Link Feast For Writers, vol. 38
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.
If You Have Time For Only One Thing
The Starburst Method: Summarizing Your Story In One Sentence by Karen Woodward
On Writing
Faking It: Making Our Actions Count by Jami Gold
Kurt Vonnegut Can Bite Me by Tiffany Reisz (On the rules of writing)
9 Joyful Ways to Demolish Your Favorite Genre by Charlie Jane Anders
Find Someone Who Is a Stakeholder in Your Writing Life, Find a Few Someones by Kate Gale
Dean Koontz and 5 Things Every Genre Needs by Karen Woodward
10 Things That Make Your Story More Interesting – Part 1 by Justine Musk (can also be applied to your blog and brand as a writer)
10 Things That Make Your Story More Interesting – Part 2 by Justine Musk
5 Ways to Put More ‘Soul’ Into Your Writing by Justine Musk
Building Character: The Importance of Imperfection by Karen Woodward
The Bad Girls’ Club: Female Villains by Leigh Bardugo
How Plotting Can Build a Better Story by Karen Woodward
Turn Passive Plots Into Active Plots by Susan J. Morris
5 Tips to Create Page Turning Plot by J.E. Fishman
How to Start a Novel Right: 5 Great Tips by Jessica Strawser
Tips For Planning Your Plot: Frustrate the Reader by L.B. Gale
Better Plotting: 7 Ways Your Characters Can Screw Up Their Decisions by Janice Hardy
Three Steps to Creating Believable Character Emotions by Marcy Kennedy
Is Your Hometown Diverse? How About Your Books? by Jennette Powell
How to Fail the Bechdel Test by David Tallerman
6 Ways Your Metaphors Are Hurting Your Novel by Marcy Kennedy
Revising Your Manuscript And Building Suspense: Making Your Character’s Stakes Both Clear and High by Karen Woodward
NOW You Can Revise, Step 1: When It’s Finally Time to Fine Tune by Matt Bird
NOW You Can Revise, Step 2: Cut Out 10 More Pages by Matt Bird
NOW You Can Revise, Step 3: Build a Theme Tree by Matt Bird
How to Use Your Kindle to Self-Edit Your Self-Published Book by Matthew Turner
Manipulating the Mythos by Rachel Riegel
5 Tips For Writing and Marketing Young Adult / Teen Books by Natalie Wright
Book Marketing
How to Build Your Global Empire by C.J. Lyons (find partners in crime)
Finding Your Audience and Branching Out by Troy D. Smith
In a Crowded Marketplace Voice Is Your Differentiator by Dan Blank
How to Connect With People in a World Where the Extraordinary is Expected by Dan Blank
Self-Publishing Success Stories: The Anatomy of a Kindle Bestseller by Mark Edwards (great tips for all authors)
How to Run a Blog Tour by Beth Barany
3 Reasons Why You Need an Email List as an Author by F.C. Malby
14 Items to Include In Your Author Media Kit (& Why You NEED One) by Laura Pepper Wu
11 Ways to Make the Most of Your Book Signing by Laura Pepper Wu
(Self-)Publishing
The Number One Mistake New Writers Make by Anne R. Allen
How Much Can You Really Tell From a Query by Janice Hardy
Query Strategy: Narrow Focus or Scattergun? Part 2 by Orly Konig-Lopez
How to Publish a Book 101 by Joanna Penn
How to Publish Your eBook from Word to Kindle in Under Ten Minutes by Ed Ditto
iTunes Anyone? by C.C. MacKenzie (the power of free and diverse sales channels… and *gasp* just writing more and marketing less)
Commodity Publishing, Self-Publishing and the Future of Fiction by Jane Friedman
(Really interesting and insightful look at the publishing field. A must read.)
The New World of Publishing: Counting Numbers by Dean Wesley Smith
Why Online Book Discovery Is Broken and How to Fix It by Laura Hazard Owen
Blogging
5 Blogging Rules Authors Can Ignore… And 5 You Can’t by Anne R. Allen
The Most Powerful Tool For Building an Author Platform – Part 1 by Kristen Lamb
The Most Powerful Social Media Tool For Building an Author Platform – Part 3 by Kristen Lamb
How to Stay on Track With Writing & Blogging by Veronica Sicoe
Why Bloggers Fail (And What To Do To Ensure You Won’t) by Derek Halpern
If You’re Struggling to Get Blog Readers, Read This (Or Continue Wasting Your Precious Time) by Derek Halpern
Get More Comments: Can Blogs Still Attract Huge Comment Counts? [4:38 min video] (Blog Tyrant)
How to Persuade People You Don’t Know To Help You (This Is the Secret to Getting Links) by Derek Halpern
Do You Follow Yourself Around the Web? by James L. Rubart
Social Media
Top 10 Things One Writer Learned About Social Media Marketing by Colby Marshall
My Universal Plan to Succeed on Any Social Network by Fraser Cain
How to Embed a Twitter Tweet Into Your Blog Posts by Joel Friedlander
Two Turbo-Groovy Social Media/Blogging Questions Answered by Jenny Hansen (Klout & Infographics)
Collected Wisdom
Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig
Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas
Deep Stuff
Thinking Your Problems Are Special Ends Up Making You Stuck by Penelope Trunk (warning: personal story about child abuse)
Fixing Four Social Skills Problems by Ramit Sethi (with illuminating videos)
The Secret to Making Productivity Tips Work For You by Penelope Trunk
Ten Resolutions the Most Successful People Make and Then Keep by Mike Maddock
Is There a Cost To Hiding Our Mistakes? by Marcy Kennedy
Is There a Right Age to Read a Book? by Jo Walton
Role Playing by Sarah A. Hoyt
Fun Stuff
All the Essential Science Fiction and Fantasy Books That Are Coming in 2013 by Charlie Jane Anders
The Kitschies Shortlist Revealed – A Fantasy Award for Truly Unique Books
Tywin Lannister Reads 50 Shades of Gray For Your Sexy Sexy Pleasure
Morning Movie Spoilers (Iron Man 3 & Sin City 2 news among others)
6 Actors Who Play the Exact Same Role In Multiple Movies by Mike Floorwalker
These Character Names Should Be Banned Forever by Esther Inglis-Arkell
Thanks for the mention! Really appreciate it.
Ramsay from Blog Tyrant recently posted..Get More Comments: Can Blogs Still Attract Huge Comment Counts?
Thanks, Ramsay!
I’m honored to be part of today’s Link Feast – thanks, Reetta!
Jennette Marie Powell recently posted..Murder and Magic Plus ROW80 Check-in
My pleasure, Jen. Diversity in writing is a really important topic.
Hi Reetta, been off the grid for a while and now it’s time to catch up! Can’t wait to dive in to these. Thanks again for such thoughtful curation.
Debra Eve recently posted..Late Bloomer, Long Tail 3: Heart Work
Thank you for reading and commenting, Debra 🙂 That’s what makes this worth doing.
LOVE! You know I’m mad for your Feasts, Reetta. Thanks for including me and giving me enough reading to keep me busy all weekend. 🙂
Jenny Hansen recently posted..What Crossfit Is Teaching Me About Writing, Part 1
Cheers, Jenny. I’m mad for your blog. You have the Voice.
Love, love, love! What more can I say?
Debra Kristi recently posted..T is for Travel, Texas, and Thor!
Merci beaucoup, Debra. And oh, more Thor adventures! *hops over to your blog*
Another fantastic list, Reetta. I’ll be reading for days! 🙂
Diana Beebe recently posted..Thor Isn’t a Native Texan…
Thanks, Diana. Sounds like you and Thor had a great time together 😀
Hi Reetta! Just wanted to say a quick thank you. I don’t always comment but I always find some great stuff here. Thanks for all the work putting your lists together!
Rhonda Hopkins recently posted..Guest Post by Time Magazine Featured Author Saralynn Hoyt
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment, Rhonda 🙂 They’re manna to all bloggers.