Jen's Writing Journey

Welcome to the new home of Jen's Writing Journey, the blog that chronicles Jennifer Roland's writing life and provides useful information for new and seasoned writers.

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• The Business of Writing
• Craft
• Fiction
• Freelancing
• Platform

The Business of Writing

Before You Sign That Publishing Contract
Diane Craver guests at Writers Weekly to remind us to take time to read our publisher contracts, assess the points, and decide whether the contract is really right before we sign.

It Takes All Kinds
Agent Rachelle Gardner tackles the demon of “if that book could get published, why can’t mine?” from an agent’s perspective. It is nice to know that it’s not just writers who have those thoughts, and it is nice to have an example of how to become more shall we say charitable in our thinking.

Readers Have Rights, Too
Author Courtney Milan discusses the ability to share digital books. Spurred by the New York Times article on e-book adoption, Milan looks at the level of sharing allowed with Kindle books and how that type of book sharing relates to piracy. (Hint: They are no relation.) Also read this related post on Emily Bryan’s blog.

15 Twitter Users Shaping the Future of Publishing
Here is a nice list of publishing people to follow on Twitter.

An Inspirational Story of Publishing Success: J.C. Hutchinson, Thriller Novelist
Have you heard of J.C. Hutchinson? He is one of the self-publishing to traditional publishing success stories. After countless rejections, rather than giving up, he released his book series as a podcast. Now, his books a re being released in print format. Would you take this route? Or would you move on to another story?

D Is for Digitize
Here is a compilation of information from the D Is for Digitize conference. You’ll find some interesting stuff, including video from the presentations.

Agents and the  Trust Factor
Maria Schneider discusses the different levels of the agent-author relationship and the importance of trustworthiness.

Craft

Indecision
What tool do you use for your writing? I have tried yWriter, but I keep going back to Word. DarcKnyt gives a nice roundup up the various writing-specfic software tools.

The 5W’s of Motivation
Rachel Zurakowski asks some guiding questions we can all use to keep our motivation up when we’re tired, blocked, or distracted.

Which Tense Is Best?
Agent Jessica Faust shares her thoughts on tense in writing. Is past truly the be all-end all?

Cake or Death for Writers
Mary Danielson has committed to a lot for the month of November. She has three Golden Heart entries, two of which are in need of serious polishing. But, she has a plan and a set of strategies for ensuring that she actually achieves her goals.

Fiction

Dispelling Popular Fallacy
Want a quick and dirty outline to follow for your next synopsis? Author Ann Aguirre has that.

First Chapter Misadventures
Author Rachel Vincent describes the novel openings that she later re-wrote. It is always nice to know that we aren’t the only ones who get it wrong on the first try. If you’ve read her books, you can compare her original versions to the final versions, which might be a nice exercise to help you get your first chapter into shape.

Freelancing

20 Things You Can Do today to Market Your Freelance Writing Services
Jennifer Mattern provides some great marketing tips that can help you get that next client.

Is Anyone Really Listening? Social Media Marketing
Ever wonder why you bother with blogging, tweeting, and posting on Facebook? Thursday Bram offers ideas and insight that will help you ensure that your social media isn’t time wasted.

Are You a Snotty Artist?
James, at Men with Pens, responds to the ever-present debate over freelance rates. He takes issue with the people who say that those who work for and those who offer low rates are devaluing the work we all do. It is tough. We all need to make a living, and I am a firm believer in refusing to work for rates that won’t allow me to do so. But I also accept that people do what they need to do to get buy. If a content mill is providing the pay and experience you need, who am I to judge you? If your budget wouldn’t allow you to hire me, should I call you out as an evil carpetbagger? Where do you fall on the issue?

Platform

The First 5 (Simple) Steps for Growing Readership on Your Blog
A lot of writers blog, but not all of us are effectively using our blogs to build our platform. Jane Friedman gives some great introductory tips to help you bring more readers in so they can find out just how much you have to offer.

Throwing the Baby Out: Or Why Social Networking Is Important and How to Keep It from Taking over Your Life
Writer Eliza discusses the right way to use social networking tools to build your online community. She also provides some great time management tips to keep from wasting an entire weekend tweeting. (Don’t think it can be done? It can. Believe me.)

Related Posts

• Book Review: Novel Shortcuts by Laura Whitcomb Young adult author Laura Whitcomb shares techniques that will help even the most seasoned wordsmiths write better and faster....
• Writing Roundup, December 11 The Business of Writing Craft Fiction Freelancing Platform The Business of Writing Should Publishers Delay E-book Releases? This was big story this week, as publishers reported that they would try to save paper publishing by delaying important e-book releases. Agent Nathan Bransford explains the flaws in the logic and......
• Writing Roundup, August 28 Lots of good stuff out there as we look toward the fall. The Business of Writing How a Book Gets Published Agent Nathan Bransford gives a great, easy-to-follow description of how a book goes from finished clean copy on the author's desk to a shiny new book on the shelves.......
• Writing Roundup, December 18 The Business of Writing Craft Fiction Freelancing Platform The Business of Writing Digital ARCs Make Progress Novelist L.J. Sellers looks at the move toward digital review copies. How will that affect writers. Backlist Title Dilemma How should authors deal with their less than stellar backlist releases? Shrug and hope......
• Writing Roundup, September 4 Public Service Message: If you are affected by the Google Books settlement and you want to opt out, today is the deadline. Here is the link to opt out. The Business of Writing Books: The Big Story Is Consolidation This Financial Times article argues for further consolidation of book publishers......

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