Link Feast For Writers, vol. 23
Ahoy me matey! Merry Talk Like a Pirate Day to ye. Here is me finest link booty. Dig in.
(Avast! The Myers-Briggs blog series be continuing this Friday with ENFP type)
If You Have Time For Only One Thing:
Discovering and Building Your Writing Strenghts by Jenny Hansen
“The easiest thing to do on earth is not write.” (William Goldman)
On Writing
10 Writing Tips That Can Help Anyone by Janet Fitch
3 Writer’s Commandments and Avoiding the Dreaded “S” Word by Jenny Hansen
How To Be a Writer: 201 Short, Compelling Tips by Mary Jaksch
5 Muse Abusers: How To Protect Your Creative Flow by Roni Loren
Novel Structure: James Scott Bell’s LOCK System by Linda Gray
The Business of Character Engagement by Jenny Hansen
Character Questionnaire: How Would Your Character Handle These Situations? by B. McKenzie
Black Swan: The Trick To Inner and Outer Demons by Kristen Lamb
Realistic Love Interests by Sarah LaPolla
Red Flags For Female Characters Written by Men by B. McKenzie
Your Plot Moves Too Slowly: 5 Tips to Help Improve Your Story’s Pacing by Kara Lennox
13 Ways To Write With Urgency by Chad R. Allen
Dig Deep For NYT Writing by Margie Lawson (Note: the contest deadline is over)
Tighten Your Subplots by Veronica Sicoe
A Writing Taboo: Never Begin Your Story With Weather by Karen Woodward
Subtext Matters: Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory by Rachel Funk Heller
Dialogue Preliminaries by James Alan Gardner (Avenger characters are used as an example)
Immersion Masterclass With Margie Lawson – Part 1 by Melinda Collins
Immersion Masterclass With Margie Lawson – Part 2 by Melinda Collins
Fantasy Influences: Ancient Greek Mythology – Part 2 by Victoria Hooper
Playing To Expectations by Sarah Hoyt
Make Or Break Verbs by Constance Hale
How To Meet Your Writing Deadlines (Every Time) by Krissy Brady
Finding the Best Place To Write by Kathy Steffen
How Do You Know If You’ve “Made It” As a Writer by Krissy Brady
Writer’s Conferences: Are They Still Relevant In the E-Age? by Anne R. Allen
How Many Books Are Going To Be Published In 2012 (Prepare For a Shock) by Pat Bertram
Personalized Writer’s Knowledge Base by Elizabeth S. Craig
(What ever writing information you’re looking for, WKB has it. Next time don’t Google it but WKB it.)
Your Author Platform
Lyla Sinclair’s 8 Secrets of Successful Romance Writing by Karen Woodward (works for authors of all genres)
3 Steps To Creating You Own Writing Luck by Suzannah Windsor
Writing Hero: Gene Lempp by Angela Ackerman
(So, how did Gene became a writing hero? The secret is being unique and giving his blog readers something they really value)
The Write It Forward Author Branding Plan by Jen Talty
Author Branding Plan: The Creed by Jen Talty
Author Branding Plan: The Icon by Jen Talty
How To Write an Author Bio When You Don’t Feel Like An Author… Yet by Anne R. Allen
How To Get Your Avatar To Show Up Everywhere With Gravatar by Thomas Umtstaddt
Email Marketing Primer by Tivi Jones
Metadata & Keywords: Under the Radar Marketing by Jen Talty
Amazon’s KDP Select Program: The Power of Free by Karen Woodward
Making Amazon Forums Work For You by Lyn Horner
Blogging
How To Start a Blog Or Website – Link Resources by Amy Lynn Andrews
Is Your Website At Risk From Hackers: 8 Ways To Protect Your Blog by Marcy Kennedy
How To Decide What To Blog About: Discovering Your Niche by Amy Lynn Andrews
Becoming Organizational Genius: The Tickler File by Karen Woodward
7 Psychological Studies Reveal Secrets To Blogging Success (And I Reveal How To Implement Them) by Gregory Ciotti
The Psychology of Going Viral: 12 Proven Ways to Craft Content That Gets People Talking (About You) by Gregory Ciotti
3 Reasons Why You Should Be a Formulaic Blogger by Ali Luke
5 Link Bait Posts That Get You More Email Subscribers by Ramsay at Blog Tyrant
5 Hollywood Sequel Tricks To Turn Your Sizzling Blog Posts Intro a Series by Judy Lee Dunn
How To Stop Your Blog Bleeds by Ramsay at Blog Tyrant
Social Media
Myth Busting: Three Lies That Could Sabotage Your Writing Success by Kristen Lamb
Social Media Fitness For Authors: Happy Findings by August McLaughlin
How To Utilize an ARC Blog Contest in Pinterest (example of a board doing that)
8 Twitter Hashtags To Get And Keep You Writing by Yesenia Vargas
Feeding the Facebook Beast by Pat Bertram
Writers and Readers on Twitter and Tumblr: We Need More Criticism, Less Liking by Jacob Silverman
Collected Wisdom
Blog Treasures by Gene Lempp
Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig
Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas
Deep Stuff
Being an Introvert Is Not a Crime by Lisa Hall-Wilson
Dealing With Anger by Jenny Hansen
The Habit of Starting by Leo Baubata
15 Clutter Busting Routines For Any Family by Joshua Becker
Who Was the First Kick-Ass Heroine? by S.C. Butler
Glass Ceiling For the Blood Sucking Lawyers by Phillipa Bornikova
Fun Stuff
The 10th Annual Talk Like a Pirate Day (the main course is the Tim Curry Muppet video)
This lady has Pinned over 11 000 gorgeous pictures. Wow
The Happy Manhood Operator by August McLaughlin
Not Your Typical Myers-Briggs Personality Types (The Profiles for Villains)
How Urband Legends Work by Tom Harris
11 Insane Features of Normal Human Body by Maggie Ryan Sandford
Top 20 Steampunk Books: An Introduction to the Genre (The Ranting Dragon)
Link Feast For Writers, vol. 22
It’s Wednesday, and the perfect time to browse the best writing, book marketing and blogging links I’ve come across this week.
In last week’s comments, C.C. MacKenzie asked for advice on how to write a good blurb for your book. I have some links for you in the Author Platform category. The pitching links might also be helpful.
Marcy Kennedy was interested in learning about formatting eBooks and cover design. I created an extra category for those links.
For the next month I hope you’ll sate your link love with the excellent mashups featured in Collected Wisdom.
Instead of my regular posts, I’ll be doing a huge blog series about the Myers-Briggs personality types. The next Link Feast rolls out in 17th of October. Meanwhile, enjoy learning more about how people tick.
And this week’s links, of course.
If You Have Time For Only One Thing:
Maturity: The Difference Between the Amateur and the Professional by Kristen Lamb
(Yes, many of you have already read this great post. But read it again. It’s really worth it.)
On Writing
How To Write a Kick-Ass Outline and Get Hooked by Veronica Sicoe
The Heroine’s Journey by Jo Walton
Arena Stories & Outer Motivation by Michael Hauge
Jim Butcher’s Villain Building Tips by Karen Woodward
The Archetyphal Character (at TVTropes. Consider yourself warned. I plead innocence for the time you spend at the site 😉 )
Visceral Rules by Margie Lawson
Finding Your Novel’s Theme and Your Universal Theme by Roni Loren
Crossing Genres with Vicki Hinze
The 6 Categories of Romantic Comedy by Michael Hauge
J.R.R Tolkien – Enemy of Progress by David Brin
5 Tips on World Building From Scratch by Jordan Dane
How To Edit Your Book In 4 Stages by Mike Nappa
(*points above* Personally I disagree with editing while you’re still writing the book. It’s hard to shift back to the writer mindset again unless you are a pro with 50 books behind you, like Mr. Nappa. But the advice about reading your book out loud is brilliant.)
5 Qualities of the High Value Writer by Jenny Hansen
6 Forms of Distraction (And How To Prevent Them) by Krissy Brady
Writing Lapses: 5 Tips To Get You Back on Track by Sarah Baughman
Repetitive Work Injury Syndrome – Easing the Symptoms by Pauline Baird Jones (a book review)
Crafting Your 90-Second Pitch by Marcy Kennedy
How To Slam Dunk Your 90-Second Pitch by Debra Eve
How To Keep Your Inbox At Zero by Caitlin Muir
Your Author Platform
Want To Grow Your Audience? Understand What They Read and WHY They Read It by Dan Blank
How Can Readers Help Authors? by Nancy J. Cohen
How To Research Your Market Online by Cory Huff (see what other writers are doing and emulate the best practices IF they suit you)
The Internet and Discoverability by Jen Talty
Book Promotion: Where Is The Line? by Karen Woodward
How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do by Karen Woodward
Self-Publishing Tips For First Time Writers by Karen Woodward
6 Things Readers Want From Your Author Website by Thomas Umstattd
Websites 101: What the Unpublished Author Needs by Jeannie Ruesch
Websites 101: What the Newly Published Author Needs by Jeannie Ruesch
Why Use Premium WordPress Theme Instead of a Free One? by Laura Pepper Wu
9 Clever Ways To Kickstart Stagnant Email Conversion Rates, Without Annoying Your Readers by Gregory Ciotti
How To Write Back Blurb For Your Book by Joanna Penn
Tips For Writing Back Cover Copy by Roz Morris
5 Tips For Writing a Compelling Book Blurb by Amy Wilkins
Book Trailer Resources by Jeannie Ruesch (links to stock photos, audio & video sites)
Do Blog Tours Work and How Do You Set One Up by Michelle Isenhoff
How To Gift Ebooks by D.D. Scott
5 Places Indie Authors Can Get Their Books Reviewed by Chris Robley
Self Publishing: eBook Formatting & Cover Design
Smashwords Style Guide (PDF)
A New and Improved, Even Easier Way To Format Your eBook by Catherine Ryan Howard
How To Format an eBook Starting With Microsoft Word by Lori Devoti
Free Word To Kindle Conversion Through Amazon DTP (Foner Books)
Ruth Harris Reports: Covers & Cover Designers – Part 1
Ruth Harris Reports: Covers & Cover Designers – Part 2
Ruth Harris Reports: Covers & Cover Designers – Part 3 (how to choose a designer & how much a cover costs)
How To Design a Book Cover If You’re Not a Designer by Masha du Toit
Worth a Thousand Words: Book Cover Design 101 by Nancy Brauer
The Scent of a Kitten: The 20 Irrefutable Theories of Book Cover Design by Jen Bowden
Design 101: How a Book Cover Gets Made by Isaan Stewart & Stacy Whitman
Judge a Book by It’s Cover: Interview with Larry Rostant by Mike Shackle
Blogging
8 Tips For Blogging Success by Karen Woodward
Evergreen Content: Why Articles for Experts Are Hurting Your Blog by Ramsay at BlogTyrant
Why You Shouldn’t Read Blogs by Ramsay at Blog Tyrant
Your Unique Selling Proposition: Why It Matters, and How to Find One That Really Works by Gregory Ciotti
How To Get 40 000 Readers Without Guest Posting by Gregory Ciotti
How To Create Reader Profiles/Personas To Inspire and Inform Your Blogging by Darren Rowse
10 Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Started Blogging by Johanna Castro
The Spell It Out Technique: 5 Critical Moments To Educate Your Readers by Ramsay at Blog Tyrant
Let Me Show You Inside a Secret Blogging Alliance by Darren Rowse
How To Start a Blogging Alliance by Tina Gray (if you don’t yet know what #MyWANA is, you want to be a part of it. It’s the best community I have ever had the honor of belonging to.)
Blogging Strategy 101: Ten Things to Do After Installing WordPress by Yeremi Akpan
13 Ways To Make Idea Generation a Daily Habit by Kerry Jones
32 Most Popular Blog Post Ideas (The Blog Stylist)
How To Use Headline Swipe Files To Grow Your Blog by Yeremi Akpan
What Every Blogger Should Know About Headlines by Adam Hayes
Why Your Post Style and Structure Are Killing Your Blog by Ramsay at Blog Tyrant
Rapid Blog Post Writing: A Step By Step Strategy by Yeremi Akpan
How To Score a Guest Post With These 6 Influential Blogger Types (Blue Glass)
12 of the Best About Pages on the Internet by Ramsay at Blog Tyrant
WordPress Plugin: Pretty Pinterest Pins by Jeannie Ruesch
The Blogger’s Guide to YouTube: How To Dominate Your Niche With Your Video Content by Gregory Ciotti
Social Media
How To Track Social Media Traffic With Google Analytics by Eugen Oprea
25 Things Writers Should Know About Social Media by Chuck Wendig
Top 5 Creepy Social Media Marketing Tactics by Kristen Lamb
Dawn of the WriterBots by Veronica Sicoe (Cautionary tale of using Triberr the wrong way)
26 Things To Share On Twitter by Debbie Hemley
4 Excellent Examples of Successful Twitter Contests by Aaron Lee
The Bro’s Guide To Pinterest by Ryan Sammy (do your Pinterest boards appeal to dudes?)
5 Ways Writers Can Get The Most Out of Goodreads by Patrick Brown
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
Are You Starring In Your Own Life by Jenny Hansen
The Lucifer Effect: Why Good People Turn Evil by Elaine Aron
Inspired Relationships by Steve Pavlina (it’s easy to be around you when you expect nothing from the others)
“Am I Happier Single?” Learning To Love and Hyper-Sensivity by August McLaughlin
After reading August’s post, if you feel like you or someone you know might be hyper-sensitive, I really recommend checking out Dr. Elaine Aron’s website.
What Successful People Do With the First Hour of Their Work Day by Kevin Purdy
Goals Into Habits by Steve Pavlina
How To Maintain Not Quite Daily Habits by Steve Pavlina
Why Procrastination Is Good For You
Beat Procrastination (MindTools)
Networking Tips for Introverts by Penelope Trunk
The Moomins – Books Full of Introverts (MoominLight)
Culture Shock: When an Aussie Moved To US by Kate Paulik
Teenage Heroes & Teenage Hubris (Breakfast With Pandora)
Raising Expecations Pretty Woman Style by Lisa Hall-Wilson
(What would be your writer outfit? What kind of a dress would make you feel like a total pro who can crank out page after page?)
Fun Stuff
The Publishing Process in GIF Form by Nathan Bransford
Make Me Laugh by Lisa Hall-Wilson
21 Tools To Unlock Your Creative Inspiration by Amanda Milligan
Writers Say the Darnedest Things by Colin Falconer
Ladies and Their Knights and other gorgeous Pinterest boards by Shelly Fifer
A Prayer For Each Myers-Briggs Type (The Thinker Blog)
Me Tarzan, You Jane. An excerpt from the book telling the story from Jane’s perspective. (Tor.com)
Top 20 Best Fantasy Books of 2011 (The Ranting Dragon)
Top 20 Fairytale Retellings: An Introduction to the Genre (The Ranting Dragon)
The Fifteenth Letter – Alphabet Meme
Wten of her favorite things starting with letter B. The pretty picture on the side is the cover of her debut YA novel Shrilugh.
Myndi assigned me letter O and here are my ten O-words:
1. Orgasms
Come on, you knew this one was coming 😉 Sex is a great way of getting the endorphine rush. Next comes chocolate. And besides making you feel great, supposedly you burn 144+ calories per 30 minutes of vertical tango.
2. Organic Food
You are what you eat (and read). Don’t put too much junk in your system.
3. Obscure Knowledge
I’m a fount of random tidbits of useless knowledge. By the way, did you know that every year 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens? Yeah, Trivial Pursuit is a fun game.
4. Occult
All kind of mystical things, like feng shui and tarot, really fascinate me. And of course two of my favorite book genres are urban fantasy and paranormal romance, full of magic and strange powers. When I was a teenager, me and my friends tried out the Ouija board, and in my philosophy class I gave a presentation of Wicca. Not that I practice it myself but I find it really interesting.
The symbol of wisdom and just all around cute. I can be like the Owl from Winnie the Pooh.
6. Ogling Beautiful Pictures
That’s why Pinterest and I are a social media match made in heaven. Pinning is so much fun. You get to admire and sort all those pretty images.
7. Oomph
I love this word and what it stands for. Oomph is enthusiasm, vigour and energy (synonyms: pizzaz, zing and dynamism). And it’s also sex appeal and sultriness. A winning combination.
8. Oprah Winfrey
What an inspirational woman she is. She is smart, donates generously for charity and has founded a Leadership Academy for girls in South Africa. The Oprah Effect can lift any book to a best-seller list and her bookclub has likely boosted reading more than any single thing besides Harry Potter. And maybe now Fifty Shades of Gray.
9. Oodles of Books.
Ok, I kind of cheated just so I could include books on the list 😉 But oodles is a really awesome word.
10. Optimism
My glass is always half full. If things go wrong, I immediately start thinking how to fix them instead of bemoaning my bad luck and the unfairness of it all. Life is interesting in our house since my husband tends to be a pessimist.
Those were my ten. If you want to see more letters, Coleen Patrick covered L, K.B. Owens did R and Kassandra Lamb’s choice was S.
But do tell, what words would you pick for letter O? You’re most welcome to play too. Just say you’re game in the comments and I can give you a letter.
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
Promoting Your Self-Published Book by L.J. Charles
The Billboard That Can Make or Break Your Book’s Success by Jonathan Gunson
Publishing Is Broken: We’re Drowning In Indie Books and That’s a Good Thing by David Vinjamuri
Managing Expectations For Indie Authors: Or What Did You Think Was Gonna Happen by Christopher Starr
How Indie Publishing Has Changed My Thinking by Susan Kaye Quinn
Book Review: Amazon Categories Create Best Sellers By Aggie Villanueva (by Tony Eldridge)
If Printed Books Die, Can You Still Get a Publisher by Jonathan Gunson
A great example of a consistent and fun brand: Nerdfitness.com (Level Up Your Life)
Blogging
21 Ways To Increase Your Influence Online by Dorian Mars
How To Be Interesting Online (And Snap Some Sweet-Ass Attention) by Mars Dorian
The Copyblogger “Secret” to Creating Better Content by Sonia Simone
How To Create a Writing Style That Impacts People Like a Blazing Meteor by Mars Dorian
Being Vulnerable Online Rocks by Mars Dorian
Set Up Social Media To Give You Great Post Ideas by Douglas Lim
10 Steps For Writing a Blog Post in 30 Minutes or Less by Chad Pollitt
Is It Better To Guest Post or Post To Your Own Site? (Think Traffic) Read the insightful comments.
5 Tips for Great Content Curation by Steven Rosenbaum
17 Steps To Guarantee a Successful Guest Posting Campaign by Nick Thacker
Behind an Insane Single Day 50 Guest Post Blitz: the Strategy and the Results by Adam Costa
Finding Timely Images For Topical Posts by Sarah Arrow
My Favorite WordPress Plug-ins by Michael Hyatt
Be Your Own Blog Ambassador: A 5 Step Strategy to Building a Dynamic Blog Community by Diane Bjorling
Social Media
Women Are From Pinterest, Men Are From Google+ by Fiona Menzies
How to Promote Your Blog on Twitter: 7 Tactics for More Twitter Traffic by Garin Kilpatrick
Using Twitter To Promote Your Blog by Lindsay Buroker
15 Fantastic Twitter Marketing Tactics by Garin Kilpatrick
The Unconventional Guide To Expanding Your Social Network by Dorian Mars
How To Get Twitter Followers Without Using a Mass Following Tool by Francisco Rosales
50 Innovative Ways To Get More Twitter Followers by Garin Kilpatrick
The Best Twitter Directories For Expanding Your Network by Garin Kilpatrick
Why Every Social Media Tip is Keeping You From Becoming Successful by Mars Dorian
7 Ways To Thank Someone For a ReTweet by Angie Schottmuller
More Ways To Say Thank You On Twitter by Margie Clayman
10 Reasons Your Facebook Page Is Not Taking Off by Francisco Rosales
How To Create a Facebook Page Vanity URL by Ellie Mirman
How To Build a Pinterest Following With Facebook by Melanie Duncan
Stumbling On New Readers by Anita Brady
Goodreads vs. LibraryThing by Amanda Nelson
Collected Wisdom
Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig
Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas
Fill-Me-In Friday: Best Writing Links of the Week by Roni Loren
Sunday Mash Up by Rhonda Hopkins
Deep Stuff
Minimalist Workday: 50 Strategies For Working Less by Everett Brogue
Playing To Your Strenghts by Jenny Hansen
Megamind: Is Praise More Powerful Than Criticism? by Marcy Kennedy
What Is a Good Man by Colin Falconer
Beware of the Counterfeit Man by Lisa Hall-Wilson
Why We Love To Hoard… and How You Can Overcome It by Tom Stafford
5 Ways You Don’t Realize Movies Are Controlling Your Brain by David Wong
Cover Trends in YA Fiction: Why the Obsession with an Elegant Death? by Rachel Stark
The Sweet Smell of Sex by Alessia at Kitsch-Slapped
How To Eat Healthy Without Breaking the Bank by Steve Kamb
The Beginner’s Guide to the Paleo Diet by Steve Kamb
Fun Stuff
How To Loan a Kindle Book to a Friend by Ben Patterson
Fiction Affliction: August Releases in Urban Fantasy by Suzanna Johnson
How To Read Someone’s Mind by Meredith Woerner
The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland – For a Little While by Catherynne M. Valente (short story)
In the Company of Wolves by Ash Silverlock
Who Were the Amazons by Lisa Hall-Wilson
My Name Is Hari, Mata Hari by Colin Falconer
And here’s a bonus Weird Stuff link:
Top 8 Unknown Bizarre Mental Conditions by Jeannie Campbell
Link Feast For Writers, vol. 18
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 I’ll be doing something different. The Feast is dedicated to setting/worldbuilding. It’s an area that touches many aspects of writing, like characters, plot ideas and theme)
If You Have Time For Just One Thing
Raise the Stakes by Kara Lennox
On Writing
Parenting Tips For Writers by Janet Fitch
Writer and Parent? Tips For Finding Your New Balance by John Scalzi
5 Ways Your Brain Sabotages Your Writing And What To Do About It by Kimberly Turner
How To Effectively Create More Time To Write by Krissy Brady
9 Productivity Tips For Writers by Joanna Penn
Books Like Mine by April Dávila
Write About What Makes You Angry by Alexandra Sokoloff
Evaluating Your Ideas by Jill Kemerer
Give Your Protagonist an Anomaly To Generate Interest by Bob Mayer
The Ideal Setting by Carrie Vaughn
Transition As Metaphor by Chris Rosales
Tips On Subtext – What It Really Is by Shannon Donnelly
Race in YA Lit by Sarah Ockler
Revision Checklist (PDF) by Jill Kemerer
20 Common Grammar Mistakes Almost Everyone Gets Wrong by Jon Gingerich
Naming Your Characters by Jodie Renner
In Praise of Ripening by Marcia Yudkin
7 Excellent Reasons To Enter Writing Contests by Tiffany Jansen
The Top Ten Query Mistakes by Rachelle Gardner
Query Letter Tips – Advice From Writer’s Digest’s Chuck Sambuchino by Jennifer Jensen
My Querying Journey by Lydia Kang
Your Author Platform
Your Clear Message: Get Your Potential Reader Curious Now by Beth Barany
What the Heck Is a Voice? by Abby Kerr (4 illuminating examples)
Illuminating Voices – Part 2 by Abby Kerr (8 more examples)
The Slap-Your-Head-Simple Secret for Selling More Books by Toni at Duolit
Social Media: Your Shadow Career by Porter Anderson (if you have time, read also the comments. They have good insights)
Extra Ether: Shadowy Platforms by Porter Anderson
Why Social Media Isn’t the Magic Bullet For Self-ePublished Authors by Ewan Morrison
One Page Marketing Plan – PDF (Pro Business Writer)
10 Steps To Mastering Your Book Marketing Plan by Laura Pepper Wu
How To Market a Kindle Book (a wiki post listing the steps. Pick & choose the steps that suit you)
What Is The Goal of Your Home Page? by Brad Shorr
Buzz Doesn’t Sell Books, Community Does – Interview with Penelope Trunk by Matt Gartland
7 Things You Can Do To Right Now To Improve Your Author Website by Laura Pepper Wu
Writers Can’t Do It Alone by M.K. McClintock (3 sites helping authors & readers to connect)
Measuring Your Reach by Liz Schulte
A Book Launch Is an Investment in a Long-Term Career by Cynthia Morris
7 Deadly Email List Building Mistakes by Robert Middleton
Image Desperation: The Kiss of Death For a Self-Publishing Author (Book Cover Express)
(A Rabbit-Trailed) Book Rewiew: Michael Hyatt’s Platform by Ann Lynn Andrews
Blogging
Is Blogging a Waste of Time For Writers? by April Dávila (Why do you blog?)
Should Writers Blog About Writing? Some Answers by Yesenia Vargas
How To Find Your Passion by Amy Lynn Andrews
How To Find a Unique Angle in a Crowded Niche by Amy Lynn Andrews
Charles Darwin’s 12 Rules of Blogging Survival by Tom Treanor (Pick one and do that better than anyone)
10 Questions For Planning Out a Year of Blogging by Brandon Cox
How To Organize Your Blogging Time by Amy Lynn Andrews
7 Tips For a Balanced Blogger Life (Mom Advice)
9 Keys To Blogging Success From A-List Bloggers by Joel Friedlander
What Makes Readers Lose Interest in a Blog by Amy Lynn Andrews
10 Blogging Don’ts For Writers by Yesenia Vargas
105 Author Blog Prompts (Duolit)
Copywriting Essentials From A to Z by Ali Luke
Do the Wrong Thing: The Benefits of Unconventional Headlines by Ollin Morales
Long vs. Short posts (Pushing Social)
6 Tips For Creating a Good Call To Action by Amy Lynn Andrews
How To Make Your Blog a Pinterest Magnet (Mom Advice)
6 Ways To Recycle Your Old Content by Amy Lynn Andrews
How To Optimize Twitter Sharing On Your Blog by Amy Lynn Andrews
Why I Stopped Using Feedburner To Serve My Blog Subscribers by Jane Friedman
How Does Your Site Look On Mobile Devices? by Amy Lynn Andrews
Social Media
Where Should I Focus My Time? Tips For Social Media Use by Robert Lee Brewer
The 80/20 Rule: How To Promote Your Books On Social Networking Sites by Paula Margulies
10 Ways To Get More REAL Twitter Followers by Allison at Blog World
How To Embed Tweets & Ways To Use Them by Amy Lynn Andrews
The Ultimate Guide To Facebook Marketing by Andrea Vahl
How To Get a Vanity URL For Your Facebook Fan Page by Amy Lynn Andrews
Pinterest & Copyright by Amy Lynn Andrews (6 links with advice)
Writers, Why It’s Time To Renew Your Love Affair With Pinterest by Kristen Lamb
The Ultimate List of Pinterest Tips by Amy Lynn Andrews
Collected Wisdom
Twitterific by Elizabeth Spann Craig (August 5th)
Blog Treasures by Gene Lempp (August 4th)
Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas (August 3rd)
Fill Me In Friday by Roni Loren (August 3rd)
Deep Stuff
A Story of Balls & Work Life Balance by Jenny Hansen
How To Journal: 5 Tips For Capturing Your Best Ideas by Cheryl Craigie
6 Common Diets That Cramp Creativity by August McLaughlin
The Practice of Stillness by Michael Hyatt
Talking To Children About Death by Julie Glover (thank you Jenny Hansen)
The Fat Friend by Allie Sanders (also found via Jenny Hansen)
Lets Talk Sex by C.C. MacKenzie
Ecce Orcus! An Argument For Humanizing the Orc by Mordicai Knode
Fun Stuff
Eyecandy (Aleksd has gathered a wide variety of cool Pinterest boards)
Bookshelf Porn (brilliant bookshelves)
11 Geeky Wedding & Engagement Rings by Jill Harness at Mental Floss
6 Most Accidentally Erotic Images of the 2012 Olympics by Adam Tod Brown at cracked.com
100 Best-Ever YA Novels (npr.org)
10 Instances In Which History Meets Geekery by Rebecca Pahle at The Mary Sue
5 Ridiculous Gun Myths Everyone Believes Thanks To Movies by Robert Evans at cracked.com
A Timeline of Future Events (as mentioned in sci-fi books) by Jane Hu at The Awl
Recent Comments