue-Writing Mistakes: http://ow.ly/UXOnH @RidethePen

6 Ideas for Getting Your Book More International Exposure:  http://ow.ly/UXPja @DianaUrban

Christmas Indie Author Event Idea:  http://ow.ly/Vg02r @LornaSixsmith

Book Critique ABCs: a How-To for Authors:  http://ow.ly/UW4PM @West1Jess

7 Mistakes Authors Make with Email Lists: http://ow.ly/UW4WO  @Creativindie

Every job in publishing depends on authors: http://ow.ly/VfQwg @Porter_Anderson @RebecSmart

Train stations, markets, and other crowded places in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/VfP1u @mkinberg

How To Get Your Books Into Global Markets: http://ow.ly/UW4Qo @JenMinkman

Tips for Creating Media Kits:  http://ow.ly/UW4UX @srjohannes

Brainstorming the Hero Before You Start Writing: http://ow.ly/UW4OZ @angelaackerman

Bad writing habits: backing off on the money shot:  http://ow.ly/UW4Sm @SPressfield

The Query, the Synopsis, and the First Page: Tips:  http://ow.ly/UW4Oi  @mara_fortune

What is Good Writing?  http://ow.ly/UW4Nx @nownovel

10 Techniques for Getting Tension on Every Page:  http://ow.ly/UW4Mv @jodyhedlund

Plot Your Novel With Mini Arcs:  http://ow.ly/UW4Uf @Janice_Hardy

Crafting a Compelling Novel Concept:  http://ow.ly/UW4KW @storyfix

Should you write under a pseudonym? Pros, cons and practicalities in a digital world:  http://ow.ly/Vf5TF @Roz_Morris

Publishing a Sequel: 8 Book Marketing Tips You Need to Know: http://ow.ly/UV3GB @dianaurban

Character Development: The Interaction Chart:  http://ow.ly/UV3sT @HeatherJacksonW

7 Ways Your Characters Can Screw up Their Decisions:  http://ow.ly/UV3BA @Janice_Hardy

What Neil Gaiman Does When He Doesn’t Know What To Write:  http://ow.ly/UV3fK @r_buxton

Trad-Pubbed Writers: What Not to Share Online: http://ow.ly/UV3Iq  @wendylawton

Building a Great First Chapter:  http://ow.ly/UV3Ps  @bethrevis

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Boosting Sales For a Book

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Writers sometimes ask me, usually anxiously,  what they can do to help boost sales. Inevitably, they have only one book published.

I know when I was just traditionally-published I had that underlying feeling that I should be doing more for my book.  That I was leaning too much on Penguin and they weren’t, actually, even doing all that much for sales.

As a self-published author, I think this feeling is magnified. After all, we’re 100% responsible for sales.

And I hate that anyone giving advice about sales sounds like a broken record, but…I think the  standard advice is sound.

Things we can do to try and improve sales:

Write and publish more and better books.
If sales is the primary focus of our writing (and that’s nothing to be ashamed of), then are we writing in a commercially successful genre? Should we consider a change?
Can our first book be extended into a series? Series are generally more popular with readers than standalones…and they can be easier to quickly write (setting and characters are already in place).
If our standalone seems solid and has enjoyed a positive response from readers, but just doesn’t seem to be able to get traction, we should consider a free promo first. We do this by listing our book as free on a site like Smashwords or Draft2Digital and then allowing Amazon to price match it. This only costs us lost sales and can lead to more visibility and reviews.
If, again, the book seems solid and reviews are good, we could look at doing a cover change. Since this costs money, this, to me, is something of a last resort.
Evaluate our web presence for our title. But be careful here because this can be a huge time suck. We should at least have a basic website. Nearly as important is our book’s listing on Amazon.  Have we got blurbs or reviews that we can list on the Editorial Reviews section of our book page? Is our book’s description well-written? Is our Author Central page completed?  What keywords have we listed for our title?  Is the book listed in the correct category?

These are the best suggestions I’ve got.  But the most important, to me, is writing more books and evaluating where we should go from here.  If we spend too much time and energy on the one book then we’re never going to get book two out there.

Any other suggestions for help with slow sales?

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Tracking Our Recurring Storylines

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

One of the things I forgot to mention in my “Time Savers for Writers” post was storyline-tracking for series writers. This is different from a series bible. My series bible has lists that include detailed character descriptions (down to birthdays, favorite foods, aversion to cats, and addresses) and setting information. This is more of tracking recurring motifs/elements/conventions in our stories.  Our own tropes for our books.

I almost hesitate to mention this because tropes are sort of an odd area for series writers.  But I’ve been surprised to find how much readers care about them.  I’ve accidentally—and occasionally purposefully—left out recurring storylines/conventions/gags from stories. And I’ve gotten dinged in reader reviews and sometimes via direct emails from readers for doing so.

And these are for books that function as standalones in my series. For writers who have series arcs…I can only imagine you’re tracking those to pieces. This is just for the types of story elements that pop up in each book in a series.

I made a list of all the bits and pieces that I include in each series and was amazed at the number of items.  There were seventeen elements for just one series.  The list includes everything from my protagonist suffering epicurean disasters of epic proportions, to the hypochondriac sidekick, to the slothful housekeeper whose back is conveniently thrown when faced with challenging cleaning, to the garden gnomes that my sleuth pulls out  into her front yard when she’s angry with her son.

I never really felt comfortable with my homegrown tropes. Part of me felt, maybe, that I was leaning on these recurring elements as a crutch. It’s so easy to include them. I tried to be fresh and original in each book.

The problem is that readers don’t necessarily want us to be fresh and original with each book. There’s a comfort, maybe, in the series trope. Almost an inside joke?

I started thinking about all the recurring storylines and conventions that I loved in various book series and television.  I expected Hercule Poirot to be insulted when someone called him French. M.C. Beaton’s Hamish MacBeth would  always desperately try to escape promotion and credit his successes to other policemen. I knew to expect elaborate scheming when watching I Love Lucy and Ricky’s unintelligible English.  Jerry would always have a ridiculous reason for breaking up a relationship in Seinfeld.  In some ways, if there had been a break with series tropes in these shows, it wouldn’t have made sense or been faithful to the series.  What if an I Love Lucy episode showed Lucy performing in one of Ricky’s shows with no machinations behind the performance whatsoever? How bizarre would that be?

I’ve found listing these recurring subjects/gags/motifs very helpful. For one, they help me determine important elements in the stories. And if I’m considering taking my series characters on a road trip (like I did in Quilt Trip or in a book I’m planning on for next year for Myrtle), the list helps me incorporate elements as best I can while the characters are on the road.

I think there can be a danger in pandering too much to our homegrown tropes.  One danger is straying too far from the main plot or in bloating a book to include all the recurring bits.  Elizabeth George is one of my favorite writers, but I do see that she sometimes bloats a book to stuff in all the fun elements surrounding various secondary characters. There does need to be a balance there.

As a reader or TV viewer, what do you think of recurring elements in a book or show?  Do you see a pattern in yours? How many do you include in each book?

Using and tracking recurring elements in our books:
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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.

This week I’ve got a special deal for my blog readers, offered from Bibliocrunch.  They’ve just launched their Author Academy and my blog readers have the chance to win 5 course passes (valued at $119 each): 

Using Beats in Writing: http://ow.ly/UV1sS  @writerstarr

3 Tools to Help Part Time Writers Work Smarter:  http://ow.ly/UV3Rp @fictionnotes

5 Ways to Build a Flimsy Villain:  http://ow.ly/UV3Nz  @pmillhouse

On the Hidden Life of Marginalia:  http://ow.ly/UV3bh @BelaborThePoint

@ParisReview’s Lorin Stein on the Power of Ambiguity in Fiction:  http://ow.ly/UV34T @joefassler               

Write a Better Author Bio:  http://ow.ly/UV3Dd @bryancohenbooks

21 Things 1 Writer Wishes She’d Known Before Becoming a  Writer:  http://ow.ly/UV3i2 @robin_black

When Writers Face “What’s the Point?”:  http://ow.ly/UV16d @deanwesleysmith”

How to Write Can’t-Look-Away Chapter Breaks:  http://ow.ly/UV1rc @KMWeiland

4 Things You Can Do If You Don’t Want to Market Your Book:  http://ow.ly/UV1aY @Bookgal

1-Star Reviews of Classic Novels:  http://ow.ly/UV1Ib @thelincoln @Electriclit

Writing Violence that Feels Real:  http://ow.ly/UV1CJ by Mike Buckley

21 Ways a Reader Might Find Your Author Website:  http://ow.ly/UV1jQ @chrisrobley

How to Lose Fans and Alienate Followers:  http://ow.ly/UV1ow @ereleases

Neil Gaiman On Storytelling In The Age Of The Internet And Other Oddities:  http://ow.ly/UV2VT @yrbff @ohkayewhatever

5 Ways To Get Your First Draft Material Out Of Your Head And Onto The Page:  http://ow.ly/UV1u6 @thecreativepenn

Nonfiction: Better Book Titles: http://ow.ly/UV1eO @AuthorSecrets

How A Pantser Outlines: http://ow.ly/UV1FP @mollygreene

#FutureChat: 11a/ET/4p/GMT (now): Ask Industry Experts Your Publishing Questions:  http://ow.ly/V9jnp @Porter_Anderson

What Works and What Doesn’t: ‘Repo Man’ :  http://ow.ly/UT1iF @chris_shultz81

Arranging space and time to honor our writing:  http://ow.ly/UT35g @lwlindquist @tspoetry

Creating Quirky Characters:  http://ow.ly/UT29t by Robert and Darrin McGraw

When You Need to Completely Reboot your Book or Screenplay:  http://ow.ly/UT1Qi @patverducci

11 Things To Do In Your Writing Group:  http://ow.ly/UT2HN  @JillWilliamson

Writing Habits We Should Forget About : http://ow.ly/UT1pi @LindaUKmasters

Writing in Preschool:  http://ow.ly/UT2jk @Betsy_writes

10 social media myths authors should avoid:  http://ow.ly/UT2Pi  @cksyme

3 Ways To Use Pacing In Dialogue:  http://ow.ly/UT1TR @AnthonyEhlers

5 Things Every Screenwriter Should Know About Action Writing:  http://ow.ly/UT1yg @screencrafting

Lessons From Beyond the Comfort Zone:  http://ow.ly/UT2EE @OrlyKonigLopez

5 Tips for Reading Poetry Aloud:  http://ow.ly/UT3vF @TaniaRunyan @tspoetry

178 Ways to Describe Women’s Clothing:  http://ow.ly/UPTAz @worddreams

5 Times Screenwriters Conveniently Put Characters to Sleep:  http://ow.ly/V0YVm @BartLBishop

Gluttony: A Thanksgiving Reading List:  http://ow.ly/V4NAa  @thelithub

7 Times We Need to Wear a Mask to be a Better Writer:  http://ow.ly/UQdpp @colleen_m_story

Synonyms for 95 Commonly Used Words:  http://ow.ly/UPTfs @writers_write

Why A Writer’s Back Hurts and How to Fix It: http://ow.ly/UQdxs @colleen_m_story

Writing Steampunk: Plots, Characters, Settings & More:  http://ow.ly/UPThF by Jay Lake

3 Simple Tips on the ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ Mantra:  http://ow.ly/UQdba @BernadetteMung

The Fatal Flaw in Weak Descriptions:  http://ow.ly/UQdCB @CSLakin @writerstarr @lindasclare

3 Reasons Why YA Matters:  http://ow.ly/UQdeJ @kirsticall

Plot Archetypes and Power Plays: Where Does Your Story Fit? http://ow.ly/UPTrt @DIYMFA

100 Words for Facial Expressions:  http://ow.ly/UPTwy @writing_tips

A Point of View Cheat Sheet:  http://ow.ly/UPTtc @DIYMFA

3 Ways to Avoid Dumbing Down When Writing Middle Grade: http://ow.ly/UPTmg by Luke Reynolds

Readbug Wants To Be Spotify For Indie Magazines:  http://ow.ly/V4jWc @riptari @TechCrunch

Romance finally breaks The Post’s ‘No Self-Published Books’ rule:  http://ow.ly/V4kcB @washingtonpost @RonCharles

Custom-Redacted School Texts Make a Worrying Trend: http://ow.ly/V4jDO by Maren Williams @CBLDF

Online communities in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/UW3jY @mkinberg

Is It Safe? When to Tell People About What You’re Writing: http://ow.ly/UNga4 @drewchial

9 Practical Tricks for Writing Your 1st Novel:  http://ow.ly/UNdHg @janellison

When Dark Emotions Threaten Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/UNhhN  @jan_ohara

What 1 Agent Has Learned in Her Last 4 years:  http://ow.ly/UNdPx  @agentshea @WriterUnboxed

The 5 Most Common Mistakes In Pitching: http://ow.ly/UNdXI @JoeyTuccio

The Power of Narrative Writing:  http://ow.ly/UNdUL @writingforward

6 Writing Tips If You Have A Day Job by Kenneth Walden:  http://ow.ly/UNg63 @bang2write

Accessorize Your Characters: Paint a Picture with Fewer Words:  http://ow.ly/UNgIB @MelissaPearlG

The Art of Subtlety:  http://ow.ly/UNhcT  @KatieClarkBooks

5 Male Secondary Characters Who Teach The Protagonist:  http://ow.ly/UNg4d @bang2write

For Beginners: How to Choose a Point of View:  http://ow.ly/UNgOr  @katstilesauthor

A New History of the Horror Story: From Homer to Lovecraft:  http://ow.ly/UNhmW @asap_jonathon @flavorwire

The Ultimate Guide To Getting Published In A Literary Magazine: http://ow.ly/UNdMs @thelincoln

Publishing news for #authors (30 day free trial):  http://ow.ly/V0VqW   @HotSheetPub @JaneFriedman @Porter_Anderson

Showing Through Your Characters’ Senses: http://ow.ly/UKAd7 @CSLakin

How to Write Funny Dialogue: http://ow.ly/UKAmC @KMWeiland

4 Tips to Writing a Death Scene That Won’t Kill Your Readership:  http://ow.ly/UKzw9 @sarajohannagoff

#1 Reason 1 Agent Passes Even If The Writing Is Good:  http://ow.ly/V0Tvs @AgentKristinNLA

Writing more than 10 books in a series and staying fresh:  http://ow.ly/V10nO @tobywneal @passivevoiceblg

The endless learning process for writers:  http://ow.ly/V0Tip @GillianDoyle @Porter_Anderson

5 Moral Dilemmas That Make Characters (& Stories) Better:  http://ow.ly/UKAgh @BrianKlems

Do your characters sigh too much? http://ow.ly/UKATV @calebpirtle

Writers on the pain of hindsight in publishing: http://ow.ly/UKAsI @Huma_Qureshi

6 Simple Ways To Boost Your Confidence As A Writer: http://ow.ly/UKzlN by Natalie Ong Lih Tyng

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Get Un-Comfortable:  http://ow.ly/UKAor @gointothestory

11 Things You Need to Know When Writing a Memoir: http://ow.ly/UKA4B by Lisa Lepki

When Someone Is Publishing Your Idea:  http://ow.ly/UKADw @Kid_Lit

Positivity and Protagonists:  http://ow.ly/UKAaC @DonMaass

12 Techniques for Emotionally Connecting with Your Readers:  http://ow.ly/UKzUq @AriaGlazki

Unstick Your NaNoWriMo Novel:  http://ow.ly/UXOev  @BillFerris

Disappearing Amazon Reviews: The Facts Behind Amazon’s Review Purges http://ow.ly/UXPad @annerallen

Free PDF with 101 Killer Tips for #crime #thriller #writers:  http://dyingwords.net/dead-write-b-s-guide-writing-deadly-crime-fiction/#sthash.cKaCxQd9.dpbs @GarryRodgers1

Powerful story beginnings in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/UW3dr @mkinberg

When Are You Ready to Publish?  http://ow.ly/UHdxs @AmiecusCuriae

5 Dualities That Can Replace Good and Evil:  http://ow.ly/UHd98 by Chris Winkle @mythcreants

Why Character Actions/Reactions Are Important:  http://ow.ly/UGneA @AJHumpage

5 Ways to Hide Your Villain In Plain Sight:  http://ow.ly/UGnjE  @ink_and_quills

5 Horror Cliches Waiting to Be Broken:  http://ow.ly/UGnly by Oren Ashkenazi

How to Write an Author Bio:  http://ow.ly/UGnnd @Beth_Barany

The Ultimate Story Checklist: Blazing Saddles:  http://ow.ly/UGnbB @cockeyedcaravan

How to edit quality pulp-speed writing:  http://ow.ly/UHdfT  @tobywneal

How to create a book marketing plan that works:  http://ow.ly/UHdoR @bookgal

Tight writing is good writing:  http://ow.ly/UGnqY @SueColetta1

7 Things To Do After Finishing Your Book:  http://ow.ly/UHd0R  @concertpat

Mistakes New Authors Make:  http://ow.ly/UGns0 @BillFerris

Crime fiction: when police consult experts:  http://ow.ly/UW3aZ @mkinberg

Business Musings: Translations:  http://ow.ly/UqERB @kristinerusch

How to “Fix” Unlikable Characters:  http://ow.ly/UqDYU @RuthanneReid

4 Lies Writers Believe: http://ow.ly/Uqywt @joebunting

 

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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.

Happy Thanksgiving to my blog readers in the States! I’m taking the rest of the week off to spend time with family. See you again next Sunday. :)

Use Cadence in Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/UE2Zs @MargieLawson

Writing About Love: Ditch the Cliches & Turn Up the Heat:  http://ow.ly/UE3gG @kristenlambtx

Rick Riordan cheers end of book covers that ‘whitewash’ his black hero:  http://ow.ly/UV3Zh @alisonflood @guardianbooks         Working on Spec:  http://ow.ly/UE39g @passivevoiceblg

5 part video series on the craft of story editing: http://ow.ly/UV42G from Shawn Coyne  and @SPressfield

Landlords and landladies in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/UE3d3 @mkinberg

Description, Details, and Delivering Information:  http://ow.ly/UE3aU @catrambo

Revealing a Character’s Past Without Falling Into Backstory:  http://ow.ly/UE34V @Janice_Hardy

Love Letter to a Sloppy First Draft:  http://ow.ly/UqEdM @jaelmchenry

15 Authors Running Fantastic Book Promotions on Instagram:  http://ow.ly/UqEO2 @DianaUrban

Publishing a Sequel: 8 Book Marketing Tips to Know:  http://ow.ly/UqEte @dianaurban

5 Ways to Fix Too-Perfect Characters http://ow.ly/UqEj0 @janice_hardy

How to Learn Fiction-Writing Techniques With Less Pain & Frustration:  http://ow.ly/UqE6a @jodyhedlund

On The Dark Matter Of The Publishing Industry:  http://ow.ly/UV4yP  @lenepp @TechCrunch

Crime Writing: What Happens Inside an Autopsy Suite:  http://ow.ly/UV3wm @SueColetta1

Great Scene: “American Beauty”:  http://ow.ly/UE2Yv @gointothestory

10 Traits of the Mentor Character Archetype: Hagrid + Haymitch:  http://ow.ly/UE36u @betternovelproj

5 Ideas for Promoting Your Ebook Price Promo on Social Media:  http://ow.ly/UE35J @dianaurban

Starting a Scene: 2 Important Questions:  http://ow.ly/UE37D @SeptCFawkes

Understanding Anthology Copyrights:  http://ow.ly/UE30S @susanspann

Suspense: To Be Exciting,You Need To Be A Little Dull:  http://ow.ly/UE32Z by PJ Parrish

Writing: Just Do It:  http://ow.ly/UU2UB @Porter_Anderson

#FutureChat 11 a/ET–now: Which #BookTech player is your favorite? http://ow.ly/UT5Ir @Porter_Anderson

5 Ways to Optimize Your Author Content for SEO: http://ow.ly/UBvDh @DigitalSearch

Move Your Writing Career Forward:  http://ow.ly/UBwu2 @AmySueNathan

What sort of spirit are you bringing to your fiction?  http://ow.ly/UBwxd @DonMaass

Set Your Writing Goals:  http://ow.ly/UBw7e @robertleebrewer

5 Things an Acquisitions Editor Sees from Your Proposal:  http://ow.ly/UBvVp @NinaAmir

Create a Time Management Plan: http://ow.ly/UBw3t @RobertLeeBrewer

How To Create a Memorable Setting in your Book or Screenplay: http://ow.ly/UBwJz @patverducci

Questions For Writers Who Want To Make A Difference:  http://ow.ly/UBwbh  @ozzywood

Inside One Stop For Writers: The Idea Generator:  http://ow.ly/UBvYO @angelaackerman

How to Market Yourself as an Author Before You Have a Book to Sell:  http://ow.ly/UBwlA @chucksambuchino

The Upside and the Downside of the “Best Writing Tip Ever”: http://ow.ly/UBvLQ @storyfix

How to Get Your Book Published:  http://ow.ly/UBvRo @JaneFriedman

A look at the usefulness of service staff in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/UQeaA @mkinberg

Anticipating Story Length:  http://ow.ly/UyBpS from Anita Howitt

5 Fantasy Books with Awe-Inspiring Settings:  http://ow.ly/UyBJI @mattkressel

3 Things About Screenplay Structure:  http://ow.ly/UyBIm @gointothestory

4 Query Resources:  http://ow.ly/UyBP9 @MelindaFriesen

Navigating the Waters of Rejection:  http://ow.ly/UyByS @mrsmetaphor @womenwriters

Plotting a Great Ghost Story:  http://ow.ly/UyBH7 @artofstoriesAB

Concealing Your Awesomes (Fantasy Worldbuilding):  http://ow.ly/UyBmU @AuthorCoH

From Query to Book Deal:  http://ow.ly/UyBv2 @carlywatters @womenwriters

Planning Types and Tools:  http://ow.ly/UyBFF @artofstoriesAB

5 Plot Tools To Unstick Our Story:  http://ow.ly/UyBDa @MandyCorine

Re-Write Your Life: Tips for Keeping a Journal:  http://ow.ly/UyBS0 @sowulwords @DIYMFA

A Case Study on Art as a Literary Theme:  http://ow.ly/UyBTD  @SaraL_Writer @DIYMFA

Common Plot Fails (and How We Can Fix Them):  http://ow.ly/U7ID8 @Rachel_Aaron

5 Twitter Mistakes Writers Make and How to Avoid Them:  http://ow.ly/U7HVV @AnnieNeugebauer

‘Why’ is the magic question for storytellers:  http://ow.ly/U7JeW @Roz_Morris

Including awards in a query:  http://ow.ly/U7I6G @Janet_Reid

How to Get an Indie Book Translated and Reach the Growing Globile” Market:  http://ow.ly/U7Iyc @MarkWilliamsInt”

5 Reasons Supporting Other Writers is Important:  http://ow.ly/U7I2N @MartinaABoone

On Querying and Subbing Simultaneously:  http://ow.ly/U7I9x @MissDahlELama

40 Ideas for Writers to Post on Social Media:  http://ow.ly/U7HRX @GaryJMcLaren

Defeating the Self-Doubt Slump:  http://ow.ly/U7IHa  @JordanHolman_

Equality in publishing: gender is not the only agenda:  http://ow.ly/U7Jnn @Roz_Morris

On Content Marketing:  http://ow.ly/U7IsR @rachellegardner

The Power of What’s Left Unsaid When Crafting Dialogue:  http://ow.ly/UtO5T by Bonnie Randall

American English, British English, Canadian English:… which to use for your book?  http://ow.ly/UtQ4L @Roz_Morris

The Back-up Antagonist:  http://ow.ly/UtP69 @robinrwrites

The beliefs that drive our protagonist and antagonist:   http://ow.ly/UtOst  @joeberhardt

Business Musings: Talking To Writers:  http://ow.ly/UtOeL @kristinerusch

Openings: Intrigue Versus Engagement:  http://ow.ly/UtOSF @DonMaass

How to Write a Short Story from Start to Finish:  http://ow.ly/UtO2b @joebunting

Revising without Tears: the Master Scene Profile: http://ow.ly/UtOyA  @RchelFunkHeller

How to Create a Powerful Antagonist: The Epic Villain Breakdown:  http://ow.ly/UtOXT @ShesNovel

How to Be a Prolific Writer:  http://ow.ly/UtOOY @jamesscottbell

How to Start a Blog: A Step-by-Step Guide for Writers:  http://ow.ly/UtObd @Susan_Shain

Emotional Wound Entry for Writers: A Home Invasion:  http://ow.ly/UqDDk @angelaackerman

How 1 Writer Writes 50k(-ish) Every Month: http://ow.ly/UqylG @ChuckWendig  {lang}

Public Speaking for Writers:  http://ow.ly/UHeeC

Writing Outside Your Comfort Zone:  http://ow.ly/UE3Up @wendyluwrites @DIYMFA

Flash Fiction Exercises for #NaNoWriMo: http://ow.ly/UE3P4 @_AliciaAudrey @DIYMFA

Follow these steps after #NaNoWriMo: http://ow.ly/UE4ag @RachelLKent

On Writing Badly and Redefining Failure:  http://ow.ly/UE40K @beccapuglisi

#NaNoWriMo Tips:  http://ow.ly/UE3L5  @EmilyFRussell

5 Tips to Recover from #NaNoWriMo Mistakes:  http://ow.ly/UE3J1 @MichelleLim24

#NaNoWriMo & the Inner Editor:  http://ow.ly/UE3Ya from Ticklish Pear

#NaNoWriMo: What to do When You Hit the Wall: http://ow.ly/UE46I @Ingrid Sundberg

How to Rock Your Post- #NaNoWriMo Revisions: http://ow.ly/UE3SL @DIYMFA

Writing A Novel: #NaNoWrimo And You:  http://ow.ly/UE42p  @angee

How To Turn On Your Creativity Faucet (And Keep It Flowing):  http://ow.ly/UE3Rq @sowulwords

3 Ways To Pump Up Your Word Count:  http://ow.ly/UE3MD @beccaquibbles

What’’s Your Author Self-Esteem?  http://ow.ly/UndW6 @jamigold

#Nanowrimo: Act II:  questions and prompts:  http://ow.ly/UE25K @AlexSokoloff

How to write well in a language that isn’t your mother tongue: http://ow.ly/Uneut @Roz_Morris

What to pack for a writer’s conference: http://ow.ly/UndwK @angiedicken

5 Easy SEO Techniques for Writers:  http://ow.ly/UndT4 @JennyHansenCA

Tips for our next conference:  http://ow.ly/Unc87 @WittySwearWords

7 Rules for Writing Historical Fiction:  http://ow.ly/Une22  by Elizabeth Crook

Unnecessary Discourse, Talking Heads, and the British Butler Syndrome:  http://ow.ly/UndIC  @ChristyDistler

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Book Pages

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I decided to make a couple of changes to my website, mainly regarding my Books page. I realized that, in the last couple of years since the site was set up, I’ve written quite a few more books (six? Seven?)  I had all of my titles on one page, by series. But at the NINC conference I attended in October (still trying to implement what I learned there), Jane Friedman recommended a separate page for each title. A lot of Jane’s tips are in her post “The Basic Components of an Author Website.” The page of books that I had created was ungainly, cluttered, and disorganized. Having a separate book page for each title definitely made sense to me.

I decided to have drop-down menus from my books tab with each series dropping out (I know my terminology is awful, sorry—no formal education in tech, just a degree in messing around).  I designed a page for each series with a series description and the books listed in order.  From the series page tab, tabs for each individual book from that series dropped out from that menu.  Here’s a screenshot:

On WordPress, there is a handy menu page where you can stagger menus and menus within menus (sub-items, they’re apparently called) to see the organization or structure of your site.  Dashboard-Appearance-Menus.  I created pages for each book, found the page I’d created in the column to the left of the menu structure, selected it via the check box, and clicked “add to menu.” It usually added it to the bottom of the menu and then I dragged and dropped it where I wanted it to go. More help from WordPress is here and here. There is also a YouTube video that may help.

Now for the tough part. Actually creating the book pages. I had 19 books to do and not a lot of time.  So…I did decide to do some investigating into software to make the process easier for me. If you don’t have a lot of books, you could easily handle this.

I looked for a plug-in that would help me out on WordPress.  I found MyBookTable and started reading the reviews to see if it would be a good resource. I was familiar with AuthorMedia because I’ve frequently shared their blog posts.  Reading the reviews for the plug-in, I found that some people were unhappy because, to use our own affiliate links, we must pay for the plug-in.  But when I checked on the price (with some trepidation, since these were some strong complaints), I found that the upgraded version was $49.  For me, this was a no-brainer. I will write the $49 off on my taxes. I suspect, if AuthorMedia puts the fact that an upgrade of $49 is needed to input affiliate links on the plug-in page, the fact that there are no surprises will take away any complaints.  A closer look at pricing here.  I didn’t do the developer upgrade, since I’ve only got the one site.

So I plugged in the different values for list price, sale price, publication year, a sample chapter (I didn’t have time to put all of them in, but that’s on my list of things to do), blurb, and links to my books on various retailers. They returned a nice-looking page (an example here)  with buy links. And I had to do no design wrangling whatsoever.

One cool thing I could do with this plug-in was on my series pages.  With one click of the “insert shortcode” button (at the top of my page next to “add media” on WordPress), I could insert all the books for that series and their buy buttons. You can see it in action on my Myrtle Clover series page.

I also added a printable list of my books for readers on all my series pages.

I have links to print copies of my books as well as any audio versions.

There are still some additional things I want to do farther down the road, but this was a good start.

Have you taken a look at your book page lately? What kinds of things do you list on it?

Setting up book pages on our website:
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