Link Feast For Writers, vol. 48

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.

And tune in for the next Link Feast, coming out in two weeks.

 

If You Have Time For Only One Thing

What’s Your Excuse For Not Writing? by Monica Bhide

 

On Writing

What Are the Odds of Success? … Really? by Kristen Lamb

Dare To Suck (great video, 3:56 min) by Jenny Hansen

Getting Organized by Karen Woodward

Creative People Say No by Kevin Ashton

Don’t Talk About It – Drive the Flaw to the Surface for Great Fiction by Kristen Lamb

How to Push Your Character to Their Limits by David Corbett

Does Your Novel Have Too Many Characters? by Janice Hardy

Genre Structure, Part 2: Thriller, Conspiracy and Action by Matt Bird

Specific Genre Structures, Part 3: Horror by Matt Bird

Specific Genre Structures, Part 4: Drama and Tragedy by Matt Bird

The 7 Basic Plots: Voyage and Return by Liz Bureman

How Convenient – Plot Contrivance by Elizabeth S. Craig

How to Build a Scene: Do You Have Surface Conflict and a Suppressed Conflict? by Matt Bird

A Psychological Self-Help Tool For Fiction Writers by Joseph Burgo

Hooks, Lines – And Sinkers by Shannon Donnelly

WriterStrong: Getting Fresh Emotion on the Page by Laura Drake

What’s the Visual? Adding Power to Your Writing by Margie Lawson

Three Great Tips From An Old Crime Writer by John Yeoman

Revision Tips by Angie Smibert

Writing a Book: What Happens After the First Draft by Joanna Penn

Ask Jami: Can This Story Be Saved? by Jami Gold

5 Ways to Find the Right Freelance Editor by Stacy Ennis

What Should We Expect From a Freelancer Editor? (A Timely Debate) by Therese Walsh

How to Serve and Swallow Criticism by Kristan Hoffman

7 Ways to Write a Stand Alone Book With Series Potential by Kurtis Scaletta

10 Things to Remember About Sequels by Janice Hardy

Three Ways Serials Can Improve Your Writing by Susan Kaye Quinn

4 Tips For Beta Reading In Other Genres by Jami Gold

Seven Ideas For Crafting Creative Book Reviews by Jody Hedlund

 

Book Marketing

The Business Rusch: Word of Mouth by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Entropy Is Real and Author Careers Need Feeding Daily by Kristen Lamb

5 Reasons Relationships Are the Core of Your Author Platform by Dan Blank

Ideal Reader Excercises and Why You Should Do One (New Free Resource) by Laura Pepper Wu

A Checklist of Basic Promotion Materials For Indie Authors by Chris Robley

New Author Series: How Do You Build a Fan Base Anyway? by Lindsay Buroker

How Sue London’s First Novel Became an Amazon Success in a Couple of Weeks by Lindsay Buroker

Book Marketing Tips For Fiction And Non-Fiction Authors by Joanna Penn (17:41 min video)

Marketing Sweat Equity in Book Publishing by Susan Kaye Quinn

How to Write a Back Blurb For Your Book by Joanna Penn (5:02 min video)

Selling Your Book – Hook, Line and Sinker by Susan Kaye Quinn

Street Teams: Why You Need One and How to Create One by Steena Holmes

How to Launch a Bestselling Book by Michael Hyatt

If You Write Two Different Kind of Books, Do You Need Two Different Websites? by Liz Higgs

Lessons Learned Froma a Magazine Launch – Use Them In Your Book Promotions by Laura Pepper Wu

Does This Bio Make Me Look Fat? 8 Tips For Enchanting Your Author Bio by Laura Pepper Wu

 

(Self-)Publishing

The Secret Way to Find a Literary Agent by John Yeoman

Mark Coker, Founder of Smashwords, Shares Survey Results: 5 Ways To Sell More eBooks by Karen Woodward

Lets Get Visible: Cracking The Amazon Algorithms With David Gaughran by Joanna Penn

Why I’m Totally Okay With Giving My Book Away Free by Dana Sitar

The Business Rusch: Shifting Sands by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Amazon’s New Scifi, Fantasy and Romance Sub-Categories by India Drummond

eBook Pricing Strategies: Pulsing and Pacing by D.D. Scott

Amazon Fan Fiction Model: Is It a Good Idea? by Jami Gold

 

Blogging

Why You Should Blog to Build Your Writing Career by Justine Musk

How to Create a Blog Purpose Statement in 3 Simple Steps by Darren Rowse

7 Questions to Ask Yourself to Bring Clarity to Your Blogging by Darren Rowse

On Hamburgers and Hooks: How to Effortlessly FIND (Not Write) Your Compelling First Line by Kelly Diels-Rostant

How to Write Your Best Post Ever, Part 2: Writing by Vinita Zutshi

Pixabay – A great blog photo source (free to use quality photos)

3 Things I’ve Learned From Blogging Every Day For a Year by Karen Woodward

Author Blogging 101: Blog Analytics by Joel Friedlander

Adding Google Analytics Tracking Code to WordPress by Joel Friedlander

Direct Marketing, Scottsdale Arizona, and Why a $10 Ebook Can Change Your Life by Joel Friedland (Turn your most popular blog posts into eBooks)

 

Social Media

Finding Your Authentic Social Media Voice by Abby Kerr

Get the Most Out of Facebook in the Least Amount of Time: A 10 Tip Guide by Anne Chaconas

The Ultimate Guide To Goodreads For Authors by Joanna Penn

29 Tips From the Top Google Plus Geeks by Ramsay at Blog Tyrant

Pinterested Explained By Someone Who Doesn’t Get It by Drew Hoolhorst

 

Collected Wisdom

Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig

Monday Must Reads by Yesenia Vargas

 

Deep Stuff

Personal Growth: The Right – And Wrong – Way to Share It With Others by Marie Forleo

We Have Always Fought: Challenging the ‘Women, Cattle and Slaves’ Narrative by Kameron Hurley

Living In Dystopia by Eugene Myers

Why Superheroes Are an Awesome Allegory For Real Teen Life by Leigh Anne Kopans

 

Fun Stuff

Relationships: The Male vs. Female Perspective In Under 2 Minutes by Jenny Hansen

Shall We Begin? Star Trek Into Darkness Spoiler Review by Keith DeCandido

Nitpicks and Not Being a Know-It-All: Talking To Your Friends About the Game of Thrones (When They Haven’t Read the Books) by Bridget McGovern

Who Actually Deserves to Win the Game of Thrones by Chris Lough

Nebula Award 2012 Winners

News Events I Shouldn’t Laugh At (But Do) — Michael Douglas, By The Tweets… by Jenny Hansen

If Margaret Mitchell Submitted Gone With the Wind Today by Leigh Michaels

A Day Made of Glass (5:29 min video with cool futuristic tech)

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 🙂

 

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 “Sexy” Synopsis by Shannon Donnelly

 

Concept

Good to Great: Nail a Better Concept to Empower Your Story by Larry Brooks

“Side Effects” (Deconstruction 1) – The True Concept by Larry Brooks

“Side Effects” (Deconstruction #2) – 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-Foolin’ 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 “Read” 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)

Amazon’s 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

Here’s the Problem With Book Publishers’ 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 Don’t 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 Doesn’t 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

It’s Not You Facebook, It’s Me — Okay, It’s 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