Jennifer Ellis's Blog, page 8

Marketing Your Book – A Primer – Part Seven

A Quill Ladder is almost ready for release, as is the next installment in my environmental thriller, The Complicated Weight of Air. Both will be out in the next four weeks. Review copies of A Quill Ladder are available for a short period of time so if you are interested, please sign up for my email list.

I wanted to finish my series on marketing your book, which I started in the spring and never quite completed—in part because I put the strongest strategies near the front and some of the ones...

Writing Faster... and keeping it okay

So in the indie world, and really probably in the world world, most of us who write, or create, or do anything really, are under pressure to write, create and do things faster (it was all associated with the advent of the dishwasher I’m sure). Let’s put it this way, I’m pretty sure none of us is under pressure to do many things slower (just ask my poor husband, but don’t mention the wood shed).

Photo Credit: Tomi Tapio K / flckr / Creative Commons

More Content = More Sales

In the indie world...

Developing an Author Business Plan

I just finished my final edits to A Quill Ladder and it is ready to go to the editor. Yay! It is now exactly one year since I decided to go indie, and as a result, it is probably time to be more explicit about my business plan. I have always kind of had an implicit plan - six books in three years at a reasonable budget, then reassess.

I did some research on business plans for authors and found them to be really lengthy and detailed. I am a big believer that for the most part the best busines...

Advantages of Using Google+ for Writers

By Jennifer Ellis

This week while I am taking short breaks from editing A Quill Ladder, which is now available here for pre-order, I am wrestling with the pros and cons of spending more time posting my content on Google+. And wrestle I have, let me tell you. I have now read so many almost incomprehensible articles on the advantages of Google+ that my head is spinning. Editing was far more relaxing.

Photo Credit: Yuko Honda via flickr Creative Commons

Why care about Google+?

I already have a Fa...

Reading Short Stories (Synchronic on sale)

Just a short post today, as I am officially on holidays (which means I have been carted away from my house by my husband and do not have to do consulting work for two weeks, but I am still editing A Quill Ladder like a fiend).

Synchronic: 13 Tales of Time Travel, the short story anthology I contributed to in the spring, is on sale today and tomorrow (August 14 and 15) in the United States for only 99 cents. For those of you who have not read it, it is an amazing collection of short stories th...

The Best Self-Publishing Podcasts

This week I am going to focus on self-publishing podcasts. If you are an indie writer and have not found self-publishing podcasts yet, I highly recommend that you give them a try. They’re great to listen to when you are running errands in the car, doing housework or going for walks, although I generally like to dream up plot ideas while I walk. While I love to keep up on industry news through the many great web resources that focus on indie publishing, the best of which in my opinion is The P...

What Makes Great Characters

So I was tagged in a blog tour (again) by Lyn C. Johanson. I seem to be imminently taggable. Maybe that’s because I almost never say no. In fact, I suck at saying no – which probably explains some of my life choices (but I digress). Or maybe someone stuck a “tag me” post-it note on my back. But blog tours are usually fun, and I saw this one about Meeting My Character as an opportunity to both answer the questions, and then consider what makes great characters.

Photo Credit: Ian Wilson / flic...

Reading Like a Writer

I'm participating in the International Authors’ Day blog hop this week. Since the blog hop is for both readers and writers, it was suggested that we talk about reading, such as why we love reading, our favourite authors or how we got into reading.

In that vein, I have decided to talk about reading like a writer.

As a writer, it is critical to approach books for more than just enjoyment, although of course enjoyment is important too! Books represent possibly the greatest classroom for writers,...

Getting from First to Second Draft

I just finished the first draft of the second novel in my middle-grade to adult time travel series (hence the temporary blog silence). After a giddy day of celebration (okay it has been three days), I need to start planning out the second draft. I have a short story that I have to write for anthology (exciting announcement coming soon) by the beginning of August and then I have to do revisions to the tentatively titled A Quill Ladder by September 15 to meet the deadline I’ve agreed upon with...

Shorts and Omnibuses - Good Idea?

I have been considering publishing a series of interconnected shorter works over the next six months or so, and then pulling them all together in an “omnibus” collection. As many of you probably know, this strategy worked very effectively for Hugh Howey with his Wool, Shift and Sand series. Michael Bunker has also taken this approach with his Pennsylvania, Wick and Dunes over Danvar series.

A key aspect of this approach is that you can draw people into your series through the first installment...