Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 111

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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Public Speaking for Writers

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

By this point, I’ve made my peace with public speaking.  I’m even able to look forward to it with a small sense of anticipation—that I’ll get an opportunity to share information.

I think that my main issues remaining with public speaking are that I don’t enjoy:

Talking about myself
Talking about my books

And I know this seems bizarre…after all, isn’t that the whole point of public speaking as a writer?

But the truth is, I’m rarely asked to talk about myself or my books.  I’m usually invited by writers’ groups or conferences or schools. When I am asked to talk about myself, I frequently fudge a little and talk instead on the writing life.  Because I’d always rather talk about writing than about me.

One thing I’ve learned is that things frequently are a lot easier if I have some sort of a prop with me. That’s because my memory is so awful and I can get so easily distracted that I can lose my place.  PowerPoints with images and little text on the slides can really help me out.  I don’t use text on them because reading what someone is talking about is incredibly boring.  But a slide with an image that fits into my lecture works really well.  I use free design program Canva to make my presentations and they usually look really professional when I’m done with them (even though my design skills totally stink).

I also have learned that I’m too high energy to sit and talk.  Well, I can sit and talk if I’m on a panel, but I always wave my hands around a lot if I do.  Better if I can move around a little.  I purchased a device that wirelessly advances the slides on the PowerPoint and even lets me know when I’m running out of time (you can set a timer on the pointer and it vibrates in your hand to let you know when the timer goes off). You basically just plug a receiver into the USB drive of your laptop and it talks to the device somehow.  Nice range of 100 feet.  I doubt I’ll walk that far (someone should yank my leash if I start to).

Just in case there’s a big technology fail when I’m speaking (it happened in October) I do have a note card with one line of each point that I’m planning on touching on.  That way I can keep talking while someone works on the tech.

If I’m speaking to a group of readers, I’ll actually write interview questions to myself on a note card so my prompts to myself sound a bit more natural and I’m not simply reading off my notes.  Why did I start writing mysteries?  Do I have a favorite series?  I make a list of the usual things I’m asked by readers both online/via email and in person when I’m speaking.  That way I’m more confident that I’m touching on things they’re interested in hearing.  I do still leave room at the end for any remaining questions.

I practice a lot.  I likely overpractice.  I give my speech to myself, to the mirror, to my teenage children, to my husband, to my Toastmasters club (this is a good way to get feedback on your speaking, by the way—I do recommend Toastmasters).   I also record my talk on my smartphone and listen to it as I’m driving around.  I don’t like being unprepared.

My biggest failing is that I’m a very fast talker.  I usually have a lot (too much?) information that I want to impart and I race through it.  I know I’m going fast, but it’s hard to slow me down.  The only times I do speak slower is when I have a much older audience—frequently at library talks.  If I’m worried I can’t be heard, I speak slower and enunciate better.  I have a strong voice, so my volume isn’t usually a problem.

To combat the fact that I might lose people I’m speaking to, I set up a protected page on my website for each talk, give everyone in the audience the link and password, and let them know that the text of my speech with all links and more in-depth information is available on my site.  This usually elicits a sigh of relief at the fact that they don’t have to worry about taking notes.  And it makes me feel as if I’m offering more value for them—which makes me even more relaxed and confident.

I’m always, always early.  To feel prepared, I need to know how the room is set up and if my technology works. I also like to greet people coming in and get a feel for the audience—it can also help with any jitters.

Have you done much public speaking?  How do you prepare for it? Any tips?

Tips for public speaking for writers:
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Image: MorgueFile: DodgertonSkillhause  

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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 to Get Blurbs for Our Book and Use Them In Our Marketing:  http://ow.ly/UcsFP @DianaUrban

A Book-Signing Cheat Sheet:  http://ow.ly/Ucsd4 by Bonnie Randall            What risks are you taking with your writing?  http://ow.ly/Uctfu @lindasclare

Does a Newsletter Scare You? 5 Ways to Rock It:  http://ow.ly/Uct2P @C_Herronauthor

Hooking Your Reader in 3 Easy Steps:  http://ow.ly/Ucsyf  @sally_apokedak

The 5 Basic Elements of an Author Website:  http://ow.ly/UcsYw @CaballoFrances

Writing is a Juggling Act:  http://ow.ly/UcsTQ  @KAMcCleary

The One Thing Every Protagonist Must Have:  http://ow.ly/UcsQl @jamesscottbell

Word Count: How Many Words In a Novel? http://ow.ly/UcsO0 @joebunting

Overcoming the 10 Biggest Obstacles to Creating :  http://ow.ly/Ue8Ss @zen_habits

Tips for Writing Better Characters:  http://ow.ly/Ue9j9 @PBRWriter

Got a question for agents? Ask Live: #AuthorDay  http://ow.ly/UzrP0 @Porter_Anderson @RCaskie1 @MariliaSavvides @albionieye

Guest books in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/UE1YO @mkinberg

The struggle to title a book:  http://ow.ly/Ue94z  @AnneGBrown

Digging into Research: Consider the Source:  http://ow.ly/Ue9aQ @jamigold

5 Simple Ways To Describe Characters:  http://ow.ly/Ue9gq @writers_write

The Powerful Nutrition of Poetry:  http://ow.ly/Ue9di  @barbaraoneal

19 Easy Rules To Write Something Every Day:  http://ow.ly/Ue9tD @perpetua @buzzfeed

BiblioBoard, Pressbooks partner on library-based self-publishing:  http://ow.ly/UE1KX @Porter_Anderson @libraryself_e

 

We Interrupt This Manuscript… http://ow.ly/Ue8Xq @KBullockAuthor

43 Words to Cut From Our Writing Immediately http://ow.ly/Ue98b @DianaUrban

Why Every Story Needs Its Own Pit of Snakes:  http://ow.ly/Ue9m9  @drewchial

5 Ways To Get Rid Of Inertia In Your Life:  http://ow.ly/Ue90r @KristinNador

How to Use Writing as a Remedy:  http://ow.ly/Ue9r7 @drewchial

Book Cover Colors Matter:  http://ow.ly/UhetD  @AuthorLentz

Story Alchemy: Lessons from Breaking Bad:  http://ow.ly/UhdZ7 @ThereseWalsh

Overcome Your Inner Critic:  http://ow.ly/Uhge0 @jimdempsey

ISBN, Book Design, Copyright:  http://ow.ly/Uhep5 @JFBookman

Database of book bloggers organized by genre:  http://ow.ly/UhfOe

5 Low-Cost or No-Cost Book Promo Tips:  http://ow.ly/UhfDB @maggiemarr

 

How to Make Your Hero’s Self-Sacrifice Even More Heartbreaking:  http://ow.ly/UcsBs @KMWeiland

What’s Your Distribution Plan?  http://ow.ly/Ucstd @JamiGold

Don’t Write a Damsel-in-Distress OR a Modern Super-Woman:  http://ow.ly/UcsJ1 @fictionnotes

Stop Putting off Writing Now:  http://ow.ly/Uw5D6 @nownovel  #NaNoWriMo

#NaNoWriMo Pep Talk: – Hitting the Wall:  http://ow.ly/Uw5wt  @jimchines

#NaNoWriMo hacks:  http://ow.ly/Uw75p from Not So Classically Trained Writer

A writer answers writing a publishing related questions:  http://ow.ly/UxByt @Rachel_Aaron

Don’t Count Yourself Out Yet! (A #NaNoWriMo Pep Talk): http://ow.ly/Uw70n @brianawrites

Writing Under Pressure: #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/Uw6Sp @KeithCronin

#NaNoWriMo Triage Center:  http://ow.ly/Uw5Gp @angelaackerman

#Nanowrimo: Inciting Incident – Call to Adventure:  http://ow.ly/Uw7aE @AlexSokoloff

10 Tips for Tired Writers:  http://ow.ly/Uw5eH @besscozby #NaNoWriMo

Surviving #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/Uw5Rc @DeeWhiteauthor

Stepping Up to #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/Uw6Xc @CindyDevoted

Top 10 #Nanowrimo Emergency Prompts For The Overwhelmed: http://ow.ly/Uw5Lv @10minnovelist

4 #NaNoWriMo Principles for the Rest of Us:  http://ow.ly/Uw5tk @EmilyWenstrom

What #NaNoWriMo Teaches About Daily Goals:  http://ow.ly/Uw5ki @CarlaYoung @MOMeo

The importance of trying to see what’s coming down the road in publishing: http://ow.ly/U7IST @HughHowey

Tips To Tighten Our Writing:  http://ow.ly/UrhXD @SueColetta1

Quick Fix: Dialogue Dos and Don’ts:  http://ow.ly/U5sOc @lindasclare

4 Critical Edits to Make to Your Book’s Description Copy:  http://ow.ly/U5sGA @DianaUrban

39 Examples of Author Facebook Cover Photo Designs:  http://ow.ly/U5sJ7 @DianaUrban

4 Common Short Story Mistakes:  http://ow.ly/U5sEb  @EmilyWenstrom

6 ways Wattpad can train you for success:  http://ow.ly/U5sKk @standoutbooks

How To Get Readers To Read Your Entire Series:  http://ow.ly/U5sCR @JodyHedlund

How to Balance Showing Versus Telling:  http://ow.ly/U5sDf @jodyhedlund

Turning a Standalone into a Series:  http://ow.ly/U5sAt  @ChristinaFarley

Writing fantasy fiction: how to make the magic work:  http://ow.ly/U5sL6 @standoutbooks

25 Story Starters for Writing Fiction:  http://ow.ly/U5sFi @WritingForward

Tips for Brewing Up a Bracing Hot Manuscript: http://ow.ly/U5sBi  by PJ Parrish

Difficult Books:  http://ow.ly/U5sy4  @jodimeadows

Why Are Some Writers Late Bloomers?  http://ow.ly/UrJ6T and http://ow.ly/UrJ9F @DebraEve

Things to Check Before You Submit:  http://ow.ly/TSfCg @Janice_Hardy

Thriller Structure In TV: Scorpion:  http://ow.ly/UrhU4 @SueColetta1

Can You Promote a Book without Making Yourself Miserable? http://ow.ly/UrJpk @EdCyzewski  @JaneFriedman

NaNoWriMo, Or How 1 Writer Cheated Her Way to Finishing Her Novel: http://ow.ly/Urov5  @j_s_brown @DebutanteBall

Gender Bias: Are You Aware Of Yours?  http://ow.ly/UrIMB @Porter_Anderson @CathyReadsBooks

Onboarding for Authors:  http://ow.ly/TSfj4 from Fix My Story

The Complete Guide to Twitter Polls:  http://ow.ly/TSfFp @Ashread_

How To Create Excerpt Books For Promotional Gifts:  http://ow.ly/UrhIG @SueColetta1

Making Critical Character Traits Part of Your Plot:  http://ow.ly/TSfvD @Janice_Hardy

How to Survive Large-Scale Revisions:  http://ow.ly/TSfAn @ava_jae

Where The Crying Happens:  http://ow.ly/TSfxU @cathryanhoward

The book blogger phenomenon: http://ow.ly/UqHz5  @Porter_Anderson @ZozeeBo

Writing Your Author Bio: 10 Examples. http://ow.ly/TSfIl @DianaUrban

How To Turn A Facebook Group Into Fan Central:  http://ow.ly/TSfgs @cksyme

Why We Should Start Promoting Amazon Associate Links Now:   http://ow.ly/TSf1D @nickdaws

Getting started with our author newsletter:  http://ow.ly/UplN4

2 Ways to Tell You’re Beginning Your Story Too Soon:  http://ow.ly/TSfsd @KMWeiland

On revision:  http://ow.ly/TRzGc @LucienneDiver

YA Literary Tropes: ‘I Have to Take Care of My Parent(s)’ :  http://ow.ly/TRzc5 @TaraKehoe1

Zen and the Art of Overcoming Writer’s Block:  http://ow.ly/TRzOi  @geoffhughes01

5 Tips For When Your Characters Are Stuck In The Mud:  http://ow.ly/TRzny @coolvstar650

11 Ways You May Be Spooking Your Readers on Social Media:  http://ow.ly/TRyTy @CaballoFrances

What Your Editor Expects From You:  http://ow.ly/TRzxF  @Jen_328 @writedivas

Top writing links from the past week on Twitterific:
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Time Savers for Writers

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Frequently I find that I need the same information over and over again for a wide variety of different tasks. I might be signing up to have my book considered for translation, or pitching BookBub, or submitting my book to a library for consideration.  I spent a lot of time looking the same information up online over and over again.

I finally realized that I would save myself a good deal of time if I compiled these things into a document that I could easily put my hands on…and do it for all of my books.

Amazon Affiliate links for all books in digital and print form.  I’m an Amazon Affiliate, which means that when a reader clicks on one of my tracking links to get to my books on Amazon, I get a small commission based on what they buy when they’re on the site. It’s a passive way to make a little money.  For a while, I was plugging in my book’s links into the Amazon Affiliate link generator, copying the link, and putting it wherever I needed to list it (Wattpad, Facebook, etc.) 

Now I’ve got a document on my computer with each book’s print and ebook Amazon Affiliate link.  I can just pull up the document and copy-paste it. It’s especially a time saver when I need to list all of my books (like in the backs of my Kindle ebooks).

ISBNs and their corresponding books, if we use ISBNs. Same principle, here.  Sometimes libraries and other sites will ask me for ISBN numbers and I was having to look them up on either retailer sites or on Bowker’s site. This has saved me a good deal of time lately.

Bios.  I need different types of bios for different types of things. Sometimes I’ll guest blog on a site that needs a short bio. Sometimes I need a micro bio (for sites like Twitter). Sometimes I need something long if I’m speaking at a library and they want something to put in their program.

Keywords for series.  When I’m uploading a book, I can quickly pull up the keywords that I used for the other books in the series. Keywords are something that need to be tweaked later, but at least when I’m uploading the book, I’ve got good keywords to start out with.

Lecture notes: libraries, writers’ groups, schools.   I tend to talk about similar things when I’m asked to speak at libraries, schools, and conferences.  By saving my notes and PDFs of my PowerPoints, I make life a lot easier for myself when I’m asked to speak.

Tax info: write-offs, subscriptions, ads, supplies, cover design/formatting, website hosting costs, domain costs, literary agent fees, tools like Feedly Pro, Hootsuite, home office costs, postage costs, mileage, conferences.

Book descriptions.  There are many times when I’m submitting my book for something (most recently AmazonCrossings) and they ask for my book description.  I’ve found it helps to have all of my descriptions in one play.

Book covers.  I used to file my covers in the folder with the rest of the book documents (drafts, formatted epubs, mobi files, etc.), which does make sense.  But it also makes sense to have these covers in a folder together when I need them (and I tend to need them a lot for creating ads, uploading my information to sites, etc.)

How-tos. I use my own instructions for things that I’ve figured out to refer to later: MailChimp giveaways, SoundCloud, box set formatting, etc.  It takes so long, sometimes, for me to figure out something that I want to avoid the time suck of figuring it out again…and just make a cheat sheet for myself.

Speaking of cheat sheets: I also keep cheat sheets of my book plots, characters, etc.  This has saved me a few times when book clubs have asked me to speak on a book that I wrote years ago.

Book bible:  I’ll go ahead and list this here because it’s a time saver, in a way, too.  Whenever I give a detail about a character’s past or their likes or dislikes, etc., I list it in a book bible to refer to whenever I’m writing a new book in a series.  This is a good way to avoid continuity errors in later books in our series (and readers do catch them!)

Back matter: I’ve already mentioned above that I keep a list of my books that are hyperlinked to Amazon Affiliate links in a document. But I also keep other back matter: my bio, a call to action to sign up for my author newsletter, etc. in a document. This helps me remember the different elements I like to include in this important section of my book.

These are some of the things that I keep track of to help me save a minute here and there (especially when I was feeling scattered).  Do you do this too?  What types of things do you keep track of and document?

Keeping records and organizing docs can save writers time:
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Image: MorgueFile: Dianne Hope

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Our Author Newsletter–Getting Started

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Industry experts say that our author newsletter is our most important tool for marketing our books. We can communicate directly with readers who love our books and want to hear about new releases.

Today I’m at the IWSG blog talking about getting our newsletter off the ground, and ideas for attracting more subscribers to our list.  Hope you’ll pop over!

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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.

I do have an opportunity for my blog readers this week: a New York area conference, The Work Conference.  Attendance is limited to 30 writers because the conference provides access to industry-leading agents and publishers in a small group setting (attendees query first for acceptance to the conference).  Those who aren’t accepted still get feedback on their proposal.  There is a fee for the application, but my readers are offered a $10 discount: $40 instead of $50. That link is here.

How to Become a Morning Person (video):  http://ow.ly/U219Q  @michaelhyatt

A Return to Single-Tasking :  http://ow.ly/U20ui @zen_habits

13 Writer Woes and the Books to Cure Them:  http://ow.ly/U21Fh @roniloren

10 Mistakes A New Author Makes:  http://ow.ly/U21Oi by Nancy L. Erickson

Marketing Your Book on Social Media? How to Avoid Scams:  http://ow.ly/TRyZc @annerallen

Doing the Backstage Work: Self-Publicity in Social Media: http://ow.ly/TRzTG @joncwriter

Helpful Ways to Deal with Dream Crushers:  http://ow.ly/TRA2p @MarcyKennedy

10 Techniques for Getting Tension on Every Page:  http://ow.ly/TRAil @JodyHedlund

Why Book PR Needs Lead Time. Lots of it. http://ow.ly/TRyM8 @SharonBially

3 tools to help boost sales:  http://ow.ly/TRyvE @IndiesBookPromo

7 Simple Hacks to Get Writing When You Just Can’t:  http://ow.ly/U20sr @McgannKellie

Writing Fiction In Scenes: http://ow.ly/U22ap @angee

Write and Finish a Novel in 8 Simple Steps:  http://ow.ly/U21sa  @AmandaPanitch

Authors: Have You Blabbed or Scoped Yet?  http://ow.ly/U21n6 @CaballoFrances

The Fundamentals of Writing a Scene:  http://ow.ly/U226s @Jordanrosenfeld @plotwhisperer

The Frankendraft: Putting Life Back Into Overly Revised Novels:  http://ow.ly/U21en @Janice_Hardy

Head-hopping: How to Make Your Reader Dizzy:  http://ow.ly/U21Kh @roniloren

Can Serials Still Be Profitable in Kindle Unlimited 2.0 (and elsewhere)? http://ow.ly/U22e9 @goblinwriter

How to Write Transitions:  http://ow.ly/TZj8Y @ava_jae

5 Tips for Writers:  http://ow.ly/TZk79 @SteveMcEllis

8 Tips on Creating Single-Author Box Sets to Sell More Books:  http://ow.ly/TZk0g @DianaUrban

Point of View in Writing:  http://ow.ly/TZj6Z @joebunting

Use New Pew Center Results to Better Reach Your Readers:  http://ow.ly/TZkBG @CaballoFrances

How to Fix a Broken Plot: http://ow.ly/TZjc9  @Rachel_Aaron

9 Ways to Make Extra Money by Writing: http://ow.ly/TZjhW @alicecalch

7 Creative Book Marketing Suggestions:  http://ow.ly/TZjm2 @elspethwrites

Creating an Author Business Plan: Professional Development http://ow.ly/TZjeJ @MarcyKennedy

Optimizing Your Amazon Sales Page for Conversion (podcast)  http://ow.ly/TZkX4 @bryancohenbooks

5 Ways to Choose Character Names:  http://ow.ly/TZj0J @spunkymisfitgrl

How our Newsletter can get us More Readers http://ow.ly/TZjF5 @bookgal

Dialogue Tags: What They Are and How To Use Them:  http://ow.ly/TY5w3 @McgannKellie

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

Simple Tips to Set Your Characters Apart:  http://ow.ly/TZ7nM @MadelynKnecht

3 Tips to Beat Procrastination and Get Back to Writing:  http://ow.ly/TZ7ir @JerryBJenkins

Everyone Needs a Writing Tribe:  http://ow.ly/TZ7dS  @Janisnewman @thelithub

How to Create a Bio that Attracts the Right Following (Video):  http://ow.ly/TZ6UG from @SavvySexySocial

Are You Able to Ask for Help, as a Writer? http://ow.ly/TZ76A @jamigold

7 Things 1 Writer Has Learned So Far:  http://ow.ly/TZ71w  @karimdimechkie

5 Things To Do Before Hiring a Freelance Editor:  http://ow.ly/TY5q6 @RachelleGardner

Checklist for “Passive” Book Marketing:  http://ow.ly/TZ7Ic  @111publishing

Character Likability and Subtext:  http://ow.ly/TZ7un @jamigold

How to Create Shareable Facebook Content:  http://ow.ly/TZ7CF @CaballoFrances

Writing Speed Bumps: http://ow.ly/TZ7zA @jamesscottbell

22 Places to Write When You’re Tired of Working at Home:  http://ow.ly/TWffF @Kristen_E_Pope

The Case for Alter Egos:  http://ow.ly/TWfbM @wordsxo

An agent on author input for cover art: http://ow.ly/TWeyA @literaticat

Promoting A Pre-order:  http://ow.ly/TWf21 @authornordin

The Curious Case Of The Book Blurb (And Why It Exists) : http://ow.ly/TWeQw @colintdwyer @nprnews

What Could Happen If We Worked As Hard As We Possibly Could? http://ow.ly/TWfjy @cathryanhoward

The importance of writer email addresses and contact info:  http://ow.ly/TWeG1 @rachellegardner

3 Tools to Work Smarter, Stay Focused and Track Progress:  http://ow.ly/TWfnO @fictionnotes

How to Launch a Thriller Series:  http://ow.ly/TWeW5 @jamesscottbell

How to Evaluate a Small Publisher: http://ow.ly/TWeDK @Janet_Reid

Writing Discipline And Mindset For Authors:  http://ow.ly/TWfBv @thecreativepenn @jamesscottbell

SF/F Worldbuilding: Timeline Adds Crucial Details:  http://ow.ly/TWfwY @fictionnotes

How Writers Can Avoid “Underwriting” Emotions:  http://ow.ly/TVezd @robinpatchen

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

12 Questions to Ask When Hiring a Book Cover Designer: http://ow.ly/TVfca @DianaUrban.

Insights into the Dreaded First Page:  http://ow.ly/TVevu  @ClareLangleyH

Strengthening Your Creativity Muscles:  http://ow.ly/TVf67  @NeuBon

On Maintaining Suspension of Disbelief:  http://ow.ly/TVeXl @ava_jae

Creative Courage and the Art of Living in a State of Uninterrupted Marvel:  http://ow.ly/TVeTO @brainpicker

5 Reasons You Write and How to Reclaim the Joy:  http://ow.ly/TVeQL @MartinaABoone

A Month’s Worth of Social Media Growth Hacks & Experiments:  http://ow.ly/TVfgi @kevanlee

5 ways to add detail to your writing: http://ow.ly/TVeDK by Ellen Mulholland

Why An Author Should Try Pinterest:  http://ow.ly/TVfa1 @angiedicken

8 Tips on Creating Single-Author Box Sets to Sell More Books:  http://ow.ly/TVfk6 @dianaurban

Community leaders in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/U80CJ @mkinberg

Query Boot Camp: Querying Thrillers:  http://ow.ly/U8AU3 @RFaithEditorial @ReedsyHQ

5 Steps to Deal with Writer’s Block:  http://ow.ly/U7TkF @LyndaRYoung

The gallop draft: 5 smart tips for writing a useful draft at speed: http://ow.ly/U7KyR @Roz_Morris

How To Plan Your Story In One Day:  http://ow.ly/U7J7G @inkybites

Getting in the mood for NaNoWriMo: http://ow.ly/U7J3t  @ABrennanwrites

Writing: The Art of Turning a Unique Phrase:  http://ow.ly/TTIGs @beccapuglisi

Is being a pantser or a plotter linked to whether you’re right-brained or left-brained?  http://ow.ly/TTJ0T @lansi26

Interior book design:  http://ow.ly/TTJ8t @lansi26

Denying Your Characters. Really, It’s for Their Own Good:  http://ow.ly/TTJs7  @TomBentleyNow

Why Writing Flash Fiction Can Help You Write a Better Book:  http://ow.ly/TTIVb  @drothmanwrites

Tips on Using Blog Tours for Book Marketing:  http://ow.ly/TTJAM @SmithPublicity

What’s the Best Price for Your Next Ebook Promotion? http://ow.ly/TTJEP @DianaUrban

How to Use Periscope to Build Your Writing Brand:  http://ow.ly/TTILY @WillieshaMorris

Top 10 Dialogue Mistakes that Kill a Story:  http://ow.ly/TTJdN @MarcyKennedy

An agent on what ‘unpublished’ means? http://ow.ly/TTJi6 @Janet_Reid

3 Ways NOT to Fail at #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/TTIzg @joebunting

5 Ways to Promote Your Free Book 1 Series Starter: http://ow.ly/TTIPn @goblinwriter

The links I shared last week:  http://ow.ly/U6orY . All the links (30K+) I’ve ever shared, free and searchable: writerskb.com

Redesigning Our Life’s Interface :  http://ow.ly/TT7fl @zen_habits

3 Steps for Nailing Your Author and Character Voice:  http://ow.ly/TT6t8 @MartinaABoone

Why we are the biggest impediment to selling our books:  http://ow.ly/TT7qQ @pattyjansen

8 Reasons Your Ebook Price Promotion Didn’t Work:  http://ow.ly/TT6Rp @DianaUrban

Check Your “Underwriting”:  http://ow.ly/TT6EH @CSLakin

A Primer to Social Media for Authors:  http://ow.ly/TT7yd @sabsky

How to Develop a Daily Writing Habit:  http://ow.ly/TT6L2  @tanyaboza

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Getting Feedback and Being Part of a Community

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Self-published writers frequently hear that they need to pass their books by beta readers or critique groups first before sending the stories on to freelance editors (fewer corrections in a book means a less expensive editing process).

Some writers never even get as far as needing a beta reader because they didn’t seek out encouragement and support from the writing community.

But sometimes it can be tough to know exactly where to find these beta readers and online support.  Here are a few ideas.

First Readers/Beta Readers

Online critique groups and beta readers. Sometimes I think we can run into the same problem that we can with in-person crit groups…we might be much better or much worse than our crit partner. But we also have more of a selection to choose from in terms of writer experience.

There are resources to help you connect:

Jane Friedman’s guest poster Brooke McIntyre has a nice list of places to connect with beta readers or critique groups.

Cathy Yardley from The Write Life has 40 places to find a critique partner.

In-person critique/writer groups. I found that critique groups could be tricky, at least the in-person kind. It’s sort of like playing tennis…if you play with someone much better than you, or much worse than you, you don’t get a lot out of it. What I did like was being around other writers and receiving support and encouragement. But eventually, I did drop out of all my in-person groups. Apparently, I’m just too introverted.

I do know of writers who have found some success using MeetUp as a way to mix with local writers.

Wattpad.  Wattpad is a good way to test your story on an audience.  But to get the most out of the experience, we should plan on uploading the full story.  This can mean either serial writing or serial publishing.  We can take our story down at any time, so having the completed book free on Wattpad won’t sabotage our efforts to publish it later on.

I enjoy the feedback that I’ve gotten on my stories on the site. But I do think it would be especially helpful if we’d written a YA book since that’s the primary audience (teens) on Wattpad.  If you want to find out if you’re nailing the voice of that age group, this would be a good place to try it out.

Help from fans.  This would be for the more established writer. Yes, we need help with our drafts, too.  I really dislike the term fan when it’s used to describe readers. I think of my readers as readers, not fans.  But! There are some readers that definitely qualify as fans and even I can’t ignore that. One of mine in particular follows one of my series so closely that I feel she knows my characters better than I do.  She’s my biggest supporter and my biggest critic when I haven’t hit the mark.  Instead of reading her (very insightful) criticism when I hadn’t done as well in a book, I enlisted her support as a beta reader before publishing. Now I email her a copy of my book before publishing and use her comments to make adjustments before the launch.

Support from the Community:

#NaNoWriMo. No matter what people say about NaNoWriMo  (it’s usually that it produces a very rushed product), I do feel that it can help some writers to develop a writing habit and force them to finally move forward with writing a novel.

If you can write 50,000 words in November, I think that’s fantastic. No one is saying that you have to immediately publish that book.  I’ve certainly written that much before (on my own, not as part of NaNoWriMo…under deadline pressure), and I was able to fix the manuscript fairly quickly (I’m practiced at self-editing) and then send it out to my editor. It sold well, too. This doesn’t work for everyone and I don’t think that feeling of pressure works for everyone.  There are writers out there who are slow writers, thoughtful writers, and NaNo is the wrong thing for them to do. But if you’ve wanted to write a novel for years and have procrastinated writing it, the encouragement from that community and the marking-down of the daily count can jumpstart your book.

For the first time ever I’ve signed up.  But because I’m guilty of horrendous cheating, I haven’t put my name to it. I’m starting out with a novel that’s halfway finished.  I decided, though, that I wanted to track my progress using NaNo’s cool charts and word count trackers. November looks to be busy for me (college kid coming home, horseback shows, daughter’s extracurriculars, public speaking for me), so I think this may help me not just keep on track but actually get ahead.

#IWSG. The Insecure Writers Support Group formed by Alex J. Cavanaugh.  Being a writer can be an isolating experience.  This free community offers writing tips and resources for everything from freelance writing to novel writing.  Resources include information on writing contests, conferences,  and courses for writers. And there is a monthly blog hop devoted to outlining struggles and successes that members have faced.

How do you find feedback on your books and support for writing them?

Tips for getting feedback and finding an online community:
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Image: MorgueFile: LadyHeart

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Trying New Things for More Visibility

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

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The business side of writing seems to take more and more time.

If I knock out my writing goal first, though, I don’t have that uncomfortable sense of being conflicted. And I remind myself that whatever time I spend putting my content “out there” should be repaid later on by sales. Hopefully.

AmazonCrossing.  Although I think there is still a huge untapped English-speaking or ESL audience out there in the digital reading market, I’ll admit to an interest in translation. After all, if I want to relax with a good book, I sure as heck want to read it in English.  Reading it in French (my high school and college foreign language) would be a struggle and certainly not as relaxing.

AmazonCrossing is the arm of the retailer that’s working on projects for translation.  I pitched them a book and am waiting on a reply.  We’ll see. I have a feeling it’s tricky to get in.

Fiberead. More translation opportunities. This one is for Chinese language translation. The process appears to be a long one here, but I’ve got a project manager for one book that I’m hoping to get translated and uploaded to Chinese retailers.

YouTube. Recently, I’ve definitely been courting the young people.  I’m on Wattpad (see below) and even had a guest post for a millennial book blogger (Richard Denney) with a YouTube channel to try to stir up interest in cozy mysteries for younger readers. It’s just a matter of putting our content or ourselves where they are. They tend to enjoy video, photography on sites like Instagram and Snapchat, and mobile apps like Wattpad.

Wattpad.  I’ve talked a lot about this reading app, so I’ll just link here to what I’ve written: here, here, and here.  Basically, it’s my go-to for reaching out to younger readers and to an international audience.

BookBub.  This is one of those things I’ve heard about (well, ad nauseum, actually).  Although it is a large investment, everyone that I’ve spoken with said that it paid back with dividends. However! It’s apparently very difficult to get a BookBub ad right now, possibly because of the success rate of the ads and the site’s popularity. I’ll admit to being very cynical about this…really? If I offer a business $1,000 to run an ad for me, they’re going to turn me down?  Seriously?  What kind of business owner does this?

But yes! They did turn me down. :)  And now, in typical hardheaded fashion, I’ll probably try again next month. Because, as anyone who’s traditionally published knows, rejection just makes writers more stubborn. This is one of those ventures where it’s worth a try, anyway.  And, if I eventually get a BookBub ad, I’m certainly going to write that sucker off on my taxes.

Self-E.  I’m a fan of libraries. To me, having my book available in a library is a discovery tool the way that a perma-free book is on Amazon.  Self-e is one option for self-published authors to get their books into libraries.  More on the site here. You can explore other options with this post by Andrew Lowe: “Ebook Library Services For Authors: An Alliance of Independent Authors Report.”

Newsletters. This is the most boring but completely effective outreach program I’ve tried so far. If you don’t have many subscribers on your own list, consider linking to your list on your social media, email signature, in your books, and on your Amazon Central page. More on newsletters on Monday, when I guest post on the IWSG site.

What have you tried to put your books in front of a new audience?  How is it working?

7 ideas for ways to get more visibility for our books:
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Image: MorgueFile: mcconnors

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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.

Lots of NaNoWriMo posts this week as many writers prepare for the challenge of writing a book in the month of November. :)

Flash Fiction Exercises for #NaNoWriMo Prep:  http://ow.ly/U29kl @_AliciaAudrey

#NaNoWriMo Prep: 6 Tips:  http://ow.ly/U28bP @ceciliaedits

#Nanowrimo Prep: Story Elements for Brainstorming Index Cards:  http://ow.ly/U28sg @AlexSokoloff

3 Tips For Writing Moms To #NaNoWriMo With Success: http://ow.ly/U29O7 @MichelleLim24

#Nanowrimo Prep: What’s the PLAN? http://ow.ly/U29Qz @AlexSokoloff     

#NaNoWriMo: 2000 writers and their most effective tips for winning:  http://ow.ly/U29ZJ  by Stephen Bennett

Stay Motivated for #NaNoWriMo:  7 Ways:  http://ow.ly/U2alK @nownovel

How To Make a #NaNoWriMo Soundtack:  http://ow.ly/U2aEh @_FYWH

Your #NaNoWriMo Survival Guide: Before, During & After: http://ow.ly/U2bMo @grantfaulkner

#NaNoWriMo Prep: 30 Tips for Writing a Book in 30 Days:  http://ow.ly/U2bHo @JessicaStrawser

Advice for First Time #NaNoWriMo Writers:  http://ow.ly/U2aSA @enderawiggin

7 Ways to Use NaNoWriMo to Make You a Better Writer All Year:  http://ow.ly/TSfms @KMWeiland

#NaNoWriMo Prep: Planning Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/TSfp7 @Janice_Hardy

Rocking #NaNoWriMo with Scrivener:  http://ow.ly/U2aZK @Gwen_Hernandez

To #NaNoWriMo or Not to NaNo? http://ow.ly/U2b3j @ava_jae

There isn’t one right way to write a book:  http://ow.ly/TT6V1 @ava_jae

Character Arc In A Nutshell:  http://ow.ly/TT758 @angelaackerman

6 things to help launch our book:  http://ow.ly/TT80p  @SimonePond

Using our own traits to develop a character: http://ow.ly/TT6wi by Ellen Mulholland

Redesigning Our Life’s Interface :  http://ow.ly/TT7fl @zen_habits

Adventures in Amazon keyword padding:  http://ow.ly/TT7Nl @SheerHubris

The Essential #NaNoWriMo Survival Guide:  http://ow.ly/U29eB @paperbackbird

7 ways to supercharge your writing over #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/U4xha @standoutbooks

A comic for those about to dive into #NaNoWriMo or another writing challenge:  http://ow.ly/U2c0o @inkyelbows

NaNoWriMo is Coming: 5 Tips for Preparing to Write Your Novel http://ow.ly/U2bTI

How 1 Writer is Cheating” at #NaNoWriMo But Really Winning:  http://ow.ly/U29aW @LaurieTomlinson”

10 Ways to Ace #Nanowrimo:  http://ow.ly/U2977 @alisonwells

How to do #NaNoWrimo when you don€™t have the time:  http://ow.ly/U291D @alisonwells

A #NaNoWriMo Brainstormer Worksheet:  http://ow.ly/U28Pb  @MiaJouBotha

3 Easy Ways to Make #NaNoWriMo (Practically) Stress Free:  http://ow.ly/U28L8 @cherylrwrites

#Nanowrimo Prep: The Index Card Method and Story Structure Grid:  http://ow.ly/U28Hb @AlexSokoloff

5 Tips for Reaching Your #NaNoWriMo Goal:  http://ow.ly/U28DW @Magic_Violinist

#FutureChat: 12pET/4pGMT (now):  What makes a good indie book cover? http://ow.ly/U2ndf @Porter_Anderson

#NaNoWriMo: Who Should Try and Why:  http://ow.ly/U29Jw @WordsmithWyle

#NaNoWriMo Prep Series Masterpost:  http://ow.ly/U28jz @enderawiggin

Are You Ready For #NaNoWriMo?  http://ow.ly/U29nZ  @gracefuldoe

A look at the upcoming #AuthorDay conference:  http://ow.ly/U2oVd @Porter_Anderson

Tips for Writing Dialect:  http://ow.ly/U2crw @JudgeHopkins

5 Benefits of Aiming High During #NaNoWriMo: http://ow.ly/U27QZ @besscozby

#Nanowrimo: Elements of Act One:  http://ow.ly/U27I7  @AlexSokoloff

4 Agents on the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of  #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/U29Bv @MartinaABoone

#NaNoWriMo Outline: Your 30-Day Cheatsheet:  http://ow.ly/U2789  @betternovelproj

A Walk Through Scrivener’s User Interface:  http://ow.ly/TQf0x @mgherron

7 tips for writing faster:  http://ow.ly/TQdsr  @lansi26

How to Edit Fiction: An Example in Real Time:  http://ow.ly/TQfmm @KMWeiland

Understanding Your Book Cover Template (Infographic):  http://ow.ly/TQfxh @LivingLifeInNS

A literary history of ellipses: http://ow.ly/TQf7o by Anne Toner

Don’t get so busy making a life that you forget to make a living:  http://ow.ly/TQd8t @ryancaseybooks

5 Tips for Dictating Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/TQdEh @CKMacLeod

The Joy of Writing: How to Keep it During #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/TQdhG @RuthHarrisBooks

A Manifesto for Not Working in Your Pajamas:  http://ow.ly/TQeSV  @NicoleLynnBaart @writerunboxed

3 Ways to Ensure Awesome Characters:  http://ow.ly/TQdmi  @Rachel_Aaron

10 Ways to Boost Your Writing Productivity:  http://ow.ly/TQdK1 @fojazz

The Second Book Syndrome:  http://ow.ly/TQde6 @hopeclark

Creating a long-term plan for our writing career:  http://ow.ly/TPIKE @jamigold

The Need for Reformed Writer-Payment Practices:  http://ow.ly/TYw69 @Porter_Anderson  @mariraz

10 Grammar Myths We Learned in School:  http://ow.ly/TPIxM @writerspotlight

What to do when your Amazon reviews disappear:  http://ow.ly/TPIH8 @bookgal

4 Tips on Adding a New Twist to an Old Plot:  http://ow.ly/TPIuw @Janice_Hardy

Working in our worldbuilding:  http://ow.ly/TPI7q @AuthorCoH

Writing: keeping it real with ancient mythology:  http://ow.ly/TPIoq @betternovelproj

How Ingram prints POD books:  http://ow.ly/TPJ3J @DavidPenny_

Formatting eBooks: How to Use the KISS Method:  http://ow.ly/TPIY8  @Route11eBooks

How to Efficiently Write Descriptions:  http://ow.ly/TPIhV  @Weifarer

Self-Publishing: Ebook, Paperback or Both?  http://ow.ly/TPIQu @Belinda_Pollard

An agent on using works in the public domain:  http://ow.ly/TPI0K @Janet_Reid

Tips for writing dialogue:  http://ow.ly/TPID3  @TeddyWayne1999

Book swag for events:  http://ow.ly/TOx4I @Janet_Reid

LA Public Library and @libraryself_e ‘Foster a Community of Local Authorship’ http://ow.ly/TTvQ4 @Porter_Anderson

5 Tools To Help With eBook Sales:  http://ow.ly/TOx94 by Kristen Runvik

Formatting for eBooks: Tips and Pitfalls:  http://ow.ly/TOwRx  @angelaquarles

Staggering US and UK releases: How Can They Still Be So Far Apart? Porter_Anderson ow.ly/TTuWq @ThadMcIlroy @Porter_Anderson

Tips for obtaining an agent:  http://ow.ly/TOwPk  @chucksambuchino

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

An agent on typos in queries and manuscripts:  http://ow.ly/TOwMJ @Janet_Reid

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

Why Traditionally Published Authors Are Choosing to Go Indie:  http://ow.ly/TOx1S @IndieReader

Why we should get excited about AmazonCrossing:  http://ow.ly/TOwXu @Roz_Morris

How to Start Your Author Newsletter in 8 Easy Steps:  http://ow.ly/TOxeI  @AuthorRx

How to Find and Select a Cover Designer:  http://ow.ly/TOwWl @MarcyKennedy

Author Marketing Plans that Work:  http://ow.ly/TOx3b @bookgal

#NaNoWriMo Prep: Planning Your Novel’s Middle:  http://ow.ly/TN0nA @janice_hardy

Tricks to Writing Descriptions in First-Person POV:  http://ow.ly/TN0He @lindasclare

Our first book–the ‘how’ of writing:  http://ow.ly/TQbww

Parenting, Creating, Being:  http://ow.ly/TN0D3 @stephanieburgis

Trends in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/TPNxo @mkinberg

Using Newbie Attorneys in Your Fiction:  http://ow.ly/TN0F3 @WordsmithWyle

Developing Your Story Premise for #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/TN0oV @farrtom

12 Reasons to Publish with Small Publishers:  http://ow.ly/TN0KL  @MicheleBelisle

The Glorious Insanity That Is #NaNoWriMo: http://ow.ly/TN0q4 @hejames1008

Protecting our creative time: by Y S Lee http://ow.ly/TN0wn

Writing Dialogue: 4 Ways to Avoid Floating Head Syndrome:  http://ow.ly/TN0tq @BrynDonovan

How Authors Can Find Their Ideal Reading Audience: http://ow.ly/TN0Gc @angelaackerman

6 Ways Authors Over-Dramatize:  http://ow.ly/TN0Jq @jodyhedlund

5 Reasons to Seek Out Group Projects:  http://ow.ly/TN0rp @CateEllink

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

Business Musings: Author Earnings……Again:  http://ow.ly/TL00S @kristinerusch

Tips for research:  http://ow.ly/TL0HM  @LindaCastillo11

Penguin & Author Solutions:  http://ow.ly/TKZMV @ornaross

Are Cozies Morally Reprehensible?  http://ow.ly/TKZBm @hoodedu @LifeSentenceMag

Preparing Images for Your e-Book:  http://ow.ly/TL0Q3  @dkudler

#NaNoWriMo is coming. Are you ready? http://ow.ly/TL095  @Savage_Woman

The top writing links of the week on Twitterific:
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How To Write Dialect

by Bill Hopkins, @JudgeHopkins

How many times have you read in an otherwise excellent book that a character “spoke with a heavy accent” or something similar? Too many, is my guess. Everyone (you, me, everyone you know) speaks with a heavy accent. What determines a heavy accent is who is listening! If the person listening speaks the same as you, then you won’t notice an accent. If the person listening has never heard anyone speak like you, then YOU have a heavy accent.

Let me give you an example, using my accent, which is upland south.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Upland-South-map.jpg

The upland south accent can be heard in the hills and mountains of the American South and, in fact, in most of Southern Illinois and Southern Indiana and Ohio. Think of the way The Beverly Hillbillies spoke. (Lowland South, on the other hand, is what Scarlett O’Hara spoke.)

If I want a character to speak the way I do (i.e., like a hillbilly), I’ll write something like:

John said, “I washed up in the creek out yonder.”

I could hear the intrusive r in “warsh” and his hillbilly roots when he said “crick.”

That’s about all I have to say about John’s accent. There’s no use in transcribing it or trying to make it look on paper what it sounds like to your ear.

Nann Dunne, http://www.justaboutwrite.com/A_Archive_Uses-Abuses-Dialect.html, gives us this example of a horribly written dialect from Uncle Tom’s Cabin: “S’pose we must be resigned; but oh Lord! how ken I? If I know’d anything whar you’s goin’, or how they’d sarve you! Missis says she’ll try and ‘deem ye, in a year or two; but Lor! nobody never comes up that goes down thar! They kills ‘em! I’ve hearn ‘em tell how dey works ‘em up on dem ar plantations.”

That’s tortured English or some other kind of language that I’ve never heard of. But let me give a stab at making it more intelligible.

“Suppose we must be resigned. But, oh Lord! How can I? If I knowed anything where you’s going, or how they’d serve you! Missis says she’ll try and deem ye, in a year or two. But, oh Lord! Nobody never comes up that goes down that river! They kills ‘em! I’ve heard ‘em tell how they works ‘em up on them there plantations.”

Still not great literature, but we know for sure that we’re not sitting in Queen of England’s drawing room discussing crumpets. All I did was use a bit of bad grammar (knowed, you’s, never, kills) and one substandard abbreviation (‘em). It’s a lot easier to read than the original and you know what it means, for the most part.

You know that the speaker talks in a way we’d call “dialect” or “accented” by (mostly) the grammar they use. For example, my mother was a stickler for correct grammar and proper spelling. When I was a kid and said brung in front of her, even her Ozark hillbilly raising couldn’t handle it. I said, “If it’s sing, sang, sung, then why can’t it be bring, brang, brung?”

She never did answer me to my satisfaction. Or maybe she thought that “vagaries of grammar” was something I couldn’t understand at my tender age.

Mignon Fogarty (Grammar Girl) says that regionalisms also contribute to making a character sound like (in your head) that they’re speaking in a dialect.

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/regionalisms

What do you call that bubbly drink? Soda? Pop? Soft drink? I remember when I was a kid in Southeast Missouri, we would say, “What kind of Coke do you want?” And we’d answer, “7-Up” or “Coke” or whatever.

Likewise, do you ride on a teeter-totter or see-saw? What do you put on top of a cup? A lid? A cover? Do you drink from a water fountain or a bubbler?

When we use regionalisms or dialect, the way we talk changes the language. American English has no good way to indicate a plural you so we have come up with lots of different ways to say it. It seems (to me) that y’all is winning out, even in the North. It’s a handy word and you know immediately what it means.

With the influx of aliens from all over the globe…Wait. Did that offend you when I said aliens? All it means is a person who belongs to a foreign nation. Canadians are alien in the United States. Americans are aliens in Canada. The word is not bad but some people are offended by its use. Likewise, the word refugee (which is simply a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster) offends some people. Right or wrong, the people who pronounce these dictates may change the language for good or bad. Time will tell.

There no such thing as a “bad” word. Words change almost daily.

I could go on and on with this, one of my favorite subjects. Just remember that if you want to make your character speak in a dialect or with an accent, don’t try to be a court reporter. Instead, give us a hint or two and let our minds do the rest!

***

Note: My  first book,  Courting Murder is now free as an ebook; all ereaders are supported. 

Bill is retired after beginning his legal career in 1971 and serving as a private attorney, prosecuting attorney, an administrative law judge, and a trial court judge, all in Missouri. His poems, short stories, and non-fiction have appeared in many different publications. He’s had several short plays produced. Bill is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Dramatists Guild, Horror Writers Association, Missouri Writers Guild, SEMO Writers Guild, Heartland Writers Guild, Romance Writers of America, and Sisters In Crime. Bill is also a photographer who has sold work in the United States, Canada, and Europe. He and his wife, Sharon (a mortgage banker who is also a published writer), live in Marble Hill, Missouri, with their dog and cat. Besides writing, Bill and Sharon are involved in collecting and restoring Camaros. COURTING MURDER was his first novel and his second novel RIVER MOURN won first place in the Missouri Writers’ Guild Show-Me Best Book Awards in 2014.

How to write dialect by @JudgeHopkins:
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