Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 94

Gaining Newsletter Subscribers With Instafreebie

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig 

I’ve been using InstaFreebie since July of last year, but my use was limited to a convenient method of distributing free ebooks to readers or reviewers (and having InstaFreebie’s support to assist readers with any problems).

A short while afterward, I started using InstaFreebie as part of organized multi-author giveaways (there was an author assistant for a group of cozy writers who set it up).  I was in a couple of those and my mailing list grew to the point where I needed to get a paid account with MailChimp.

After reading numerous posts on how InstaFreebie was helpful, long-term, for growing a newsletter list, I decided to alter my approach on the account. I’m not one of those who likes to send out lots of emails to my newsletter list, so I decided to use InstaFreebie as more of a discovery tool. (And I’d like to note that I’m not affiliated with InstaFreebie in any way.)

I started their 30-day free trial, integrated InstaFreebie to my MailChimp list (they provide directions on how to do this).  Then I promptly forgot about it.

Despite forgetting about it, I was steadily making gains to my list.  I logged into InstaFreebie shortly before the end of my free trial for a totally different reason (to send a free book to a reader who was having technical issues with my newsletter signup) and discovered to my surprise that I had gained 82 new subscribers without having promoted the giveaway whatsoever. Or even remembering that I had a giveaway to begin with.

Pros that I found:

Crossover between series.  I deliberately picked a book from my quilting mystery series since I wanted to grow the crossover from my Myrtle series to my quilting series. Previously I’d noticed readers were loyal to my Myrtle series and reluctant to try something new. I’ll do the same for my Myrtle series next.

Better than running ads. Advertising on Facebook is complex and, for best results, requires lots of checkins and tweaking. Here I just left a giveaway completely open and gained new subscribers daily.

My unsubscribes and bounces were low.  I had no unsubscribes, even though I happened to have a release come out during the free trial period and sent an email out regarding it.

I didn’t have to bug anyone on my list. Writers frequently fuss at me over this one, but I simply hate sending newsletters. I really, really do. I try to limit sending newsletters to my releases (which are several times a year).

All of the above findings were great. However! This is not the best way to utilize InstaFreebie.  The site is more likely to feature you/your giveaways if they see you’re tagging them on social media, for instance.  As I will do when I tweet this post. And those multi-author giveaways/cross promotions can result in hundreds of additional names on your list instead of daily small gains. But for the purposes of this post and any other reluctant newsletter-senders, I’d like to point out that we can use InstaFreebie completely passively, too. Is this a best practice? No. Does it still work? It has for me so far.

Pricing

If you want to use InstaFreebie as I originally did (as a tool to distribute free books to readers and reviewers…with support), you could just use the free plan.

If you’re wanting to use the site to increase the number of your newsletter subscribers, you will need a paid plan.  I’d recommend trying it for 30 days free and see what you think. Then you can upgrade or pass.

Here are the details of the various pricing plans available.  Right now, I’m on the plus plan, but I have a reminder on my calendar to check back and see if the subscriber numbers are worth it.

How do you gain newsletter subscribers? Have you tried InstaFreebie?

Using InstaFreebie to Gain Newsletter Subscribers:
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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 39,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Business / Miscellaneous

Why You Should Track Your Book Sales + Free Sales Tracker Template: by Fix My Story

The Unpredictable Nature of a Writing Career @Ava_Jae

Writing Income: What 1 Writer Made in 2016: @KameronHurley

6 Basic Tech Skills Every Author Must Learn: @carlaking

Make Art and Make Money at the Same Time: @monicaleonelle @lornafaith

Writer Finances Versus The Paycheck World: @KristineRusch

Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting

3 Ways to Keep Writing Resolutions: by Kirsti Call @WritersRumpus

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

Creating Playlists for Your Writing: @FinishedPages

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Quotes

5 Rules for a Successful Writing Life from Maya Angelou: @JennyHansenCA

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

Common Creative Roadblocks for Empaths: @CreativeKatrina

5 Helpful Tools To Combat Writer’s Block: by Jamie Rotante @AmReadingDotCom

Are There Story Elements You Avoid Writing? @JamiGold

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

3 Tips To Counter Procrastination In Writing: @rsmollisonread

3 Reasons To Write Every Day: @Mad_Hat_Writer

The Benefits of Writing Rituals: @Mad_Hat_Writer

The blank page: conquering your fears: @Roz_Morris

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

Write it Forward: 5 Ways to Stay Positive: @AJBanner1 @WomenWriters

What Your Font Choice Says About You: @paperblanks

11 words whose meanings have completely changed over time: @sesquiotic @TheWeek

Stress or Burnout? How They’re Different and Why You Need to Know: @RuthHarrisBooks

The Peculiar Pain of Data Loss: @MarchMcCarron

Stephen King on putting writing in perspective: @zenpencils

Genres / Fantasy

For Fantasy Writers: Top 10 Books To Improve Your Writing: by Aaron Miles

Potions, Alchemy, & Apothecaries: Inspirations from the Real World: @NicolaAlter

Genres / Memoir

5 Lessons to Be Learned While Writing a Memoir: @sheilakohler

When memoir becomes a different book: @Belinda_Pollard

Genres / Miscellaneous

5 Things Learned When Switching Genres: @KMWeiland

Genres / Mystery

How to Write Better Villains: 5 Ways to Get Into the Mind of a Psychopath: @peterjamesuk

Crime Writing: What Happens to the Body After Death? @SueColetta1

Crime fiction: when minding your own business can still get you into trouble: @mkinberg

Genres / Picture Books

The Top 10 Myths About Writing Children’s Books: @HighlightsFound

Genres / Romance

Making A Case for Romance: @LovettRomance

In fiction, “I love you” has to come in subtext, not text: @SPressfield

Genres / Screenwriting

Screenwriting: Set Pieces: Spin the plot: @GoIntoTheStory

Script Analysis: “Arrival”: Scene By Scene Breakdown: @GoIntoTheStory

Genres / Short Stories

Are short stories ever considered by agents? @Janet_Reid

Promo / Blogging

4 Content Syndication Strategies for Bloggers: @WordStream

5 Bad Reasons for Authors to Blog and 5 Good Ones: @annerallen

Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting

Writing an Effective Book Description: @woodwardkaren

Profanity in a book title? by Jeff Wheeland @ReedsyHQ

Promo / Book Reviews

Moving Past A Negative Review: @Bookgal

10 Times Book Reviewers Totally Got It Wrong: by Kathy Gates @AmReadingDotCom

Promo / Connecting with Readers

Using Pew Research Stats to Find Your Readers Online: @CaballoFrances

+127 of Best Book Promotion Sites and Submission Tools: Free and Paid @DaveChesson

Promo / Miscellaneous

Book Promotion: Do This, Not That: @NewShelvesBooks

Lessons From a Debut Novelist’s 1st Year of Book Marketing: @EmilyWenstrom

The Art of the Media Pitch for Indie Authors: @Bookgal

How to Set Clear Goals and Objectives for Your Book Launch: @bkmkting

Why Your Book Marketing Is Not Working (podcast): @cksyme

What’s Your Story About? A Way to Quickly Explain: @SharonKurtzman1

Author Tip Sheet: The Whys and Hows: @karinabilich

Promo / Newsletters

Why You Should Use Both Autoresponders and a Broadcast: @SeanPlatt

Promo / Platforms

5 Tips for Building Your Author Brand: by S.C. Sharman @mythicscribes

Promo / Social Media Tips

Extend Your Blog’s Reach with Instagram: @sarahblackstock @postaday

5 Mistakes Authors Make on Social Media: by Michael Cristiano

A roundup of writers’ opinions whether to be political on social media: @dsantat @leewind

Twitter for Writers & Editors: @Belinda_Pollard

Promo / Speaking

How to Create a Speaker One-Sheet: @loishoffmanDE

Promo / Websites

Your Author Page: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself: @karinabilich

Publishing / Miscellaneous

Andy Weir’s (@andyweirauthor) ‘The Martian’ Gets Classroom-Friendly Makeover: @xanalter @nytimes

DRM (Digital Rights Management): What You Need to Know: by Xavier Davis @BookWorksNYC

Libraries and Bookstores Are Getting Into Indie Publishing: @rcutlerSpark

Publishing / News / International Publishing

‘Immediate Release’ of Authors, Journalists: Petition Delivered to German Government: @Porter_Anderson

Rights Watch: An Israeli Agency’s Bologna Picks for Young Readers:                                         @Porter_Anderson

Publishing Startups: BuzzTrace Looks To Track Authors’ Social Networking: @Porter_Anderson

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

When to include “why I wrote this book” in a query: @Janet_Reid

Publishing / Process / Book Design

Anatomy of a book cover: @KarlaLant @99designs

Publishing / Process / Services to Avoid

When your agent wants to charge you a fee: @JaneLebak

Writing Craft / Beginnings

2 Tips For Introducing Your Protagonist: @KathrynR47

Writing Craft / Characters / Arc

How to Write Character Arcs: @KMWeiland

Unpacking the “Character-Driven” Story—How to Make Your Story Sizzle: @KristenLambTX

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

How to Find Your Character’s Voice: @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

3 Simple Ways to Create Memorable Lead Characters: @JerryBJenkins

Creating An Unforgettable Protagonist: @Writers_Write

Writing Craft / Characters / Supporting Characters

4 Core Components of an Awesome Sidekick Character: @RobinRWrites

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

5 Common Mistakes 1 Editor Sees: @ceciliaedits

10 Things Which Most Often Go Wrong With Beginners’ Fiction: @emma_darwin

How to show not tell in fiction: @jasonbougger

Writing Craft / Endings

Letting Your Story End at the End: @DiannaLGunn

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

16 Tempestuous Tales of Weather Magic: by Stubby the Rocket @tordotcom

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

Creating breaks in the action can make your story: @willvanstonejr

4 Ways A Twist Ending Can Ruin Your Story: @InkyBites

Do you really need 10,000 hours to be a good writer? @pubcoach

Working through a novel, problem by problem: by Shawn Coyne

10 Essential Tips to Improve Your Writing Style: @hodgeswriter

How James Patterson learned to become a better writer: @rxena77

How To Write An Epic Battle Scene by Hannah Collins @standoutbooks

Ten Rules of Writing: @amitavakumar

Writing Craft / Plot Holes

How to Fill Plot Holes in Your Novel: @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Deepen Your Story With Character Misdirection: @KMWeiland

5 Plot Points to Help Finish the First Draft: @cstevenmanley

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

How To Research Your Novel … And When To Stop: @thecreativepenn

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Beats

A Pre-Writing Exercise: Blocking out the Scene: @MarchMcCarron

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

3 Examples of Misplaced Modifiers: @writing_tips

5 More Sentences Rendered More Concise: @writing_tips

Writing Craft / Revision

4 rounds of editing: @LoriRobinett

Editing Tips: Top 3 Scene Issues: @NaomiLHughes

6 Easy Ways to Clean Up Your Own Manuscript: @KristenLambTX

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

Making the Most of Beta Readers: @markcoker

3 Reasons to Find and Join a Local Writer’s Group: @terrywhalin

If You Can’t Find Beta Readers: @JamiGold

Writing Craft / Scenes

Figure Out What’s Working in Your Scene, and What Isn’t: @Astrohaus

Writing Craft / Series / Series Bible

How to Create A Series Bible for Your Fiction: @lornafaith

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

Describing Your Character: How To Make Each Detail Count: @AngelaAckerman

Writing Tools / Resources

Why You Should Read About Writing: @KelsieEngen

6 Inspirational and Informative Writing Podcasts: @woodwardkaren

From My Blog

Twitterific Writing Links – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig A weekly roundup of the best writing links …

Why I’m Turning Trad-Pub Deals Down – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig I’ve been asked by writers and ot…

Gathering Sales Data with Book Report – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig I’ve recently been hearing a lo…

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Gathering Sales Data with Book Report

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve recently been hearing a lot about a tool called ‘Book Report.’ It is a bookmarklet that you add to your browser (it’s easy to install) that interprets sales data for Amazon. Since I’m always looking for a better way for data to make sense to me (I was an English major), I decided to give it a go last week. Especially since they had a free trial.

I was pleased with the information I was able to pull with Book Report (and I’ve no association/affiliation with the product).

Helpful Uses for the Tool:

Sales trends. Are sales trending up or down the last couple of months? The last year?

Easily see which series is selling best.  Wondering if you should drop a series?  This tool can give you a closer look at how an overall series is doing (and which books in the series are doing best).

Historical sales.  You can see your sales from the very beginning, which is very nice–mine reached back to 2011. This can be very gratifying, especially if you’ve been in the business for a while and you feel as if you’re not sure if you can justify the time you spend writing.  You can also found how much money a particular title has made since being published.

Quickly see which books are lagging and might need a boost via sales or ads. I was surprised to see that books that have historically been high-performers had dropped off. Although I could find this information on KDP,  the visual approach on Book Report (especially with the larger number of titles I have) makes it easier for me to digest.

What it doesn’t do:

It doesn’t analyze your sales at other distributors/retailers, so be prepared to get a recap of Amazon.

Security

They have put some thought into security and don’t ask for your password for Amazon.  They encrypt your sales data. You don’t have to set up a login or password for Book Report. You don’t have to give them a credit card number for your free trial. Here is a link to their privacy policy.

Pricing (direct from their site).

Free for everyone for the first two weeks. See how much you can learn from your data.

Free for everyone earning less than $1000/month on KDP.

$10/month if you’re finished your trial and you earned more than $1000 last month. 

It’s that simple. We also won’t ask you any unnecessary questions at checkout – like your real name or your address – because we respect your privacy.

I also saw that high-earners could purchase annual subscriptions for $100, a discounted rate from the monthly.

For more information on the bookmarklet, click here (and then click ‘learn more’ under the blue ‘Get Book Report Now’ button)

Have you tried Book Report yet? How does data play a role in your writing?

A closer look at Book Report for getting sales data:
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Why I’m Turning Trad-Pub Deals Down

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve been asked by writers and others if I’d ever query traditional publishers again.

As a matter of fact, I’ve gotten queried by traditional publishers a couple of times in the past year.  I’m not really sure why, since there now seem to be many cozy writers out there. I’ve politely rejected them.

It’s not that I had a bad trad-pub experience. It’s just that I’ve had a better self-pub experience.

Reasons I’ve decided to stick with self-publishing:

I make more money writing independently of a publisher.  This is by far the top reason. I even made more self-publishing a few books than I did with more traditionally published books on the shelves.

I exploit all my rights and publish my book in a variety of formats or internationally. I can expand my reach to find more readers.  Publishers frequently hold onto your international, audio book rights, etc.

I can make changes to my self-published books.  Sometimes I’ll hear from readers about formatting or typos in my trad-published books…and it’s very frustrating knowing there’s nothing I can do.

I can make changes to my online profiles at the retailers and distributors I deal directly with.  I had to deal with a lot of red tape to even get my photo up on Penguin Random House’s site last week. I was stunned to find it wasn’t up there. After all, I’ve written for the publisher since 2010 and my photo was available to them for the backs of the books.

The only reason I was able to jump through the hoops and get the picture uploaded was because an employee at Penguin for the Berkley imprint went above and beyond the call of duty as a conduit between me and the art department.  My Memphis books aren’t listed or linked to on the page…they’re stranded in some sort of Nowhere Land without an author bio or picture, but at this point I  don’t have the time to deal with it.  Plus, my Riley Adams profile there has no bio or picture.

I can run promotions on books with lagging sales. I can make a book free. I can give a book away to gain newsletter subscribers (and then inform them of new releases for later sales gains). I can run quick weekend sales to make my books more visible on retail sites.

I can devote all my time and best ideas to the series that will pay me best. If I wrote an additional series for a trade publisher, I wouldn’t have as much time to devote to my other series.  I felt at the end of my traditional publishing that I was saving my best ideas for my ‘own’ books.

I don’t feel the need to prove anything. Originally, it did feel good to be validated by a gatekeeper…I was a newer writer and I needed that. Now, I prefer reader validation. It’s ultimately more valuable.

I have price control. If I switched back to traditional publishing, my readers would experience higher prices for my new books and they’d be emailing me to ask me why.

I can choose my book covers. I got lucky with the covers I had from Penguin Random House.  But going from complete creative control over the covers back to no control (they did always ask me what I thought of a cover before they signed off on it, but if I hadn’t liked it, I’m not sure they’d have pulled it/reworked it) would be challenging.

I can release books when I want. There could be large gaps between books: more than a year.  Now I can release a couple of books in the same series in a year’s time, if I like.

There were also certain things about traditional publishing that I just didn’t like.  For one,  I didn’t like losing my editors to layoffs, etc.  This meant I was an ‘orphaned’ writer whose series would likely not get renewed.

I didn’t like the contracts that I was seeing with non-compete clauses. I didn’t like being offered digital-only contracts later in the game.

What do you like about self-publishing? Or, to hear the other side, what draws you to traditional publishing?

Photo via Visualhunt.com

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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 39,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Business / Miscellaneous

How to Make a Living Writing: 10 Tips: @annerallen

Practicing Personal Cyber Security: @debluskin

Key UK Self-Publisher @thecreativepenn Opens a Small Press: @Porter_Anderson

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

‘London Book & Screen Week has events scheduled all over the British capital, March 13-19’: @Porter_Anderson

Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting

7 Tools for Keeping Your Writing Resolutions: @missriki

10 Tips to Start Writing (or Exercising) Again: @monicamclark

3 steps to writing well in 2017: @RuthanneReid

4 Tips for Getting Organized and Meeting Your Writing Goals: @ceciliaedits

Stuck on a Writing Goal? Use the Past to See the Way Forward: @jan_ohara

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

Why You Shouldn’t Copy the Masters: by Kathy Edens @ProWritingAid

3 Reasons Why Writers Should Read Voraciously: @KelsieEngen

Creativity and Inspiration / Miscellaneous

4 Ways to Use Creativity in Crazy Times: @carolyn_greg

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

Dream Big And Work Small, Even in 10 Minute Increments: @10MinNovelists

When a good stopping place is a bad starting place: @emma_darwin

47 Resources for People Who Love Writing but Can’t Find the Time: @smartbloggerhq

3 Fun Ways To Use The 2-Minute Rule To Write A Book: @angee

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

How to Fire up a Stalled Novel: @WritetoDone

Keeping a Productive Writing Routine During Dark Times: @lancerubinparty @MartinaABoone

Creativity and Inspiration / Success

5 Qualities Every Serious Writer Needs to Possess: @tessaemilyhall

8 Things Future Best-Selling Authors Are Doing Right Now: @10MinNovelists

On Selling Your First Novel After 11 Years: @minjinlee11 @lithub

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

Dealing with depression and the solitary nature of writing: @dawnafinch

How to Get Out of the “I Don’t Want to Write” Funk: @colleen_m_story

9 Places to Meet Writers and Start Building Your Network: @MelindaFriesen

3 Strategies for Thriving in the Ever-Changing Writing World: @thecreativepenn

Genres / Fantasy

Tips for Writing Magic: by Tripping the Write Fantastic

Gender and Stereotyping in Fantasy: @Leo_Cristea

Genres / Horror

The 16 Most Anticipated Horror Books of 2017: @GiveMeYourTeeth

3 Productivity Tips To Try: @cathryanhoward

8 of the Worst Decisions Ever Made in Horror Movies: @TracedThurman

Genres / Memoir

Memoir Bytes: When Private Moments are No Longer Private: @pokercubster

5 Lessons to Be Learned While Writing a Memoir: @sheilakohler

Genres / Mystery

Group dynamics as an element in crime fiction: @mkinberg

Crime-Solving Methods: A Pocket Guide: @LeeLofland

Crime fiction where the sleuth tries to prevent a murder: @mkinberg

5 Must-Haves for the Perfect Sleuth: @IngridThoft

Crime Writing: So, You Want To Be A Detective? @LeeLofland

Genres / Poetry

Free Rare Recordings of Burroughs, Bukowski, Ginsberg in New Digital Archive: @openculture @mica

Genres / Romance

Deconstructing Dark Romance: @janejordan1 @JordonMGreene

Heat Levels in Romance: @lansi26

Writing a Relationship Your Readers Will Ship: from Daily Writing Tips

Genres / Short Stories

3 Tips To Sell More Novels Via Short Stories: @angee

Promo / Blogging

The bottom line on blog stats: @sugarbeatbc

17 Easy Ways to Get Your Blog Flying High: @MarshaIngrao

Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting

The Perfect Back Cover Blurb: @SophieMasson1

Promo / Book Reviews

Moving Past A Negative Review: @Bookgal

Promo / Book Signings and Launch parties

How various authors sign books: @robertleebrewer @WritersDigest

7 Essentials for Your Book Launch: @KMWeiland

Promo / Box Sets

Creating a Print Book Box Set: @MarcyKennedy

Promo / Miscellaneous

How To Identify Your Manuscript’s Target Market: @Magzdozza

Creating a Sell Sheet: @JudithBriles

How To Make Your Book Permafree (and why you’d want to): @KhaosFoxe

How To Get A Shiny Series Page On Amazon: @KhaosFoxe

Promo / Social Media Tips

4 Ways to Promote Your Books on Social Media: by Michelle Polizzi @SMExaminer

17 More Things Indie Authors can Share on Social Media: @Bookgal

13 Social Media Trends To Watch In 2017: @Writers_Write

Promo / Speaking

Advice for Writers Who Hate Public Speaking, But Have to Do It: @andymolinsky

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Little Free Library Design Competition Announces International Winners: @Porter_Anderson

Intl. notes on accessing the Chinese scholarly market and launch of a medical ref. site: @Porter_Anderson

Managing Rights in Customized Publishing: Risk and Reward: @Porter_Anderson

German Book Prize Names 2017 Jury: Nominations Are Ongoing: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

International Books Headed to London Book Fair’s Rights Center: @Porter_Anderson

Draft2Digital is Adding Kobo Plus as a Distribution Option. Smashwords is Not: @thDigitalReader

Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing

The Joy of Writing Whatever the Heck You Want: @jamesscottbell

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing

When your agent won’t tell you where your project is/has been: @Janet_Reid

How to Navigate Today’s Publishing Industry: Charting Your Course: @tessaemilyhall

Publishing / Process / Book Design

Elements of Style: CSS for Ebooks: by David Kudler @JFbookman

Publishing / Process / Formatting

How To Format An Ebook Using Scrivener: @KhaosFoxe

Writing Craft / Beginnings

How to Begin a Novel: 7 Steps to Captivating First Chapters: @nownovel

Real Life Diagnostics: Are the Stakes Clear in This Opening? @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists

Use Your Antagonist To Define Your Story Goal: @Writers_Write

Writing Craft / Characters / Arc

How to Craft a Character-Driven Story: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

4 Keys to Writing Archetypal Characters: by Alanna J. Jordan @mythicscribes

How to Find Your Character’s Voice: @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Characters / Emotion

Emotional Depth – Putting the Spark in Your Story: @rachaeldthomas

Writing Craft / Characters / Supporting Characters

4 Core Components of an Awesome Sidekick Character: @RobinRWrites

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

1 writer figured out what was wrong with her novel and how to fix it: by A. Howitt @mythicscribes

Story is more important than structure: @readstevenjames @TheIWSG

The Single Largest Problem of Most First Time Novels: @KristenLambTX

Writing Craft / Diversity

Stereotyped vs Nuanced Characters and Audience: by Colette at Writing With Color

Writing Craft / Humor

6 Reasons No One Is Laughing At Your Humorous Writing: @10MinNovelists

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

7 Representations of the Deadly Sins in Fiction: by Stubby the Rocket @tordotcom

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

3 Reasons You Don’t Need Experience to Write a Great Story: @bradtaylorbooks @SignatureReads

The 4 Elements of Storytelling: @daveBricker

What Being an Editor Teaches About Writing: @annapitoniak @lithub

5 Things Psychology Can Teach Writers: @AngelaAckerman

Pixar & Khan Academy Offer a Free Online Course on Storytelling: @openculture @AyunHalliday

Fictionalizing Your Real-Life Story: @SPressfield

How Storytelling Makes You A Stronger Writer: @isekhmet

15 of the Best YouTube Channels for Writers: @CordeliaCallsIt

Don’t Write Time Travel (Unless You Do It Right): @helpfulsnowman

Planting the Clues and Hints in Your Story: @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / POV

Narrative Point of View in Storytelling: @WritingForward

Perception and How to Identify POV Leaps: @Jordanrosenfeld

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

How to find your novel’s structure: by Jack Smith @TheWriterMag

Organic Progress: by Shawn Coyne

Plotting – What Happens Next? by Aaron Miles @FantasyFaction

Weaving Storyboards–Which Is Your Dominant Story? @writeabook

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

3 More Rules for Producing Consistent Content: @writing_tips

3 Cases of Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Confusion: @writing_tips

Writing Craft / Revision

12 Contemporary Writers on How They Revise: @knownemily

Editing Tips: Top 3 Story Issues: @NaomiLHughes @JamiGold

How to Question Your Story’s Logic: @alyssa__holly

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

A Good Writing Critique Is Hard to Find: @Lindasclare

Ultimate Guide: How To Work With Beta Readers: @ClaireABradshaw

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

How Much Description Do You Need in Your Writing? @katekrake

Writing Craft / Tension

Why a bad day makes for a good story: @p2p_editor

Conflict in fiction: @jasonbougger

From my Blog

Top Time Savers for Book Production – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig This is the third post in my seri…

Making a Living Writing: Ten Tips – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig Is it possible to make a living wri…

Organization: Top Time Savers – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig This is the last post of the time savin…

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Organization: Top Time Savers

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

This is the last post of the time saving series. You can find the first post here (on social media), post two here (on saving time writing), and the third post here (on book production). Today, I’m focusing on general organization. I’ve found if I’m better organized, I can free up more time for writing.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve got tons of information to organize and work through. It could be writing craft posts. It could be research for your book. It could be ideas and images for blog posts.How do you store this information so that you can easily access it?

I use a couple of different tools for organizing information: one is Evernote and the other is OneNote.  Both are free (Evernote has a paid version if you’re an especially heavy user).  This post will include both the writing-related and personal uses of the apps because, in my house at least, if I’m not organized with both home and writing it impacts my writing time.

I’ve been using both for so long that I don’t want to combine data into just one of the apps, although that would work well, too.  I’ve also liked dividing up information between the two applications.

I tend to use OneNote to store text.  I store all types of documents in OneNote, from my kids’ school transcripts, to vet visit info, to book-related information and research. I scan all those bits and pieces of paper that come into our house from doctor appointments,  school, etc. and put them up on OneNote, which is searchable. In most cases, I’m able to get rid of the bits and pieces of paper afterward.

For Evernote, I save things from the web (and I know I’m underutilizing it. It’s even got integration with Google Drive now).  This includes the writing craft posts that I refer to again and again, but it also includes a large collection of recipes (divided into favorites, things to try, low-fat, gluten-free, etc.)  I save online receipts for Christmas purchases there, divided by family member: last year, for instance,  I had Christmas 2016 and a note for each person I’ve purchased for, including the receipts and websites I used. I’ve been doing this since 2012 and it’s been a great way not only to track what I’ve given people, it’s also a good way to get ideas for future gifts for them (maybe they’ve run out of their favorite treat, maybe the guest towels I gave them in 2012 are tired out by now).  I keep vacation planning research there, too.

For both applications, I can access my notes remotely, on my phone. This is great for when I’m writing on the go or when I’m at the grocery store and can’t remember the ingredients for the meal I’m cooking that night.

Besides using apps to stay organized, I’m also using task batching to save time and increase productivity.  For blogging, I’ll set aside time to brainstorm blog post ideas. Then I’ll set aside time another day to find and alter images for posts.  Another day I’ll organize my blog’s editorial calendar.  Sometime later, I’ll write or at least draft several posts.  By putting myself in the mindset and then doing a ‘batch’ of similar work, it helps me to stay focused and more productive. For more information about task batching, read this post by Jennifer Mattern: “How I Use Task Batching to be a More Productive Writer.”

What are some of your tips and apps for staying organized and more productive?

Tips and resources for better organization:
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Making a Living Writing: Ten Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Is it possible to make a living writing?

It definitely is…but if only it were easier!

Hope you’ll hop over to Anne R. Allen’s blog where I’ll outline ten tips for making a living as a writer .

Photo via Visual Hunt

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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 39,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

Mystery Thriller Week Begins Today: Online Calendar of Events: @MTW_2017

Authors: Think Twice Before Paying to Exhibit at Book Expo (BEA): @JaneFriedman

Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting

7 Debut Novelists on Their 2017 Resolutions: @knownemily

What is your creative intention? @DanBlank

Plan a Sustainable Year for Your Writing Life: @annkroeker

Setting more effective goals: @Writerology

5 Steps to More Achievable Goals: @jeffelk

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

Author and Reporter @TamaraLush Boards Amtrak for Continent-Wide Residency: @Porter_Anderson

Top 10 Ways To Beat Insecurity (At Least Temporarily!): @10MinNovelists

A Challenge to Writers: The Balance Between Dreaming and Working @AnnieNeugebauer

‘You get an idea and… it just grows’ – interview with @Roz_Morris

3 Ways for Writers to Use Deadlines: @astoryofmemory

5 Habits To Spark Your Creativity in 2017: @cathysbaker

Want More Creative Breakthroughs? A Step-by-Step Guide: @ahhensel @foxcabane @JudahThinks

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Quotes

How To Become a Good Writer: 50 Quotes From The Greats: @WritetoDone

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

10 Things Every Reader Should Do in 2017: @Gabino_Iglesias

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

How to trigger your writing routine: @Eva_Bec

How To Fit Writing Into Your Time-Crunched Life: @10MinNovelists

How To Carve Out Time For Writing Without Losing Sleep: @ThePaigeDuke

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

How to Keep Writing When You Feel Inadequate: @Chef_BoyarDEJI

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

The ABCs of Becoming a Super-Productive Writer: @CSLakin

The Pomodoro Technique and Productive Writing Time: @JessDarb

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

Why Won’t (Insert Name Here) Read My Book? @SheerHubris

3 Things You Can’t Teach About Writing: @colleen_m_story

The Writer Workout: 11 Minutes Keeping Your Word Count High and Your Calories Low: by It’s a Writer Thing

The Genreless Freedom—and Subsequent Power—of Journals: @jrc2666

Best Ways to Stay Protected Online as a Self-Employed Author: @thomas_milva

Tell them you Love Them to the Wall and Back with Game of Thrones Valentines Cards: by Stubby the Rocket

Famous Literary Relationships from Best to Worst: @knownemily

10 Reasons to Stay Home & Write This Valentine’s Day: @ProWritingAid

Writing a Book You’re Scared No One Will Understand: @losapala

4 Things Every Writer Thinks While Working on a Book: @JonAcuff

Staring into the Soundless Dark: On the Trouble Lurking in Poets’ Bedrooms: by Andrew Kay @The_Millions

8 Tips for Staying Safe Online: @EdieMelson

Coping with negativity: @DanBlank

Genres / Fantasy

6 Forms of Transit That Can Replace the Mount: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

Genres / Memoir

A Memoir Editor Answers Questions: @DiercksDuke

Genres / Mystery

Well-meaning advice in crime fiction: @mkinberg

Legislators in crime fiction: @mkinberg

Non-verbal communication as an element in crime fiction: @mkinberg

Plotting A Blockbuster Thriller: @Chris_Kokoski

Genres / Non-Fiction

5 Tips To Rescue Your Failed Nonfiction Ebook: @angee

Genres / Poetry

US Poet Laureates and the Presidents They Served Under: @DanielleMohlman @My_poetic_side

I Will Not Be Able to Write When I Am Dead: @StacySzymaszek @poetrynews

Genres / Romance

What Romance Fiction Can Accomplish: @maxwellcathy @lithub

How to Write Realistic Relationships (video): @Ava_Jae

Top 6 Fictional Couples: @NatePhilbrick

A roundup of posts on how to write intimate scenes: @RomanceUniv

Hot spots: writing love scenes: by Minal Hajratwala @TheWriterMag

How to Write Swoon: @sjaejones

Genres / Short Stories

How to Use Short Stories to Improve Your Writing Career: @crisfreese

Promo / Blogging

4 Ways to Close a Blog Post: @Margo_L_Dill

Maximize your blog’s visual appeal by using widgets: @pokercubster

3 Social-Sharing Tricks to Optimize Your Next Blog Post: @aliciarades

Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting

The Fastest Way To Make All Your Descriptions Better: @Chris_Kokoski

Why your book descriptions don’t look right: @HollowLandsBook

Promo / Book Reviews

Honesty, Likability and Book Reviews: @MarinaSofia8

Promo / Miscellaneous

Use Content Marketing To Sell More Books: @pamelaiwilson

Promo / Platforms

Platform Building-Is It Really Necessary? @wordsbyandylee

Promo / Social Media Tips

5 Questions to Ask Before Joining a New Social Media Network: @a3forme @susanrstilwell

Publishing / Miscellaneous

A Comparison of Audio Book Distributors– ACX, Author’s Republic and Scribl: @TahliaNewland

The most important book elements for reader appeal: @EvaNatiello

10 Trends in Publishing Every Author Needs to Know in 2017: @WrittenWordM

From Novel to Virtual Reality Film: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

The NY Times wants to save itself by becoming like Netflix: @PassiveVoiceBlg @HeyHeyESJ @gabrielsnyder

Publishing / News / Amazon

Is Amazon Exclusivity Right for You? @robkroese @JaneFriedman

Publishing / News / International Publishing

France, China, South Africa, Canada, USA Lead London Book Fair Intl. Award Shortlist: @Porter_Anderson

Ukraine Enacts a Winter Ban on Book Imports From Russia: by Eugene Gerden @pubperspectives

Trade Show Notes: LBF Hosts Fair Use Debate; BookExpo Announces Author-Speakers: @Porter_Anderson

The AWP Goes to Washington With Focus on Lit in a Political Society: @Porter_Anderson

Showcase Offers £7,500 in International Commissions; Nigeria’s Cassava Signs W/ Consortium: @Porter_Anderson

A closer look at serialized fiction startup Radish: @Porter_Anderson @radish_fiction

Thieves Nab More Than $2.5 Million Worth of Rare Books in London Heist: by Jake Rossen @mental_floss

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Pitches

Reach beyond tropes when pitching your book: @JaneLebak

Publishing / Process / Book Design

Book Cover Design: How indie authors can do it best: @ReedsyHQ

Book Cover Design: What To Consider Before Hiring A Designer: @MsBessieBell

6 Tips to Create Book Covers that Sell Books: @LyndaRYoung @TheIWSG

A Complete Guide and Resources for Choosing Your Book Cover Font: @publishdrive

Writing Craft / Beginnings

Crafting a Powerful Set-Up: @beccapuglisi

Real Life Diagnostics: Is This Short Prologue Working? @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

How to Prevent Your Characters from All Sounding the Same: @LouiseMarley @WomenWriters

Develop your characters by getting to know them: @jasonbougger

Creating Characters We Want To Have Coffee With: @RachelHauck

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

The Basics of Show Don’t Tell: @JulieEshbaugh

Writing Craft / Diversity

A resource for writers wanting to write books with more diverse characters: from Writing With Color

Writing Craft / Endings

Not all story endings are meant to satisfy: @tobyshmoby

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

Using the Modern Love Podcast to Teach Narrative Writing: @nytimes

6 Cinematic Techniques to Apply to Your Novel Right Now: @CSLakin

“Things Learned From Watching ‘La La Land’ : by Lance Morgan @GoIntoTheStory

Pixar’s Inside Out and the Literature of Interiority: @GabbyBellot @ElectricLit

5 Fantasy Books That Ignore Genre Boundaries: @MichaelSwanwick

The Tropes of ‘Supernatural’: @woodwardkaren

10 Politically Subversive Novels Veiled in Absurdism: @chris_shultz81

The Many Bad Moms of Charles Dickens: @RVoronaCote

11 Classics of the New Gothic Canon: by Emily Fridlund @lithub

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

5 Tips for Telling Prequel Stories: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

How to Make a Good Story Excellent: 9 Tips: @nownovel

Handling inner monologue: @p2p_editor

Supporting Characters in Your Real Life: @SPressfield

7 Keys to Writing Excellence: by Fae Rowen

5 Signs You Treat Your Reader Like an Idiot: @WritingWordBlog

Using a narrator character to create a mythic story: @AlexSokoloff

Selecting the Right Sentence Structure for the Right Emotion: @SeptCFawkes

Social Issues in Your Stories: 3 Strategies for Doing it Right: @tobywneal

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

The Keys to Creating Great Twists: @readstevenjames @MTW_2017

Story Structure and The Hollywood Formula: @woodwardkaren

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

3 Errors in Using Parentheses: @writing_tips

3 More Sentences Lacking One Word to Be Correct: @writing_tips

Writing Craft / Revision

12 Contemporary Writers on How They Revise: @knownemily

Why we should put drafts aside for a time after finishing: @Roz_Morris

How To Edit Your Book Using the Layers Process: @SukhiJutla

7 Tips to Bring Your Words to Life: @LisaTener

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

5 Questions to Ask Beta Readers When They Critique Your Manuscript: @SaraL_Writer

How is a writer like a surgeon? @nevalalee

Writing Craft / Tension

Shaping Story Conflict: @Lindasclare

5 Surefire Ways To Raise The Stakes Of Your Story: @ClaireABradshaw

5 Levers to Create Suspenseful Scenes: @GraemeRodaughan for @JordonMGreene @MTW_2017

Uncategorized

Top Time Savers for Writing – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig I rely on a lot of time savers to help me…

Twitterific Writing Links – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig A weekly roundup of the best writing links …

Writing Conferences and Festivals – by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig I’ve been to a variety of different…

17 Things Indie Authors can Share on Social Media in 2017: @Bookgal

The top writing links of the week are on Twitterific:
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Top Time Savers for Book Production

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

This is the third post in my series on how writers can save time.  You can find the first post here (on social media), and the second post here (on saving time writing).

If you plan on having only a single book or just a couple of books, you probably can just skip the information I’m sharing today. This is more for those of us who have either multiple series or many books or both. It’s the nitty-gritty of book production–the tedious inputting of data into the retail and distributor sites.

By keeping track of the data we use over and over again, we can not only make our process go a lot quicker, we can also make sure it’s consistent. Although it does take some time to compile these lists, sometimes we have to spend time to save it.

Here are some examples:

Backmatter:  It’s the stuff that goes in the back of every book. For a while I was creating backmatter for each book separately and losing tons of time in the process. Now I’ve got a formatted backmatter section saved and ready to go. It includes my ‘about the author,’ a newsletter signup pitch, ‘other works,’ where to connect with me, a thank-you/please review,  and book extras.  This is just the standard content I put in the backs of every book. For some books, I’ll also add an author’s note specific to the writing of that particular book..but at least I’ve already got the backmatter written.

You may also want to have one book list for Amazon (using Amazon links–and I understand that they don’t allow affiliate links in the backmatter) and one for everyone else (and linked to each book page on your website).

Metadata:  It’s very important that we keep metadata consistent, for better search engine optimization. It’s there to help readers find our books and if we’re inconsistent in our metadata, the search engines don’t realize we’re talking about the same term (is the series ‘A Nancy Drew Mystery’? Or ‘The Nancy Drew Mysteries’? Or ‘Nancy Drew Mysteries’?)  Keeping track of all the metadata we use is a quick way to make sure we’re keeping our metadata the same across the board.  This post from last year lists some helpful tools to help track metadata (and what we should be tracking).

ISBNs: If you use them, you’ll want to keep track of which book format has what ISBN. This tends to come up repeatedly and each time I would be pulling up Bowker to see what the ISBN for a Kindle format book written years ago was. It’s much easier to keep the information in a spreadsheet or a list. Joel Friedlander offers a free ISBN Logbook. 

Keywords:  This is not to say that we shouldn’t keep testing and tweaking our keywords. But if you publish multiple books a year in a variety of formats at various retailers and distributors, having a keyword list handy can save a tremendous amount of time.

Covers:  This may seem like an odd tip, but get them in advance.  If your designer is popular, get them way in advance.  Otherwise, you may end up delaying publication of your book until your designer can work you in. I usually have my covers made for me several books ahead.

Distributors:  I wrote an entire post on this recently. It’s important that we keep track of which aggregator (Smashwords, Draft2Digital, PublishDrive, StreetLib, etc.) is distributing what title where (Overdrive, Google Play, Apple, Nook, etc.).  Otherwise we end up with duplicate listings at retail sites.

Newsletter template on MailChimp:  It took me a while to come up with a newsletter design that I liked. Once I did, I saved it as a template on MailChimp. Now, whenever I send out a newsletter, I just rearrange and edit parts of the body of the template. It’s saved me a tremendous amount of time and gives my newsletters a consistent look.

What have I missed? What kinds of things do you do to save time with book production?

Top time savers for book production:
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Writing Conferences and Festivals

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve been to a variety of different conferences over the years and tried to get the most out of each experience. Sometimes I had a better time than others, but I invariably learned something.

Types of conferences:

In-person writing conferences are where I’m usually in my element. There I meet and talk with different writers, learn more about the craft, and hear more about the latest promo techniques.

Online writing conferences can also be incredibly useful. What’s more, you don’t even have to leave your house (which is wonderful! I’ve even been speaker at some of these events from the comfort of my own home).  My favorite is the Indie Author Fringe conference, which runs online at several points throughout the year.  This year it will be held March 18, June 3rd,  and October 14th.  The best part is that it’s free and has experts in a variety of different writing-related areas.  More information here and see the event archives here:

London Book Fair Fringe
Book Expo America Fringe
Frankfurt Book Fair Fringe

For the first time, I’m actually part of a reader-facing online mystery conference this week (which is why this topic was on my mind when I wrote the post).  It’s Mystery Thriller Week: If you’re a mystery writer or reader or are just interested in seeing how a fan festival could work online, take a look here. It’s designed to bring readers, book bloggers, and mystery writers together online.  I’ve got a few posts scheduled to run this week (they’ll show up in my Twitterific this Sunday), but here are a couple of links in advance:  My interview with Michelle Dragalin and   “Three Ways for Writers to Use Deadlines” (which will go live at noon EST today).  My books are also getting reviewed by different bloggers. This will be a yearly event, so if you’re a mystery writer, make a note to contact the organizers so that you can participate next year.

Book Festivals: The ones that probably make me the most uncomfortable are the ones that have me sitting at a table, hawking my books. I’m not much of a hawker. In fact, the last time I was at an event like this, I left my table and wandered around the building to see everyone else’s books and to meet other writers. Although I’m not really a shy person, I can be very shy around readers.  I know…leaving my table wasn’t the right way to sell books. Now I’m aware that this is not the kind of event I need to attend.  That’s also something important for writers to know–what is the type of conference or festival that’s more valuable for them?

That’s not to say that reader-facing events aren’t incredibly valuable. They can be. I think the most successful and rewarding ones, though, incorporate several different elements–speakers/panels of speakers, signings, and awards. For my genre, the Malice Domestic conference comes to mind.  That event combines all the above elements and the organizers even call it a ‘fun fan’ convention. Readers leave with lots of freebies and the writers all get buzz from the conference.

Here is a list from Sarah Nicolas at Book Riot of  US ‘reader audience festivals’ for 2017. 

Getting the most from a writing conference

Writing conferences can be exhausting, especially for introverts.  Carefully choose the sessions you want to attend and be sure to take notes.  Bring your laptop into the sessions to take notes (you won’t be the only one). Consider making arrangements with other attending writers before the conference so you’ll have someone to have lunch or drinks with (my temptation is always to retreat to my hotel room, but that’s not the best approach).  And remember to bring business cards with you, for staying in touch.

Getting the most from a ‘fan’ conference

As a past attendee at Malice Domestic, I know that readers are definitely expecting to bring home books and swag (and I will caution you that ‘swag’, judging from the laugh attacks my kids have had,  apparently means something different to US teenagers, so use the word with caution around that particular audience).

I gave away potholders with pigs on them at my last reader-facing conference,  since I had the Memphis BBQ series to promote at the time.  Swag is expensive, but I’ll admit I’m a lot more comfortable interacting with readers at conferences if I have something in my hands to give away.  So that’s my big piece of advice: have swag. Or really, even just candy. :)

My second bit of advice would be to have a ready response to the questions “what are your books about?” and “what are you working on now?”

More resources:

A post from writer Jeannie Lin on whether or not to have swag.

And a post from Robin Rivera on 7 Tips for Better Book Swag

Where to find conferences

Sometimes it’s best to start out small (and cheap) and then work your way up to a more expensive, bigger conference.  Here are listings of conferences of all sizes (some are online):

Insecure Writers Support Group (also includes retreats and seminars)

Shaw Guides 

AWP (which also has a way to filter your search)

Have you attended any conferences?  What type is your favorite? Any tips that I’ve missed?

Tips and Resources for Attending and Finding Writing Conferences:
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Photo credit: eltpics via Visual hunt / CC BY-NC

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