Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 66
March 23, 2019
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
How to Start Your Freelance Writing Career: @TheLeighShulman
Reading as an Editor: @DeanWesleySmith
Using IngramSpark for Print Preorders:
First PublisHer’s Dinner: Working to Support Women in Publishing: @HannahSJohnson @pubperspectives
How to Write a Book for the Wrong Book Market: @LisaTener
How to Find a Mentor: 7 Steps to Achieving Big Goals: @TCKPublishing
Business Musings: Learning, The Future, and CES (Contracts/Negotiations): @KristineRusch
Choosing a title for your novel: @AuthorMarilene
Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous
Wellcome’s 10th Anniversary Shortlist Names Authors from Five Nations: @Porter_Anderson @wellcomebkprize
FILI’s ‘Happy’ Fifth Anniversary of Finland’s Guest of Honor: @HannahSJohnson @FinnishLit @pubperspectives
The British Book Awards: 2019 Books of the Year Shortlists: @Porter_Anderson
Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting
How to Use Life’s Milestones to Achieve Your Writing Goals: @donnabarker @pbackwriter
13 ways to make your writing goals more successful: @pubcoach
Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers
The Terrifying Changeling: 6 Thrillers: @cjtudor @CrimeReads
How To Tell If You’re Crushing on a Book: @nataliezutter @tordotcom
How Five Favorite Childhood Mysteries Stack Up Today: @HesterAuthor @CrimeReads
Why We Hunger for Novels About Food: @crystallyn @lithub
Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing
Getting more done in less time: @AuthorMarilene
Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block
Multiple Writing Projects: Avoiding Resistance Roadblocks: @RosanneBane
Creativity and Inspiration / Success
Why So Many Beginning Writers Never Become Successful: @MegDowell
Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life
Why you should reward yourself, frequently: @pubcoach
How Writers Can Think Differently About Their Work: @Frank_McKinley
Is it worth having a tidy place to write? @pubcoach
“Why I read aloud to my teenagers”: by Giulia Rhodes @GuardianBooks
22 Unorthodox Methods For Tidying Your Book Collection: @helpfulsnowman
9 Reasons to Quit Writing: @RachelleGardner
The Challenge of Book-Tour Travel as a Non-Binary Author: @sealln @lithub
4 Ways to Create (And Maintain) a Writing Habit: @batwood
How to Overcome the Loneliness of Being a Writer: @BryanJCollins
Genres / Fantasy
7 Online Resources for Creating Fantasy Languages: by Arianna Lemont @mythicscribes
Things to Consider When Writing Nonhuman Characters: by Sandy Dragon
Genres / Historical
Choosing the Best Protagonist for Historical Fiction: @pcalhenry @CareerAuthors
Genres / Literary Fiction
Book Marketing Strategies for Literary Fiction Authors: @JaneFriedman @IndieAuthorALLI
Genres / Mystery
Secrets as an element in crime fiction: @mkinberg
30 Scene Ideas for Mystery & Suspense Subplots: @EvaDeverell
How to Make Your Mystery Paranormal: by Sandra Gardner
14 Rom Coms That Are Actually Pretty Noir: @DwyerMurphy @CrimeReads
Genres / Non-Fiction
Create Your Nonfiction Book Quickly and Easily: @WriteNowCoach
Genres / Romance
Tips for Creating More Than a Love Story: @mrushingwalker @StoryGrid
The Business of the Romance Novel: @FarahColette @JSTOR_Daily
Genres / Screenwriting
You Talkin’ To Me? How To Write Better Talking Head Scenes: by Mark Sevi @CreativeScreen
Genres / Short Stories
Is Your Fiction a Sprint or a Marathon? — Short vs. Long Form: @richardgthomas3 @CareerAuthors
Genres / Young Adult
A Field Guide to Six Infectious YA Clichés: by Bunny @mythcreants
Promo / Ads
Advanced Facebook Advertising and Marketing Strategies For Authors: @RicardoFayet @ReedsyHQ @IndieAuthorALLI
Promo / Blogging
How to Run Your Own Online Book Tour and Save Money: @Bookgal
Promo / Metadata
What is Metadata? Use Keywords and Categories to Boost Book Sales: @DaveChesson @IndieAuthorALLI
Promo / Miscellaneous
How to Build Book Marketing Strategies into Your Novel Before You Publish: @Bookgal @IndieReader
Sell your Books Long after Launch: How To Boost Your Backlist: @bryancohenbooks @IndieAuthorALLI
5 Outreach Ideas for Authors: by Melissa Chan @DIYMFA
Does the Superfan Exist? Should You Feel Bad if You’ve Never Met One? @annerallen
Promo / Newsletters
How to Keep Your Newsletter from Sucking: @jakazimer @RMFWriters
Promo / Platforms
How to Build Your Author Brand and Increase Sales (Video): @AGBillig @IndieAuthorALLI
Promo / Websites
The Importance of Having a (Well-Designed) Author Website: @michelle_balge @thecreativepenn
Publishing / Miscellaneous
“Five Things I Want Publishers to Know About Innovation”: @TheWritPlatform
Achieving the “It Factor” in Publishing: @tessaemilyhall
The Jimmy Fallon Effect: How the ‘The Tonight Show’ Boosts Book Sales: @Porter_Anderson @FallonTonight @Jamiegranet
Publishing / News / International Publishing
IPA’s Sustainable Development Goals Book Club Welcomes Bologna Children’s Book Fair, Others: @Porter_Anderson @IntPublishers
Words Without Borders March: ‘How Political Borders Shift’: @Porter_Anderson @wwborders
7.7 million audiobooks users in France. 51% are first-timers. French audiobook listeners read more print books than regular readers: @TNPS10
Emirates Publishers Association at 10: Driving Books’ Fast Progress in the Arab World: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Today at Tech Forum in Canada: Taking Advantage of Change: @CarlaJDouglas @pubperspectives
Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2019 Winners: ‘World-Class Thinkers and Authors’: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Georgian Publishers Support an Independent Copyright Association: @Porter_Anderson
Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing
3 Reasons to Self-Publish: @WriteToSell
Why 1 Writer Chose to Self-Publish: @evans_writer @RMFWriters
Publishing / Process / Book Design
5 Tips From a Graphic Designer on Creating an Impactful Book Cover: @kiss_creative @NaNoWriMo
Publishing / Process / Legalities
Copyright Page Templates: Sample Copyright Language You Can Use: @TCKPublishing
How to Create a Pen Name: @TCKPublishing
Writing Craft / Beginnings
First Page Critique:What Color Is Your Story? by PJ Parrish @killzoneauthors
Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists
Let’s Break Stuff: Passive Characters: @StoryEmpire
Writing Craft / Common Mistakes
Telling Words That Often Spell Trouble in Our Writing: @Janice_Hardy
Get Rid of Your Crutch Words: @Janice_Hardy
Writing Craft / Conflict
The importance of narrative conflict: @Catkcho
Writing Craft / Diversity
Writing X Characters When You Aren’t X: by Bucket Siler
Writing Craft / Flashback and Back Story
Avoiding Info-Dumps: @Author_J_White
Writing Craft / Hooks
What Writers Need to Know About Hooks: @Janice_Hardy
Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film
What Bryan Cranston Can Teach Writers: @jamesscottbell
Writing Craft / Miscellaneous
Gratuitous Depictions of Bullying Are Now on Our Hit List: by Chris Winkle
To Filter or Not to Filter: by TD Storm
Writing Tips from Blake Snyder’s ‘Save the Cat’: @AuthorMarilene
The Benefits of Hearing Your Book Read Aloud: @dmassenzio
Writing Characters That Are ‘Smarter’ Than You: @MukherjeeRheea @WriterUnboxed
Writing for Every Type of Reader: @CindyDevoted @EdieMelson
Writing Craft / Pacing
Critique: How to Use Paragraph Breaks to Guide the Reader’s Experience: @KMWeiland
Writing Craft / POV
A Distinctive Narrative Voice: @AJHumpage
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Outlining
How to Write a Novel Without An Outline: @DeanWesleySmith @IndieAuthorALLI
Writing a Reverse Outline: @AmrenOrtega
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting
How to Write a Novel: Tips For Visual Thinkers: by The Caffeine Book Warrior
Fiction Therapy—What’s Your Story’s Problem? @jimdempsey @WriterUnboxed
The Six-Figure Master Fiction Plot: @LMacNaughton
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research
Common Misconceptions About Artificial Intelligence: @bentaylordata @DanKoboldt
Writing Tips: Digital Forensics for Screen Writers and Novelists: @cjonsecurity @thecreativepenn
Writing Craft / Revision
Words to Consider Cutting from Your Story: by Bucket Siler
Writing Craft / Scenes
How to Advance Your Plot with Careful Scene Design ~ 5 Steps: @LiveWriteThrive
Why Do Boring Scenes Start With “Hello”? @standoutbooks
Coming Up With Scene Ideas: @writingandsuch
Writing Craft / Tension
Secret-Keepers: Generate Page-Turning, Nerve-Shredding Tension: @KristenLambTX
Writing Macro and Micro Tension: @Lindasclare
Writing Craft / Tropes
How ‘Friends’ Makes Character Archetypes Look Easy: @Bang2write
Writing Craft / Word Crafting
Ways of seeing: 11 poets to help you polish your prose: @Roz_Morris @joenutt_author
Writing Tools / Apps
4 Fantastic Features & Plugins for the New WordPress: @Julie_Glover
Writing Tools / Resources
How Do You Learn the Craft of Writing Fiction? @SnowflakeGuy
The Top Writing Links From Last Week Are On Twitterific:
Click To Tweet
The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
March 21, 2019
How to Make Your Mystery Paranormal; Or, Solving a Mystery With Help From …Whatever
First a definition: Merriam-Webster: Definition of paranormal: not scientifically explainable: supernatural
If you want to write a story — any kind of story — with a paranormal element, it has to have believability. Whether you’re world-building — say a story set in a mythical time or place – or just adding a ghost or two, the reader needs to be able to suspend disbelief.
An example of a classic ghost story is The Turn of the Screw, a 19th-century novella by Henry James. Set in a real setting — a country house in southeast England — it’s populated with real people, a governess and two children. There also appears to be not just one ghost, but two, out to do harm to the children. The governess tries to protect them from the malevolent spirits, but fails, and in the end, there is a death. The novel is known as a ghost story and a gothic mystery.
Then there are mysteries with “good” ghosts. The Aunt Dimity books by Nancy Atherton are examples. In the first novel, Lori Shepherd discovers an old journal written by her mother’s friend Aunt Dimity, now deceased. Aunt Dimity begins talking to Lori through the pages of the book. More than that, it turns out that Aunt Dimity is an excellent guide in solving crimes, including murder.
Several of Clea Simon’s mysteries include a ghost cat. The ghost of Dulcie Schwartz’s pet cat, Mr. Grey, first appears in Shades of Grey, warning his mistress about a dead body. He acts as a spirit guide and doles out cat-like, inscrutable advice. He mostly acts like a cat, though a ghost, and is believable in his own way.
In Gigi Pandian’s Accidental Alchemist Mysteries, there are several paranormal elements woven into the mysteries. The novels are set in present- day Portland, Oregon. In the first book, Zoe Faust (great last name!), the alchemist, has just moved into a dilapidated old house. Zoe, who might look to be a young woman in her 20s, was actually born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1676. And when Zoe unpacks her luggage, she discovers a stone gargoyle that thinks and walks and talks. But there’s a real dead body on her porch, so the two are off on their first detecting adventure.
In the first of my Mother-and-Me Mysteries, Marabella Vinegar’s recently deceased mother comes back to help get her adult daughter out of trouble. Marabella has just discovered the corpse of her longtime psychotherapist and becomes the prime suspect of an NYPD detective.
Other than the minor fact that the mother is dead, she talks and acts like an overprotective, interfering mother of an adult daughter who, at nearly 40, is still single and works for the boss from hell. And who has spent years in therapy, mainly because of her relationship with said mother.
The good news is that Marabella’s 70-year-old ghost mother has developed certain … supernatural …abilities in the week she’s been in the hereafter. She can waft through walls and ceilings, and appears to be invisible and inaudible to everyone except her daughter. This gives the mystery-loving ghost (a wannabe Jessica Fletcher or Miss Marple) the means to be an invaluable asset to Marabella in her sleuthing adventures.
Except for being a ghost, Marabella’s mother is pretty much an ordinary 70-year-old woman. She has a yen for the older gentleman in the apartment next to Marabella’s; complains about her ungrateful relatives; and constantly gives her daughter unasked-for and unwanted advice. She also complicates her daughter’s life, especially when Marabella begins a relationship with a sexy veterinarian working at the same college as she does.
But the most important feature in the Mother-and-Me Mysteries, as in Gigi Pandian’s, Clea Simon’s, Nancy Atherton’s, and other paranormal mystery writers’ books, is, of course, the mystery. The ghost cat, the journal ghost, the gargoyle, and the ghost mother are there to help the main character solve the mystery. And the characterization of the gargoyle, cat, journal ghost and mother ghost, brings a lighter, sometimes comical, element to the story.
The writer needs to keep in mind that the main thing the reader expects when he or she picks up a mystery, paranormal or not, is a detecting and solving of said mystery with a satisfactory ending. Not necessarily always a happy one, but one that has to make sense in the circumstances. It’s fine to have a ghost (or two) or other otherworldly element (as in a 300-year-old alchemist detective or a talking journal) in a mystery. But the mystery has to be primary, crafted with a believable premise and ending.
If a paranormal writer constructs a whole world in the story, such as setting it on another planet, in an imaginary world, at a time in the past or future, populated with creatures that resemble nothing on this earth, it veers into the fantasy end of supernatural fiction.
Clea Simon, Nancy Atherton and I, have contented ourselves with setting the mystery in a recognizable time and place, with real people. And even though Pandian’s Zoe may be 300-plus-years old, she thinks, talks and acts like a real person in today’s world.
To my mind, writing a paranormal mystery makes double the fun. It gives you the freedom to construct an otherworldly element any way you want — within the framework of the whodunit you’ve spun.
Sandra Gardner is the author of seven books, fiction and non-fiction. Dead Shrinks Don’t Talk, the first in the three-book Mother-and-Me mystery series, was published by Black Opal Books in May, 2018. Grave Expectations, book 2, was released in December, 2018. Death of a Nuisance, book 3, is scheduled for 2019. Halley and Me, a coming-of-age novel, won the 2012 Grassic Short Novel Prize from Evening Street Press in 2012. Non-fiction books include Teenage Suicide and Street Gangs in America, published respectively by Simon & Schuster and Franklin Watts. Street Gangs in America received a book award from the National Federation of Press Women. Previously, she was a contributing writer and columnist for The New York Times.
Author Sandra Gardner On Making a Mystery Paranormal:
Click To Tweet
Photo credit: Fotografik33 – www.fotografik33.com on VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-ND
The post How to Make Your Mystery Paranormal; Or, Solving a Mystery With Help From …Whatever appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
March 17, 2019
Using IngramSpark for Print Preorders
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
There are several reasons why I have my printed books available through print on demand distributor IngramSpark. For one, it’s a cheaper option for international readers than KDP Print (formerly CreateSpace). For another, I like to have a print distributor for bookstores (if a reader requests a book from Barnes & Noble, for instance). I also like a print distributor for libraries (and the option for my books to be in hardcover). Here’s an excellent article from Debbie Young on why authors should use KDP Print and IngramSpark together.
There’s another reason why I like using IngramSpark. They offer the ability for a printed book to be available as a pre-order on Amazon.
KDP Print doesn’t offer a pre-order option, but you can set your release date on IngramSpark and, if the release date is in the future, it will show as a pre-order on Amazon (and the book will be delivered at the release).
I have quite a few readers who still prefer print and I like to be able to offer them the same opportunity to pre-order that my ebook readers enjoy.
There is more of a learning curve with IngramSpark, but I think it’s more intuitive than people say. You will need an ISBN to be on IngramSpark (and you can’t use the free one you received from Amazon). I’ve never had a problem using the same PDFs of the cover and text of the book that I used at Amazon with Ingram, but your mileage may vary. There is also a set-up fee at Ingram, but I don’t believe that I’ve ever paid it because they run promos frequently (be sure to sign up for their newsletters). The current promo (until March 31) is NANO17.
Important things to remember when using both Amazon and IngramSpark (as listed in Debbie Young’s ALLi article linked above):
Use your own ISBN on both platforms – if you start off by using a free KDP one, you won’t be able to use it on IS, because it belongs to Amazon, not to you. (For more advice about buying and using ISBNs, click here.)
Use the same ISBN for the same book on both platforms, otherwise it confuses the system and throws up error messages. It doesn’t matter that the platforms are different – what matters is that you are creating the same product. Equally, if you were having a short run printed at a local printers, you’d use the same ISBN there too.
Choose carefully where to order your author copies, for the sake of time and cost. You can order one or more proof copies from either service before you publish (but only the KDPP proof will be marked clearly as such on the cover so won’t be resaleable). Speed and cost of delivery depends on where you live, as author copies may or may not be printed in your home country.
Are your books in print? Have you branched out from KDP?
Using IngramSpark for Pre-Orders:
Click To Tweet
Photo credit: micmol on Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-SA
The post Using IngramSpark for Print Preorders appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
March 16, 2019
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 48,000 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
How To Take Your Creative Business To The Next Level: @taragentile @thecreativepenn
Business Musings: Shifting Attitudes: @KristineRusch
An Agent on Being Discreet as a Ghostwriter: @Janet_Reid
For the Love of the Writing Process: 6 Questions to Hone Your Workflow: @Bob_Mayer @WritersDigest
Grow your Business by Becoming an Independent Publisher: @bkynwriters @IndieAuthorALLI
Increase Your Efficiency by Automating your Author Business: @Creativindie @IndieAuthorALLI
How Authors can Leverage Blockchain Technology: @WeArePrescient @IndieAuthorALLI
Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous
Guest of Honor Norway Heads for Frankfurt via London on Wave of Success: @Porter_Anderson
From Europe and the UK: Two CEOs at London Book Fair’s Quantum Conference: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
London Book and Screen Week Names 2019 CAMEO Award Winners: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
19 Diversity-Focused Writing Conferences & Events in 2019: @sangeeta_editor @WritersDigest
London Book Fair: Friendly, Non-Intimidating Coding for Publishers: @MarkPiesing @has_many_books @pubperspectives
London Book Fair’s International Excellence Awards Honor ‘Publishing To Build a Better World’: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Giving Something Back – Setting Up a Conference: @ChrisHammacott @IndieAuthorALLI
At London Book Fair: Discussing Arabic Literature in a Sheikh Zayed Book Award Session: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
The Man Booker International Prize Longlist: @Porter_Anderson
Aprés London Book Fair: Livre Paris Opens Today: @oliviasnaije @Porter_Anderson
Creativity and Inspiration / Careers in Writing and Day Jobs
Don’t let anyone shame you for having a day job. @thewildwong @emiliewapnick
Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting
The Daily Mindset Practice That Will Help You Achieve Your Writing Goals: by Jennifer Blanchard
Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration
“Designing My Characters’ Homes Helps Me Write”: by Lisa Gornick @lithub
Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers
The Mysterious Discipline of Narratologists: Why We Need Stories to Make Sense: @ArkadyMartine @tordotcom
The Dark and Dreamy Noir of The Great Gatsby: @RealLiveCritic @CrimeReads
10 Tips for Writing Reviews with Ease: @SherLHoward
Benefits to Listening to Audio Books for Writers: by Melissa Chan @TheIWSG
Five Inhospitable Planets from Science Fiction: @kmkjensen @tordotcom
Reflections on the Difficulties and Influence of Joyce: @JoshuaIsard @LitReactor
5 Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Dystopian Tests That Aren’t What They Seem: by Stubby the Rocket @tordotcom
There’s no shame in reading whatever books you want – literary snobs be damned: by Emily Maguire @GuardianBooks
Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing
Time Management and Organization: @KarenCV
Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block
Overcome Your Fear of the Blank Page: @WriteNowCoach
Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly
Common Writing Speed Bumps and How to Handle Them:
Creativity and Inspiration / Success
3 Famous Authors Who Turned Adversity Into Triumph: @DaveChesson @WritetoDone
Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life
How to Submit Writing Like A Relentless Force of Nature: @helpfulsnowman @LitReactor
Cycles in a Writing Life: @victoria_grif7
Narrative Detour: Rediscover Your Novel: @doc_awesomeo
How Meditation Can Improve Your Writing : by Jennifer Frost @Writers_Write
5 Lessons From Six Weeks of No Social Media: @besscozby @DIYMFA
What Kind Of Procrastinator Are You? @KMAllan_writer
Why Do You Write? A Simple Question…But What About the Answers? @Peter_Rey_
A Writer’s Job Is to Persevere: Not Stopping at 96: by Eugenia Lovett West @WritersDigest
Why Push Yourself to Write More Books? @ZoeMMcCarthy
Genres / Memoir
How to Write a Memoir: Each Chapter Should Tell a Story: @CockeyedCaravan
Genres / Miscellaneous
Is My Story Idea Speculative Fiction? @ZoeMMcCarthy
Genres / Mystery
Introverted Characters in Crime Fiction: @mkinberg
Genres / Non-Fiction
7 Steps Toward Writing Your Transformational Book: @NinaAmir@WritersDigest
How to Write Technical Nonfiction for a Wide Audience: 5 Tips: by Sean Miller @ReedsyHQ
Genres / Romance
How To Write The Tragic Love Story – A 10-Step Formula: @AnthonyEhlers @Writers_Write
11 of the Most Popular Romance Tropes — and How to Make Them New Again: @ReedsyHQ
Genres / Screenwriting
Great Scene: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” : @GoIntoTheStory
Screenwriting: An Archive of What NOT to Do: @CockeyedCaravan
The Business of Screenwriting: There are three kinds of people in Hollywood: @GoIntoTheStory
Promo / Blogging
Why Some of Your Readers Will Never Comment on Your Blog Posts: @MegDowell
10 SEO Copywriting Tips For Beginners: @Writers_Write
Promo / Book Reviews
Why Did Amazon Remove My Book Reviews? @TCKPublishing
Promo / Miscellaneous
Your 2019 Book Marketing Plan: @NewShelvesBooks @BookWorksNYC
When Does A Book Become Over-promoted? @sjbwrites @IndieAuthorALLI
How to reach your target market on all platforms: @MarkLeslie @IndieAuthorALLI
Promo / Newsletters
How to Grow an Email Newsletter Starting from Zero: @Christinamac79 @JaneFriedman
Promo / Platforms
7 Author Branding Lessons Learned from Twenty One Pilots: @_HannahHeath
Promo / Social Media Tips
Your Online Presence: 10 Mistakes for Authors to Avoid: @annerallen
Promo / Websites
Five Simple SEO Tips for Authors: @elawilliams_ @DIYMFA
The right way to launch your author website: @debemmitt
Publishing / Miscellaneous
How to Calculate Amazon Fees for Printing Paperbacks Using KDP Print: @Wogahn
US Publisher F+W Media Hearing Today in Chapter 11 Protection Filing: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Creating a Second Edition: @valerie_francis @StoryGrid
Publishing / News / International Publishing
France’s BIEF Hit by London Book Fair Transit Delays in Calais’ Brexit Protests: @oliviasnaije @Porter_Anderson
London Book Fair: Rebuilding the University of Mosul Library: @oliviasnaije @pubperspectives
11 Ways to Sell More Books to International Audiences (without spending money on book translation): @Bookgal
Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing
How Much Does it Cost to Self Publish a Book? by Tom Ashford @pbackwriter
Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying
‘Is my ms dead in the water?’ An Agent Answers: @Janet_Reid
Should I get my manuscript professionally edited before querying agents? @Catkcho
Why Querying Writers Shouldn’t Write Sequels: @MegLaTorre
Formatting your manuscript for editors and agents: @lisapoisso
Publishing / Process / Legalities
The Growing Importance of Intellectual Property: @KristineRusch @PassiveVoiceBlg
Writing Craft / Characters / Emotion
Character Research: How to Write Authentic Emotion: @AngelaAckerman @ProWritingAid
6 Ways to Show Emotions for Non-POV Characters: @beccapuglisi @JamiGold
Writing Craft / Characters / Supporting Characters
Working with a Large Cast of Characters: @SeptCFawkes
Writing Craft / Conflict
Writing The Fight Scene: @davidfarland
Writing Craft / Dialogue
How to Write Funny Dialogue: 5 Tips for Making Readers Laugh Out Loud: @iStephenEvans @WritersDigest
5 Tips for Using Voice in Dialogue: by Vincent H. O’Neil
Writing Craft / Drafts
What If All Writing is Just Drafts, Forever? @Joe_Scapellato @lithub
Writing Craft / Miscellaneous
Purple And Beige Writing: What You Need To Know: by Rebecca Langley @standoutbooks
The Inner/Outer Balance: @DonMaass @WriterUnboxed
Creating Authentic Details: Keeping Secrets: by Pamela Taylor @DIYMFA
How to Write Better: A Quick Guide: @MegDowell
Using Literary Techniques in Narrative Journalism: @DustinGrinnell @WritersDigest
Avoiding the Midbook Slump: Three Techniques to Keep Readers Reading: @writeabook
Three Writing Rules to Disregard @BCDreyer @parisreview
For Fact & Fiction: Borrow Non-fiction Techniques for your Fiction: @isekhmet
Writing Craft / POV
How Do I Write Exposition in Close Perspective? by Chris Winkle @mythcreants
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting
Pre-Writing: @DPWauthor @KillerNashville
How Do Pantsers Develop Characters? @JamiGold
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Concept
The 7 Elements of a Viable Story Idea: @flyingwrestler @savethecat
Writing Craft / Revision
7 Tips for the Reluctant Editor: by Rebecca Frost @NaNoWriMo
8 Early Draft Cuts For A Stronger Manuscript: @KMAllan_writer
How to strategically edit for timeline inconsistencies: @raimeygallant
Writing Craft / Scenes
Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make Writing Scenes: @JimMercurio @Bang2write
Writing Craft / Settings and Description
Boosting Your Prose: Setting: @davidfarland
Quick Writing Tip: Don’t Forget about Sound: by Bucket Siler
Writing Craft / Tropes
Story Tropes: How Do We Twist a Cliché? @JamiGold
Writing Craft / Word Crafting
Filtering Unnecessary Jargon in Your Writing: @AnneJanzer
Writing Tools / Resources
How to Find the Writing Coach You Need: @Jffelkins @write_practice
8 Great Podcasts for Writers and Book Authors: by Ali Hale @writing_tips
Character Arc Plot & Kurt Vonnegut’s Story Shapes: @EvaDeverell
The Top Writing Links From Last Week Are On Twitterific:
Click To Tweet
The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
March 14, 2019
Skip Those Writing Speed Bumps
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
There are a variety of things that can slow you down as you write. I’m not sure how many writing sessions in the past have been derailed by really simple things.
Here are some of my most-likely culprits and how I manage to move past them:
Timeline. I just used the word ‘yesterday’ to refer to something earlier in the story. Was it yesterday, or was it earlier? Solution: Note it in one separate document. I call mine “Things to Fix in ______ (Story Name).” It’s a completely separate Word document that I keep in the same folder as the manuscript. One entry for my current WiP is this simple: page 95….was it yesterday morning?
Names. Oops. This character doesn’t seem to have a last name. Solution: put an asterisk in the manuscript to point out the issue and fix later. When you’re ready to work on the second draft, just do a search for asterisks in your document.
Loose ends that I suddenly remember. Did Myrtle leave a casserole dish with Nell? Solution: note it in my ‘Things to Fix’ document.
Plot holes. Myrtle left a car dealership driving a car. How did she get there (she doesn’t currently own a car)? Solution: note it in my ‘Things to Fix’ document.
Ideas that I want to incorporate into past chapters. Solution: Again, this goes into that ‘Things to Fix’ document. Or, sometimes, I’ll note the ideas in Word’s Track Changes.
Veering off the outline. Or a POV change. Any major departure for the story. Solution: mark it with an asterix (or put a comment in Track Changes) and start writing from the new POV, etc., from that point in the book, on. Make the changes after the first draft is finished.
Issues realized. I don’t have enough clues to point to the murderer. Solution: note the fact in the ‘Things to Fix’ doc.
Although the temptation is to fix the problem immediately, I’ve found that I stay focused on my story and make more word count gains if I just note the issue and keep going.
Do you run into these types of speed bumps in your story? Others? What’s your approach toward them?
Speed Bumps that Writers Encounter and Tips to Deal With Them:
Click To Tweet
Photo credit: davidseibold on VisualHunt.com / CC BY-NC
The post Skip Those Writing Speed Bumps appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
March 10, 2019
How to Calculate Amazon Fees for Printing Paperbacks Using KDP Print
It is simple to figure out eBook royalties because there are no “manufacturing” costs. But the formula for calculating your royalty for a paperback book printed by Amazon KDP Print is another matter. That’s because we have two mouths to feed:
The printer, in this case Amazon KDP.
The retailer—online and brick and mortar—adds their mark-up or selling commission.
The retailer’s commission is relatively easy to figure out because it hasn’t changed much over the years. It is typically 40% for the retailer and in fact that is Amazon’s share when you use KDP Print.
(As an aside, you give up an additional 20% when or if you make your book available for expanded distribution, which for KDP Print is handled by Ingram. Meaning, you receive 40% of your book’s retail selling price less the cost to manufacture it.)
That leaves manufacturing (printing) costs as the great unknown. In this post I’ll share the three ways to calculate KDP Print manufacturing costs.
I’ll also include an example of what happens if Amazon decides to sell your book for less than your suggested retail price.
Calculating KDP Print manufacturing costs
The primary factors that affect costs are:
The country where your book is sold
The number of pages in your book
Whether you are printing the interior in color or black and white
There are 3 ways to calculate your KDP Print printing costs:
Upload your files to KDP Print and their calculator will give you a cost.
Use Amazon’s pricing tables. See below for Amazon.com (other countries are different).
Download the KDP Print Excel spreadsheet print cost calculator.
The chart below was pulled from this page where you’ll find prices for books sold in other countries. Trim size, bleed settings, and cover finish do not affect cost of printing.
Also on this same page you’ll find a download button for the KDP print cost calculator available as an Excel worksheet. (Click the subsection: How we calculate printing cost.)
Calculating Amazon paperback selling commission and your royalty
Now that you have the cost to manufacture your printed book you can compute the sales commission. This is easy: your royalty is 60% of your list price minus printing costs.
(list price x 60%) – printing costs = royalty
Returning to our client’s novel, Trials and Trails, it looks like this:
Manufacturing cost: (278 PDF pages * $0.012 per page) + $0.85 = $4.19
Royalty calculation: ($14.95 x 60%) – $4.19 = $4.78
KDP Print minimum and maximum pricing
Of course, you can’t sell your paperback for less than it costs to print it, so Amazon calculates that number for you. The formula for this is:
Printing cost / 60% (royalty rate) = minimum list price. As you see above for Trials and Trails, that number is:
$4.19 / 60% = $6.98.
The maximum price of your paperback must be no more than $250 (no math required!), 250EUR for the European marketplace, or 30,000 Yen for Japan. Also, your price must not be higher in any other sales channel. For example, if you sell your book on your website it must match the price you list it for on Amazon. (And yes, Amazon can undercut your price.)
Expanded distribution royalties are lower
Expanded distribution is when Amazon makes your book available to other online retailers via their relationship with Ingram, the parent company of IngramSpark. This is optional, but it can’t already be distributed by another company (typically, for self-publishers, this is going to be IngramSpark).
As noted above, Trails and Trails is ineligible and that’s because we used IngramSpark to offer the book for pre-order. The book remains there for distribution to other online retailers.
Books that are eligible receive a royalty of 40%. Ingram needs to be compensated for making your book available to their network of retailers (BN.com, for example). Again, this is for paperbacks, not eBooks.
The cost to buy author copies of your book
As an aside, the cost for you to buy copies of your own book is the printing price ($4.19 in this example).
What if Amazon is selling my book for less than my list price?
This might be the most common pricing question we get from new self-publishing authors. The answer is your royalty does not change, subject to Amazon’s terms and conditions here on their Digital Pricing Page or here on their Print Pricing Page.
Much of the time Amazon is simply trying to meet or beat a competitor’s price. Below is an example of a deeply discounted paperback, Off the Couch.
Amazon decided to sell the book at a loss—I can confirm the author did get her $4.86 royalty even though the selling price was $4.52. The price has since been increased to $10.76.
How do you price your print editions?
I can think of three ways to arrive at a retail price for a print book.
A few authors I’ve worked with just assume Amazon will discount the price of their book. Then they add 10-20% to what they feel is a reasonable price and hope Amazon doesn’t let them down.
Others will research comparable books and use a composite of those numbers.
The third option is to figure out the cost to print and sell their book and aim for a profit margin.
How do you price your print edition?
David Wogahn is the author of three books including Register Your Book and The Book Reviewer Yellow Pages and is an author for LinkedIn Learning. His award-winning author-services company, AuthorImprints, has helped more than 125 authors professionally self-publish books using their own publishing imprint.
How to Calculate Amazon Fees for Printing Paperbacks Using KDP Print (by David Wogahn @Wogahn ):
Click To Tweet
Photo on VisualHunt
The post How to Calculate Amazon Fees for Printing Paperbacks Using KDP Print appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
March 9, 2019
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 48,000 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.
News
Need reviews for your work? Find out more about Reedsy’s Discovery program here.
Business / Miscellaneous
Building Your Publishing Team: Your Editor: @itshelendarling @DIYMFA
How to Start a Ghostwriting Career: @ZaraAltair @ProWritingAid
How to juggle different types of writing: @pubcoach
Tips for Selling Your Essay: by Deborah Lyn Stanley
Making a Living as a Life Story Writer: by Amy Woods Butler @hopeclark
File names that show your manuscript revision status: @lisapoisso
Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous
Book Promotion: How to Pitch to Festival Organizers: by Dan Holloway @IndieAuthorALLI
Frankfurter Buchmesse Stages a Conversation on Artificial Intelligence During SXSW: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Ahead of London Book Fair: IPA’s New Leadership on the State of a World Publishing Industry: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
During London Book Fair: Copyright Clearance Center on ‘Open Scholarly Communications’: @Porter_Anderson
London Book Fair’s Market Focus Indonesia: Creative Industries and a Spice Café: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
International Women’s Day 2019: International Women Writers Observing the Day: @mkinberg
Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting
2019 Goal Planning Tools for Writers: @vkier_tech
1 Writer’s 9 Writing Goals for 2019: @KMWeiland
Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers
How to read more: @pubcoach
Introducing Difficult Books, a Descriptive List: @PassiveVoiceBlg @The_Millions
5 Books that Give Voice to Artificial Intelligence: @tansyrr @enoughsnark @tordotcom
Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing
Use a List to Make Writing a Habit: by Shelley Widhalm
Vanquish Emotional Overwhelm to Increase Productivity: @KBullockAuthor @WriterUnboxed
Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block
Writer’s Block with Depression and Anxiety: @SeptCFawkes
Creativity and Inspiration / Success
Why 1 Writer is Dreaming of Becoming a Midlist Author: @KassandraLamb @IndieAuthorALLI
Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life
How to Stop Overthinking Your Writing: @writingcookbook
Creativity Studies And Tricks For Women Writers: by Claudia Chibici-Revneanu @WomenWriters
“Is my writing good enough?” @DanBlank
Writing versus Not Writing: @MFournierWatson @WomenWriters
How to find time to write when life feels out of control: @TheLeighShulman
Should You Get a Creative Writing Degree? @Roz_Morris and Garry Craig Powell
The Story that Holds You Back: @kcraftwriter
How to Explore Literary Yorkshire: @laurencocking @lithub
Every Story Is A Survival Story: @maureenmcquerry @WomenWriters
When Even the Greatest of Writers Grapples with Self-Doubt: @GabbyBellot @lithub
Three Ways for Writers to Grow a Thick Skin: @canitbeyolanda
Genres / Fantasy
What is Urban Fantasy? A Guide for Readers and Writers: @ReedsyHQ
Genres / Horror
13 Frightfully Good Young Adult Horror Novels: @FelizaCasano @ReadBrightly
Genres / Miscellaneous
The Business Side of Songwriting: Protecting Your Work: by Matthew Hawk Eldridge @A3writers
Genres / Mystery
The Creative Drive as an Element in Crime Fiction: @mkinberg
10 Books About How to Write Mysteries: @JanetBoyer
Societal Myths and Discouraging Realities as Elements in Crime Fiction: @mkinberg
Mystery Writing: Keeping the Middle of the Book Interesting: @mkinberg
Genres / Poetry
20 Easy Poetry Writing Prompts and Exercises: @BrynDonovan
Genres / Screenwriting
Script to Screen: “No Country For Old Men”: @GoIntoTheStory
Genres / Western
Secrets of the Western Genre: by Rachelle Ramirez @StoryGrid
Promo / Ads
Avoiding the Mistakes of Over- and Under-Investing in a Book: @kikimojo
Why You Probably Shouldn’t Be Advertising (Video) by Chris Fox
Discount ebook deals mailing list BookBub finally adds audiobooks. Launches Chirp in partnership with Findaway: @TNPS10
Promo / Book Reviews
Reedsy Launches New Book Marketing Tool to Gain Reviews and Exposure for New Releases: @ReedsyHQ
Promo / Miscellaneous
8 Marketing Tips for 2019: @AnnMarieNieves @WriterUnboxed
How to Write a Book Endorsement: @EricaVetsch
Promo / Platforms
Establishing Yourself before Your Book Is Published: Submitting, Platform, and More: @writeabook
Publishing / Miscellaneous
Brussels Book Fair’s Gregory Laurent: ‘Forward-Thinking Projects’: @oliviasnaije @pubperspectives
Spanish-Language Audiobook Sales Predicted to Surge in 2019: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Which Amazon KDP ebook royalty rate should I choose? @BirdsOAFpress
Industry Notes: Wales’ Hay Festival Opens 2019 School Program’s Booking Applications: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Kids Can Press’ ‘Most Magnificent Thing’ Animated Short Is Out From Nelvana: @Porter_Anderson
International Women’s Day 2019: Progress Among Publishers in France: @oliviasnaije @v_clayssen
Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing
35+ Self-Publishing Terms Every Aspiring Author Should Know: @savilleneuve
Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying
How to Stand Out For Agents and Publishers: @AJHumpage
Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Rejections
How to Survive Rejection: 8 Tips: @themaltesetiger
Publishing / Process / Services to Avoid
Publishizer: Do Authors Really Need a Crowdfunding Literary Agency? @victoriastrauss
7 Ways to Defend Yourself from Writing Coach Scams: @EstelleSErasmus @WritersDigest
Publishing / Process / Translation
Nielsen Reports Translated Literature in the UK Grew 5.5 Percent in 2018: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Writing Craft / Beginnings
Beginnings and Backstory: @jamesscottbell
Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists
Making Sympathetic Antagonists (And Why Thanos Wasn’t One): by Mira Singer @mythcreants
How to Create a Villain: @themaltesetiger
Writing Craft / Characters / Development
Five Surprisingly Successful Characters and Why They Work: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants
Why Lack Of Structure Is Killing Your Characters: @Bang2write
Writing Craft / Common Mistakes
How to Avoid The 7 Biggest Storytelling Mistakes: by Richard Krevolin @CareerAuthors
Writing Craft / Conflict
Create Inner Conflict: @ianirvineauthor
Writing Craft / Dialogue
Tips for Better Dialogue: by Keith Cronin @WriterUnboxed
Writing Craft / Diversity
5 Steps to Creating Characters of Color: @ajthenovelist @DIYMFA
Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film
What the Show “Friends” Did Right: @TheRyanLanz
Writing Craft / Miscellaneous
Four Kinds of Death in Fiction: @Janice_Hardy
Writing Craft / POV
4 Questions To Ask To Avoid Info Dumps In Deep Point Of View: @LisaHallWilson
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Outlining
The Myth of Plan First and Write Later: @LouiseTondeur @JaneFriedman
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting
Navigating Families in Fiction: @KAMcCleary @WriterUnboxed
6 Sub-Plots That Add Style To Your Story: @Writers_Write
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Beats
Psycho Beat Sheet: @DonRoff @savethecat
Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar
A Primer on Active vs. Passive Voice for Writers: @LoriHatcher2 @EdieMelson
Capitalizing Dog Breeds: @GrammarGirl
Writing Craft / Revision
How to Revise your Manuscript: First Draft to Final Draft: @LisaPoisso
Whittling Words for Stronger Stories: by Devyn Fussman @NaNoWriMo
Writing Craft / Settings and Description
Writing Tips: Writing Beyond the 5 Senses: @green_gila @thecreativepenn
Writing the Southeastern US: @VictoriaGHowell
Writing Craft / Tension
Real Life Diagnostics: Can You Feel Any Tension or Conflict in This Scene? By Maria D’Marco
Writing Tools / Miscellaneous
How To Use A Fountain Pen: by Emma Walsh @Writers_Write
The Top Writing Links From Last Week Are On Twitterific:
Click To Tweet
The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
March 3, 2019
How to Survive Rejection
by John Kerr, @themaltesetiger
Can we talk about F. Scott Fitzgerald? Author of The Great Gatsby, that American classic we all read in high school. Without a doubt, one of the most acclaimed American writers in history. But, did you know that his follow-up novel, Tender is the Night, was panned by critics?
The book was so ridiculed that Fitzgerald was driven out of the literary world. He fled to Los Angeles looking for success as a screenwriter but found none. Once thought of as a rising star, Fitzgerald was considered a has-been by the end of his career. He died believing he was a failure.
But he was wrong, and today we celebrate him as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. Which brings me to my point-
Rejection happens to all of us.
Add it to the column under Death and Taxes. You can’t let it cripple you, though. You must learn from it, and move on. But, how do you move on from something that can feel so personal and cut so deep?
Well, that’s what I’m going to talk about. So, here are a few tips on…
How to Handle Rejection
First off…
Don’t take it personally
Easier said than done, right? After pouring your soul into a story it’s hard not to take rejection personally. But it’s never an editor’s intention to hurt you.
Keep in mind that editors don’t know you from Adam. They’re professionals and they’re not out to get anyone. Their job is to find work that fits their publication. And they get a lot of submissions.
They only have time to read a few sentences. If you don’t hook them, they’re moving on. They aren’t trying to send you a message-
Give up now! You’ll never be a writer!
In short, they don’t care what you do.
Rejection from an editor can only tell you one thing- your story wasn’t right for them. It happens, and it’s not personal. It’s business.
So, move on.
Or better yet…
Learn from it
You can learn a lot from rejection.
Was it a form letter?
You didn’t hook your reader! The editor only read of few sentences before deciding to pass on it. If you receive several form letters that could mean your story needs an overhaul. Stop submitting and revisit the piece. Ask yourself- can this story be fixed or should it be shelved?
Was it a personal rejection?
A personal rejection is great! It means the editor read your story. Well, most of it. It’s a sign that your story works. It’s just not a good fit for the publisher.
Pay attention to personal rejections. Sometimes editors will give you tips on how to sharpen your writing. You’re basically getting a free professional critique! Which brings me to my next point.
Celebrate Small Victories
Let’s say you got a personal rejection from an editor. That’s huge! That’s amazing! You hooked them. They read your story!
Editors have a keen eye. They can spot bad writing from miles away. If you’ve got a personal rejection from an editor it means your story may not be perfect, but it works. It just didn’t work for them.
Or, maybe you got a dozen form letters. That’s great! Now you know something is wrong with your story. You can spend your time fixing it or writing a new story. But you learned something valuable.
Celebrate!
Writing is a journey, sometimes a grind, but never a burden. We get to do this. Take a little joy, a little satisfaction from these “near misses.” You’re on the right track, you just haven’t gone far enough.
Learn when to Let Go
Rejection can be illuminating. It can save you from a lot of wasted nights of editing a fatally flawed work. So, if your story has been rejected forty times take the hint. This story isn’t working. Let it go.
Bad stories aren’t wasted effort. They are necessary for the learning process. Every author has dozens of bad stories they have to dig through before they get to the good stuff. The pay dirt.
So write your bad stories. You won’t recognize them, but rejection will help you spot them. Then you can write another bad story, and another, and another. Until one day, you’ll start writing the good ones.
Process and Move On
Rejection is a good time to take stock of your work and answer a few questions-
What kind of rejection was it?
A personal rejection?
Can you make the changes that the editor suggested and resubmit?
A form letter rejection?
Is this the first one? Keep submitting.
Add it to the pile? Revisit your work.
Find good beta readers. The best proofreaders are strangers because they’ll be honest with you. Look for an online community where you can share your work and get honest feedback.
Be Patient
Success takes time.
We hear a lot of stories about writers finding success overnight. But that’s not the normal experience. Most writers toil in obscurity for years, sometimes decades before they get any recognition.
Your first story went nowhere? So what. Write a new one. Sometimes, you haven’t found success because you haven’t sacrificed enough time. You haven’t written enough, you haven’t read enough, you’re not ready.
But, with time, you will be.
Kill your Ego and Find your Purpose
Ego can be a good thing for a writer. Without it, you might not have the confidence to get your story out into the world. But, too much ego will hold you back.
Ego can trick you into believing that your instincts are always correct. That you’re destined for greatness.
I hate to say it, but the only thing we’re destined for is the grave. Any success that comes before that is the result of a lot of hard work and plenty of failures.
Replace ego with a drive to create. Ask yourself why you want to write. Find a purpose. Something that will sustain your writing. Something meaningful.
I write because I love stories. I love reading them, finding their hidden meaning, discussing their secrets with like-minded companions. If someone wants to publish one of my stories, well that’s just an added bonus!
Once you find a purpose, rejection won’t feel like a personal affront. You’ll see it for what it is. A meaningful step in your journey as a writer.
Rejection is a universal experience and it can be useful. So, take it in stride and whatever you do…
Don’t stop writing!
John Kerr is an amateur author and professional junior high English teacher. His work has been published in Helios Quarterly Magazine, The Wifiles, Listverse, and The Texas Writers Journal. You can find his blog at TheMalteseTiger.com where he talks about story and fiction writing.
8 Tips for Handling Rejection from @TheMalteseTiger:
Click To Tweet
Photo on Visual Hunt
The post How to Survive Rejection appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
March 2, 2019
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 48,000 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
Planning for Publishing in 2019: Audio: @KristineRusch
Prioritize Multiple Writing Projects to Make Progress, Not Waste Time: @RosanneBane
Getting Your Book Considered for Placement in Barnes and Noble and Other Retailers: @Steph__Chandler @NonfictionAssoc
Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous
PEN America Approaches Its Awards Night With News Media Appearances: @Porter_Anderson @Egangoonsquad @PENamerican
Issues and Authors at London Book Fair 2019: Women’s Voices: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
PEN America Names Its 2019 Literary Award Laureates: $370,000 in Winnings: @Porter_Anderson
The UK’s Booker Prize Announces Its New Anchor Sponsor: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Faber’s Stephen Page Opens London Book Fair’s Quantum: ‘Cultural Responsibility’: @Porter_Anderson @stephenpub
Creativity and Inspiration / Careers in Writing and Day Jobs
How Can I Make a Living as a Writer? by T.W.M. Ashford @pbackwriter
Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting
How to Cut Your Wasted Time to Achieve Your Goals: @kikimojo
Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers
Writers Read: You Should Read More. Here’s How: @Jffelkins @write_practice
What to Do After Decades of Teaching ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Wrong? @adlsimmons @The_Millions
The Rise of Mother-Daughter Noir: @RealLiveCritic @CrimeReads
Can You Ever Go Home Again? 9 Stories That Continue After Journey’s End: by Stubby the Rocket @tordotcom
Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing
On Writing and Time Management: @Leigh_Medeiros_ @WriterUnboxed
Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block
How to Concoct Your Own Antidote to Pre-writing Anxiety: @jan_ohara @WriterUnboxed
Writer’s Block And How To Un-Stick It: @CaraHunterBooks @WomenWriters
Creativity and Inspiration / Success
4 Things Every Novel Should Strive For: @Janice_Hardy @TheIWSG
Writing a Book: 29 Bestselling Authors Answer 3 Critical Questions: @ChatEbooks
Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life
How Domesticity is at the Heart of the Novel: by Tessa Hadley @lithub
Writing Through Discouragement: @Lindasclare
Making Writing a Family Affair: @JHarder_FN @NaNoWriMo
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Your Novel: @thenovelry
Embracing Your New Identity as a Writer: @LisaTener
5 Reasons You Should Always Write for Yourself: @Frank_McKinley
10 Writer Takeaways From a Trip To Disney World: @GriggsWinnie
How Multitasking Can Make You A More Efficient Writer: @KelsieEngen
Letting a Story Go: A Break Up Story: @BeingTheWriter
Genres / Fantasy
Fantasy Subgenres: @Nicholas_Rossis @NicolaAlter
Genres / Historical
8 Tips for Writing Authentic Historical Mysteries: by Erin Lindsey
Genres / Memoir
Why Writing A Memoir Is All About The ‘How’ : @Writers_Write
Genres / Mystery
The Profoundly Unsettling World of Agatha Christie: @lucyfoleytweets @CrimeReads
Charismatic but Unlikeable Characters in Crime Fiction: @mkinberg
Cozy Mystery Writing: Parceling Out Information:
Genres / Non-Fiction
How To Write a Better How-To Nonfiction Book: @BirdsOAFpress
Genres / Poetry
Gratitude Poetry Prompt: Look For the Constants: @CallieFeyen @tspoetry
Genres / Screenwriting
Screenwriting: Why SCREAM is one of the best films ever made: @BittrScrptReadr
When good writing meets good acting: @melanippee
Genres / Short Stories
How Writing and Submitting Short Stories Improved A Writer’s Novel: @ArsenalOfWords @WriterUnboxed
Promo / Blogging
Why Blogging Has Been Good for One Writer: @Roz_Morris
Why You Need to Start a Blog in 2019: https://t.co/AXEqRz2AHW and @WritetoDone
6 Ways to Get People to Stop Visiting Your Blog: @rxena77
13 Free Blogging Tips For Every New Blogger: @HughRoberts05
Promo / Miscellaneous
Why “Self-Promotion” Is B.S.: @Jamie_Chesbro @The_Millions
Five Tips on Taking a Good Author Photo: by Phil Stamper-Halpin @penguinrandom
Book Promotion: Fighting Discouragement: @NewShelvesBooks @JFbookman
Making Your Inner Writer Stand Out: @sevenjanewrites @KillerNashville
Promo / Newsletters
Mailing Lists: The Necessity of Newsletters (Podcast): @EricaRidley @pbackwriter
Promo / Platforms
Promotion Isn’t Platform and Ads Aren’t a Brand: @KristenLambTX
Building a Platform for Your Work When You’re Unpublished: by James Michael Warner @JaneFriedman
Promo / Social Media Tips
How to Improve Your YouTube Video Exposure: 6 Useful Tools: by Aaron Agius @SMExaminer
8 Tips for Amping Up Your Book Promotion with Instagram: @Bookgal
3 Reasons to Manage Facebook by Notifications: @cksyme
4 Easy Ways To Get More Followers On Instagram: @KarenBanes
Publishing / Miscellaneous
Publishers’ Forum 2019: To Diversify or Double Down on Core Business? @Porter_Anderson
CreateSpace to KDP: The Aftermath: @JamiGold
How To Make Your Audiobook Work For You: @TheSuperStarter @thecreativepenn
Case Study: “How I used PDF Index Generator software for a paperback anthology”: @BirdsOAFpress
Six Questions for the Sheikh Zayed Book Award’s Allison Al-Masri: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
SAGE Publishing Makes UK’s Index on Censorship Archive Free: @Porter_Anderson
Getting Published in 2019: @ReedsyHQ
Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Pitches
All About Twitter PItches: @AlexJCavanaugh @Janice_Hardy
Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying
3 Ways to Find a Literary Agent: @WriteToSell
When to pull the plug on a good agent who loves my work that isn’t selling: @Janet_Reid
Resubmitting to an Agent or Publisher: @Kid_Lit @NatalieIAguirre
Tips for Formatting a Manuscript: by Kate Larkindale @OpAwesome6
What is a selling point? @Janet_Reid
Publishing / Process / Distribution
How to remove your paperback from KDP Expanded Distribution to sell your book via IngramSpark: @BirdsOAFpress
Writing Craft / Beginnings
Flog a Pro: would you pay to turn the first page of this bestseller? @RayRhamey @WriterUnboxed
Openings and Edits: by Edittorrent
Real Life Diagnostics: Is This Opening Working? @Janice_Hardy
Starting Your Novel at the Midpoint: @thenovelry @ProWritingAid
Writing Craft / Characters / Development
3 Ways to Define the Essence of Our Character: @JamiGold
Your Character’s Failure Is Just As Compelling As Their Success: @FredBobJohn @standoutbooks
Character Type: Artist: @GoIntoTheStory
Occupation Thesaurus Entry: Radio DJ: @beccapuglisi
Finding Your Character’s Perspective: @SueBEdwards @womenonwriting
5 Myths About Writing Characters: by by C.D. Waller @mythicscribes
Use Psychology to Create Compelling Characters: by Joslyn Chase @write_practice
Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists
Hero Archetypes and Grounding Reality: @valerie_francis @StoryGrid
Character Objective and Writing a Strong Protagonist: @Kid_Lit
Writing Craft / Common Mistakes
How to Avoid Repetitive Sentence Structure: @Janice_Hardy
Writing Craft / Diversity
Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make With Diverse Characters: @Bang2write
We Deserve More Black Stories with Happy Endings: by Exodus Oktavia Brownlow @ElectricLit
Writing Craft / Endings
8 Tips for a Satisfying Ending: @ZoeMMcCarthy
Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film
Editor Roundtable: Pirates of the Caribbean: @TheWritership @StoryGrid
Why “Bird Box” Starring Sandra Bullock Was Such a Ginormous Hit for Netflix: @JeffYorkWriter @CreativeScreen
Writing Craft / Literary Devices
Writing Craft: Foreshadowing: @RachelleGardner
Writing Craft / Miscellaneous
Writing Effective Plot Twists: @JamesNapoli @CreativeScreen
Tips for Writing About Controversial Topics in Fiction: @BryanGruley @WritersDigest
Four Reasons to Include Prompts in Your Writing Regimen: @DIYMFA @beccapuglisi
What to Do While You Wait: Working with Your Book, Instead of On It: by Barbara Linn Probst
Writing Craft / Plot Holes
Unsnagging Your Plot: @jamesscottbell @killzoneauthors
Writing Craft / POV
Story Grid: Revolutionize Your Story’s Point of View With Free Indirect Style: @DavidHSafford @write_practice
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Naming
How to Name Your Antagonist: @DaveChesson
Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting
Hero’s Journey Archetypes: @valerie_francis @StoryGrid
How Do I Involve the Main Character in the Plot? @mythcreants
Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar
‘Relapse’ or ‘Recur’? @GrammarGirl
The Oxford Comma And Why It Matters: @TCKPublishing
Writing Craft / Revision
Nonfiction: Flag Your Way to Successful Revisions: @withpenandpaper @NinaAmir
How to Improve Your Manuscript by Editing Backwards: @margaretskea1 @IndieAuthorALLI
Weasel Words: Get Rid of These Words to Improve Your Writing: @TCKPublishing
Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques
Finding the Ideal Beta Reader to Match Your Target Reader: @SmartAuthors @BookWorksNYC
Writing Craft / Scenes
Make Sure Your Scene Endings Hook Your Readers: @Janice_Hardy
Writing Craft / Series
The Pros and Cons of Writing an Extensive Series: @KBuxtonBooks @phoenix_fiction
Writing Craft / Settings and Description
Tips On Descriptions: @writingandsuch
Choose the Best Time Setting for your Novel: by Dana Isaacson @CareerAuthors
Writing Craft / Synopses
How to Write a Fiction Synopsis: A New Way: @HankPRyan @CareerAuthors
Writing Craft / Voice
5 Steps to Find Your Voice as a Writer: @thenovelry
Writing Craft / World-Building
Should You Give Non-Human Groups Marginalized Traits? by Chris Winkle @mythcreants
Writing Tools / Apps
5 Tech Basics for Writers: @WordDreams
Writing Tools / Resources
Webinar From @JaneFriedman:Perfecting your Site, Newsletter and Social Network: ($12 if register now):
Uncategorized
The 10th Anniversary Festival Neue Literatur: ‘In Memory We Trust’: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
The Top Writing Links From Last Week Are On Twitterific:
Click To Tweet
The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
February 28, 2019
Cozy Mystery Writing: Parceling Out Information
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Here’s a quick tip today for cozy mystery writers.
Is your cozy mystery too short? Do readers (or beta readers) say that they were able to figure out the murderer too soon in the story?
The answer to both of these problems may be something very simple.
How much are your suspects giving away in their interviews with your amateur sleuth?
There’s a temptation (at least, there’s always been for me) in giving away a little too much information in each interview. I want the sleuth to have some material to work with, of course, and I want the story to progress: I don’t want my amateur’s investigation to stall out or for the book to be boring for readers.
And that’s all very important. But it’s equally important to make sure that the suspects aren’t making things too easy for the sleuth, and for the reader. Cozy readers are experts at solving these cases.
Maybe, instead, your sleuth is gaining information from some of these interviews, but it’s the wrong information. Maybe your suspect is trying to redirect your sleuth away from something that might make him or her look guilty. One thing I like to do to ensure a good pace for my mysteries is to have each suspect tell a lie and a truth. That means you do give clues to the reader, but you’re also providing red herrings to send them (and the sleuth) on tangents. Sally says that Jim was fired from his job…and the victim was his supervisor. But she also says that she hasn’t seen the victim for the last few weeks (a lie). Later, another suspect can disprove this information and say that, in fact, Sally and the victim engaged in an argument not long before the victim’s murder.
Maybe your suspect is only hinting at information. Sally says that she heard that Jim was fired at work, but she doesn’t know why (or she prefers not to say). This gives the sleuth a lead to work on and maybe leads her to find another source of information…perhaps someone that Jim worked with. An interview like this can lead the story in a variety of different directions: maybe Jim was fired unjustly and because he knew the victim was engaged in something unlawful. Maybe Jim was fired because he was pilfering from the company and he was desperate to cover that information up.
Cozies don’t need to be overly complex to the point of reader frustration. But if the story is too linear or if the suspects are unloading everything they know on the sleuth, the mystery itself could be in trouble.
For more information on cozy mystery writing, see my full series here.
The same goes for other genres, too. Have you read books where the author has front-loaded the story with too much information and eliminated surprises? As a writer, do you try to make sure you don’t give away too much too early?
Tips on Parceling Out Information in a Cozy Mystery:
Click To Tweet
Photo on Visual Hunt
The post Cozy Mystery Writing: Parceling Out Information appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.
