Jen's Writing Journey

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

The Business of Writing

The Prosperous Writer E-Zine is Rocking It
New year, new methods. Platform guru Christina Katz has streamlined her online life and created a new electronic newsletter and blog to help her fellow writers. Add christinakatz.com to your blog reader, then visit the site to sign up for the electronic newsletter.

Literary Agents Get Personal on Agent’s Day Thread
Galley Cat talks a little about the #agentsday posts on Twitter.

Gail Carriger’s Query Letter
Agent Kristin shares the original query letter Gail Carriger submitted for her book Soulless, as well as her pitch to editors. What do you think about it? What lessons can you learn for your own queries?

A Writer’s Earnings
Writer Elle Scott discusses the idea that writer’s earn tons of money. She links to some specific author’s who have publicly reported their earnings.

Has Anyone Seen My Shotgun?
Moonrat shares a discussion about titles between an author, an editor, and a publisher. It does a good job of illuminating the relationship among all three.

Craft

Lost in Translation
Over at Pop Culture Divas, writer Morgan Karpiel shares some grocery and personal care items from Poland that U.S. consumers might find a little offputting. As we work on our stories, it is important for us to ensure that we lose as little in translation as possible, making sure the context works for the majority of our potential readers.

Tell Not Show
Elspeth Potter visits Victoria Janssen’s blog to discuss when you do need to “tell” instead of “show.” She also gives some ways to do that without being a boring exposition fairy.

Fiction

Of Avatars and Empathy
Kimberly Davis discusses the story-telling lessons to be learned form the movie Avatar.

Ask Daphne about Mary Sue
Have you heard a character described as a “Mary Sue” but aren’t quite sure what that means? Kate Schafer Testerman provides a good description.

Freelancing

Stop Making Excuses, Start Making Changes
Long-time freelancer Jennifer Mattern gives some advice on ramping up your freelancing business. It’s a timely post, as we are all looking toward the new year and what it will offer us.

What to Do when the Earth Shakes
Writer Sue Lick shows how you can use national and international stories to generate localized story ideas you can sell.

The Brand-New Work-at-Home Parent, or What the Heck Was I Thinking?
In another installment from All Freelance Writing, Rebecca Garland dispels some of the myths about how easy it is to juggle work and family commitments.

Freelance Writing: The Lazy Need Not Apply
Deb Ng shares the habits and aptitudes that can make a successful freelance writer.

Platform

So You’re Going to Be an Author: Three Book Publicity Bibles to Read ASAP
As part of her new Prosperous Writer persona, Christina Katz gives her three favorite platform-building and book publicity books. Give them a look.

The Key to Marketing Your Book: Time Well Spent
Agent Nathan Bransford gives some great tips for using your book marketing time wisely.

• Writing Roundup, December 4 The Business of Writing Craft Fiction Freelancing Platform The Business of Writing What Can I Expect of My Agent? Moonrat posts a nice description of what you can expect in your relationship with your agent. Read this post, then visit agent Kate Schafer Testerman's blog for a follow-up and......
• 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, January 22 The Business of Writing Craft Fiction Freelancing Platform The Business of Writing Is Your "But" Too Big? No, that's not misspelled, and it's not a piece on the relative lack of exercise of the typical writer. Agent Nathan Bransford gives a motivating speech on pushing through your personal obstacles.......
• Writing Roundup, May 8 And, another work week for the 9-5 crowd comes to a close. I wonder if this song lyric would be true of me if I did not have a day job to do in addition to this crazy writing thing: "I wake up every evening, with a big smile on......
• Writing Roundup, Aug. 14 So many great resources, so little time. Thus, I avoid preamble and move directly into this week's links. The Business of Writing 5 Reasons Pitches Can Be Detrimental Rather Than Helpful Jane Friedman, who took pitches at the Willamette Writers Conference, offers a little advice to writers making pitches: Don't......

• Romancing Trashy Novels #5 There are over 50 hand selected links in this edition. That's pretty fan-freaking-tastic if I do say so myself. Due to the crazy amount of...
• Choosing the Best Coin Collecting Books If you are into coin collecting, then it should be true that you are also into coin collecting books. If you are a coin collector,...
• Blogging – Your Ultimate Guide Even pussy cats read blogs!!! A blog is a type of website where you can write or share your personal experiences, your comments about certain...
• Unpublished Authors-Here's the Way to Get Published Unpublished authors tend to ask me the same questions, and one of the most repetitive question which is always brought up is just how much...
• Jane Porter speaking about life I'm happy to share this online interview with Jane Porter. She was gracious to spend some time with us. I think you'll agree that she...