blogging for writers Archives - Reetta Raitanen's Blog

Link Feast For Writers, vol. 50

Writing blogs are a great way to learn about writing and marketing our books. Here are some of the best links I’ve found in the past weeks. Enjoy!
If You Have Time For Only One Thing

How to Get a Book Published: A Step-by-Step Guide by Anne R. Allen

On Writing

10 Ways for an ADD Writer to be OOH! SHINY!…Productive by Kristen Lamb

Career Lessons From Susan Boyle’s Success by Penelope Trunk

Daniel Day-Lewis’ 4 Tips for Writers Who Aspire to Greatness by Jon Morrow

Organization: Why Scrivener Is a Great Writing Tool by Randy Ingermansson (scroll down a bit for the good stuff)

The Three Phases of the Storytelling Process by Larry Brooks

8 Promises You’re Making To Readers – And Then Breaking by K.M. Weiland

The Stuff of Legends – Creating a Character Apocalypse by Kristen Lamb

How to Base a Character On Someone Else’s by Victoria Grefer

How to Write Better Heroes and Villains: Archetypes by Victoria Lynn Schmidt

9 Tips For Creating a Great Antagonist by Debra Vega

Writers, Know Your Archetypes: The Trickster by Debra Vega

The Single Largest Cause of Writer’s Block – Might Not Be What You Believe by Kristen Lamb

It’s Not “What.” It’s “How” by Larry Brooks

A Pantser’s Guide to Beat Sheets by Jami Gold

8 Things You Need to Know About Character Arcs by Debra Vega

Pacing by Ann Voss Peterson

How to Include the Five Senses Without Falling into the Telling Trap by Marcy Kennedy

5 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Editing Experience by Cressida Downing

Most Common Mistakes: Do’s and Dont’s Of Dialects by K.M. Weiland

The Fantasy Novelist’s Exam by David J. Parker

5 1/2 Steps For Making Feedback Work For Us by Jami Gold

Book Marketing

Seeking the Perfect Book Title by Debra Vega

Book Series: Should We Include a Teaser Excerpt? by Jami Gold

Maven, Connector, or Salesperson: What’s Your Archetype? by Charlie Gilkey

Indie Life: Taking Advantage of the Impulse Purchase by Laura Pauling (why do readers buy your book?)

101 Quick Actions You Can Take Today to Build the Writer Platform of Your Dreams by Kimberley Grabas

11 Must Have Elements For Your Author Website by Kimberley Grabas

How to Launch a Book in 3 Steps by Nick Thacker

How to Market a Book and Strengthen Your Author Platform with Goodreads by Kimberley Grabas

How an Introvert Became a Promoter by Kourtney Heintz

The Introvert’s Guide to Making Great Connections by Les McKeown

(Self-)Publishing

Fearless Pitching, Part 1 by Laura Drake

Fearless Pitching, Part 2 by Laura Drake

The Business Rusch: Dreams and Bestsellers by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Does Free Still Work? by C.J. Lyons

An Interview With ‘the Sluts’ by Larry Brooks (collaboration can really pay off)

Blogging

Does Google Know Your Wrote That? by Randy Ingermansson (scroll down a bit to get to this piece of gold article)

Why Authors Should Be “Selfish” Bloggers: And How To Be One by Victoria Grefer

Fix a Mess of a Multi-Topic Blog by Natalie Webb

5 Signs You’re Having a Blog Identity Crisis and 8 Ways to Fix It by Roni Loren

8 Under-Used Blog Post Structures to Try Today – And 24 Inspiring Examples by Ali Luke

Content Marketing Zen: The 5-Step Process to Creating Remarkable Content by Gregory Ciotti

13 Blog Post Blunders You Should Avoid (And What to Do Instead) by Kimberley Grabas

8 Steps to Create Visually Appealing Blog Posts by Rebecca Belliston

Should We Use a Blog Commenting System? by Jami Gold

Social Media

Facing a Social Media Apocalypse? Sometimes We Need to Mend the Hearts We Hurt by Kristen Lamb

Social Media Strategies and Decisions by Laura Pauling

Slack, Fake and Egocentric Followers: How to Spot Them by Cate Russell-Cole

Collected Wisdom

Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig

Writing Resources by Gene Lempp

Monday Must Reads by Yesenia Vargas

Deep Stuff

Build a Small Fire and Sit Close To It by Charlie Gilkey

What’s The Best Advice Your Elders Ever Gave You? by Jenny Hansen

50+ Better Questions To Ask Than How To Be More Productive by Charlie Gilkey

Fun Stuff

10 Sources That Inspired Game of Thrones’ Dark Storytelling by Katharine Trendacosta and Charlie Jane Anders

What if The Simpsons was invaded by characters from Game of Thrones? by Meredith Woerner

All the Books Getting Turned Into Movies and TV Shows Over the Next Year by Meredith Woerner

15 Book Series To Read If You Enjoyed “The Hunger Games” by Arielle Calderon and Natalie Morin

30 Most Hilarious Auto Correct Struggles Ever by Jessica Misener

Nerd Nirvana: Top 10 Nerdiest Cities in America by Amanda Kooser

Posted by Reetta Raitanen on Aug 4, 2013 in Writer Wednesday | 1 comment

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

Posted by Reetta Raitanen on May 22, 2013 in Writer Wednesday | 3 comments

Link Feast For Writers, vol. 20

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: Next week I want the Link Feast to help you with something concrete.

Please tell me in the comments what writing/blogging/book marketing issue you’re struggling with right now, and I’ll search you some answers.

If You Have Time For Only One Thing:

What To Do When Your Loved Ones Want You To Quit by Marcy Kennedy

On Writing

ze Create and Conquer Manifesto by Mars Dorian

The Uncomfortable Pantser: When Your Method Doesn’t Fit Your Personality by Roni Loren

Jump Back Into Your Story by Elizabeth S. Craig

Core Character Values: Finding the Moral Compass by Kathy Steffen

Characterization vs. Character by Paul Anderson

Emotional Structure in Your Novel by Susan Kaye Quinn

The Bad Girls Club: Female Villains by Leigh Bardugo

Set Up Your Story in the First Paragraphs by Jodie Renner

The Killer One-Two Punch That Launches the Dramatic Tension in Your Story by Larry Brooks

Deep PoV Refresher Course with Elizabeth Staab

The Dearth-of-Epic-Endings Epidemic by Aimee L. Salter

12 Non-Negotiable Elements of Force in Writing (Daily Writing Tips)

Setting – Adding Dimension To Your Fiction by Kristen Lamb

The Advice That Helped Me Get Published by Mina Khan

Top 10 Tips of Writing I Learned From Studying J.K. Rowling by S.P. Sipal

How To Craft a Great Voice by Nathan Bransford

A Perfectionist’s Guide To Editing: 4 Stages by Jami Gold

Ask Jami: Editing Tips – How To Use Color-Coding by Jami Gold

Storyboarding For Editing by Joan Swan

Too Many “Cooks” In Our Fiction: The Lesson I Learned From Book One by August McLaughlin

How To Read Your Way to Better Writing by Susan Bearman

Fantasy Writing Prompts by L.B. Gale

What Is Paranormal Fantasy? by Becca Hamilton

How To Collaborate on a Book by Ann Aguirre

10 Great Reasons To Write Non-Fiction (Too) by August McLaughlin

What Kind of Convention/Conference Is Right For You by Jordan Hamessley London

Your Author Platform

OMG, they have cloned Chuck Wendig. His name is Mars Dorian (and he can also draw).

The 2 Step Formula To a Truly Unique Brand by Mars Dorian (The brand examples are in the end of the post. The creativity tip is solid for writing and blog post ideas)

Become the Shining Signal in a Dark Ocean of Me-Too ness by Mars Dorian

Authorpreneurship 101: Shameless Self-Promotion vs. Shameful Self-Promotion by Lindsay Buroker

Know Your Audience: Secret To Writing Books That Sell by Jan Bear

Writers Write, Successful Authors Write a Business Plan by Deborah Riley-Magnus

Author Branding by Susan Kaye Quinn

True Marketing Power For Authors: Looking in a NEW Direction by Deborah Riley-Magnus

Why Only Focusing On Your Target Audience May Hurt You by Roni Loren

Making Friends With New Markets by Deborah Riley-Magnus

Five Ways To Guard Your Brand by Roni Loren

6 Common Mistakes in Developing an Online Community by Michael Silverman

Time Managament Tips For the Marketing Author by Deborah Riley-Magnus

5 Promotion Tips For the Shy Writer by Lindsey Bell