Wednesday's writing related ramblings - May 6th 2015

I've made some good progress with the "Zeena Dragon Fae" books.

"Zeena And The Dryad" is now in the editing phase, and I've officially started writing "Zeena And The Gryphon" (the second book in the series). OK, so I haven't made much progress with writing it yet, but I've started.

I'm happy with that, even though I'm not quite as far along in my progress with the series as I'd hoped to be by this point in the year. Still, I'm seeing progress, and pleased with how the story that makes up the whole four book series is developing, so I'm not complaining.

Anyway... The plan is to have "Zeena And The Dryad" ready to publish some time next month.

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I have my plot bunnies under control; they have their very own document, where they're free to multiply as much as they like, while they wait for me to pick one to work with.

How about you? Do you have your plot bunnies under control?

Once you do, and have decided which one to tackle first, you should check out these writing tips for creating your own characters, and these 5 essential story ingredients, to help you turn your plot bunny in to an amazing story!

Always remember though... Whether you're a published author, a blogger, or whatever, don't forget that when it comes to your writing, there's something very important to pay attention to before publishing: grammar - it gets your attention! OK, every step of the writing process is important - whether you're posting a short message on Facebook or Twitter, doing a quick blog post about your day, or writing a 400 page novel - but take your time with editing and proofreading; your readers will appreciate it, and be more likely to come back for more. Besides, that extra bit of editing will turn a story from a frog, in to a prince, which is most definitely something you want!

When your book is finally complete, you'll need to write a synopsis. Here are the dos and don'ts of writing a book blurb to help you out.

Also, if you plan to set up an author website - or already have an author website - here's an article on building your author platform: 8 essential elements for your website. I've got most of these on mine, though my photos aren't head shots, but show more of me than that. All I don't have is the newsletter/mailing list. I keep thinking I should sort one out, but never end up doing it.

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I recently came across a site for a group of magazines published by a company called Cricket Media that are aimed at children of various ages. I did consider submitting something to them, since the magazines are aimed at children of various ages from toddlers up, so my stories and poems would fit in there somewhere. After some consideration though, I decided against it. I mean, if you'd asked me if I wanted to try it ten years ago - in fact, even five years ago - I would have jumped at the chance. But now... Well, now that I know I can self-publish and keep my rights to publish where I like, I'm reluctant to give up my rights to any of my work. So, though the pay isn't too bad for submitting stories or poems for children to the magazines (it's not amazing, but it's not too bad) and the guidelines are pretty simple, the fact I'd have to wait three to six months just to find out if I'm going to lose my rights to publish a certain piece elsewhere, or if they're just going to reject it, puts me off, since I know I can publish things myself more quickly, and without losing the rights to my own work. I decided I'd post about it here though, in case others are less reluctant to give it a go.

Do you self-publish too? Well, here's an article that talks about 5 self-publishing trends to know in 2015, which you may like to read.

Also, if you have a day job to go along with your writing, make sure you're aware of the hard part before you quit it, because "the gold rush is over" now. Besides, any kind of freelance job will have its periods of ups and downs, or feast and famine, where things are tough and funds are hard to come by. There's a lot of luck involved on the path to success, after all!

Of course, first you have to finnish something already!