author platform Archives - Page 2 of 6 - Reetta Raitanen's Blog

(Note: It will likely take at least a year of dedicated work and a few books behind you to reach the lowest of these milestones. See these as long-term goals, not as something you compare yourself to when you’re just starting out)

Are Self-Published Books the New Query Letter by Erin Kern

Ruth Harris Reports: Editors and Editing Part 4

Self-Published Authors: Reach New Readers With New Genres, Story Elements and Categories by D.D. Scott

Self Publishing On the Wrong Side of the Atlantic by Catherine Ryan Howard

Book Review Blogs That Accept Self-Published Work by Karen Woodward

Who Is Reading the 99c Books? by Catherine Ryan Howard

Blogging

Should All Authors Blog? by Rachelle Gardner

How To Blog Smarter (And Get More Readers) by Shannon at Duolit

7 Blogging Tips For Authors by Chris Robley

50 Things To Blog About When You Have Writer’s Block by Caitlin Muir

How To Use Headlines To Get To “One Thought” by Sean D’Souza

56 Guest Posts and Counting: How To Keep On Top of Them All by Timo Kiander

SEO Tips & Tricks: How To Make Google Love Your Blog by Karen Woodward

How To Attribute Artwork Licensed Under the Creative Commons by Karen Woodward

Social Media

Twitter For Writers: Three Essential Types of Tweets by Ryan Casey

10 Twitter Hashtags to Get You Writing (And Keep You Writing) by Krissy Brady

3 Ways To Grow Your Email List With Twitter by Gregory Ciotti

3 Principles For Facebook Fan Pages by Jane Friedman

How To Run a Goodreads Giveaway With Maximal Results: 11 Tips by Emlyn Chand

Collected Wisdom

Blog Treasures by Gene Lempp

Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig

Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas

Deep Stuff

Why Not All Who Wander Are Lost by Debra Eve (Are you a Renaissance Soul?)

Six Clever Tricks For a Better To Do List by Ali Luke

Know Yourself by Mark McGuinness

How To Achieve Your Full Potential As a Writer by Carol Tice

The Beginner’s Guide To Unschooling by Leo Baubata

Tinsel Town’s New Favorite Trope: The Female Scientist by Emily Asher-Perrin

The Symbolism of Rabbits and Hares by Terri Windling

Fun Stuff

What Lord of the Rings Character Are You? by Marcy Kennedy

Designing From the Bones: Fruit From the World Tree by Gene Lempp

Fiction Affliction: “Genre-Benders” For October by Suzanne Johnson (such fascinating concepts)

Fiction Affliction: November Releases in Fantasy by Suzanne Johnson

10 Characters Whose Genders Were Swapped In Production by Susana Polo

The Pinterest Effect: The Economic Impact of Pinterest by Traci Davies

Playground Parents by Traci Davies

Posted by Reetta Raitanen on Oct 31, 2012 in Writer Wednesday | 7 comments

Link Feast For Writers, vol. 26

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

When Is It Time To Quit by Marcy Kennedy

On Writing

12 Tips: How To Be a Writer by Karen Woodward

The DIY Writing Career: The One Thing Holding You Back From Becoming a Successful Writer by Krissy Brady

Physical Therapy For Your Writing by Jenny Hansen

6 Proven Tips to Get Into the Write Mood by Steve Maurer

Writing As a Sculpture: Do You Build or Carve? by Jami Gold

Structure Part 6: Getting Primal & Staying Simple by Kristen Lamb

The Power of Nothing: Something Happens Where Nothing Happens by C.J. Lyons

Common Hero Archetypes by Susan Walsh

Female Archetypes and Men Who Love Them by Susan Walsh

Pre-Plot for NaNoWriMo by Martha Alderson

NaNoWriMo Prep: Campbell, Vogler, the Hero’s Journey, The Writer’s Journey and Narrative Structure Cheat Sheet by Alexandra Sokoloff

How To Learn Story Structure In Two Minutes or Less by Larry Brooks

Beat Sheat for The Hunger Games Movie by Jessica Brody

Chapter Breaks and Cliffhangers by Elizabeth S. Craig

I, Feminist by Rachel Aaron (How your ideologies affect your writing? Or should they?)

Spheres of Existance: Writing Other Experiences With Integrity by S.E. Sinkhorn

The Eternal Return of Vampire by Karin Rita Gastreich

7 Better Steps to Start Writing by The Creative Cartel at Jennings Wire (develop pre-writing rituals and stick to them)

Check Your Writing For Adverbs and Other Problem Words: MS Word Macros by Karen Woodward

12 Writer Woes and the Books to Cure Them by Roni Loren

Donald Maass on His New Book, “Writing 21st Century Fiction: High Impact Techniques for Exceptional Storytelling” (Writer Unboxed)

90 Inspiring Author Videos For Aspiring Authors

Great SF Authors Share Their Biggest Writing Setbacks and How They Triumphed by Charlie Jane Anders

Your Author Platform

Goodbye Feedburner! Hello Ownership of Our Platform by Jami Gold (Feedburner closes down on Oct 20th)

Michael Hauge’s Workshop: You’re the Hero of Your Life by Jami Gold

The 5 Keys to Pain-Free Book Promotion by Joel Friedlander

Build Your Readership by Simplifying Your Menu by Lydia Sharp

31 Book Marketing Ideas You Can Use Today by Toni at Duolit

How To Sell More Books: 10 Questions You Need To Answer Honestly If You Want To Sell More Books by Joanna Penn

How To Turn Your Author Website Into a Resource Center Your Readers Can’t Live Without by Chris Robley

J.K. Rowling’s Terrible Branding Mistake and What You Can Learn From It by Mars Dorian (Do you think that Rowling should have sticked with MG/YA books?)

A Business Plan For Self-Published Authors (Part 1) by Denise Grover Swank

A Business Plan For Self Published Authors (Part 2) by by Denise Grover Swank

How To Write a Press Release Without Tearing Your Hair Out by Natalie Hartford

Amazon Categories, Keywords and Tags, Oh My: Why Should an Author Care? by M. Louisa Locke

How To Design a Great Looking Cover by Karen Woodward

How To Add Up Your eBook Sales In a Snap by Jenny Hansen

Self-Publishing: Second Class No More by Terri Giuliano Long

Blogging

1 Trick to Secure Your WordPress Blog From Hackers by Amy Lynn Andrews

What Are You Blogging For? by Veronica Sicoe

Is Blogging a Time Suck For Writers? by Jody Hedlund

Blogging Goals (Pushing Social)

The Art of Being Interesting by Jonathan Morrow

Copyblogger’s Content Marketing Codex: 53 Best Posts by Demian Farnworth

On the Hunt for That Magical Read by Pauline Baird Jones (to review books of friends or not, and Kindle Sampling)

7 Tips on How To Get Your Guest Post Accepted by Karen Woodward

16 Effective Ways To Get People to Read and Retweet Your Content by Daniel Sharkov

Why You MUST Have Information Filters by Michelle Schaeffer

3 Simple Ways To Save Time and Keep Up With Your Favourite Blogs by Michelle Schaeffer

Social Media

Selling Our Books on Social Media: Don’t Be a Space Invader by Kristen Lamb

10 Golden Rules of Twitter by Garin Kilpatrick

15 Tactics For Going Viral on Twitter by Garin Kilpatrick

7 Ways To Integrate Facebook Into Your Author Platform by Thomas Umstattd

10 Ways To Get More Facebook Fans This Week by Thomas Umstattd

How To Schedule Posts On Your Facebook Author Timeline by Caitlin Muir

Collected Wisdom

Blog Treasures by Gene Lempp

Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig

Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas

Deep Stuff

Five Questions To Ask Ourselves To Get Ahead (Vision Nord Ouest)

Time Management Tips That’ll Work For Your Life by Penelope Trunk

Becoming More Productive by Re-engineering Your Morning Ritual by Michael Hyatt

Memory Plucking and Listening to Your Heart by Kristin Nador

The Red Shoe Effect: A Tribute by Lisa Hall-Wilson

When Words Kill: October Is the Anti-Bullying Month by Judy Dunn Lee

Men Are More Aggressive, Women More Emotional – Actually Not by Kassandra Lamb

The King or Queen of Cool by Catie Rhodes

Welcome To Gattaca by Diana Beebe

Imagine That: Three Late Bloomers Created Our Favourite Genres by Debra Eve

Fun Stuff

The Fart That Almost Altered My Destiny by Anna Lind Thomas at HaHas for HooHas (Thank you for the link, Jenny Hansen. The site is hilarious. Check it out.)

Dirty-Minded Signage… “If You Know What I Mean” by Jenny Hansen

50 People You Wish You Knew In Real Life by Dave Stopera

Secrets Revealed In Joss Whedon’s Avengers DVD Commentary by Emily Asher-Perrin

What’s New in YA? Mashups by Sue Corbett

Up From The Grave by Ellie Anne Soderstrom

A Different Take on Vampire Mythology by Denise Verrico

Posted by Reetta Raitanen on Oct 19, 2012 in Writer Wednesday | 5 comments

Link Feast For Writers, vol. 24

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.

Next week’s Feast will be a NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) special, dedicated to writing links that help you to plot your NaNo story, write it and finish it.

For those who don’t know what NaNo is, it’s a challenge to finish a 50 000 word story during the November. That means you must write at least 1,666 words per day over the 30 day period.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Will you participate NaNo this year? What challenges are you facing when plotting and writing your stories?

And then on to the links.

On Writing

Structure Part 3 – Introducing the Opposition by Kristen Lamb

Using Scrivener For Plotting by Hope Ramsay

Han Solo vs. Luke Skywalker: Who’s the Better Hero? by Tiffany Reisz

3 Ways To Create Incredible Characters by Karen Woodward

Taking Characters On a Voyage of Self-Discovery by Elizabeth S. Craig

Ax Your Cliches: Why and Whom by Margie Lawson

7 Tricks To Add Variety To Your Dialogue by Marcy Kennedy

The Sensual Writer: Sight by Lisa Lickel

What Are the Best Ways To End a Story by Christi Craig

Sometimes Stories Aren’t Yours – Writing Oppressed Classes by S.E. Sinkhorn

Revision Checklist For Compelling Characters by Kathy Steffen

How To Write Proficiently About Things You Don’t Know About by Jody Hedlund

Why Build a World When You Can Steal One by Lori Devoti

Politics, Religion, Social Media & How Great Writers Change the World by Kristen Lamb

J.K. Rowling Shows Why Muggles Obsessed With Class by Simon Hooper (themes of her new book)

J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy: We’ve Read It, Here’s What We Think by Lev Grossman

Calvinball Mythology and the Void of Meaning by Jonathan McCalmont (long, cool article about building mythologies for TV series and movies)

What Should Newbie Writers Focus On by Jami Gold

How To Avoid Distractions and Create a Career in Fiction: Interview with Holly Lisle by Joe Bunting

On Willpower, Self Discipline and Cake by Candy Gourlay

Lessons Learned From 1 Year As a Full Time Author Enterpreneur by Joanna Penn

Your Author Platform

People Want the Real You by Chris Brogan

Finding Your Novel’s Target Market: 7 Hidden Keys In Your Novel by Jan Bear

The Genre-Free Author: Looking For the Common Themes In Your Writing by Ami Hendrickson

Finding the Right Readers Using Warning Labels by Elle Casey

Wordsmithing Your Brand by Lynn Viehl

The Secret to Attracting 1000 True Fans (Pay To Exist)

7 Steps To Writing an Author Business Plan by Susan Spann

When (And How) Should You Start Marketing Your Book by Yesenia Vargas

The Simple Power of One a Day by Seth Godin

How To Prepare For a Book Launch by Jody Hedlund

35 Ways To Engage Your Book Audience in the First 90 Days (Wise Ink)

How To Create a Killer Marketing Plan For Your Book Launch by Srinivas Rao

What Is the ONE Thing You Have Done That Brought You More Readers? Advice from Indie Authors by Laura Pepper Wu

What Is the ONE Thing You Have Done That Brought You More Readers? Part 2 by Laura Pepper Wu

What Is the ONE Thing You Have Done That Brought You More Readers? Part 3 by Laura Pepper Wu

How To Get Amazon’s Top Customer Reviewers to Review Your Book by Laura Pepper Wu

Email Marketing: How To Not Be a Dirty Rotten Spammer by Sonia Simone

Link of the Week: Booksai (Muse Tracks) – a tool for finding books similar to yours

The Seasons of Publishing by Dean Wesley Smith

Choosing the Right Publishing Route For You by Talli Roland

7 Common Self-Publishing Fears and How To Banish Them by Karen Woodward

Book Marketing Tips For First Time Self-Publishers by Karen Woodward

Ruth Harris Reports: Editors & Editing – Part 3

The Key 11 Questions Every Indie Author Must Know About the Competition (Wise Ink)

Amazon KDP: The Best Long-Term Strategy by Karen Woodward

How To Make the Most of Your eBook’s Free Days / KDP Select Days by Laura Pepper Wu

Where to Promote Your KDP Free Days by Cheryl Bradshaw

Blogging

Top 10 Self-Sabotaging Mistakes of Author-Bloggers by Anne R. Allen

When Traffic Isn’t Enough. 3 Questions Every Blogger Should Ask Themselves by Chris Drucker

How To Write and Maintain a Great Blog That Helps You Sell More Books (With Blogging Hero Gretchen Rubin) by Laura Pepper Wu

7 Ways Partnerships Can Work For You by Michelle Schaeffer

(Some win-win partnerships that come to mind are Joanna Penn’s & C.J. Lyons’ writing courses, and Ruth Harris as a regular poster in Anne R. Allen’s blog)

One Time-Saving Way To Manage Your Author Blog by Yesenia Vargas

A 6-Step Process To Turn Ideas Into Blog Posts by Ali Luke

Writing Great Content: 3 Tips by Amy Lynn Andrews

The 6 Magic Words That Always Get Clicks by Caitlin Muir

Why You Need To Work Harder on Your List Posts by Ben Barden

How To Run a Blog Series and Get More Subscribers by Annabel Candy

How To Write a Strong Opinion Piece For Your Blog by John McLain

How To Win Some Blogger Love: Scoring the Book Review, Guest Post or Interview by Kristen Lamb

Social Share Buttons: Just Pick Three (Pushing Social)

Social Media

Social Media Explained With Coffee by Michelle Schaeffer

The Top 10 Social Networks for Creative People by Mark McGuinness

40+ Tips on How To Become a Social Media Rockstar on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ by Kristi Hines

Find the Right People To Follow on Twitter by Kristi Hines

Blogging Playbook: Getting More Twitter ReTweets (Pushing Social)

How To Use StumbleUpon: Your Comprehensive Guide by Kristi Hines

Pinterest For Authors by Jennifer Bray-Weber

Collected Wisdom

Blog Treasures by Gene Lempp

Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig

Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas

Fill-Me-In-Friday by Roni Loren

Bring On The Bloggy Brilliance by Jenny Hansen

Deep Stuff

The Danger of Learning Only From Succesful People (And What To Do Instead) by Dorian Mars

Is It Time to Rethink Your Routines? by Lynn Johnston (I loved her eBook Kaizen Plan For Organized Authors)

Boring Is Productive by Robert C. Pozen

The Science of Procrastination and How To Manage It by Maria Popova (2:49 min video)

The Complete Flake’s Guide to Getting Things Done by Sonia Simone

Dreading a Task? 5 Tips For Getting Yourself To Tackle It by Gretchen Rubin

5 Best Literary TED Talks (Elizabeth Gilbert’s Creativity talk is phenomenal)

50 Best Social Psychology Books on Persuasion, Influence & Understanding Your Brain by Gregory Ciotti

The Unintended Consequences of China’s One Child Policy by George Dvorsky

Fun Stuff

Beautiful Pins (40K+ gorgeous photos ranging from fantasy to humor, traveling and cheesecake)

What We Learned About the Hobbit Movies at DragonCon by Chris Lough

33 Geeky Insults You Can Use Almost Anywhere by Jason Cranford Teague

27 of the Most Insane Martial Arts Battles Ever Filmed by Cyriaque Lamar (includes video snippets)

The Most Thrilling Sci-fi and Fantasy Books Coming in September by Charlie Jane Anders

All the Science Fiction and Fantasy Books You Can’t Afford to Miss in October by Charlie Jane Anders

Announcing Pony Fest #12 by Rebecca Enzor

(Want to win a custom made My Little Pony looking like your book character? Sign up there *points up*)

The History of English in 10 hilarious minutes (11:21 min video)

Real-Life Superheroes: 10 People with Incredible Abilities (Oddee.com)

Posted by Reetta Raitanen on Oct 4, 2012 in Writer Wednesday | 13 comments

Link Feast For Writers, vol. 21 – Time Management

Welcome, welcome.

In last week’s comments I asked you to tell me what you are currently struggling with. Rhonda Hopkins was looking for the right balance to keep up with writing, blogging and social media.

Thanks for the comment, Rhonda. This week there is a whole category dedicated to time management and productivity, and some other relevant links.

Also, this Friday I’m blogging about social media and what you can do with it in just 15 minutes a day.

Another commenter, Coleen Patrick, was stuck with her story which lead her to feel disinterested. I really feel for you so I scavenged a few links to help you out, Coleen. And then there is the usual fare. Enjoy everyone!

If You Have Time For Only One Thing

Book Marketing Freebies by Duolit
– Get Your Mind Right: The 4 Rules of Successful Book Marketers (PDF)
– Market Your Book (Without Losing All Your Writing Time) (PDF)
– Who is My Target Market? (PDF)
– Find Your Best Reader Hangouts (PDF) [This is a must see]

On Writing

Pauline Fisk On Cyber Bullying: A Personal Tale

Ask a Writer: How Do I Write What the Audience Wants to Read? by Chuck Wendig

How Debut Novels Need To Be Different by Nicola Morgan

“You Just Need To Get Started” Is a Bad Idea by Cal Newport

5 Ways To Write the Right Kind of a Book For You by Karen Woodward

A Girl’s Love For Batman: The Possible Cost of Segregating Stories By Gender by Julie Wu

Character Values by Liz Fredericks

People In Your Memoir Are Characters Too by Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett (these tips work for fiction writers too)

Writing Realistic Love Relationships by Carolyn Kaufman

Showing Emotions: Boys vs. Girls by Susan Kaye Quinn

What Star Wars “New Hope” Can Teach Us About In Medias Res by Kristen Lamb

Scenes and Sequels by Lisa Hall-Wilson

Find Your Voice, Find Your Power by Robin LaFevers

Killing the Scared Cows of Publishing: Rewriting by Dean Wesley Smith

Reignite Your Passion For Writing: Interview With Julie Isaacs by Nancy Christie

4 Ways To Hack Into Your Mind and Become Infinately More Creative by Ollin Morales

Got Writer’s Block? You Just Need To Care Less by Lori Devoti

10 Steps To Deconstructing a Novel: How To Learn From Great Authors by Kathy Steffen

Heinlein’s Rules On Writing by Robert J. Sawyer

Becca Puglisi’s Favorite Teacher: Stephen King

Writing Prompts: Start With a Setting by Kathy Steffen

6 Laws For Becoming a Career Author by Shannon from Duolit

Build a Budget For Success by Lisa Jacobs

Comparable Titles by Janet Reid

Productivity & Time Management

The Writer’s Golden Hour: Making the Most of Our Time by August McLaughlin

Making the Time to Write, Blog, Do Social Media, Finish School and Be a Parent by Yesenia Vargas

Triage Your Priorities by Steve Pavlina

How To Prioritize by Steve Pavlina

The 50-30-20 Rule by Steve Pavlina

Microtasks by Steve Pavlina

33 Rules To Boost Your Productivity by Steve Pavlina

How To Create a Personal Productivity Scaffold by Steve Pavlina

Why “I Don’t Have Time” Is a Big Fat Lie by Steve Kamb

Always Dominate Mondays by Steve Kamb

How To Become a Productivity Ninja by Steve Kamb

My 2012 Plan To Stay Out of Busy-ness & In Creation by Abby Kerr (really helpful day by day schedule)

Efficient Email by Steven Pavlina

Your Author Platform

Do You Know Who Your Audience Is? No, Really: Do You? by Dan Blank

Finding Your Audience Is About Becoming More Yourself, Less Like a Marketer by Dan Blank

Discover Your Core Values and Use Them To Anchor Your Brand Story (every book has a theme, a deeper meaning and message, and so should your brand and blog)

The Value of People by Erika Napoletano

How Little Surprises Help You Blow Awayyy Your Audience and Clients by Dorian Mars

7 Reasons Why Your Marketing Isn’t Working by Cory Huff

Is Your Marketing a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing? by Jay Baer

DIY Book Marketing: 4 Things Authors Must Do Themselves by Stephanie Barko

How To Get Your Book Reviewed: A Practical Lesson by Catherine Ryan Howard

How To Build an Email List, Starting From Nothing by Jon Morrow (6:32 min video)

5 Things To Ponder Before You Self-Publish by Karen Woodward

Ruth Harris Reports: Editors and Editing (Part 2)

What Is a Book Publicist by Stephanie Barko

Blogging

What Offer Does Your Author Blog Make? by Joel Friedlander

Are You Writing Your Writing? by Abby Kerr

Why No One’s Paying Attention to You (And What to Do About it) by Mars Dorian

5 Steps To Make Your Blog Difficult To Ignore by Yeremi Akpan

How To Manipulate People For Fun (and Profit) by Derek Halpern

10 Ways To Optimize Your Blog Subscriptions by Christine Brady

17 Crazy Places To Get Jaw Dropping Headline Ideas (Pushing Social)

How To Add Impact To Your Story-Based Articles by Sean D’Souza

How To Interview Anyone: 5 Lessons From Amazing Interviewers by Rohit Bhargava

Guest Posting Genius by Annabel Candy

How To Live Blog (or Twitter) an Event Effectively by Rohit Bhargava

Why I Don’t Have a Blog Roll And Why You Shouldn’t Either by Yeremi Akpan

5 Ways To Re-Enter Your Blog When You’ve Been MIA by Abby Kerr

Social Media

Long Term Goals for Social Networking by Adam Justice

Social Networking: What Are You Getting From It As a Writer? by Cindy R. Wilson

How To Not Get Overwhelmed by Social Media Marketing by Matt Southern

Should You Preschedule Tweets? by Meghan Ward

Social Media Is a Process by Vered de Leuuw

Twitter Is a Pub by E.J. Newman

Why 150 Followers Is All You Really Need by Srinivas Rao

Promoting Your Blog With Twitter (Pushing Social)

Diary of a Social Media Hiatus: How I Did It & What I Learned by Abby Kerr

30-Day Facebook Fast (and the lessons learned) by Steve Pavlina

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

10 Incredibly Simple Things You Should Be Doing To Protect Your Privacy by Kashmir Hill at Forbes.com

10 Powerful Things To Say To Your Children by Jim Barnes (this is a book review of a book with the name of the post)
http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1513&

Living Your Values by Steve Pavlina

Using Your Values To Make Decisions by Steve Pavlina

Re-Evaluate Your Values by Steve Pavlina

30 Days To Success by Steve Pavlina

Practice Makes Permanent: A Lesson From World-Class Korean Archers

How To Go From Introvert to Extrovert by Steve Pavlina

Fun Stuff

Lea Kingsbury’s gorgeous Pinterest boards

August Horoscopes by Austin Kleon (clever)

10 Ways To Know Your GPS Is Trying To Kill You by Sarah Hoyt

Top 20 Most Anticipated Fantasy & Science Fiction Books of August 2012 (The Ranting Dragon)

Top 30 Most Anticipated Speculative Novels Coming Out in September 2012 (The Ranting Dragon)