Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 76

June 10, 2018

Goodreads Widget For Facebook

Someone is reading in a chair with a cup of coffee and a phone on a table beside them.

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Last Monday I talked a little bit about Goodreads widgets on our website can help us offer some social proof to readers and maybe help drum up interest in our books. Today, I thought I’d cover another of the Goodreads widgets, this one for our Facebook page.

Adding a tab to our Facebook page is pretty straightforward. I chose to add an author tab, since I have a lot of books, but you could also choose to add a book tab if you’d rather. You can also add a group tab (instructions for that at the bottom of this page).

Here are the directions, straight from the Goodreads Help page:

To add an author or book tab:

1. Create a Facebook Page if you don’t already have one.
2. Visit your author dashboard.
3. Scroll down to the “Facebook Page Tab” section.
4. Click the green “Add the Goodreads app” link in this section.
5. A pop-up will appear. Choose your page from the drop-down menu and hit “Okay.”
6. Navigate to your Facebook fan page. You should now see a Goodreads icon on the “About” bar (under the “Like” button). Click on this to visit your page tab.

The tab will default to showing an “Author” page, which will show all of your author information, details, and books. If you’d like to switch this to a dedicated book page instead, just go back to Facebook. Click on the page tab and scroll the whole way down. At the bottom right, you’ll see a link that says “Edit your Goodreads tab settings.” Click this to choose what type of tab you’d like to set up.

You’ll want to tinker with the default settings to make sure you’re highlighting your better reviews on the site. Although I find bad reviews very helpful in making sure readers know that the title isn’t only reviewed by friends and family, I don’t think they’re very helpful as advertising.

It ends up looking like this:

Once I’d added the Goodreads tab to the page, I realized that not only was I not happy having the tab at the bottom of the list of tabs, the whole tab column was way too cluttered.

To Reorder Tabs on a Facebook Page:

Go to your Page and click Settings

Click Edit Page in the left column
Click and drag a tab to reorder it

Remove Tabs and Sections
Keep in mind that you can only remove the following tabs and sections: Events, Groups, Notes, Services, Shop, Jobs, Offers and Reviews.
To remove a tab or section:

Go to your Page and click Settings

Click Edit Page in the left column
Click Settings next to the tab you want to remove
Click to select Off

Click Save

After that, it looked much better (unfortunately, Facebook doesn’t allow you to remove some tabs, but I removed what I could):

And that’s pretty much it! Just another way to try to set our Facebook page apart and perhaps generate some interest in our books.

Have you integrated the Goodreads widget in your Facebook page? What other promo activities have you been working on?

Adding a Goodreads Widget to Your Facebook Page:
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Published on June 10, 2018 21:02

June 9, 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 45,000 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

Why You Need to Test Market Your Book Idea…and How to Do It: @WriteNowCoach

What’s in an Author Name? @MarieMyungOkLee @The_Millions

Good Advice, Bad Advice: Writing through the “Shoulds”: @msheatherwebb @WriterUnboxed

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

10 Best Packing Tips For Authors: @gailcarriger

Hay Festival 2018 Sets a Record, Selling 18,000 More Tickets Than in 2017: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

University of Warwick’s Peter Marshall Wins £40,000 Wolfson History Prize: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Cheltenham Literary Festival 2018 Announces Elements of Its Educational Program: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Kamila Shamsie Wins £30,000 Women’s Prize for Fiction: @Porter_Anderson @kamilashamsie

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

Increase Writing Quality by Both Filling and Stilling Your Mind: @annkroeker

The 7 Habits Of Highly Creative People: @constantmusings

How Designing Covers for My Books Helps 1 Author Write Them: by Johan Harstad @lithub

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Quotes

Quotes for Writers: 35 International Authors’ Writing Advice: @nownovel

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

The Novel Within the Novel: 8 Meta Stories With Thrillers Inside: @sarabooks @CrimeReads

Five Essential Books About Plagues and Pandemics: @claudiagray @tordotcom

Ten Excellent SFF ‘Ships: @riss4x @tordotcom

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

How To Keep Writing When That Critical Inner Voice Won’t Shut Up: @LisaCron @AngelaAckerman

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

3 Words to Help You Find Time to Write: @BetJett @EdieMelson

15 minute writing challenge (video): @EvaDeverell

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

Mindfulness and Memory: by Pamela Moore @livequiet

Writing And The Fear Of Judgment: @thecreativepenn

How to Make an Honest Living as a Writer: @savilleneuve

Supporting Disability Amongst Writers: @nick45wood @sfwa

Writing on the Go: by Janet Lane @RMFWriters

What to Write When You’re Not Writing: @gargimehraa @sfwa

52 Things Writers Fear (but shouldn’t): @katekrake

Genres / Fantasy

Creating Believable Fantasy Characters: @StevieRaeCausey

6 Characteristics of a Great Fantasy Writer: by Jessica Wood @mythicscribes

9 Fantasy Duos Bound By Fate: @nataliezutter @tordotcom

Genres / Horror

Mariana Enriquez on Political Violence and Writing Horror: @raviddice @lithub

Reverse-mullet pedagogy: valuing horror fiction in the classroom: @MathiasClasen @OUPAcademic

Genres / Memoir

How to Deal with Memory and Emotions When Writing a Memoir: @writeabook

9 Tips For Using Fiction Techniques When Writing Memoir: @Michael_Editor @thecreativepenn

Genres / Miscellaneous

Why Are There So Few Female Horses in Speculative Fiction? @dancinghorse

Genres / Mystery

A look at privacy vs. police procedures as elements in crime fiction through the years: @mkinberg

How to Create a Mystery Detective Readers Love: @ZaraAltair @ProWritingAid

Different sets of standards for the wealthy as an element in crime fiction: @mkinberg

Crime Writing: Want to Make Your Scenes Come Alive? Here’s a Cop’s-Eye View: @LeeLofland @killzoneauthors

Genres / Non-Fiction

How To Write About Family in Creative Nonfiction: @kayladeanwrites @DIYMFA

Genres / Picture Books

Essential Marketing Tactics For Children’s Authors: @DaveChesson @AngelaAckerman

Genres / Science Fiction

The Science in Your Science Fiction: Future Space Travel: @MelanieMarttila @DIYMFA

Genres / Short Stories

How Themes Are Presented in Short Stories: @SaraL_Writer @DIYMFA

Promo / Connecting with Readers

Know Your Audience and Story Age Distinctions: by Just a Writing Aid

Promo / Crowdfunding

1 Writer’s Experience Crowdfunding: @DiannaLGunn

Promo / Miscellaneous

Why Authors Need to Create Book Trailers: by Jonathan Vars

Create a Marketing Plan That Works For You—Free Template Download: @tessaemilyhall

How to Market a Book: 5 Strategies One Writer Used to Win Readers’ Choice: @_KimWriteEdit_

5 Ways to Build Your Local Market: @Bookgal @IndieReader

Promo / Social Media Tips

30 Minutes a Day is All It Takes to Automate Your Social Media Activity, But I Don’t Recommend it: @thDigitalReader

3 Things You’re Probably Not Doing on Goodreads But Should (via @ChrysFey ):

Promo / Websites

Learn link building, or how to get others to link back to your website: @CherylProWriter

Publishing / Miscellaneous

Audiobook Royalties: To Share or Not Share? @annacastl @joelfroomkin @IndieAuthorALLI

Storytel in Spain: When Entering the Audiobook Market Means Making New Serials: @Porter_Anderson

Wattys Open for Nominations With New Diversity-Driven Category: @Porter_Anderson @wattpad

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Industry Notes: Asian Festival of Children’s Content; Macmillan, Binc Open Diversity Scholarships: @Porter_Anderson

Freedom to Publish Advocacy: Authors Guild Wins ‘CockyGate’ Court Ruling: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

As the World Cup Approaches, PEN Authors Press Moscow for Oleg Sentsov’s Release: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Industry Notes: ‘The Great American Read’ Gets Videos; America’s Big Read Gets Grants: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Authors Guild Opens Regional Chapters, Amazon Complaint Resolution: @Porter_Anderson @mariraz

Friday Photos: Kinokuniya Opens Its First Bookstore in Cambodia: @Porter_Anderson

Book Aid International Cites Good Results in Zambia From Its ‘Study Hub’ Pilot: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing

A Checklist Before A Writer Hits Send On a Submission: @KatyKauffman28 on @EdieMelson

Birth of a small press – ‘I knew so many talented authors being turned away’: @Roz_Morris @ForestAvePress

Movements, movers and shakers: publishers and authors as literary citizens: @Roz_Morris @ForestAvePress

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

5 Reasons Querying Is Good for You: @TopdjianC

Publishing / Process / Author Assistants

7 Reasons You Need To Hire an Author Assistant Right Now: @TheRuralVA @BadRedheadMedia

Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists

What to do When Your Antagonist Isn’t a Villain: @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

No, Your Female Characters Don’t Just Need More Dialogue: @Bang2write

Even More Show Don’t Tell: @RuthanneReid

Writing Craft / Drafts

Finishing Your First Draft Like a Pro: @TheMerryWriter

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

3 Theater Techniques to Make Your Story Jump Off the Page: by Joslyn Chase @write_practice

Writing Craft / Literary Devices

2 foreshadowing techniques to reduce new information overload: @raimeygallant

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

Tone, Style, and Voice in Writing: Practical Definitions: @AnneJanzer

How (And Why) You Should Write An Ensemble Cast: by Robert Wood @standoutbooks

How Ideas Become Stories: by Aaron Miles @FantasyFaction

Different Ways Characters Can Show Love: From Just a Writing Aid

Exploring Activism and Politics in Fiction: @sadowsky_nina @WritersDigest

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Naming

Tips for naming characters: @Peter_Rey_

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Theft by Finding: @CEMcKenzie1 @WriterUnboxed

The 3 Questions That Will Solve Every “Plot Problem” You’ll Ever Have: by Steven James @WritersDigest

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

Research Is Writing. Stop Berating Yourself: @NatRusso

How to Show and not Tell Intelligence: @SloanTamar

3 Research Hacks for Your Novel: @DaveChesson @JerryBJenkins

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

Seven sentences you should stop writing: @pubcoach

How to Use Adjectives Wisely and Judiciously: @peterselgin @JaneFriedman

Writing Craft / Revision

Finding Your Revision Groove – and Staying Sane: @AnneJanzer

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

Leveling Up as a Writer with Peer Critique: @DanKoboldt @WritersDigest

Writing Craft / Scenes

How To Craft High Impact Scenes For Your Stories: @StephMorrill

Writing Craft / Scenes / Conflict

Where Does Your Novel’s Conflict Come From? @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Tension

How to Raise the Stakes With Your Characters: @KathyEdens1

Writing Craft / World-Building

World Building: The World Itself: by Dana Nuenighoff @WritersRumpus

Writing Tools / Apps

Productivity Tools for Writers: @writingthrulife

How Scapple Helps Authors Plan Books: @Jeff_Shear @IndieAuthorALLI

Writing Tools / Resources

Useful Writing Tools: @KarenBanes

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Published on June 09, 2018 21:01

June 7, 2018

3 Things You’re Probably Not Doing on Goodreads that You Should

by Chrys Fey, @ChrysFey

Are you on Goodreads? Your answer should be yes. Whether you’re a reader, a writer waiting to published, or an author. Goodreads is an important place to be. As an author, you want to have an author profile and book pages. As a reader, you can post reviews. As a writer, you can join the community and build up your connections through Goodreads before you’re published.

Out of all the social media platforms out there, I love Goodreads the most. More than Facebook. More than Twitter, which I really don’t care for at all. There’s always something to do on Goodreads, whether you’re participating in the Goodreads Reading Challenge, adding to your to-read list, or sharing what you’re reading.

But you can do so much more than that.

If you don’t think Goodreads is a great place to promote because you don’t have many friends there or much traffic, then you need to hop on more often and send requests. I built up my number of friends by hunting down everyone I knew on Google + and my blogging network. Then I checked out who my friends had befriended, looking for familiar names. After that, I sent requests to people in groups I joined. No, not everyone, but those who appeared to share my interests in books/authors.

Also, make sure your pages are updated and you link to your Goodreads page everywhere. This is a place were readers hang out and post reviews, so make sure to have a presence here.

Now, I am going to share my three favorite things to do on Goodreads as an author.

3 Things You’re Probably Not Doing on Goodreads that You Should:

Events

Not many authors take advantage of Goodreads Events, probably because it’s not a place where the event would unfold like a Facebook Event, but rather more of an announcement, an invite.

Whenever you have a book release or put an eBook on sale, create an event to share it with all of your Goodreads friends.

On your profile page, scroll down to “Upcoming Event” and click “add an event.” Pick a date for when the event will start and when it will end. For a book release, pick the day your book will have its World-Wide Release. Then you can set the end date for one or two weeks after the release date. Choose an event name and event type. Usually, for the “event type” I select “other.” Fill in the necessary information. If it’s online, you don’t need to put in an address. For the “description,” write a message to your Goodreads friends. Make it personal, explain what your event is, and what they can do. For example, If it’s for a sale, share the links for where your eBook can be purchased. Keep the check mark in the box to list your event publicly so others may find it. And also let anyone send an invite to your event. More invites could mean more sales! Then, when you’re all done, click “save” and invite ALL of your Goodreads friends.

You can even do this for a blog tour. Set the event for the first day of your tour. And in the description, you can share the blog links and dates for every stop you’ll be making.

Link to Your Books in Your Profile’s Bio

At the top of your bio, say you are the author of XYZ and link to your book(s). To link to your books, you’ll need the Goodreads code for your book’s page. You can get this a few ways, but an easy way is to go to your inbox, click “compose,” and then click “add book/author.” A box will pop up. In the search bar, type in your book’s title and select your book. A code will appear in the message box looking like this:

Hurricane Crimes

Copy and paste that code into your bio. When you do, it’ll look like this:

Author of Hurricane Crimes

When you save the changes, your profile’s bio will generate your linked titles. With those linked titles right at the top of profile, readers can click on them right away. Do this for your most important books.

Join Goodreads Groups

There are many groups for writers, authors, and readers.

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a book club on Goodreads that I run. This book club is for writers to read/learn about the writing craft. Every two months, we swap back and forth between writing books and fiction books that demonstrate how to do certain aspects of storytelling.

There are also groups for authors to promote their books, get reviews, or to find critique partners. Do a search on the Goodreads Group’s page https://www.goodreads.com/group for the type of group you are looking for. You can connect with other readers and writers in these group as well as promote and ask for reviewers. Make sure to follow their rules, though. Each group has a specific set of rules, especially for authors, so follow them or risk being deleted from the group. And don’t just post to promote either. If they have discussions, join them. Share what you know, share your thoughts, be an active group member.

You can even create your own group for fans of your books. Admittedly, this would be better for those of us with a lot of readers, but it’s definitely something you can consider. Everyone and their mother has a Facebook group for readers. Be different and create a group within a platform designed for readers, instead.

Goodreads is a neat place to be, not just to promote but to find like-minded individuals who share your passion for reading and your love of books. And, of course, you can connect to many authors in your field, too.

Go there, participate, and have fun!

QUESTION: What else should writers/authors do on Goodreads?

Be sure to enter my giveaway at the bottom of the post!

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

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3 Things You're Probably Not Doing on Goodreads But Should (via @ChrysFey ):
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Published on June 07, 2018 21:05

June 3, 2018

Goodreads Review Widgets

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

It has taken me a long time to warm up to Goodreads. As a writer, I’m still very wary of some aspects of the environment over there. But I’ve grown to use it as a tool, both as a reader and a writer.

I recently posted about my experience using Goodreads giveaways. I’ve also started using a few Goodreads widgets…carefully. Today and next Monday I’ll be covering a couple of widgets that I’m using there and Friday Chrys Fey will be talking about three other important things to do with Goodreads.

The way I’ve set up my website is for each book to have its own page, which helps with title SEO and visibility. I’m starting to add the Goodreads review widget on my book pages for a little visual interest and perhaps some social proof. I won’t add them to all of my book pages because I don’t want to slow my site down when it starts loading. I’m thinking the last few releases would be good enough.

But! We need to tinker with the settings on the widget a bit. Below are the default settings:

Goodreads is a tough environment for writers. Reviews on the site (even for good reviews) are frequently a lot lower than what you’d see on Amazon. I think this is because readers mark books as a reminder to themselves how they liked a book/series compared to other books/series. It makes sense, but can be rough on authors who are used to higher ratings.

The review widget on Goodreads defaults to a minimum 1-star rating. Obviously, we don’t want to have 1-star reviews on our website.

Don’t get me wrong–as writers, we need those lower reviews in order to prove that real readers (not just Mom, Dad and Sis) have read our books. But those lower reviews don’t make for great sales copy.

I’d advise that you change the minimum rating to 3 or 4 for advertising purposes. Here are my changes:

You can see that I changed the ISBN (necessary for them to pull up the book), changed the number of reviews to show to 3 (because I didn’t want the widget to take up the entire page), changed the minimum star rating, and altered the header text. From there, you hit submit and then copy/paste the code into a webpage (using the ‘text’, not the ‘visual’ compose setting). Then you end up with something that looks like this:

Next Monday I’ll cover the Goodreads widget for Facebook (Friday look forward to a post from Chrys Fey covering three things you’re probably not doing on Goodreads, but should).

Have you spent time on Goodreads? As a reader, a writer, or both? Do you use widgets?

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Published on June 03, 2018 21:01

June 2, 2018

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

New Stuff:

The folks at Kirkus Reviews are offering a free self-publishing guide for authors. The PDF can be accessed here.

Reedsy has a free downloadable character template PDF that looks pretty cool for helping with character development.

There’s a new, free, app called Taskade (a pro version is coming soon). CEO John Xie calls it a “bullet journal reimagined” and “a beautiful outliner for brainstorming, note sharing, and managing tasks.” You can see an example of a project road-map here. It even offers collaboration, if you’re co-writing. Something to check out if you’re looking for a way to plan or organize your life or projects. FAQ is here.

Business / Miscellaneous

Accounting for Writers: @FictionNotes

When and How to Change Your Book Title: @DaveChesson

Building Your Business Model as a Writer: @JaneFriedman

How to Get Your Story or Poem Unpublished: @NathanielTower

Barnes & Noble chief Len Riggio: ‘Open More Stores Than We Close’: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives @BookExpoAmerica

How AI Technology Will Change Literature: @jenxuewrites

Everything You Wanted to Know about Book Sales (But Were Afraid to Ask): @TheLincoln @ElectricLit

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

At the Hay Festival, the Man Booker Prize Announces Its Anniversary ‘Golden Five’ Shortlist: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Details for the next #IWSGPit Twitter pitch on July 19: @TheIWSG

As BookExpo Approaches, US Publishers Cite Revenue Up In First Quarter: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

‘Lincoln in the Bardo’ Wins 2018 Audie Awards for Random House: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Book Clubs – The Human Touch in Marketing: by Debbie Burke @killzoneauthors

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

102 Ways to Spark Novel Ideas: @TheMerryWriter

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

10 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novels Featuring Characters Living with Mental Illness: by Matt Staggs @unboundworlds

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

Make Your Writing Anxiety Disappear By Thinking Small: @anne_staw @JaneFriedman

You and Your Writing Deserve the Grand Gesture: @annkroeker

You’re Never Too Old, Never Too Bad, Never Too Late, Never Too Sick to Start From Scratch Once Again: @block_sandra

What You Really Need to do as a Discouraged Writer: @colleen_m_story

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

The Easiest Way to Get More Writing Done: @Janice_Hardy

Stop Making Excuses: Make the Writing Plan You Need: @the_writing_pal

Making Time to Write: Time Management For Screenwriters: by C. Bryce Fuller @WritersDigest

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

5 Caffeine-Free Beverages to Boost Writing Focus & Energy: @colleen_m_story

The importance of deep breathing: @pubcoach

5 Writers, 7 Questions, No Wrong Answers: @lithub @askanyone @TisforThompson @MegWolitzer

You Need to Drink More Water, but Watch Out for This: @colleen_m_story

On Distractions That Keep Us From Writing: @LindaGilden

A Homework Assignment from W. H. Auden: by Anthony Madrid @parisreview

11 Highly Literary Tote Bags: by Jo Lou @ElectricLit

Writing and the Creative Life: One key to creativity… naps? @GoIntoTheStory

The Sanitized Words of Complicated Women: @diancalondon @byshondaland

Don’t Be Satisfied With Competence: @jamesscottbell

So Longhand: Has Cursive Reached The End Of The Line? @GeoffNunberg @NPR

Is a Workaholic Writer Unhealthy? @colleen_m_story

Five Movies About Master Writers: @librarylore @DIYMFA

I Have Wasted My Life: by Patricia Hampl @parisreview

An Open Letter to My Dog: I Couldn’t Have Written This Without You: by Cinelle Barnes @lithub

Genres / Fantasy

History for Fantasy Writers: Money: by E.L. Skip Knox @mythicscribes

Genres / Humor

The 3 Steps to Writing Humor: Channeling Erma: by Diane Laney Fitzpatrick

Genres / Memoir

6 Simple Ways To Help You Find Out What Your Memoir’s About: @Writers_Write

Genres / Miscellaneous

Know Your Writing’s Genre: @Lindasclare

5 Tips to Understanding Genre in the Publishing Industry: @SydneyMathieu @KillerNashville

Genres / Mystery

Why Crime Authors Need to Stop Pretending They’re Badasses: @Gabino_Iglesias @LitReactor

The perfect crimes: why thrillers are leaving other books for dead: @hesutton @GuardianBooks

Trophy Wives and Boy Toys as Elements in Crime Fiction: @mkinberg

Crime Writing: How To (Legally) Get Away With Murder: @SueColetta1 @killzoneauthors

How to Write the Perfect Mystery: Writing Advice from the Greats of Crime Fiction: @CrimeReads

Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting

Make sure your book description doesn’t include spoilers:

Promo / Book Reviews

8 Rules to Help You Handle Bad Reviews: @RachVD

Promo / Miscellaneous

Contact Info and More in Amazon Author Central:

Promo / Newsletters

Website Tools to Build Your Author Email List: @selfpubbootcamp

Promo / Social Media Tips

5 Simple Tips for Creating Video Content for Social Media: @Bookgal

Publishing / Miscellaneous

A Bunch of Hard Truths About Publishing: @RuthanneReid

BookExpo’s CEO Roundtable Cites Stability, Growth, Promise for Books Ahead: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Some of the First Sketches of Winnie-the-Pooh and the Collaborative Process of Shepard and Milne: by James Campbell @lithub

“Goodreads is credited by Penguin Press for helping to rapidly build the popularity of bestseller ‘Little Fires Everywhere’”: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

“Why (and how) I chose a small press publisher”: @jasonbougger

Publishing / News / Amazon

Beat KDP Select’s Catch 22: @ianhsuth @IndieAuthorALLI

Publishing / News / Data

Amazon’s control over ebook sales data should upset everyone in publishing: @thu @qz

Publishing / News / International Publishing

University College London Press Passes 1 Millionth Open Access Book Download: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

April 2018 Bestseller Lists From China: Young Readers Cheer a Celebrity-Powered World Book Day: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Industry Notes: China Literature at Rights Fair; Amazon Publishing Signs Cornwell Series: @Porter_Anderson @1pcornwell

‘…(R)eaders are being penalized with an additional 20-percent VAT for choosing to embrace digital,’: @StephenLotinga : @Porter_Anderson

As BookExpo and New York Rights Fair Open: Warnings for Publishers: @Porter_Anderson @BookExpoAmerica

Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing

A Free Self-Publishing Guide for Authors (PDF) from @KirkusReviews :

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing

A week in the life of a small press: @Roz_Morris @ForestAvePress

Why Publish Your Novel with a Traditional Publisher? @SnowflakeGuy

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

Don’t query before your novel is complete, revised, and ready: @LisaPoisso

Publishing / Process / Book Design

10 Book Designers Discuss the Book Covers They Rejected, And Why: by Jo Lou @ElectricLit

Publishing / Process / ISBNs

Why indie authors should buy ISBNs: @selfpubbootcamp

Writing Craft / Beginnings

How to Craft the Perfect Opening Scene: @ShanDitty

Your Ultimate First Chapter Checklist: Writing the Opening Scene: @KMWeiland

Writing Craft / Chapter Endings

Controlling Chapter Lengths in Your Novel: @SnowflakeGuy

Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists

Types of antagonists: Creating riveting opponents: @nownovel

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

Mining Our Characters’ Wounds: @RLLaFevers

Seven Common Problems in Character Creation: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

Developing a Character with a History of Sexual Assault: @SloanTamar

Writing Craft / Characters / Emotion

Writing Emotions In Layers: @LisaHallWilson

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

Wounded Heroines as Strong Female Characters: @ZoeMMcCarthy

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

7 Ways to Master “Show, Don’t Tell”: @LMacNaughton

How to Spot an “Info-dump”: by Bucket Siler

Writing Craft / Conflict

How to Find the Conflict in a Story: @DavidHSafford

Writing Craft / Endings

How to End a Book: @writingrefinery @DIYMFA

Writing Craft / Flashback and Back Story

How to Write a Flashback: @SnowflakeGuy

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

Chapterettes, Prologues, Introductions, and Other Spare Parts–What Purpose Can They Serve in a Book? @writeabook

Character Driven Stories through Life Values: by Leslie Watts @StoryGrid

Writing lessons from Tom Wolfe: @pubcoach

Why Storytelling Advice Is Such a Mess: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants

Addressing the Reader: @Janice_Hardy

A Short Guide To Unusual Chronology: @FredBobJohn @standoutbooks

Writing Craft / POV

Marketing Copy: The First- Versus Third-Person Debate: @jan_ohara @WriterUnboxed

Should I Use a “Throwaway” POV to Add Tension? by Chris Winkle @mythcreants

Minor Viewpoint Errors: @SeptCFawkes

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

7 Essential Elements of a Story: @jasonbougger

Are There Only 7 Stories in the World? @EditingWizard

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

Help with researching royals: @Roz_Morris

A Writer’s Guide to Firearms: Shotguns: @Nicholas_Rossis

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Concept

Top 5 Concept Mistakes Writers Make: @Bang2write

Writing Craft / Revision

5 Self Editing Essentials To Perfect Your Novel: by Dana Isaacson @CareerAuthors

How to Be a Better, More Efficient Editor of Your Own Writing: @AnnieMueller

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

How to Handle Critiques: @ClareLangleyH @killzoneauthors

Writing Craft / Scenes

How To Craft High Impact Scenes for Your Stories: @StephMorrill

Writing Craft / Series

How NOT To Mess Up Your Book Series: @sacha_black

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

How to Write Unforgettable Settings: @KristenLambTX

Appealing to the Senses: @davidfarland

Writing Tips: 3 Techniques to Write Better Settings: @thecreativepenn

Writing Craft / Tropes

On Writing Genius: from Art Attempts Writing

Writing Craft / Voice

How To Make Sure Your Characters Don’t Speak In The Same Voice: by Rebecca Langley @standoutbooks

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

7 Types of Phrases That Add Detail to Your Writing: @JJ_Burry

Writing Tools / Apps

The New Scrivener 3.0 – Should You Upgrade? @KMWeiland

Writing Tools / Resources

Writing worksheet to help writers create a home environment in their story world: @EvaDeverell

The World at Large: A Worksheet to Aid in the Creation of a Story World: @EvaDeverell

Writing Tools / Thesauri

Occupation Thesaurus Entry: Outdoor Guide: @AngelaAckerman

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Published on June 02, 2018 21:04

May 31, 2018

Accidental Spoilers

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I have a quick, cautionary tale for you today.

I released book nine in the Southern Quilting series in late-April. I consider the series to be one that can be read out of order with no problem…there’s really no continuing story arc for the main story, since each mystery is wrapped up at the close of every book.

But there are subplots that arc for this series. As usual, I tend to think that nothing is more important than the mystery. That’s been a stance that I’ve had to reconsider through many years and many editors, but my first instinct always concerns the mystery.

Another note: I always write my book description before I write the book. In fact, I write it months before I write the book…when I have my cover designer create the cover. I’m focusing so hard on the wording that maybe I have tunnel vision.

That’s the set-up. And here’s what I did in the first paragraph of the back cover copy: (if you’re a reader of mine who hasn’t read all of the last 9 books….spoiler alert!)

When Beatrice takes on a new case, she must solve it before anyone else rests in pieces.

Beatrice and her new husband, Wyatt, have started their life together. Their first big event as man and wife is another wedding: that of Beatrice’s daughter. It’s a happy occasion and a beautiful ceremony—aside from the appearance of the odd and uninvited Ophelia. Ophelia argues with another guest, who is later discovered dead.

When the book released, I received an email almost immediately from a reader. She said, “I suppose it’s my own fault for not being caught up with the series, but the synopsis for Rest in Pieces begins with a giant spoiler: Beatrice and her new husband, Wyatt.” She signed it “still a fan.”

I slapped myself on the forehead. The subplot of the sleuth and Wyatt’s developing relationship was something started in book one. Not everyone is on board with book nine. Some readers have faithfully followed along but missed book eight. Or book seven. Or whatever.

I wrote back and apologized to the reader. Then I just as quickly opened up a bazillion publishing dashboards to change the book description.

It was quickly edited to:

When Beatrice takes on a new case, she must solve it before anyone else rests in pieces.

It’s a beautiful evening for a wedding and Beatrice couldn’t be prouder as the mother of the bride. It’s a happy occasion and a beautiful ceremony—aside from the appearance of the odd and uninvited Ophelia. Ophelia argues with another guest, who is later discovered dead.

There you go. What not to do! I figured if I could so easily and cluelessly mess this up, it could be worth sharing to prevent other writers from doing the same thing. It seems to be easier to accidentally give series spoilers than it does for the book itself.

Have you accidentally spoiled your own books? Thoughts about spoilers (for books, films, etc?)

Make Sure Your Book Description Doesn't Include Spoilers:
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Published on May 31, 2018 21:02

May 26, 2018

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

In observance of Memorial Day, I won’t be posting tomorrow, but I’ll be back with a post on Friday. Enjoy your weekend!

Business / Miscellaneous

The 34-second Rule for Writers: @SarahSallyHamer @EdieMelson

3 Truths About the Mindset of a Successful Authorpreneur: @lornafaith

The Business Of Being A Writer With @JaneFriedman : @thecreativepenn

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

No Corks Popped: The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Jury Has No Winner: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

‘Fix Our Marketplace,’ Canadian Publishers Tell Parliament in Copyright Modernization Act Hearings: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

UK’s CrimeFest Conference Confers Its 10th Annual Awards: @Porter_Anderson

The New York Rights Fair Changes the Rights Floorplan at BookExpo: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Rights Roundup: War, Allegory, and Crime Drama Ahead of BookExpo: @Porter_Anderson

Interview: Man Booker International Winners Olga Tokarczuk and Jennifer Croft on ‘Flights’: @Porter_Anderson @ManBookerPrize @jenniferlcroft

The European Union Prize for Literature Opens Its 10th Anniversary Public Reading Project: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

The UK’s Forward Poetry Prizes’ Shortlists: ‘Nuclear War to Motherhood’: @Porter_Anderson @ForwardPrizes

Authors Guild Honors VIDA, Announces ‘Boot Camps’ for Authors Outside New York: @Porter_Anderson @AuthorsGuild

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

Feng Shui Tips to Inspire a Writer’s Creative Flow: @OliviaWJones1 @colleen_m_story

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

“How I Revitalized my Reading Life Through Structure and Rules”: @KarisRogerson @LitReactor

10 Classic New England Thrillers: @PeterSwanson3 @CrimeReads

A Tale of Two Cities Was Ahead of Its Time: Dystopia, PTSD, and Dickens: @BerryFLW @SignatureReads

10 Surprising Facts About Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein on Its Bicentennial Year: @JoyLanzendorfer

Why Does Reading Make You a Better Writer? @EditingWizard

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

How to Increase Your Writing Productivity in the Next Three Months: @NinaAmir

What Helps You Keep Writing? @AndreaWriterlea

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

3 Tips for Writing Through A Block: @KelsieEngen

How To Break Free Of A Writing Slump: @StephMorrill

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

“Are You Pregnant? Can I Have Some Creamer? And Other Questions I Get at the Library”: @Kristen_Arnett @lithub

Filling Your Creative Well: @Helen_Lacey_ @RomanceUniv

How to Clean Your Germ-Ridden Writing Computer: @colleen_m_story

Resurrecting a Shelved Manuscript: @SonjaYoerg @WriterUnboxed

4 Ways Writing Is Like Running: by Karen Krumpak @WritersDigest

A Writer’s Lessons in Failure: @msheatherwebb

Why We Do What We Do: @KristineRusch

When Should You Drop Your Story? @SnowflakeGuy

11 Tips To Keep You Writing While Traveling: @helpfulsnowman

How Mindfulness Can Help You Enjoy Your Book Release Day: @swetavikram @WomenWriters

Publishing is a Business: 10 Tips to Protect Your Creative Self: @annerallen

How to Plan a Writer’s Retreat on a Budget: @kikimojo

The Zen of Standing Desks: @LindaKSienkwicz

On Telling Ugly Stories: Writing with a Chronic Illness: @TisforThompson @parisreview

Why and How to Use Evernote for Journaling: @writingthrulife

Genres / Memoir

How to Start Writing Memoir: @LynseyMay @scottishbktrust

Surviving the Ordinary: Why We Need Memoirs of Regular Lives: @MaryLauraPh @lithub

Genres / Mystery

You’re Officially a Crime Writer When … : @LeeLofland

Writing the Crime Scene: Blood: @repokempt @LitReactor

Plotting Your Psychological Thriller: @Wendy_Walker

Crime fiction subgenres: Where does your novel fit? @LouiseHarnby

Genres / Non-Fiction

How to Make an Index (for a Nonfiction Print Book): @ChrisDMcMullen

Genres / Science Fiction

A Beginner’s Guide to Writing Science Fiction: by Georgina Roy @writingtipsoasi

Promo / Blogging

Are You a Writer Who Hates to Blog? You’re Not Alone: @losapala

Promo / Metadata

How A Keyword Sells A Book On Amazon: @kadaxis

Promo / Miscellaneous

How to Overcome the Smothering Fear of Marketing Your Writing: @JamesPrescott77

Promo / Podcasts

Extend Your Author Brand with a User-Friendly Podcasting Platform: by Phil Stamper-Halpin @penguinrandom

Promo / Social Media Tips

Social media for authors: @NathanBransford

Publishing / Miscellaneous

Industry Notes: PBS’ ‘Great American Read’ Opens; Ingram Partners With Open Road’s ‘Ignition’: @Porter_Anderson

Two Authors Sue Publisher Cengage Over Subscription-Model Royalties: @Porter_Anderson

Publishing / News / Amazon

Amazon Gets Medieval on Paid Reviews: Real Reviewers Leaving: @annerallen

A closer look at KDP Print: @EricVanDerHope

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Beleaguered Access Copyright, Turning 30, Is Honored by Canadian Publishers @Porter_Anderson @CdnPublishers

Publishing / Options / Hybrid Publishing

Everything You Need To Know About Hybrid Publishing: by Rebecca Langley @standoutbooks

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

Do you need a Literary Agent? @TheMerryWriter

Things You Should Never Say to an Agent: @TheMerryWriter

Publishing / Process / Book Design

What is Typesetting? Your Guide to Interior Book Design: @ReedsyHQ

Writing Craft / Beginnings

How to Establish Routine While Building Character on the First Page: @peterselgin @JaneFriedman

Real Life Diagnostics: Is This Protagonist Sympathetic? By Maria D’Marco @Janice_Hardy

Your Ultimate First Chapter Checklist: Hooking Readers: @KMWeiland

Writing Craft / Chapter Endings

How Long Should a Chapter Be? @LauraDiSilverio

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

Wants, Needs, Fears – The Compelling Triangle Of Motivation: @AnthonyEhlers

Who Are The 3 Characters Driving Your Plot? @AnthonyEhlers

Writing Craft / Characters / Emotion

7 Ways To Evoke The Emotions You Want From Your Readers: @Writers_Write

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

How To Show Your Alpha Hero is In Control Even When Writing In Deep POV: @LisaHallWilson

What Are Your Protagonist’s Relationships Like? @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

How to Fix an (Accidentally) Autobiographical Novel: @sarahstypos

Writing Craft / Dialogue

Short Chapters and Lots of Dialogue: @jamesscottbell @killzoneauthors

5 Tips for Dazzling Dialogue: @SueBEdwards @womenonwriting

Writing Craft / Endings

Plot Out the Perfect Ending with Blake Snyder’s Five-Step Finale: @JillWilliamson

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

5 Ways Ernest Hemingway Can Help You Improve Your Writing: @FredBobJohn @standoutbooks

Writing Craft / Literary Devices

Five Ways to Hide Your Foreshadowing: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

Synonyms For Very: from Ellie Writes Stories

Prologues Can Be a Microcosm of the Story: @CockeyedCaravan

Writing advice for artists and visual thinkers: @austinkleon

Teaching Writing to Young Students: Reinvigorate Writing Workshop With Joy Through Ind. Writing Projects: @kelsey_corter

What You Need to Know About Doubling and Doppelgängers: by Robert Wood @standoutbooks

Middle Scenes: A Non-Linear Approach: @DonMaass @WriterUnboxed

Fighting to Write Between Two Languages: by Eréndira Ramírez-Ortega @The_Millions

Teaching Writing: “My Five Favorite Share Sessions”: @MermelsteinLeah

Signpost Scenes: The Care Package: @A_K_Perry @DIYMFA

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Where Writers Get Stuck: Planning: @allisonmaruska

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

How To Use Grammarly To Improve Your Writing: @thecreativepenn

Interrupting Dialogue with Action: @NovelEditor

Writing Craft / Revision

On Revising with Flashcards: @Ava_Jae

6 Ways to Improve Your Big-Picture Revision Skills: @LisaPoisso @JamiGold

Self-Editing For Success: Final Edits: @TheMerryWriter

Writing Craft / Scenes

Drafting a Book One Scene at a Time: @ShanDitty

How To Write A Scene That Works: The Story Grid Way: @valerie_francis @thecreativepenn

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

Creating a Mountain Setting: by Dheolos @mythcreants

Maximizing or Minimizing Your Setting: @SeptCFawkes

Writing Craft / Synopses

Writing a Killer Synopsis: @TheMerryWriter

Writing Craft / World-Building

Resources for Worldbuilding: @writingandsuch

5 Tips on World-Building Through Collaboration: @paolobacigalupi @tobiasbuckell @WritersDigest

Writing Tools / Apps

Best Proofreading Software of 2018: Grammarly vs Hemingway vs ProWritingAid: @DaveChesson

What 1 Writer Loves about Scrivener 3.0: @LynnHBlackburn

Writing Tools / Resources

Computer Tips and Tricks for the Tech-Challenged Writer: @WidrickLinda

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Published on May 26, 2018 21:04

May 24, 2018

Contact Info and More in Amazon Author Central

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I have seen some pretty pitiful bios on Amazon…usually when I’m looking for contact info because there is no contact info on the author’s website or blog. This makes me realize that there might be a need for a basic reminder to check on your author page on Amazon.

Most writers are on the KDP dashboard a lot, checking on sales or adding new books. But how often do you check your author page to make sure it’s up to date and has all the information readers are looking for?

Contact Information to Include in a Bio:

Your newsletter signup link. This is a great way to announce releases and keep readers updated.

Include a link to your website. Your website will give readers another opportunity to sign up for your newsletter as well as give them a showcase of your available books and formats.

Include a social media link. I think some bios get a little link-heavy (especially since these links aren’t hyperlinked), but I think a listing of a Facebook or Twitter contact info can be good, especially worked in naturally. As an example, here is Lee Child’s:

Find out more about Lee Child and the Reacher novels on his official website: LeeChild.com, on Facebook LeeChildOfficial, on Twitter #LeeChildReacher, and YouTube leechildjackreacher.

While you’re there, is there anything else you need to do?

Update your bio? When was the last time you updated it there? I had to change mine recently as I was referencing myself as the mother of ‘two teenaged children.’ And I have a 21 year old. :) That’s now changed to ‘mother of two.’

Connect your blog to your author page? I like my author page to look dynamic and connecting your blog (if it’s kept updated) is a great way to do this.

Upload pictures? It can be a good way to help readers connect with you/your life/your pets.

Upload videos? Again, this is another nice way to connect. You could upload a video of you speaking to the reader directly about your series, do a reading, or even upload a book trailer.

Going a step farther, you can set up your author page on international Amazon sites:

UK – https://authorcentral.amazon.co.uk

German – https://authorcentral.amazon.de/

France – https://authorcentral.amazon.fr/

Japan – https://authorcentral.amazon.co.jp/

For further reading and step-by-step instructions on setting up these elements, see this article by Dave Chesson.

Have you checked in on your Amazon Author page lately?

Tips for a Better Amazon Author Central Page:
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Published on May 24, 2018 21:02

May 20, 2018

Two Different Talks As Writers

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I can go quite a while without doing any speaking, and then I’ll have a flurry of engagements. I used to have to put a lot more time into preparation than I do now (not that I don’t put a lot in…just that I don’t put as much in. And it’s very nice not to sink more time in than I need to. Here are my thoughts on the two types of talks I give and tips for making them easier.

The reader-facing talk:

I’ll be honest, this talk has not traditionally been my favorite. But now I seem to have a winning template that I modify for the audience…a template that seems to be a success after trying different things (and stumbling a couple of times).

I start out asking my audience how many of them grew up reading mysteries…Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, etc. I talk about mysteries in general (keeping my audience in mind and what might interest them as readers). I then go into how I went from mystery reading to writing, how I started my writing career, how mysteries are constructed (very generally), and then end up with the writing life and routine. I work in as much humor as possible and I don’t stand behind lecterns.

The asking-the-audience-a-question thing tends to go over very well. It loosens up the audience, makes the room feel friendlier, and helps me relax, as well.

The writer-facing talk

This is a much easier talk for me. Once I know the target audience (beginners or seasoned writers), I can tailor a presentation on a particular topic. I have several talks for areas that I know very well…I wouldn’t be comfortable speaking as an expert on something when I don’t have a lot of in-depth knowledge, especially during question time.

The nice thing about talking to writers is that you share a common experience and it feels like less of a performance and more of a conversation/resource share. Even when I speak to high school writers, it just feels a lot more natural than a reader talk.

Questions to ask the event organizer/host:

How long should you speak?

Is the room equipped for a slideshow?

Should you bring books?

Remember to:

Keep an eye out on the event organizer’s social media. If they post information/promo for your talk, be sure to share it.

Arrive early to be familiar with the room layout, technology, and to greet the audience as they arrive.

Pause during your speech for laughter and/or effect (this is tough for me).

Making it easier on ourselves:

Develop a standard talk or series of talks for each type.

Write out an introduction for yourself for both types of talks (you’ll likely be asked for the info in advance).

Have a newsletter signup sheet available at the talk

Bring small bills if selling books

Time our talk to make sure we have enough time for audience questions and that we have enough material for the allotted length of our talk

What I’d rather not do:

Push a particular book or any book. I simply suck at sales. It’s pointless to push a novel at a bunch of writers and I didn’t like trying to push it on readers, either. I’ve felt some guilt at that over the years (especially during a book tour in my Penguin RH days), but I’ve decided that I agree with the late author Pat Conroy’s (Prince of Tides) thoughts on book events (this is taken from his 2018 release My Exaggerated Life, as told to Katherine Clark via USC Press):

“Nowadays I am famous for never talking about the book I’m trying to sell. I have driven the book reps nuts in every company that’s ever published me…And I’ve always told the reps, “Look, here’s my theory. If they like me and enjoy me, they’ll buy the book. If I bore them to death about the book, they’re not going to buy a book.”

Have you given both types of talks? Any tips that I’ve missed? Done any public speaking lately?

Tips for Two Different Types of Talks Writers Give:
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Published on May 20, 2018 21:02