The following five methods for brainstorming villains are most applicable if your manuscript or screenplay contains at least an element of the thriller, suspense, or horror genres. Click the title above to continue reading.
Tag: writing
How to plot a marketing education into your author goals (#IWSG Blog Hop)
How can you develop a self-guided marketing curriculum that A) is reasonable in terms of time commitment; B) involves the most relevant study material; C) teaches you enough to successfully market your books; and D) keeps you on top of marketplace changes? Click the title above to continue reading.
8 self-publishing mistakes made by new authors (#IWSG Blog Hop)
I’m a big fan of Kimberly Martin’s self-publishing advice and super pumped she agreed to guest post on my blog. Click on the title above for her list of eight self-publishing mistakes made by new authors.
5 ways to temper the preachy in your plot #AuthorToolboxBlogHop
We all have issues we care about, and anyone who tells you novels shouldn’t have agendas hasn’t read any lately. But how do we as authors plot issues into our manuscripts without coming off as preachy and one-sided? Click the title above to continue reading.
How to polish your manuscript and query an editor (#IWSG Blog Hop)
The Internet is flush with editors. So I should be able to email my favorite genre matches, and they’ll jump at the chance to work with me, right? Not necessarily. Logic dictates that editors can only take on so many projects at a time. Editor Andi Cumbo explains how to put your best foot forward. Click the title above to continue reading.
Developing your reading list: a strategy for authors (#AuthorToolboxBlogHop)
With so many book options and only so many reading hours in the day, how do we as authors narrow to the most practical reading list? The logical side of my brain needed a way to sort the options, and the result is my list of eight categories of books (and articles) we should be thinking about when determining our reading list. Click the title above to continue reading.
Writing at the intersection of originality and what sells (#IWSG Blog Hop)
For those of us at the beginning of our, traditional-publishing journey, should we be striving for novel novels or aiming instead for something at the intersection of originality and what’s already selling? Click the title above to continue reading.
#AuthorToolboxBlogHop: monthly hop for authors who want to learn more about being authors (updated 13Jan2021)
Welcome to the third year of the #AuthorToolboxBlogHop, which is a monthly blog hop on the theme of resources/learning for authors: posts related to the craft of writing, editing, querying, marketing, publishing, blogging tips for authors, reviews of author-related products, anything that an author would find helpful. Click the title above to continue reading.
2017 List of Twitter Chats for Writers (latest new chat added Sep 2018)
Here’s my list of 31 active Twitter chats. Search the list for which ones you might be interested in checking out, add a reminder to your calendar, and join in the discussions. Click the title above to continue reading.
5 successful authors discuss daily word count goals
As a first-time NaNoWriMo participant—the worldwide community of writers who subject themselves to bleeding 1,667 words a day or 50,000 words total during the month of November—I was confused about how to keep up the pace the rest of the year. And should I? I asked five successful authors to discuss their year-round strategy and was surprised by the differences and flexibility in approaches. Click the title above to continue reading.