Link Feast vol. 54
It has been a long time since the last update. The Link Feasts are back and will be a bi-weekly thing. I will post the next one on Sunday 3rd of March.
If You Have Time For Only One Thing
For the Love of the Process: 6 Questions to Hone Your Creative Workflow by Bob Mayer
How to Fall in Love with the Writing Process: 6 Questions to Hone Your Creative Workflow
And a bonus, since these questions are really useful:
Four Questions to Ask When a Character Is Clever by Oren Ashkenazi
https://mythcreants.com/blog/four-questions-to-ask-when-a-character-is-clever/
Writing
The Story That Holds You Back by Kathryn Craft
https://writersinthestormblog.com/2019/01/the-story-that-holds-you-back/
Make the Ordinary Come Alive by Kristan Hoffman
https://writerunboxed.com/2019/01/31/make-the-ordinary-come-alive/
Are You Tethered to the Wrong Story? by Harper Glenn
The Ultimate Writer Productivity Guide by Tim Grahl
https://booklaunch.com/writer-productivity/
This Handy Chart Automatically Generates a Pitch For Your Next Novel by Electric Literature
https://electricliterature.com/how-to-write-elevator-pitch-novel-publicity-infographic-a8ec74ecf7ce
The 10 Step Checklist to Writing an Above Average Novel by K.M. Weiland
Want to Improve Your Writing? Change Your Thinking by Janice Hardy
http://blog.janicehardy.com/2018/12/want-to-improve-your-writing-change.html
Putting Your Worst Foot Forward: Why You Should Play to Your Weaknesses As an Author by Charlie Jane Anders
Putting Your Worst Foot Forward: Why You Should Play to Your Weaknesses as an Author
The 10 Urges That Stories Can Satisfy by Matt Bird
http://www.secretsofstory.com/2018/12/the-ten-urges-that-stories-can-satisfy.html
What If Somebody Steals Your High Concept Book Idea? by Anne R. Allen
An Easy Tip For Tightening Your Novel’s Plot by Janice Hardy
blog.janicehardy.com/2019/01/an-easy-tip-for-tightening-your-novels.html
4 Things Every Romance Writer Needs to Know About Plot by Sarah Younger (agent)
How to Study Plot and Character by K.M. Weiland
https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-study-plot-and-character/
How Do Pantsers Develop Characters by Jami Gold
Six Reasons Why the Fire Nation Is Such a Good Villain by Oren Ashkenazi (the series in question is Avatar the Airbender)
https://mythcreants.com/blog/six-reasons-the-fire-nation-is-such-a-good-villain/
Taking Character Relationships to the Next Level by Angela Ackerman
Five Character Archetypes Who Can Steal the Hero’s Spotlight by Oren Ashkenazi
https://mythcreants.com/blog/five-archetypes-that-can-steal-the-heros-spotlight/
Five Common Romance Mistakes by Oren Ashkenazi
https://mythcreants.com/blog/five-common-romance-mistakes/
Seven Great Sources of Conflict For Romances
Removing the Creeps From Romance by Chris Winkle
https://mythcreants.com/blog/removing-the-creeps-from-romance/
Pulling Your Hero Into the Magical Realm by Chris Winkle
https://mythcreants.com/blog/pulling-your-hero-into-the-magical-realm/
All Is Lost: Four Kind of Deaths by Janice Hardy
http://blog.janicehardy.com/2019/01/all-is-lost-four-kinds-of-death-in.html
Begin From the Middle: How to Start Your Story In Medias Res by Paul Buchanan
Our Story’s Essence: What’s the Story We Want to Tell by Jami Gold
https://jamigold.com/2019/01/our-storys-essence-whats-the-story-we-want-to-tell/
How to Write Unique Themes by K.M. Weiland
https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-write-unique-themes/
Theme = Good vs. Good by Matt Bird
http://www.secretsofstory.com/2011/10/storytellers-rulebook-100-theme-good-vs.html
Great Genre Stories Must Be Metaphors by Matt Bird
http://www.secretsofstory.com/2012/01/storytellers-rulebook-119-great-genre.html
Five Dualities That Can Replace Good and Evil by Chris Winkle
https://mythcreants.com/blog/five-dualities-that-can-replace-good-and-evil/
Why Social Justice Is Intrinsic to Storytelling by Chris Winkle
https://mythcreants.com/blog/why-social-justice-is-intrinsic-to-storytelling/
5 Common Storytelling Mistakes in the Pursuit of Social Justice by Chris Winkle
https://mythcreants.com/blog/five-common-storytelling-mistakes-in-the-pursuit-of-social-justice/
6 Hugely Popular Books That Accidentally Screwed the World by Jacopo della Quercia
http://www.cracked.com/article_19135_6-hugely-popular-books-that-accidentally-screwed-world.html
How to Keep Your Book Relevant After It’s Release by Gary McPherson
From YA to YEAH: 4 Ways to Keep Teen & Young Adult Readers Hooked by Lorena Koppel
6 Pitfalls to Avoid When Writing LGBTQI+ Characters In Teen Fiction by Lisa Freeman
Firearms: Know Your Weapon! by Piper Bayard & Jay Holmes
https://writersinthestormblog.com/2018/12/firearms-know-your-weapon/
The Editor’s Clinic: The Limits of Editing by Dave King
A Novella Approach: 5 Tips For Writing Short Stories by Suleikha Snyder
https://frolic.media/a-novella-approach-five-tips-for-writing-short/
There’s a Weird, Sexist Problem in Fantasy That We Need to Talk About by Mya Nunnally (female authors’ books are being classified as YA even though their content is mature)
https://bookriot.com/2019/01/21/sexist-problem-in-fantasy/
Meet The Women Who Are Building a Better Romance Industry by Bim Adewumni (the topic is diversity)
A Harvardian in a Romancelandia by Caroline Linden
https://frolic.media/a-harvardian-in-romancelandia-what-are-the-odds-pretty-good/
The Origin of the Clinch Covers on Romance Novels by Jessica Avery (think Fabio)
https://bookriot.com/2018/12/13/clinch-covers-on-romance-novels/
15 of the Best Online Writing Communities For Authors (Reedsy.com)
https://blog.reedsy.com/writing-community/
Agents, Querying & Publishing Industry
Truths About Publishing You Can Only Learn in the Trenches by Heather Webb
Writer’s 101: Literary Agent Sarah Younger Shares Tips For New Authors by Frolic Media
Writer’s 101: Literary Agent Sarah Younger Shares Her Tips For New Authors
Writer’s 101: An Anonymous Editor Spills How To Get Your [Romance] Manuscript Picked Up by Frolic Media
https://frolic.media/writers-101-an-anonymous-editor-spills-on-how-to-get-your-manuscript-picked-up/
Choosing the Perfect Comparative Titles by Sam Brody
https://blog.reedsy.com/live/choosing-perfect-comp-titles/
Comp Titles – An Elevator Pitch for Your Book by Andrea Bachofen
http://authornews.penguinrandomhouse.com/comp-titles-an-elevator-pitch-for-your-book/
The Disastrous Decline in Author Incomes Isn’t Just Amazon’s Fault by Carrie V. Mullins
Business Musings: The Current State of Disruption (Planning For 2019, part 1) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Business Musings: Sales (Planning For 2019, part 2) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
https://kriswrites.com/2019/01/02/business-musings-sales-planning-for-2019-part-2/
Business Musings: Bookstores and Libraries (Planning For 2019, part 3) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Business Musings: Audio (Planning For 2019, part 5) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
https://kriswrites.com/2019/01/16/business-musings-audio-planning-for-2019-part-4/
Business Musings: Tidbits (Planning For 2019, part 4) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Big 5 mergers and closing of imprints and focus on diversity)
Trends in Publishing by Stephen Spatz
Wattpad Books: The Next Stage In the Platform’s Content Development by Porter Anderson
https://publishingperspectives.com/2019/01/wattpad-books-new-publishing-division-opened-canada/
The ‘Future Book’ Is Here But It’s Not What We Expected by Craig Mod
https://www.wired.com/story/future-book-is-here-but-not-what-we-expected/
Self Publishing
Traditional vs. Self-Publishing by Tim Grahl
Traditional vs Self Publishing: The Last Decision Guide You’ll Need
What a Year of Self Publishing Taught Me by Talia Hibbert
https://frolic.media/what-a-year-of-self-publishing-taught-me/
How a Writing Website [Wattpad] Changed My Life and Could Change Yours Too by Jordan Lynde
https://frolic.media/how-a-writing-site-changed-my-life/
Book Marketing
The Story About the Story: Or, How Writers Talk About Their Books by Chuck Wendig
The Story About The Story: Or, How Writers Talk About Their Books
Book Marketing Plan: The Definitive Checklist by Tim Grahl
Author Website: Examples, Templates and How to Build One by Tim Grahl
https://booklaunch.com/author-website/
Consider These 8 Marketing Tips in 2019 by Ann-Marie Nieves
How to Calendarize Your Book Marketing Approach by Dawn Reno Langley
Which Readers Would Also Read Your Books: Finding Comp Titles by Amy Alessio
Which Readers Would Also Read Your Books? Finding Comp Titles by Amy Alessio
The secret to writing emails your audience will love? Serve, don’t sell by Katie Parrott
The Connection System: Book Marketing 101 by Tim Grahl
https://booklaunch.com/connection-system/
Want Authorly Superpowers? Build a Street Team by Angela Ackerman
The Book Launch Framework: How I Keep Launching Bestselling Books by Tim Grahl
https://booklaunch.com/book-launch-bestseller/
Starting Over But Not From a Scratch: Book Marketing Insights From a Third-Career Debut Novelist by Rita Dragonette
Guest Blogging is the Best Free Publicity for Writers: 12 Tips For Landing Effective Guest Blog Spots by Anne R. Allen
https://annerallen.com/2019/01/guest-blogging-12-tips/
Putting the “Social” in Social Media by Jenny Hansen (collection of great links about the topic + tips)
Using Pinterest to Visualize Your Author Brand by Neda Dallal http://authornews.penguinrandomhouse.com/using-pinterest-to-visualize-your-author-brand/
(Pinterest is fun, I promise you. It’s a social media where you don’t actually have to be social. Perfect for introverted authors)
7 Tips To Writing Stellar (& Stress-Free) Book Reviews by Cici Ford
https://frolic.media/writing-stellar-reviews/
Deep Stuff
The curse of “busy-ness”: How to take control of your life by Stephanie Lee
https://growthlab.com/how-to-take-control-of-your-life/
5 strategies to find more time by Elizabeth Grace Saunders
My 2019 Planner and Journal Line Up by Roni Loren (Planners and making them pretty is Roni’s hobby and they also help her to be more productive – and her writing career is a proof of that)
https://roniloren.com/blog/2018/12/29/my-2019-planner-and-journal-line-up
The Read Wide Challenge 2019 by Roni Loren (Challenge yourself to step out of your comfort reading zone)
https://roniloren.com/blog/2018/12/18/the-read-wide-challenge-2019
How to Fight Your Way Out of a Reading Slump by Sumaiyya Naseem
https://frolic.media/how-to-fight-your-way-out-of-a-reading-slump/
Reading Goals: 2018 vs 2019 by Elizabeth Sagan (some great recommendations and tips on how to read more and keep a track of your reading)
https://frolic.media/reading-goals-2018-vs-2019/
Whose Story (and Country) Is This? by Rebecca Solnit
https://lithub.com/rebecca-solnit-the-myth-of-real-america-just-wont-go-away/
Into the Dark by Sharon Gormley (the Thai cave rescue heroes)
https://www.macleans.ca/thai-cave-rescue-heroes/
Learning Chess at Forty by Tom Vanderbilt (he is learning with his daughter – and she is beating him)
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/learning-chess-at-forty
A firm whose staff are all autistic by Jane Wakefield
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46538125
Tidying Up With Marie Kondo Isn’t Really a Makeover by Sarah Archer (I binged this series during the holidays. Highly recommended)
Marie Kondo and the Privilege of Clutter by Arielle Bernstein
The inside story of Bandersnatch, the weirdest Black Mirror tale yet by Matt Reynolds (this episode is a Choose Your Own Adventure thing and here’s a glimpse to how it was created)
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/bandersnatch-black-mirror-episode-explained
The Philosopher Redefining Equality (Elizabeth Anderson) by Nathan Heller (this is academic but super interesting, IMO. Maybe you’ll find it fascinating too)
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/07/the-philosopher-redefining-equality
Fun Stuff
The Evolution of Jason Momoa’s Hotness by Martin Aguilera
https://frolic.media/the-evolution-of-jason-momoas-hotness/
Is Chris Evans the Hottest Chris? There’s Mathematical Proof by Katee Robert
https://frolic.media/chris-evans-the-hottest-chris-theres-mathematical-proof/
7 Epic Fan Romance Battles by Chris Winkle
https://mythcreants.com/blog/seven-epic-fan-romance-battles/
The 5 Best Romantic Movies of All Time by Caden Armstrong
https://frolic.media/five-best-romantic-movies-of-all-time/
Trope Rec: Retellings
https://frolic.media/trope-rec-tuesday-retellings/
The Books We’re Looking Forward to in 2019 by Stubby the Rocket (Tor) (24 delicious SF books coming out this year)
https://www.tor.com/2018/12/26/the-books-were-looking-forward-to-in-2019/
All the Genre Television We’re Looking Forward to in 2019 by Stubby the Rocket (Tor)
https://www.tor.com/2018/12/27/all-the-genre-television-were-looking-forward-to-in-2019/
Nine Must-have Book Sequels For 2019 by Suleikha Snyder (plus of course the previous book(s) of the series if you haven’t read them yet)
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