Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 52

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 50,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Business / Miscellaneous

Do this before you promote your next book: @JustKindleBooks @womenonwriting
Aid Your Editor: Five Tips: @mrs_hanni @DIYMFA
How much money do writers earn when they write? @pubcoach

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

Coronavirus: ReedPop Postpones ‘Emerald City'; S&S Exits Bologna; Abu Dhabi Postpones; SXSW Cancels: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Coronavirus: The Brussels Book Fair Is Open for Business: @oliviasnaije @pubperspectives
Coronavirus: CAMEO Awards Canceled; Sharjah Children's Festival Is Off; PublisHer Misses Its Anniversary: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
International Publishers Association Names 2020 Prix Voltaire Shortlist: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Coronavirus: PRH Worldwide Exits Bologna; Amazon NYC To Work at Home; Hay Festival Wales Still On: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
London Book Fair Announces Its 2020 International Excellence Award Winners: @Porter_Anderson
Publishing Scotland: 10 Newly Named International Publishing Fellows: @Porter_Anderson @PublishScotland @pubperspectives
Coronavirus: Madrid Fair Moves to October: BISG and Bogota Postpone – Events Updates, March 13: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting

What’s Missing from Your Goal Achievement Toolbox? @MichaelHyatt

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

Five Fantasy Multiverses: @AKLarkwood @tordotcom
The 20 Most Anticipated Horror Books of 2020: @GiveMeYourTeeth @LitReactor
25 Classic Crime Books You Can Read in an Afternoon: @DwyerMurphy @CrimeReads
The Lure of the Boarding School Mystery: @thrillerchick @CrimeReads
A Brief History of Strong Women in Mystery: @CharlesToddBks @CrimeReads
Top 10 books about toxic masculinity: @anibkatz @GuardianBooks
15 Great Books That Speak to the Lives of Middle-Aged Women: @adacalhoun @lithub

Creativity and Inspiration / Miscellaneous

On the Mathematical Problem of Human Creativity: @Kit_Yates_Maths @lithub

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

How to Make It Through the Middle of Your Book: @colleen_m_story

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

Getting Back On The Writing Track After a Break: @KMAllan_writer

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

The Myth of Author Multitasking: @JudithBriles @JFbookman
What to Create Before You Take a Writing Break: @KMAllan_writer
Building a Writing Community and Magazine for the British and Irish: @Damo_Dangerman @BardIsles @TheIWSG
12 Ways Writers Can Kick Fear and Do Their Best Work: @Frank_McKinley
Writing a Genre That’s New to You: @theladygreer @WriterUnboxed
How Facing Your Space Could Improve Your Writing: @LiveWriteThrive
Harnessing the Power of Writer Karma: @KarenDeBonis
What's the Ideal Writing Environment? @KristinaAuthor
What Authors Can Learn About Writing From Teaching Others: @greggmillman @thecreativepenn

Genres / Fantasy

History for Fantasy Writers: Time Was: by E.L. Skip Knox @mythicscribes
Fantasy Names are Hard: @PhilAthans

Genres / Historical

Using History to Change the Future: https://t.co/Ekz8r8LpTD and @pmterrell @SouthrnWritrMag

Genres / Mystery

How to Write a Mystery Novel: @robertleebrewer @WritersDigest
Crime Writing: Prisoner Weapons: @LeeLofland
Writing Crime: Myths And Misconceptions About The FBI: @JerriWilliams1 @thecreativepenn

Genres / Screenwriting

Submitting Screenplays: @RobTobin

Genres / Short Stories

Why You Should Flash Your Fiction: @ClaireFuller2 @A_WritersStudio

Genres / Women's Fiction

Embracing the Women’s Fiction Genre Label: @OrlyKonig

Promo / Blogging

Make Your Blog User-Friendly: @JoanHallWrites @StoryEmpire
12 Web-friendly Formats for Structuring Writing Posts: @brotzel_fiction @hopeclark

Promo / Metadata

7 Kindle Keywords: Use all 50 Characters or Not? @DaveChesson

Promo / Miscellaneous

How to Use Endorsements on Amazon and IngramSpark: @Wogahn
6 Categories of Effort for a Book Launch and Their Collected Tactics: @EJWenstrom
Tactics for a Book Launch: @EJWenstrom
How to Promote a Flash Sale on Facebook and Instagram: by Stephanie Fisher @SMExaminer

Promo / Social Media Tips

10 Ways Writers Can Fail Spectacularly at Social Media in 2020: @EdieMelson

Publishing / Miscellaneous

Hachette USA Cancels Publication of Woody Allen Book, ‘After Listening': @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Remembering Publisher Sonny Mehta in London: ‘This Gracious Man': @rogertagholm @pubperspectives
An Interview With the Brussels Book Fair's New Director Marie Noble: @oliviasnaije @pubperspectives
How to Publish with KDP: @harmony_kent @StoryEmpire
Publishing in Times of Crisis: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Coronavirus: Canada's Kobo Joins Mondadori in Providing Free Ebooks to Italians in Lockdown: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives @kobo
Coronavirus: Quick Publishing Event Updates – Bologna Cancels: Full List Here: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Coronavirus: Quick Publishing Events Updates – March 12: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

How to Write a Professional Query to Agents, Editors, and Reviewers: @annerallen

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Rejections

Rejection Reckoning: Why Was Your Book Rejected? @HankPRyan @CareerAuthors

Writing Craft / Beginnings

Real Life Diagnostics: Infodumping in the Opening Page: @Janice_Hardy
Critique: 10 Ways to Write a Better First Chapter Using Specific Word Choices: @KMWeiland
Nail every character's first impression: @NathanBransford
The Stage for Your First Page: @sarahjrexford @A3writers

Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists

What's in a Villain? by Marissa Frosch @StoryGrid

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

5 Essential Hero's Journey Symbolic Archetypes: @DavidHSafford @write_practice
Expansion Pack: Character Archetypes: @Virgilante @StoryEmpire
Using a Personality Test to Enhance Character Development: @jcwalton24 @DIYMFA

Writing Craft / Characters / Emotion

Writing Characters: Why Emotion Matters: @Lindasclare

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

Why We Need to Let Female Protagonists Just Be Protagonists: @_HannahHeath
Advice for Writing Mom Protagonists: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

Poor Communication Plots: by T.L. Bodine
5 Ways to Ruin Your Creative Writing: by Joslyn Chase @write_practice

Writing Craft / Conflict

Conflict Thesaurus Entry: Having to Work with an Enemy: @AngelaAckerman

Writing Craft / Dialogue

What Your Choice of Dialogue Tags Says About You: @CWCauthorassist @JaneFriedman

Writing Craft / Endings

Writing a Great Last Line: @rxena77

Writing Craft / Flashback and Back Story

Crafting Effective Backstory: @Lindasclare

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

Learning From the Movies: The King’s Speech: @jamesscottbell @killzoneauthors
Believe, Care, Invest: Our Choice of Heroes in George R. R. Martin’s “A Game of Thrones”: @CockeyedCaravan
Count Dracula: Misunderstood Monster, Bloodsucking Bastard, And Everything In-Between: @chris_shultz81 @LitReactor

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

Let Your Characters Tell the Story: @EldredBird
Let’s Talk About Stakes: by T.L. Bodine
Practical Preparedness for your Heroine Facing a Pandemic: @FionaQuinnBooks @MollyMcKew
Fear: Why Humans Crave Stories That Scare Them: @KristenLambTX
What Authors Need To Know About The Use (And Misuse) Of Synecdoche: by Robert Wood @standoutbooks
Top Ten Ways To Improve Your Craft As A Writer: @10minnovelist

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Spotlight On Structure: The Story Circle by Dan Harmon: @Bang2write

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

What is a rite of passage? @csmaccath

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Concept

Ways to develop plot ideas: by Just a Writing Aid
Visions and Impressions: @SeptCFawkes

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

3 Things to Remember When Revising from a Critique: @Janice_Hardy

Writing Tools / Apps

Split and Merge Scenes in Scrivener: @aprildavila

Writing Tools / Miscellaneous

300+ best tools and resources for working from home [2020]: by Maddy Leslie @wearearticulate

Writing Tools / Resources

8 Podcasts That Will Make You a Better Writer: @cmaum @ElectricLit

Uncategorized

Author Debra Eckerling with tips for rebooting your goals this year: @DebraEckerling
Literary handwashing:
Ten Writers Reflect on Their First Big YES: @thebenschaefer @lithub wkb3c

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Elements of a Book Launch

by E.J. Wenstrom,  @EJWenstrom

Many times, talk about book launches as an event—you find a venue, do a short reading, sign some books, drink some wine, and boom, your book has been launched. Perhaps due to my  day job in PR and marketing, but I’ve always thought of a launch as more of a campaign. It’s not just an event (though you can certainly do one if you like–it’s a weeks-long series of promotion focused around a newsworthy moment.

The goal of a public relations campaign is not just to make sales (though you definitely want these). It’s also to raise awareness–help make more readers in your niche aware of who you are. Every book launch is a layer in an overall strategy to keep your readership growing.

Thus, like most campaigns, a book launch isn’t so much about any particular tactic, like a launch party. It’s more about the synergy between your accumulated efforts.

Book launches are an important occasion for an author! It’s a moment to pause and celebrate your accomplishment, and share it with readers for the first time. But also, it’s a moment of impetus in your efforts to build your readership.

I’m currently in the midst of my own book launch moment—and as it’s the final novel in my fantasy series, it’s a biggie! So naturally, I set out to make as much of the opportunity as I could.

When I prepare for a book launch, it’s a cluster of collected tactics, which I organize into six categories of effort.

The Buildup

The Buildup is what you do in the week or two leading up to the release, with the intent of getting readers excited and building buzz.

This is super important! When your book finally releases, you want them chomping at the bit to get their hands on it.

The Buildup can include:

Executing a cover reveal
Sending ARCs to your advance readers
Requesting professional reviews from bloggers and publications
Sharing behind-the-scenes insights from your writing process for the book
Dropping hints about the characters or plot

Some of these activities may overlap and run through the next phase, Promotion, but plan ahead so these start releasing a week or two before the release.

The Promotion

This refers specifically to the time-sensitive offer that will inspire your readers to act now, during the launch period.

Without a time-sensitive incentive during the launch campaign, your new release might simply get added to your readers’ Goodreads TBR list, and then sit there for years until readers get to it.

It’s understandable, but it’s not ideal.

You don’t just want interest in your book. You want sales. You want your Amazon ranking to skyrocket.

Often, this means you are giving your book a special reduced sale price for a week or two during launch. Or, you could give away special swag incentives, like a pin or map of the world, if they purchase within a specific launch time frame. Or, maybe it’s both.

The Hustle

Once your book is released and the promotion is live, it’s time for the Hustle. This means you’ve got to identify ways to reach beyond your existing readership and secure opportunities to get in front of new potential readers.

These opportunities might include:

Bookbub or other promotional book sales sites
Events  (signings, workshops, cons)
Guest posting for other blogs
Pitching the media in your region or niche
Scheduling targeted advertising online

More General Tips

No matter how you choose to approach your launch, here are a few more general tips to help frame how you approach it:

Coordinate with your publisher–Your publisher may be planning promotion efforts, too. It’s always better to work together. Otherwise you risk repeat efforts or contradictory language.
Consider the time and budget you have available–Any platforming effort can be bottomless if you want it to be. Decide on where your limits are, and let those limits help determine your priorities and focus.
Be kind to yourself–A book launch should be fun. There’s no need to run yourself ragged. Pace yourself, and try not to overcommit, or to put too much pressure on yourself.

Your Book Launch is Yours to Create

When it comes to book launches, there’s as many ways to do it as there are authors. Consider this one author’s framework. Even working within it, there are many possibilities.

Consider, what are you comfortable with? What do you want to try that you haven’t before? How much time can you give to preparing for the launch? What is your definition for the launch’s success? These should all play a role in how you plan your launch.

Above all, be careful of what measuring stick you use to plan and assess your book launch. This is yours, and you can do whatever you want to celebrate your latest achievement! The key is to think ahead about what that is, and how you can accomplish it, so that you’re operating from a plan.

 

E. J. Wenstrom believes in complicated heroes, horrifying monsters, purple hair dye and standing to the right on escalators so the left side can walk. Her award-winning fantasy series Chronicles of the Third Realm War features a peculiar mashup of Greek mythology, Judeo-Christian folklore, and an extra dash of her own special brand of chaos. It starts with Royal Palm Literary Award Book of the Year Mud (#1), Tides (#2), and Sparks (#3), releasing in March 2020, as well as the prequel Rain (#0).

When she isn’t writing fiction, E. J. Wenstrom is a regular contributor to DIY MFA and BookRiot, and co-hosts the Fantasy+Girl Podcast.

 

 

 

The Book Launch: 6 Categories of Effort (by @EJWenstrom ):
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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 50,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

New Stuff

Have a tough time fitting writing into your life? Here are my tips in this podcast interview with Top Shelf Editing: http://ow.ly/8Ceh30qnEzX .

Business / Miscellaneous

Six Tips on Working With an Editor: @itshelendarling @DIYMFA
Advice for Women with Book Advances: @AlisonStine @PublishersWkly
When and How Should Writers Negotiate Better Terms? @robertleebrewer @WritersDigest
Saving Time by Delegating Tasks:
The Real Secret to Marketing Your Writing: @DanBlank

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

Simon & Schuster and Ingram Cancel: Coronavirus COVID-19 Concerns Mount for London Book Fair: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
HarperCollins and Hachette pull from London Book Fair as exodus grows: @thenewpubstd
Frankfurter Buchmesse's 2020 BookFest: Open for Publishers' Submissions: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
PublisHer's ‘Remarkable First Year': Bodour Al Qasimi Reflects on the Success: @Porter_Anderson @Bodour @pubperspectives
Coronavirus: Amazon Exits London Book Fair, as Do US Macmillan, Hachette Sales, and HarperCollins: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives @LondonBookFair
Coronavirus: Milan's Stefano Mauri to World Book Fairs and Festivals: Postpone: @Porter_Anderson @sensocercasi @luigispagnol @LondonBookFair
Industry Expert Jane Friedman's Guide to Getting the Most Out of a Writers Conference: @JaneFriedman
Coronavirus: Penguin Random House Pulls out of London Book Fair: @Porter_Anderson @LondonBookFair @PRHDigital @pubperspectives
Coronavirus: Leipzig Book Fair Is Canceled; London Still On, Pan Mac Now Out with Hachette Livre: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Audio Publishers Association Names 25th Anniversary Audie Awards: @Porter_Anderson @vermontgmg @pubperspectives
Coronavirus: London Book Fair Is Canceled: @Porter_Anderson @LondonBookFair @pubperspectives
Coronavirus: Reed Exhibitions' BookExpo Issues COVID-19 Statement: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
The UK's 2020 World Book Day: ‘Reading in Sharp Decline': @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
PEN America's 2020 Literary Award Winners: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting

Five Writing Resolutions Beyond ‘Write Every Day': by Bess Cozby @DIYMFA
A Guide to Creativity and Time: @WriteNowCoach

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

Why I Don’t Force Myself to Finish a Book (Anymore): @KelsieEngen
“Why I’ll Never Read a Book a Week Ever Again”: @hurleywink @The_Millions
Top 10 books about new beginnings: @jaclynmoriarty @GuardianBooks

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

Tips for making time to write: https://t.co/ABUQUSUH49 @topshelfedits
I'm interviewed by @topshelfedits on how to fit writing into a busy day: https://t.co/ABUQUSUH49

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer's Block

Lifting Yourself Out of a Writing Slump: @MegDowell

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

How to Write Faster: 7 Steps for Writing More Productively: @DaveChesson

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

The Hardest Part About Being a Writer Is That You Are Not ‘Just’ a Writer: @MegDowell
Harnessing Your Passion to Strengthen Your Stories: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants
Does Your Workspace Affect Your Writing? @ecellenb
5 Tips for a Healthy Writer's Life: @KMazeauthor
Is that Me in Your Novel? When Life Imitates Fiction: @annerallen
How to Deal with your Writing Anxiety: 6 Smart Tips that Work: @AdelaBelin @WritetoDone
Protecting Your Digital Identity By Sweeping Away “Footprints”: @cleemckenzie @TheIWSG
Five Things Learned From a Social Media Cleanse: @nmeierwrites @WomenWriters
How to make a zine from a single sheet of paper: @austinkleon
Writing About Your Mom Without Guilt: by Andrea Simon @WomenWriters
Things That Happen When You Stop Chasing Social Media: @alythiabrown.85

Genres / Fantasy

Magic Vs Psychic: Are They Interchangeable? @cyallowitz

Genres / Miscellaneous

Thoughts on Writing Romantic Comedies: @Ellen__Jacobson

Genres / Mystery

Crime Writing: Ordering Hits Online: @LeeLofland

Genres / Screenwriting

Hannah Heath: 8 Tips for Writing a Good Screenplay: @ryanjoseph87 @phoenicianrises @_HannahHeath
5 More Secrets To Selling Your Screenplay… And Not Your Soul: @Pendensham @CreativeScreen

Genres / Young Adult

Young Adult Critique: @Kid_Lit

Promo / Metadata

Keywords and Categories: Why You Need to Know Them: @DaveChesson @SelfPubForm

Promo / Miscellaneous

Sales Techniques to Help You Sell More Books: @SarahBolme @JFbookman

Promo / Newsletters

How One Author Grew Her Email List by 23k Using a Reader Quiz: @DrDaltonSmith @AuthorMedia
7 Expert Tricks To Improve Your Author Newsletter: @DavidGaughran

Promo / Platforms

Build Your Brand With An Author Tagline: @ajthenovelist @LitReactor

Promo / Social Media Tips

Should Writers Be on LinkedIn? @FinishedPages
How to Optimize Your Online Marketing Plan: A 4-Step Process: @JanetteSpeyer @SMExaminer

Promo / Speaking

Prepare for Public Speaking Like a Pro: @ChrysFey

Publishing / Miscellaneous

What Path Should a Writer Take in 2020? @jamesscottbell
Your Book in Libraries Worldwide Quick and Easy Guide: @IndieAuthorALLI
Report: Simon & Schuster's Date for John Bolton's Book Is Now in May: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Reidy to Staff: ViacomCBS Is Looking to Sell Simon & Schuster: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Hachette USA Employees Walk Out to Protest Woody Allen Book: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Hachette USA Cancels Publication of Woody Allen Book, ‘After Listening': @Porter_Anderson   http://ow.ly/YuWE30qnW2x @pubperspectives  #wkb88
Coronavirus: ReedPop Postpones ‘Emerald City'; S&S Exits Bologna; Abu Dhabi Postpones; SXSW Cancels: @Porter_Anderson   http://ow.ly/Vq5o30qnW3Q @pubperspectives  #wkb84
Coronavirus: The Brussels Book Fair Is Open for Business: @oliviasnaije http://ow.ly/BWYB30qnW4y @pubperspectives #wkb84

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Coronavirus: Italy's Creative Industries Warn of ‘a Real Disaster': @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Publishing / Options / Hybrid Publishing

The Pros and Cons of Being a Hybrid Author: @SaraRosett @IndieAuthorALLI

Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing

Business Musings: Stop Thinking Like a Traditional Publisher: @KristineRusch

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

How to Make a Literary Agent Read your Entire Manuscript: @jmdargz @ReedsyHQ

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Rejections

Six Ways to Rethink Rejections: @brotzel_fiction @hopeclark

Publishing / Process / Book Design

The Making of a Harlequin Romance Cover: @JenReadsRomance @KirkusReviews

Publishing / Process / Legalities

Debunking Copyright Myths: by Janet Fries @Unite4Copyright

Writing Craft / Beginnings

How to Write a Great Beginning Hook: @savannahgilbo @StoryGrid

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

How to Craft Impactful Character Flaws: @kristen_kieffer
The Two Types of Archetype: @DonMaass @WriterUnboxed
Dramatica's Character Archetypes: @SeptCFawkes

Writing Craft / Characters / Emotion

How to Effectively “Tell” Emotions in Fiction: @LiveWriteThrive

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

TL;DR—Too Long; Didn't Read: @CathyFyock @EdieMelson
Mistakes Many Writers Make: @evmysterywriter @killzoneauthors

Writing Craft / Conflict

Conflict Thesaurus Entry: Family Secrets Being Revealed: @AngelaAckerman

Writing Craft / Drafts

7 Misconceptions Writers Have About Drafting: @alexadonne

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

Showrunners 10: The Middle Build of Killing Eve: @StoryGrid

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

What to Avoid with Internal Monologue: @TheRyanLanz
How to improve the flow of your writing: by Michael Bjork
How To Write An Amazing Holiday-Themed Book: by Rebecca Langley @standoutbooks
Taming Your Exposition: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants
How to Tell a Story Within a Story: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants
Nine Ways for Your Hero to Earn the Clues They Need: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants
Are You Writing For Systematic Or Empathetic Readers? by Robert Wood @standoutbooks
What Is a Narrative Device: 9 Types of Narrative Devices: @joebunting @write_practice
How To Write The Black Moment – Top 10 Criteria: @LisaLatteBooks
Become a Writer: Master Fiction Writing with this Tip: @MichaelLaRonn

Writing Craft / POV

POVs in 3rd Person Limited: from Just a Writing Aid
POV: Choosing Between First-Person and Third-Person: @poojawrites @WritersDigest

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

The Collage Method of Plotting: @barbaraoneal @WriterUnboxed
Pantser Vs Plotter: Where Do You Stand? @cyallowitz
Seven Tips to Mind Map a Novel: @mindomo @IndieAuthorALLI

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

5 Problems with Parentheses: @writing_tips
The Exclamation Point: It’s More Than Punctuation: @ktsetsi @JaneFriedman

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

6 Tips for Using Beta Readers: @moniqueh_author @TheRyanLanz

Writing Craft / Scenes / Conflict

The Seven Types of Narrative Conflict: by Arielle Haughee @FloridaWriters1

Writing Craft / Series

The Joys (and Perils) of Serial Novel Writing: @LW_Willingham @JaneFriedman

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

Describing your Character: The Power of a Single Detail: @MBjorkWrites
5 Pro Tips On Writing Description In Deep Point Of View: @LisaHallWilson
Putting Description into Your Story – Star Trek Holodeck style: @SarahSallyHamer @EdieMelson

Writing Craft / Tension

How Much Tension Is Too Much? by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

Writing Craft / World-Building

How to Do World-Building Research: by Bucket Siler

Writing Tools / Apps

Writing Tools – ProWritingAid: by Kurt Schumacher @RMFWriters
12 Free Graphic Design Tools For Authors: @DavidGaughran

Writing Tools / Miscellaneous

Making an Editorial Calendar: @WillowWoodford @BethBarany

 

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Saving Time by Delegating Tasks

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

One thing I'm trying to be better at in 2020 (that I'm not great at overall) is delegating tasks. I've never been a great delegator, usually feeling as if it's better if I just handle things myself.

But that's not the case–it's better when I do delegate. It's better when I get help, at least at this stage of my writing career.  Here are some of the ways I've been reaching out to get help from others with my writing business:

Cover design: Cover design is one area I've never tried to tackle myself. My design skills with the free Canva program are better-suited to making blog post headers and social media posts. I've been using Karri Klawiter for ages for my covers and it's been a fantastic relationship.  We've been working on covers for so long that I now send her just a few details about each book and she somehow instinctively seems to know exactly what I'm looking for.  If you're not good at design, I really recommend reaching out to a designer. It can make all the difference in terms of sales.

Editing:  I have to have help editing my work. I do cut way back on the time it takes to edit my books (and the cost) by carefully reading the work over, passing the books by beta readers, and using software (ProWritingAid) before sending stories to my editors. I simply can't catch all my typos, continuity errors, etc.  Judy Beatty and Zoe Nightingale have been a fantastic help to me. Writers get too close to their work and it's hard to see the mistakes staring them right in the face.

Formatting: I do a lot of my own formatting now, using free software on Draft2Digital. But this doesn't mean that I don't run into issues sometimes. Rik Hall has always been my go-to guy for getting me out of a formatting jam.

Facebook “Parties” for Releases:  This falls under the category of “things I know I need to do that I don't have the time to do or don't want to do.”  I ran across Marie McNary's “A Cozy Experience”  while listening to a YouTube video by Booktuber Courtagionist.  Someone who will put in all the work, set up the party, and then I just have to show up? Sign me up!  I had a Facebook party last Thursday evening for my latest release.

Tedious Tasks I Might Otherwise Procrastinate: Gosh, where do I start? One big thing that would have taken me a week or more was to change the signup link to my newsletter in every single one of my published books (I changed providers and it created a mess). Uploading audiobook links to Draft2Digital for international UBLs was another. Changing keywords on KDP was yet another. Changing keywords on translations. The list of tedious, time-consuming tasks goes on and on. Fortunately, I discovered my college-age daughter (always in need of pocket money and who follows directions well) was more than capable of doing all of these things for me. Now, whenever I'm faced with something onerous that I don't really have time to tackle, I stick it on a list for my daughter to handle.

Web Design: Yeah, there's no way I can handle web design by myself.  You might have noticed my site is under construction right now. :)  The site is being redesigned by The Author Site. 

Website Issues: Do I have the ability to figure out and fix what's wrong with my website. Maybe. Do I have the time to research it and fall down that rabbit hole?  No.  My choice for getting my website un-glitched is to contact one of the folks over at Fiverr.  I read through reviews to find a good match.

Are you good at delegating your writing business work to others?  What other ways do you have to save time?

Save Time by Delegating Tasks:
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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 50,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Interested in learning how to write a cozy mystery?  I have a post up at Top Shelf Edits with my tips.  :)

Business / Miscellaneous

What is at Stake When We Write Literary Criticism? by James Wood @lithub
Design Tips for Authors: @HeatherWeidner1
Freelancers: Are you paid what you're worth? @pubcoach
17 Ways To Speed Up Your Computer: @WordDreams
Reading Your Readability Scores: by Rejectomancy
The Wonderful Thing About Line Edits: @peterselgin @JaneFriedman
The Most Difficult Conversation for Writers: @johnpwriter

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

AAP 2020 PROSE Awards for Scholarly Publishing Name Winners: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
At Italy's Bologna Children's Book Fair: A Program on African Innovators: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives @IntPublishers @DubaiCares
Best Practices for Participating in Author Panels: by Phil Stamper-Halpin @PRHDigital
Frankfurt Book Fair Opens Its Sixth Annual Free-Stand Competition: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Coronavirus Follow-Up: London Remains a Go; Publishers, Agents Uncertain About Bologna: @Porter_Anderson @LondonBookFair @pubperspectives
This Woman Created Her Own Writing Conference — Here’s How You Can, Too: @AskJoeyGarcia @thewritelife
AAP PROSE Awards Names Its Five 2020 Winners: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
International Booker Prize 2020: The Longlist Is Announced: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

Writing Ideas that Sing: @Lindasclare

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

New York Public Library's Most Borrowed Books in History: @ellengutoskey @mental_floss
The Ubiquity of Little Women: 11 Books Inspired by the March Family: @elisehooper @lithub
What Causes a Reading Slump? @JodyHedlund

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer's Block

3 Reasons your “Writer’s Block” may not be about the writing itself: @magpie0218 @RMFWriters

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

7 Rules For Telling Better Anecdotes (That All Authors Should Know): by Robert Wood @standoutbooks
Operation Awesome: Why Mentoring Feels Broken Sometimes: @AmrenOrtega
Why It’s Good For a Writer to Be Bored: @MegDowell
The Emotional Side of the Writing Life: @MegDowell
Should Writers Work for Free? @robertleebrewer @WritersDigest
Podcast Interview with Virginia Loh-Hagan: @virginialoh @DIYMFA
How Do Some Authors “Lose Control” of Their Characters? by Jim Davies @lithub
When You Find Out Someone Won a Prize Plagiarizing Your Work: @LalehKhadivi @lithub
9 Brilliant Biographies About Creative Late Bloomers to Inspire Your Journey: @DebraEve
How to Build a Roadmap to the Author Future You Want: @AngelaAckerman
5 Ways Solo Mom Writers Inspire Us: @marika_lindholm @DIYMFA

Genres / Mystery

Plot A Thriller Backwards: @alexadonne
Tips for Writing a Cozy Mystery: @xtinakayebooks

Genres / Picture Books

20 Amazing Children's Book Illustrators (and How to Hire Them): @ReedsyHQ

Promo / Blogging

How Often Should You Blog? @AnneJanzer

Promo / Metadata

Better Metadata With Publisher Rocket: @DaveChesson

Publishing / Miscellaneous

The many levels of rejection: @LuWrites
Bloomsbury CEO Nigel Newton Receives London Book Fair's Lifetime Achievement Award: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Cundill History Prize's Peter Frankopan: ‘The Rise of New Powers': @Porter_Anderson @peterfrankopan @pubperspectives

Publishing / News / International Publishing

COVID-19: Bologna Children's Book Fair Postponed to May: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
IPA Condemns China's New 10-Year Sentence for Prix Voltaire Laureate Gui Minhai: @Porter_Anderson @IntPublishers @pubperspectives

Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing

Self-Publishing: The Major Dos and Don'ts Indie Authors Should Know: @ReedsyHQ
In the Self-Publishing Spotlight, MG Author @Brenda_Felber : @SelfPubForm

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

Agent Spotlight with @Megan_Manzano @NatalieIAguirre

Publishing / Process / Distribution

Do you know your ebook distribution options? @BirdsOAFpress

Publishing / Process / Formatting

How to Format a Book: by Tom Ashford @SelfPubForm

Publishing / Process / Services to Avoid

10 New Publishing Scams to Watch Out for in 2020: @annerallen

Publishing / Process / Translation

Learn how to sell book translation rights: @IndieAuthorALLI
Business Musings: Translations: @KristineRusch

Writing Craft / Dialogue

Rules for Writing Punchy Dialogue: by Terry Tierney @BethBarany
7 Tips to Writing Semi-Coherent Dialogue: @cyallowitz

Writing Craft / Diversity

3 Steps To Writing Diverse Characters: @Bang2write

Writing Craft / Drafts

Drafting in Sequences: by Wendy Heard @WomenWriters

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

The 20 Best Legal Thrillers of the Last 20 Years: @DwyerMurphy @CrimeReads
Edith Wharton’s 5 Rules for Novelists: @zarielle @CareerAuthors
Editor Roundtable: It's a Wonderful Life: by Leslie Watts @StoryGrid
What Scooby-Doo Taught 1 Writer About Writing Mysteries: @LibbyKleinBooks

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

How to Introduce Characters: @shaelinbishop @ReedsyHQ
Is Sentimentality in Writing Really That Bad? @egabbert @ElectricLit
Emotional Truths, Insights, And Emotions Are Key To A Great Novel: @CherylRainfield @TheIWSG
What’s Your Context? @61647Edge @FloridaWriters1
Become a Writer: Improve Your Writing Craft Overnight: @MichaelLaRonn
Oxymoron, Tautology, Or Malapropism? What You Need To Know: by Robert Wood @standoutbooks

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

How to Power Your Novel Through the All-Important Second Act: by Wendy Heard @CrimeReads

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

Ask the Editor: How Do I Use Italics? by Jeanette the Writer @DIYMFA

Writing Craft / Scenes

How to Set the Scene: @shaelinbishop @ReedsyHQ

Writing Craft / Tropes

The Whiny Wife Trope: @BrynDonovan

Writing Tools / Apps

Changing Scrivener Binder Icons: @aprildavila

Writing Tools / Miscellaneous

The Tools, Tricks, and Secret Weapons of Your Favorite Authors: @helpfulsnowman @LitReactor

Writing Tools / Services for Writers

Junk Book Marketing: Pay-to-Play Magazines: @victoriastrauss

 

The Top Writing Links From Last Week Are On Twitterific:
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The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Better Metadata With Publisher Rocket

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

One of the things I want to spend more time on this year is promotion.  Last year I was so busy writing (5 books, when I usually only put out 3), that aside from sending out my newsletters upon release, holding Goodreads giveaways, and making sure my SEO was good, I really didn’t do any promo.

Most of my promo practices in the past have revolved around good and consistent metadata (keywords, categories, ensuring the series name is consistent on retail sites) so that readers could find my books easily online. I still am a big believer in this…it takes little time and no money and visibility is so important these days in a crowded marketplace.

I’d read about Dave Chesson’s Publisher Rocket (also known as KDP Rocket) for years and was always tempted to get the software…and then somehow always ended up handling it myself, instead. I’d look for popular keywords the old-fashioned way: by slowly typing my genre into the Amazon search window letter by letter to see the most popular searches.

Needless to say, this was time-consuming.  Plus, popular keywords change.  I was already familiar with Dave through his Kindlepreneur site, his free book description generator (which I use with every book), and Dave’s guest post here on my site.  I’m not an affiliate…I was just desperate to save time, ha.  I paid $97 for the Publisher Rocket software.

There were no issues with installation because the ‘thank you’ email from Dave included a short video with instructions (and an offer to immediately help if I ran into problems).

The dashboard is simple and easy to use.  If you run into any trouble, just click the ‘tutorial’ link on the bottom of the screen.

When you do, a whole list of video resources comes up. 

I concentrated mainly on the keyword search button, although I’m also going to be changing/adding some categories, as well.

Under keyword search, I started typing in different keywords that I thought readers might use to look for my book or for books similar to mine. I used some of the keywords that seemed to have been good choices the last time I checked.

I put in “Southern Cozy Mystery” and this came up:

So, to recap the info ahead (which may be in little print, sorry), I have 1,641 competitors for that keyword…other authors who’ve included that keyword in their metadata. The average monthly earnings of those writers is $1403.  There are no Google searches for that term. On Amazon, there were $1,468 searches for the keyword.  The competitive score is 56, which means it’s of middling difficulty to rank on Amazon for that keyword (the closer you get to 100, the worse it gets).

I tweaked the search a little by going to the orange button on the top-right and clicked “new search.”  I typed in “southern mystery” and this came up:

So, to recap the data above, I can see slightly more readers searched for “southern mystery”…but there are a lot more writers who are using the keyword…6,578. The competitive score is much higher, at 82.   The competitive score for “southern mystery books,” a keyword which never would have occurred to me, is much better at 75 and with quite a few Google as well as Amazon searches. That looks like a keyword I might use.

I also played around with the category search, although I was sure I could do no better than the categories I was in (cozy animal mystery). But after a few minutes taking a look at the site, I realized my translators could rank a lot higher if I changed their category.  Dave also has an incredibly helpful video on adding more categories than the three it seems we’re allowed.

None of this took long and it was actually really interesting to see the results. Another important thing to note…keywords become more and less popular, so this is a great tool to keep using.  And now I feel good that I’ve done something useful to help my books gain visibility.

Have you tried Publisher Rocket?  What types of promo activities are you looking at doing this year?

Better Keywords with Publisher Rocket from @DaveChesson :
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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 50,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

New Stuff:

I noticed in industry expert Jane Friedman’s newsletter that she’s hosting a $25 class to help authors improve their websites. You can find more information at her website.

Business / Miscellaneous

Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) For Authors: @ChooseFi @thecreativepenn
“My Best Writing Advice for the Next Decade”: @FaeRowen
Writer Mark Dawson’s 2019 in Review: @SelfPubForm

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

British Book Awards Celebrates Three Decades: The ’30 From 30′ Longlist: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
2020 PROSE Awards Name 157 Finalists in Five Far-Flung Categories: @Porter_Anderson @AmericanPublish
CONTEC Mexico 2020: Focus on Storytelling, AI, and Transmedia: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
British Council Announces London Book Fair’s Sharjah Cultural Program: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
International Publishers Association Events at the 2020 London Book Fair: @Porter_Anderson @IntPublishers @LondonBookFair

Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting

Your Writing Process: 7 Habits for Success: @nownovel
Writing Goals: 9 Steps on How to Set and Meet Your Writing Goals: @goodbyeburnout @SelfPublishing7

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

The Only Untranslatable American Writer: by Brian Evenson @parisreview
Internet Dystopias after Trump: @ecourtem @PublicBooks
How to Read After Becoming a Parent: @LizMooreBooks @lithub
Top 10 dinner parties in fiction: @FrenchNicci @GuardianBooks
Three Books that Explore the Violence of Women’s Appetites: @katie_gutz @CrimeReads
Rereading the Master of ‘Dying Teen’ Lit: @katyhersh @lithub
Virginia Woolf’s Mother Haunts Much of Her Writing: by Gillian Gill @lithub

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

20 Embarrassing Things Writers Say: @GiveMeYourTeeth @LitReactor
Dealing with writer envy: @pubcoach
Eight Ways To Help You Be A Smarter Writer in 2020: by PJ Parrish
What to Do When You Want to Quit: @charitybradford
Why Some Writers Are Afraid to Take Breaks: @MegDowell
What happens to our online lives after we die? @EvaCharlesAnna @sciencemagazine
Writing Tips: What Writers Can Learn From Bodybuilders: by Dave Terruso @thecreativepenn
Saying “No” to Get Your More Important “Yes”: @Julie_Glover
Seven Ways to Grow Your Resilience as a Writer: @RealAlexWoolf @sfwa
Self-Care Gifts For Writers: @TheLeighShulman
Writing Tips: 5 Ways to Quiet Your Inner Editor: @HeidiFiedler @thecreativepenn
Just Breathe… You’ve Got This: @SueColetta1 @killzoneauthors
Unique Gifts for Writers: @LindaKSienkwicz

Genres / Horror

A Look at The Masked Knife-Wielding Psycho: by T.L. Bodine

Genres / Mystery

Crime Writing: Criminal Mischief: Body Disposal Isn’t Easy: @DPLyle
Research to Perfect a Police Procedural: @SaralynRichard
The New Voices of Country Noir: @nkolakowski @CrimeReads
The Elements of the Haunted House: A Primer: by Emily Littlejohn @CrimeReads
Why We Love Looking for Hidden Symbols—In Thrillers and In Real Life: @ellencrosby @CrimeReads
Why Cozy Mysteries Are The Hottest TV Genre Of 2020: @kthorjensen @geekdotcom
Shooting For Survival: Are Your Heroes Properly Trained? : @LeeLofland

Genres / Poetry

Why Isn’t More Poetry Funny? @helpfulsnowman @LitReactor

Genres / Screenwriting

The Business of Screenwriting: Everything You Wanted to Know About Specs: @GoIntoTheStory

Promo / Images

Open access image libraries – a list: @Apollo_magazine

Promo / Miscellaneous

3 Fiction Marketing Success Tips for 2020: @sandrabeckwith @JFbookman

Promo / Social Media Tips

Social Media Case Study: Author Rachel Hollis: @DanBlank @msrachelhollis
11 Ways to Update Your Online Presence: @WordDreams

Promo / Speaking

How to Get Speaking Gigs for Conferences: @WritersCoach

Promo / Video

How to Start a YouTube Channel: @MichaelLaRonn
Tips to Become a Television Guest: @KarenHWhiting @EdieMelson

Publishing / Miscellaneous

Literary Magazines with Themes–“On the Premises”: @MelindaJBrasher
Bertelsmann and Penguin Random House: Climate Neutral by 2030: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
At CONTEC Mexico, Publishers Are Told ‘We’re Multi-Platform Beings’: By Adam Critchley @pubperspectives @rogercasas

Publishing / News / Amazon

What Book Publishers Need to Know About the Amazon Buy Box (2020): @IngramContent

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Polish Sport Book Awards Dominated by Female and Male Mountaineers: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Québec Édition’s Many Points of Outreach: ‘We’re Quite Busy’: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Publishing Scotland Funds 14 Translations; Frankfurt’s LitAg Sells Out: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives @PublishScotland
China Bestsellers January 2020: Educational Boosts in Tough Times: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Industry Notes: Italy’s 18App Is Funded; International Book Fairs Eye COVID-19: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Spain’s New Bookish Habits Report: 68.6 Percent Reading: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

Finding an Agent and Tips for Queries: @NathanBransford @shewritesdotcom @NaNoWriMo
How do I find an agent? @pubcoach

Publishing / Process / Services to Avoid

Should You Pay To Display Your Book At BookExpo? (Short Answer: No): @victoriastrauss @JaneFriedman

Writing Craft / Beginnings

34 Compelling First Lines of Famous Books: @Scribendiinc

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

This Therapy Secret Will Transform Your Character Development: @joebunting @write_practice
The cure for a boring character? Let them surprise us. by Michael Bjork
Writing Characters: Why Emotion Matters: @Lindasclare

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

The Struggle is Real: Make Your Protagonist Suffer for Success: @SeptCFawkes

Writing Craft / Characters / Supporting Characters

Supporting Characters and Theme: 6 Important Questions to Ask About Your Story: @KMWeiland

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

Mastering Show, Don’t Tell: @AngelaAckerman

Writing Craft / Conflict

Writing Fight Scenes With Female Characters: @AikiFlinthart @thecreativepenn

Writing Craft / Diversity

Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Write Disabled Characters: @_HannahHeath

Writing Craft / Endings

How to write a conclusion for an essay: by Edwin L. Battistella @OUPAcademic

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

Writing Lessons from TV Shows: Gravity Falls: @VictoriaGHowell
Top 10 Badass Female Antiheroes You Need To Know: @Bang2write

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

How to Bore an Editor to Death: @davidfarland
Practice Writing Fiction: 5 Core Skills to Improve Your Writing: Resources: by Joslyn Chase @write_practice
Writing an Overweight Character: by Ta-Guel
Why Some Dark Topics Are More Sensitive Than Others: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants
Plot vs Character: Which Comes First? @rachelmcwrites @IndieAuthorALLI
Entice Your Readers with “Surprisingness”: @LiveWriteThrive
Obligatory Scenes and Conventions: @SeptCFawkes

Writing Craft / POV

Five Ways to Make Multiple Viewpoints More Engaging: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Signpost Scene: The Final Battle: @abigailkperry @DIYMFA

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Concept

How to Get Writing Ideas: 7 Insights from Goodreads: @nownovel
Author Insights: What’s Our Core Story? @JamiGold

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

How to use the existential “there”: by Edwin L. Battistella @OUPAcademic
Completing your verbs—infinitive and gerunds: by Edwin L. Battistella @OUPAcademic
Indirect References to Questions: @writing_tips

Writing Craft / Revision

Painless Editing in Easy Steps: @imogenclark @WomenWriters

Writing Craft / Scenes / Conflict

Conflict Thesaurus Entry: Being Turned Down by a Potential Love Interest: @beccapuglisi

Writing Craft / Synopses

The Dreaded Synopsis: @AJHumpage

Writing Craft / Tropes

10 Best Family Tropes in Fiction: @jennamoreci

Writing Craft / World-Building

Tips for Working Complex Worldbuilding Into a Story: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

Writing Tools / Books

Helpful Books for Writers: @AnneJanzer

The Top Writing Links From Last Week Are On Twitterific:
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The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Perfecting the Police Procedural

by Saralyn Richard, @SaralynRichard

The heart of any mystery novel is a good story. But when writing a police procedural, having a good story is not enough.

A police procedural is a form of detective fiction in which a crime is solved by members of the criminal justice system, including police, forensic specialists, and medical examiners.  The team of problem-solvers works together to gather and evaluate clues, collect evidence, form hypotheses, and use these things to bring criminals to justice.

When my first mystery novel was named a finalist for best police procedural, one of my friends remarked, “Wow, and that’s the hardest genre to write!” I laughed at her comment, but as I thought about it later, I realized there is a bit of truth to it.

What makes police procedurals complicated is the need to be authentic and accurate. Doing so requires familiarity with the latest methods of forensic science for the time period of the novel. For example, a contemporary story in which the dominant investigative method is fingerprinting and footsteps, would draw criticism from readers who expect DNA and trajectories and sophisticated toxicology.

Equally important is the need to know specific protocols used in the setting’s locale. Procedures for serving notice, interviewing witnesses and suspects, bagging evidence, and sharing information with other investigative entities is often specific to the state or country of the crime’s jurisdiction. As an example, in Brandywine Valley, where my Detective Parrott Mystery series takes place, wills are probated through the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Standardized Register of Wills and Orphans’ Court. Since I don’t live in Pennsylvania, I would never have known this fact without research.

Speaking of research, I have had wonderful experiences visiting with people who have expertise in solving crimes, whether I know them personally or not. As public servants, police officers are usually friendly and welcoming when I’ve imposed on their time to answer questions for fictional crimes. Most of the time I rely on a local police lieutenant, who is generous with his responses to my questions. Sometimes, though, I call upon the police departments in other cities. When I introduce myself as an author of detective fiction, I always receive a warm response. I believe it’s because the professional crime fighters appreciate my desire to portray them accurately.

Last summer I attended the Killer Nashville writers’ conference, a gathering of mystery and thriller writers from all over the world. One of the activities at the conference was a mock crime scene, set up by Dan Royse, former Tennessee FBI Assistant Director. For 48 hours, conference attendees were invited to visit the hotel suite, where a dead mannequin was sprawled on the carpet. Abundant items were scattered about, replicating an actual case from the past. Our job, should we choose to accept it, was to determine which items were pertinent to the murder and should be collected as evidence, which forensic tests we would want labs to perform on the collected items, and what our hypothesis was of who had killed the victim.

The challenge of the mock crime scene activity was more than delightful entertainment. It provided a hands-on education in the rigors of investigation. I learned how easy it would be to overlook certain clues or to mess up others. I learned a lot about DNA, including how expensive it is to run DNA tests and how crowded the queue is for getting them done timely. As Royse said, “DNA could be anywhere, but you can’t just test every surface of every object in the room. You have to be strategic about what you want tested.”

Fortunately, I love doing research when I’m writing. I love learning about new communities, occupations, procedures, and science. I enjoy immersing myself in the milieu of Detective Parrott, seeing what he sees and doing what he does. Thanks to the many people with whom I’ve consulted, I find joy in writing police procedurals. Likewise, I hope my readers enjoy reading them.

Galveston Author Saralyn Richard

Mystery and children’s book author, Saralyn Richard, won the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Readers’ Choice Award 2019 for her first novel, MURDER IN THE ONE PERCENT. The book was also a Finalist for the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award for Best Procedural Novel 2019, and garnered other honors and kudos. A PALETTE FOR LOVE AND MURDER, out in February 2020, is the second title in the Detective Oliver Parrott series. Richard’s children’s picture book, NAUGHTY NANA, has reached thousands of children in five countries. A member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America, she has lived in New Orleans, St. Louis, and Chicago, and now lives in Galveston, Texas. Richard loves to connect with readers through book clubs, organization meetings, or on social media at the following links:

Twitter  |  Facebook  | LinkedIn |  Pinterest  | Web 

Writer @SaralynRichard on her research to perfect her police procedural:
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Photo credit: Tony Webster on Visual hunt / CC BY

The post Perfecting the Police Procedural appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

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 50,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Business / Miscellaneous

What One Thing is Your Novel About? @jamesscottbell @killzoneauthors
Is it cheating to use a ghostwriter? @Roz_Morris
Should I Experiment with Writing Other Genres? by Erica Vetsch @SKRViLL
Do’s and Don’ts of Indie Author Professionalism: @_HannahHeath
Become an Author: 3 Things You Need Plus a 4th to Keep in the Game: by Melodie Campbell @annerallen
Writes with agents but no books? @Janet_Reid

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

Tips for Author Events: @joyerancatore
London Book Fair’s International Excellence Awards: 2020 Shortlist: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
US National Book Foundation’s Spring Season: Cross-Country Venues: @Porter_Anderson @nationalbook
Maghreb-Orient des Livres Turns 26 in Paris: @oliviasnaije @pubperspectives
Bologna Children’s Book Fair Announces 2020 Exhibition Illustrators: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
UK Society of Authors Names 2019 Translation Prize Winners: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Andrew Keen Speaks At the Berlinale: ‘Creativity and Human Agency’: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Creativity and Inspiration / First Novels

How to Start Writing a Book: @AuthorColinD

Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting

When Your Writing Dreams Change: @Julie_Glover
Simple Bullet Journal for Writers for Meeting Their Goals: @authorbrittwang
4 Steps to Turn Your Purpose Into Goals: @sowulwords @DIYMFA
Rebooting Your Goals: 3 Questions to Ask Yourself: @DebraEckerling

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

Reply All: Ten Novels Written as Email: @brotzel_fiction @The_Millions
7 Books Featuring Empty Nesters: @AuthorCathyLamb @BookTrib
The 16 Best Science Fiction Books of All Time (Infographic): From Global English Editing
True Romance: 7 Noir Love Stories: @nkolakowski @CrimeReads
8 Contemporary Romantic Novels For Valentine’s Day: @OwenNicholls @ElectricLit

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

8 things to try if you’re blocked from writing because you have too much time: @beprolifiko
“How I found an extra hour a day to create”: @DanBlank
The Myth of Writing Every Day: Realistic Tips for Increasing Your Productivity: @JodiHerlick
“How I Wrote 50,000 Words In 30 Days Even Though I ‘Didn’t Have Time’”: @MegDowell

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

How To Unstick Your Story: by Krystal N. Craiker @ProWritingAid

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

5 Ways to Adjust Your Attitude to Run the Writing Marathon: @LiveWriteThrive
Tips for Improving Writing Productivity: from Just a Writing Aid

Creativity and Inspiration / Success

What Success Means to a Writer: @AshleyDyer2017 @WomenWriters
The Key To Long Term Success As A Writer: @TheKJA @thecreativepenn

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

What can writers learn from the late Jim Lehrer? @pubcoach
How to Ride the Publishing Roller Coaster: How to Stay Sane: @RuthHarrisBooks
The Etymology of “Muse”: by Kurt Schumacher @RMFWriters
Writing and the Creative Life: Routine or Ritual? @GoIntoTheStory
Thanks to @write2bemag for this interview where I discuss my writing schedule, influences, and more:
Featured Writer on Wellness: Maggie Plummer: @authormaggiep @colleen_m_story
Signs You May Be a Female Character In a Work of Historical Fiction: by Shannon Reed @mcsweeneys
How to Love Your Writer Self: @Julie_Glover
If Not Love… @DavidCorbett_CA @WriterUnboxed

Genres / Horror

Differences between horror and thrillers: by T.L. Bodine

Genres / Mystery

How to Work Backstory into Your Mystery: @ZaraAltair
What Are Red Herrings in a Mystery? @ZaraAltair @ProWritingAid
Tips for Writing Speculative Detective Fiction: by Tyler Hayes @CrimeReads

Genres / Non-Fiction

How to Write a Nonfiction Book in 9 Steps: @ReedsyHQ

Genres / Romance

Creating Romantic Feelings Between Characters: from Just a Writing Aid
Is a Romance Between a Leader and a Follower Always Problematic? by Chris Winkle @mythcreants

Genres / Science Fiction

Writing Holidays in Speculative Fiction: @RaleneB @EdieMelson

Genres / Screenwriting

5 Ways Political Thrillers Like “The Report” Are So Palpable: @JeffYorkWriter @CreativeScreen

Genres / Short Stories

Short Story Collections: How and Why to Write Them: @mindofkyleam @ProWritingAid
The Curious Case of the Novella: by Tom Ashford @SelfPubForm

Promo / Ads

How to Let Facebook Automatically Present the Best Ad Text: by Charlie Lawrance @SMExaminer

Promo / Blogging

Three Things To Do Before You Start Your Blog: @evy_mann @A3writers
Commenting on Blogs: The Easy Way to Build Author Platform: @annerallen

Promo / Miscellaneous

A Marketing Roadmap for Writers in 4 Steps: @Kid_Lit @TheIWSG

Promo / Social Media Tips

How to Handle Your Social Media During a Crisis: @CaballoFrances
Is Instagram Worth Your Time? The Answer is Yes: @MT_Cassidy @FloridaWriters1

Promo / Speaking

How to Craft the First Point of Your Presentation: @YvonneOrtega1 @EdieMelson

Publishing / Miscellaneous

New Lee and Low Diversity Survey Cites Little Progress in US Publishing: @Porter_Anderson @LEEandLOW @pubperspectives
Books at Berlinale 2020: Twelve Temptations for Tinseltown: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Midas PR Announces International Campaign for a Coveted Literary Award: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Perceived fairness—and otherwise—in how publishers and authors work together: by Richard Charkin @pubperspectives
Framing Stories in Graphic Novels: @Porter_Anderson @wwborders @SusanHarrisWWB
Five Tips for Creating Audiobooks: @librotas @IndieAuthorALLI

Publishing / News / Data

BookNet Canada: Audiobook Purchases Show Little Change in 2019: @Porter_Anderson @BookNet_Canada @pubperspectives

Publishing / News / International Publishing

BookNet Canada’s New Libraries Data Tool Goes Live: @Porter_Anderson @BookNet_Canada @pubperspectives

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing

The Best Independent Publishers in 2020: @ReedsyHQ

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

Looking for Literary Agents: @AJHumpage

Publishing / Process / Formatting

Design a coffee table book: by Glenna Collett @BookDesignBook

Writing Craft / Beginnings

First Page Critique: @ClareLangleyH @killzoneauthors

Writing Craft / Conflict

On Writing Fight Scenes: @SnowflakeGuy

Writing Craft / Diversity

Writing People of Color Sensually: @WritingwColor

Writing Craft / Drafts

What Your Draft (and Its Problems) Says About You: @helenbetya @lithub

Writing Craft / Endings

Tips For Book Endings: @KMAllan_writer

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

Why Theme In “Friends” Is Better Than You Think: @Bang2write
5 Lessons Writers Can Learn From It’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: @Cassie000000 @WritersDigest
Learning From the Movies: The King’s Speech: @jamesscottbell
10 Movies That Will Make Any Kid Into a Lover of Classic Suspense: @AuthorPaige
Violent Delights, Violent Ends: 5 Savage Cinematic Visions of Romeo and Juliet: @zach_vasquez @CrimeReads

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

5 editor’s secrets to help you write like a pro: by Merkstreet
Five Signs Your Narration Is Sexist: by Bunny @mythcreants
The Importance of Motivation in Fiction: @jillkemerer
Why Writers Must Dig Deep to Mine Their Feelings: @LiveWriteThrive

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

10 Quick Tips About Writing Non Linear Stories: @Bang2write

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

Blood for Money: The Origins of the Mercenary: by B.K. Bass @mythicscribes

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

Why ‘XOXO’ Means ‘Hugs and Kisses’: @GrammarGirl

Writing Craft / Revision

How to Love Revision: by T.L. Bodine
Outlines Are for Revision: @Spencimus

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

Get the Best Beta Reader Feedback: by Michelle Cornish @ProWritingAid

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

How to Write Better Descriptions Using Negative Space: by Michael Bjork

Writing Craft / Voice

10 Ways to Develop Your Writer’s Voice: @woodwardkaren

Writing Craft / World-Building

WorldBuilding: Crafting Magic: by Whitney Carter @TheRyanLanz

The Top Writing Links From Last Week Are On Twitterific:
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The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Rebooting Your Goals

By Debra Eckerling, @WriteOnOnline

Author of Your Goal Guide: A Roadmap for Setting, Planning, and Achieving Your Goals

People tend to think the New Year is the most logical time to set goals. What tends to happen is we are so busy in January, ramping up after the holidays, that new goals fall by the wayside … and then off the radar completely.

Does this sound familiar?

January 1:

This is the year I am going to

Write my nonfiction book/memoir/novel/anthology/pilot/screenplay
Start freelancing/query new publications/sell my articles/poetry/short stories
Find an agent/manager/publicist/publisher
Create a website/blog/social media presence
Move/date/network/travel/get healthy

February 1:

I totally blew it. I have had no time to work on my goals. Oh, well. I guess I’ll try again next year.

STOP!

Just because people think the beginning of the year is the best time to start fresh, it’s not the only time. You can pick yourself up and reboot your goals at any time.

However, to be successful, you really want to take the time to figure out what you want, as well as the motivation behind it.

Before you set your new goals, ask yourself:

What do I want?
Why do I want it?
How can I get it done?

What do I want?

Whether your long-term goal is to be a published writer, known writer, or to have work-life balance, explore what that really means. Do you want to self-publish or go traditional? Do you need to up your marketing, social media, live networking, or all of the above? Is now the time to step off the hamster wheel and prioritize your personal goals?

Why do I want it?

The mission behind your goals is what will really propel you. Is it to inform, entertain, help others, help yourself? Pinpoint the answer, as that will help motivate you to put in the time and energy.

How can I get it done?

Once you have the what and the why, consider the how. What does your life look like and how can you fit your goals into it? Do you have an hour a day or an hour a week? Look at your availability, set appointments to work toward your goals, and show up for yourself. Even if you work toward your goals in small increments of time, it all adds up.

When you know what you want, why you want it, and how you can get it, you are better able to create a plan and set yourself up for success. And if you fall off the wagon, don’t fret.

Each week, day, and month is a new opportunity to start fresh. Remember, you can do it!

 

Debra Eckerling is the author of Your Goal Guide: A Roadmap for Setting, Planning, and Achieving Your Goals and founder of the D*E*B METHOD®. DEB is a brainstorming and task-based goal-setting system and stands for: Determine Your Mission, Explore Your Options, Brainstorm Your Path. A professional writer, communications specialist, and project catalyst, Debra works with individuals and businesses to set goals and manage their projects through one-on-one coaching, workshops, and online support. She is the founder of Write On Online, a live and online community for writers, creatives, and entrepreneurs, and host of the #GoalChat Twitter Chat.

Author Debra Eckerling with tips for rebooting your goals this year:
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Photo on Visual hunt

The post Rebooting Your Goals appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.