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Quick Link: SPS 028: Getting Your First 10,000 Readers with Nick Stephenson

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Who doesn’t want more readers! They are the gift that keeps on giving!  Here is a great podcast from Self-Publishing School to help you find more readers!

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Today, I am talking with Nick Stephenson. Nick is a bestselling author of fiction and nonfiction. Plus, he teaches new authors how to find their first 10,000 readers. Nick is a good friend of mine, and when we talk we geek out on things like marketing and audience building. We are always on Skype sharing our best stuff with each other. So I thought I should have him on the show to share these things that he does so well.

Nick tells the story of how he never intended to be writer, but he knew he wanted to do something creative on his own terms. When Kindle books and self-publishing came along he thought it was a great opportunity to write a book. Even though his first book didn’t start out selling a lot, he was so encouraged that he wrote more books and even started teaching others to do the same. Nick says that if he can do it anyone can, and he shares a lot of amazing information today.

Read the full post on Self-Publishing School!

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Quick Link: Sometimes You Have to Break the Rules on Social Media

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I admit it, this post freaked me out. Committing to social media pushes my buttons and I need a lot of baby steps to get there.  On the niche site Social Media Just For Writers, guru Frances Caballo shares what she has found to be helpful in dealing

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Sometimes You Have to Break the Rules on Social Media

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In the past, I’ve recommended strict rules about social media use.

Don’t argue politics. Stick to neutral topics. Be aware of your readers’ differing opinions.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

I’ve not only broken my own rules, I’ve shattered them. Yes, you heard me correctly.

You see, during the worst fire in California’s history, which occurred in my community, a lot changed around here.

For one, the way I kept in touch with the majority of friends during this time was through Facebook.

How could I, in the face of many friends’ tremendous losses, post empty quotes and information about my blog posts? It wouldn’t have made any sense.

So I got down and dirty, so to speak.

By

Read the full post on Writers and Authors!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: Write What You Know? Well, Not Quite

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If you are writing non-fiction, write what you know is great. But even then you will get assignments that you will have to research.  Write what you know is great for new writers, to get them started but after that I have always questioned this particular idiom.  Writers and Authors poster, Jo Linsdell has some great thoughts on the subject for you to check out.

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Write What You Know? Well, Not Quite

by Jo Linsdell

Ever been to jail? Rome? A remote island off the coast of Argentina? Driven a tank? How are you going to take that experience and transform it into material for your novel?

One of the first things I had to learn as a writer is that simply retelling something as it “happened in real life” doesn’t cut it in fiction. I put that in quotes because I can recall writers in workshops responding to critiques by saying, “but that’s how it happened.” The trouble is, that’s great for journalism, or writing a memoir, but fiction has a larger requirement for voice, and voice has to be established from the start—long before the “true story” makes its entrance. And that voice is going to determine how that true story is told, and the events have to be true to the character that’s already been established. Why? Because in good fiction, character drives action, and the character I create may not have the same thoughts or react in the same way as the character in the event as it actually happened.

Read the full post on Writers and Authors!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: THIS Is The Difference Between Amateur And Pro Writers

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As Lucy V Hay at Bang2Write states, it is what makes your story different as an author that makes you stand out from the crowd. A really good read!

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THIS Is The Difference Between Amateur And Pro Writers

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So, every now and again I will be on Twitter or Facebook and a writer will post about their work in progress, asking for feedback for their story/concept. It might be a novel or a screenplay and it might even be a half-decent pitch in terms of actual layout, language and The 3 Cs – clarity, conflict & characters.

Probably because of this, my heart will sink even further for them. Why?

Because the concept will be exactly like everything I’ve heard before.

Samey Samey-ness

You know the type: we’re talking the USUAL – vampires and werewolves; X Men-type super beings; a teen girl standing up to the system like Katniss in The Hunger Games or Triss in Divergent; time-travelling guys and their companions like Dr Who; duos investigating the paranormal like Mulder & Scully; Ken Loach-style teens destroying their lives; a disparate bunch going on a road trip like in Little Miss Sunshine to learn what’s important.

In other words, at pitch level it merely comes across as a REHASH of what we’ve seen before. Nooooooo!

Read the full post on Bang2Write

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Quick Link: Supplying Breadcrumbs: How to Hint at a Character’s Emotional Wound – Angela Ackerman

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This is another great post from Romance University, that applies to all genres. Having a character showing flaws makes them human and more relatable. Thank you, Angela Ackerman!

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Supplying Breadcrumbs: How to Hint at a Character’s Emotional Wound – Angela Ackerman

by Angela Ackerman

Emotional wounds are transformative and have the power to re-shape a character in many negative ways, impacting their happiness, their self-worth, and causing mistrust and disillusionment to skew their worldview. This critical piece of backstory is key to understanding their motivations, and will impact their individual character’s arc, so knowing what it is, and how to show the fallout it generates is vitally important.

Regardless of whether you choose to show the emotional wound overtly during the story or merely hint at it, it will always be necessary to reference the event in smaller ways throughout. It’s a piece of the character’s past that holds vital significance; someone who’s endured the loss of a loved one, physical torture, or a messy divorce can’t simply forget it—especially if it hasn’t been dealt with. It will haunt her, and continue to hold her back in the story until it is dealt with.

Mastering the art of obliquely referencing what has happened in a way that reads naturally is an important skill to master as it pulls the reader deeper into the story through the art of subtext. There are many ways to seed ideas in the reader’s mind about the type of emotional trauma a character has suffered, including showing it through defense mechanisms. Here are three additional ways you can feed information about the event to readers without using info dumps or giving the whole thing away.

Read the full post on Romance University!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: Adjusting your Vision: Linking Author Identity and Author Brand

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Clay Gilbert posting at Writers And Authors has some great thoughts on how to improve your brand. This is especially good reading for new authors trying to get established, although more experienced authors will find some good information they just might have missed.

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Adjusting your Vision: Linking Author Identity and Author Brand

by Clay Gilbert

When my first novel was published in 2013, all I knew was that I wanted to tell stories for a living.  I’d grown up seeing Stephen King, Ray Bradbury and Anne Rice do it, and, having gotten paid $25 for the publication of a short story in Scholastic magazine when I was still in middle school, I’d had a little taste of doing it myself.  But I had the idea that what my readers were most interested in was the story I was telling, and that they didn’t really care about ‘the man behind the curtain.’

In today’s literary world, that kind of thinking is wrong.

Readers today are inundated with choices and competition for their attention, and for their money.  If you’re a new author today, taking your first steps into the publishing marketplace, you’re competing not only with thousands of already-established authors, many of whom have best-selling reputations, but also with word-of-mouth and Internet buzz about other new writers as well.

Read the full post on Writers And Authors!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: The Five Most Common Issues Writers Have with Their Stories

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I recognized at least a couple of these issues as ones I struggle with, so I am bookmarking this article from Jennifer Blanchard‘s blog to make sure I can go back and re-read it!

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The Five Most Common Issues Writers Have with Their Stories

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I spend about a hundred hours a year reading writers’ manuscripts and doing content edits on their stories. I’ve seen it all–stories that ramble on for 400+ pages, never really getting to the point; stories that start off pretty good and then about a quarter of the way in change into a totally different story; stories where the voice changes so many times you couldn’t keep up if you wanted to… I could go on.

And this is true for every editor on the planet.

We’ve all seen a wide array of stories from “decent start but still needs work” to “total diaster” to “what the fuck were you thinking?” You name it, it’s out there.

But there are also many stories that have a pretty good start and just need tweaking and revising and editing to mold and shape it into the story it’s really meant to be.

My author and editor friend, Sarah Fox, and I got together the other day to talk about what the most common problems are that we see in writers’ drafts (we’re doing a revision workshop together–see the bottom of this message for more). And we came up with five things that are the most common manuscript problems:

Read the full post on  Jennifer Blanchard!

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Quick Link: How to use Authentic Historical Detail to Trigger Emotions and Memories in Your Reader

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Checking in with Anne R Allen’s Blog and a great post on how to connect with your reader and pull them into your story by evoking memories. A great read!

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How to use Authentic Historical Detail to Trigger Emotions and Memories in Your Reader

by Ruth Harris

Beyond Nostalgia: authentic historical detail from fads, trends, and headlines can help you write books readers will relate to.

Writers of historical fiction, whether Regency, Middle Ages, Victorian use the markers of the era—clothes, furniture, manners, leaders, resisters, war, peace, prosperity, recession—to create character, conflict, and plot.

Writers of fiction set in more contemporary times can use these powerful assets to add depth and texture as well. Adding authentic historical detail to novels will trigger a rich web of personal memories and associations. Those will engage readers in an emotionally profound way.

From the dot-com bubble of 2000 to the housing crisis of 2007, from passing fads to mega trends, the social and cultural settings of a story give us ways to draw readers into our stories. From fidget spinners, Beanie Babies and hula hoops to Madonna, Madoff and Zuckerberg, each specific detail evokes personal memories.

Read the full post on Anne R Allen’s Blog!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: Social Media Content Tips for Authors – What to Post

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I don’t know how someone who has such a busy life that there is no extra time can also have such a boring life! One of the reasons I am bad at social media is I don’t like my pictures and I have no idea what to say to keep up my end of the deal.  Thank goodness Bookworks has this post from Frances Caballo Social Media Expert that will get me started. Hopefully, it has some good info for you too! What is your best content tips?

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Social Media Content Tips for Authors – What to Post

by Frances Caballo Social Media Expert

Many people are confused about what they should say in their social media posts. Figuring out successful social media content strategies can be challenging and there is no one-size-fits-all.

Authors often ask me, “If I can’t always post about my own books, what am I supposed to say?” 

You may remember the 80/20 rule: 80 percent of the time, you promote your colleagues, other writers, and great posts, and 10 percent of the time, you can promote your books, readings, and awards.

If you’re still feeling confused about how to best present the information you’ve curated, don’t worry. Just keep reading and you’ll learn how to write the best social media updates.

The Freedom of Just 140 Characters

 

Read the full post on  Bookworks!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: 5 Things Indie Authors Need to Consider Before Giving Up

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You did it, you wrote your book and have it out there for people to buy. But it isn’t selling quite as well as you thought it would. What do you do? The people behind Author Marketing Experts know. Check out their post and let us know if you have any great marketing tips!

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5 Things Indie Authors Need to Consider Before Giving Up

“My book isn’t selling.” It’s something I hear from indie authors all the time.

If you’ve felt this way, know you’re not alone. But also remember that sitting around assuming you’ve failed isn’t going to help anything.

I’ve constructed a short list of 5 things indie authors really need to take a hard look at before they decide the market just isn’t interested in their book.

Are you doing enough?

Sure, maybe you feel like you’re always marketing your book and getting nowhere, but it’s not about doing everything.

It’s about doing everything that matters.

Read the full post on  Author Marketing Experts!

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: How to Write Superior Sex Scenes: Ignite Your Readers & Burn Them to Ash

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So not to share TMI but Mr. Paula and I have a lovely marriage so when I have encountered some hot scenes in books lately and found myself skipping over them, well I thought it was just me. Turns out  posting at Kristen Lamb‘s site nailed it. The scenes I passed by weren’t bad necessarily but felt out of place in the story. Check out Cait’s post on how to do sex scenes right!

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How to Write Superior Sex Scenes: Ignite Your Readers & Burn Them to Ash

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Hey Guys, Cait Reynolds, my co-author/partner in crime/therapist/evil half is here to talk about the birds and the bees and maybe bees tying up other bees. The “How To” of writing superior sex scenes is vital, just uncomfortable for me. Sorry. I blame my upbringing.

I’m a Texan with a Lutheran mom and Baptist father. I grew up in the buckle of the Bible Belt, and have had far too much vacation bible camp to be much help. In fact, legally, I cannot write a sex scene until every member of my family dies…and likely not even then.

If you need help with plotting a fight scene or murder? I’m your gal.

All this said, roughly 80% of publishing is powered by the romance genre. This is a FACT.

I read a LOT of romance, myself. Sadly, however, there are “romances” so over-processed and crammed with filler they need a foil tray instead of a book cover.

TV Dinner sex scenes.

Tired, overdone, dry, uncreative and no one looks forward to consuming this stuff (unless starving and desperate).

Read the full post on Kristen Lamb!

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Quick Link: That All-Important First Line

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The first line of your book can grab the reader and set the tone for your whole story! At Rachelle Gardner‘s site, she goes over what makes a great first line!

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That All-Important First Line

by Rachelle Gardner
Let’s talk about the opening line of your book. The first thing to know about “first lines” is that they are not going to make or break you. Sure, it’s a lot of fun coming up with great ones. But as long as the first line makes someone want to read the second line, and that line makes you want to read the third… you’re on the right track.

The second thing to know is that the opening line might be the very last thing you write before your book is finished.

That said… don’t you just love a great opening line?

The fun thing about writing a book is that you get to choose what kind of opening line you want, what type of sentence appropriately sets up your book. You can choose to set a stage or create a setting. You can reveal a character. You can drop the reader into the middle of a scene. You can introduce conflict. You can have your character speak a line of dialogue. There’s no one right way to do it.

Today I looked at some of my favorite first lines from novels, and asked myself why I liked them. I found each one appealed to me for a different reason. It might have:

Read the full post on Rachelle Gardner!

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Quick Link: 5 steps To Building A Successful Author Platform Before you Publish: Donna Galanti

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When is the best time to start marketing your book and looking for an audience? Before you even start writing it! Head on over to the Self Publishing Advice Center of ALLI and find great ideas for building your author platform or improving the one you got! I am taking notes!

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5 steps To Building A Successful Author Platform Before you Publish: Donna Galanti

This post is part of Frankfurt Book Fair Indie Author Fringe, an online author conference that showcases the best self-publishing advice and education for authors across the world — harnessing the global reach of the Alliance of Independent Authors’ network. Our self-publishing conference features well-known indie authors and advisors, for 24 sessions over 24-hours, in a one-day extravaganza of self-publishing expertise straight to your email inbox.

We hope you enjoy this session. Let us know if you have any questions or input on this self-publishing topic. Visit our Hot Seat and join in the conversation there, or leave your questions and feedback in the comments section below.

Read the full post on Self Publishing Advice Center

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If you liked this article, please share. If you have suggestions for further articles, articles you would like to submit, or just general comments, please contact me at paula@publetariat.com or leave a message below.

Quick Link: 14 Facebook Live Ideas for Authors

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So you know how I always talk about baby steps. Well doing a Facebook Live event is too much of a big step for me, but if you are braver than I am or further along in your journey then Rachelle Gardner at Books & Such has some great ideas for you!

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14 Facebook Live Ideas for Authors

Blogger: Rachelle GardnerIf you’ve done any Facebook Live posts and paid attention to your traffic, you probably already have a good idea of how much more engagement you can get with FB Live versus other kinds of posts. This is especially true if you experiment with various kinds of content, times of day, length, and other variables.

We highly recommend our authors start doing FB Lives, and shoot for about once a week if possible. It seems to work best if you follow a few guidelines (from Facebook Media):

  • Let people know ahead of time what time you’ll be live.
  • Before you go live, write a compelling invitation and description. (When you click “Start a live video,” you’ll be taken to a page where you can enter your description where it says, “Say something about this video.”)
  • Try to speak to your commenters by name while you’re live.

 

Read the full post on Books & Such

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Quick Link: Want To Win NaNoWriMo This Year? 7 Tips On Writing And Productivity

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How are you doing with your NaNo words? Even if you are not writing with NaNo this year, everyone can use tips on writing and productivity all year round! So head on over to The Creative Penn and check it out!

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Want To Win NaNoWriMo This Year? 7 Tips On Writing And Productivity

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Ready to take your writing seriously? Getting ready for NaNoWriMo and need some writing and productivity tips? 

I had a demanding day job when I did NaNoWriMo in 2009, but I was committed to the writing, so I got up every weekday at 5 am before work to get my words in.

Those words became the kernel of Stone of Fire, my first novel, and that month of writing changed my life. Now I have 15 novels and if I can do it, you can too!

If you need some help with writing or productivity, you can get 13 awesome books as part of the Storybundle NaNoWriMo special available for a limited time.

Here are 7 tips that I picked up from books in the deal. Click here to check out the Bundle.

(1) Schedule your writing time

Read the full post on The Creative Penn!

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