Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 118
May 23, 2015
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’ll be stepping away from the blog tomorrow to observe Memorial Day and will be back on Friday. Thanks!
How to Write a Novel with Only 1 Hour a Day: http://ow.ly/MWgyf by Daniel Schwabauer
A Writer’s Cheatsheet to Plot and Structure: http://ow.ly/MWgHj @mgherron
9 Tips for Hosting Book Contests: http://ow.ly/MWgLj @writersrelief
How To Write Your First Book (21 authors weigh in): http://ow.ly/MWgs1 @sealln
How to Find Your Audience Online: http://ow.ly/MWh2R @nblackburn01
3 Surefire Ways to Generate Book Ideas: http://ow.ly/MWhgw @JodyHedlund
10 Ways to Create Suspense: http://ow.ly/MWhjL @niniehammon
Do Authors Really Need a Facebook Page? http://ow.ly/MWgYH @CaballoFrances
How to Take Charge of Your Author Blog: http://ow.ly/MWgUR @CaballoFrances
How to Write a Book And Get It Done: http://ow.ly/MWhom @GBGailBrenner
How to Dramatize Real Life in Your Writing: http://ow.ly/MWgmr @birgitte_rasine
How to Use Pinterest on Your Author Website: @K8Tilton http://ow.ly/MWhbK via @BadRedheadMedia
One author considers being exclusive with Amazon: http://ow.ly/MZlft @Derek_Haines
How to Get Reviews Before Book Launch: http://ow.ly/MZmsy @111publishing
Picking Editors: What Kind Do We Need? http://ow.ly/MZmfU @jamigold
Putting big words in picture books: http://ow.ly/MZmvJ @pczajak
How To Justify Your Writing Time (To Friends and To Yourself): http://ow.ly/MZlKT @StoryADayMay
Your Character’s Secret Dreams: http://ow.ly/MZmzV @nancyjcohen
Should authors write without pay? http://ow.ly/NhAAh @Porter_Anderson @TheBookseller
Setting: characters are either organic to the setting Elizabeth S Craig
Building Your Email List: http://ow.ly/MQlFs and http://ow.ly/MQlIu @hopeclark by Amanda Moon
The Importance of Establishing a Primary Blog Goal: http://ow.ly/MQnQP @jimhbs
All about genre: http://ow.ly/MQnKb @RobinStorey1
Tips for Finding Book Reviews: http://ow.ly/MQnXf @hopeclark
With $7M in funding, BookBub is poised to be a global force in e-book marketing: http://ow.ly/NjgPL @pandodaily by Dennis Keohane
25 Ways To Market Your Audiobook: http://ow.ly/MQo20 @k8tilton
The Right Way to Price Your Book: http://ow.ly/MQnC9 @thecadencegrp
4 Tips To Writing Better Calls-To-Action: http://ow.ly/MQo5p by Joseph C. Kunz
Should Authors Be on Instagram? Absolutely: http://ow.ly/MQnw6 @CaballoFrances
Should authors write without pay? #FutureChat 4pBST / 11aET (now) http://ow.ly/NhAgj @Porter_Anderson
All about hyperlinks: http://ow.ly/MQo9G @ShelleySturgeon
What Happens After the Manuscript is Complete? http://ow.ly/MQooS @JMNeyGrimm
Crediting illustrators: a need for publishing reform: http://ow.ly/NhAHW @Porter_Anderson @jabberworks
Selling on iBookstore: How to Create an iTunes Connect Account: http://ow.ly/MQoul @Route11eBooks
9 Tips On Writing A Great Description For A Non-Fiction Book: http://ow.ly/MQktV by Joseph C. Kunz
Bone Heap: On Returning to One’s Own Work: http://ow.ly/NgB7z by Donna Steiner @hippocampusmag
Smaller Ponds: How to Use Categories to Sell More Books: http://ow.ly/MQiSa by Fix My Story
How to Evaluate a Kindle Deal Site Before You Buy a Promotion: http://ow.ly/MQkGr by Jordan Smith
Social Evidence: Testimonials in Action: http://ow.ly/MQjyo @EditDeskTweets
2 enduring, low-cost book marketing tactics: http://ow.ly/MQifm @Belinda_Pollard
Approaching Book Review Blogs: Tips: http://ow.ly/MQjJz @ZoeBrooks15
Writers, protect your health and your back: http://ow.ly/MQhZh @Belinda_Pollard
3 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block: http://ow.ly/MQiwZ @worderella
Authors and Publishers: Paying for Awards is Crap: http://ow.ly/MQk3R @uriel1998
Tips for Back Cover Copy: http://ow.ly/MQjmx @EditDeskTweets
10 ways to brainstorm marketing ideas: http://ow.ly/MQjCW @bookmarketing
Tips for Success on ACX: http://ow.ly/NenFo
10 Things Readers Should Do When They Like You: http://ow.ly/MQkiY @RochelleDCarter
Creating Unique Dialogue: http://ow.ly/MQfHP @BarelyHareBooks
Hemingway App: A Proofreading Tool for Writers: http://ow.ly/MQgFU @CKmacleodwriter
Author Websites, Blogs, and Book Sales Pages: http://ow.ly/MQf0j @JFBookman
Organization In Writing: Drafts: http://ow.ly/MQfYU @rsmollisonread
Tips for including backstory in your writing: http://ow.ly/MQhwM @bwilliamsbooks
5 Things Authors Can Outsource to a Virtual Assistant: http://ow.ly/MQgdQ @worldsnoister
The value of cultural signposts for writers: http://ow.ly/MQgAn @Amabaie
Book Designers or Book Design Templates? http://ow.ly/MQeBF @ReedsyHQ
Online mental health quizzes for our characters: http://ow.ly/MQfhZ @ShelleySturgeon
How you can write a book on fragmented time: http://ow.ly/MQhq6 @bwilliamsbooks
Weaving It In: Backstory in Fiction: http://ow.ly/MQgQZ @writerstarr
“Think Bigger For Your Books”: http://ow.ly/MQeXr @cardmagic @ReedsyHQ
How and Where to Talk About Your Book: http://ow.ly/MNzZj @BrenMcClain
Free Images and Free Photos: http://ow.ly/MNz8a @novelexperienc3
When You NEED a Pen Name: http://ow.ly/MNyIq @kristenlambtx
Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Tips on Writing a Good Short Story: http://ow.ly/MNfd5 @openculture
Platform Isn’t a Dirty Word: http://ow.ly/MNBhJ @AneMulligan
How the WordPress Philosophy Can Improve Your Writing: http://ow.ly/MNgFT @authormedia
9 Worst Types of Plot Fails: http://ow.ly/MNzw8 and http://ow.ly/MNzFT @TherinKnite
4 ways to revive a stale book: http://ow.ly/MNzTm @bookgal
The Uncanny In Fiction: http://ow.ly/MNAaR @woodwardkaren
Self-Defense for the Small Female Protagonist: Nerve Strikes: http://ow.ly/MNyRu @SueColetta1
11 Things to Know About Dating a Writer: http://ow.ly/MNyAy @LauraPepWu
B&Bs in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/N82dU @mkinberg
Is Your Prologue Destroying Your Story’s Subtext? http://ow.ly/MNA4B @KMWeiland
Music For Writers: Paola Prestini’s Songs From Another ‘Labyrinth’: http://ow.ly/N5m3E @Porter_Anderson @paolaprestini #MusicForWriters
Tips on Writing Flashbacks: http://ow.ly/MLKbM @Janice_Hardy
5 tips to make characters distinct: http://ow.ly/MLo2e @Roz_Morris
How to be a better writer: http://ow.ly/MLJmx @storyfix
Taking the Question Out of Query Letters: http://ow.ly/MLotp @VondaSkelton on @EdieMelson
10 Things to Take to Every Writers’ Conference: http://ow.ly/MLnWF @meghancward
Anatomy of a romance query letter: http://ow.ly/MLK8H @nicholesevern
3 tips for internal conflict: http://ow.ly/MLojf @HeatherJacksonW
The villain is the hero of his own story. http://ow.ly/MLorv @shalvatzis
How to Find Your Hidden Creative Genius: http://ow.ly/MLoz7 @james_clear
5 Must-Read Screenplays: http://ow.ly/MLK6j @ScottWSmith_com
Fallacy: The Primer for Surprise: http://ow.ly/MLKhC @lanceschaubert
Finding Your Story’s Beats: http://ow.ly/MLowC @araTHEwriter
The Best Way for Writers to Use Amazon’s Preorder Feature: http://ow.ly/MKvZO @bookgal
Fiction Rehab And The Magic Of The Makeover: http://ow.ly/ML1LM @RuthHarrisBooks
Coping With Criticism of Your Writing: http://ow.ly/MKtK4 @mrJRPatterson @thePenleak
Essentials of Having a Complex Antagonist: http://ow.ly/ML1P4 @scriptmag
How Not To Win A Writing Contest: 7 Deadly Story Sins: http://ow.ly/N3coZ @Yeomanis for @annerallen
Practical Advice for Writing Dialect: http://ow.ly/MKsEP @alyssa__holly
Power Of StumbleUpon: Adding Sharing Button To WordPress.com: http://ow.ly/ML1K1 @SueColetta1
7 Writers Who Had Boring Day Jobs: http://ow.ly/ML1Xq @mshannabrooks
The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
May 21, 2015
Location, Location, Location
by Carolyn Haines, @DeltaGalCarolyn
In real estate, the old saw is that location is everything. For me, the same is almost always true in fiction. My reading and writing preference is that the characters are either organic to the setting, or they are fish out of water. Either choice provides the reader with a unique view of the story’s setting.
Growing up in Mississippi, I’m well aware of the rich heritage of writers from my home state. Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams—they have imprinted an image of Mississippi on multiple generations of readers and writers. My experiences were very different. I grew up during the turmoil of the 60s and 70s. My parents were journalists who believed in civil rights at a time when that wasn’t the most popular stance. So I grew up loving the incredible woods and creeks of a state blessed with natural beauty, but saddened by the willful ignorance and sometimes the pure damn meanness. It is this rich diversity that makes Mississippi such a perfect setting for novels: the very poor and very wealthy, the pine barrens and sandy beaches of the Gulf, the good-hearted and kind, and those who are not. I grew up knowing all of it. And all of it comes out in the characters I write about.
I worked as a journalist for ten years before seriously pursuing fiction writing. As a journalist, I traveled and worked in a large part of the South. And I’ve read almost every Southern writer who’s penned a novel.
Today, almost all of my books are set in the South, primarily in Mississippi and Alabama, where I now live and teach at a university. This setting is part of my blood and bone. And the same is true for the characters I create. It is Sarah Booth Delaney’s love of Dahlia House, surrounded by the vista of cotton fields, that brings her home from New York and puts her in a place where she steals her friend’s dog and ransoms it back to obtain the money to keep Dahlia House from being sold for taxes. When Tinkie Bellcase Richmond (a true Daddy’s Girl who can twist a man around her little finger with the bat of her eyelashes—and let me just add that no region produces a Daddy’s Girl like the Delta. They are in their own league!) hires Sarah Booth to pay the ransom for the dog, which Sarah Booth has dognapped, this bumpy start ends with Sarah Booth and Tinkie in partnership in a private eye agency. They find their skills and personalities, though very different, are the perfect complement.
No other region could produce Sarah Booth or Tinkie in quite the same way. These are characters who grow organically from the setting around them. Sarah Booth has often been compared to Evanovich’s New Jersey bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum. The similarities are in the humor and the fact that Stephanie springs from the New Jersey setting full blown. In the South, we would say, “She’s a product of her raisin’.” And so is Sarah Booth. The particular issues of Mississippi history, socio-economics, and class have forged her and tested her. While the books are humorous in tone, the issues can take on a slightly dark edge.
Sarah Booth has one thing the New Jersey bounty hunter doesn’t—Jitty the ghost. Jitty hails from the Civil War era, where she was a slave who served as nanny for Sarah Booth’s great-great-great-grandmother Alice. The two women lost their husbands in the war, and they survived the devastation of the South by working together. That friendship is the basis for Jitty’s return to Dahlia House from the Great Beyond to pester, torment, prod, and protect Sarah Booth. Though she is dead, Jitty is no one to mess with.
BONE TO BE WILD is the 15th book in the series and involves my favorite musical form. The blues are part of the heritage of this triangle of rich topsoil called the Delta. They were born in the cotton fields as slaves worked and sang. The blues incorporate field hollers, stomps and shouts, spirituals, ballads, and lyrics that speak of the daily sorrows and joys of men and women who lived, loved, and lost under harsh conditions.
When Scott Hampton takes over a blues club at a crossroads, he begins to receive threatening messages urging him to pack it up and leave. One evening the club’s bartender is gunned down and Sarah Booth and Tinkie must find the murderer before he/she kills again. It’s an action packed story that includes the regular Zinnia cast—and a bit of romance for Cece, the society editor of the local newspaper and Sarah Booth’s friend.
These characters grew from the alluvial soil of the Mississippi River. I couldn’t have imagined them anywhere else. The Delta is not my home, but it’s a part of the world I love very much. I hope you’ll come for a visit, even it it’s only between the pages of a book.
Carolyn Haines is the author of the Sarah Booth Delaney Mississippi Delta mystery series. BONE TO BE WILD is the 15th book in the series. Haines has been an avid mystery fan all of her life, both as a reader and writer. She’s been awarded the Harper Lee Award for Distinguished Writing and the Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence. She runs a small 501c3 animal rescue, Good Fortune Farm Refuge, which rehabilitates and rehomes a small number of horses, dogs, and cats each year. Haines urges all pet owners to spay and neuter and to adopt from shelters. For more information, go to www.carolynhaines.com to sign up for her newsletter. Or you can join her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Why location is everything in a novel (by @DeltaGalCarolyn):
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May 17, 2015
Tips for Success on ACX
By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
If you’re not familiar with ACX, it’s basically the audiobook option for self-published authors. And it can be free if you opt for the royalty-share option. More on that in this post I wrote here a couple of years ago. I’ll have a post up in a few weeks on the IWSG blog (June 8) on the subject, too if you’d like to learn more about starting out with the platform.
I’ve found that good narrators are happy to take on a royalty-share arrangement with successful self-published authors. A few tips I’ve discovered for being attractive to narrators/producers for royalty share:
1) It’s much better to list your book as available for audition when you’re selling well and have lots of great reviews. For most of us, this isn’t the first week or two after release, even though we might be eager to have the book available on audio format. Try a month or more in…when our readers have discovered, bought, and reviewed the book.
2) Pitch your project in the “additional notes” section when we list the book for audition. This is where you want to mention the sales for your other books and the size of your social media platform and mailing list.
3) It sure helps if ACX chooses our book for its stipend program. ACX’s policy is now that our books are automatically reviewed for this stipend program, which gives narrators money up-front to narrate and produce (since they’re assuming a risk by taking on our project without knowing how it will sell). I’ve found an email to ACX can also help (again, pitching the project as you did to the narrators on the audition page).
Audiobook promotion tips:
Once our audiobooks are up for sale, ACX (who loves introducing avid readers to audio), will email us free download codes to giveaway as we see fit.
1) We can use them for newsletter signup freebies. Or we can use them to increase our followers on social media. By using a free giveaway program like Rafflecopter (and I do use the free version), we give the widget certain parameters: when the giveaway will start and stop, what readers will have to do to enter the contest (follow us on Facebook, tweet a link, comment on a post), and what we’re giving away. Then the widget gives us the email addresses and the names of the people who entered so that we can randomly select winners. The free code can be embedded on social media or our blog or website.
I decided that giving away 25 audiobooks of my most recent release would serve as an unexpected surprise to my newsletter list…so I sent it only to them.
2) Some writers have had success asking the first 25 responding readers who offer to write a fair review a free download code. Other have mentioned their frustration that the ACX codes sent to us can basically be used on any Audible audiobook, which means we’re putting readers on the honor system. But on the KBoards forum, an author named Mark E. Cooper found a workaround that involved gifting a free copy of our title to the winning reader. Simon Whistler from the Rocking Self-Publishing site/podcast, made an easy-to-follow video outlining Mark’s concept.
3) We need to remember to mention our audiobook in our promo (and I’m reminding myself here, too). Link to it from our site. Tell our newsletter readers about it. When we’re on blog tours or writing promotional guest posts, link to the audio format as well as the ebook. We can also cross-promote our audiobook by linking to it in the backs of our digital books.
4) Author Karen Commins has some good ideas about promoting on Goodreads on her post for the ACX blog (scroll about a quarter of the way down the page). They include listing the audio format on the site and having the site librarians link to it on your book’s main page.
Have you considered putting your book up on ACX? Are you an audiobook listener? If you use the platform, what tips do you have?
Tips for success on ACX:
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May 16, 2015
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.
Great Books Adapted from Classics: http://ow.ly/N0eqZ @miralsattar @BiblioCrunch @SamanthaKnoerze
Mistakes Authors Make at Events (And How To Avoid Them): http://ow.ly/MJyeR @NikkiTrex
Sensory Memory Adds Grist to Your Story: http://ow.ly/MJAvn from Kelly Saderholm @killernashville
7 Ways to Write a Plot Outline: Infographic: http://ow.ly/MJxXY @nownovel
The Importance of Being an Outsider : http://ow.ly/MJDeQ @liz_fenwick @womenwriters
Writing humor: http://ow.ly/MJzLq by Michael McDonagh
10 Rewriting Strategies: http://ow.ly/MJDie @rasuppa @CreativeScreen
Mirroring: An Easy Way to Deepen Your Novel: http://ow.ly/MJybS @Janice_Hardy
How To Introduce Your Hero: Speculative Version: http://ow.ly/MJy1n @JeffGerke
225 Hashtags for Writers http://ow.ly/MJztH @EricaVerrillo
The 3 Best Ways to Market Your Books: http://ow.ly/MJy5j @BookBuzzr
How to Build Up Your Email List to Find True Fans: http://ow.ly/MJymj @amcbooks
How to Create Character Motivations to Rivet Your Readers: http://ow.ly/ML1AB @ShesNovel
The 3 Types of Reader Inside Every Writer: http://ow.ly/MKtHy @BenJLancaster @thePenleak
You’re Not Alone: —10 Perfectly Normal Struggles when #Writing a Novel: http://ow.ly/MKsu5 @WarrenAdler
Pinch Points In Fiction Writing: http://ow.ly/ML1IS @SueColetta1
Whose Head? Point of View in Fiction: http://ow.ly/MKvWI @CSLakin
7 Writers Who Had Boring Day Jobs: http://ow.ly/ML1Xq @mshannabrooks
Preparing Your Author Business For Failure: http://ow.ly/MJyoz @amcbooks
‘Everyday people’’s memoirs: @StoryTerrace comes to the UK in June: http://ow.ly/MZn8m @Porter_Anderson
Tips On Screenwriting, Film Rights And Adapting Your Novel: http://ow.ly/MGQnR @thecreativepenn @bang2write
Writing: What If It Can’t Be Taught? Do Those Who Can’t Sell Books, Teach Writing? http://ow.ly/MZTzE @Porter_Anderson
Writers, Rehearse like introverts: http://ow.ly/MGQ6z @JELindholm
11 Things to Do Before Submitting Screenplays: http://ow.ly/MGQf2 @bang2write
Branching into Other Genres: http://ow.ly/MZutC
Who Is the Romance Novel Reader? http://ow.ly/MGPXd @mayarodale
How to Optimize Your Keywords and Categories for Amazon (#Indiechat Recap): http://ow.ly/N0ebk @BiblioCrunch @miralsattar
Authors: Avoid Cyber Trolls and Book Bullies: http://ow.ly/MGPwn @wherewriterswin
Is it possible to make a good film about writing? http://ow.ly/MGPAt @ofarry
How to successfully engage with the community as an author: http://ow.ly/N007v @JaneFriedman
What Do We Want from Writing? Money? A Career? Recognition? http://ow.ly/MGPmU by Tim Parks @flavorwire
Overcome Writer’s Block: 3 Catalysts to Boost Writing Productivity and Performance: http://ow.ly/N03KM @Ayling_Thomas
When to Stop Editing: http://ow.ly/MGPK6 @brianawrites
Why don’t book people credit illustrators? http://ow.ly/MZ5Jc Discuss: #FutureChat 4pBST / 11aET (now) @Jabberworks @Porter_Anderson
Character Development In TV Series Drama: http://ow.ly/MGPfg @YVONNEGRACE1
Writing prompt adds mystery to your writing: http://ow.ly/MZlSm @megwolfewrites @StoryADayMay . Story challenge: http://ow.ly/MZm79
Screenwriting: 8 tips for better sentences: http://ow.ly/MGQi5 @scriptshadow
Print versions of our books: proofing our formatting: http://ow.ly/MZfyi @authorterryo
Roommates/flatmates in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/MZ7k9 @mkinberg
Why don’t book people credit illustrators? http://ow.ly/MZ61K @Porter_Anderson @Jabberworks
The Character Tag – Do We Know Who’’s Who? http://ow.ly/MGQ2R @jackieblain
False Stakes: http://ow.ly/MGQ9R @HeatherJacksonW
3 Writing Tips You Can Learn from Avengers: http://ow.ly/MGNGG @Write_Tomorrow
How the subconscious mind shapes creative writing: http://ow.ly/MGJzj @CharlotteSeager
2 Keys to Writing a Menacing Antagonist: http://ow.ly/MGKQi @RuthanneReid
What to look for in an #editor by @RethinkPress : http://ow.ly/MGNQ2
Coping with the Stomach-Churning Path to Publication Day: http://ow.ly/MGJtp @mdilloway @writerunboxed
The Engine of Empathy: 3 Ways To Convey Characters’ Emotions: http://ow.ly/MGKTH @screencrafting
A writer’s struggles with writing longer works: http://ow.ly/MGKZe @AngelineTrevena
Author burnout: http://ow.ly/MGJI2 @jesslaw
Anatomy of a Best-Selling Story: http://ow.ly/MGL4h @kristenlambtx
Agent protocol question: missed deadlines: http://ow.ly/MGJmo @Janet_Reid
The Unique Challenges of Writing an “Issue Book”: http://ow.ly/MGJBx @AimeeLSalter
Is digital first best for authors? The discoverability issue: http://ow.ly/MWhFi @Porter_Anderson #FutureChat
Using Beat Sheets with Multiple POVs: http://ow.ly/MGJLu @jamigold
Want Credibility as an Author? Blogging Is The Long, Slow Way To Get It: http://ow.ly/MDAHy @TheWriterMama
The Things That #NonWritersSay: http://ow.ly/MEglv @CantrellJason
5 Reasons to Write a Book Series: http://ow.ly/MEdPV @ShelleySturgeon
Synopsis: An Idea Is Good. A Plan Is Better. http://ow.ly/MDAy4 @EditorJamieC
POV – The Secret to Creating a Memorable Setting: http://ow.ly/MEeUd @MartinaABoone
5 Reasons Why We Love Morally Gray Characters: http://ow.ly/MEgrS @_RobbieBlair_
How Long Should a Book Be? Word Count For Books Explained: http://ow.ly/MDAOm @ChuckSambuchino
‘How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Canon and Love the Story': http://ow.ly/MEgCi @BenHBailey
Genre Exploitation or Unreasonable Reader Expectations? http://ow.ly/MEi1Z Janet @dearauthor
Don’t Let Expectation Sabotage Your Writing: http://ow.ly/MEdJ0 @Jill_Jepson
6 Dos and Don’ts for Your Writing Process: http://ow.ly/MDAhv @jt3_gill
3 Lessons from a Year Without Blogging: http://ow.ly/MEeEh @sharilopatin
How Everyday Objects Can Help You Write Better Stories: http://ow.ly/MAgd2 @monicamclark
Authorpreneur Business Plan Brainstorm: http://ow.ly/MQiEN @worderella
Using Text-To-Voice Apps For Editing: http://ow.ly/MAgYq @woodwardkaren
Manuscripts in Word: Minefield Ahead: http://ow.ly/MAfes @scribbulations
How to Breathe Life Into One-Dimensional Characters: http://ow.ly/MAfyW @WritersRelief
How Does an Author Get Branded? http://ow.ly/MAf8R @JanetKGrant
Book covers: Should we put people on them? http://ow.ly/MQir5 @Belinda_Pollard
3 Tips To Help You Get Your Pomodoro On: http://ow.ly/MAg6m @DonnaRadley
How To Nail Your Digital Book Launch: http://ow.ly/MQeme @belsito @ReedsyHQ
Story Climax: Forcing Characters to Move Forward: http://ow.ly/MAfjS @jamigold
3 Tips for finding the Meaning of Your Story: http://ow.ly/MAgiu @jt3_gill
Things to Include on Our Setting Sheets: http://ow.ly/MAfoq @larin20
Enhanced ebooks and publisher resistance: http://ow.ly/MN4Iq @Porter_Anderson @jwikert
Don’’t Attribute Dialogue: http://ow.ly/MAfu3 @jonathanballcom
3 Reasons Why You Must Finish Your Stories: http://ow.ly/MAgI2 @jt3_gill
4 Ways to Use Twitter To Supercharge Your Online Credibility: http://ow.ly/MAg0B @jeffbullas
Creative Empowerment, And ‘Digital Freedom': http://ow.ly/MN3eR @Porter_Anderson @karim_design
Secrets of Antiheroes: Master Villains or Master Heroes? http://ow.ly/MxNF8 @sacha_black
All About Twitter Hashtags: http://ow.ly/MxNia @sacha_black
Why Modern Writers Need Poems: http://ow.ly/MxMWH by Katharine Grubb
3 Writing Lessons From The Beats: http://ow.ly/MxM9N by Hannah Macauley-Gierhart
Library Journal’s Self-E program puts self-pubbed authors’ books into libraries: http://ow.ly/MPcyl @Porter_Anderson @Roz_Morris
How to Write Scenes in Novels and Short Stories: http://ow.ly/MxKgx @angee
Give Your Writing a Beat of Its Own: http://ow.ly/MxMoi @AmyRoseDavis
Things to consider when deciding on an author website: http://ow.ly/MxKwQ @annerooney
Is digital-first best for authors? http://ow.ly/MN4pf @Porter_Anderson @michaelbhaskar
Should You Write 3rd Person Omniscient? http://ow.ly/MxK3G by Andrea Lundgren
Tips for making the most of our giveaways: http://ow.ly/MxKjG @eNovelAuthors
Study the Pros: Map Your Favorite Novel: http://ow.ly/MxMwx @Janice_Hardy
Storytelling in literary fiction: http://ow.ly/MxKMy @Roz_Morris
6 Videos on the Author Marketing Checklist: http://ow.ly/MxKHD @amcbooks
Get a Handle on Writer Insecurity: http://ow.ly/MN0DT @AlexJCavanaugh @CSLakin
Balancing Industry and Promo Research and Writing: http://ow.ly/MMZxF
Music For Writers: An ‘Explosion Of Compositional Languages': http://ow.ly/MLms1 @SteveReich @Porter_Anderson
6 most common (and missed) issues in a rewrite: http://ow.ly/MuPw8 by Art Holcomb @storyfix
Authorial Consent Matters (lang.): http://ow.ly/MuVcb @ChuckWendig
13 Reasons Why You Should Write a Short Story This Month: http://ow.ly/ML1N8 @annerallen
Next steps after revision: http://ow.ly/MuQFr @Janice_Hardy
Query Lessons Learned the Hard Way: http://ow.ly/MuPnd @AdrianaMather
Tips for the First Page: http://ow.ly/MuUqZ @YAtopia_blog @loriagoldstein
How To Craft A One-Page Synopsis Using Story Beats: http://ow.ly/ML1GC @SueColetta1
Back-of-Book Partnerships for Promo: http://ow.ly/MuUPx @FrugalBookPromo
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May 14, 2015
Branching into Other Genres
By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I’ve mentioned earlier that I’m branching out into another genre. This isn’t resulting from boredom with my current genre. It’s not even purely a commercial endeavor. No, this is an Attack Novel. The story rose up and demanded I write it. Its incessant nagging started two years ago, and the fact I ignored its demands demonstrates my stubbornness and focus. It’s zombies. It’s more than zombies, of course, but drilling it down to its core…yeah, zombies.
The book is a cozy treatment of zombies. Zombies with off-stage violence. Zombies with no profanity. Is there an audience for this? Who knows? I was attacked.
Then I realized that my team might not really be onboard with zombies. Does my cover designer do zombie covers? Does my cozy editor do zombie books?
It’s good to make sure everyone has experience producing the new genre if we have a team that works with us on a different one.
The next thing to consider was the name. From what I’ve observed online, the whole should-I-have-a-pseudonym-for-a-different-genre issue is a very hot topic with some strong opinions bouncing around. Although this is a cozy treatment of zombies, I decided to write under a pen name. Sort of. I’m blessed with a name that has about . I’ve decided on Liz Craig for this book. It ties it into my real name but won’t confuse my readers looking for cozy mysteries. I know my readers very, very well…I really, really don’t want to confuse them. That would go badly.
My compromise with the situation is to send a reader newsletter updating subscribers on the mystery series and inform them (almost an aside) that I have a new book in a different genre. That way, I put the ball in their court.
I plan to put up a Liz Craig page on this site, maybe even a subdomain of the main site. In the back of the book, I’ll mention that I also write mysteries with similar ‘mild thrills’ and direct them to the other books.
I’m not going to go wild and let Liz have her own identity online because…let’s face it. Only so many hours in the day. Instead, I’ll let her latch onto my own brand and tag along. She may even have a completely different marketing strategy than I do: she may explore pre-orders and KDP Select because she has no readers to annoy. Maybe even a Book Bub ad. Maybe she’ll put her book up on Wattpad before it even gets released. That’s the fun thing…she can experiment and screw up because she’s not exactly me.
This book is a one-off, standalone. If it works out, maybe I’ll let Liz write more books. But this zombie book won’t be a series.
Any of you writing more than one genre? How are you handling the promo and branding?
Branching into other genres:
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May 10, 2015
Balancing Industry and Promo Research and Writing
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I have been seriously buried lately trying to research and learn effective marketing practices for writers. First, it takes a while to find the information you need. Then you have to absorb it. Implementation also takes longer than you think because sometimes you don’t have all the needed elements in place (I needed to design a landing page and set up autoresponders through MailChimp).
Sources for information on smart marketing practices.
Author Mark Dawson with his site (Self Publishing Formula), which is currently dealing with Facebook advertising. He has a free video series that leads us through it.
Author Nick Stephenson, who has a free video series at Your First 10K Readers, primarily focusing on Amazon keywords and categories.
Podcasts full of recent information/best practices for marketing authors. Especially Joanna Penn’s podcasts.
For a quicker project (probably, anyway), here is a nice post from author Carolyn McCray for Digital Book World on more effective product descriptions (she touches on other important things, too): “Best Practices for Amazon Ebook Sales”. I used it as a starting point for tweaking my book descriptions. Be sure to read through the post comments.
Penny Sansevieri has an interesting post on making pre’orders work for you on C.S. Lakin’s blog: “The Best Way for Writers to Use Amazon’s Pre-Order Feature“.
Things I’ve been working on and researching include:
Facebook ad
Landing page for the FB ad to be directed to
Free book giveaways in the back of a gateway (perma-free) book and through the FB ad
Autoresponders
Box Set for several of my self-published books
Translation
Amazon Affiliate (because I’d never joined on. Go figure).
Amazon Pre-Order
Product descriptions
And, on the writing end of things, I’m writing a book in another genre. Some days it’s slow-going. I’ve had to decide how I want to tie it into my current online profile. More about that soon.
Tips for not feeling overwhelmed:
1) Write first. To me, this works exactly like a home organizing project. If I’m doing a massive project like organizing the garage or a large closet, I make sure I’ve done my regular, daily housework first. Because otherwise, face it, it probably won’t get done and then we fall behind with that, which is frustrating. We tend to get drained on the larger project. So if I write the very first thing in the morning, everything else is icing on the cake.
2) This is incredibly important, especially if you’re taking on a lot of different things at once: make very exact notes to yourself detailing how you did whatever complex thing you just learned. For example, I learned how to set up a subdomain for my website. I would never remember all the steps I took for doing that unless I’d jotted them down. You can either devote a notebook for this purpose, or use a program like One Note or Evernote. I used One Note (which came with my PC) and included screenshots of my steps.
3) It’s also helpful to keep all of our research for our different projects together. One Note was very helpful with this. So I have a large notebook called “research” and then each page of research is on a different topic: Facebook ads, box sets, Amazon algorithms, etc.
4) Set a time limit. When I start researching various business and/or marketing projects, it’s almost like going through a rabbit hole. I keep uncovering more and more information, more and more helpful dos and don’ts and possibilities for approaching the different areas. I keep probing, keep clicking related links, and before I know it my kids are back from school and the chicken isn’t defrosted and my back hurts from hunching over the computer. Timers work well for this. I usually Google “set timer for ___ minutes” and then Google counts down for me.
5) Or, if I don’t want to set a time limit, I at least set breaks. I find that doing something very active is helpful and keeps me from feeling too strung out while sorting through research.
What kinds of things are you learning now? What are helpful, current sources you turn to? And how do you keep from getting overwhelmed by it all?
Balancing industry and promo-related research and writing:
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May 9, 2015
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 Avoid Exposition in Dialogue: http://ow.ly/Mskbo by Melinda Brasher
How Crowdfunding Works: http://ow.ly/Msl8u by JH Mae @IndieReader
12 Things Every Writer Should Store in The Writing Vault http://ow.ly/MskRG @ediemelson
Extensive revision: http://ow.ly/Msl1J @holly_schindler
Women’s Fiction or Romance? The Differences, and 5 Reasons Why They Matter: http://ow.ly/Mslcj @lindagoodnight
Turn Your Ah Ha! Moments into Amazing Characters: http://ow.ly/MsktL @sharilopatin
Overwhelmed? 2 Ways to Take it Down a Notch: http://ow.ly/Mskqg @wherewriterswin
Age Group and Genre: Targeting Your Manuscript: http://ow.ly/MskVJ @JAZarins
4 Questions To Ask When Your Writing Is Stuck: http://ow.ly/Msk6L @cathyyardley
How to Improve Your Amazon Book Description & Metadata: http://ow.ly/Mslp6 @bookgal @Janefriedman
Dialogue Dos http://ow.ly/MuVuP @kfbaugh
How to Write in Deep POV: http://ow.ly/MuUeR @shesnovel
Controlling The Creatives: http://ow.ly/MuPiQ @kristinerusch
5 Essential Steps to Getting a Literary Agent: http://ow.ly/MuQek @phogenkampvt
First Pages that Shine: http://ow.ly/MuPdv @marygkeeley
Tips for Book Proposals: http://ow.ly/MuQrM @wendylawton
C is for Character Change: http://ow.ly/Mslef @HeatherJacksonW
Fighting Writer’s Block? A Strategy to Get Creativity Flowing: http://ow.ly/Msk8E @1KTrueFans
6 novelists who didn’t publish until their 40s or 50s: http://ow.ly/MpYI6 @OliviaGoldhill
Writing About Your Life: It Doesn’t Have To Be A Memoir: http://ow.ly/MpZ5t @kwicoff
How to be Decisive When Writing: http://ow.ly/MpZft @enderawiggin
Inspiration for Horror Writers: http://ow.ly/MpXvJ @write_tomorrow
Beware of committing these Twitter turnoffs: http://ow.ly/MpXMB @LaurelGarver
Story Goals: 4 Throughlines to Complete Stories: http://ow.ly/MpXIP @glencstrathy
7 Types Of Book Launch Events: http://ow.ly/MpXBc @trainingauthors
3 Things You Must Know About Double Negatives: http://ow.ly/MpYGm @Grammarly
Getting Book Reviews: 5 Myths: http://ow.ly/MpXGn @trainingauthors
3 Reasons to Write About the Worst Experience of Your Life: http://ow.ly/MpYBv @McgannKellie
May 2015 Author Earnings Report: http://ow.ly/MGPyj @HughHowey
How to Write a Nationally Bestselling Book: 10-Point Checklist: http://ow.ly/MpXA6 @SLNazario
Grateful to be an Independent Writer: http://ow.ly/MGFpN @mike54martin
5 Ways to Change the World with Your Writing: http://ow.ly/Mnhmv @meghantschanz
3 Essential Tips To Make Your Anti-Hero Effective: http://ow.ly/Mozfy from Dean Elphick
How long should a fantasy novel be? http://ow.ly/MozRJ @PhilAthans
Prose is Architecture, How to Write Vivid Character Descriptions: http://ow.ly/MpaAg @angelaackerman
Writing Income Timeline: The Long Game: http://ow.ly/MpapQ @KameronHurley
Do Your Readers Know You or Your Book Exist? http://ow.ly/MpaoT @KathleenGage
Is your book idea good? http://ow.ly/Mozd1 @berkun
Persnickety Pronouns: http://ow.ly/MnhpR by Melissa Gilbert
50 Things to Tweet About: http://ow.ly/Mnhxp @bookgal
Horror with Humor: http://ow.ly/Mozzz @megmcardle
Variety In Sci-Fi Romance: http://ow.ly/MnhSL @thgalaxyexpress
What Book Clubs Are Teaching 1 Writer About Writing: http://ow.ly/MnhtP @AmyImpellizzeri
Why Don’t We Read More? Are Books Still Our Best Bet? http://ow.ly/MCEdU @Porter_Anderson @baldurbjarnason
Why you should put your book on Wattpad ASAP: http://ow.ly/Mk5Zc @kseniaanske
Building Believable Characters http://ow.ly/Mkb0F @LinoreRose
A Writer Speaks Directly To Publishers: You’re Giving Amazon Another Advantage”: http://ow.ly/MCE2U @Porter_Anderson @kathrinpassig”
Science Fiction Writing Tips: How to Make a Vampire Not Suck: http://ow.ly/Mkb4O @PhilAthans
13 ways of thinking about the poetic line: http://ow.ly/Mk5NR by Dana Gioia
The Freelance Scramble: The Unthinkable: http://ow.ly/Mk5UC @kristinerusch
Generic Description: http://ow.ly/MkaP7 @kid_lit
How to Respond to Criticism of Your Poetry: http://ow.ly/Mk5Cj @winningwriters
The secret to writing a novel a month: http://ow.ly/MkaUk @ShantnuTiwari
4 Surprising Benefits to Letting Your Characters Take the Reins: http://ow.ly/Mk6Xf @AndreaLochen
Scared Senseless: The Indie Horror Boom and What Frightens Us Now: http://ow.ly/Mk79t @MarkHarrisNYC
Writing a Personal Essay: 8 Common Mistakes to Avoid: http://ow.ly/Mk7d4 @amypaturel
Crime stories in which the author addresses the reader directly: http://ow.ly/MCDrx @mkinberg
On Writing Economically: A Challenge: http://ow.ly/Mk74N from Lost in the Subway
Story Elements checklist: http://ow.ly/MgYjA @AlexSokoloff
How to Promote Your Book like a Boss on Facebook: http://ow.ly/MgYZp @JBennett111
Wattpad Partners with SoundCloud to Add Soundtracks to eBooks: http://ow.ly/MgYG3 @InkBitsPixels @thDigitalReader
Sharing Your Stories: Beyond the Book: http://ow.ly/MgYSf @Janefriedman
4 Ways To Create An Authentic Social Media Presence: http://ow.ly/MgYe4 @DonnaRadley
Audiobook Samples Now Available on Goodreads: http://ow.ly/MgYzx @InkBitsPixels @thDigitalReader
On Changing Book Titles And Covers: http://ow.ly/MgY4R @thecreativepenn
Killing your darlings is a mark of writing maturity: http://ow.ly/MgY7j @Roz_Morris
Representing Indie Authors at the 2015 London Book Fair: http://ow.ly/MgZ7A @creativindie
How To Record Your Own Audiobooks For ACX: http://ow.ly/MgYKO @thecreativepenn
The Definitive Guide to Pricing Your Book: http://ow.ly/MgYO4 @Wiseink
Amazon Pays 450,000 A Year To This Self-Published Writer: http://ow.ly/Mh8iQ @ForbesTech @passivevoiceblg @pbackwriter
How One Author Earns $450,000 a Year Self-Publishing on Amazon: http://ow.ly/Mdyf4 @alexisgrant
Tips on Writing Suspense Stories for Children: http://ow.ly/Mdwzb by Linda Wilson
Revolver v. Pistol: Do You Know The Difference? http://ow.ly/MdxQO @LeeLofland
The Power of Pre-Orders: http://ow.ly/MdyM2 @ryancaseybooks
The 12 Plot Ideas Every Classic TV Show Did To Death: http://ow.ly/MdwF9 @dcbiller
Spellbind Your Readers With Realistic Magic: http://ow.ly/MdypH @TalValante
Weighing Writing Advice: http://ow.ly/MdwpA @noveleditor
Don’t Quit Your Day Job: http://ow.ly/Mdyhg @menwithpens
Why 1 writer is serializing fiction on her blog: http://ow.ly/MutpN @joannaslan
Pet Peeves in SF: http://ow.ly/MdwPo by Robert Holbach for @UKTor
51 Websites for Romance Writers: http://ow.ly/Mu0u9 @nownovel
Author Self-Promo That Actually Works: http://ow.ly/MdyBH @DelilahSDawson
5 Things to Know Before Getting an Agent (video): http://ow.ly/MdwlJ @ava_jae
4 Tips for Serious Writers: http://ow.ly/Mdx11 @Jenslattery
37 Ways To Write About Anger: http://ow.ly/M7W4J @writers_write
Marketing 101: Creating a Strategy: http://ow.ly/M7UAh @JenniferAFusco
Evaluating your computer backup strategy: http://ow.ly/M7VEv @JeriDansky
The Epic Guide to Setting Your Story (with a free questionnaire): http://ow.ly/M7UyJ @ShesNovel
Giving a Protagonist a Hidden Motivation: http://ow.ly/M7VYJ @RogerDColby
Narrative voice encompasses tone, diction, POV, tense, & style: http://ow.ly/M7W2o @EditorJamieC
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May 7, 2015
Still Grateful to be an Independent Writer
by Mike Martin, @mike54martin
I have often seen articles that talk about the best and the worst aspects of being an independent writer. Usually their central theme is that we should stop whining and be grateful that we are allowed to write at all. And I usually end up agreeing with them. That doesn’t mean that I am going to stop complaining about having to do everything myself. Insert Big Sigh here. But it does remind me that I have been given a great gift and that there is a universal truth that says whatever we are grateful for we get to keep. Therefore I am grateful to be an independent writer.
I’m grateful to be a writer at all. I was grateful when I was a freelance writer and getting paid much less than less than five cents a word to produce keywords and SEO content. I was grateful when I was a ghostwriter and speechwriter and it meant that I would write and someone else would literally get the credit. I was grateful when I sold my very first piece for $25 and decided to quit my job so that I could focus on my writing. I wasn’t grateful to be very broke and very much in debt for the next three years, but now I’m grateful to have survived that experience.
I’m grateful for all the people who have helped me along the way. Teachers who thought enough of my writing to decorate it in red ink. My partner who decided to stay with me and support me during the lean years and continues to support me and stay with me during the on-going lean years. My family members who have had to read through reams of illegible poetry as I found myself and then to buy my books and show up at events so that I had someone to talk to besides the bookstore manager.
I’m grateful for the many kind readers of my earlier work who gently pointed out that they contained ‘a few minor grammar and spelling mistakes’. I’m even more grateful for the people who saw the mistakes and pretended they weren’t there. If prodded they would admit they had seen them, but that they would add that that really didn’t take away from the story. Come to think of it I’m grateful that anybody has read my books, because that is what actually allows me to call myself a writer.
I’m grateful for editors with sharp pens and steely sharp tongues who didn’t mince words but told me the truth. Mostly, that my stuff wasn’t good enough or ready enough for publication. That I had a lot more work to do, which I didn’t know at the time, but I do now, and for which I’m grateful. I’m also grateful to the few brave souls who saw enough in me and my writing, to encourage me to keep going, even with a few extra words tacked onto a ‘that piece doesn’t work for us’ letter that I used to paper my writing room’s walls.
I’m grateful for book reviews and book reviewers. Independent writers like me live and die on your every starry pronouncement. Three stars means we can survive, four stars means we can grow, and those elusive tender little five stars that you guard so preciously, they are the path to freedom, the way to greater writing glory. Much to my surprise I am particularly grateful to one reviewer who trashed my first book, The Walker on the Cape. He didn’t have the usual complaints about weak writing, poor editing or atrocious grammar; all of which would have been true. He thought that I didn’t do enough to fully fill out the plot or enhance the character development. He thought I could do better than that.
At first I was shocked that someone could so publicly and viciously attack my baby. But after a while I realized the gift that he had given me. I was, and am, grateful for the fact that he imagined me as a writer, a real writer, with the potential to create and hone a good book. Yes, I had to do a lot more work and listen to a lot more people, but three books later I am still trying to live up to that ‘bad’ reviewer’s image of me, as a real writer. It is a goal I have now with all of my work, published or not. To make it better than before and to keep aiming to get better.
So, despite all of the marketing and distribution and social networking and editing and re-editing and then trying to get people to first look and then buy my books, I am still grateful to be an independent writer. Because that means I get to write and revel in the possibility of other people reading my books. That’s all any writer has a right to ask for. I have published books and they appear in bookstores and on people’s bookshelves, and in some places you can even get one with your library card. To me that is amazing. And worth every ounce of energy and every drop of sweat and every long night with my shoulders aching and my eyes red and blinking.
I am still grateful to be an independent writer.
Mike Martin is the author of the Sgt. Windflower Mystery series which is set in small communities on the eastern coast of Canada. His latest book, A Twist of Fortune is available here:
Find Mike on Facebook.
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May 3, 2015
Why I’m Serializing Fiction on My Blog
By Joanna Campbell Slan, @joannaslan
Building Blog Traffic
Reviewing all the blog posts I’ve done over the years, the one that garnered the most attention was a serialized short story I’d done with my sister bloggers at Killer Hobbies. That got me thinking. What if I wrote a short story by myself and offered it in serialized installments?
Other Goals
Better yet, what if I wrote the story in real time? The idea held a lot of appeal. A serialized story would engage more readers and get them to sign up as blog followers. They might even want to tell their friends about my work and suggest that they check it out. Best of all, eventually I would have a new product that I could bundle and repackage for sale.
Results—Expected
So I decided to give it a try. Over the past month and a half, I’ve serialized two long short stories and I’m embarking on my third. As predicted, reader involvement with my blog has improved immensely. Now I’ve added two new short stories to my body of works.
Results—Unexpected
While it’s certainly daunting, this daily exercise has been a boon to my creativity. Knowing that I need to write a post each day, following up what I wrote the day before, and moving ahead with the plot, is a bit nerve-wracking. That said, I’m loving it! They say it takes twenty-one days to form a new habit, so I’m not quite at the “new habit stage,” but I’m definitely on my way.
I find the nearly instant feedback from my readers to be an incredible energy boost. So much of writing is solitary, and this sort of immediate response is incredibly affirming. Readers have told me that they open their computers each morning eager to start their day with a new post! Now if that doesn’t keep an author at her keyboard, I don’t know what would.
How It Works
The work is done in real time or nearly so. (Sometimes I write the post the night before, sometimes I write it the same morning it goes live.) So I’m creating the stories as I go along. Each day I remind readers how to read the previous installment. I also publicize the offering through my newsletter and on my Facebook page. Because the blog posts can’t be too long, I find myself thinking in terms of shorter, denser pieces with cliffhanger endings. I have a hunch that will improve my writing.The stories are left up for one week after I finish, and then we take them down. That helps drive readers to my blog in a timely manner.
Have a Look
Want to see what I’m doing? Here’s the link: http://joannaslan.blogspot.com/2015/04/cara-mia-delgatto-and-bye-bye-birdie.html
Let’s Chat
I’m curious… Have you ever written a serialized short story or novel? As a reader, would you enjoy following along with a serialization? As an author, would you be game to try it?
*****
National bestselling and award-winning author Joanna Campbell Slan has written twenty-eight books, both fiction and non-fiction. Visit her at www.JoannaSlan.com or follow her on Facebook at http://www.FB.com/JoannaCampbellSlan The most recent book in her new Cara Mia Delgatto Mystery Series is Kicked to the Curb (4.9 stars out of 5 on Amazon). Get it here.
Why 1 writer is serializing fiction on her blog (by @joannaslan):
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May 2, 2015
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.
Writing a Book People Can’t Put Down: The Art of Pacing: http://ow.ly/M6VIg @mara_fortune
5 tips for conducting an interview with someone you care about: http://ow.ly/M6WF6 @daveisay @TED @awesomechoi
The Truth About Memoirs: Is Yours A Brave Confession Or A Book Of Lies? http://ow.ly/M6ZjM @AnthonyEhlers
Get your yoga on as a writer: http://ow.ly/M6Zug by Meredith Quinn
4 ways to remove padding words: http://ow.ly/M6ZHq @MiaJouBotha
4 Ways to Revitalize the Author Reading: http://ow.ly/M70dq @meghancward @laurajoycedavis
Advice for Struggling Writers: http://ow.ly/M70WQ r @eadjennymartin
We Are What We Write? http://ow.ly/M7UtH @ThereseFowler
It’s easy to write a picture book. It’s much harder to write a picture book that will sell. http://ow.ly/M7Uw4 @inkyelbows
Author Business Cards: http://ow.ly/MpbpZ @ClayStafford @KillerNashville
3 Options for Sharing Kindle Notes and Highlights: http://ow.ly/M7UEd @CKmacleodwriter
Subtext Speaks: How to Write Effective Movie Script Dialogue: http://ow.ly/M7VNA @TalkTheTalk10
Writing a 3-Line Poem Daily for a Year: http://ow.ly/M7W6J @YvonneWhitelaw @chrisguillebeau
Aftermath of a Kindle Daily Deal: http://ow.ly/M7UFV @jimchines
Desires, Drives, Obstacles, and Conflicts: http://ow.ly/Mpbea @JadenTerrell @KillerNashville
Author Entrepreneur: Increase Your Revenue: http://ow.ly/M6Vpw @thecreativepenn
It’s About Conflict: http://ow.ly/M6Vfj @authorterryo
A writer tries to be more fit: http://ow.ly/M6UXY @FinishedPages
8 Ways to Take Control of Social Media: http://ow.ly/M6Uu4 @timgrahl
In Defense of Short Fiction: http://ow.ly/M717k @keithr34
Crime Writers: Determining Time of Death: http://ow.ly/MpaWz @DPLyleMD @KillerNashville
22 questions for poets: http://ow.ly/M6lxI @HungerMtn by Bruce Smith
What Should You Charge for an Indie eBook? http://ow.ly/M6lm9 @selfpubreview
3 Ways Writers Get Overwhelmed — And What To Do About It: http://ow.ly/M6lvy @brooke_warner
Interview with Agent Jeff Kleinman: Query Letter Critiques (podcast) http://ow.ly/M6lsz @DIYMFA
15 Important Questions Before Writing: http://ow.ly/M6lwE @111publishing
4 Tips to Quickly Improve Our Writing: http://ow.ly/M6lnU @merylkevans @Grammarly
Write a Short Story Every Day In May: http://ow.ly/Moz0p @StoryADayMay
28 Beautiful Words The English Language Should Steal: http://ow.ly/M6lAG @wordsbydan
How To Self-Publish A Poetry Book: http://ow.ly/M6lPy @OrnaRoss
#FutureChat: The need for authors to be available and approachable: 4:30pBST/ 11:30aET (now) http://ow.ly/Mn5BS @Porter_Anderson
Picture Book Apps and the Case of the Vanishing Author: http://ow.ly/M6lDv by Sandy McDowell @DigiBookWorld
9 Universal Story Hooks: http://ow.ly/MnhCh @Mary Buckham @jamigold
Top 10 treasure hunts in fiction: http://ow.ly/M6lro by Jane Alexander @guardianbooks
Why Do We Need Diverse Books in Non-Diverse Schools? http://ow.ly/M6lOs @LEEandLOW
Eliminate Clichés and Trim Overwriting: http://ow.ly/M5K1Q @Janice_Hardy
Publishing’s old and new models: http://ow.ly/Mn4i4 @Porter_Anderson @TheFutureBook
Publishers’ Forum in Berlin: ‘Reconstructing Publishing': http://ow.ly/Mk67h @Porter_Anderson @PublishersForum
How to run Successful Giveaways: http://ow.ly/M5KpI @BenGalley @IndieAuthorALLI
7 Ways You’re Giving Away Your Power as a Writer: http://ow.ly/M5K57 @rachellegardner
10 Questions to Ask Before You Decide to Become a Writer http://ow.ly/M5KBy @DiAnnMills @ediemelson
Not Writing When You Need to Write: http://ow.ly/M5JUi @womenonwriting
Anne Perry on writing and publishing: http://ow.ly/M5JXP @AnnePerryWriter @JaneFriedman
Scott Berkun on Writers’ Laziness: http://ow.ly/Mm3np @berkun @ReedsyHQ @RicardoFayet
10 Questions to Ask Before You Decide to Become a Writer: http://ow.ly/M5K9Y
Linking Your Social Media Platforms: http://ow.ly/M5KgK @C_Herringshaw
How to Locate Your Weird (and Better Your Writing): http://ow.ly/M5Kkh @m_o_walsh
A Survival Guide to Creative Ruts: http://ow.ly/M5K3Z @finallywriting
Resources for writing video games: http://ow.ly/M5Kdi from ANC Writing Resources
Gregoire Solotareff on Writing Books for Very Young Readers: http://ow.ly/M5K7h @oliviasnaije @Solotareff
Research for Nonfiction:–5 Tips: http://ow.ly/M5Kmk @NJFarmScribe
Avoiding stereotypes and fully developing our characters: http://ow.ly/M0qB7 from Writing With Color
Want to Make a Big Impact with Your Short Fiction? Try Writing Small. http://ow.ly/M0qVw by Jeff Switt
Self-Expression in Creative Writing: http://ow.ly/M0qRJ @WritingForward
21 Things to Look For While Revising: http://ow.ly/M0qpA @kathytemean
5 Mistakes to Avoid with Personal Pronouns: http://ow.ly/M0qxF @writing_tips
Middle Grade Writers: Summon the Middle School Teacher in Yourself: http://ow.ly/M0q8c @carriebrowntx
Writing When You’re Sick: http://ow.ly/M0rM2 @CarrieMesrobian @YAOTLBlog
Using the Calendar for Inspiration: http://ow.ly/M0qMr by Linda Lane
What Does It Mean When The Fans Take Over? http://ow.ly/M0qHf @lightninglouie
How to Publish a Book on Kindle (video): http://ow.ly/M0qkw @garrettauthor
Writer and publishing consultant @AuthorsGuide answers Qs on writing and publishing: http://ow.ly/M0r0y
Key Book Publishing Paths in 2015 [Chart]: http://ow.ly/M0r85 @JaneFriedman
Can You Express Your Message in 10 Syllables? http://ow.ly/LXwet @rachelbagby @wherewriterswin
Book Marketing Plan – The Definitive Checklist: http://ow.ly/LXwq9 @timgrahl
4 Ways To Break Your Writing Deadlock: http://ow.ly/LXDjb @DonnaRadley
A Pinterest board on cover design and designers: http://ow.ly/LXDvo @novelexperienc3
Google Ads 101: A Guide for Indie Authors: http://ow.ly/LXxmS @daniellefferts @PublishersWkly
10 tips from a self-publishing survivor: http://ow.ly/LXxZg @digiogi
The Research and Science Behind a Perfect Blog Post: http://ow.ly/LXCKd @kevanlee
Want to Know More About the Structure of Books and Movies? The Story Structure Database: http://ow.ly/LXCRa @KMWeiland
How 1 writer outlines: http://ow.ly/LXxFO from Nova Zero
How to Build Rich Navigation in EPUB3: http://ow.ly/LXD99 @DigiBookWorld @LauraB7
3 tips for more blog traffic: http://ow.ly/LXwTb @novelexperienc3
The 3 Surprises When Starting (or Attempting) a Daily Writing Habit: http://ow.ly/LXCCy @monicaleonelle
Planning Flash Fiction: http://ow.ly/LVXdt @_AliciaAudrey
10 things 1 writer wishes she’d known before she’d started writing: http://ow.ly/LVXp9 @nicholesevern
The Myth of the Starving Artist: http://ow.ly/LVXP7 @ArtistThink
10 Secrets to Creating Unforgettable Supporting Characters: http://ow.ly/LVXlu @charliejane
6 Steps to Author Happiness: http://ow.ly/LVXgd @amcbooks
Unlikable Main Characters: Walking on the Edge http://ow.ly/LVXVh
18 Perfect Short Stories That Pack More Of A Punch Than Most Novels: http://ow.ly/LVY0K @charliejane
Crime Writers: 10 of the Most Dangerous Chemicals in the World: http://ow.ly/LVY4e @KeithVeronese
10 ways to tell if your book is ready for publishing: http://ow.ly/Ma5oF @CompletelyNovel
How to Write a Villain That Readers Will Love to Hate: http://ow.ly/LVXDE @DarlaGDenton
Writing Multiple POV Fiction: http://ow.ly/LVY8B @lindasclare
Series and Psychopaths: —The Author Sadist & Why Audiences LOVE the Pain: http://ow.ly/LVX88 @kristenlambtx
Les Misérables: Dissecting a Masterpiece: http://ow.ly/LVXGJ @SeptCFawkes
Music for Writers: A Royal Welcome For Two Composers: http://ow.ly/M7U4Q @Q2Music @Porter_Anderson @ThoughtCatalog
Crime novels where victims wash up on the beach: http://ow.ly/M7TSW @mkinberg
John Green’s Key to Writing? Using Different Keyboards: http://ow.ly/LRViG @emilytesskatz @passivevoiceblg
How Your Writing Group Is Holding You Back: http://ow.ly/LRVZv @NanciPanuccio
How Do I Sell My Book? 6 Tips for New Authors: http://ow.ly/LRVoj @annerallen
How to Love Our Readers and Our Art: A Call For Author Ethics: http://ow.ly/LRVeT @10minnovelist
17 Of The Most Powerful Excerpts From Poetry: http://ow.ly/LRVNt @writers_write
Query Question: entice or reveal? http://ow.ly/LRVW2 @Janet_Reid
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