Link Feast For Writers, vol. 10

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.

On Writing

Scenes Must Grab Interest & Move Story Forward by Lori Devoti

Scene Structure: Goal, Conflict & Disaster by Lori Devoti

Blurb Critique by a Marketing Goddess by Edie Ramer

10 Secrets To Better Fiction by Bob Mayer

How Janet Evanovich Storyboards by Zanchary Petit at Writer’s Digest

How To Create Distinctive Character Voices by L.B. Gale

What Avengers Teaches Us About Heroes by Sarah Hoyt

I Wanna Be Evil (aka How To Do Antagonist Well) by Sarah Hoyt

The Hero’s Journey by Cornell De Ville

Paranormal Romantic Writer’s Pop Quiz by Lynn Viehl (sadly the examples here are from real books, some even bestselling series)

Tools For Developing Characters: Must-Haves For Your Writing Bookshelf by Kathy Steffen

Recipe For a Best Selling Book by Laura Miller at salon.com

13 Most Common Errors On Novel’s First Page by Catherine Rankovic

Editing For People Who Hate Editing by Rachel Aaron

What’s In A Name – Choosing The Right Book Title by Sarah Baughman at Write It Sideways

Fun & Inexpensive Ideas For Writing Retreats by Sherrinda Ketchersid at The Writers Alley

10 Secret Killers That Destroy Your Personal Productivity by Dries Cronje

The Comfort Zone Is For Pets, Not Professionals by Kristen Lamb

 

Your Author Platform

Why It’s So Stinking Hard To Sell Books by Stephanie Chandler (Average person reads only 7 books a year)

Why It’s So Stinking Hard To Sell Books – Part 2 (A Reader should have heard of you or your book about 6-8 times before buying)

Who Are The Big 6 & What Does Indie Really Mean? Answers To Not-So-Dumb Questions You Were Afraid To Ask by Anne R. Allen

Catherine Ryan Howard (author of Mousetrapped) shares her great tips for marketing books

Every Author Has A Unique Marketing Voice & Approach by Jane Friedman at Writer Unboxed

Marrying Marketing & Writing Goals by Monica Valentinelli

Tips on Setting Your Marketing Priorities by Michele Linn

The Number One Reason Why Marketing Tactics Fail by Monica Valentinelli

3 Steps To An Effective Social Media Strategy by Amy Porterfield at Social Media Examiner

Send Newsletters, Not “Me Me Me Letters” by Rob Eagan

8 Elements of Effective Newsletters by Rob Eagan

What Makes Word Of Mouth Work – Part 1 by Rob Eagan at Writer’s Digest

What Makes Word of Mouth Work – Part 2 by Rob Eagan at Writer’s Digest

10 Ways To Sell Books At Amazon by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Using Wattpad To Market Your Books by Edie Ramer

Wattpad Marketing Success Stories by Edie Ramer

Recommended Marketing Tools by Big Brand Systems

Cover Design Tips From Pros by Ruth Harris (Pros share the stock photo services they use)

14 Tips For Good eBook Cover Design by C.L. Smith

What Do I Need An Agent For Again by Gemma Holliday

Earn More Money With A Book: 10 Business Models For Non-Fiction Authors by Stephanie Chandler

4 Important Marketing Actions To Take On Amazon As Soon As Your Book Is Published by Stephanie Chandler

 

Blogging

An Original Blog Idea Is Overrated by Henneke Duistermaat

21 Warning Signs You Chose The Wrong Blog Topic by Jon Morrow

7 Dumbest Mistakes With a New Blog by Jon Morrow

Why Posting Every Day Is a Silly Strategy (And What To Do Instead) by Dries Cronje

How To Make Your Blog Writing Real by Brian Clark at Copyblogger

Spice Up Boring Blog Posts Into Delicious Content by Brian Gardner

How To Improve Your Website Trust Factor by Chris Garrett

A Popular YA Blogger Turned Out To Be a Plagiarist (at Gossamer Obsessions)

From Blogger To Book Author: The 4 Step Guide by Jeff Goins

How To Plan Your Blog Posts For A Year In Advance by Laura Roeder at Content Marketing Institute

Write An Article In 20 Minutes by Jim Estill at Copyblogger

How To Host A Blog Event & Why You Should by Lori Devoti

7 Free Places To Submit Your Website by Fred Campos

Blogging Tips A-Z: Networking by Annabel Candy at Successful Blogging

Stephen King’s 20 Tips For Becoming A Better Blog Writer by Jon Morrow
Social Media

Finding Your Voice In Social Media by C. Hope Clark

20 Ways To Build Your Audience In Twitter by Stephanie Chandler

Frequency and Timing of Twitter Posts by Fred Campos

8 Ways To Get More ReTweets by Brian Gardner

25 Ways To Gain More Likes On Your Facebook Fan Page – Part 1 by Fred Campos

Pinterest For Writers by Beth Gwazdosky

5 Tips To Increase Interest On Your Books On Pinterest by Fred Campos

How Pinterest Can Increase Traffic For Your Blog by Brian Gardner

Get More Viral Traffic From Pinterest With This Simple Strategy

 

Collected Wisdom

Blog Treasures by Gene Lempp (May 26th)

Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig (May 27th)

Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas (May 25th) (her link collection blew me away & I feature some here)

Writing on the Ether by Porter Anderson (May 24th)

Build Your World: 10 Resources by Lynn Viehl

Writing Hero: Martha Alderson (aka The Plot Whisperer) [Must See Links]

10 Must Have Templates For Content Creators

 

Deep Stuff

8 Reasons Paper Books Will Become an Endangered Species by Marcy Kennedy

Safeguard Your Files by Lynn Viehl

Top 10 Relationship Words That Aren’t Translatable Into English by Pamela Haag at Think Big

What Advice Would You Give To a Kid Choosing a Future Career? by Sarah Hoyt

Those Who Can’t Create by Sarah Hoyt

Find Out The Price Of Your Desire & Commit To Paying It by Johnny B. Truant

Half An Ass Does You No Good by Emma Burcart

If you love history of Scotland, this post by Emmie Mears is for you:

Who’s different, Rob Roy’s wife Mary, William Wallace’s wife Murron or Merida from Pixar’s Brave?

 

Fun Stuff

Nebula Awards Winners (tor.com) – Aka the Best of Fantasy This Year (you can read the short stories awarded through the links)

Romantic Comedy Movie Generator by Fabio Bueno

The Brain Of The Beginning Blogger (Infographic)

How To See What a Blog Is About At Glance by Lynn Viehl

Eau d’Olde Book (a fascinating video) by Lynn Viehl

What If Famous Authors Had Written Advertising Slogans by Lynn Viehl

Would you be surprised by this loo? (Huffington Post)

8 Comments

  1. Fabio Bueno
    May 31, 2012

    Reetta, what a great collection of links. I’ve read Catherine Howard’s, Marcy’s, and a few others. How do you find time to read them all?
    Thanks for including my post 🙂
    Fabio Bueno recently posted..Romantic Comedy Movie GeneratorMy Profile

    • Reetta Raitanen
      May 31, 2012

      My pleasure, Fabio. Gathering these links takes forever 😛 But it’s really fun and I am learning a lot too. I could propably do it more efficiently, though. I heard that Elizabeth S. Craig (Twitterific lady) is subscribed to well over thousand writing websites :O I don’t know how she manages it. That huge feed would explode my brain.

  2. Coleen Patrick
    May 31, 2012

    I just recently started reading Catherine Ryan Howard’s blog–she has SO much great info for self-pubbing!
    Another impressive list Reetta-thanks!! 🙂
    Coleen Patrick recently posted..Looking for Signs of Life vs. Road Kill TheoryMy Profile

    • Reetta Raitanen
      May 31, 2012

      Thanks for the comment 🙂 Catherine Ryan Howard has been self-publishing for a long time so she has a great perspective on the business.

  3. Karen McFarland
    May 31, 2012

    Reetta, seriously, you are amazing!

    Where do you find all these wonderful posts! They’re a treasure chest full of great writing information! I bookmark every one! I can’t believe this is volumn 10.

    Thank you so much for all your hard work putting this together!

    You Rock Girl! 🙂
    Karen McFarland recently posted..Bridge of SighsMy Profile

    • Reetta Raitanen
      May 31, 2012

      Thank you so much, Karen. I’m glad you found the links useful. I have some trusted sites I can link to every week but you can see when I find a totally new site 😉 Then I feature a lot of their posts at the same time.

  4. Debra Kristi
    May 31, 2012

    You’ve done it again! Fabulous collection of links! Right on.
    Debra Kristi recently posted..The Hell Lord, Mephisto – Immortal MondayMy Profile

    • Reetta Raitanen
      May 31, 2012

      Thanks, Debra. Will do my best do deliver next week too 🙂

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