Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 88

July 1, 2017

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 40,000 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.

Creativity and Inspiration / First Novels

A Beginner’s Guide to Writing a Novel: by Georgina Roy @writingtipsoasi
5 Suggestions for People Thinking about Writing a Book: @DaniPettrey

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

Would you pay to turn the first page of this bestseller? @RayRhamey @WriterUnboxed
How to Generate a Story Idea: @CockeyedCaravan
Mine Your Relationships for Writing Material: @FinishedPages
Background Noise: The Netflix Category Every Writer Desperately Needs: @GiveMeYourTeeth

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

6 Space Operas That Explore the Comedic Side of the Cosmos: @TetsuoKaneda
Beyond Everything, Everything: Best Teen Romance Novels: @Keith_Rice1
What Reading Picture Books Can Teach You About Writing Novels: @MEBond_writer
An Incomplete Guide to Literary References in Twin Peaks: @knownemily
‘A Crash Course in YA Taught Me How To Write’: @katherine_heiny @lithub

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

Get in the Habit of Making Time to Write: @CSLakin
Survival Pack or How to Keep Writing No Matter What: @jmunroemartin

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

Writing Exercise #12: Working Backward: @ShanDitty @GoTeenWriters
Filling Up That Uninspired Empty Feeling: @10MinNovelists
5 Ways to Keep Your Writing Moving Forward: @terrywhalin

Creativity and Inspiration / Success

Top 10 Commandments For Successful Writers: @Bang2write

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

The ergonomics of writing: by Dorothy Grant
The Writing Workshop That Runs Itself: @bendolnickbooks@lithub
When Your Hometown is the Last Place to Accept Who You Are: @KaitGetsLit
Everyday chaos. Just another day in the genesis of a book: @Roz_Morris
What’s your writing psychology? @beprolifiko
Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming: @neilhimself
6 Cheap(er) Cities Where It’s Great to be a Freelance Writer: @ElenTurner
If You’re Successful, Lots of People Ask for Your Help. Who Deserves It? @JaneFriedman

Genres / Fantasy

5 Rules for Keeping Fantasy Fiction Realistic: @AuthorCFeehan

Genres / Memoir

How to Write a Memoir: @p2p_editor

Genres / Mystery

Seaside settings in crime fiction: @mkinberg
Outlining a Murder Mystery: @woodwardkaren
Crime Writing: 6 Mind-Blowing Forensic Advancements: @SueColetta1
White collar crime in crime fiction: @mkinberg
Diaries and memoirs in crime fiction: @mkinberg

Genres / Science Fiction

5 Speculative Fiction Novels to Learn From: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants

Genres / Screenwriting

I Love Dick Co-Creator @Sarah_Gubbins : Collaboration,Spontaneity, Overcoming Self-Censor: @deepspacenine
10 Unpredictable Ingredients that Turn Books into Successful Movies: @Bang2write

Promo / Ads

Amazon Ads For Authors: Two Case Studies Showing They Work: @ReedsyHQ

Promo / Blogging

Blogging Leads to Many Career Paths: @annerallen

Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting

Writing Better Book Titles: @aprildavila

Promo / Book Signings and Launch parties

9 Handy Tips For Planning A Successful Book Launch: @ClaireABradshaw

Promo / Crowdfunding

Setting up Your Book’s Kickstarter Campaign: @NForristal

Promo / Miscellaneous

Sell More Books with Less Marketing: @CaballoFrances
The Secret Promo Power of Obscure Media Outlets: @sharonbially @WriterUnboxed
What’s in it for Your Readers When you Spam Them? Nothing. How to Do Better Now: @BadRedheadMedia
New to Book Publicity? Go Local First: @PublicityHound

Promo / Platforms

Author Platform Worksheets: @EvaDeverell

Promo / Social Media Tips

Expand your audience exponentially with smart Goodreads marketing: by Kate Sullivan @sandrabeckwith
Aerio for Selling And Promoting Your Favorite Books: @WhereWritersWin
Preparing your Goodreads marketing timeline: @cincindypat

Publishing / Miscellaneous

Subsidiary rights: @111publishing
21 Magazines That Pay for Travel Writing: @EricaVerrillo
Open Road Maps Big Newsletter Numbers, New Marketing for Publishers: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
The Art And Business of Bookbinding: @lisa_van_pelt @thecreativepenn

Publishing / News / Amazon

Amazon Has A Fake Book Problem: @DavidGaughran

Publishing / News / International Publishing

New Life for Italy’s Baldini & Castoldi: La Nave di Teseo’s Latest Acquisition: @Porter_Anderson
South Korea’s Ridibooks Raises $20 Million; Quarto Distributes Zest Books: @Porter_Anderson @ZestBooks
A UK Comics Publisher Sees ‘Lots of Opportunities’: @Porter_Anderson
UNESCO Names Sharjah World Book Capital 2019: @Porter_Anderson @IrinaBokova
‘Booksellers are alarmed about geo-blocking and its potential effects on ebook sales’: @Porter_Anderson
Acquisitions: Germany’s MVB Buys Pubnet and PubEasy: @Porter_Anderson @rschild

Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing

Memorable Author Screw-Ups: @crazyauthorgirl
5 Tips When Self-Publishing Your Book: @LisaKayePresley

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing

The Brutal Truth about Earning Out: @batwood

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

The Perfect Cover Letter: Advice From a Lit Mag Editor: @2elizabeths @JaneFriedman

Publishing / Process / Book Design

Parts of a Book: The Basic Anatomy of Book Design: @JuiceTom
How a Cartoonist-for-Hire Can Get Your Book’s Point Across: @cartoonistfakes @reedsyhq
9 Simple Steps to Create a Book Cover Using Canva: @lornafaith

Publishing / Process / Formatting

A Step-by-Step Guide to Formatting Your Print Book for CreateSpace: by Michelle Campbell-Scott @JuiceTom

Writing Craft / Beginnings

Real Life Diagnostics: Does This Opening Scene Foreshadow Danger? @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists

The Villain Doesn’t Think He’s the Villain: @SPressfield

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

42 Character Development Questions: by Johannes Cena
Writing Tips: Creating Believable Characters: @grace_writelife @thecreativepenn
5 Steps to Better Character Development: @JeremyJmenefee
The Craft of Character Development: @aimiekrunyan

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

When Readers Don’t Believe Our Writing: @JamiGold
How to write badly: when fiction turns into friction: @Peter_Rey_

Writing Craft / Diversity

Macmillan Partners With Binc on Bookselling Diversity Scholarships: @Porter_Anderson
How to write better LGBT characters: @daisy_and_me

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

Podcast: @JohnGrisham’s book tour (and his conversations with other authors): https://t.co/tBMkxSQerN ,

Writing Craft / Literary Devices

A Guide to Dramatic, Situational and Verbal Irony: @ReedsyHQ

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

The Importance of an Origin Scene: @LisaCron
Writing the Truth: @Lindasclare
Tracking Time in Your Novel: @PBRWriter
5 Reasons To Draw Your Story World Map: @NatePhilbrick
Writing Short for Novel Writers: @Lindasclare
3 Tips For Writing Great Chapters: @theladygreer

Writing Craft / Pacing

Writing Story Dominoes: @Lindasclare

Writing Craft / POV

5 Reasons to Consider Using an Omniscient Narrator: @CSLakin
Choosing the Right Narrative Tense/POV: @MikalebRoehrig

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Outlining

How to Outline When Starting a Story: @SeptCFawkes

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

One novelist’s research journey: @clairecameron @amyshearn
Google Maps: The Best Writing Tool that No One Knows About: @CamilleDiMaio @WriterUnboxed
3 Common Weapons Mistakes Writers Make – And How to Fix Them: @benjaminsobieck

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

Two Little Words Used Incorrectly: Affect and Effect: @cathychall

Writing Craft / Revision

What Does a Copy Editor Do? And Do I Need An Editor? @BrynDonovan
Clear Step-By-Step Guide to Editing for Self-Publishers: @rachel5bartee @WhereWritersWin
What Is Stylistic and Substantive Editing? @words_cindy
The Rewriting Process: by Liam J. Cross
What It’s Actually Like to Work With a Book Editor: @batwood
5 Ways to Spot the Wrong Proofreader: @ProofreadJulia

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

Make Setting Meaningful: @KayKeppler
How Much Description Is Too Much? @HookedOnNoir
How Much Character Description Does Your Story Need? @hodgeswriter

Writing Craft / Voice

Finding Your Writing Voice by Taking Risks on the Page: @LisaTener

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

Filter words and phrases to avoid: @KathySteinemann @annerallen
Strengthen Your Verbs and Your Writing: @le_sterling

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
Click To Tweet

The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

View more on Elizabeth Spann Craig's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on July 01, 2017 21:02

June 29, 2017

Back Up Your Work

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Every so often, I run a variation of the same post. It’s a public service announcement to back up your work.

I have heard so many horror stories from writers about lost work that I truly believe their stories account for the white hairs I have cropping up.

The most harrowing tale is from long ago. Hemingway lost months of work because his wife, who was bringing the stories (and, sadly, also the carbon copies) to him in Switzerland. She left the overnight bag unattended to get water before the train pulled out. When she returned, the bag, and his work, were gone. More about this episode here on the Hemingway Project site (including a recorded interview with his wife, Hadley, on the subject).

I back up each day. I write on a laptop and the laptop takes a lot of abuse. This summer, especially, I’ve been writing away from home…and I’m a very clumsy person. The laptop has been dropped several times lately and spilled on once.

How should you back up your work? I don’t think writers should overthink it. It needs to be easy enough to make it something that you actually do. You could even email yourself a copy of the document. You could upload it to Google docs. Save it to a flash drive that you keep on your keyring. The point is just to do it.

There are programs that will automatically backup your work, too: CrashPlan and Carbonite are two of them.

If you’re not sure what method works best for you, Sarah Mitroff has a nice overview in her post for CNet (which also mentions the importance of backing up your work to more than one place.)

How often do you back up your work? What methods do you use?

A PSA: Back Up Your Work:
Click To Tweet

Photo via Visual Hunt

The post Back Up Your Work appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

View more on Elizabeth Spann Craig's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 29, 2017 21:02

June 25, 2017

Help Handling Requests

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I was reading through my Feedly RSS feeds (I work and curate links about a month behind in the feed reader) and I came across a post by writer Steven Pressfield. It was one of those articles where I scheduled a share, but then saved the post to read more closely again later. It was called “Clueless Asks” and as soon as I read the title, I knew what it was going to be about. Because I get a lot of these asks, myself. In the post, Steven Pressfield explains that time ‘is the single most valuable commodity you own.’

Funnily enough, I was on another blog and they mentioned a post from industry expert Jane Friedman (and I’m laughing as I write ‘industry expert’ because that’s something she addressed in her post, as well). She wrote in response to “Clueless Asks” a post titled “If You’re Successful, People Ask for Help. But Who Deserves It?” She writes: “Today, even before I open my email, my blood pressure spikes thinking of all the requests, problems, and complaints I’m likely to find.” It’s a great post and mentions how she’s compromised in some instances to respect her time while still responding to requests.

These are different from opportunities. I’m good at saying no to speaking at far-flung events where I will have to spend money for gasoline or a plane ticket and a hotel without getting compensation. These other requests are, as Jane Friedman and Steven Pressfield put it, ‘asks.’ And they’re from people I don’t know.

I’m adding on to their excellent posts because I know writers (and several of them are regulars here) who are in the same boat. They want to help people who ask them for help. They’re overwhelmed with emails and requests. What can they do?

Just a quick note that this article is not directed at my readers or online friends who reach out. I never mind emailing and reaching out to either of those groups because they know me…either through my books/characters, my blog, etc. This is more how I handle asks from people I’ve never heard of who reach out.

Prioritize the strangers you help. These are examples of the requests I’m most likely to help with:

Writers who really need help, have tried to figure things out, and seem stuck.

Emails from students .

Emails asking about very specific promo-related or writing-related elements.

Writing-related, industry-related help (beta-testing, etc.) that might lead to networking opportunities for me. This is, honestly, more of a quid pro quo for me. Maybe it doesn’t belong in the list, but there are a lot of these things that pop up.

Consider politely rejecting some. I’m much more likely to give a polite rejection to:

Emails that appear to be form letters.

Very vague emails from people I don’t know who don’t appear to have done any research. (“How do you get published?”)

Content marketers. And I don’t mean the super-professional ones…I mean the ones that want to write you a guest post about vacuum cleaners. Those types of marketers are like biting flies. If you don’t respond, they’ll keep biting at you and filling your inbox. I highly recommend using a canned response, if you’re on gmail. It’s sort of like getting a form rejection (which makes me shudder a little…I remember getting those. But hey…persistent content marketers.) Here’s how to create a canned response in gmail and outlook.

Factors that impact my ability to help:

Mainly just the craziness level of my life at the time. It literally hurts me to reject a request…I get stomach aches and headaches. But when I’ve got a book that I’ve got to get to my freelance editor on deadline (and that is a deadline in self-publishing…if your editor is open, you hurry to make sure you’re ready to send it), a child that has a lot going on (that I need to drive to, help with…I’m about to ‘graduate’ from this task when she turns 16), family emergencies (some of those are going around), then something has got to give.

Many times I want to take part in the group giveaway, test the cool new software for writers, or help someone make sense of self-publishing. But I also know that I don’t do anything halfway and my helping will eat up a lot of my time.

What I struggle with is that the reason I’m doing well with my writing today is because so many others have helped me along the way when I’ve asked questions or needed help.

Tools to make your helping easier:

Canned responses. I mentioned this above. I have them for advertising requests, requests to ‘update’ old posts with backlinks to fresh content, for general questions on mystery writing, and how to start out with self-publishing.

For instance, I may send out this response to a content marketer looking to guest blog:

Thank you for your interest in writing for my blog. Unfortunately, I only take guest posts occasionally and then only from bloggers I know well.

Thanks for reaching out and best wishes,

Elizabeth

Cornerstone content that you’ve created–a blog post you can refer to. I have written a series on cozy mystery writing, for instance, and several on how to reach an international audience. I can easily direct writers to these posts.

Cornerstone content written by others. I’ve sent sooo many writers to Jane Friedman’s ‘start here’ series (for example: “How to Get Your Book Published” and “How to Self-Publish.”)

Like so many things in life, it’s best to do things to please yourself instead of others. It pleases me to help, even if my advice or help goes unrecognized. Besides, it helps me feel I’ve paid back the writers (some of them no longer with us) who helped me get started out by giving me information and advice. They paid it forward and I’m trying to do the same, as much as I can.

How do you handle requests? Do you receive lots of emails, too?

Photo credit: Earthworm via Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC-SA

The post Help Handling Requests appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

View more on Elizabeth Spann Craig's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 25, 2017 21:02

June 24, 2017

Twitterific Writing Links

Bluebird with beak open and 'Twitterific Writing Links' by ElizabethSCraig superimposed on the image

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Business / Miscellaneous

3 Reasons Authors Shouldn’t Worry About Piracy but How to Protect Yourself Anyway: @thecreativepenn

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

How an Event Hashtag Will Turbo Boost Your Event: @cksyme
How to find the right agent, editor, or writers conference: @StephMorrill @GoTeenWriters

Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting

Writing Resolutions for the ADHD Mind: @TheRyanMcRae

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

She Doesn’t Always Get Away: Goldilocks and the Three Bears: @mari_ness @tordotcom

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

6 Habits of Insanely Productive People: @KarenBanes
The Fundamental Secret to Finding Time to Write: @RuthanneReid

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

Beating Writer’s Block—by Not Writing: @crazywritinfool
What to remember when you’re nervous about writing: @Luna_Manar
3 Questions to Help You Bust Through Creative Blocks: @ChadRAllen

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

10 Ways to Maintain Writing Momentum: @LyndaRYoung @TheIWSG
Using Keyboard Shortcuts to Boost Your Productivity: @MichaelHyatt

Creativity and Inspiration / Success

Write and Market a Kindle Bestselling Book: @DaveChesson @lornafaith

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

Why We Compare Ourselves to Other Writers—and How We Can Stop: @losapala
Your Brain Can Only Take So Much Focus: @srinipillay via @PassiveVoiceBlg
Finding Balance: @iamagemcrystal
6 of the Worst Things About Being a Writer: @jameslrubart
Admitting to Writing:

Genres / Fantasy

5 Anachronisms That Fantasy Needs: by Oren Ashkenazi

Genres / Memoir

Why Your Memoir Won’t Sell: @JaneFriedman

Genres / Mystery

Writing Tips: 7 Strategies for Writing Suspense: @TonyLeeMoral @thecreativepenn
Dropping ‘bombshells’ in crime fiction without too much melodrama: @mkinberg
Crime fiction: when characters lie: @mkinberg

Genres / Poetry

Energize Your Writing by Memorizing Poems: @annkroeker

Genres / Romance

Blending Genres in Romance: We’re Not in 1980 Anymore: @CSLakin
The Endless Subgenres and Varieties of Romance: @LovettRomance

Genres / Science Fiction

From Dark to Dark: Yes, Women Have Always Written Space Opera: by Judith Tarr @tordotcom
Put the Science in Your Science Fiction: by By Lesley L. Smith
Space Opera and the Underrated Importance of Ordinary, Everyday Life: by Ellen Cheeseman-Meyer @tordotcom

Genres / Screenwriting

Top 10 Scary Movie Lines And Why They Work: @Bang2write
Why Dialogue Is Killing Your Screenplay: @Bang2write
How to Create a TV Show: @CockeyedCaravan
Great Scene: “Rocky” : @GoIntoTheStory

Genres / Short Stories

A Shocking (and Fun) Short Story Writing Technique: by Noelle Sterne @WritersDigest

Genres / Western

3 Myths About Westerns and Why We Actually Love Them: @cheryllaughlin

Promo / Ads

9 Reasons a Book Was Rejected for a BookBub Featured Deal by Danielle Perreault @BookBub

Promo / Blogging

How to Launch Your Blog With Your Book in Mind: @kimdinan

Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting

Why Should I Buy Your Book? or How to Write a Book Blurb: @rxena77
How to write a better Amazon bio: @Bookgal @theverbs

Promo / Book Signings and Launch parties

7 Tips for a Successful Book Launch: @ceciliaedits

Promo / Connecting with Readers

How To Create A Reader Avatar For Your Book: @SukhiJutla

Promo / Metadata

Amazon Keywords That Pull In More Buyers: @Bookgal

Promo / Miscellaneous

The Benefits of Ebook Pre-Orders: @MarcyKennedy
You’re the best person to market your book: @mybookshepherd
How to Avoid Overwhelm This Week: @WritersCoach

Promo / Platforms

Branding for Authors—When Do We Need Marketing and Advertising? @KristenLambTX

Promo / Speaking

How to Prepare for a TED-style Author Talk in Fewer Than 10 days: @DeannaCabinian
Public Speaking Tips for Writers: 7 Keys for a Great Speech: @monicamclark

Publishing / Miscellaneous

12 Ways to Uncover Google Analytics Data: @CaballoFrances

Publishing / News / International Publishing

A Sourcebooks Title Is OverDrive’s New International Big Library Read: @Porter_Anderson @OverDriveLibs
Germany’s 2016 Market Report: ‘Stable Amid Transformation’ @Porter_Anderson
Partnership Notes: Unicorn and Royal Armouries; Reedsy and Blurb: @pubperspectives
Agent Andrew Wylie demands publishing ‘stare down the forces of nationalism’: @Porter_Anderson
Rights Updates from Agencies: Berlin, Istanbul, Cologne, London: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
‘An Experimental Space for Multilingualism’: France at Frankfurt Book Fair: @Porter_Anderson
Bookwire’s ‘Latin American expansion, building on success in Germany and Spain’: @Porter_Anderson @bookwire

Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing

“Why My Book is Both Traditionally and Self-Published”: @AmitaTrasi

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing

Self-Pub or Trad Pub? Riding the Fence: Indecision at Your Own Peril: @behlerpublish

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

Writing 101: The Dreaded Query Letter: @lauraeweymouth
How to personalize a query: @rachelestout

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Rejections

5 Ways to Survive Rejection as a Writer: @Janice_Hardy

Publishing / Process / Book Design

Book Cover Design: How To Get Feedback to Create an Awesome Design: @SukhiJutla

Publishing / Process / Self-Publishing

Tips for Less-Expensive Self-Publishing:

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

5 Ways to Show Character Growth & Change: @diannmills
Creating Real Characters through Dialogue, Mannerisms, and Actions: @PollyIyer
Wonder Woman: The Essence of a Strong Female Character: @JamiGold

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

5 Consequences of Overpowered Characters: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants
9 Tips to Improve Your Writing: @MCristianoWrite

Writing Craft / Dialogue

Don’t Be Afraid of Mixing Dialogue with Action: by T.L. Bodine

Writing Craft / Drafts

3 Reasons to Try Dictating Your Book: @beckywadewriter @NovelRocket

Writing Craft / Flashback and Back Story

Early Hints of Backstory: @kcraftwriter

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

Writing great characters: 5 lessons from modern novels: @nownovel

Writing Craft / Literary Devices

Theme in Commercial Fiction:
How to Choose Good Themes for Stories: 5 Tips: @nownovel

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

Narrative Techniques for Storytellers: @WritingForward
How to Write a Heart-Melting Kissing Scene: @RidethePen
Circumlocution – Bore Readers with Overkill, or Not? @ZoeMMcCarthy
What is An Unreliable Narrator? @katekrake
Tracking Throughlines in Your Novel: @Wordstrumpet
5 Simple Steps to Help You Start Writing Your First Book: by Kristen Pope
How To Write About Real-Life Adventures: by Ian Stephen
Metonymy & Synecdoche and How to Use Them: @ZoeMMcCarthy

Writing Craft / POV

How to Do Point of View: Third-Person Omniscient: @HelloTheFuture

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Outlining

What to Outline When Starting a Story: @SeptCFawkes

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Plot Twists That Defy Genre Expectations: @NicolaAlter
Write A Novel: Include A Bestseller’s Vital Ingredient: @angee

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Concept

What is a Story Concept? @WritingForward
The importance of story concept: @storyfix

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

‘In’ or ‘Among’? @GrammarGirl
Grammar questions answered: Restrictive and non-restrictive by Edittorrent
3 More Cases of Superfluous Semicolons: @writing_tips
Further vs Farther: What’s the Difference? @EPBure

Writing Craft / Revision

Grading Your Manuscript To Target Revisions: by Elizabeth Harmon @theverbs

Writing Craft / Scenes

Give Your Scenes a Purpose with Scene Goals: @ml_keller
How Do You Know When To Start and End a Scene? by Randy Ingermanson

Writing Craft / Series

“5 Reasons Why I Would Write Series Fiction (And One Reason I Wouldn’t): @10MinNovelists

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

Using Smell, Touch, and Taste in Our Writing: by S. Katherine Anthony

Writing Craft / Voice

How Writers Find Their Voice: @egabbert @ElectricLit

Writing Tools / Books

The Top 10 Craft Books on Storytelling: @ChristophPaul_

Writing Tools / Resources

6 Brilliant Pieces Of Online Media For Writers: @FredBobJohn

Writing Tools / Thesauri

Character Motivation Thesaurus Entry: Caring for An Aging Parent: @beccapuglisi

Uncategorized

UK’s Publishers Assoc. Opens Its #LoveAudio Campaign Today: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
4 Tips for Changing POV and Tense in your WIP: @AmySueNathan

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
Click To Tweet

The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

View more on Elizabeth Spann Craig's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 24, 2017 21:01

June 22, 2017

Admitting to Writing

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

There are times when I’m completely prepared to admit that I’m a writer. These are usually social situations or parent meetings where small-talk entails being asked what one does for a living.

On these occasions, I make sure I have my business cards in my purse (and that I know where they are in the cavernous depth of the purse). I have a chirpy, cheerful response down pat by now: “I’m a writer.” If I suspect it’s going to be a very quick conversation, that’s usually all I give. After all, there’s no point in lingering at the refreshments table or when the teacher starts talking at parent night.

For these very brief encounters, they’ll just not their head and not ask anything else, assuming that I’m a freelance writer or web writer of some kind.

But most frequently, and the reason I usually dread the question, this opens the floodgates to a bunch more questions. What kind of writer? What kind of writing? What kind of mysteries? Am I published? Under what name? Where do I get my ideas from?

I’m fairly practiced at this, so for situations where I suspect I’m going to be speaking to the person for at least 10-15 minutes, I explain that the type of mysteries I write are similar to the type that Agatha Christie wrote (the similarity ends there), and that I’ve been published. I admit that I write under my own name (I’ve found they’re usually embarrassed that they haven’t heard of me…which is not exactly surprising, considering the huge number of writers and books out there), and explain that the books are available at the library, bookstore, or online. Then I’ll hand them my card so they’ll remember my name.

The trick is the unexpected situation. And I live in the South, which means that strangers talk to me regularly–at the grocery store, at the post office, at the drugstore. They’ll strike up an idle conversation to pass the time and to be friendly.

This happened at the library the other day. “What are you working on?” asked an older lady at the table where I was writing. She wasn’t being nosy, as hard as that is to believe. She was being Southern.

But I wasn’t prepared to talk about my writing just then, since I was taken by surprise. “I’m answering emails,” I said.

And that’s where more savvy writers would make a quick connection. I mean…I was at the library. This woman clearly read books. But still, I prevaricated. I just didn’t feel like getting into it and hearing the inevitable questions.

There are ways of letting acquaintances know that you’re a writer and that you have a book/books for sale. Good luck with the random questions from strangers: clearly, I still haven’t mastered that, myself.

Email signature. It’s automatically included on every email I send out, whether it’s to another writer or to my child’s teacher or the gymnastics coach or the neighborhood homeowner association. It’s just a hyperlink to my website and a link for my newsletter signup.

Update your LinkedIn with your books (under ‘publications’).

Make sure your Facebook bio has your books listed or at least states that you’re an author. Share new book covers on your personal Facebook account.

And do carry those business cards.

Do you handle questions about your writing well? How do you spread the word about your writing to acquaintances?

Photo via VisualHunt.com

The post Admitting to Writing appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

View more on Elizabeth Spann Craig's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 22, 2017 21:02

June 18, 2017

Tips for Less-Expensive Self-Publishing

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I read a lot of posts that assume that writers have unlimited funds for book production. But many writers who self-publish books are having to fit the process into a budget.

First off, you’ll usually save money (not time, but money) if you contract out for everything you need instead of going through a self-publishing service.

My main costs in book production are covers and editing. And I think most writers would agree that those are the two most important things. Both things can vary dramatically in cost. But both things are vital to the success and sales of our book.

Cover: If you have a very small project (short story, etc.) you could consider going somewhere like fiverr to get your cover. Look at a lot of different profiles and read the reviews to compare designers. There are also sites like Covervault where you can get free designs.

Editing: Determine what kind of editing you need. The least expensive is line editing (looking for typos). You will pay more if you need an editor to find plot holes, continuity errors, etc. or if you need a story coach to help advise you on character development or plot. You can save a lot of money by getting your story in as good a shape as possible before sending it to an editor. One way of doing this is to send your story to several friends or family to read (beta readers). You could also be part of a critique group (where you read someone else’s story and they read yours. The critique groups I hear the most about are: Critique Circle and Critters Writers. Both have won recognition from Writer’s Digest for best website.

Formatting: You’ll want your Word document formatted as an ebook (mobi and epub) and for print. You can do this by hiring an inexpensive book formatter, or by running your book through a service like Draft2Digital. With Draft2Digital, the process is free: you log in, load your book information (cover, interior file, author name, etc.) . Then you can convert your file to epub, mobi, and print by clicking on those buttons and downloading the files. You’ll upload the files directly to the various platforms (Kindle, iBookstore, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or use an aggregator like Draft2Digital or Smashwords. Both Draft2Digital and Smashwords will take a portion of your royalties for payment, but there are no upfront costs.

ISBNs: Many indie authors choose the less-expensive option of using CreateSpace‘s or Smashword’s free ISBN for print. If you use one of their free ISBNs, they’ll be listed as the publisher of record. If that isn’t a problem, that’s certainly more cost-effective. I like being listed as the publisher (and I also like having my sales counted in with the general publishing count). I get mine directly from Bowker.com and the more you get the less expensive they are (although…yeah…they’re not cheap). More on ISBNs in Giacomo Giammatteo’s post for the Alliance of Independent Authors.

Publishing. Again, a very cost-effective way to publish on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and print (CreateSpace, in particular) is to upload files directly to those retailers without going through a middleman (self-publishing services). If you know how to upload files to an email or upload pictures on social media, you have the basic skills required to publish to those retailers. It’s free to sell your books there–even free through CreateSpace. There is no reason not to have your book available in print and digital versions.

What are your money-saving self-publishing tips? What have I missed? Or, if you’re new to publishing, what questions do you have that I could try to answer?

Tips for less-expensive self-publishing:
Click To Tweet

Photo via VisualHunt.com

The post Tips for Less-Expensive Self-Publishing appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

View more on Elizabeth Spann Craig's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 18, 2017 21:02

June 17, 2017

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

The Three C’s of Why Writing Conferences Are Valuable: @tessaemilyhall

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

What Video Games Can Teach You About Storytelling: @FredBobJohn @WriterUnboxed

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

6 Stephen King Villains Who Were Ridiculously Easy to Defeat: @fredventurini
Why Doesn’t Ancient Fiction Talk About Feelings? @soldonlanguage
The Many Ways in Which We Are Wrong About Jane Austen: @MsAshtonDennis @lithub
7 Reasons Why 1 Writer Stops Reading a Novel: @JodyHedlund
9 Tales of Deliciously Dysfunctional Families: @SignatureReads

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

Character Motivation Entry: Being The Best At Something: @AngelaAckerman

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

Little Hacks Writers Can Use to Be Productive: @CSLakin
When It’s Hard to Maintain Your Focus: @THahnBurkett
When Life Strikes: Writing through the Unexpected: @woodwardkaren
Routine Writing Habits Are Rewarding: @awhcolumbus
Reality vs. Expectations: Remaining Calm When it ALL Goes Pear-Shaped: @KristenLambTX
Forget Your Endless To-Do List: Try Time Blocking Instead: @HelloTheFuture

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

Multi-Genre Writing to Help with Writer’s Block: by Jodi Webb @womenonwriting
How to Get Out of a Slump in Your Writing: @weems503
Bravely Push Through Your Writing Insecurities: @StephMorrill
How writers can change self-doubt into idea doubt: @pubcoach
Self Perception and How It Can Hold You Back: @RoniLoren
Is Writer’s Block a Form of Self-Protection? @jcbaggott
How to Be a Better Writer: Clean the House: @ErinMFeldman
Getting Your Mojo Back: @cathychall

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

The 3 Biggest Surprises When Starting (or Attempting) a Daily Writing Habit: @monicaleonelle
Less Focus For Better Writing: @jamesscottbell
5 Tips to Turn Slow Writers into Fast Drafters: @HeatherJacksonW

Creativity and Inspiration / Success

Where’s Your Edge in Your Writing? @jamesscottbell

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

Mortality and the Writer: @MaryGillgannon @RMFWriters
5 Enticing Vacation Ideas for Book Lovers: @FredBobJohn
5 types of rest every creative should adopt: @williameier
7 Habits Every Writer Should Develop: @CaballoFrances
Hitting Pause Button While We Take A Deep Breath: @WritingOnBoard
So You’ve Been Called Out—How Not to Make It Worse: @JLAustin13 @Ava_Jae

Genres / Fantasy

Writing Historical Fantasy Fiction: Resources and Tips: @AshKrafton

Genres / Humor

4 Ways to Write Meaningful Comedy: @KMWeiland

Genres / Miscellaneous

The Difference Between Literary, Upmarket and Commercial Fiction: @carlywatters
2 Revolvers, 1 Rifle: Best Guns for Writing a Western Novel: @benjaminsobieck

Genres / Mystery

Resources for Mystery Writers:
Crime fiction: the word of mouth process of finding a PI or a ‘fixer’: @mkinberg
Writing the Crime Scene: Mental Illness: @repokempt

Genres / Picture Books

Politics in Children’s Books: @Kid_Lit

Genres / Poetry

Forward’s poetry awards: 3 shortlists, over $20K in prize money: @Porter_Anderson @AndrewMarr9

Genres / Romance

How to Write a (Romance) Blurb: @RosalindJames5

Genres / Screenwriting

5 Things Learned Converting a Screenplay Into A Novel: @TheWritingFitz @Bang2write

Promo / Blogging

How to Avoid Writing Boring Blog Posts using the IKEA Method: @lj_sedgwick

Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting

How To Write An Author Bio That Will Connect With Readers: @chrisrobley

Promo / Connecting with Readers

Tips for Creating Inexpensive Bookmarks as Part of a Giveaway:
Sell Your Books at Book Festivals and Craft Fairs: @mybookshepherd

Promo / Social Media Tips

A Detailed, Bookish Guide to Instagram: @carlywatters
How to Prepare and Promote a Facebook Live Broadcast: @WriteOnOnline

Publishing / Miscellaneous

News from @TheIWSG :Submissions Open for Free IWSG Guide, book club selection:
5 Critical Mistakes of Author Collaborations and How to Avoid Them: @thecreativepenn

Publishing / News / Amazon

Is Amazon Firing CreateSpace? by Raymond Esposito

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Hay Archive Goes to British Library; Cengage Fights Pirated Content: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
PRH Buys Out of Print; Germany’s Bertelsmann Buys WhiteCloud: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
PR License Rolls Out ‘Instant Rights’ Transactions, Start to Finish Online @Porter_Anderson @IPRLicense
BookExpo and BookCon Are ‘Powerful Platforms’: @Porter_Anderson
German Book Trade’s Peace Prize Goes to Canada’s Margaret Atwood: @Porter_Anderson @MargaretAtwood
David Grossman, Jessica Cohen Win Man Booker International Prize: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
“A German and Singaporean editor trade insights on their markets’ opportunities”: @Porter_Anderson

Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing

5 tips for indie authors from @Creativindie: @TheIWSG

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

5 Reasons for “Quick Pass” on a Query Letter: @carlywatters

Publishing / Process / Book Design

SHOULD You Create Your Own Book Cover? @damselwriter

Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists

3 Ways to Write a Character You Hate: @KathrynR47
Villains & Villainesses: Architects of Story: @carablack

Writing Craft / Characters / Arc

Create Compelling Character Arcs (podcast): @DIYMFA @KMWeiland

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

How to Strengthen Our Characters with Strong Writing: @JamiGold

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

What to Do if You Think You Have the Wrong Protagonist: @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

Indications an author hasn’t left enough space for the reader in a story: @wendypmiller

Writing Craft / Drafts

12 Questions To Ask Yourself After That First Draft: @10MinNovelists

Writing Craft / Endings

Does Your Novel Have a Ta-Da Ending? @dlwebb

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

Need to Type Faster? Try Zombies. Typing Of The Dead: @simonbrew @denofgeek

Writing Craft / Pacing

Using Compressed Narration in Fiction to Speed Up Plot: @Kid_Lit

Writing Craft / POV

The 3 Tiers of Point of View Technique: Observation, Interpretation, Imagination: @JuliaFierro

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

6 Ways to Identify a Contrived Plot: @Janice_Hardy
Save the Cat Revisited: @ThereseWalsh @WriterUnboxed
Sub-Plots and Story: @JoEberhardt

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

When dashes are a better choice than commas: @writing_tips
3 Cases of Mixed Metaphors: @writing_tips

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

Enhancing Your Story Through Macro and Micro Setting: @TashaSeegmiller

Writing Craft / Voice

How To Embrace Your Writing Voice: @Julie_Glover

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

5 Overused Words in Fiction: @KelsieEngen

Uncategorized

Story Prompts for historical fiction: @ToWriteHistory

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
Click To Tweet

The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

View more on Elizabeth Spann Craig's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 17, 2017 21:01

June 15, 2017

Theme in Commercial Fiction

Sunset over the mountains with the post title superimposed on the top: 'Theme in Genre Fiction. Elizabeth Spann Craig.

View more on Elizabeth Spann Craig's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 15, 2017 21:02

June 11, 2017

Inexpensive Promoting

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Anyone familiar with this blog knows that I’m not a fan of old-fashioned promoting. I think I’ve sold a lot more books by using better book metadata and following best-practices for SEO on my book pages on my website.

But sometimes…you’ve got to promote the old-fashioned way. In my case, it’s usually by request. My audiobook producer is big into old-fashioned promo: going out into bookstores for events, doing book tie-ins, and that type of thing. He’s really, really good at it. In the past, he’s asked me for free printed copies of my books to tie-in with the audio versions for giveaways at all kinds of special events. I’ve sent them over to him…just very happy that I wasn’t doing the promo legwork myself.

It’s expensive, though. Even getting the author copies from CreateSpace. There’s the buying of the books, and then the shipping of the books. If you’re talking a fair number of books or doing something regularly, it does add up.

This time I told my producer that I’d like to do something a little different (and basically free on my end). I used Canva to design bookmarks especially for my audiobooks and then added an Instafreebie code to provide a free ebook. Realizing a lot of other writers might be going to summer events, I thought I’d share what I did. (And I used to be a VistaPrint customer…nothing wrong with that, except this particular project required immediacy. I couldn’t wait).

We decided to have the giveaway for “Murder on Opening Night,” which won an AudioFile Earphones Award because of the excellent narration of Judy Blue. Because my books are written as standalones, reading the books out of order isn’t an issue.

I pulled up Canva, a free online tool that I use to combat my severe design disability. They have lots of different templates for different types of projects.

Here is the template for bookmarks.

I uploaded my book cover and put it at the top of the bookmark. I changed the background to red to match the curtain on the book cover.

I added some text, mentioning the award-winning narration by Judy.

I added a bit more text, giving a code for receiving a free book from Instafreebie. Instafreebie is also free (unless you choose to have your email list tied to their site so that readers can sign up for your newsletter when they claim their free book). You upload an epub of your book and then can generate codes for free copies (you can limit the number that are given away, too, in case that code gets shared online, etc.) More instructions and info on Instafreebie here.

One of the things I like about Instafreebie is that they offer customer support for readers who might not be tech-savvy enough to know how to upload books to their devices.

My project ended up looking like this (basic, but hey…free):

To email it to my producer, I downloaded the bookmark as a jpg, opened a fresh Word doc, put it in landscape mode, adjusted the page margins to be very wide, and copied four of the jpgs across the page.

The Instafreebie share code was long, so I ran it through bit.ly to shorten it for my purposes. I attached the Word doc in an email and sent it to my producer. He can either print them at home (if he has a printer that can handle cardstock) or take it to an Office Depot or Staples store to have them printed and cut there.

What’s your favorite inexpensive way to promote?

Tips for Creating Inexpensive Bookmarks as Part of a Giveaway:
Click To Tweet

Photo via Visual Hunt

The post Inexpensive Promoting appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

View more on Elizabeth Spann Craig's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 11, 2017 21:01