Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 69

November 18, 2018

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.

I’m taking this week off for Thanksgiving and will be back next Sunday with another Twitterific. :) Happy Thanksgiving!

Business / Miscellaneous

5 Reasons Authors Fall for Vanity Presses: @JohnDoppler @IndieAuthorALLI
What to Consider Next if You’ve Had Your Backlist Rights Reverted to You:
The Best Way to Support Writers: @DanBlank
Publisher Richard Charkin: Author Pay: Why Do Authors Feel Hard Done By? @pubperspectives
5 Steps to Craft Your Creative Narrative: @thedailymba @DIYMFA

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

Hot Tips for Conferences from an Agent: @RachelleGardner
5 Things to Know About School Visits: @Scott_Thought
Frankfurter Buchmesse To Sponsor FutureBook of the Year Award: @Porter_Anderson @Book_Fair
US Author Serhii Plokhy Wins the UK’s Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction: @Porter_Anderson
India’s DSC Prize for South Asian Literature Releases Shortlist: @Porter_Anderson @kamilashamsie @pubperspectives
Maya Jasanoff Wins the $75,000 Cundill History Prize 2018: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Conferences and Events / NaNoWriMo

Confessions of a Slow Writer: Why it’s okay to fail NaNoWriMo: @annerallen
What Kind of NaNoWriMo Writer Are You? @NaNoWriMo
5 Reasons a Writer Enjoys NaNoWriMo: @TheRealKTDaxon
How to Use “The Immersive Approach” to Make Big Progress on a Project: @nylesclaire @emiliewapnick
The NaNo Halfway Mark: Action Plans: @thewritingpal
How to Overcome Common Writing Obstacles and Win NaNo Every Year: by T.S. Valmond @NaNoWriMo

Creativity and Inspiration / First Novels

9 Pieces of Bad Advice New Writers Should Ignore: @annerallen

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

The Undercover Soundtrack: Author @authorMayes on the Inspiration of Music: @Roz_Morris
Writing and the Creative Life: Think Psychologically: @GoIntoTheStory

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

How to Find Time to Read During Your Busy Days: @KarenBanes
Crime Fiction From the Post-Armistice-Day Era: @mkinberg
10 Books Perfect for Fans of Castle Rock: @Keith_Rice1 @unboundworlds
Banish the Book Snobbery: @LisaLisax31

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

10 tips to help you start writing even though you’re busy: by Anna Davis @CurtisBrown
Double down on your writing: @DanBlank

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

Is It Real? 25 Famous Writers on Writer’s Block: @knownemily @lithub
Out of the Postponement Loop: Writing from the Bubbles of an Idea: @RosanneBane
How to Break Through a Fiction Writing Block: @WritingForward

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

10 Tips for Productive Writing Sessions: @writingthrulife

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

“Going Public With My Failures”: @shirleyannemcm
Writers, What Your Walk Says About You: @colleen_m_story
10 things every new writer experiences: @TheLeighShulman
Overcoming Creativity Wounds: @grantfaulkner @JaneFriedman
Create Your Perfect Writing Space: @Janice_Hardy
7 Free or Cheap Writing Residencies to Apply For in 2019: by Frances Yackel @ElectricLit
Does Bad Romance Lead to Great Art? @Delistraty @parisreview
Writing With a Group: Collaboration: @jan_ohara @MichalskiLiz @WriterUnboxed
4 Steps To Avoid Writer Burnout: @LisaHallWilson
8 Ways to Get Into A Healthy Author Mindset: @_HannahHeath
Being Silenced and Breaking Free: @MemoirGuru @WomenWriters
Why Good Writers Can Be Bad Conversationalists: by Arthur Krystal @nytimes
Writing Process: Thoughts on Writing in Order: @PatrickRwrites

Genres / Fantasy

Always Read the Epigraph: A Lesson for Fantasy Readers: by Philip Styrt @tordotcom

Genres / Historical

Accuracy Vs Authenticity: 5 Tips For Writing Immersive Historical Fiction: @thecreativepenn

Genres / Mystery

Crime Writing: Your Eye Drops Can Kill You: @DPLyleMD
Why Alcoholism and Crime Fiction Are Still Entwined: @ReedFColeman @CrimeReads
Essential Crime Podcasts: @slidingbookcase @CrimeReads
The Therapist’s Couch and the Thriller: by Elisabeth Norebäck @CrimeReads

Genres / Non-Fiction

Accountability: Business Book Beta Readers: by Bec Evans @beprolifiko

Genres / Science Fiction

Five Characters of Mixed Magical / Science Fictional Heritage: @jamesdnicoll @tordotcom

Genres / Screenwriting

Screenwriting: Top 5 Scene Description Mistakes Writers Make: @Bang2write
Screenwriting: The Care and Feeding of Your Professional Network: @dougeboch

Promo / Ads

Author Advertising: Stacking Ads to Maximize Promotional Dollars: @johnhartness

Promo / Blogging

Organizing blog tours for releases: @Ellen__Jacobson
The Ultimate Guide to Writing Your Best Post Ever: @vzutshi @WritetoDone

Promo / Connecting with Readers

Meet the Super Fan … the Secret Sauce Authors Want: @JudithBriles
Why Library Discovery is the Best Discovery: @GraceBurrowes @KoboWritingLife
Why Reader Demographics are Critical for Book Discovery: @Bookgal

Promo / Images

Images: Free to Use and Reuse Sets from US Library of Congress: @librarycongress h/t @JaneFriedman

Promo / Video

Adding a Video to Your Book’s Amazon Sales Page: @ecellenb @IndiesUnlimited

Publishing / Miscellaneous

Why Every Indie Author Should Publish Audiobooks: @HelenSedwick @OrnaRoss @IndieAuthorALLI
Writing for the Health Markets: by John Riddle @hopeclark
Sensitivity Readers: @AmrenOrtega @OpAwesome6

Publishing / News / Amazon

Amazon launches Audible in India: @TNPS10
Amazon Reportedly Opts for Two HQ2 Sites and Names 10 Top Books of 2018: @Porter_Anderson
Amazon and the Also Bought Apocalypse: @DavidGaughran

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Freedom To Publish: Iranian Publisher on ‘Bringing Suppressed Writings’ to Persian Readers: @Porter_Anderson @Aparsapour
Russia Textbook Piracy Is In the News: 160,000 Copies Reported Seized: @Porter_Anderson
Association of American Publishers Join Chorus of Criticism Of Europe’s Plan S: @Porter_Anderson @mattbarblan
Peirene Press’ Meike Ziervogel: ‘We Have a Social Responsibility’: @oliviasnaije @MeikeZiervogel @PeirenePress
China’s Children’s Book Market: Big Numbers and Local Talent: @HannahSJohnson @pubperspectives

Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing

Indie basics: Publishing is a business: @itshelendarling @DIYMFA

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

How to Effectively Sell Your Book to an Agent: What to Do, What to Avoid: @tessaemilyhall

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Rejections

How to Handle Rejection: 4 Things NOT to Do and 3 Things to Do After You’re Rejected by a Publisher: @Jffelkins

Publishing / Process / Formatting

10 Ebook Conversion Tools for Docs to EPUB & MOBI: @carlaking @BookWorksNYC

Publishing / Process / Legalities

Lyrics In Books: Your Questions Answered: by Scott McCormick @BookBaby

Publishing / Process / Services to Avoid

Be Smart and Careful About Hybrid Publishing Services: @pubcoach

Writing Craft / Beginnings

Jump into your story with both guns blazing: @CalebPirtle

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Character’s Career: @Janice_Hardy
How to Develop a Character: 7 Simple Steps: @nownovel

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

Can a Protagonist evolve into an Antagonist? @GoIntoTheStory
Writing a Proactive Protagonist: @Kid_Lit

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

How to Bore an Editor to Death: @davidfarland
9 Steps to Fix a Broken Story: @JamiGold
Dealing with Dumb Ideas–Placeholders, Building Blocks, and Portrayals: @SeptCFawkes

Writing Craft / Dialogue

Who Said That? Dialogue and Your Writing: Adverbs: @Weifarer

Writing Craft / Diversity

Can diverse children’s books tackle prejudice? @Katy_Kates @cnni

Writing Craft / Endings

5 Tips to Build Finishing Energy for Writing Your Book: @lornafaith

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

How to Write a Character That Shows Sacrifice: @diannmills @EdieMelson
8 Absurdities We Force on Female Characters: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants
4 Smart Ways to Make Your Boring Filler Scenes Exciting: @RidethePen

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Outlining

How to outline a book without killing the fun of writing it: @Roz_Morris

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Lose The Plot: @WomenWriters
Plotting a Novel When You Haven’t Figured Out the Details Yet: @Janice_Hardy @RomanceUniv
70+ Plot Twist Ideas and Examples To Blow Your Readers Away: @ReedsyHQ
How to Plot a Novel From Scratch (Video): by Chris Fox

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

What Authors Need To Know When Writing About Law: @FredBobJohn @standoutbooks

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Beats

Predator Beat Sheet: @DonRoff @savethecat

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Concept

Top 10 Links To Make Sure Your Idea Kicks Ass: @EmmaStoryteller @Bang2write

Writing Craft / Revision

4 Ways to Successfully Self-Edit Your Manuscript: @NinaAmir
8 things to remember when editing your novel: @LisaODonnell72 @cbcreative
4 Easy Edits That Make Your Story Flow Better: @Julie_Glover

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

How to Recover from Harsh Writing Critiques: @BeingTheWriter @womenonwriting

Writing Craft / Scenes

How to Launch a Scene: @AnneHawley @StoryGrid

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

An Experiment in Writing Description: @EldredBird
Tips for Writing the Small Town Setting:

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

Readers, Characters and Word Choices – Keeping Them All in Mind: @authorterryo

Writing Craft / World-Building

Five Worldbuilding Errors That Should Be Banished from SF Forever: @jamesdnicoll @tordotcom

Writing Tools / Apps

5 Author Productivity Tools: @DaveChesson @DIYMFA
How to Review Old Drafts With Scrivener Snapshots: @kristen_kieffer

Writing Tools / Resources

20 Podcasts for Authors on Writing, Publishing, and Book Marketing: @DianaUrban

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Published on November 18, 2018 02:20

November 16, 2018

Writing the Small Town Setting

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

As a mystery writer, I’m especially fond of small town settings. I have written larger cities (notably the Memphis Barbeque series), but to make it work, I basically created a small setting within a larger one (life surrounding a family-owned restaurant).

I think small town settings have a lot to offer writers of other genres, too. That’s because it offers ample opportunity for conflict…and we all know that conflict drives stories.

You may have a more idealistic view of small towns. That dichotomy is what makes it so interesting.

Here are the elements that I usually draw on in painting life in a small town:

Residents are friendly…and not. One interesting aspect of small town life is that the residents can be friendly. You might not feel like a stranger when you first arrive in town because people are curious and that curiosity can translate into chattiness (especially in the American South). But later, you may find that residents usually want to protect their way of life and are very resistant to change. They can be especially hostile when they feel their way of life is threatened or if a newcomer claims to know how to make things better (and more like the place they moved away from). This can lend a very insular feeling to a location.

Going along with the friendliness motif, small towns can be cliquey. This may be because families tend to stick together (and cousins may be located all over town). It can be a cliquey aspect surrounding the various churches that residents attend. And of course, it’s also cliquey because residents share so much backstory that they can’t really help but fall into the same patterns with the same people.

There is a lot of backstory in small towns. Expanding on backstory–it’s everything in a small town. You might be considered a newcomer, even if you lived your entire life in the town, if your parents or grandparents moved to the town. There are so many people with personal histories deeply entrenched in town history that it’s hard to distinguish the person from the town. Maybe the resident comes from a long line of teachers and principals in the town. Maybe the resident’s great-grandfather helped found one of the local churches or started the town newspaper.

Your history is your identity. It can be hard to escape it. As a kid growing up, everyone knows about your family background and first impressions may be based more on who your family is than who you appear to be.

Town info hubs. There are places where folks meet up…and possibly gossip about each other, too. These can include salons and barber shops, favorite restaurants/diners, and churches.

Gossip. Privacy can be key because otherwise the whole town knows. This leads to that most exciting element in a mystery…secrets.

Grudges (including generational grudges). When people have known each other for a long time, and when their families have known each other for a long time, pettiness and grudges can occur.

Support. This is a pro of small-town living. If you experience hardship or loss, the town pitches in. You’re not suffering on your own, the town is suffering it right along with you. And in good times, the same applies–you’re not celebrating on your own. There are also many rituals involved in both weddings and funerals…expectations that the residents may have on how both are handled.

Do you write small-town settings? Have you ever lived in a small town? What types of small town elements have you included in your writing?

Tips for Writing a Small Town Setting:
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Published on November 16, 2018 02:46

November 11, 2018

So You’ve Gotten Your Rights Back

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve published a couple of posts about getting your character rights back from publishers. This enables writers to continue publishing new books in a series. In my case, I’d been allowed to continue my series, but I hadn’t been able to republish my backlist (the publishers still wanted to hold those rights).

My backlist is still being held by Penguin for one of my series (and another Penguin series doesn’t have a hope of released rights), but for another publisher I finally have the digital rights back to the first book in the Myrtle Clover series (as of July). I’d received print rights back some time back to the book.

If this all sounds rather complicated…yes, it can be. I regularly receive emails from traditionally published writers who either aren’t sure about how to go about asking for rights or who aren’t totally sure what to do after they get their rights back.

If you’re trying to get your rights back, see these posts of mine for a little direction:

Thoughts on Getting Rights Back

Self-Publishing a Series that Started in Trad. Pub

If you’re a writer who isn’t totally sure what to do once you’ve gotten yours back, here are some ideas (I’m working on most of these, myself).

Character Rights:

If you’ve gotten your character rights back (but not the rights to republish the first books in your series), there are a few things you can do.

First off, you can continue writing your series. This is not (at least, it wasn’t for me) very time-consuming since we’ve already built the story world and have well-developed characters.

Usually you’ll need to figure out a delicate balance between continuing the branding from the beginning of the series and not using the same elements that your publisher’s cover designer used. This may mean changing the font (but possibly using the same color scheme), etc. It’s a little tricky, but it helps if you find a professional cover designer who can figure out how best to navigate it.

If your books function as standalones, it’s possible to create box sets/bundles with the books that you write. I’ve done it and readers didn’t complain about not getting the first book in the series.

With the books you write yourself, you can really expand your audience. When you expand your reach, I’ve found that readers go back and read the first books in your series, too. Try moving into audio, the library market, foreign markets, and translated books.

Digital and Print Rights to Books the Publisher Previously Held:

Here is where things really start opening up.

First off, you can set your book one as a loss leader (at a lower price than the rest of your books) or a newsletter magnet (a giveaway for readers who sign up for your author newsletter to hear of new releases).

Now you can create box sets where all of the books in the series are included.

Maybe your books weren’t available in print. Maybe they weren’t available in hardcover. Maybe they weren’t available digitally. Or in large print. Now you have an opportunity to correct that by making the book available in all formats.

If you’re trying to reach a younger audience, you can upload the first book in the series to a platform like Wattpad (I’ve developed a much younger readership this way). It’s best to upload a chapter each week and put a note at the bottom of each chapter stating where to buy the rest of the series.

And the same advice as above applies: you can expand your reach because you hold all the rights. Want to reach the library market? Audio book lovers? English language readers in other countries (UK, Australia, Canada)? Readers in non-English-speaking markets through translation?

If all of this seems like a lot of work in addition to your writing (and reading this post over, it definitely does), then remember to tackle it in small increments. Research a format or a distributor for 10 minutes each day for a week. Then set up a profile at the retailer or distributor the following day. Then upload a book or two. Just take it one task at a time.

Have you had rights reverted to you? How are you exploiting them?

What to Do After a Rights Reversion:
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Published on November 11, 2018 21:02

November 10, 2018

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Business / Miscellaneous

Is Collaborative Writing on the rise? And Making the Most of It: @msheatherwebb @WriterUnboxed

5 Freelance Writing Tips: @robertleebrewer @WritersDigest

Two Vital Questions to Ask Yourself About Writing: by Diane Tibert

For Indie Publishers: When and Why to Work with a Trade Book Distributor: @joebiel_ @JaneFriedman

How to understand readability stats: @pubcoach

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

Sharjah Book Fair Opens With Spectacle, Ceremony: @Porter_Anderson

The UK’s Sunday Times/PFD Award for Younger Writers Shortlists Four Debuts: @girlhermes @LauraSFreeman @FJMoz @adamweymouth by @Porter_Anderson @YoungWriterYear

Hay Festival Announces New Events in Peru and Chile: @Porter_Anderson

Canada’s 2018 Cundill History Prize Finalists: Authors and Climate in Context: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

At Sharjah, London Book Fair Plans Market Focus Indonesia: @Porter_Anderson @BritishCouncil

Conferences and Events / NaNoWriMo

3 Ways to Reach Your Writing Goals: @AlyssaColeLit @NaNoWriMo

How to Use Scrivener for NaNoWriMo: @Gwen_Hernandez @JamiGold

16.67 Ways to Juice Your Daily NaNoWriMo Word Count: @theladygreer @WriterUnboxed @NaNoWriMo

6 Ways to Balance NaNoWriMo and Your Life: by Gianna Maria @NaNoWriMo

The Spouse’s Guide to NaNoWriMo: Juggling Life and Writing in November: by Thomas Hardy @Janice_Hardy

30 Tips for Conquering Your 30-Day Writing Challenge: by @JessZafarris @WritersDigest @PiSquare @Metal_and_Earth @ganymeder

How to Break the Rules for the Best NaNoWriMo Ever: @weems503

National Novel Writing Month — 4 Tips to Help You Laser-Focus on Your Writing: @_TJ_Rigg @NaNoWriMo

How to Write More Words: Winning at NaNo: @MegLaTorre @AngelaAckerman @NaNoWriMo

Write Your NaNoWriMo in a Flash: @Lindasclare

“My body is conspiring against me winning NaNo”: @Vampyr14 @OpAwesome6

11 Tips to Beat Procrastination and Get that Novel Drafted: @AnnieNeugebauer @LitReactor

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Published on November 10, 2018 21:02

November 8, 2018

Adapting Writing Routines

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

It’s kind of interesting when you’ve been blogging as long as I have. Recently, I looked back over some of the posts from 2009 and 2010. My writing routine was very different back then and definitely something that was a work in progress. My guest post on Kaye Barley’s Meanderings and Muses blog explains how best to entertain children and get writing done (hint: bring their friends along).

In fact, many of my posts involved writing on the go. I learned to be very flexible with when and where I wrote…the whole point was to meet my goals however I could manage it.

It was, honestly, a crazy time. I was under contract for a couple of different series to Penguin and working on a 3rd for myself. My day, however, was very structured around my children’s activities and school days. I fit my writing around my children and it worked out really well.

Now my ‘children’ are 21 and 17. My son is away at college and my daughter soon will be. Even with one bird still in the nest, my daughter is rarely here. She no longer needs rides anywhere and her school schedule this year involves a dual-enrollment program (part of her day at high school, part of her day at a local college).

My kids’ schedules provided the framework of my writing day. Structure was forced on me by carpool times for both school (two different schools because of the age difference of my children) and for various afterschool sports, clubs, etc.

When you choose your own schedule, you can be spoiled for choice. This is definitely the case for those of us going through empty nest syndrome, and I’m imagining it’s the same for those of us who have recently retired.

Can you have too much time to write? I think that can be a problem, for sure. Before, I had to be extremely focused and protective of my writing time and was sure to squeeze it into any available free spot in my day. Ultimately, this trained me to be very productive. I wrote in carpool lines and while waiting for my children to come out of Scouts or cheer practice.

I realized about a year ago that I needed to rethink how I approached my writing day. Here are my tips for rethinking a routine:

Evaluate what still works. I kept some elements that always worked really well for me. I knew that I always feel better when I am up earlier than anyone else and can knock out most, if not all, of my goal then. This still worked for me, so I kept it.

Reassess word count goals and goals per session. Are you still hitting your goals? Should you make your first writing session longer instead of trying to jumpstart the process again later in the day? For me, this was the answer (or most of it). While I was still somewhat in the writing zone, it made sense for me to lengthen my first session of the day.

Consider when best to add another writing session. When are you most productive? For me, I realized another short session in the morning would work best. I write at 5 a.m. for the first session so I definitely wasn’t feeling burned out at 10 a.m., hours later. But that’s still a time when I have a lot of energy.

Evaluate the new routine. Are you making more progress? Or should you make some tweaks to the new routine and reassess?

For further reading:

Has Your Writing Routine Become a Writing Rut? by Suzannah Windsor Freeman. This article involves a routine that’s been broken up by a baby.

5 Signs You Need to Break Up Your Writing Routine by Colleen M. Story. Indicators that we need to consider adapting our routines.

7 Useful Tips for Establishing a Writing Routine by Claire Bradshaw. Great advice for anyone trying to start a routine or change one.

Do you have a writing routine? If so, is it different now from the way it used to be? Was it hard to adapt?

Adapting Writing Routines:
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Published on November 08, 2018 21:02

November 4, 2018

Fitting in a New Project

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I usually just jump right into new projects without thinking a lot about it. I follow my outlines and I write what I’ve told myself to write each day. The big advantage is that these are long-running series and I’m writing another installment. I know the characters better than I know some family members. I would recognize my settings if I happened to drive through them on a road trip.

But starting a completely new and different project is different. For one, it’s not guaranteed to be a success, which makes it risky. I know if I write another Southern Quilting mystery or another Myrtle Clover mystery that I will receive X amount of income from it. With a new project, it could completely bomb.

Starting a new project is also different because it’s so time consuming. When you write series, you already have developed characters and a well-established story world. It takes half the time to write. When you’re writing something new, everything is new.

To lessen the risk of the new project, I write one revenue-generating project in the morning and work on the new project in the afternoon. It works out really well, unless the series are similar… in which case, there’s sometimes accidental cross-pollination that has to be edited out later.

In some ways, it’s almost fun writing two things at once. You never get bored, that’s for sure. Get stuck in one section? You have another story that needs you to work on it. Not in the mood to write humor? Maybe your other book needs a dramatic scene written. And you’re much less likely to want to write a Shiny New Thing instead of sticking with your current books.

The hardest part, for me, of writing two projects at once is just getting started with project two. That’s mostly for the two reasons above: the risk and the time suck. There are ways to help get past that mental block, though.

First, break down the second project into manageable bits. Your time in setup counts as much as your time writing the story. It usually takes me about a week to outline a book, but it takes longer for a different genre or for a new series. So create an editorial calendar where you plan to work on the outline for 10 days and research for 3 days, etc.

Then, set the bar pretty low in terms of goals. That might sound counterintuitive, but when you’re trying to keep a project from getting overwhelming, racking up a string of smaller successes can really help with motivation.

For further reading on working on multiple projects, see:

Matt Bird’s post, “How to Write Every Day: Work on Multiple Projects”

Kelsie Engen’s post, “Multitasking Required.”

Jodi Meadows’ post, “Working on Multiple Projects”

Joanna Maciejewska’s post, “Writing Multiple Projects, Pros and Cons”

Have you worked on multiple projects at once? How did that work?

Fitting in a New Project While Working on Another:
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Published on November 04, 2018 21:02

November 3, 2018

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Business / Miscellaneous

Despite the Odds, a New Independent Bookstore Opens in Paris: ‘ICI’: @oliviasnaije

Taking Care of Business: The Writer’s Edition: @writersstation @WriterUnboxed

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

London Book Fair and the Publishers Association Plan a Third Inclusivity Conference: @Porter_Anderson @LondonBookFair @ThatKerryHudson

Gearing Up for Getting Out: The Conference Experience: @DavidCorbett_CA

Sharjah’s Professional Publishing Program: ‘Livelihoods Are at Stake’: @pubperspectives @Porter_Anderson

The UK’s National Book Awards Announce Shopping Season Shortlists: @Porter_Anderson @natbookawards @ZoeTheBall

Stressing Local Publishers’ Importance at Sharjah: Setzer, Al Hammadi: @Porter_Anderson

Conferences and Events / NaNoWriMo

7 Self-Care Tips for Surviving @NaNoWriMo by Erin Townsend

Writing – How to Get Ready for @NaNoWriMo & Why: @DebbieYoungBN @IndieAuthorALLI

The Way to Really Get Ready for NaNoWriMo: @LiveWriteThrive

5 Tips for NaNoWriMo Success: @KelsieEngen

National Novel Writing Month: NaNo 101: The Basics for First-Time Wrimos: @NaNoWriMo

Top 6 Tips for NaNoWriMo: @PaulaSMunier @CareerAuthors

Your Quintessential NaNoWriMo Prep Guide (With Freebies and Resource Lists): @shaylaleeraquel

6 Scary-Good Tricks to Help You Write a Book in a Month: @NinaAmir @NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month — To Research or Not to Research: by Jill Shirley @NaNoWriMo

Plotting tips for writers in time for @NaNoWriMo :

Creativity and Inspiration / First Novels

The Debut Novelist’s Guide to Battling Imposter Syndrome: @treebirds @lithub

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

31 Horrifying Writing Prompts to Help You Scare the Bejesus out of Yourself This Halloween: @HughesAuthor

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

Find New Books Based on Where They’re Set With This Tool: @Emily @lifehacker

On Plath’s Birthday: 10 of the Best Sylvia Plath Poems Everyone Should Read: @InterestingLit

9 Novels in Which Houses Have a Life of Their Own: by Melanie Hobson @lithub

Rediscover Your Avid Inner Reader: @JennyHansenCA

8 Great Science Fiction Reads for the Techno-Skeptic: @mattstaggs @unboundworlds

Asimov’s Guide To Shakespeare Exists, and You Need It: @galaxyalex @tordotcom

The Race Against Time Thriller: @StephofLegends

Some Like It Dark: Terror in Translation: @_heathercleary

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

What Do You Want to Write But Haven’t Yet? @JamiGold

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

Nobody Told Me That Writing and Parenting Are (Basically) The Same: @misshellinga @NaNoWriMo

Author Mindset: Your Road Map To Winning Creative Battles: @thecreativepenn @timgrahl

When the Wreckage Is in the Writer: On Creating Death and Disaster: @EthanChatagnier @The_Millions

How to Reboot Personally or Professionally: @WriteOnOnline

How to Use Your Favorite Books to Determine Your Future: @colleen_m_story

8 Moments When You Swear You’ll Never Write Again: @IndieReader

How to Tell Your Truth as a Biracial Writer and Why It’s Vital: @adibkhorram @SignatureReads

Title Your Inspirational Memoir With Our Handy Chart (Humor): @ElectricLit

The 5 Ghosts that Haunt Writers and How to Bust ‘Em: @colleen_m_story

Inside the Mind of an Author Writing a Book: @joebunting

Genres / Horror

20 Essential Crime and Horror Crossovers: @GiveMeYourTeeth @CrimeReads

How To Write Bloodcurdling Horror: Your Halloween Starter Kit: @Bang2write

Secrets of the Horror Genre: by Rachelle Ramirez @StoryGrid

13 Must-Read Books for Aspiring Horror Writers: @ReedsyHQ

17 Ways To Write A Terrifyingly Good Horror Story: @woodwardkaren

“The Serial Killer is Our Great Modern Demon”: by Darryl Jones @CrimeReads

Inspiration for Horror Writers and the Macabrely-Minded: @kirabutler

Genres / Mystery

When One of Your Mystery Series is More Popular Than Others: @mkinberg

Stephen King: Crime Writer: @GiveMeYourTeeth @CrimeReads

Consumer Protection as an Element in Crime Fiction: @mkinberg

Genres / Non-Fiction

How To Find The Story In Your Non-fiction Project: by Rebecca Langley @standoutbooks

Promo / Blogging

The Basics of Successful Blogging: @EdieMelson

Less Common Interview Questions for Blog Author Interviews: @ZoeMMcCarthy

9 Scariest Things About Blogging: @EdieMelson

Promo / Book Reviews

How to Ethically Get the Reviews You Want: @WritersConnect3 @TheIWSG

Promo / Miscellaneous

Book release checklist: @jodimeadows

Promo / Social Media Tips

Are You Ready to Add More Social Media to Your Platform? @EJWenstrom @DIYMFA

Writers: 3 Tips for Better Promo on Goodreads from @ChrysFey :

25 Tips for Posting on Social Media: @CaballoFrances

Publishing / Miscellaneous

How Do We Measure Commercial Success in Books? by Richard Charkin @pubperspectives

New Blake Freeman Johnson Media: ‘An Original Cyber Publishing Concept’: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Sample Permissions Letter: by Stephanie Chandler @NonfictionAssoc

Publishing / News / Amazon

“The arrival of ‘Warmer’—7 new works of short fiction on …climate change—signals Amazon Original Stories’ interest in social relevance and speed to market”: @Porter_Anderson @AmazonPub

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Industry Notes: Publishing Scotland’s Translation Fund; Switzerland’s Peter Lang: @Porter_Anderson @PeterLangGroup

PRH Takes Majority Stake in Brazil’s Grupo Companhia das Letras: @Porter_Anderson @penguinrandom

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing

Proofreading designed page proofs: @LouiseHarnby

A Tip for Twitter Pitches: Have a Manuscript Ready: @Janet_Reid

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

Get a publishing deal by avoiding these common book proposal mistakes: @GhostwriterJG @sandrabeckwith

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Rejections

Writers Dish on Rejection: @pubcoach

Publishing / Process / Translation

Ottaway Winner: Chad Post on Translation’s ‘Expanding Audience’: @Porter_Anderson @chadwpost

Writing Craft / Beginnings

Find Empathy in Your Openings: @KayKeppler

Does This Opening Bore or Interest You to Read More? @TigerXGlobal

Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists

9 Best Enemy Duos Who Just Care About Each Other So Much (But Will Never Tell): @use_theforce_em @tordotcom

Writing Great Villains: Tips: @evans_writer @RMFWriters

Create Killer Twists: Learn How to Redeem Your Villain: @sacha_black

Writing Craft / Characters / Arc

How to Build a Character Arc: @CherylProWriter

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

The Opposite is Possible Theory of Character Development: @DIYMFA

Finding Your Character’s Blind Spot: @diannmills @WriterUnboxed

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

How to approach writing a villain protagonist? @GoIntoTheStory

Heroic Traits and Their Faults: from Clever Girl Helps

Writing Craft / Endings

Cliffhangers: Is the Suspense Worth It? by Katherine Marciniak @PassiveVoiceBlg

Writing Craft / Flashback and Back Story

The Brilliance of Backstory Slip-Ins: @MargieLawson

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

6 Things Writers Can Learn From The Handmaid’s Tale: @Bang2write

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

How to Make Stories Allegorical: @AJHumpage

Deconstructing Best Sellers in Your Niche Genre: @LiveWriteThrive

When to Use Summary to Move Your Story Along: @writingthrulife

3 Tips for Writing a Story That’s Better Than Its Flaws: @KMWeiland

Are We All Gaslighters? @sarah_zettel @CrimeReads

Promise Fresh Perspective to Readers: @kcraftwriter

Writing Craft / POV

Choosing POV for a Story: @plotlinehotline

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Writers, we are doing it backwards: @speechwriterguy

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

A Primer on Cults for Writers: by Ban @mythicscribes

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

5 Tips for Writing Group Success: @LMacNaughton

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

When to Leave Out the ‘That’: @KAServian1 @RomanceUniv

Beyond the Easy Gesture in Fiction: @LindaKSienkwicz

Writing Craft / World-Building

World Building with the Celestial Objects of our Solar System: @MelanieMarttila @DIYMFA

Writing Tools / Apps

How to View Multiple Documents At Once In Scrivener: @kristen_kieffer

How to Format an Ebook in Scrivener 3: @KristinaAuthor

Writing Tools / Books

10 Books to help you feel like a real writer when you’re discouraged: @JanetBoyer @annerallen

Writing Tools / Resources

A New Character Name Generator: The Ultimate Bank of 1,000,000+ Names: @ReedsyHQ

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Published on November 03, 2018 21:02

November 1, 2018

Delivering Scares in Cozies and Other Genres

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Hope everyone had a good Halloween. Apparently I still have scary stuff on the brain. :)

The subjective nature of fear:

I’m not usually a fan of being terrified when I read or watch something. And I think I have a very low-threshold in terms of what’s scary. I recommended the first “Halloween” movie to my father last month (he’d never seen it). He was glad he watched it because he now understands a lot of pop-culture references. But he didn’t think it was scary . . . and the film scared me to death. I think the scariest moment was at the very beginning of the movie when two girls were walking home from school in broad daylight and one of them, and the viewer, sees a creepy man wearing a mask by a row of bushes. It bothered me because it came out of nowhere: it wasn’t even nighttime. And it took place in a public (which I equate to safe) location.

My high school senior daughter had to watch “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” last week at a school film club for extra credit for a sociology class (I know, I was baffled, too, ha). Before she left, I warned her that it was very scary. She came back to tell me that it wasn’t scary . . . it was disturbing.

So I struck out twice on what was scary. To two different generations.

Knowing reader expectations for what’s scary in your genre:

I don’t think it matters too much that I’m such a chicken when it comes to scary books and movies. That’s because I understand that I’m on the same wavelength with my readers. Once when I was writing a book for the Memphis Barbeque series and scared myself in the process (the only time I’ve done this except when writing my zombie book). I immediately realized the scene was too dark and needed to be toned down.

For cozies, I think the expectation is more for tension than fear. Cozies are generally an escape. Tense moments are fine. But too much darkness and drawn-out scares are probably more fitting for other genres. Of course writers can write however they want…but to be more of a commercial match for the audience, it’s a good idea to keep reader expectations in mind.

The premise of cozies is “the killer among us.” That, to me, is scary enough. Unlike some genres, the cozy mystery presents the murderer as someone in our neighborhood, our family, our quilt guild, our church.

Maybe you write for a genre that has some latitude with its scares. For further reading on delivering fright, read:

“How to Tell Scary Stories, from the Co-Creator of ‘American Horror Story‘ : 8 tips from Brad Falchuk via Joe Berkowitz

“Writing Scary Scenes”: tips from writer Rayne Hall

“How to Write a Scary Scene“: by Susan Dennard

How tolerant are you of being scared? How scary are your books?

Delivering Genre-Appropriate Scares to Your Readers:
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Photo credit: Pensiero on Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-ND

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Published on November 01, 2018 21:02

October 28, 2018

3 More Things You Should Do on Goodreads

by Chrys Fey, @ChrysFey

Back in June Elizabeth graciously had me as a guest on her wonderful blog for 3 Things You’re Probably Not Doing on Goodreads that You Should. Shortly after that post went live, I thought of 3 more things you could do on Goodreads and wanted to do a follow-up post here. So, are you ready for 3 additional tips that are easy to do and can be beneficial to you and your books?

Well, here they are!

Upload YouTube Videos

Do you create videos about your books for a YouTube channel? Have you ever done a recorded reading or a book trailer? Great! Now you can post those to Goodreads.

Step 1: All you need is the full URL to the video on YouTube. Copy it and head over to your Goodreads profile.

Step 2: On the left side of your profile, beneath your followers, you’ll see a section for videos. Click “add new.”

Step 3: On the page that pops up, paste the full YouTube URL for the video into the spot asking for the “Video URL.”

Step 4: Insert a title and description.

Step 5: Fill out tags, using commas to separate them. You could use your author name, your book’s title, your series’ title, your characters’ names, and keywords that you’d use to describe your book’s genre/category on Amazon.

Other Tag Ideas: reading, author reading, book trailer, book series, readers.

You can even use popular hashtags from Instagram and Twitter for books and readers, but without the actual hashtag symbol. Ex: bibliophiles, bookworm

Step 6: Choose the type of video. Your options are: trailer, interview, reading, speech, and other.

Step 7: Select which one of your books the video is about.

Step 8: Click “save.”

Now your video is up for Goodreads members to view. Not only will it be on your profile in the sidebar, but also on your book’s Goodreads page as a bonus for readers. Only two videos are visible at a time, but all can be found by clicking “see more.” When you view all videos. there’s a counter that shows the number of views of your videos have received.

See: 10 Things You Can Do on Your Author YouTube Channel

Add Your Series’ Book Titles to Book Descriptions

This is a tip I also recommend for all of the description sections for books on Amazon. If you have a series/trilogy, add the list of book titles for that series/trilogy in the description of each book’s Goodreads page below the blurb.

For example:

Series Name:

Book 1 Title

Book 2 Title

Book 3 Title

This is great for readers who stumble upon your book or stop in to check it out. By putting this list beneath the blurb, you are helping readers who may want to know the order of books. As a reader, I know it can be a pain to discover the order of books. And as an author, it’s free advertising.

TIP: You can also ask Goodreads Librarians to create a series page so that on your profile there will be a section titled “Series by (Author Name).” The name of your series will be accompanied with the cover images of your books and an average rating. Readers can then click on it to see the order of books and a few details about each book. But you have to join the Goodreads Librarians group first, which is as easy as clicking a button.

Create Your Own Quotes

Scroll down on your Goodreads profile to the quote section beneath your recent updates. This is where you’ll find quotes you might’ve liked on Goodreads. If it’s empty, that just means you haven’t liked any quotes yet. But you can now! And you can make your own.

Click “Quotes by [Your Author Name.]” You’ll be taken to a new page. In the upper right-hand corner, click “Add A Quote.” Then you can fill in a quote, choose which book it comes from, and add tags (keywords).

Is there a bit of dialogue one of your characters says that reveals emotion, characterization, or hints at the plotline? What about narrative? Did you write a nice descriptive paragraph that stuns you with how good it is? Take those lines from your book and turn them into quotes. When you do, they will show up on your profile and on your book’s page where readers can like them and have them displayed in their favorite quotes section. And when they do that, their friends could see those quotes, too, and become intrigued. That’s what we want, right? Of course, it is!

With these 3 extra tips, I hope you’ve found ways to spice up your Goodreads profile and book pages, especially if you don’t usually use or go to Goodreads. Now is the time to take action and full advantage of this great platform.

Share: Your Goodreads tips.

For more information like this check out:

Write with Fey: 10 Sparks to Guide You from Idea to Publication by Chrys Fey

BIO: Chrys Fey is the author of Write with Fey: 10 Sparks to Guide You from Idea to Publication. Catch the sparks you need to write, edit, publish, and market your book! From writing your novel to prepping for publication and beyond, you’ll find sparks on every page, including 100 bonus marketing tips. Fey is an editor for Dancing Lemur Press and runs the Insecure Writer’s Support Group’s Goodreads book club. She is also the author of the Disaster Crimes series. Visit her blog, Write with Fey, for more tips. @ChrysFey www.ChrysFey.com