Social Media and Author Websites
“56 Ways to Market Your Business on Pinterest” by Beth Hayden on Copyblogger <—Take these tips and use them to market your writing!
“Blogging: An Existential Crisis” by Savannah Foley on Pub(lishing) Crawl <—Great ways to look at your blogging life and what you want to put out there into the world.
“2 Ways to Make the Most of Goodreads” by Jane Friedman <—Never thought of using Goodreads this way so I’m incredibly happy to have found this information this week!
“Blogging for Writers – Make Your Blog Work” by Nicola Morgan on Help! I Need a Publisher <—Making the most of your blog.
“3 Core Components of a Blockbuster Blog” by Roni Loren <—Great post on why people read blogs, thus the basics of having a blockbuster blog!
“Blog Commenting – Is It Going Extinct?” by Roni Loren <—Thought-provoking post due to the decline in blog comments. Very interesting – and absolutely correct – read!
“Are You Making These 7 Mistakes with Your About Page?” by Sonia Simone on Copyblogger <—Mistake to avoid on your About Me page on your blog.
On the Craft
“Mastering Words: Transform Your Writing Weakness into Strength” by Angela Ackerman on Write to Done <—The power of attitude, an open mind, asking for help and rewriting.
“Make a Writing Schedule and Stick to It” by Scott Eagan <—No more excuses – if you have a plan of action and a strict schedule, you’ll get the writing done.
“10 Favorite Writing Lessons from Margie Lawson (and her peeps!)” on Writers in the Storm Blog <—Quite a list of valuable writing lessons! A Must-Read!
“Thumbnail Character Sketches” by Kat Zhang on The Katacomb <—Awesome character work idea!
“Dialogue –Make It Real!” by Ann Mulligan on Novel Rocket <—Great examples on how to make your dialogue sound real.
“Feeling the Love” by Keith Cronin on Writer Unboxed <—On writing fictional love and connecting it with the reader.
“The Plot Thickens” by C.S. Lakin on The Bookshelf Muse <—Awesome post on the importance of plotting layers! A Must-Read!
“Why Romances are a Valid & Important Form of Literature” by Jody Hedlund <—Excellent reasons why Jody writes romance (and why the rest of should definitely try our hand at it!).
“25 Things You Should Know About Protagonists” by Chuck Wendig on Terribleminds <—A deep insightful look at the protagonist. A Must-Read!
“Does Your Story Have too Many Characters?” by K.M. Weiland <—How to figure out the right number of characters for your story.
“The Power of Explanation Compels You: Avoiding the Dreaded Infodump” by Janice Hardy on The Other Side of the Story with Janice Hardy <—How avoid the ever-tempting infodump in your story. A Must-Read!
“The Number One Objective for Your Novel” by C.S. Lakin on Live Write Thrive <—I love C.S.’s thoughts on what the first objective of your story should be. A Must-Read!
“The Author as Actor” by J. Thomas Ross on The Author Chronicles <—Lightbulb moment! The author should become an actor in order to convey their characters’ feelings on the page.
“What Is Your Story’s ‘Take-Away?’” by Scott Eagan <—If you feel your story is lacking something, it could be because you’re missing a ‘take-away.’
“Weather Thesaurus Entry: Sleet” by Angela Ackerman on The Bookshelf Muse <—New weather entry into the thesaurus!
“Why the Secret of Lying Well is Also the Secret of Writing Well” by Jurgen Wolff on Time to Write <—The 4 secrets of the good liar and writer.
“Riveting Our Readers by Using the Death Factor” by Jody Hedlund <—Ways to increase the Death Factor in your story. A Must-Read!
“Need Voice? Think Out Loud” by Jami Gold <—Excellent post on finding your voice and pulling it through in your writing.
Writerly Inspiration
“Bring Back that Lovin’ Feeling – What do Do When You Feel Burned Out” by Kristin Lamb <—Ah, such a well-timed post about how to come back from the writing burnout.
“I Write Dirty Books, and I’m Proud of It” by Mike Mullin on The League of Extraordinary Writers <—Be proud of you write, regardless of the content and who might shy away from it!
“Writers, Don’t Forget the Love” by Daniel Swensen on SurlyMuse <—Wonderful Valentine’s day post on not losing the love of writing.
“What Isn’t On the Page: The Writer’s Guide to Growing” by Martina Boone on Adventures in YA & Children’s Publishing <—Insightful post on stepping back and considering what you haven’t put on the page in order to push into what you should/could put on the page. A Must-Read!
“4 Ways to Bounce Back when Your Confidence Takes a Beating” by Tawna Fenske on Don’t Pet Me, I’m Writing <—Tricks to getting your mojo back. A Must-Read!
“6 Ways to Energize Your Writing Naturally” by Chrystle Fiedler on Mystery Writing is Murder <—Natural cures to make you more alert and focused with writing or anything else you need to do.
On Editing, Critiquing, Querying, Publishing and more…
“Why No One is Buying Your Book” by Jeff Bennington on The Writing Bomb <—Excerpt from The Indie Author’s Guide to the Universe.
“A Writer’s Guide to Punctuation” by K.M. Weiland on Wordplay <—Great resource for all things punctuation!
“5 Writing Myths” by Ava Jae on Writability <—Great myth-busting analysis of the 5 major myths out there haunting writers.
“Do You Know What Business You’re In? Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3” <—”What the Publishing Industry can learn from Kodak”
“How to Revise for Structure, Part 2” by Jami Gold <—Wickedly awesome follow-up to last week’s post with 2 – count ‘em – TWO spreadsheets to assist with story structure and revision. A Must-Read!
“Learn How to Write a Synopsis Like a Pro” by Courtney Carpenter on Writer’s Digest <—5 quick tips on how to write a synopsis followed by what you should avoid when doing so.
“Guest Post: Alexandra MacKenzie on Publishing Her Second Novel” on The Literary Lab <—How publishing the second book is vastly different from the first.
“Querying Your Unlikeable Character” by Jane Lebak on QueryTracker.net <—How to query if you have a main character that isn’t so…likeable.
“How (Not) to Write the Perfect Query Letter” by Ava Jae on Writability <—Must-have tips on what not to do when writing that query letter!
“Bracing For Impact – The Future of Big Publishing in the New Paradigm” by Kristen Lamb <—Interesting post on where NY is headed and how they become more responsive in an instant gratification age. A Must-Read!
“Editing to Life – Characterization” by Lydia Sharp on Writer Unboxed <—Micro editing, characterization and tips and resources helpful to the editing process.
This week on the blog:
Happy Reading and Writing, everyone!!!
Melinda
