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 đ
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 âSexyâ Synopsis by Shannon Donnelly
Concept
Good to Great: Nail a Better Concept to Empower Your Story by Larry Brooks
âSide Effectsâ (Deconstruction 1) â The True Concept by Larry Brooks
âSide Effectsâ (Deconstruction #2) â 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-Foolinâ 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 âReadâ 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)
Amazonâs 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
Hereâs the Problem With Book Publishersâ 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 Donât 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 Doesnât 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
Itâs Not You Facebook, Itâs Me â Okay, Itâs 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
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- Blogging Commandments: What Works for Me | August McLaughlin's Blog - [...] commenting and sharing; give to give. Some bloggers take such support even further. Gene Lempp and Reetta Raitanen post…
Fabulous list as always, Reetta! I always look forward to your roundups. I’ll miss them but congratulations on the new job! đ *hugs*
Jami Gold recently posted..Is Your Ebook Library a Black Hole?
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.
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?
Thanks, Jenny. I’ll pop in on Facebook for updates. And everyone else’s updates! I miss social media.
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!
Thanks, Jennette. And well said. You really know how to balance family, work, writing and blogging đ
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 đ )
Lynette M Burrows recently posted..Going to Mars, Word by Word with Man Plus
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 đ
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 đ
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. đ
August McLaughlin recently posted..#GirlBoner Quickie: 5 Fab Facts About the Big âOâ
Thank you for the encouraging words, August. I’m enjoying customer service, a shock for a total introvert. But helping people is always nice đ You’re definately doing that with your blog. I love to share your posts.