Link Feast For Writers, vol. 18

Writing blogs are a great way to learn about the craft and marketing our work. Enjoy the posts I’ve hoarded, some older, some recent.

(Next week I’ll be doing something different. The Feast is dedicated to setting/worldbuilding. It’s an area that touches many aspects of writing, like characters, plot ideas and theme)

 

If You Have Time For Just One Thing

Raise the Stakes by Kara Lennox

 

On Writing

Parenting Tips For Writers by Janet Fitch

Writer and Parent? Tips For Finding Your New Balance by John Scalzi

5 Ways Your Brain Sabotages Your Writing And What To Do About It by Kimberly Turner

How To Effectively Create More Time To Write by Krissy Brady

9 Productivity Tips For Writers by Joanna Penn

Books Like Mine by April Dávila

Write About What Makes You Angry by Alexandra Sokoloff

Evaluating Your Ideas by Jill Kemerer

Give Your Protagonist an Anomaly To Generate Interest by Bob Mayer

The Ideal Setting by Carrie Vaughn

Transition As Metaphor by Chris Rosales

Tips On Subtext – What It Really Is by Shannon Donnelly

Race in YA Lit by Sarah Ockler

Revision Checklist (PDF) by Jill Kemerer

20 Common Grammar Mistakes Almost Everyone Gets Wrong by Jon Gingerich

Naming Your Characters by Jodie Renner

In Praise of Ripening by Marcia Yudkin

7 Excellent Reasons To Enter Writing Contests by Tiffany Jansen

The Top Ten Query Mistakes by Rachelle Gardner

Query Letter Tips – Advice From Writer’s Digest’s Chuck Sambuchino by Jennifer Jensen

My Querying Journey by Lydia Kang

 

Your Author Platform

Your Clear Message: Get Your Potential Reader Curious Now by Beth Barany

What the Heck Is a Voice? by Abby Kerr (4 illuminating examples)

Illuminating Voices – Part 2 by Abby Kerr (8 more examples)

The Slap-Your-Head-Simple Secret for Selling More Books by Toni at Duolit

Social Media: Your Shadow Career by Porter Anderson (if you have time, read also the comments. They have good insights)

Extra Ether: Shadowy Platforms by Porter Anderson

Why Social Media Isn’t the Magic Bullet For Self-ePublished Authors by Ewan Morrison

One Page Marketing Plan – PDF (Pro Business Writer)

10 Steps To Mastering Your Book Marketing Plan by Laura Pepper Wu

How To Market a Kindle Book (a wiki post listing the steps. Pick & choose the steps that suit you)

What Is The Goal of Your Home Page? by Brad Shorr

Buzz Doesn’t Sell Books, Community Does – Interview with Penelope Trunk by Matt Gartland

7 Things You Can Do To Right Now To Improve Your Author Website by Laura Pepper Wu

Writers Can’t Do It Alone by M.K. McClintock (3 sites helping authors & readers to connect)

Measuring Your Reach by Liz Schulte

A Book Launch Is an Investment in a Long-Term Career by Cynthia Morris

7 Deadly Email List Building Mistakes by Robert Middleton

Image Desperation: The Kiss of Death For a Self-Publishing Author (Book Cover Express)

(A Rabbit-Trailed) Book Rewiew: Michael Hyatt’s Platform by Ann Lynn Andrews

 

Blogging

Is Blogging a Waste of Time For Writers? by April Dávila (Why do you blog?)

Should Writers Blog About Writing? Some Answers by Yesenia Vargas

How To Find Your Passion by Amy Lynn Andrews

How To Find a Unique Angle in a Crowded Niche by Amy Lynn Andrews

Charles Darwin’s 12 Rules of Blogging Survival by Tom Treanor (Pick one and do that better than anyone)

10 Questions For Planning Out a Year of Blogging by Brandon Cox

How To Organize Your Blogging Time by Amy Lynn Andrews

7 Tips For a Balanced Blogger Life (Mom Advice)

9 Keys To Blogging Success From A-List Bloggers by Joel Friedlander

What Makes Readers Lose Interest in a Blog by Amy Lynn Andrews

10 Blogging Don’ts For Writers by Yesenia Vargas

105 Author Blog Prompts (Duolit)

Copywriting Essentials From A to Z by Ali Luke

Do the Wrong Thing: The Benefits of Unconventional Headlines by Ollin Morales

Long vs. Short posts (Pushing Social)

6 Tips For Creating a Good Call To Action by Amy Lynn Andrews

How To Make Your Blog a Pinterest Magnet (Mom Advice)

6 Ways To Recycle Your Old Content by Amy Lynn Andrews

How To Optimize Twitter Sharing On Your Blog by Amy Lynn Andrews

Why I Stopped Using Feedburner To Serve My Blog Subscribers by Jane Friedman

How Does Your Site Look On Mobile Devices? by Amy Lynn Andrews

 

Social Media

Where Should I Focus My Time? Tips For Social Media Use by Robert Lee Brewer

The 80/20 Rule: How To Promote Your Books On Social Networking Sites by Paula Margulies

10 Ways To Get More REAL Twitter Followers by Allison at Blog World

How To Embed Tweets & Ways To Use Them by Amy Lynn Andrews

The Ultimate Guide To Facebook Marketing by Andrea Vahl

How To Get a Vanity URL For Your Facebook Fan Page by Amy Lynn Andrews

Pinterest & Copyright by Amy Lynn Andrews (6 links with advice)

Writers, Why It’s Time To Renew Your Love Affair With Pinterest by Kristen Lamb

The Ultimate List of Pinterest Tips by Amy Lynn Andrews

 

Collected Wisdom

Twitterific by Elizabeth Spann Craig (August 5th)

Blog Treasures by Gene Lempp (August 4th)

Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas (August 3rd)

Fill Me In Friday by Roni Loren (August 3rd)

 

Deep Stuff

A Story of Balls & Work Life Balance by Jenny Hansen

How To Journal: 5 Tips For Capturing Your Best Ideas by Cheryl Craigie

6 Common Diets That Cramp Creativity by August McLaughlin

The Practice of Stillness by Michael Hyatt

Talking To Children About Death by Julie Glover (thank you Jenny Hansen)

The Fat Friend by Allie Sanders (also found via Jenny Hansen)

Lets Talk Sex by C.C. MacKenzie

Ecce Orcus! An Argument For Humanizing the Orc by Mordicai Knode

 

Fun Stuff

Eyecandy (Aleksd has gathered a wide variety of cool Pinterest boards)

Bookshelf Porn (brilliant bookshelves)

11 Geeky Wedding & Engagement Rings by Jill Harness at Mental Floss

6 Most Accidentally Erotic Images of the 2012 Olympics by Adam Tod Brown at cracked.com

100 Best-Ever YA Novels (npr.org)

10 Instances In Which History Meets Geekery by Rebecca Pahle at The Mary Sue

5 Ridiculous Gun Myths Everyone Believes Thanks To Movies by Robert Evans at cracked.com

A Timeline of Future Events (as mentioned in sci-fi books) by Jane Hu at The Awl

11 Comments

  1. Jenny Hansen
    Aug 9, 2012

    Reetta,

    OMG, it is a feast!! I have so many tabs open, I’m going to have to follow Janet Fitch’s advice and forget the cleaning. 🙂

    Thanks for the feast, and many, many thanks for including Writers In the Storm’s post from Kara Lennox!
    Jenny Hansen recently posted..A Story of Balls and Work-Life Balance…How Do You Prioritize?My Profile

    • Reetta Raitanen
      Aug 10, 2012

      Hah, thanks 😀 Cleaning is overrated. The dust bunnies come back with vengeance in no time. And Writers in the Storm is one the coolest joint writing blogs there is.

  2. Beth Barany
    Aug 9, 2012

    What a wonderful smorgasbord! Need to go to bed here in California, but can’t wait to dig into these resources. And thanks for mentioning Your Clear Message: Get Your Potential Reader Curious Now from the Writers Fun Zone blog.

    • Reetta Raitanen
      Aug 10, 2012

      Thanks for the visit and great blog, Beth 🙂

  3. Wow, Reetta, this is quite a link-fest! I agree with Jenny above – I’ll have so many tabs open I won’t get any writing done today! Maybe I’ll just keep your blog up and open a few at a time.

    Thanks so much for including me in such good company!
    Jennifer Jensen (@jenjensen2) recently posted..Weather Droughts, Personal DroughtsMy Profile

    • Reetta Raitanen
      Aug 10, 2012

      I know the feeling of having dozens of tabs open at the same time. I do it after the other link collection posts 🙂 Having just one or two windows open at the same time is supposedly most efficient. But it feels so slow!

  4. August McLaughlin
    Aug 9, 2012

    ‘Feast’ is the perfect word for this post, Reetta. Thanks for the fantastic links and including mine. 🙂 Hope you’re having a super week.
    August McLaughlin recently posted..Fearlessness and Frozen Peas: Takeaways From AnxietyMy Profile

    • Reetta Raitanen
      Aug 10, 2012

      Thank you, August. The best thing about these links is that they’re calor free 😀

  5. Debra Kristi
    Aug 10, 2012

    Always the best, Reetta! There are so many here I want to read. But then, it’s like that every week. I need another me to keep up! Thank you for finding all of these. You are amazing!
    Debra Kristi recently posted..When You Need to Break Away…My Profile

    • Reetta Raitanen
      Aug 10, 2012

      My pleasure, Debra. I love browsing writing and marketing sites.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. 8 Parenting Tips from Janet Fitch (Author of White Oleander) | Jenny Hansen's Blog - [...] Shout out to Reetta Raitanen: Huge thanks for including Janet’s post in your last “Links Feast!” [...]

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