Quick Link: What It’s Actually Like to Work With a Book Editor

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Hopefully if you have already published you know the answer to this question, but if you have never worked with a book editor at The Write Life shares his experiences.

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What It’s Actually Like to Work With a Book Editor

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Many aspiring authors often ask, “What’s it like to work with an editor?”

The short answer to this question is: It depends on which editor you’re working with.

For instance, some editors would strike that last sentence because it ends with a preposition.

Some editors would strike this entire introduction because I’m not getting to the point fast enough. In fiction, this is akin to belaboring the backstory before getting to the real action. (Free tip: unless you’re an experienced writer, you can often kill the first 10 percent of your first draft to find the real beginning of your story.)

One of the hardest characteristics to gauge when it’s your first time to work with a particular editor is knowing where they draw their editorial lines.

In other words, how severe will their edits be?

Of course, this depends on the kind of editing you’re looking for. A developmental editor, who looks at your manuscript as a whole for big problems like plot holes or poor narrative flow, may suggest massive changes. A copy editor may only ask that you delete a few commas. (You’ll be lucky if that’s all they ask of you.)

But even moving a few commas can cause an author to fight back.

This is where you, as the author, learn what your editor’s line is.

The kind of editor you want

Read the full post on The Write Life

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Quick Links: Google Maps: The Best Writing Tool that No One Knows About

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I love Google maps. I have an exercise program that uses them and it is so much fun, but I do admit I never thought of it as a writing tool.  At Writer Unboxed, Camille Di Maio shows how wrong I am and how you too can use Google maps to boost your writing. Just don’t blame me for the lost time spent browsing!

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Google Maps: The Best Writing Tool that No One Knows About

By Camille Di Maio

Has a map ever challenged a pre-conceived notion that you had about a location? Please welcome Camille Di Maio to WU today, who’ll talk about the topic. A bit about Camille:

Camille Di Maio always dreamed of being a writer, and those dreams came true with her bestselling debut novel, The Memory of Us. In addition to writing women’s fiction, she trains in tae kwon do, buys too many baked goods at farmers’ markets, unashamedly belts out Broadway show tunes, and regularly faces her fear of flying to indulge in her passion for travel. She and her husband homeschool their four children and run an award-winning real estate office in San Antonio, Texas. They divide their time between San Antonio and Williamsburg, Virginia. Her second novel, Before the Rain Falls, is out now.

Learn more on Camille’s website, and by following her on Facebook and Twitter.

The Best Writing Tool that No One Knows About

You know that feeling. Some people call it déjà vu. That feeling that you’ve been there before.

And you have. Kind of.

I experienced a unique sense of this in 2016 when I first traveled to Liverpool, UK. It was the setting for my first novel, THE MEMORY OF US, a story inspired by the classic Beatles song, Eleanor Rigby. While writing and researching, I desperately wanted to visit Liverpool. To wander its streets. View its architecture. Feel its history. But what was a working mom of four kiddos in Texas supposed to do?

Enter Google Maps. The best writing tool that no one knows about. Well, of course, you know about Google Maps. But do you use it in your writing?

Read the full post on Writer Unboxed

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Quick Link: Building an Author Platform with Ginger Monette

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You did it! You finally finished your book, it is edited and ready to go. Now what? Ginger Monette from Romance University has some great tips on the next steps.

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Building an Author Platform with Ginger Monette

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Welcome Ginger Monette who is here to show us how to build an author platform and send your book off with a bang!

our manuscript is in the hands of your editor, and you’ve got the big release day circled on your calendar.

What now?

Should you start advertising? Tweeting?

It’s little early to alert the media, but there are a host of pre-launch foundations new authors need to put into place before they release their baby to the world. Let’s get right to the checklist.

-Create a new email address to use exclusively for your author correspondence. It will keep your writing correspondence separate from your emails from Aunt Sue and Old Navy and allow you to see at a glance any unopened correspondence and emails needing immediate attention.

–Create an email signature line and maybe a “one-liner” that describes in a nutshell what you write.  Begin using it so your friends and associates will know you’re an author. Mine is:

Read the full post on Romance University

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Quick Link: 5 Steps To Naming Your Characters Effectively

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Ugh, I don’t know about you but I spend waaaaay too much time messing with my characters names, more than I spent worrying about my children’s names!  Thank goodness for MS search and replace!  Writer’s Edit has a great post on finding character names that fit your genre and story. Check it out!

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5 Steps To Naming Your Characters Effectively

Names are powerful. And naming a character is not a decision to be taken lightly. It can even be more important than a character’s carefully-crafted appearance.

Good names help both writers and readers move through a story smoothly.” — Dan Schmidt

But it’s no easy task to find the right name for your character. Whether a background character,  protagonist, or even villain, these five steps will help you nail your characters’ names.

Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

1. Check your genre

Each genre has its own naming conventions, or traditions. You may have noticed them while reading, or you may need to start being aware when you next pick up a book.

While there are no rules in writing, following your genre’s naming conventions will help you when you can’t find names that are ‘right’ for your story.

In a category romance, you’re not likely to find a name like fantasy author Tolkien’s creation, ‘Galadriel’.” — Bridget McNulty

Be sure to take note of sub-genres, and remember your target audience’s age. While naming conventions can usually work across all sub-genres and ages, you may find some interesting ideas.

For example, Marissa Meyer, author of fantasy/dystopian YA series The Lunar Chronicles, named some characters from nouns, such as ‘Scarlet’, ‘Thorne’ and ‘Crescent’. Such names add an interesting balance to the unfamiliar world that the characters live in.

Read the full post on Writer’s Edit

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Quick Link: How Do You Know When To Start and End a Scene?

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How do you decide when a scene begins and ends? I just finished a story that was written well so that even though the story wasn’t the greatest, I kept having to read the next chapter because I wanted to know what happened next. That is talent. Randy Ingermanson, owner of Advanced Fiction Writing, shares his tips on how to find the best places to define a scene. What are your tips?

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How Do You Know When To Start and End a Scene?

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How do you know when to start a new scene in your story? And how do you know when to end it? What’s the reasoning you use?

Yvonne posted this question on my “Ask A Question For My Blog” page:

when writing a scene in fiction, how do you know when to move to a new scene? Time, place, pov, deleted or added characters, and what, are the reasons for a scene change?

Randy sez: This is a question that vexes most beginning writers, and rightly so, because it’s a hard question.

The key thing is to understand what a scene is, and what a scene is supposed to do.

How Scenes Work—A Review

A scene is the smallest unit of fiction. It’s a story in its own right. The ability to write excellent scenes is arguably your most important skill as a novelist. By that, I mean that if you can write great scenes, you can get away with a mediocre premise, a mediocre plot, a mediocre setting, and mediocre characters.

Read the full post on Advanced Fiction Writing

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Quick Link: When to stop learning and start writing

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Just a quick post from Jodi Gibson, but sometimes great things come in little packages. Jodi’s post is for all us perfectionist and procrastinator who use the excuse that we don’t know enough, or are not ready, and look at the people who are better than us and think we aren’t like them. Totally me. Time to use stop using learning as an excuse and just start writing.

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When to stop learning and start writing

by Jodi Gibson

As a writer with no formal qualifications, i.e. no tertiary degree in writing, I have looked for other ways to learn about the craft of writing.

I’ve done many short courses, read a trove of online articles and websites, and discussed everything from dialogue to point of view with fellow writers. But how much is too much? When is it time to stop learning and start trusting your own knowledge and ability?

I’m not sure if there is a definitive answer that is the same for every writer. I think the answer for each individual lies somewhere between when the penny drops and when you know it’s time. Or maybe, when you’re told it’s time.

At the wrap up of Fiona McIntosh’s masterclass, she said something to us that struck a chord with me. ‘You don’t need anymore knowledge, you just need to go and write.’

She wasn’t saying that her knowledge and wisdom is everything, she was simply saying it was time to go and put everything you know into practice.

With so much information out there on the craft of writing – books, articles, websites, courses – it can be confusing. And the worst part is, there’s a lot of conflicting information. One person will tell you one thing, and then another will tell you the opposite.

Read the full post on Jodi Gibson

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Quick Link: Author Platform Building: How to Create a Valuable Email List For Your Book

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An email list is one of your best marketing tools. Just think about it, people actually signed up for your email because they are interested in you! At Writer’s Digest, guest poster Gabriela Pereira gives some great tips on how to start your email list.  Personally, I love MailChimp and have used it for many clients but they are all good. Also, adding one more tip to Gabriela’s list – you need to reassure people somehow that you will not sell or abuse their email.  Unless you plan on abusing that privilege, in which case you are an awful person.

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Author Platform Building: How to Create a Valuable Email List For Your Book

By Gabriela Pereira
If I could point to one external factor that has had the biggest positive impact on my career as an author, it would be my email list—and I’m far from alone. Most writers today know they should probably have an email list, but misinformation and confusion abound about what exactly that list should entail, why it’s so crucial and, of course, what to do with it.
This is a guest post by Gabriela Pereira—author, speaker, and self-proclaimed word nerd—whose new book DIY MFA: Write with Focus, Read with Purpose, Build Your Community shows you how to recreate the Master of Fine Arts experience without going back to school. As the founder and instigator of DIYMFA.com, Gabriela’s mission is to empower writers to take an entrepreneurial approach to their education and professional growth. She earned her MFA in creative writing from The New School and teaches at national conferences, local workshops, and online. She also hosts the podcast DIY MFA Radio, where she interviews best-selling authors and book industry insiders about the art and business of writing.

Why You Need an Email List

The Internet is always changing. From Facebook to Foursquare, Pinterest to Periscope, it sometimes seems as if a new social media platform pops up every minute. Who can keep up? The beauty of email is that it’s evergreen. While websites, forums and social networks might come and go, email has solidified its place in how we communicate.

Email is a direct line between you and your readers. There’s no “middleman” to get in the way. In a digital world where social networks change their algorithms, sites get hacked and servers crash, direct communication is invaluable. You can export that list and take it with you wherever you go. As long as you build that list correctly, it’s yours and no one can take it away from you.

Read the full post on Writer’s Digest

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Quick Link: How to Write a (Romance) Blurb by Rosalind James

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Your book blurb is one of the best tools you have in marketing your book. You have gotten the potential reader interested enough to come look a little more at your title. This is where you can make a big impact on sales. While Rosalind James is writing specifically about Romance blurbs, the tips she provides at Romance University works for everyone. Also, as someone that prepares an ebook newsletter please please please start your blurb with a two to three sentence paragraph the captures the essence of your book. Then go deeper. Not only are you helping people like me who want to present your book in the best light possible, but you also give a good description for people who like your story to tell their friends. It puts you in control of your marketing message!

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How to Write a (Romance) Blurb by Rosalind James

by Rosalind James

Welcome Rosalind James in her first blog post for RU – and it’s a doozy! =)

As some folks know, I spent my misguided youth—all right, all right, my misguided middle age—as a copywriter. Which means that writing blurbs for my books was a piece of cake, right?

Wrong. I had to learn how to do it, because writing one type of copy isn’t the same as writing another. But maybe it was a little easier and less scary to learn. So, OK, here are my tips for Writing Your Kickass Romance Blurb.

Look at other blurbs. (You thought this was going to be some technical post, huh?) I learned to do it by going to the library and pulling down books in my genre from the paperback rack. Somehow, it was much easier to spot trends and pick out blurbs I liked from physical books. I read and took notes for an hour. I noticed what I hated as well as what I liked. Which blurbs made ME want to read the book? Because I write the kinds of books that I like to read. After I did my research, I came home, and . . .

Read the full post on Romance University

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Quick Link: The Therapeutic Benefits of Writing a Novel

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So this! At Writer UnBoxed, Jessica Lourey discusses the therapeutic effect of writing. Any good therapist will tell you the benefits of writing, while Jessica takes it one step further. The therapy of writing a novel, even if you never publish it.

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The Therapeutic Benefits of Writing a Novel

by Jessica Lourey

Please welcome guest Jessica Lourey (rhymes with “dowry”) whose new book Rewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction is the only book that shows you how to transform your facts into a compelling, healing novel. Jessica is a tenured professor of creative writing and sociology, a regular Psychology Today blogger, a sought-after workshop leader and keynote speaker who delivered the 2016 “Rewrite Your Life” TEDx Talk, and a leader of transformative writer’s retreats.

Jessica (Jess) is also the author of the critically-acclaimed Murder-by-Month mysteries, that have earned multiple starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist. The next one is due out in September 2017: March of Crime. Her other novels are The Catalain Book of Secrets, Salem’s Cipher, The Toadhouse Trilogy: Book One, May Day, June Bug, Knee High by the Fourth of July, August Moon, September Fair, October Fest, November Hunt, December Dread, January Thaw, and February Fever.

Connect with Jessica on her blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

The Therapeutic Benefits of Writing a Novel

When my husband died unexpectedly in 2001, I’d never heard of expressive writing. And you know what? It wouldn’t have mattered if I had. Three months pregnant, raising a three-year-old, and suddenly a widow, the last thing I wanted to do was spend even one sharp second journaling about how I felt. No offense to Dr. Pennebaker, the founder of the expressive writing movement. It’s just that I couldn’t survive reliving the pain of my husband’s suicide, not then, not on my own. I needed to convert it, package it, and ship it off.

So I began writing fiction.

Read the full post on Writer UnBoxed

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Quick Link: Your Characters Must Earn Their Way Out of Trouble

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Today’s post is from , from Kill Zone, because I don’t like to think too much when I exercise either. I look for exciting movies that can pull me in, and away from the treadmill. However, no matter how exciting the story is, there is a point where the credulity of the audience is strained beyond what they can stand. The tolerance levels differ for everyone, but there is a breaking point. So make your protagonist earn their way, instead of providing a miracle to save them.

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Your Characters Must Earn Their Way Out of Trouble

by James Scott Bell
@jamesscottbell

My treadmill movie the other day was Fast Five.

I don’t like to think too much when I exercise.

The movie, part of the wildly successful franchise, has two opening set pieces. In the first, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) is rescued from a prison bus by his car-driving cohorts, led by Brian O’Conner (the late Paul Walker) and Dom’s sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). The three of them end up hiding out in Rio de Janeiro.

In the second set piece, Dom and his team set out to steal three cars off a moving train (why bother with a mere car dealership?) They need to pull this off without anybody on the train (including engineers, conductors, several DEA agents, and passengers with window seats) realizing that an off-road, tricked-out tow truck is tracking alongside as two guys use blow torches to peel off a large section of train car.

In other words, mindless fun.

Read the full post on Kill Zone

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Quick Link: Are You Clear About Your Writer Persona? Going Public by Design

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Privacy is such an important, and often under reported, issue these days. It is so easy to find out information on someone. But as authors, we want people to know about us, and that means sharing something of who we are.  At Jane Freidman, shares with us her tips and thoughts on your public face.

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Are You Clear About Your Writer Persona? Going Public by Design

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Today’s guest post is by creative coach, writer, and editor A M Carley (@amcarley). Her company, Chenille Books, is offering a guided self-study course for writers, 30 Days to Becoming Unstuck, during May 2017.

Back in the day, ancient Roman theater introduced the persona, or mask. Some say it was used as a means of protecting the anonymity of influential citizen-actors who didn’t want the public to see them on stage.

As writers, we don’t always know how much of ourselves to share with the public. I believe it behooves each of us to create and curate an author persona—the public face for our work. When we become published authors, get our first podcast interview, our first guest post on a well-regarded writing blog, our first press interview, our first book event—somewhere along that path the thought occurs: Who am I? Who do I want to be? What am I telling the world about myself and my writing?

Wise choices count here. On the one hand, if we don’t reveal anything, we may curtail our exposure and success. However, if we splatter too much personal information in too many places, we confuse our potential audience.

In other words, just like the Roman aristocrats, you have choices about what the public sees. Not a fake mask to hide behind, your persona is a filtered subset of the great array of attributes, quirks, and appetites that make up the person you are, along with the characteristics of the creative work you produce.

Doing our best creative writing is not our only mission. Why? Because most of us want readers. And if that’s the case for you, then you’ll benefit from considering how you present yourself to others. We’re in the world, surrounded by other writers who want to be read, and readers hungry for cues about whose work to read next. We need to keep an eye on the marketplace for our published work. How will these new readers know who we are? How will we tell them enough about ourselves to make them want to know more?

Are you clear about your writer persona?

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Quick Link: Who Decides if a Book Should Be Published?

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It is always fun to be able to peer behind the scenes and learn more about what happens behind closed doors. Today Janet Kobobel Grant from Books & Such helps us to learn more about the traditional publishing world.

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Who Decides if a Book Should Be Published?

Blogger: Janet Kobobel GrantThe ultimate decision-maker at a publishing house in whether to offer a contract has changed over the past several years. Having done my share of presentations at publishing committees, I soon learned that anyone can scuttle a project. All he or she needs to do is vociferously offer negative opinions about it. By questioning the feasibility of making money on the book (which is the bottomline), that person knows what the outcome of the discussion will be. The tide will turn against the project. But one individual on the committee has the power to sway others to his or her opinion more effectively than anyone else.

What make a committee say no

But before we dip into that pool of water, let me say that publishing committees are as unpredictable as the stock market. Sometimes the committee just isn’t in the mood to say yes. That can happen because:

Read the full post on Books & Such

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Quick Link: How to Set Up an eBook Ad with Amazon Marketing Services

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Did you know you can set up ads for your ebook with Amazon Marketing Services? I didn’t. But at Indies Unlimited, Melinda Clayton walks you through step by step.

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How to Set Up an eBook Ad with Amazon Marketing Services

Amazon Marketing Services Logo 2017by Melinda Clayton

A few months ago, KDP opened up Amazon Marketing Services to all eBooks, not just the ones in Kindle Unlimited. Setting up an ad is a relatively simple process, although it can look intimidating in the beginning.

Today, I’m going to walk you through how to set up both types of advertising.

First, go to your Reports page in KDP and click on Ad Campaigns (red arrow below).

Amazon KDP Reports-dashboard
Click to enlarge

You’ll be taken to a screen that gives you the option of creating a new campaign (red arrow below).

New advertising campaignClick “New campaign,” and you’ll be taken to a screen to choose whether to do a Sponsored Products ad, or a Product Display ad (see red arrow below).

Read the full post on Indies Unlimited

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Quick Link: The Number One Enemy Of The Writer

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What do you think the number one enemy of a writer is? I bet you will be surprised when you read Dawn Field’s pick over at Bookbaby Blog but after reading her post I am going to have to agree with her. Read it and let me know if you agree too.

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The Number One Enemy Of The Writer

by Dawn Field

Unclear thinking is an enemy of the writer, and it’s most often about being lazy and not fully imagining your story. Write with clarity of purpose, and your writing comes alive.

What is the biggest hurdle for any writer? A lack of time? The blank page? Writer’s block? Having your ideas stolen? The absence of an agent or publisher?

Probably not.

You’ll make the time if you really want to, writer’s block will pass once you fill up again on ideas, and if your ideas are worth stealing, you’ll quickly get another better one. And today, you can self-publish easier than ever.

So, could the worst thing be poor grammar or an inability to spell? What about technophobia that makes dealing with computers a nightmare? Is it a fear of business and the social-media savvy required to promote and sell books? Is it the fierce competition of the book market?

Doubtful.

If you have a great story but just need help tidying up the mechanics, hire an editor, copy-editor, or proof-reader. Heck, you can even easily hire a ghost writer these days. If you are a technophobe, write long-hand. It worked for centuries. And while selling books is great, you took on this writing gig for personal satisfaction, right? So who cares about promotion and competition?

So, what is the number one enemy of the writer? Unclear thinking.

Read the full post on Bookbaby Blog

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Quick Link: 4 Methods for Developing Any Idea Into a Great Story

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Do you have a great story idea bouncing around your head but don’t know what to do with it? If you are like me, you probably have at least 5.  , over at Jane Friedman has an excellent article on how to take those ideas and grow them into full-fledged stories!

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4 Methods for Developing Any Idea Into a Great Story

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Today’s guest post is by Elizabeth Sims (@ESimsAuthor) and is excerpted from The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing, an anthology compiled by Writer’s Digest. (I’m a contributor to the anthology as well!)

A while ago I attended an inventors’ club meeting. Some of the members had already launched successful products and were working on more, while others were merely beginners with great ideas. The beginners were commiserating about how hard it is to deal with financing, raw materials, manufacturing, promotion, and all the rest, when one of the experienced inventors suddenly stood up. “Look,” he said impatiently, “ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s the development that puts you over the top. Do what you have to do to make it real and get it to market.”

I was surprised, because I’d always thought that a brilliant idea could make you a fortune. But I quickly realized my new friend was right: Idea is just the beginning.

Fiction writers have a lot in common with those inventors. It’s not hard to get inspired by a great concept, to take it to your table or toolshed or cellar and do some brainstorming, and even to start putting the story on paper—but eventually, many of us lose traction. Why? Because development doesn’t happen on its own. In fact, I’ve come to think that idea development is the number one skill an author should have.

How do great authors develop stunning narratives, break from tradition, and advance the form of their fiction? They take whatever basic ideas they’ve got, then move them away from the typical. No matter your starting point—a love story, buddy tale, mystery, quest—you can do like the great innovators do: Bend it. Amp it. Drive it. Strip it.

Read the full post on Jane Friedman

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