Link Feast For Writers, vol. 43

This week’s Link Feast got a tad bloated since I wanted to make this one to be special. It will be the last Link Feast for a while.

I got a full time job. So until I get used to the vastly diminished free time and balancing work and family, my blogging is pretty much on hold. I might be able to whip up some partially written posts but I make no promises when.

Meanwhile, enjoy the link collections of Elizabeth S. Craig, Gene Lempp and Yesenia Vargas. And write. And then write some more 🙂

 

If You Have Time For Only One Thing

Be the Gatekeeper of Your Mind by Rachelle Gardner

 

On Writing

How To Push Past The Bullshit And Write That Goddamn Novel: A Very Simple No-Fuckery Writing Plan To Get Shit Done by Chuck Wendig

The Forrest Gump Guide to Writing That Bites Readers in the Buttocks by Jon Morrow

How Badly Do You Want the Dream? by Kristen Lamb

7 Things Confident Writers Don’t Do by Kristen Lamb

Enemies of the Art, Part 8 – Being a Starter, Not a Finisher by Kristen Lamb

To Find Success, Learn to Embrace the Meantime by Kristen Lamb

Defining Yourself as a Writer by David Farland

The Appeal to “Intellect” in Fiction by David Farland

How to Work on More Than One Book At a Time by James Scott Bell

8 Books For Writers by Raima Larter

A 12-Step Checklist For a “Sexy” Synopsis by Shannon Donnelly

 

Concept

Good to Great: Nail a Better Concept to Empower Your Story by Larry Brooks

“Side Effects” (Deconstruction 1) – The True Concept by Larry Brooks

“Side Effects” (Deconstruction #2) – Putting Concept to Work In the Narrative
 Even Before You Write It by Larry Brooks

 

Characters

Three Questions to Get to the Heart of Your Story by Janice Hardy

Dig Deep Into Character by Kathy Steffen

Why Character Arcs (and Growth) Make Readers Care by Janice Hardy

Strong Character Voices by David Farland

Cultural Guilt by David Farland

How to Get Out of Your Character’s Way by Amy Sue Nathan

Dealing With a Large Cast of Characters by David Farland

 

Plotting

Plot, Story and Tension by Karen Woodward

Writing and the Monomyth, Part 1 by Karen Woodward

Writing and the Monomyth, Part 2 by Karen Woodward

4 Steps of Organizing Plot Ideas Into a Novel by Jody Hedlund

Visual Methods of Writing by Robert Ferrigno

Worksheets For the Breakout Novelist by Donald Maass

Storyteller’s Rulebook: Move Up the Timeline by Matt Bird

Putting Emotional Twists In Your Tales by David Farland

How to Write a Scene in 11 Steps [Infographic] by Jason Boog

 

Compelling Writing

Making the Pages Cry by Becca Puglisi

Immerse the Reader in Your World and Never Let Them Up For Air by Kristen Lamb

Those So-Called Clichés by David Farland

 

Revising

How To Karate Your Novel And Edit That Motherfucker Hard: A No-Foolin’ Fix-That-Shit Editing Plan To Finish The Goddamn Job by Chuck Wendig

Edit Your Shit: Editing For Content by Chuck Wendig

Self-Editing 101 – 13 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Opening Chapter by Anne R. Allen

Avoid Reader Confusion by Elizabeth S. Craig

Telling Yourself to Show: How to Identify Flat Scenes by Janice Hardy

What Is Your Stylistic Device? by Patience Bloom

10 Proofreading Tips For Self-Publishers by Anna Lewis

 

Genres

Sleeps With Monsters: Epic Fantasy Is Crushingly Conservative? by Liz Bourke

What Is Gaslight Fantasy? by Terri Windling

Dystopian Round Table: The Appeal of Dystopian Fiction by John Joseph Adams

Teens and Dystopias by Scott Westerfield

 

Book Marketing

What’s Going On with Readers Today? Goodreads Finds Out

5 Essential Skills For Today’s Online Marketer by Chris Brogan

Building an Author Brand by Ali Cross (IndieReCon)

The ABCs of Voice Values: Learn to “Read” Your Brand & Your Right People (Part 1, A-G) by Abby Kerr

Marketing Plans Made Easy by S.R. Johannes (IndieReCon)

Insert Brilliant Category Romance Title Here! by Patience Bloom

10 Ways to Make Your Cover Stand Out in the Crowd by Alicia Kat Dillman (IndieReCon)

Creative Book Launches That Command Attention by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi (IndieReCon)

Money Matters Most in Book Marketing by Rob Eagar

Top 10 Tips: How to Create an Effective Author Website by Malle Vallik

E.C. Myers: Reading Between the Lines (this is one of the juiciest bios & author introductions I’ve ever seen)

12 Steps to Blog Tour Success by Joel Friedlander (IndieReCon)

Why Non-Fiction Books Are the New Ultimate Business Card by Ryan Holiday

 

(Self-)Publishing

The Financial Reality of a (Trad Published) Genre Novelist by Jason Boog

The Death of Publishing by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

How Have Things Changed In the Last 3 Years in Indie Publishing by Bob Mayer

Interview with Jane Friedman (The State of Publishing and All Kind of Great Writing Tips) by Jerry Waxler

Lessons Learned and Tips From Indie Authors by Ali Cross (IndieReCon)

Top 10 Tips For Successful Self-Publishing by Barbara Freethy (IndieReCon)

Measuring Success by Susan Kaye Quinn (IndieReCon)

Partnering With an Agent by Steena Holmes (IndieReCon)

Amazon’s Bestselling Author Theresa Ragan Treats You to the Steps She Took to Self-Publish

Building a Best-Selling Publishing Team by Miral Sattar of BiblioCrunch (IndieReCon)

The Recipe For Indie Success: Advice From 4 Successful Authors by Shannon at DuoLit

Joe Konrath Talks About How to Sell Books on Amazon by Karen Woodward

Breaking Into International Markets by Orna Ross of ALLi (IndieReCon)

Amazon’s Recommendation Engine Trumps the Competition by David Gaughran

The Shocking Truth: Book Buyers Have Minds of Their Own Chris McVeigh

Here’s the Problem With Book Publishers’ Discovery Problem by Laura Hazard Owen

(Fascinating insight on how super readers – most writers, I suspect – can understand how the average readers discover and select books. An average reader being someone who only reads 6 books / year)

What Aren’t Bookstores Doing? by Jenn Northington

 

Blogging

Why Do We Blog? by Molly Greene

Is Blogging Still Essential to a Fiction Writer’s Platform by Mike Duran

What the Heck Do I Blog About? Blogging Ideas For Fiction Authors Stuck In a Rut by Laura Pepper Wu

Make Your Blog the Event of the Year (And Have People Clamor to Attend) by Tea Silvestre

Get It Done: 7 Tips for Writing When You Don’t Have Enough Time by Tea Silvestre

 

Social Media

9 Tips For Making Online Friends by Jami Gold

Build Your Online Writing Community by Gabriela Pereira

Resolve to Tweet Better in 2013 by Nina Badzin

How I Got a Six-Figure Twitter Following (and Why It Doesn’t Matter) by Jane Friedman

0 – 4000 In a Snap – How to Build a Quality Twitter Following Fast by Molly Greene

Twitter Basics – The Proper Care and Feeding of Hashtags by Marcy Kennedy

Facebook: Should We Use a Profile Or a Page by Lisa Hall-Wilson

Facebook Tricks For Better Engagement by Lisa Hall-Wilson

Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make On Facebook and How to Avoid Them by Lisa Hall-Wilson

The Weird Thing About Facebook: Status Updates Are the Most Memorable Writing You Do by Jennifer Miller

It’s Not You Facebook, It’s Me — Okay, It’s Partly You: Why I Unfriended Almost Everyone by Matthew Ingram

 

Collected Wisdom

Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig

Writing Resources by Gene Lempp

Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas

 

Deep Stuff

Must Read Monday: The Happiness Project by Roni Loren

15 Ways to Rock Your Sister’s World by Jenny Hansen

Women in Media: Why Our Stories Count by August McLaughlin

2 Critical Myths That Separate Top Performers From Ordinary People by Ramit Sethi (This is a sales page. But you can ignore that and focus on the meat, the myths. And yet, if you have sales pages, are yours this convincing?)

 

Fun Stuff

How Game of Thrones Season 3 Will Split A Storm of Swords by Chris Lough

‘Hunger Games’ Success Proves Dystopia Is the New Supernatural by Brooke Tarnoff

F*ck Year Warrior Women Picture Blog

Are You Ready to Have Kids? This Quiz Should Tell You by Little White Lion (thanks for this funny link, Jenny Hansen)

Writer Horoscopes Monopoly Style by Donna Gambale

10 Comments

  1. Jami Gold
    Mar 8, 2013

    Fabulous list as always, Reetta! I always look forward to your roundups. I’ll miss them but congratulations on the new job! 🙂 *hugs*
    Jami Gold recently posted..Is Your Ebook Library a Black Hole?My Profile

    • Reetta Raitanen
      Mar 9, 2013

      Thanks, Jami. I think that I can manage Link Feasts bi-weekly in their current size after the first few weeks on the job. Now we’re training 8 hours a day and I’m knackered when I get home.

  2. Jenny Hansen
    Mar 8, 2013

    I’m echoing Jami’s sentiments EXACTLY. I’ll miss you but a new job is a very big deal. Congratulations! Let us know how that first week goes, OK?
    Jenny Hansen recently posted..What Lights Your Creative Spirit On Fire?My Profile

    • Reetta Raitanen
      Mar 9, 2013

      Thanks, Jenny. I’ll pop in on Facebook for updates. And everyone else’s updates! I miss social media.

  3. Jennette Marie Powell
    Mar 8, 2013

    Congratz on the job! Yes, you can have it all – just a lot more slowly. Glad to see you’re cutting yourself some slack and allowing yourself to adjust to your new schedule. Good luck!

    • Reetta Raitanen
      Mar 9, 2013

      Thanks, Jennette. And well said. You really know how to balance family, work, writing and blogging 🙂

  4. Lynette M Burrows
    Mar 10, 2013

    Reetta, Congratulations! Can you share? What’s the job? Is Dad taking care of the twins? I don’t often comment because of my own time constraints, but I always look forward to your link feasts. I’m in awe of your ability to collect such amazing links. But I sooo hear you on needing to pace yourself. Take care of yourself and the rest will follow. (including your online friends 😀 )
    Lynette M Burrows recently posted..Going to Mars, Word by Word with Man PlusMy Profile

    • Reetta Raitanen
      Mar 11, 2013

      Thanks, Lynette! The job is customer service for a telecommunications and ICT company. I have rad work mates (including my best friend), and I’ll really enjoy the work once I just master the gazillion products and systems 😛

      The twins are in daycare and their dad is taking them there every morning since his schedule is more flexible than mine.

      And it’s surprisingly effortless to gather links after you’ve found the sites that have the best content. I already have a lot of new links so Link Feast is guaranteed for next week 🙂

  5. August McLaughlin
    Mar 11, 2013

    Congrats on your new job, Reetta! I hope it’s everything you hope for job-wise. The balancing act can be challenging for all of us. Hope you know that we’re here to support you in any way. Stay well and in touch! And thanks for including my blog in this terrific mashup. 🙂
    August McLaughlin recently posted..#GirlBoner Quickie: 5 Fab Facts About the Big ‘O’My Profile

    • Reetta Raitanen
      Mar 11, 2013

      Thank you for the encouraging words, August. I’m enjoying customer service, a shock for a total introvert. But helping people is always nice 🙂 You’re definately doing that with your blog. I love to share your posts.

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