Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 120

Attracting Readers to Our Newsletters

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I may have been slow to the email newsletter party. I believe, in fact, that I was the last guest to show up.  I’m finally making up for lost time.

I mentioned recently that I’d actually decided to subtly promote my reader newsletter.  This may not really qualify as promotion since it actually means I’m helping readers just locate the newsletter signup. It was almost secret before. If readers somehow found their way to my website, perhaps they could miraculously locate my newsletter signup in my crowded sidebar.

Realizing that this was (however accidentally) rather anti-reader in approach, I thought the whole thing through a bit more.  I started putting my newsletter signup in my email signatures, on my profile at Wattpad, on Goodreads, on Facebook, and other places that readers were likely to congregate or look me up. I also pitched my newsletter on this site on the reader-oriented pages (books, buy my books, etc.) This has resulted in over 30 signups since I started this drive in mid-March.

I’ve been reading noticing on writer sites/blogs that many writers have a visual prompt, sort of an ad, for their newsletter. I decided that I’d like to come up with a visual that would hopefully stand out to readers.  Designs that I create myself tend to be hideous.  This is why I hire professionals for covers, websites, etc. But for something small like this, I decided I could do it myself with Canva.

I wrote about Canva here.  It’s a free tool that helps me handle small projects that I would rather not pay for. No design skills?  No worries! The ability to drag and drop is all that’s really needed for Canva.

Now…don’t judge.  But with minimal work (ten minutes?), I was able to come up with this:

So, pretty simple elements here, nothing fancy. Book cover, call to action that sort of looks like a button, a bit of text, and a picture of me.

While I was on Canva, I made the whole image hyperlinked to the signup page for my newsletter. So readers can click anywhere on the image and it will take them to my newsletter signup page.  I use Mail Chimp (free for up to 2,000 subscribers) for my newsletters.  Here is a link to Mail Chimp’s directions for generating a link to your signup form.  You scroll about a quarter of the way down the page.  Basically, you’re going through the ‘Lists’ tab on your account and then clicking ‘signup forms’ to get Mail Chimp to generate a link.

But the big thing here is the incentive to sign up…a free book. I recently watched a very informative free video series from author Nick Stephenson on, among other things, the importance of incentives for newsletter signups. What’s more, the incentive is not my perma-free book, it’s a book that, while inexpensive to begin with, would cost readers several dollars if they were to pay for it online.  So a fairly decent incentive…a free full-length novel.  But then I do have 8 books in this series, so I can afford to give this one away.  I put it on my reader-oriented pages on this site.

I also had this newsletter ad placed in the back of one of my books.  I had my formatter (thanks, Rik Hall) stick it at the end of the perma-free book. So the readers who are being introduced to the series via the freebie get another freebie for signing up. The perma-free book acts, as Nick Stephenson put it, as a funnel that draws in new readers and the incentive encourages them to sign up for the newsletter. Works for me.

What if you don’t have 8 books in a series?  What if you don’t want to give away an entire book?  There are other incentives for signups out there.  I’ve seen things like “sign up for my newsletter and automatically be entered in a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card.”  I’ve seen short stories and novellas as giveaways.  You can give away swag like notepads, tee shirts, coffee mugs. Putting your cover image on these things is easy and cheap(ish) through VistaPrint or CaféPress or Zazzle. The sky is really the limit.

Obviously, the cooler the giveaway, the more likely it serves as encouragement for readers to sign up.

My reader newsletters are fairly chatty updates.  I know my readers pretty well and I create the newsletter with them in mind. I give a (somewhat) personal update, I include Southern recipes, I tell them what I’m working on, and lately I’ve given book recommendations based on what I’ve been reading.

How do you encourage readers to sign up for your newsletter?  What types of things go into your newsletter?  If you haven’t started up a newsletter, it’s never too late…I promise.

Tips for attracting readers to our newsletters.
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Image: Death to the Stock Photo

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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.

If you’re one of my readers…I have a new book out. :)  Body at Bunco released April 2.

And Happy Easter to all who celebrate.

Could You Benefit From a Website Redesign?  http://ow.ly/KY5je @chrismjane

10 Key Questions for Evaluating Your Book’s Competition: http://ow.ly/KY6el @KPickett_Editor

7 Deadly Sins of Dialogue:  http://ow.ly/ @manzanitafire

Not investing in…(an) ISBN…relegat(es) your title to the shadow realm: http://ow.ly/KY52j  @Goodereader

30 Websites for Authors to Learn About Self-Publishing:  http://ow.ly/KY4Sv @amcbooks      

2 Video Tutorials on Nailing Your Concept:  http://ow.ly/KY5sT @storyfix

Organization in Writing: Brainstorming: http://ow.ly/KY5V9 @rsmollisonread

Responding to suggestions in a rejection letter:  http://ow.ly/KY0Re @Janet_Reid

How to Conduct a LibraryThing eBook Giveaway:  http://ow.ly/KY7VM  @shelleyhitz

Lightning Source vs. CreateSpace: http://ow.ly/KY6u2 @KPickett_Editor

How to Format Your Amazon Description to Stand Out: http://ow.ly/KYbJx by Jordan Smith

Post Roundup: Hundreds of Blog Post Ideas for Writers:  http://ow.ly/KY7g8 @ShelleySturgeon

Do You Know Your Book Publishing Goals? http://ow.ly/KY7aU @thecadencegrp

Pros and Cons of Head Hopping: http://ow.ly/KY62z @jenniferlellis

How Authors Can Build Content Communities: http://ow.ly/KY11v @HalRobinson

Becoming a Student of Your Own Creative Process:  http://ow.ly/KY0U4 @DanBlank

You Bought the Rights to that Music, Didn’t You?  http://ow.ly/KY4wn @passivevoiceblg @jacquelynlynn

Screenwriting: each story deserves to have its unique structure and elements:  http://ow.ly/KVBsG @ivoraza @scriptmag

Why digital natives prefer reading in print:  http://ow.ly/KVB35 @mikerosenwald

Book Marketing Must Center (Mostly) on the Author:  http://ow.ly/KVB8h @berkun @Janefriedman

7 Literary One Hit Wonders:  http://ow.ly/KVD13 @GuyPortman

Being Indispensable as a Writer:  http://ow.ly/KVB01 @kristinerusch

15 ingredients of authorial voice:  http://ow.ly/KVB9x @stephenwoodfin

Author Blogs: What is Your Primary Blog Goal? http://ow.ly/LaoGi @jimhbs

The infuriating practice of cliffhanger endings: http://ow.ly/KVCAY @DeborahJay2

The Independent Author Professionalism Manifesto: http://ow.ly/KVCIV by Jordan Smith

What Should You Charge for an Indie eBook?  http://ow.ly/KVD6Q  @henrybaum

Join today’s #FutureChat on ebook subscription providers:  4pBST/11aET/8aPT (now) @Porter_Anderson

Ebook subscription services and “taking the model even further”: http://ow.ly/Laqye @Porter_Anderson @jwikert

How to Use Lyrics Without Paying a Fortune or a Lawyer:  http://ow.ly/KVCWJ @HelenSedwick

How to Produce Audiobooks with Amazon ACX:  http://ow.ly/KVBim  @daveBricker

A Step-by-Step Guide to Dealing with Content Theft:  http://ow.ly/KVCT8 @HelenSedwick

US authors: want your indie ebook available in your state’s library system?  http://ow.ly/LapKx @Porter_Anderson @libraryself_e

7 steps to overcome writing or publishing fears: http://ow.ly/KSg94 @jamigold

Tips When Writing Multiple POV Novels:  http://ow.ly/KRZNf @lisagailgreen

Exploring Genres in Creative Nonfiction Writing:  http://ow.ly/KRZHX @WritingForward

Verb Tense: how to say when we mean:  http://ow.ly/KSezV by Emily Leverett

Using dictation software instead of typing:  http://ow.ly/KS0be @karenvwrites

The Units of Story: The Subplot:  http://ow.ly/KS01a by Shawn Coyne

To Be Eaten in Case of Emergency: Inspiration and Comfort for Writers: http://ow.ly/KSf3x @EdanL

The Philosophy of Villains:  http://ow.ly/KSgmy @epbure

Woe to Those Who Love Writers (cartoon):  http://ow.ly/KSfSO via @behlerpublish

10 Links That Demonstrate Your Self-Published Book Looks Cheap & Amateurish: http://ow.ly/KSe61 @10MinuteNovelists

“Every Book Still Kicks My A**” Words of Solidarity from SCBWI 2015:  http://ow.ly/KSeUu @DianaZipeto

Ins and Outs of Creating a Launch Team for a Book Release:  http://ow.ly/KSeHP @jodyhedlund

Description in worldbuilding: its role varies by genre:  http://ow.ly/KQaIK @JulietteWade

How to Write Cliffhanger Chapter Endings:  http://ow.ly/KQ7Th @CherylRWrites

5 Philosophies of Social Media:  http://ow.ly/KQ5Zx @Janefriedman

7 Qualities of High-Concept Stories:  http://ow.ly/KQ7Gb @storygeeks  @writersdigest

Character Archetypes:  http://ow.ly/KQagG @KMWeiland

7 Rules of Choosing Names for Fictional Characters:  http://ow.ly/KQ834 @ESimsAuthor @writersdigest

Isn’t It Time For Self-Publishers To Get Over Self-Publishing?  http://ow.ly/L5G37 @Porter_Anderson @thecreativepenn

A Big Storytelling Don’t: Messing with Timelines:  http://ow.ly/KQbbA @fictionnotes

25 Editing Tips for Tightening Your Copy: http://ow.ly/KQ9Un @thewritelife

34 Ways to Use Pinterest to Market Your Book and Your Brand:  http://ow.ly/KQa0v  @writerplatform

3 Simple Prewriting Strategies:  http://ow.ly/KQ9CB  @writeathome

25 Things Most People Don’t Know About Self-Publishing:  http://ow.ly/KQ7eb @amcbooks

Authenticity in Children’s Fiction:  http://ow.ly/KQ6Tu  @agentsaba

Homicide info for Writers:  http://ow.ly/KM50y @FionaQuinnBooks

The Art of Description:  http://ow.ly/KLVz8  @AnneMarbleAAR

Can writing be taught? And what do writing teachers teach? http://ow.ly/KLVb1 @Roz_Morris

Tying Character Types to Plot, Suspense, and Emotion:  http://ow.ly/KLVoJ by Jeanne Cavelos

15 Tips For Writers On Social Media:  http://ow.ly/KM3X3  @MiaJouBotha

Revision Prep: Create a Revision Plan:  http://ow.ly/KM58b @Janice_Hardy

Why writers should care when a bookstore files for bankruptcy:  http://ow.ly/KM4nq @JanetKGrant

Word Counts – How long should your novel be?  http://ow.ly/KM40U @writers_write

Today is World Backup Day €” March 31st. Have you backed up your work lately?  http://ow.ly/L1qsO

Topic Twists Or How To Generate A List Of Story Ideas:  http://ow.ly/KLVhx by LuAnn Schindler

How to Personalize Your Blog in 3 Simple Steps: http://ow.ly/KM4ko @BlotsandPlots

How to Create Picture Ebooks for Kids:  http://ow.ly/KM5hk by Laura Backes @Janefriedman

Today is World Backup Day €” March 31st. Have you backed up your work lately?  http://ow.ly/L1qdw

10 strong sci-fi novel opening lines:  http://ow.ly/KM48R @joelwillans

The appeal of late-night crime in mysteries:  http://ow.ly/KZhJw @mkinberg

The Lazy Author’s Way to Identify and Overcome Writing Weaknesses: http://ow.ly/KJ6fD @KMWeiland

The difference between self-pub and indie-published: http://ow.ly/KIZ0Y from Writing Questions Answered

Things Indie Writers Learned in 2014:  http://ow.ly/KJ67Y @kristinerusch

Real Life Diagnostics: Does This YA Sci Fi Prologue Work? http://ow.ly/KIVx8 @Janice_Hardy

6 Reasons Why Some Books Will Never Be Bestsellers:  http://ow.ly/KIVGM  @selfpubreview

How to choose book cover image? Genre, quality count, but beware clones:  http://ow.ly/KJ6Qj @ChrisKridler

Returning to a Writing Habit:  http://ow.ly/KIWdC from Paperback Writer

Tips for Back Cover Copy:  http://ow.ly/KJ6tX  from Richard S. Todd

The Writer vs the Author: http://ow.ly/KZgFH @megwolfewrites

Why 1 author will take her trad. series to self-pub:  http://ow.ly/KXYQJ

Guest Blog to Grow Your Platform:  http://ow.ly/KIV4y @FinishedPages

Talents and Skills Thesaurus Entry: Super Strength:  http://ow.ly/KIUXZ @beccapuglisi

Query Question: what if an agent asks for an outline from a non-outlining author?  http://ow.ly/KIVeo @Janet_Reid

5 Myths About Self-Publishing:  http://ow.ly/KJ5bK @Wiseink

What You May be Missing about ’50 Shades of Grey': Story Physics: http://ow.ly/KFAJk @storyfix

Writing More Diverse Characters-The TCI:  http://ow.ly/KFAQF from The Writer’s Helpers

Structuring Phase–The 2nd Stage of Building a Book:  http://ow.ly/KFuDg @writeabook

Unsure about your attempt at describing diverse characters? A free crit service:  http://ow.ly/KFvvK from Writing With Color

How to Become a Writer as a Second Career:  http://ow.ly/KFuN7 @flexjobs

You think writing’s a dream job? It’s more like a horror film: http://ow.ly/KFwhh @passivevoiceblg @timlottwriter

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Making A Writing Partnership Work

by Jacques Ravenne and  @LeFrenchBook

Eric Giacometti and I have written nine books together in a series that begins with Shadow Ritual, which was just released in English. It’s a curious experience, one that requires organization…and diplomacy.

Eric and I take about nine months to write a novel: one month for the outline, two months of research, and the six remaining months for writing.

When we come up with the outline, we see each other nearly every day. We set up the plot, balancing narration and characters, weaving in suspense, planning the cliffhangers. It’s meticulous work and often raises more questions than answers. At the same time, it’s a fascinating phase, as we watch a structure rise out of nothingness. It is both fragile and seductive, and in it, the novel will take root and blossom. It is also technical, and we use a lot tools, from Excel sheets to mind maps, to help us better visualize the novel’s structure and see where it could be unbalanced. For example, maybe there is a major character who doesn’t appear often enough in the narration and that quickly becomes problematic. We can fix the problem right away. It’s like being a goldsmith.

When we go into the research phase, the work is very solitary, because we have already defined who does what. It’s very exciting work, a mix of web research, hours spent in libraries, and travel, often abroad, to soak up an atmosphere or prepare descriptions. There are intense moments, like for one of the novel that focuses on Casanova, when we absolutely had to go spend some time in Venice. The hard life of a writer.

Then comes the longer, harder work of writing. The novels in the series after Shadow Ritual are built around two plot lines—one is set in modern day times with our protagonist, Inspector Antoine Marcas, while the other is historical, and can take place in the Middle Ages or during the French Revolution, for example, depending on the story. We each are responsible for one of the plot lines, but the two have to be written at the same time in order to include foreshadowing and other effects that work like a system of echoes, allowing our readers to go from one period of time to another smoothly.

So, at the same time, we each write two chapters, which we then exchange by email. This way, we can follow in real time the progression of the narrative, suggest changes and smooth out effects. This work also includes a key phase of rewriting. Each of us has our own style. Eric, with his background as a reporter, likes short, nervous sentences, while I’m more of an academic, and prefer long, dense sentences. We don’t want our readers to feel like they are changing pace or tone, so we rewrite each other’s text. This requires a delicate touch, as writers are always very sensitive about their writing. Fortunately, Eric and I have known each other since we were teenagers, and we resolved our ego problems some time ago.

In the end, we write our novels twice. So if you thought that two writers could write faster and more easily than one, you were wrong. In fact, you multiply the questions and problems…by two.

Picture by Melania Avanza

Eric Giacometti and Jacques Ravenne are bestselling French thriller writers, with a nine-book series that has sold 2 million copies worldwide and translated into 17 languages. In March the series made its debut in English with Shadow Ritual, an electrifying thriller about the rise of extremism. Eric is also an investigative report who has covered a number of high-profile Freemason scandals, and Jacques, himself a Freemason, is also a literary scholar who has written a biography of the Marquis de Sade and edited his letters. Together they have created this very successful series about a French Freemason cop. Douglas Preston calls Shadow Ritual “phenomenal.”

Making a writing partnership work (via @LeFrenchBook )
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When You Know It’s Time to Move On

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

In October, my agent received an email from my editor.  I have a release scheduled in the Southern Quilting series this June (book 5).  My editor knew my contract for the series was about to run out and asked me to come up with some ideas for additional books for the series.

I developed two book outlines but never emailed them.  My editor wrote my agent last month to say that print sales had decreased (I’ve no doubt…they’re only a fraction of my digital sales for my self-published books) and Penguin Random House wanted to stop printing the series.  Instead, they were interested in my exploring their e-only line, InterMix.

And…I asked for my character rights back.

The publisher promptly returned a non-renewal notice for the series and a permission grant for me to continue it via self-pub.

I know my ebooks have been selling well—I get royalty checks.  I haven’t drunk the Kool-Aid here.  I know what I need a big-five traditional publisher for…expansive print distribution into bookstores.  But this is now becoming less and less important as indicated by my publisher moving away from printing this series.

I read my agent’s email and immediately knew I wanted to self-pub the series before I’d even finished the email. I’m fortunate enough to have a decent reader base at this point, making this the right decision.  Would I discourage everyone from accepting an e-only deal?  I wouldn’t.  But I’d add that we really need to go into these types of arrangements with our eyes open.  What do we want to get out of it?  We should do some soul-searching.

Admittedly, I didn’t give InterMix a chance. I didn’t explore their royalty structure. I didn’t ask questions. I didn’t query. I just pulled out. This is completely based on my current contracts for digital books and the small percentage of royalties I receive on net.

Challenges for me will be maintaining the series branding without making it too close to the publisher’s covers, for copyright reasons.  The quality I’ve got to match/approach is evident as you look at the cover on the right for my upcoming June release. Another challenge will be ensuring the same level of quality in writing, editing, and production.  I think I can swing it.

It’s tricky.  But I’ve done it before.  That’s how the Myrtle Clover series started out.

The nice thing is that I have a strong audience for the series and it had a good push from the publisher and visibility at retailers. Luckily, I have that as a base.

Also nice is that now I have two outlines ready to go.  :)

Important for writers, I think—don’t let these types of decisions become personal.  I love my editor…I’ve had a fantastic working relationship with her.  My agent and I have worked together well.  This isn’t about relationships…this is business.  This is about my making a living.

I think they understand that. There are no hard feelings.  I’m not just taking my ball and going home out of pique. E-only isn’t a good fit for me…that’s all there is to it.

When Midnight Ink dropped my Myrtle Clover series in 2010, I was extremely disappointed. My characters, I thought, would never come to life on the page again.  In 2015, I know that my characters can keep having adventures as long as I choose to write them and the readers are interested in reading them.

With this series moving to self-pub and with the end of the Memphis series (an orphaned series that I don’t have the rights to self-pub) I thought, “This is it—now I’m 100% indie.” Before realizing that….no, not really.  I have nine traditionally published books with a tenth on the way in June.  I receive income from those as long as they keep selling and they’re always for sale online.  With that in mind, I guess I’ll always be a hybrid.

My editor invited me to pitch Penguin Random House another series.  I never like to say never.  But—I’d have to have a really good reason to pitch.

What direction is the weather vane pointing for you?  Hybrid, traditional, self-pub?

Why 1 author will take her trad. series to self-pub.
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Image: MorgueFile: Bosela

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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 Find the Number of Items in Each Amazon Category:  http://ow.ly/KDRcd @FullTimeFBA

Query Question: I think I have an agent but she’s not responding: http://ow.ly/KDRRH @Janet_Reid

Sell more at signings by engaging customers:  http://ow.ly/KDRwk @tombarry100

3 Magic Bullets for Success:  http://ow.ly/KDQSS  @mayachristobel

How to Import Word Comments into Scrivener:  http://ow.ly/KFuPZ @ava_jae         

Picture Book Tips:  http://ow.ly/KFvnH @Margot10

Tips for starting a story:  http://ow.ly/KFvPF from hkwithapen

Ebook Pricing in Australia, Germany, India: Infographic:  http://ow.ly/KFwuY @EdNawotka

11 Secrets to Writing Effective Character Description:  http://ow.ly/KFw66 by Rebecca McClanahan for @writersdigest

Conversational Writing: 10 Tips:  http://ow.ly/KFvVZ @zen_habits

How To Treat Your Writing Like A Business:  http://ow.ly/KDRXp  @DarlaGDenton

Amazon Kindle Voyage to Launch in India Soon:  http://ow.ly/KDQEz @Goodereader @Goodereadermike

4 tips for handling multiple perspectives in a third person narrative: http://ow.ly/KDS82  @NathanBransford

To Go Direct, Publishers Must Mean Business: http://ow.ly/KDRMJ from Emma Barnes

Saying No to a Book Offer (Bad Publishers and Vanity): http://ow.ly/KDR77 @stephenandroux

In Praise of the Crummy First Draft:  http://ow.ly/KDQMg  @JocelynGreen77   @breatheconf

How Digital Can Be a Companion for Print : http://ow.ly/KDRGw  @jwikert

Flog a Pro: would you turn this bestselling author’s first page? http://ow.ly/KDRPQ @RayRhamey

How to introduce a character:  http://ow.ly/KDQ3P @johnaugust

10 Famous Authors Who Show Up As Characters In Their Own Work:  http://ow.ly/KDQr7  @bwilson4815

5 Minutes to Your Next Blog Post Idea (+ Worksheet):  http://ow.ly/KDQ6H @finallywriting

6 Tips for Creating Healthy Writing Habits:  http://ow.ly/KDQcm @djeanquarles

How to Win a Literary Feud:  http://ow.ly/KDQnk @BillFerris

7 Ways Writers Live in Paradox:  http://ow.ly/KDQ5m @rachellegardner

How 1 writer found time to write:  http://ow.ly/KDPXm @jamietr

Don’t be a copycat when you title your book:  http://ow.ly/KDQpT  @michaelnmarcus

Literary Snobbery: http://ow.ly/KDQdu @sarasheridan @womenwriters

Before the Altar of Character:  http://ow.ly/KDPZA @kiersi

As an Author, Do You Need an Intern?  http://ow.ly/KDQ96 @muirmoir @womenwriters

Your Book’s Inciting Event: It’s Not What You Think It Is:  http://ow.ly/KDQse @KMWeiland

How “Strong Female Characters” Still End Up Weak And Powerless:  http://ow.ly/KBxWP @ChuckWendig  {lang}

Cliches to avoid when writing love triangles: http://ow.ly/KBDjv @EimhWrite

17 Signs Perfectionism Is Killing Your Writing Dreams:  http://ow.ly/KBD7I  @MandyCorine

What you need to know to host a Twitter Chat:  http://ow.ly/KBBy8 @ThereDGoes

Interview with #1 Amazon Bestsellers @mredwards and @LouiseVoss1:  http://ow.ly/KPvto @ReedsyHQ

Fine-Tuning Your Author Website (podcast with text version):  http://ow.ly/KBCO4 @CaballoFrances

A Reverse To Do List: Why What You Say No to Matters:  http://ow.ly/KBBP5  @jesslaw

18 Book Promo Secrets To Boost Recognition, Get New Readers, and Increase Sales: http://bit.ly/1NgYFKZ @ereleases

Body Language: Eyes: http://ow.ly/KByBx from Reference for Writers

Choosing a Writing Retreat? Watch Out for These 6 Red Flags:  http://ow.ly/KBB8n @writesuzanne

How to Use Comments in Scrivener:  http://ow.ly/KBB3P @ava_jae

50 Shades of Grammar (It’s Not as Bad as You Think):  http://ow.ly/KOQ4m @Grammarly @nikbaron by by Allison VanNest

How to write good, realistic dialogue : http://ow.ly/KDPMx @IsabelWolff @womenwriters

Character Personality Class: The Thinker:  http://ow.ly/KByrk  @MaryVeeWriter

The Art of the Chapter:  http://ow.ly/KBAlz @jrc2666

A blog to help writers get their medical facts right:  http://ow.ly/KyH2l @JordynRedwood

Always have a good mystery hidden away in your story:  http://ow.ly/KyJlF @CalebPirtle

A look at NetGalley and how it works:  http://ow.ly/KyIlZ  @IolaGoulton

5 Possible Reasons Why Your Book Might Not Be Endorsed:  http://ow.ly/KyGPX @JordynRedwood

13 Ways To Start A Story:  http://ow.ly/KyHQS @writers_write

10 Resources for Self-Publishing Authors:  http://ow.ly/KNuW8 @MTilburyAuthor

What Authors Can Learn From Startups:  http://ow.ly/KyGsW @ricardofayet

How to Make a Living as a Freelance Book Editor:  http://ow.ly/KyGxt @RFaithEditorial @ReedsyHQ

On writing novellas: http://ow.ly/KyGYv @jamietr

6 Copywriting Tips for Writing Video Content:  http://ow.ly/KyI2U @mktgcopywriter

A Blog Series on SFF and the Classical Past:  http://ow.ly/KyHvy @hawkwing_lb

10 Reasons to Write Short Stories: http://ow.ly/KyHoN @danielwilsonPDX @johnjosephadams

Can reviewing books hurt our chances with an agent? http://ow.ly/Ku1Q6 @Janet_Reid

Revision Prep: Create an Editorial Map:  http://ow.ly/Ku1KP @janice_hardy

A First Chapter Checklist:  http://ow.ly/Ku2SN @Suzanne_Writer @YAtopia_blog

What Makes A Villain? http://ow.ly/Ku1W8 @mistymassey

Writing Ergonomics: Avoiding Injury at Your Desk:  http://ow.ly/Ku3bh @daveBricker

10 Writers Who Took Themselves Too Seriously:  http://ow.ly/Ku2oL by Morris M. @passivevoiceblg

Finding a Good Editor, Talent Vs. Training, and Writing Banter:  http://ow.ly/Kuck6 @goblinwriter

CPs vs. Betas http://ow.ly/Ku1No @ava_jae

10 Grammar Pet Peeves:  http://ow.ly/Ku2Ok @Savage_Woman

The Dark Side of Being a Bestseller:  http://ow.ly/Ku2kx @1KTrueFans

Learning About Writing From Comic Books:  http://ow.ly/Kucqa @EmilyWenstrom

What Writers Can Learn from Letterman’s Top 10 Lists:  http://ow.ly/Ku2AQ @jonathanballcom

Music For Writers: Kronos On The Tundra With Tagaq:  http://ow.ly/KFFl4 @kronosquartet @Porter_Anderson @Q2music

Pomodoro and Procrastination:  http://ow.ly/KrSpn @JLeaLopez @WriteAngleBlog

Before You Start to Write Your Memoir:  http://ow.ly/KrR9T @ninaamir

‘But what if my writing sucks?’  http://ow.ly/KrRif @nownovel

Solving the ‘What Do I Blog About?’ Conundrum:  http://ow.ly/KrRxO  @writerplatform

Tips for networking and making friends with writers online:  http://ow.ly/KFENs @alexjcavanaugh @AprilA2Z

The Wonderfully Horrific World of Female Horror Writers: http://ow.ly/KrSGq @MartyDYoung

6 demons of creative blockage and how to exorcise them:  http://ow.ly/KrTSS @danbrotzel

8 Ways Writers Can Be More Reader-Friendly:  http://ow.ly/KrTZ8 @jodyhedlund

7 Smart Tactics for Describing a Character in First Person PoV:  http://ow.ly/KFtFe @RidethePen

8 Tips for Those with Social Media Commitment Issues:  http://ow.ly/KrRev @EdieMelson

Submissions call: culture-based writing for writers wanting build their resume:  http://ow.ly/KFq67 @CultVultures

Building Your Own World With Words:  http://ow.ly/KrR3S @PattyWG

A Structure For Short Stories:  http://ow.ly/KrTu0 @woodwardkaren

How to Write a Story Line: Plot in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth':  http://ow.ly/KrRL2 @RidethePen {lang}

Crime fiction with no sleuth:  http://ow.ly/KFFJh @mkinberg

Connect With Readers –Without Breaking the (Time) Bank:  http://ow.ly/KrT4x @CherylRWrites

The links I shared last week:  http://ow.ly/KEJ42 . All the links I’ve ever shared (30K+ free and searchable): writerskb.com

How NOT to Sell Books: Top 10 Social Media Marketing No-Nos for Authors:  http://ow.ly/KntWP @annerallen

Troubleshooting Macros in Word: http://ow.ly/KntOJ @CKmacleodwriter

“Is self-publishing a matter of choice? Or of necessity?  Or of do-it-yourself pride?” http://ow.ly/KEI3P @Porter_Anderson @jamesscottbell

A 6-part story outline:  http://ow.ly/Knvn6 @ShesNovel

4 Emotive Tools of Horror:  http://ow.ly/KnKdI @HeatherJacksonW

How to Write About Characters Who Are Smarter Than You:  http://ow.ly/Knw3b @MrGrahamMoore

How Much Are Free Books Really Worth?  http://ow.ly/KnKDb @booklaunchdemon

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A Reverse To-Do List

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I read an interesting post recently by blogger Jessica Lawlor (@jesslaw)  “A Reverse To-Do List: Why What You Say NO to Matters More Than You Think.”  It was one of those post titles that made me want to learn more, since I still struggle with protecting my time.

I have gotten much better about protecting my time.  Last summer I mentioned that I had created a business manifesto and was measuring each opportunity against it…was the opportunity a true opportunity? Or was it a distraction from more important tasks?

I’ve done well since then. I’ve turned down a slew of things that I instinctively knew were going to either be time-sucks.  And I’ve said no to things I felt would somehow cost me money: in terms of time or actual cash outlay.  I’ve even been able to say no in person, which has always been hardest for me.

But the ‘nos’ have left me a bad taste in my mouth.  Was I passing up something good?  Limiting myself?  Or was I conserving energy and focus?

That’s why I was glad to run across Jessica’s article. As she states in the piece:

I’m keeping a running list of all of the things I’ve said no to so far this year. 

Jessica further explains:

The purpose for keeping this list or even sharing this list with you isn’t meant to say, “Look how great I am and look at all these cool opportunities I’ve said no to. No. Not at all.

Instead, the list is a constant reminder to myself that I always have a choice. WE always get to choose how we spend our time.

Because I’m usually not passing up something good.  I’m passing up something that’s pulling me away from either tasks that have proven successful (writing cozy mysteries) or a different task that I chose to work on or enjoy.

Some of the things I’ve rejected in the past few months:

Teaching a course
Reviewing books (I’m not a reviewer)
Blurbing/endorsing books (if I accepted every request, I’d be blurbing 4-5 books a month)
Speaking on a panel at a Virginia book festival
Beta testing software products/services for writers
Nonfiction opportunity from a university press

And personal things, too.  Requests for volunteering, for example.  I’m a volunteer, but the problem is that the same people tend to be tapped over and over again (and you volunteers out there know what I mean).

I’ve also accepted some things.  I’ve guest blogged, agreed to attend conferences, and just spoken at the Macon, GA Cherry Blossom festival.  I’ve come to see that it’s possibly even more important is that we say yes to some things.  Those would be things that give us an opportunity to grow, to stretch ourselves. Things that are actually opportunities that fit our business model/vision/philosophy/manifesto.

How do you feel about saying no?  When you’ve said no, do you feel relieved or conflicted?  How well do you protect your time?

Image: Death to the Stock Photo

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7 Smart Tactics for Describing a Character in First Person PoV

by Alex Limberg, @RidethePen

Would you like to be an actor in your own crazy play, a play you can make up any minute as you go along? That’s basically what telling your story in first person is.

If your narrator is a character in your story, his point of view does come with a couple of limitations though: What your narrator knows, what he sees, what he feels all have to go through the filter of your character’s personality. You can’t switch perspectives and fly from location to location as easily as a neutral narrator, you can’t stay as invisible as a neutral narrator… in short, you lack superpowers!

This post aims to offer a bunch of solutions for one problem in particular: How do you describe somebody when you can’t see him because you are inside of him, looking out, and you don’t even have a reason to describe him? How can you tell your reader what your character looks like through his own eyes?

If your hero suddenly drops a lot of info about her physique without any rhyme or reason, it can easily look like a bad clutter of information, a huge footprint of the author. And because I know flaws like these can easily be overlooked, you can find a free goodie below the post to help you discover problems with your perspective and any other imaginable part of your story (it uses test questions).

Sure, if you are writing your story in first person you could just say: “Hi, I’m Bob, I’m 5’ 7’’, have a greasy ponytail, a porn moustache and mustard stains on my Mickey Mouse t-shirt.” (Wanna meet him, anybody?) That would be very obvious though and also quite boring. Instead, it’s much more rewarding to smuggle information through to your reader carefully interwoven with your story; take her by the hand and gently guide her along into your illusion!

For quick reference, I have compiled the most creative and exciting ways to show what your narrating character looks like:

Good Old Mirrors

That’s the obvious one, and it might be a bit overused. The character could view herself in the bathroom mirror at home or at a restaurant, but there are also many other mirrors in our lives: Think of the rearview mirror of a car, your make-up kit or even a house of mirrors at an amusement park.

Any Reflecting Surface

Likewise, any reflective surface can be used for mirroring fun: Take the window of a train compartment, a shop window, any smooth water surface (whether it’s a lake, a swimming pool or your mom’s bathtub), metal surfaces like pots, sugar boxes of silver, door handles of brass, or any smooth industrially made metal plate like a metal table in a restaurant kitchen or a morgue slab (a pretty combination, right…?).

Some of these surfaces do reflect better than others – so make sure you only go as detailed in your descriptions as is realistic.

Any Portrayal of Your Character

Now we become less industrial and more human. Think of any photo your character could have hanging on his wall or standing on his nightstand, portraying himself. Why not let him flip through a family album?

The most likely photos would be from his childhood days or with friends or family; likewise on special days, for example in full-on wedding gear or at his graduation ceremony in robe and cap; a proud mugshot, whatever… Family photos on office desks are very popular with screenwriters looking to show off their characters’ family ties.

But your portrayals don’t have to come by lens, they could also come by brush. Yes, some people let themselves paint and hang it on their living room wall. Others receive paintings as gifts from relatives or from their poker club. And some will find their paintings even in galleries or over their cousin’s toilet; in fiction, the possibilities are endless, just play with your ideas and spice them up!

How about a scene in which a sidewalk artist paints a portrait of your protagonist, leaving ample room for conversation about his best physical traits and shortcomings?

Also, it doesn’t have to be precisely a painting, maybe it’s a piece of embroidery or a plaster-cast of his face or… you get the idea.

People Tell Him What He Looks Like

Lean back; you, the author, got nothing to do with it: Just let your characters describe him! The range goes from simple comments that he looks pretty or ugly to detailed remarks about his appearance.

Make sure to always give the speaker a really good reason for his remarks. For example, imagine a scene on the beach and somebody telling your narrator: “Get some sunblock, dude! Guys with your complexion look like crabs after five minutes.” What do we know about the character’s appearance now?

Imagine somebody telling a blonde joke and immediately apologizing to your narrator (just for the heck of it?). What do we know about her?

Putting Together the Details

You can sprinkle clues of what your character looks like throughout your story like raisins in a plum cake and let the reader combine all of the details.

For example, Martin needs to fold up like an accordion on airplane and theatre seats, which suggests that he is tall. Charlie strokes over his bald head frequently, which means he doesn’t need a hairdresser anymore.

Abstract Solutions

Now we get to the far out solutions. Not as far out as a giant bunny rabbit named James suddenly appearing to reveal to your character that she is beautiful – but still, if not done carefully, these tricks can leave a stale aftertaste in your audience’s mouth.

Here are the candidates:

Number one is the old author’s favorite for tying up impossible endings: It was just a dream! So your figure might for example see himself floating from above while sleeping. Now he has an opportunity to describe what he looks like.

Number two is a near death experience and would definitely involve floating from above, if you can believe the cliché. People who were clinically dead for some time have described this experience as “hovering in a white tunnel.” It has the side effect of letting your character take a good, hard look at himself.

Number three is indeed the introduction of an abstract figure, and it doesn’t have to be the giant rabbit. Take the grim reaper, angels or the devil, showing your character her body from outside. The experience could be induced by drugs, trauma or extreme sleep deprivation. As you can imagine, this is no everyday solution for your story…

Inner Monologue

Finally, let’s also mention that if nothing else works, you can always fall back on inner monologue. Again, make sure there is plenty of motivation for your narrator to judge or describe himself: Insecurity, vanity, or whatever else it may be – and I’m sure you can find some positive reasons as well… as soon as she is talking about her feelings, you can easily bridge the gap to her appearance.

So there you have it, a lot of options to choose from for this little problem. Now over to you: What’s your favorite way of letting your readers know what your characters look like, even if you don’t tell the story through their eyes? How do you tackle this challenge? Let us know in the comments!

About the author: Alex Limberg is the author of Ride the Pen, a creative writing blog dissecting famous writers (works, not bodies); his blog includes detailed writing prompts. Train your idea muscles with a 6-part writing exercise in his free e-book (download here) about ‘44 Key Questions’ to test your story.  Shakespeare is jealous. Alex has worked as a copywriter in a Hamburg advertising agency and with camera and lighting in the movie business.

 

Image: MorgueFile: The Brass Glass

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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.

Why So Many People Write at Starbucks:  http://ow.ly/Kl2NW @theryanlanz

3 Career Reinvention Tips From A Reporter Turned Romance Writer:  http://ow.ly/KkYhI by Cindy Fazzi @forbes

5 Ingredients for Great Characters That You’re Not Using (Yet):  http://ow.ly/KkY7J @screencrafting

Music For Writers: A Quartet Named @ethelcentral & Guitarist @KakiKing http://ow.ly/KyzaY  @Porter_Anderson @EcstaticMusic @Q2music

Editing Clauses in Publishing Contracts: How to Protect Yourself:  http://ow.ly/KlUWl @victoriastrauss

How Mirror Characters Can Illustrate Literary Themes: http://ow.ly/KlVGC @SaraL_Writer               

The art of the political memoir:  http://ow.ly/KlWzM @bbcscotlandnews @BBCAndrewBlack

The 4-Step Process To Promoting Your Books: http://ow.ly/KlUFY @amcbooks

A Twitter Book Marketing Strategy: http://ow.ly/KlV7z @booklaunchdemon @Creativindie

How to Self-Publish Children’s Books Successfully: Notes From the Trenches:  http://ow.ly/KlVVD @fictionnotes @Janefriedman

5 Ways to Turn the Tables on Creative Indecision: http://ow.ly/KlV4Y  @CreativeKatrina

How Not to Develop Characters 101:  http://ow.ly/KlVDd @beccaquibbles

In Defense of Self-Publishing:  http://ow.ly/KlUzB @marcygoldman @passivevoiceblg

Writing Commercial Fiction and Loving It:  http://ow.ly/KlWbP  @hollyrob1

How to Write a Character Falling Out of Love:  http://ow.ly/KlULN @enderawiggin

The Most Important Scene In Your Script:  http://ow.ly/KlWFI @scriptshadow

4 Reasons You Might Be Missing Out on Your Best Plot Ideas:  http://ow.ly/KnKyX @Roz_Morris

‘Wheel of Time’ is the sad lesson of what can happen when you sell the rights to your books:  http://ow.ly/KnKva @tvoti

Children’s Picture eBooks: The Newest Publishing Wave:  http://ow.ly/KnK6Y @Write4Kids @writerunboxed

7 Ways to Disguise a Plot Twist:  http://ow.ly/KnwL9 by Casey Lynn Covel

A novice’s guide to travel writing:  http://ow.ly/KntCU @wanderlustmag

Is this the most interesting part of your character’s life? http://ow.ly/KnvHm by Matt Clang

Rewriting – Do You Really Need That Scene?  http://ow.ly/KkXTU @hayleymckenzie1

How To Write Screenplays For Amazon:  http://ow.ly/KkXaV @RoyPrice @seanbhood

Promo and Business Tools for Writers:  http://ow.ly/KzAX8

Public Speaking: How many authors are ‘stadium-friendly’? #FutureChat http://ow.ly/Kztvc @Porter_Anderson 4pGMT / noonET  (now)

Can the Protagonist Be the Antagonist? http://ow.ly/KkYau  @MichaelTabb

A 5-Minute Guide to Evernote | Tech Tools for Writers http://ow.ly/Kl2I8

Getting Your Editor to Edit:  http://ow.ly/KkYmc  @LynneCantwell

Who’s the digital reader?  http://ow.ly/KkXQ3  by Annemie Speybrouck

Clumsy dialogue: –your mission statement for a subtle scene: http://ow.ly/KkX96 @Roz_Morris

Why You Probably Won’t be a Top 10 Bestseller at Amazon:  http://ow.ly/KkY3I @David_N_Wilson

Can a writer’s original inspiration survive success?  http://ow.ly/KkXVa @nybooks @TimParksauthor

Don’t get Scammed on Self-publishing: What are Reasonable Costs? http://ow.ly/KzsYv @silas_payton

A Successful Book Launch — By The Numbers:  http://ow.ly/KhMqA  @nmeunier

The 5 Best Online Tools to Help You Outline Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/KizdS @writers_write

10 Simple Marketing Tools for Authors: http://ow.ly/KizCB @BookBubPartners

When to Stop Polishing a Manuscript http://ow.ly/KhMwz @davidfarland

Bars and Pubs in Crime Fiction:  http://ow.ly/KwT77 @mkinberg

Why Fan Fiction Is The Future of Publishing:  http://ow.ly/KhLO5 by Oliver Jones @passivevoiceblg

Semicolons: How To Use Them, And Why You Should:  http://ow.ly/Kiyl7 by @ClaireEFallon

How to Tell If Your Character Has PTSD: http://ow.ly/KhMgo @Writerology

Adding Evernote notes to a Scrivener project:  http://ow.ly/Kizn4 @Gwen_Hernandez

Story Lessons from South Park:  http://ow.ly/KhLn2 @KeithCronin

Apotheosis: Definition and Examples for Writers http://ow.ly/KhLim @epbure

Book Festivals: A Must for Your Marketing Toolbox:  http://ow.ly/KwSDu  @dmcdine

A Writer’s Take on Wattpad:  http://ow.ly/KwSrP @sjpemb @authorterryo

4 Research Hacks for Writing Thrillers:  http://ow.ly/KhzMA @RachelAmphlett

What’s Influenced Your Writing?  http://ow.ly/KhKAX @jamigold

Write a Lot by Writing on Schedule: http://ow.ly/KeP84  @jonathanballcom

Make Money Writing in 2015: Offer Mini Content:  http://ow.ly/KhyNJ @angee

Start a mailing list for your books:  http://ow.ly/KeOq8  @nmeunier

The Units of Story: The Beat:  http://ow.ly/Khzn0 by Shawn Coyne

How You Can Use Thunderclap To Promote Your Bookhttp://bit.ly/1yZCrF8 @trainingauthors

1 Important Thing Many Writers Neglect To Do While Waiting:  http://ow.ly/Khzhh @jodyhedlund

Has Social Media Changed How Readers Read?  http://ow.ly/KhyEa @MartinaABoone

How to Use Foreshadowing @kmweiland  http://bit.ly/1Cja4sO

A Daily Exercise That Can Revolutionize Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/KhySi @edcyzewski

Talking About Money: Why Writers Need to Be More Honest About How We Earn:  http://ow.ly/Khzf1 @lisatella

Authors, use headshots, not book covers, as avatars:  http://ow.ly/KudWn @Porter_Anderson @PubSenseSummit

Active and Passive voice:  http://ow.ly/Khz3r @Emily_Leverett

How to Write a Successful Synopsis http://ow.ly/KeOmg @monicamclark

Getting to Know Your Setting:  http://ow.ly/KbTag  @kayedacus

Screenwriters: Imitation Game – Cracking an Enigmatic Script:  http://ow.ly/KbT6f  by Paul Joseph Gulino

Novel Analytics: Plot Arcs with the Syuzhet Package: http://ow.ly/KbTWc @mljockers

3 Plot Structures Every Storyteller Can Use:  http://ow.ly/KbZzY  @tracilslatton

Top 5 Lit Mags With the Kindest Rejection Letters:  http://ow.ly/KbZfI @EmilyKLackey

Writing Character Sheets:  http://ow.ly/KbTOR @larin20

10 things 1 writer learned while writing his last book:  http://ow.ly/KbVF6 @austinkleon

How to Keep Motivated After the First Draft: http://ow.ly/KbNl5 @nownovel

Break into Trad. Pub. through Writer-for-Hire:  http://ow.ly/KbSVN  by Rebecca Langston-George via @MandyCorine

Why Google Plus Hovercard is the ultimate personal branding tool: http://ow.ly/KbTym @stephanhov

Commonly Confused Words:  http://ow.ly/Kr1Cf ,  http://ow.ly/Kr1Gy and http://ow.ly/Kr1Jz @JanetBoyer

6 Ways to Generate Ideas for Your Story:  http://ow.ly/KbTLP  @WriteToSell

Students and research–why books are better than the internet: http://ow.ly/KbNe2 @annerooney

Deciding the main character of your novel: 1 way to determine it: http://ow.ly/KoDCB @SusanKelley

Why we should choose an authoritative agent:  http://ow.ly/KoFLS @Porter_Anderson @agentkristinNLA

Tips for creating antagonists:  http://ow.ly/Knk9g by Jack Smith

One Simple Rule of Writing Horror:  http://ow.ly/K8Rck @HeatherJacksonW

4 reasons why your novel’s dialogue sounds stilted: http://ow.ly/K8QaN @Roz_Morris

Writing for a Diverse Audience:  http://ow.ly/K8Pqh @stacylwhitman

Your Novel’s Most Important Relationship:  http://ow.ly/K8Pm6  @WriteToSell

3 Plot Structures For Building Bestsellers:  http://ow.ly/K8PvZ @ShesNovel

Create a Distraction-Free Writing Environment with FORCEdraft:  http://ow.ly/K8Rm7 @chicklitgurrl

Literary Devices: Setting:  http://ow.ly/K8Qxx @danjmurphy91

Maybe novels should be written like movies:  http://ow.ly/K8SSv @CalebPirtle

Designing characters to fit the needs of the external plot:  http://ow.ly/K8PZL @glencstrathy

Who’s Running Your Writers’ Group? Why You Should Be Careful:  http://ow.ly/K6CQ5 @victoriastrauss

There Are No Ugly Words:  http://ow.ly/K8PiH @mitchelljkaplan

How to Write a Prize-Worthy Short Story: A Step-by-Step Guide:  http://ow.ly/K6vwd @JodieRennerEd

How To Make $225 An Hour Writing Poetry:  http://ow.ly/K6utC @LizSegran @FastCompany

How to build the ultimate author website (in 1 hour):  http://ow.ly/K6yEm @timgrahl

88 quotes to help you finish your novel:  http://ow.ly/K6tIF @nownovel

Writing A Book According To Pinterest:  http://ow.ly/K6xlh  @larin20

Subplots and the role they play in your story:  http://ow.ly/K6CwT @JoeMoore_writer

Top Writing Links of the Week on Twitterific
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Promo and Business Tools for Writers

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Recently, I mentioned that I’ve been working on a lot of different things…from foreign rights to promo.

My favorite type of promo is passive. I’ve learned that readers find me online and I don’t have to go through the unpleasant (and spammy) process of begging them to click over from Facebook or Twitter or anywhere else.  If they’re interested, they look me up.

But what I’ve recently realized is that I want them to be able to choose different ways of interacting with me and my books when they do look me up and go to my site.

Some readers like emailing me or contacting me through Facebook…and I link to my email and my Facebook in case they do.  Some would rather sign up for my newsletter and hear from me that way…with no actual interaction with me.  And then some…so far my youngest readers…want to interact with me less, but they want to interact with my books in different ways.

On Wattpad, I’ve been surprised by the readers who have asked me if my characters resemble various celebrities. These readers are younger and definitely seem more visual (since I’ve never been asked similar questions by older readers).  But…I still like readers to come up with their own visuals for my characters since I believe that’s more personal.  Besides—celebrities own their images and I’m leery about linking to them on Wattpad. Wattpad, however, encourages “casting” our books on the site with a widget in the sidebar expressly for that purpose (but only mentioning the celebrity names, not posting the celebrity’s image).

Instead, I decided to compromise and link to a short PowerPoint-type visual that would stand-in for a series trailer (these pictures don’t move, so to me they’re not a trailer). Microsoft has a new, free program called Sway.  I learned about it from Jenny Hansen’s post on the Writers in the Storm blog.  She called it a “digital scrapbook,” which I think is an excellent description. By using free CC (Creative Commons) license photos from different sites and arranging them into a digital scrapbook, I’m…well, I’m not coming remotely close to transmedia, but I’m taking a step that I hadn’t taken before.  The only visual representation of my books in the past have been the covers.  My modest effort is in the sidebar here and is also linked to on Wattpad.

Some of you have blogs where you interact with readers on topics that relate to your content (smart). I haven’t chosen to go in that direction with my blogging, but I still look for ways to build up my name and platform online to make me more visible and make it easier for readers to find me online.  When I bought a new phone last November, I saw it came with a new app—Flipboard. Silas Payton wrote a recent post that explains the benefits of using Flipboard, as a writer. With Flipboard, you can create a digital magazine on a specific topic (I chose writing, of course, since that’s what I’m curating, but you could choose something genre-specific if you’re trying to attract readers) and add links to your favorite posts related to the topic into the magazine.  Then your magazine (if it’s set to public) can be viewed and shared/favorited/followed by other users. Nice way to get extra exposure for your content, bring people to your blog, share resources, and network. And for people who do share links or curate online content, it’s a great way to find interesting articles to share, too.

One more tool. In my never-ending quest to get a handle on my sales tracking (by doing as little work as possible), I’ve downloaded TrackerBox to help me.  I found out about the program here in the comments of one of my posts. TrackerBox, created by writer Mark Fassett, is free for a 45-day trial (no credit card needed on signup) and then is a one-time cost of $60. I’m not affiliated with the site/author/developer in any way, I’m just a desperate author.   And, yes, I’m going to pay it once my trial runs out because I couldn’t pay anyone to track this stuff for me that inexpensively.

Basically, you upload your spreadsheet reports to TrackerBox and the program displays all sorts of interesting data for you in graphs and other formats.  You can see top sales, top vendors, sales trends over various periods of time (you actually get to choose lifetime sales if you want), net sales, top titles per retail platform….it’s just really useful when you’re trying to easily see how various books are selling and your income trends.

So that’s all I’ve got this week.  Oh, and “Click to Tweet,” which is also very useful, if I could ever remember to put it at the bottom of my posts. I think I’ll do it now.   More on “Click to Tweet” here in a post by Terry Odell for the Blood Red Pencil blog.  I downloaded the plugin for WordPress.   More detail on Click to Tweet in this post by Adrian Leighton for Ozone Marketing: “How and Why Sharing Click to Tweet Links Boosts Traffic from Blogging.”

Believe it or not, I finally even managed to finish writing that book this week.  Finally.

What have you been working on?  Found any helpful tools you can share?

Promo and Business Tools for Writers
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Creating Antagonists in Your Fiction

Guest Post by Jack Smith

Antagonists can be persons or larger forces—groups, institutions, the society as a whole, nature, or the cosmos.   Plots dealing with larger forces tend to embody conflicts with individuals as representative of these larger forces.  In conflicts with nature, individual antagonists can complicate these conflicts.

Let’s concentrate, then, on individuals…

Make sure your antagonist isn’t a one-dimensional or cardboard character, but is multi-dimensional—a worthy character to do battle with.

Avoid overshadowing your protagonist, but make your antagonist interesting enough to engage the reader; make him or her somewhat sympathetic, or at least empathetic, someone the reader can relate to.   Namely:

–Include a few individualizing traits, ones that create interest

–Give him a few biases or prejudices.

–For an interesting balance, find one or two things we might like about this antagonist

–Make him fallible:  Even if your antagonist is cunning and shrewd, have him stumble, mess up, or overlook a thing or two.

–Give your antagonist believable motivations.

–Give him an agenda of some kind, even if it’s not absolutely clear to the antagonist himself.

–If, a time or two, your antagonist overshadows your protagonist, this can work.  Just make sure it’s not the general case.  (Unless you want an anti-hero, but that’s a different story.)

In the case of two protagonists, each might view each other as antagonists. In this case, develop each fully, though you need to decide whose story, in the overall, it is.

–Make each a round or multidimensional character

— Make sure each is a dynamic character, one that can change. Create a character arc for each that is believable and compelling.

–Create each as a sympathetic or at least empathetic character

–Decide if one’s protagonist’s story is more important than the other’s, or if they are equally important, consisting of two sides of one coin.  Should one win out over the other?  Or should it be a draw?

Decide on your antagonist’s role in terms of your protagonist’s arc. This role can vary:

–The antagonist can serve to unsettle the protagonist in his beliefs or patterns of behavior. This can cause the protagonist confusion, pain, or anguish, but ultimately make the protagonist stronger (e.g. rite of passage)

–The antagonist can mirror some moral or psychological weakness in the protagonist, something that needs to be worked out for the protagonist to reach wholeness.  To the extent that this is the case, the antagonist becomes a psychic projection of some sort for the protagonist himself.

–The antagonist can represent the protagonist’s worst fears, something the protagonist ultimately needs to confront.

–The antagonist can represent a challenge that the protagonist has long desired to defeat.

Determine how the antagonist will help drive the plot, deciding how the protagonist will respond to a perceived or real threat:

–The protagonist may tend to react mostly—not precipitate action.  The protagonist isn’t the type who confronts trouble but hopes the problem will go away.

–The protagonist may bide his time but plan a confrontation, or aggressive action, at the most convenient time or strategic point.

–The protagonist may initiate aggressive action, thinking: “Settle it and be done with it.”

Plot-wise, don’t stack the deck against the antagonist. Make sure it’s a believable struggle to the end.

Readers want the conflict to come out of the characters and not from authorial manipulation.   Authorial deck stacking causes:

–the antagonist to be cheapened, however much you’ve developed this character as many-sided

–the protagonist to secure a win too easily, which doesn’t seem genuine, but a calculated trick or artifice

–the ideas and themes of the work to be suspect

What is a story or novel without an antagonist?  Perhaps there are several antagonists, serving secondary roles, prodding the protagonist in various ways and resulting in measurable movement and growth.  Yet perhaps your story or novel deals with one character whose struggle is mostly internal.  Then isn’t this the so-called “man against himself” pattern?   In this case, protagonist and antagonist reside in one character?  Two selves at odds?  I think we can safely say that in calling for conflict, fiction calls for antagonists of one kind or another, presenting varying degrees of friction for the protagonist to deal with or overcome.  The challenge is making antagonists function well in your fiction—in terms of both character and plot.

Jack Smith is author of the novel Hog to Hog, which won the George Garrett FictionPrize (Texas Review Press. 2008), and is also the author of Write and Revise for Publication: A 6-Month Plan for Crafting an Exceptional Novel and Other Works of Fiction, published earlier this year by Writer’s Digest. His novel ICON  was published in June 2014 by Serving House Book

Over the years, Smith’s short stories have appeared in North American Review, Night Train, Texas Review, and Southern Review, to name a few. He has also written some 20 articles for Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market, as well as a dozen or so pieces for The Writer. He has published reviews in numerous literary journals, including Ploughshares, Georgia Review, Missouri Review, Prairie Schooner, American Review, Mid-American Review, and the Iowa Review.

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