The Masks We Wear

This has been a topsy turvey old week. Chuck Wendig has written a very thoughtful post on what it means to be a writer and how writers can process the momentous event that happened this week.

Sarah Stonichava-Finch has an interesting article on embracing a pen name and an alter ego. If you ever wanted to live a different life, read this.

Reedsy looks at the rise of Literary Fiction Self Publishing. I often remind people that Literary Fiction is a genre. It has its stars just like Crime or Romance. It is building a niche in self publishing.

Jami Gold has written an excellent post on whether stories should be set in stone once they are published. If you have ever looked at a glaring error in a book and wished to fix it – should you?

Anne R Allen has an excellent post on things new writers can do right now if they want that dream writing career.

Nina Amir has a guest post on Jane Friedman’s blog on how to set achievable and meaningful goals. Yes, NaNoWriMo is still going on. The world is still turning.

Emily Harstone of Authors Publish has written an interesting article on the 8 trends she has seen in publishing this year. A couple of things surprised me.

In The Craft Section,

Red flags in Editing- Meg Latorre-Snyder

Two ways to use misdirection- Roz Morris-Bookmark

5 world building tips- DIYMFA

7 remedies for writer apathy

How to nail your inciting incident- Pamela Hodges-Bookmark

Passion, the best fuel for writing- Writer Unboxed

Mastering stylistic tension- September Fawkes-Bookmark

Creating powerful images- C S Lakin - Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

When your book isn’t selling-Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Ways to target readers using bookbub ads

50 ways to kickstart publicity- Molly Greene - Bookmark

Audiobook options for writers- Lindsay Buroker

3 marketing success stories- Bookmark

Own your author business in seven steps-Carla King- Bookmark

Book Marketing Mistakes

To Finish,

The election this week highlighted archetypes and caricatures. Many believed that the voting public would see through the buffoonery to the straw man beneath and so they did not prepare for the unthinkable result. There are positive archetypes to identify with. Paul Minors has 8 productivity archetypes that might help you find a way to turn dross into gold.

Maureen

@craicer

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Chris H

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Writing Inspiration

It’s that month loved and feared by many writers around the world. The month where writers start writing with great intentions and at the end of the first week start gibbering.

If you are head down into NaNoWriMo I have some great craft and inspiration articles for you. 

If you are not doing NaNoWriMo I have some great inspiration and craft articles for you.

First up you need a pep talk from Mr Chuck Wendig. Then you will be ready to hit the creative sandbox (or possibly plant your face in the sandbox.)

Jami Gold has a stellar post on how to make NaNo work for you. This is a great post and works for every writer not just for November. What are the goals you set for yourself?

Meanwhile out beyond the NaNoSphere the publishing world was back to normal.

Publishing Perspectives reported on the Nielson kids summit- What are the challenges in Children’s publishing and what’s next on the horizon?

PubCrawl has an interesting article on the non compete clause in contracts. Oh the tricky wording and what it  all means.

Catherine Ryan Howard talks about being a hybrid author now and what’s best about both worlds.

Nathan Bransford talks about personalised queries. Sometimes too personal can be too much.

Ginger Moran talks about what to do when you have trouble getting your book written. Some self care may be required.

In The Craft Section,

NaNo Planning in 15 minutes – Jennifer Blanchard

Writing great blurbs- Ali Luke- Bookmark

How to find good story titles

Writing three dimensional characters- Bookbaby

Understanding inner conflict – Michael Huge- Bookmark

Making every word count- Jane Friedman

Bringing dialogue to life- Ruth Harris - Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

5 Facebook Ad features you didn’t know existed-Problogger- Bookmark

Book Marketing checklist-Tim Grahl- Bookmark

A business mindset- Orna Ross- Bookmark

The crowd funded publication model

Pitch your novel perfectly

Podcasting and marketing your book

When to start marketing- Penny Sansevieri

The bestseller status

To Finish,

Every year around this time writing craft books get promoted. There are always good sales. I have picked up some great writing craft books in NaNoWriMo StoryBundles. This year has a great selection. Kris Rusch’s contract book with all that contract info I’ve been sharing this year is in the bundle along with some other familiar names. And it’s a great price. There are even sites that have free writing craft books.

November is also NaNoReadMo - where you promote reading and sharing great books.

Give yourself a NaNoWri Present and grab a writing craft book or a bundle of them.

Maureen

@craicer

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons- Dafne Cholet

It’s nearly time to send out my monthly newsletter. If you want a handy collection of the best of my bookmarked links and other interesting items click here to subscribe! 

Who Do You Write For?

As I look over my Twitter feed this week I have the distinct impression that many writers will be hitting NaNoWriMo with relief to get away from the media storms over the US Presidential elections. Vote Early and switch off all media to write the novel.

Kris Rusch has a nice comment on the value of writing fiction when the world is in turmoil.

This week Amazon changed a few rules on publishing ebooks. The Digital Reader has a link with all the new hoops you have to jump through.

Joanna Penn has an interview with Chris Fox on using data science to sell books. This is a fascinating interview because once you identify your ideal reader, data science can help you market your book without you doing any work.

Looking after your international audience is the subject of Elizabeth S Craig’s blog post and it is full of ideas for marketing across all the different countries Amazon has presence. She also goes into great detail on Print distribution.

Chris Syme has a guest post on Jane Friedman’s blog about running short Social Media campaigns to market your book. This comprehensive article is an excerpt from Chris Syme’s new book.

Shannon Gibney has penned a thoughtful article - 7 things I have learned so far as a writer. This is a great roundup of advice... always say yes if you can... be prepared and deadlines are your friend. Shannon also explains why.

What happens when you get Book Apathy? How do you overcome it? Is something wrong with you or the book? Ginny Carter has an interesting article on remedies for this malaise that strikes every author.

The Three Pillars of The Author Platform and how to build them is the subject of The Verbs latest thought piece. Every writer should take time to read this and think about it.

Who are you? and Who are you writing for? are questions we all need to answer if we want a successful writing career.

In The Craft Section,

How to find Plot holes when outlining- K M Weiland- Bookmark

The best advice on plotting- Janice Hardy-Bookmark

3 reasons your manuscript gets rejected

3 tips to increase writing output- Jody Hedlund- Bookmark

Writing sad scenes- Ryan Casey

Finding plot holes – Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Finding your way into the story – Becca Puglisi-Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

9 tips for building your book cover- Jane Friedman- Bookmark

7 Book marketing trends that no longer work

Visual marketing for authors- Frances Caballo- Bookmark

How to launch a book on a budget

5 things to remember in cover design

Book promotions for holidays- Bookmark

Making a living – Elizabeth S Craig- Bookmark!

To Finish

Orna Ross is the director of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi )They have run three very successful online free one day conferences coinciding with the three major Book Fairs in the Northern Hemisphere. With the Frankfurt Book Fair just wrapping up the theme of their last conference was Writers and Business. 24 hours of amazing content for writers at all stages of the writing profession. Check out what’s on offer and enjoy a feast of quality content.

Orna also has an excellent vlog on setting good creative writing habits. Just in time for NaNoWriMo

Good Luck To Everyone attempting NaNoWriMo (It’s not too late to sign up.)

Maureen

@craicer

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Jupiter Firelyte

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Facing Your Fear

It’s ten days until November. For many writers around the world November is when they take a deep breath and plunge into NaNoWriMo. (National Novel Writing Month.) 

The aim is to write 50,000 words by the 30^th.

50,000 words seems like a huge mountain to climb. Fear of the task can paralyse you so that you don’t get started at all. Rachel Thompson has 4 tips to overcome your fear of writing.

Joanna Penn has a great interview with Grant Faulkner where he talks about how NaNoWriMo got started and the origins of the 100 word story site.

You can sign up for NaNoWriMo and find your local group to support you or just beaver away at home.

Roz Morris has an excellent post on pace and structure to help with your NaNo planning and Bookworks has one on Time Management strategies for authors.

October is often called NaNoPrepMo. It is much easier to write 50,000 words if you know what you are going to write first. Jami Gold has her brilliant worksheets for authors available to download so you are all prepared for NaNoWriMo. 

Out in the world Mike Shatzkin has been taking a look at the latest Author Earnings data. He concludes that Bob Mayer was right with his post everything old is new again. Traditional publishers have now figured out how to use the new world of ebook publishing but there are differences in approach.

Kristine Rusch has an interesting post on  how writers can be overwhelmed. The solution is to define exactly what you want to be and or achieve.

Anne R Allen has a great post on the latest twists and turns of the Amazon review policy. This post is getting widely shared. Anne is a treasure trove of useful information and this post lays out what you can and can’t do regarding the new rules of reviews on Amazon.

Susan Spann writes about the intricacies of the advance in contracts. If you have ever wondered how it all works? What earning out means? How advances are calculated? This is the post for you.

In The Craft Section,

Fixing fatal flaws- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

Story and Structure love- James Scott Bell

3 ways to spot telling- K M Weiland- Bookmark

How to write excellent plot twists- Ava Jae

Synopsising your way to revision success-Writer Unboxed - Bookmark

Finding your character special hook and Pacing- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Act 2 The dark night of the soul -Sara Letourneau - Bookmark

Where does your drama come from- Lisa Cron - Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Two great post from Rachel Thompson-What is a media kit and why you need one- Bookmark and How do you build an audience before you have a product.

Facebook funnels that convert- Moz

Launching A Series- Great podcast with Lindsay Buroker

Book promotion- Do this Not that- The Book Designer

Push marketing or Pull marketing- Jane Friedman- Bookmark

To Finish,

John Green has been acknowledged as a Y A writing superstar. While other writers may envy him his success has not come easy. In a very candid interview he discusses his battle with Writers Block and mental health. Sometimes all you can do is feel the fear and keep going.

Maureen

@craicer

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons - sinister blue box  

If you want to get a selection of the months best links and other fear busting ideas you should subscribe to my monthly newsletter.

Publishing Diagnosis

It’s that time of the year again when the quarterly Author Earnings report comes out. After 27 months of the data arrows for indie publishing going only up... this quarter they didn’t. 

Is this the beginning of the end? Are there earthquakes in publishing on the horizon?

Publishing Perspectives has a measured examination of the data. There are some interesting takeaways, especially if you are a traditionally published print based author.

James Scott Bell has been thinking about the publishing industry recently too. He wrote a great article on what authors need to know about the publishing industry today.

Porter Anderson talks to UK publisher Rebecca Smart about the need for flexibility in publishing. She was being interviewed ahead of the Frankfurt Book fair on the health of pre Brexit UK publishing.

This week Alli founder Orna Ross published an article telling Indies not to pay for Book Marketing services until they knew what the reality was. Orna was highlighting a real problem in the new author world, that of knowledge. You don’t know what you don’t know. Along with this there are some predatory firms out there targeting new authors helping to part them from their money. Alli have some good news on that front.

Beth Hill talks about getting ready for NaNoWriMo. October is prep month and Beth has some ideas for you to try to get ready. A successful month depends on planning well first.

Angela Ackerman has a great roundup of resources for writers looking to elevate their craft. Long time readers of this blog will recognise quite a few names as they have featured in my weekly roundups from time to time. There are some great writing craft books in there as well.

In The Craft Section,

5 tips if you are editing for the first time- GoTeenWriter

3 enemies of writer productivity

Start your outlines with 4 questions- K M Weiland

Using Meyers Briggs to craft compelling characters – Bibliocrunch

Series beginnings- Mary Kole- Bookmark

Working backwards to define the plot- Janice Hardy Bookmark

23 Book Writing tools- Apoyocorp

Nine ways to make readers care about an amoral character

In The Marketing Section,

How to boost interest in your book

Image editing tools

How to make the most out of Goodreads giveaways

7 things an author should do before publishing- Jane Friedman

How to self publish a print book-Joanna Penn Bookmark

Writing career business plan- Janalyn Voigt - Bookmark

5 pillars to boost email list growth- Adam Connell

Jane Friedman has a guest post on Facebook ads- Bookmark!

To Finish,

Joanna Penn has a great article on creativity. How to find and capture ideas for a novel. The best thing for a writer is to be curious. You have to exercise the idea muscle often. Start small and then one day you will discover ideas hitting you from all over the place. Capturing them is the best medicine.

Maureen Crisp

@craicer

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons/ The Italian Voice

If you want to get a selection of the months best links and other writing prescriptions you should subscribe to my monthly newsletter.