Link Feast For Writers, vol. 47 – Motivation Special

I was supposed to post these Links two weeks ago. My apologies. All work and no play makes Reetta a dull girl. I haven’t had the energy to even read lately and I love reading more than anything. Today I had a free day and it’s amazing what few hours of uninterrupted me time does for you.

I dubbed this the Motivation Special because that’s the theme of many links this round. I’d love to hear in the comments how you keep motivated?

Marcy wished for tips on how indie authors can get book reviews and endorsement blurbs. I’ll dig up some related links next week. Meanwhile, do you have advice for Marcy?

 

If You Have Time For Only One Thing

How Practicing My Pitch Helped Me Write a Better Book by Kathleen Pooler

You can do this pitch thing even if you’re going to self-publish. Just answer some core questions about your book and see if your answers thrill your beta readers and editors.

 

On Writing

Never, Never, Never Lose Your Work by Rachelle Gardner

Gut Check: How Bad Do You Want It? by Toni at DuoLit

What’s Your Excuse? by C.J. Lyons

Eight Ways Writing a Novel Is Like Becoming a Parent by Ali Luke

6 Tips on How to Read Critically by Karen Woodward

3 Steps To Better Prose by Karen Woodward (Excercise)

I Quit! by Talli Roland

When Is It Time To Quit On Our Dreams? by Marcy Kennedy

Minimizing Risk as a Writer – A Guide For the Risk-Averse by Elizabeth S. Craig

Hiring an Editor – Yay or Nay? by Janice Hardy

 

The Craft of Writing

Good Writing vs. Talented Writing by Passive Voice

Why Is Storytelling Ability So Important by Jami Gold

Ways to Create Multi-Dimensional Characters – Tip #1 by Kristen Lamb

The 3 Types of Characters Arc – Change, Growth and Fall by Veronica Sicoe

Stellar Writing Sells! by Margie Lawson

The Problem With “Revealing” Information That’s Already In the Cover by Janice Hardy

Cliffhangers by Karen Woodward

Creating the Perfect Ending by Karen Woodward

Writing Emotion Without the Melodrama by Angela Ackerman

Emotions That Escalate: How to Build Tension Successfully by Angela Ackerman

Four Fiction Felonies That Make Your Plot Unbelievable by Marcy Kennedy

Handling Scene Transitions With Multiple PoVs by Janice Hardy

Why We Fall In Love, Part 1: The Secure Attachment Style by Fae Rowan

Why We (And Our Characters) Fall In Love, Part 2: The Avoidant Insecure Attachment Style by Fae Rowan

Why We (And Our Characters) Fall In Love, Part 3: Ambivalent/Anxious Attachment Style by Fae Rowan

Why We (And Our Characters) Fall In Love, Part 4: Disoriented/Disorganized Attachment Style by Fae Rowan

10 Steps to Writing a Novella by Delilah S. Dawson

Why Do You Enter Writing Contests? by Jami Gold

 

Book Marketing

4 Things To Keep In Mind When Choosing a Title For Your Book by Karen Woodward

The Secret Recipe For Writing a Perfect Pitch by Marcy Kennedy

Why Authors Who Say “I Don’t Have Enough Time For Promotion” Are Doomed to Fail by Toni at DuoLit

Why Facebook Is Blue: The Science of Colors in Marketing by Leo Widrich

 

(Self-)Publishing

Infographic: 5 Key Book Publishing Paths by Jane Friedman

Should You Self-Publish: 15 Questions by Orna Ross

Does Self-Publishing Have a Formula For Success? by Theresa Ragan

New Minimum Lenght For eBooks on Amazon: 2500 Words by Karen Woodward

A Passive Guy Opinion on Traditional Publishing by Dean Wesley Smith

 

Blogging

2 Strategic and Compelling Reasons to Keep Blogging—Plus When to Kill a Blog by Dan Blank

Get Clear On Your Brand Proposition & Unique Selling Proposition (USP) by Abby Kerr

10 Reasons Why People Buy Your Prodcuct Or Share Your Idea by Bernadette Jiwa

How to Have a Successful Blog on 1–3 Hours of Work a Day by Tristan Higbee

How Your Local Book Store Can Help You Consistently Create Content by Sean D’Souza

Our Secret Blog Post Formula by Caitlin Muir

Why Writers Should Write Guest Posts by Gabriela Pereira

 

Social Media

Four Questions to Define Your Social Media Presence by Martina Boone

100 Things For Authors To Tweet About by Caitlin Muir

Why You Need a Hashtag For Your Next Book by Caitlin Muir

Don’t Think of Pinterest As a Social Media by Erin MacPherson

Supercharge Your Pinning With These 7 Free Tools by Caitlin Muir

The Pinterest Cheat Sheet To Image Sizes by Caitlin Muir

 

Collected Wisdom

Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig

Writing Resources by Gene Lempp

Monday Must-Reads by Yesenia Vargas

 

Deep Stuff

How to Stay Motivated During the Dark Times by Jenny Hansen

Splice Time In New Ways to Have More of It by Penelope Trunk

Bootstrapping the Industrial Age by Kevin Kelly

 

Fun Stuff

If Calvin Tweeted by Julie Glover (Calvin & Hobbes rocks)

A Knight, a Wizard and a Lady of the Lake: Immortal Monday by Debra Kristi

Profound and Hilarious Poetry Written by Arranging Books by Lauren Davis

Defending ‘Iron Man 3”s Big Plot Twist by Matt Singer

Link Feast For Writers, vol. 39

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.

Note: Starting from next week, I’ll gather together all the links from the previous Feasts. So for few weeks, you can expect old links that are the best advice I’ve ever read about the topic.

 

If You Have Time For Only One Thing

58 Tips for Transforming Your Blog and Dazzling Your Readers by Marya Jan

 

On Writing

Amazon Bestselling Author Theresa Ragan says: “Write!”

Enemies of ther Art, Part 2: Psychic Vampires by Kristen Lamb

Enemies of the Art, Part 3: F.E.A.R. by Kristen Lamb

9 Tips For Finishing That Novel by Anna Staniszewski

Super Hero Nation’s Writing Post Index (dozens of excellent posts)

Make Your Writer’s Bookshelf Work For You by Jenny Hansen

How Much Do You Understand About Your Writing Process by Janice Hardy

3 Vs of Fiction: Vision by Darcy Pattison

3 Vs of Fiction: Voice by Darcy Pattison

3 Vs of Fiction: Vulnerability by Darcy Pattison

Beware the Under-Cooked Story Concept by Larry Brooks

Michael Hauge On How to Summarize Your Novel by Karen Woodward

Do You Like a Little Contradiction In Your Characters? by Jen Kirchner

Help With Character Development by Elizabeth S. Craig (great links)

What Nashville Can Teach Us About Character Archetypes by Janice Hardy

Aliette de Bodard on On Worldbuilding, Patchwork and Filing off Serial Numbers

Managing Story Conflict by Stavros Halvatzis

How to Write Powerful Endings by Stavros Halvatzis

An Easy Fix For a Tighter Point of View by Janice Hardy

Four Techniques to Show Rather Than Tell by Marcy Kennedy

Lessons From Oleander – Beware of Premature Editing by Kristen Lamb

Now You Can Revise, Part 4: Add More “I Understand You” Moments by Matt Bird

Now You Can Revise, Part 5: Set Up Your Pay-Offs Better by Matt Bird

Feedback on a Works in Progress: When, How Often, How by Darcy Pattison

Time Saving Tip When Writing a Book Series by Elizabeth S. Craig
Book Marketing

Different, Because (The Story of Telling)

A + B = You (The Secret Equation Every Author Needs to Know) by Shannon at DuoLit

The 4 Elements of Voice {& Why You Should Notice Your Own & Other People’s} by Abby Kerr

Branding 101: Who Do You Want to Be? by Jami Gold

Marketing Strategies: Who You Know, What You’ll Do and How You Access Readers? by Darcy Pattison

Are You Targeting the Wrong Readers? 7 Tips to Fix the Problem by Gary Korisko

How to Make Your Message Stick (The Story of Telling)

How to Engage Your Reader by Matthew Turner

Don’t Lose Your New Year Momentum! 5 Ways to Keep Up Marketing Motivation by Toni at DuoLit

8 Things to Do Immediately After You Get a New Email Subscriber by Ramsay at Blog Tyrant

How to Enlist “Interns” for Free: Getting Friends and Family to Help You Promote Your Book by Chris Robley

What Makes a Good Book Trailer: Some Key Elements by Laura Pepper Wu

Authors – Thinking About Partnering Up?: How The Partners in ParanormYA Did It by Angela Brown and Gwen Gardner

Slow Media by Seth Godin

Getting Your Book’s Goodreads Reviews On Kobo by Tamara Ward

To Ad or Not To Ad? by C.J. Lyons
(Self-)Publishing

Tick Tock: Timelines In the Author Business Plan by Susan Spann

The Business Rusch: Found Information by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

The Business Rusch: Editorial Revisions by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

7 Step Writer’s Guide to Submitting Work to Publication by Chris Robley

10 Dos and Don’ts of Writing a Query Letter by Brian Klems

Long Tail, Part 2: Eschew Slock by Debra Eve (great videos by Stephen Pressfield and Shawn Coyne)

Attending Conferences and Conventions As an Indie Author by Lindsay Buroker

Two Year Self-Publishing Anniversary–Thoughts on the Past and What’s Going to Work in the Future by Lindsay Buroker

Susan Kaye Quinn’s Self-Pub Basics (Part Three of Four): Formatting, The Hard Way

 

Blogging

Behave… The Internet Never Forgets by Jami Gold

Blogging For Writers by Elizabeth S. Craig (Is it worth it?)

Blogging From A to Z by Melinda F. Emerson

Who’s Your Blog’s Ideal Reader? by Annabel Candy

How to Improve Your Blog by Refocusing by Bryan Allain

Finding and Communicating Your Value by Chris Garrett

11 Easy Ways to Get Hundreds of Great Blog Post Ideas by Annabel Candy

Checklist: 7 Things You Have to Do to Write Unforgettable Articles by Henri Junttila

The Power of Collaboration by Amy Lee Andrews

How to Get Facebook to Pull the Right Images from Your WordPress Blog by Amy Lynn Andrews

Social Media

Feeling Overwhelmed? Social Media Can Make Us Crazy–Part 1 by Kristen Lamb

Maximizing Facebook–What We Can Learn From Puppy Dog Eyes and LOL Cats by Lisa Hall-Wilson

3 Simple Ways to Engage On Your Author Facebook Page by Caitlin Muir

Facebook Magic, Part 2 ~ From FB Goddess, Lisa Hall-Wilson

12 Tips to Engage People on Twitter by Cindy King

How to Nurture Your Twitter Community by Laura Lee Walker

10 Types of Social Media Updates—How Many Are You Using? by Michael Hyatt

What to Tweet – And What Not by Michelle McNickle

9 Ways to Use Social Media to Launch a Book by Michael Stelzner


Collected Wisdom

Writing Resources: January 2013 by Gene Lempp

Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig


Deep Stuff

What Does Your Behaviour Say About Who You Are? by Marcy Kennedy

“Better” Has No Finish Line – Lessons I’m Learning From Crossfit, Part 2 by Jenny Hansen

7 Principles to Live by in 2013 by Amy Lynn Andrews (these all really resonate with me)

The Question You Need to Ask Yourself by Justine Musk

How to Be a Visionary by Justine Musk

Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Who Served in the Military and How It Changed Their Work by Charlie Jane Anders

Why We Remember Young Adulthood Better Than Any Other Age? by Katy Waldman

 

Fun Stuff

Yet Another (Hilarious) Reason to Invest In an eReader by Jenny Hansen

Fiction Affliction: February Releases In Fantasy by Suzanne Johnson

Fiction Affliction: Genre Benders For February by Suzanne Johnson

All the Game of Thrones Fan Theories You Absolutely Need to Know by Rock Bricken

111 Movie Sequels Currently In Works by Simon Brew

Link Feast For Writers, vol. 37

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

Embrace the Naked by Robin LaFevers

 

On Writing

What Is Your Goal As a Writer? by Laura Drake

The Ultimate Measure of Your Sucess by Mark McGuinness

13 Reasons to Keep Writing in 2013 by Jody Hedlund

3 Ways to Overcome Fear in 2013 by Shannon at DuoLit

Taking the Scary Out of Scrivener by Gwen Hernandez

Chuck Wendig On Writing: How He Writes a Book by Karen Woodward

5 Ways to Come Up With Great Story Ideas by Brian A. Klems

How to Strenghten a Story Idea by Roz Morris

Writing Your Obsessions by Cathy Marie Buchanan

9 Tips For Writing a Really Good Shitty First Draft by Lisa Cron

Connect With Readers’ Emotions: How to Make People Cry by Karen Woodward

Push Your Characters Into Interesting by Kathy Steffen

Using Public Domain Characters In Your Stories by Karen Woodward

The First 15 Minutes Project: Peter Parker In Spiderman by Matt Bird

The First 15 Minutes Project: Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Matt Bird

The First 250 Words of Your Manuscript by Janice Hardy

Writing Emotion: How Great Writers Do It by Kim Aippersbach

Four Ways to Pre Write Your Scenes by Janice Hardy

Should I Write That Potentially Controversial Scene? by Roni Loren

Foreshadowing & Chekhov’s Gun: Don’t Blow It by Kristen Lamb

Storyteller’s Rulebook: Don’t Make Them Say It by Matt Bird

Three Keys to Memorable Similes and Metaphors by Marcy Kennedy

How Chuck Wendig Edits a Novel by Chuck Wendig

The Finishing Touches by Jael McHenry

When Should You Stop Revising by Janice Hardy

11 Writerly Types to Avoid (Bluestocking)

 

Book Marketing

Book Marketing Predictions For 2013 by Thomas Umstaddt

How to Understand and Use Your Voice Values In Your Brand Today by Abby Kerr

Tips For Writing Back Cover Copy by Roz Morris

Approaching Promo in 2013 by Elizabeth S. Craig

Building Your Author Platform in 10 Hours a Week (Including Writing Time!) by Chris Robley

Divide and Conquer: Building an Author Platform by Proxy by Joanna Penn

Books Don’t Bomb, Authors Do by John Ward

5 Reasons It’s Hard to Market Indie Fiction and What to Do About It by Rachelle Ayala

I Wrote a Book But It Won’t Sell – What To Do? by Derek Haines

 

(Self-)Publishing

Introducing the Query/Blurb Exchange Club by Jami Gold

The Facts vs. the Story You Tell Yourself by Rachelle Gardner

Want Agents to Read Your Novel? Do This First by Suzannah Windsor Freeman

Agent Secrets – Do Writers Need an Agent in the New Publishing Paradigm? by Laurie McLean

Query Strategy – Narrow Focus or Scattergun? by Fae Rowen

Book Contract: What’s Negotiable and What’s Not by Brian A. Klems

5 Surprises About Self-Publishing by Jennie Nash

What Do Tradpubs Do… And Can You Do It? by Bufo Calvin

Susan Kaye Quinn’s Self-Pub Basics (Part One of Four): Where to Publish

Susan Kaye Quinn’s Self-Publish Basics (Part Two of Four): Formatting the Easy Way

Amazon’s Kindle Store – A Breakdown of Books by Category [Infographic] by Gary McLaren

 

Blogging

Blogging for Authors, and How a Banana Slicer Saved My Marriage by Kristen Lamb

8 Things Every Blogging Writer Should Know by Chuck Sambuchino

How to Get 80% of the Results With 20% of the Content by Chris Garrett

4 Steps to Better Blogging Time Management by Amy Lynn Andrews

How to Create a Total Content System by John Jantsch

50 Ways to Drive Massive Traffic to Your Blog by Cassie Boorns

Where Great Copywriting Does Not Come From by Abby Kerr

 

Social Media

How to Stay Connected When Your Number of Connections Grow by Pamela Slim

15 Common Twitter Questions Authors Ask by Caitlin Muir

What Do Your Facebook Interactions REALLY Say About You? by Jenny Hansen

 

Collected Wisdom

Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig

Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas

 

Deep Stuff

Curatives for judgement. (Please read before you interact with other humans) by Danielle La Porte

Five Geek Social Fallacies by Michael Suileabhain-Wilson

Don’t Be a Dreamer, Be a Planner by Penelope Trunk

Unravelling the Year Ahead by Susannah Conway (really useful workbook for looking ahead and back at 2012)

How to Do Your Own Annual Review by Chris Guillebeau (this is a piece of cake if you are ROWing)

 

Fun Stuff

6 Reasons Why Batman Is Both Perfect and Boring by Esther Inglis-Arkell

A Sample of George R.R. Martin’s Next aSoIaF Book, the Winds of Winter

Search Term Bingo: The Revengification by Chuck Wendig (his weirdness at its best, totally non PC)

2012 Debut Author Cover War (behold these awesome book covers)

A Free SFF Short Story Anthology: Some of the Best From Tor.com 2012

The 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World by Emily Temple

Link Feast For Writers, vol. 22

It’s Wednesday, and the perfect time to browse the best writing, book marketing and blogging links I’ve come across this week.

In last week’s comments, C.C. MacKenzie asked for advice on how to write a good blurb for your book. I have some links for you in the Author Platform category. The pitching links might also be helpful.

Marcy Kennedy was interested in learning about formatting eBooks and cover design. I created an extra category for those links.

For the next month I hope you’ll sate your link love with the excellent mashups featured in Collected Wisdom.

Instead of my regular posts, I’ll be doing a huge blog series about the Myers-Briggs personality types. The next Link Feast rolls out in 17th of October. Meanwhile, enjoy learning more about how people tick.

And this week’s links, of course.

 

If You Have Time For Only One Thing:

Maturity: The Difference Between the Amateur and the Professional by Kristen Lamb

(Yes, many of you have already read this great post. But read it again. It’s really worth it.)

 

On Writing

How To Write a Kick-Ass Outline and Get Hooked by Veronica Sicoe

The Heroine’s Journey by Jo Walton

Arena Stories & Outer Motivation by Michael Hauge

Jim Butcher’s Villain Building Tips by Karen Woodward

The Archetyphal Character (at TVTropes. Consider yourself warned. I plead innocence for the time you spend at the site 😉 )

Visceral Rules by Margie Lawson

Finding Your Novel’s Theme and Your Universal Theme by Roni Loren

Crossing Genres with Vicki Hinze

The 6 Categories of Romantic Comedy by Michael Hauge

J.R.R Tolkien – Enemy of Progress by David Brin

5 Tips on World Building From Scratch by Jordan Dane

How To Edit Your Book In 4 Stages by Mike Nappa

(*points above* Personally I disagree with editing while you’re still writing the book. It’s hard to shift back to the writer mindset again unless you are a pro with 50 books behind you, like Mr. Nappa. But the advice about reading your book out loud is brilliant.)

5 Qualities of the High Value Writer by Jenny Hansen

6 Forms of Distraction (And How To Prevent Them) by Krissy Brady

Writing Lapses: 5 Tips To Get You Back on Track by Sarah Baughman

Repetitive Work Injury Syndrome – Easing the Symptoms by Pauline Baird Jones (a book review)

Crafting Your 90-Second Pitch by Marcy Kennedy

How To Slam Dunk Your 90-Second Pitch by Debra Eve

How To Keep Your Inbox At Zero by Caitlin Muir

 

Your Author Platform

Want To Grow Your Audience? Understand What They Read and WHY They Read It by Dan Blank

How Can Readers Help Authors? by Nancy J. Cohen

How To Research Your Market Online by Cory Huff (see what other writers are doing and emulate the best practices IF they suit you)

The Internet and Discoverability by Jen Talty

Book Promotion: Where Is The Line? by Karen Woodward

How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do by Karen Woodward

Self-Publishing Tips For First Time Writers by Karen Woodward

6 Things Readers Want From Your Author Website by Thomas Umstattd

Websites 101: What the Unpublished Author Needs by Jeannie Ruesch

Websites 101: What the Newly Published Author Needs by Jeannie Ruesch

Why Use Premium WordPress Theme Instead of a Free One? by Laura Pepper Wu

9 Clever Ways To Kickstart Stagnant Email Conversion Rates, Without Annoying Your Readers by Gregory Ciotti

How To Write Back Blurb For Your Book by Joanna Penn

Tips For Writing Back Cover Copy by Roz Morris

5 Tips For Writing a Compelling Book Blurb by Amy Wilkins

Book Trailer Resources by Jeannie Ruesch (links to stock photos, audio & video sites)

Do Blog Tours Work and How Do You Set One Up by Michelle Isenhoff

How To Gift Ebooks by D.D. Scott

5 Places Indie Authors Can Get Their Books Reviewed by Chris Robley

 

Self Publishing: eBook Formatting & Cover Design

Smashwords Style Guide (PDF)

A New and Improved, Even Easier Way To Format Your eBook by Catherine Ryan Howard

How To Format an eBook Starting With Microsoft Word by Lori Devoti

Free Word To Kindle Conversion Through Amazon DTP (Foner Books)

Ruth Harris Reports: Covers & Cover Designers – Part 1

Ruth Harris Reports: Covers & Cover Designers – Part 2

Ruth Harris Reports: Covers & Cover Designers – Part 3 (how to choose a designer & how much a cover costs)

How To Design a Book Cover If You’re Not a Designer by Masha du Toit

Worth a Thousand Words: Book Cover Design 101 by Nancy Brauer

The Scent of a Kitten: The 20 Irrefutable Theories of Book Cover Design by Jen Bowden

Design 101: How a Book Cover Gets Made by Isaan Stewart & Stacy Whitman

Judge a Book by It’s Cover: Interview with Larry Rostant by Mike Shackle

 

Blogging

8 Tips For Blogging Success by Karen Woodward

Evergreen Content: Why Articles for Experts Are Hurting Your Blog by Ramsay at BlogTyrant

Why You Shouldn’t Read Blogs by Ramsay at Blog Tyrant

Your Unique Selling Proposition: Why It Matters, and How to Find One That Really Works by Gregory Ciotti

How To Get 40 000 Readers Without Guest Posting by Gregory Ciotti

How To Create Reader Profiles/Personas To Inspire and Inform Your Blogging by Darren Rowse

10 Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Started Blogging by Johanna Castro

The Spell It Out Technique: 5 Critical Moments To Educate Your Readers by Ramsay at Blog Tyrant

Let Me Show You Inside a Secret Blogging Alliance by Darren Rowse

How To Start a Blogging Alliance by Tina Gray (if you don’t yet know what #MyWANA is, you want to be a part of it. It’s the best community I have ever had the honor of belonging to.)

Blogging Strategy 101: Ten Things to Do After Installing WordPress by Yeremi Akpan

13 Ways To Make Idea Generation a Daily Habit by Kerry Jones

32 Most Popular Blog Post Ideas (The Blog Stylist)

How To Use Headline Swipe Files To Grow Your Blog by Yeremi Akpan

What Every Blogger Should Know About Headlines by Adam Hayes

Why Your Post Style and Structure Are Killing Your Blog by Ramsay at Blog Tyrant

Rapid Blog Post Writing: A Step By Step Strategy by Yeremi Akpan

How To Score a Guest Post With These 6 Influential Blogger Types (Blue Glass)

12 of the Best About Pages on the Internet by Ramsay at Blog Tyrant

WordPress Plugin: Pretty Pinterest Pins by Jeannie Ruesch

The Blogger’s Guide to YouTube: How To Dominate Your Niche With Your Video Content by Gregory Ciotti

 

Social Media

How To Track Social Media Traffic With Google Analytics by Eugen Oprea

25 Things Writers Should Know About Social Media by Chuck Wendig

Top 5 Creepy Social Media Marketing Tactics by Kristen Lamb

Dawn of the WriterBots by Veronica Sicoe (Cautionary tale of using Triberr the wrong way)

26 Things To Share On Twitter by Debbie Hemley

4 Excellent Examples of Successful Twitter Contests by Aaron Lee

The Bro’s Guide To Pinterest by Ryan Sammy (do your Pinterest boards appeal to dudes?)

5 Ways Writers Can Get The Most Out of Goodreads by Patrick Brown

 

Collected Wisdom

Blog Treasures by Gene Lempp

Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig

Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas

Fill-Me-In Friday by Roni Loren

 

Deep Stuff

Are You Starring In Your Own Life by Jenny Hansen

The Lucifer Effect: Why Good People Turn Evil by Elaine Aron

Inspired Relationships by Steve Pavlina (it’s easy to be around you when you expect nothing from the others)

“Am I Happier Single?” Learning To Love and Hyper-Sensivity by August McLaughlin

After reading August’s post, if you feel like you or someone you know might be hyper-sensitive, I really recommend checking out Dr. Elaine Aron’s website.

What Successful People Do With the First Hour of Their Work Day by Kevin Purdy

Goals Into Habits by Steve Pavlina

How To Maintain Not Quite Daily Habits by Steve Pavlina

Why Procrastination Is Good For You

Beat Procrastination (MindTools)

Networking Tips for Introverts by Penelope Trunk

The Moomins – Books Full of Introverts (MoominLight)

Culture Shock: When an Aussie Moved To US by Kate Paulik

Teenage Heroes & Teenage Hubris (Breakfast With Pandora)

Raising Expecations Pretty Woman Style by Lisa Hall-Wilson

(What would be your writer outfit? What kind of a dress would make you feel like a total pro who can crank out page after page?)

 

Fun Stuff

The Publishing Process in GIF Form by Nathan Bransford

Make Me Laugh by Lisa Hall-Wilson

21 Tools To Unlock Your Creative Inspiration by Amanda Milligan

Writers Say the Darnedest Things by Colin Falconer

Ladies and Their Knights and other gorgeous Pinterest boards by Shelly Fifer

A Prayer For Each Myers-Briggs Type (The Thinker Blog)

Me Tarzan, You Jane. An excerpt from the book telling the story from Jane’s perspective. (Tor.com)

Top 20 Best Fantasy Books of 2011 (The Ranting Dragon)

Top 20 Fairytale Retellings: An Introduction to the Genre (The Ranting Dragon)

Link Feast For Writers, vol. 17

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.

 

“Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing.”

– Melinda Haynes

 

If You Have Time For Just One Thing

TED Talk: Changing Education Paradigms by Ken Robinson (Video, 11:41 min. Worth every minute.)

 

On Writing

Why Do You Want To Be A Writer? by David Morrell

50 Things I Learned At ThrillerFest by Joanna Penn

The Truth About Where I Get My Ideas by Diane Chamberlain

Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Susan Dennard

29 Plot Templates by Darcy Pattison

9 Ways To Plot by Darcy Pattison

The Evil Overlord Devises A Plot by Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Making Your Main Characters & Sidekicks Both Cool by Lee Child

The Elements of Awe – Part 1 by Donald Maass

The Elements of Awe – Part 2 by Donald Maass

On Writing Diversity by S. Jae-Jones

10 Signs of a McOpening Line by Lynn Viehl

How To Hook Readers With The First Chapter by Beth Reves

17 Tips For Starting A Story by Margo Berendsen

Indegrients of a Price-Winning Middle Grade Novel by Margo Berendsen

The Moment That Makes Or Breaks Your Story by Larry Brooks

Put Your Reader In Your PoV Character’s Skin by Margie Lawson

How To Make Your Setting A Character In Your Dystopian Novel by Beth Reves

Creativity Under Pressure by August McLaughlin

Writing Book Series – Part 1 by Alexandra Sokoloff

Project: Write Faster – Early Results by Holly Black (see how it goes for several published writers)

How A Pantser Can Write Faster by Beth Revis

Is Your Writing Any Good? Here Are 7 Ways You Can Tell by Ali Luke

Yet More About Book Reviews by Ilona Andrews

Ruth Harris Reports: Editors & Editing – Part 1

Beginner’s Guide To Hiring a Freelance Editor by Cassandra Marshall

5 Lessons About Writing I Learned From Fighting by Andrew Jack

50 Inspiring Writing Quotes by Cheryl Craigie

How Shakespeare Turned Olde Crappe Into a Masterpiece by Colin Falconer

What Traditional Publishers Offer – And What They Don’t by Elizabeth Spann Craig

The Business Rusch: Deal Breakers 2012 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (if you contemplate a traditional publishing deal, this is a must read)

5 Ways To Keep Your Writing Submissions Organized by Krissy Brady

Recommended Book For Creatives: Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield by Joanna Penn

 

Your Author Platform

Elements of a Personal Brand by Chris Brogan

The Madness Of Marketing by Alexandra Sokoloff

Is Platform Saturated? by Dan Blank

Don’t Be a Tourist In Your Community Of Readers by Dan Blank

5 Emotional Stages of a Book Launch by Roni Loren

How To Get Massive Publicity For Your Book Without Spending A Cent by Jonathan Gunson

How I Spend My Advertising Dollars by Theresa Ragan

5 Lessons From A Book Tour Newbie by Suzanne Johnson

Video Marketing Tip: Overcome Camera Shyness by Jackie Lee (3:23 min video)

How To Cross Sell eBooks (video interview with Ami Greko from Kobo Books, 1:59 min)

A Few Self-Publishing Thoughts and Discoveries by Elizabeth Spann Craig

2 Years Of Indie ePublishing Lessons by D.D. Scott

List of Review Blogs for Self-Published Writers

 

Blogging

WordPress Tutorial: Feedburner Subscribe by Email by Michelle Scaeffer (2:41 min video)

(MUST SEE if your blog doesn’t have email subscription yet. I finally got mine set up thanks to this tutorial)

Bloggers Beware: You Can Get Sued For Using Pics In Your Blog by Roni Loren

A Photo Sharing Community For Writers by Roni Loren

7 Free And Legal Places To Find Photos For Your Blog by Melinda VanLone

7 Key Things You Need For Your Blog by Nick Thacker

Write Epic Shit by Corbett Barr

Before Gremlins Attack: Keep Your WordPress Blog Safe by Michelle Shaeffer

Social Media Power Secret: Listening by Chris Brogan (he’s following what people say about him, you can do that and follow mentions of your genre or topics relevant to your books)

How To Create Pen Portraits & Understand Your Audience Better by Chris Garrett

Grab Blog Traffic Like A Pirate by Michelle Schaeffer

10 Ways To Blog Better & Faster by Michelle Schaeffer

20 Blogging Projects For You by Chris Brogan

7 Successful Blog Post Types (Pushing Social)

A Potential Mother Lode Of Blog Content by Michelle Schaeffer

How To Spice Up Your Blog With Interviews by Caleb Wojcik

11 Ways To Write An Irrestistible Intro To Your Blog Post by Mary Jaksch

Are You Rewarding Your Blog Commenters? by Michelle Schaeffer

5 Tips To Make Your Blog Posts More Social by Andrew K Kirk

How To Add Your Blog To Networked Blogs by Michelle Schaeffer

Using Google Reader To Organize The Blogs You Follow by Rachael Harrie

 

Social Media

Social Media Posts I Haven’t Written by Jay Dolan (wonderfully snarky)

Has the Phrase “Thank You” Lost Value To Consumers and Fans? (Social Tech Zone)

How To Get More Likes, Comments & Shares In Facebook by Don Lafferty

How To Increase Blog Comments Via #CommentHour (Social Tech Zone)

19 Ways To Grow Your Twitter Following by Karen Woodward

If You Think Twitter Is Boring, You Are Following Boring People by Shea Bennett

4 Ways To Improve Your Google+ Engagement by Mike Stenger

I’ll Quote You On That… On Goodreads by Tamara Ward

 

Collected Wisdom

Blog Treasures by Gene Lempp (July 28)

Twitterific by Elizabeth Spann Craig (July 29)

Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas (July 27)

 

Deep Stuff

60 Tiny Love Stories To Make You Smile

How Gluten Free Eating Changed My Life and Banished My Migraines by Jenny Hansen

Are You Brave Enough To Take Responsibility For Your Actions by Marcy Kennedy

The Culture of Immediacy by Lynn Viehl

Make a Plan For Summer Reading by Penelope Trunk

There Is Light In Every Dark YA Book by Beth Revis

 

Fun Stuff

5 Possible Reasons Why The Hobbit Is Spilling Over Into A Third Movie (tor.com)

15 My Little Pony Mashups by Miss Cellania

Great Recent Fantasy Books by Shaun Farrell (I hadn’t heard a word of these and bought 3 books from the list instantly)

Facebook Wants Your Delicious Organs by Jay Dolan

The Birth of a Book (2 min long video)

Beatrice of Provence: “A Greater Queen Than Your Sisters” by Sherry Jones

17 Famous Literary Characters Almost Named Something Else by Stacy Conradt

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