Style, Star Trek, and Demons...

Neil Gaiman NOT Tim Burton

Every once in a while I like to go over the favorites on my Twitter account because often I've opted to star more than just Grumpy Cat pics and retweets of stuff Jimmy Falon says. 

Usually I have set aside links to wonderful advice from fellow writers, agents, even other industries...all with the intention of somehow using it to make me a better writer, marketer, editor...

So since I am going on four days straight of nonstop writing and am a bit fried at the moment...I thought I'd see what I've starred and pass on any blogs, articles, or videos I found particularly helpful.

We all know this is just procrastination on my part...but bear with me. There's some good stuff in here.

For one, the most recent, is a post by Agent Rachelle Gardner on How to Create a Style Sheet for Your Manuscript.  I've done this for the past few books and I cannot tell you how helpful it is!

Here is a Tweet from J. Leigh Bailey in which she extols the virtue of The Star Trek Way to Avoid Saggy Middles. The blog is Tara Lain, and is on a restricted setting, but the article itself is actually spot on. If you're having a problem with  floundering mid-story chapters then give this one a read.

Kristen Lamb, of course, always has great writing advice and her post about Driving the Demons to the Surface is amazing. Its all about torturing your characters and bringing about motivations and core personality via action not telling. This is a MUST READ...I'm serious. Go there now.

Rachel Thompson over at @badredheadmedia posted a link to Galley Cat's article on Free Sites to Promote Your eBook.  Its a great list of sites and strategies for all authors, from brick and mortar to
indy digital.  Take a look.

There are of course thousands of other posts out there to help you no matter what season of writing you are in. From concept to cover reveal, research to revisions...

Hope these links help. Now GO WRITE!

Marketing *Gulp* and the Writer

I used to think that getting a publishing contract was the finish line. The publishing house takes care of the rest, right? According to many writers and agents out there this is wrong…so, so wrong.

So when I think about marketing my *fingers crossed* future books I try not to get too overwhelmed. There are a lot of agent and editor blogs out there that have wonderful ideas for marketing your book once you get published. Instead of lamenting the fact that I don’t have use for them yet…I collect them, categorize them, pysch myself up with the idea of me doing them. In that vein, I thought I'd share a bit of my insanity with you all today.

Chip Macgregor wrote a great article called The Hidden Cost of Social Networking. In it, he explains that Facebook and Blogging are all well and good, but if they don’t create book sales then you’re wasting your time. Web presence is nice, but there is much more work that a writer must do. There are some great suggestions you can, and are expected to do, yourself.

• First you need to educate yourself. Read a marketing book and come up with a plan you intend to implement. This is really great when talking to agents at conferences. It shows you are serious about the business side of publishing.

• Pitch yourself to local radio stations and give them segment ideas. Does your story revolve around a current controversy, event, or breaking news?

• Regional magazines often do reviews of local authors, offer them an incentive like a signed copy for a contest.

• If you’re having a book signing, call not only the local papers, but the free community readers. Print up inserts for bulletins and bookmarks for libraries, coffee shops, and other venues willing to promote book signings by a local.

• Online community calendars sell advertisement space, and you can put in your book signing date and a link to your book website.

• Go and physically visit your local book stores. Get to know the owners or managers and let them know that not only is your book coming out, but you’d love to come in and sign some.

• Create press releases and send them to local events, like Renaissance Faires, Comic book conventions, etc…anything that includes people that are into your genre.

• Go to conferences and build relationships; this is a key item on any writer’s marketing list.

• Promote your book on Goodreads.com. It offers an amazing opportunity not only for unpublished authors to set up a profile page, but for published authors to set up links to their website, upload signing events, do giveaways, and even book trailers.

Writing the novel isn't the end of the journey, but the good news is that there are a lot of ideas and strategies that we can use to make sure all our hard work ends in sales success.  Do you have any ideas to share? How have you prepared for your own success story?

Until next time...Go Write!

Photograph by David Boyle. Photgraph by A. Germain. Photograph by rintakumpu.