Jen's Writing Journey

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

The Business of Writing

Will They Ever Pay? Sorry, Probably Not
A look at the possibility of users paying for online content. I think there are some things people are willing to pay for, and some they are not. It’s not a simple yes or no question that applies to every possible form of content.

Yes, I Have a Policy for That. How about You?
Another reminder that we need to run our writing business as if they were, you know, businesses. You need policies to guide in making tough decisions or explaining those decisions to others.

What Agents Don’t Want in a Query Letter
A very specific list of query-letter don’t's.

To Catch a Content Thief
Tips to help you find unauthorized uses of your work on the web.

You Have to Believe
Agent Rachelle Gardner gives a great, inspiring reminder to focus on our dreams and possibilities when we start to lose motivation.

Agents and Bookstore Turn to Publishing
Author L.J. Sellers discusses the move toward more publishing options for mid-list authors.

Craft

Experiments in Delinkification
How do you feel about hyperlinks? Are they distractions or an essential element of web texts?

A Closet of One’s Own
What sort of creative space do you need to be able to effectively write?

Interviews: Or Going the Extra Mile to Research Your Novel
Yes, a lot of what you write will come from your head or research you do online or at the library. But, you will likely find that talking to an expert will give you insight you just can’t get anywhere else. The tips for finding subjects and preparing for interviews are useful for any type of writer.

Fiction

The Evolution of Ideas
How does an idea transform into a finished piece?

5 Elements That Make Fantasy Fiction Feel Real
Great advice to help you build a world that works, no matter how far-fetched some of the elements may be.

On Creating Evil in a Novel
So you need a little evil. And you want it to be so evil that you would say it was the fruits of the devil. (Bonus points if you catch my movie reference here.) Use the ideas here at Randy Ingermanson’s blog to help you achieve that goal.

Freelancing

Ask Me Anything: Academic Samples
It’s the Catch-22 of the freelance world. You need clips to get jobs, but you need jobs to get clips. Thursday Bram offers her advice on using academic writing samples to showcase your writing ability. In a nutshell, they might not be your best bet. Christina Katz discusses methods of getting writing jobs to build your clip files in her book Writer Mama. (Yes, this is an affiliate link.)

Reusing Research: Making Your Work Twice as Useful
What do you do with your research once you finish writing an article? You could try reusing it to write further articles for other publications.

Emergency Planning for Freelance Writers
A good primer on business continuity planning for freelance writers.

Platform

How to Throw an Awesome Book Launch
Once you’ve finished and polished your novel, landed and agent and a deal, you’ll want to plan for your book launch. Use these guidelines to make it a great event.

The Hidden Costs of Social Networking
Some great suggestions to move you from social media use to active marketing of your brand and your books/writing.

What Do I Deserve as an Author?
A look at the value you need to provide in marketing your book/writing and what you should expect to receive.

40 Twitter Uses for Writers
After you do your traditional marketing, as suggested by Chip MacGregor, here are ways you can ensure that your social media time is effective.

An Author’s Plan for Social Media
More on effective uses of social media.

Smart Ways to Promote Your Business on Twitter
Apparently, this is a big week for platform/marketing articles. This one from the New York Times gives general tips for promoting a business on Twitter.

Related Posts:

• Writing Roundup, June 25
• Writing Roundup, June 18
• Writing Roundup, May 28
• Writing Roundup, May 14
• Writing Roundup, May 7

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

The Business of Writing

Linked In for Writers 101
A great post on Kristine Meldrum Denholm’s blog with specific ideas of how to use Linked In to increase your profile as a writer. Are any of you using Linked In? Do you have any other tips?

E-book Sales Jumped 252% in the First Quarter, AAP Reports
Yeah, these ebook things will probably never catch on.

New Media, Old Media
Results of a Pew Research study comparing the differences between hot topics in new media and traditional media. Do the differences prove that traditional media ignores the stories people actually care about? Is our system of gatekeepers flawed? I think the decisions about which stories are covered are affected too much by the need for ratings/readers rather than a need to serve the public good and create an informed populace. Also read “Journalists Won’t Report News Unless It Can Drive Page Views.”

How to Cope
Some ways to help you deal when you don’t feel like you can deal anymore.

Criticism Is Never Personal
A good reminder that criticism is not of YOU but of an action or circumstance. Remember that when someone offers you some feedback.

Craft

Courage
Bob Mayer discusses the fears we writers have and the courage we need to continue writing in the face of them.

Getting to Write
We know that we need to write everyday. We know that the more we write, the better we will write. But how do we make the time to do it? How do we juggle our myriad responsibilities so that we can write? For one thing, you have to love it. (Personally, I love writing more than housework, yard work, or cooking, but not more than sleeping or cuddling with my dog.)

The Importance of a Critique Group
Why you need a group of writers to review your work.

Writing Gone Rogue: 7 Writing Rules to Break on the Web
I love when writers are given a little latitude to make their work their own, whether it fits into the established rules or not.

Fiction

How to Write Dialect
I’ve mentioned before that when I’m doing my revisions on my WIP, I need to make the characters sound more distinct. So, I love that I keep finding tips to help me do that.

How to Write a 250-Word Summary
Writing a short summary can help you clarify your vision for your book and guide your revisions. Plus, it can help you formulate a great query once you are ready for that step. This post will help you create that summary.

Freelancing

Oregonian Reporter Fired after Diane Downs Story Appears in Glamour
This is a good reminder for those of us who balance a freelance career with a day job: follow the rules of your employer while you further your own business.

Writing for Online Magazines: How to Find Work on the Web
Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen answers reader questions about how to find writing gigs with online magazines.

Write and Sell Fillers to Fill Your Wallet
Looking for some quick writing gigs? Try your hand at fillers. This piece by Oregon writer Melissa Hart gives you some good advice on how to get started, including finding ideas in some unexpected places. As a side note, fillers are also recommended by Christina Katz in Writer Mama. They are a great way to break into a new market or publication at low risk to the editor. Well-crafted shorts can lead to feature assignments in the future.

Platform

5 Simple Steps to Getting Your Business on Twitter
A great step-by-step piece to get you started on Twitter. One of the best tips is taking care to use your one bio link wisely.

10 Ways to Build Social Media Clout
Once you’re on Twitter, you need to increase your profile so that you can leverage the relationships to help sell your writing. These tips will help you do that.

7 Tips on Book Publicity
Apparently, this is the week for numbered lists. Use these tips to build your marketing plan.

Related Posts:

• Writing Roundup, June 25
• Writing Roundup, June 18
• Writing Roundup, June 4
• Writing Roundup, May 14
• Writing Roundup, May 7

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

The Business of Writing

The Trillion Dollar Web Question
Mike Cane looks at the future of books. Will they live in the cloud? Will people pay for them? Will we need publishers?

Could Self-Publishing Digitally Backfire?
Author Shannon Stacey discusses her fears that an increase in self-publishing can hurt a writer’s career in the long run.

Amazon as a Book Publisher May Change the Game for the Industry
Another look at self-publishing, this time through an economic lens.

Non-traditional Publishing
A look at your different options for publishing your work.

The Konrath Effect: Will New Technology Ruin Talented Authors
Apparently, this week it is all Konrath, all the time. All of these pieces on self-publishing have been inspired by JA Konrath’s huge success with his Kindle releases. So, here’s another for you.

The Value of the Verbal Pitch
If you are trying to decide whether to attend a writer’s conference this year, read this post. Agent Rachelle Gardner discusses why a verbal pitch can be more successful than an email query.

How to Have a Successful Book Signing
Great, firsthand tips to help you plan your book signing or event.

Craft

How to Edit Your Writing: 5 Self-Editing Tips
Tips from writers to help you focus.

7 Easy to Miss and Fix Writing Mistakes
Writer Meryl K. Evans gives us another great post on self-editing.

Fiction

Sex Scenes in Novels
Are you comfortable writing about sex? If not, here are some ideas to help you move beyond your fear and free up your characters to get randy.

10 More Tips on How to Write a Novel
Good tips for beginners and seasoned writers from C. Patrick Schulz.

Author Glenn Taylor on Second Novels and the Writing Life
Why do you write? Is it to sell books? To tell stories?

Freelancing

The Care and Keeping of Long-Term Clients
A successful freelancer has a mix of one-off and returning clients. This post provides great tips to help you keep your long-term clients coming back for more.

Platform

The Smoking Social Media Gun: Intent
What are your goals when you enter the social media world? The right goals will help you turn your social media interactions organically into sales. The wrong goals will just turn potential readers/clients off.

Book Promotion Mistakes to Avoid
This post starts out with some honest mistakes authors can make with bookstores and builds up to some of the most amazing mistakes I have ever heard. Please don’t blame the post office if your books aren’t selling. They don’t care whether people read your truth about aliens or whatever else.

Related Posts:

• Writing Roundup, July 22
• Writing Roundup, June 24
• Writing Roundup, June 10
• Writing Roundup, May 9
• Writing Roundup, May Day-ish Edition

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

The Business of Writing

Magazine Subscribers Still Attracted to Print, Poll
Current magazine subscribers aren’t quite ready to ditch the print versions. And they don’t think their favorite magazines care that much about what they want. Interesting results. What do they mean for we writers?

Google Believes Online Ads Could Be Worth More than Print Ads by 2012
This article has an interesting graph of the cost and revenue distribution for newspapers. Did newspapers make a huge mistake by eviscerating their news departments, thereby offering less content to sell ads around?

Prequeries & Followups
Follow the submission guidelines and do your research. Don’t send asinine letters asking for information you could find yourself. You know, act like the professional that you are.

Are You Really Going to Post That?
Another reminder of how to be professional online.

#158
This is a great paragraph-by-paragraph dissection of a query. Learn from it and use it to make your own queries better.

Is Traditional Publishing Dead?
Probably not. But it is in a period of transition that may be painful.

Craft

How Do You Reduce External Distractions to Sit Down and Write?
Tips from writers to help you focus.

Copy Edits
Elizabeth Moon, whose books I love, shares her experiences with good and bad copy editors.

Inaugural Page Critique
Nathan Bransford offers a critique of one page from a longer work.

Fiction

The Writer’s Bane: Describing a Character’s Physical Appearance
Great tips for making your descriptions not only a natural part of the narrative but also interesting to read.

But When Are You Going to Write Something Happy? And What’s Up with the Love Triangles?
Carrie Ryan responds to reader questions. Note to those of you who haven’t read The Forest of Hands and Teeth, it does contain some spoilers. I just finished Carrie Ryan’s second book, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and I will be posting a review of it at Pop Culture Curmudgeon on Tuesday.

Freelancing

Top 10 Blogs for Freelance Writers
Michelle Rafter has a great list of blogs here. There were some I have heard of, some I follow regularly, and some that were totally new to me but have now been added to my Google Reader.

The Secret to Landing Paid Writing Gigs
Great post with tips to help you sell your writing. Yes, querying is a numbers game, but there is no reason not to refine your technique to help improve your odds.

Platform

10 Tips to Getting Book Referrals
We know that the most powerful form of marketing is word-of-mouth marketing. Use these tips to harness that power for your book or your freelance business.

How to Find Your Blogging Voice: 8 Tips for Bloggers
Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen gives some ideas to help you build the right voice for your blog. Her tips are based on her own experience learning and growing as a blogger.

What Should Fiction Writers Blog About?
So much of the platform discussion out there seems to be targeted to nonfiction writers. This post gives some ideas for how to build your platform as a fiction writer. One great example is Marta Acosta’s Vampire Wire blog. Acosta writes the hysterical Casa Dracula series, so a blog about vampires makes perfect sense for her.

5 Reasons Your Business Needs a Blog
This isn’t targeted toward writers, but the reasons to have a blog certainly apply.

Fun Stuff

Bronte Sisters Power Dolls
The Bronte sisters kick some publisher ass.

Related Posts:

• Writing Roundup, June 25
• Writing Roundup, June 18
• Writing Roundup, June 4
• Writing Roundup, May 28
• Writing Roundup, May 7

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

The Business of Writing

Is DRM More Costly Than Piracy?
An interesting look at a new way of providing ebooks to readers. Where do you stand on the piracy issue? Do you think DRM is the solution to piracy?

Micromagazines and the Future of Media
Seth Godin discusses the potential market for highly targeted, well designed epublications. Are you ready to start your own micromag?

Buyers of E-books Still Like Print Too, Survey Shows
What? People who like books are less interested in format than in content? Craziness! Seriously, though, I think print will go away eventually, but it will be a long time.

Are E-books and E-readers Really in Danger?
The iPad is being billed as the Kindle-killer by some. Will this happen?

Google Book Editions and a New World Order in Publishing
I talked on Wednesday about writing in the cloud. How about publishing in the cloud?

You’re Not Wasting My Time
Yes, agents complain a lot about mis-directed and bad queries, but they do need to see your dueries. Take the advice you read on agent blogs about researching the agent and preparing a proper query, then query. You’ll never get an agent if you don’t query them.

Example Book Proposal
Are you ready to write your book proposal, but not sure where to start? This is a guide to get you going. If you’re not ready, bookmark it so you can come back to it when you are ready. (And, maybe set a goal for when that will be.)

Craft

Handling Critiques Without Getting Defensive
It is such a challenge to hear criticism of your work, even when the goal is simply to give you the tools to make it even better. These tips can help you stay calm while you are in the situation.

An Interview with Christina Katz about Author Mama
This interview includes some great tips about how to reuse some of your leftover content from other projects. Do you have any leftovers that would make a good ebook offering?

Liven Up Your Stories with Interviews
You have amazing stories to tell and awesome ways to say everything. But, how much more powerful will your stories be if you include other voices? Cindy Hudson tells you how to find those voices.

Fiction

Marina’s Notes on Deborah Schneider’s Presentation on Writing Romance for Publication
I attended Deborah’s session on April 18, and it was great. Here are the official notes from the Northwest Author Series blog. Not a romance author? Skim the portions on specific romance sub-genres but take her advice on researching your market.

The Eloquent Narrator: On Nuance, Physicality, and Riffing
Are your metaphors strong? This post gives great examples of strong, emotional ways to use metaphor to paint a picture for the reader.

Freelancing

252 Free Things for Freelance Writers
Freebies!

How to Know If You Are Freelance Editor Material
Are you thinking about adding editing to your list of services? If so, look at this post to decide if that type of work is right for you.

Seven Easy Ways to Boost Your Energy
Do you struggle to keep your energy high during your work day? Or do you find it hard to keep focused on your freelance projects after coming home from the day job? These tips might help.

3 Excuses That Are Keeping You from Building a Successful Freelance Writing Career
I know I am guilty of letting these excuses and negative beliefs derail my career growth. And that is one of the reasons I signed up for Christina Katz’s Pitching Practice class that starts next week. I’ll keep you up-to-date on how it goes for me.

Platform

13 Don’ts I Learned While Writing, Editing, and Promoting My Book
Marketing ideas to avoid when it is time to get your book out there.

Robust Marketing Plans Are on Multiple Fronts
Yes, you do need a marketing plan to get your book/writing business out there.

What Authors Always Need to Have on Hand to Market Their Books
This was a bit of an eye opener. Business cards and bookmarks, check. But I don’t always have a copy of my book to use as a potential conversation starter.

Managing Multiple Identities Online (Avoid)
What do you think about having multiple online identities? I do it, but it is a challenge.

Related Posts:

• Writing Roundup, June 25
• Writing Roundup, June 18
• Writing Roundup, June 4
• Writing Roundup, May 28
• Writing Roundup, May 14

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

The Business of Writing

Stop Being Afraid of Posting Your Work Online
Jane Friedman posts at Writer Unboxed about why you should share your writing online.

Be Slightly Afraid of Posting Your Work Online
And the response by Chuck Sambuchino. Where do you fall on the issue?

The Old Girls’ Club
Will the iPad topple the Kindle? I read my ebooks on my iPod In my day job (and previous day jobs I have held), there has been a distinct feeling that women are still striving to catch up with the men. How funny, then, to think that there is a business niche where the roles are reversed. Women writers, do you feel as if we exclude the dudes? And men, do you find it hard to break into a female field?

Making Money
Oh my! An agent who admits that her goal is to represent books that sell. We writers can remember that although we can write whatever we want, the books we send to agents and editors should be books that will sell.

On Rejection
A nice, measured post about why an agent might reject your query/proposal.

Creative Content Recycling: Are You Wasting Your Garbage?
What do you do with the research that just never makes it into your article or book? Do you scrap it, or do you try to turn it into other products? For freelancers, this could be another article. For novelists, it could be blog posts and articles you send to magazines to help build buzz for your book.

Best Resources for Successful Writers of the Future
Publishing is in a time of transition, and those of us who wish to be successful in the future need to get ready. Jane Friedman pulls together a great set of resources here.

Craft

What Is Self-Editing, and Why Should We Do It?
Author Jody Hedlund gives great tips on how to edit your own work. Self-editing is hard, because your brain fills in the gaps and fixes your errors, but it is an essential component of getting our work ready to be published.

We’ve Got Style
No, author L.J. Sellers isn’t talking about clothes and shoes. Instead, she is applying the guidelines from the Chicago Manual of Style to numbers in fiction. If you aren’t familiar with the common style manuals (Chicago, AP, MLA), it wouldn’t be a bid idea to look through them to see what you can learn about spelling, grammar, proper names and trademarks, and so on. No one expects you to memorize the whole thing, but it is good to have a guideline to keep certain things consistent throughout your manuscript.

Fiction

7 Reasons Agents Stop Reading Your First Chapter
Great tips on what might be wrong with your novel. Assess your first chapter as if you were an agent or editor. Does it fall into any of these categories? If so, how can you fix it?

Troubles with Twist Endings
Does your story/book end with a twist? Did you set it up so that it is believable in your fictional world? If not, then you might want to do a round of revisions where you do set it up so that it will work for your readers.

Dialogue Tricks
Do your characters all sound the same? If so, do they speak like you? (I’ve definitely been guilty of this sin a time or two.) Victoria Janssen has tips to help you make your characters distinct. I think of it as creating a character as an actor. Look at their motivations, backgrounds, and personalities, then use those characteristics to create authentic dialogue.

Freelancing

How to Find Online Writing Markets and Write for the Web
Writing for the web can be a huge challenge for those of us trained in print. For example, the conventions for titles are vastly different. If you look at my early posts, I did the cutesy print title thing. But, I learned my lesson since then, and I now use titles that describe the material I’m posting. Anyway, this post gives you easy-to-follow tips to move into the online market, if you haven’t already.

Prospering from Personal Essays
Have you thought about writing essays for publication? Abigail Green guests at Christina Katz’s blog and discusses how to get your essays published.

Should You Tattle on a Bad Client?
I think no, at least not publicly. What would it take for you to burn a bridge with a client?

Platform

How Freelancers Are Using Social Media for Real Results
Good ideas to increase your social media presence and the benefits you receive from it.

The 5 Old Blogging Rules Killing Your Readership
Lisa Barrone gives us permission not to post every day!

Does Your Time Spent Online Help Book Sales?
Startling statistics that show the importance of spending time online (wisely) to build your personal brand.

Related Posts:

• Writing Roundup, June 25
• Writing Roundup, June 18
• Writing Roundup, June 4
• Writing Roundup, May 28
• Writing Roundup, May 14

I’m still thinking about one of the posts I included in last week’s writing roundup.

Abiola Adams discussed the importance of her platform and of controlling how her book was marketed. Her books crossed genres in such a way that it was hard to find the right niche. For example, she saw her book initially marketed as erotica. But, with only four sex scenes, her book would likely disappoint the average erotica fan. So, she looked at the market and made decisions about who she wanted to target and how.

I ran into a similar issue with my book, The Best of Learning & Leading with Technology. It is a collection of the best articles from a five-year span of Learning & Leading with Technology magazine. Marketing seemed easy. People new to the magazine and those who were long-time readers but wanted to see the refreshed versions of the articles they already loved.

But, it turns out that this market wasn’t the strongest. Instead, the book is a good fit for educators who are not heavily involved in technology organizations or technology magazines. The early adopters already have all of their dog-eared copies of the magazine on their shelves, so they were less likely to need this book. Instead, the best audience is the educators who are less comfortable with technology integration and are looking for tested best practices.

Think about your books (or your future books). Who is the right target? Who else could you target? Make a list of the potential aduences, then brainstorm five methods for connecting with them. You can begin building these connections before your book is publised, or even before it is done. Remember, it is important to have a platform even before your book is on the market.

Related Posts:

• Differentiate Your Social Media
• Writing Roundup, July 22
• Writing Roundup, June 24
• Writing Roundup, June 10
• More about Marketing, Part 2

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

The Business of Writing

Can I Get a Ruling: Do You Think the Query Process Works?
Agent Nathan Bransford opened up a very interesting discussion with this quick poll.

Freelance Writers: Your Performance Review
Don’t cringe. Yes, performance reviews can be time-consuming and unpleasant in the 9-5 world. But, they also provide guidance and feedback that can help you perform better. How can you assess your own performance as a writer? This piece focuses on the needs of freelance writers, but I think all of us could probably benefit from some self-assessment.

Publish or Perish
Will the iPad topple the Kindle? I read my ebooks on my iPod Touch because I like having all of the different format options available through the different ereader apps. If iPad offers that same functionality at an easier-to-read size, then, yeah, it probably will kill the stand-alone readers. Will the iPad save the book industry? Well, personally, I don’t believe the book industry is dying. It’s changing, and it is afraid of the changes.

Interview with Karen McQuestion
J.A. Konrath talks to an author who started selling books on Kindle from scratch after not succeeding through traditional publishing channels. She sells more books on Kindle than Konrath does, by the way.

Agent Advice: Kelly Mortimer of the Mortimer Literacy Agency
I love these Q&A pieces that give you insight into why a particular agent makes particular choices. Is Kelly potentially the right agent for you?

Craft

Structure Girl! A Superhero for Writers
How much do you follow structure when you are drafting? Carolyn McCray suggests that following a standard structure can help you be more efficient and enjoy the process of writing more.

Fiction

How the Future of Story Telling and Writing Is Like Bedtime
Interesting look at ht changing world of fiction. How will you adapt to a world where there are fewer passive narratives and more interactive storytelling?

Research Versus the Demands of the Publishing Market
Research is essential for producing believable fiction, especially is you are writing about a time or place you’ve never been to. But, how much time can you spend on research when you are under contract?

Forget Alpha/Beta. Write Interesting Men.
A nice reminder not to worry so much about the conventions and the names of the archetypes. Write believable, rich, complex characters.

Genre, Genre … What’s a Writer to Do?
Can (or should) you span genres in your writing? Or should you specialize? This is something freelance writers have to deal with a lot. Specializing in freelancing could mean higher paychecks, but generalizing can mean more options for finding work. How does genre specialization affect fiction writers?

Freelancing

8 Ways to Build a Better Freelance Writing Career
A good reminder that the content you provide is the most important thing in your career. Provide good content in a reasonable time frame, and clients and editors will want to work with you again. And, you will have great clips to help you get new clients and editors on board.

Freelance Writing for the Web: A Change Is Gonna Come, Are You Ready?
Carson Brackney forecasts the future needs for clients who hire web writers. His advice is to study your current clients, think about what they need and why they hired you, and focus on providing a good product.

5 Ways to Improve Yourself and Your Business
Quick and easy tips to help you be a better writer.

Platform

Author Abiola Adams on How Writers Can Build a Platform
This author took a very strong role in building her platform and ensuring that her book was marketed to the right people in the right way so it wouldn’t get pigeonholed into niches where it didn’t really fit.

Two Questions to Answer for Your Bestseller
Al Lautenslager gives tips to help you market your book using a reader-centric perspective.

How to Be a Multimedia Author and Stand Out from the Crowd
Great ideas for making your marketing more interactive. I know I never thought about doing multimedia marketing tools when I was first promoting my book. Perhaps I will have to record a reading and post it on You Tube or something.

Related Posts:

• Writing Roundup, July 22
• Writing Roundup, June 24
• Writing Roundup, June 10
• Writing Roundup, May 9
• Writing Roundup, May Day-ish Edition

I’m back.

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

The Business of Writing

Harnessing the Power of Social Networks for Journalism
How do you interact with potential sources? Do you mine them for the direction of your story, or do you use them to fill in the quote holes? This piece gives a good rationale for the former method and discusses how social media can help you broaden your story.

How I Got My Agent: Richard L. Mabry
I always love to read the stories of how an author got published or found an agent. It helps renew me when I’m feeling down.

Women and Romance Novels
An interesting look at readers of romance from a writer of romance. How can you use your readers’ expectations to make your writing better?

Romance Author Sold 85m Books Worldwide, Yet Has Never Seen Anybody Reading Them
What is the event that will let you know you have made it? Will it be landing an agent? Landing a book deal? Or, much like the singer who goes crazy the first time she hears her song on the radio, will it be when you see someone reading YOUR BOOK on the bus, subway, or park bench? What if you sell books like mad, but you never get to see someone reading them in public?

Publishers + Ebooks = Epic Fail
JA Konrath doesn’t pull any punches, which is one of the reasons I enjoy reading his blog. He discusses the need to seriously strategize for ebooks.

Love Is Like a Bottle of Query
A discussion of query letters and personal ads. Would you date your story based on how you are describing it?

Slaying the Query Monster
A nice synopsis of what goes into a good query letter. All of the usual suspects are there, of course (agent/editor’s name spelled correctly, etc.), but of particular use is the description of what to include in oyur synopsis paragraph.

Craft

Sue Grafton’s Advice for Writers: Put in the Time
Malcolm Gladwell’s assertion that 10,000 hours of focused practice is essential for building talent in your chosen field. Novelist Sue Grafton gives her thoughts on the importance of paying your dues as an aspiring writer.

5 Signs of Bad Writing: How to Recognize Your Poorly Written Work
I know, every work that flows out of your fingers is golden, and no signs of logic flaws are ever present. But, the rest of us usually need at least one round of self-editing to get our work publisher-ready. Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen shares some of the keys to look for when self-editing.

A Lovely Little Book about Claiming the Physical and Emotional Space You Need to Write
Christina Katz reviews A Writer’s Space by Eric Maisel. It sounds like a good resource.

Fiction

How to Write a Book Series
Do you dream of writing a successful series that keeps readers coming back for more and more adventures of your characters? These tips can help you keep your series on track.

Free Critique Per Week: Avoid Cliche Scenes
A nice critique that might help you as you outline, draft, and edit your work.

Freelancing

When to Send the Quote. When to Follow Up.
Over at the Wealthy Freelancer, Steve Slaunwhite suggests that you respond to a request for a quote the same day. It shows you’re interested in the job, and it allows you to continue the conversation with the potential client while he/she is still excited about the project.

Fair Use Legal Lingo You Can Understand
Some nice guidelines for fair use in journalistic works. I also wrote a guide on fair use for educators a few years back that you might find useful.

4 Smart Tips for Studying a Magazine
Use this advice next time you are preparing to pitch a magazine. It will save you a lot of time while giving you the information you need.

Platform

Podcasting for Authors
So, you’re on Facebook and Twitter. You blog and have a good website. What else can you do to increase awareness of you and your brand? Try podcasting.

Are You a Literary Force to Be Recognized?
A little platform tough love from Christina Katz. She includes some examples of writers who get it and who are working on getting it. How can you adapt their processes to your own platform?

Related Posts:

• Writing Roundup, June 25
• Writing Roundup, June 18
• Writing Roundup, June 4
• Writing Roundup, May 28
• Writing Roundup, May 14

Today, the roundup is late and short. The motherboard on my HP laptop died seven days after my warranty is up. So far, HP has not been particularly interested in helping me out with this problem, unless I pony up pretty much the cost of a replacement laptop for them to fix mine. I have to wait until Monday or Tuesday to hear from one of the Quality Case Managers to discuss the issue further. But I digress from the real reason you are here. Let the links begin.

• The Business of Writing
• Craft
• Freelancing
• Platform

The Business of Writing

Expectations of a Disgruntled Reader
With the number of books being published and the scarce resources of the average reader, we writers had best keep the readers’ needs at the forefront. Katie shares some reactions to recent books that could be instructive as we craft our own works.

Letters from the Query Wars
A set of query do’s this week.

Status Updates
More query do’s, this time focused on the request for an update on the status of your query.

Craft

I Am My Own Boss
Christi Craig discusses the things that keep her personally accountable, even though she is not writing under contract. What keeps you writing?

The Organized Writing Process Resource Post
Looking for tools to help you work through your writing process? Look no further, as Jessie Haynes provides the steps and some tools to help you.

Freelancing

Is the Business of Freelance Writing Too Bitter and Twisted?
This is a nice piece that addresses the grumbling of we writers who don’t like seeing the value of writing decline in the Internet world. It provides strategies for building a career.

5 Ways You Can Improve Cash Flow with Your Invoices
Freelancer Thursday Bram shares good tips on ensuring that your invoices are processed and paid in a timely manner.

Platform

Learning about Promotion
Tricia Schneider shares some good resources to help you promote yourself and your writing.

How Magazines Use Social Media to Boost Pass-aLong, Build Voice
PBS hosts this discussion of the ways magazines are making social media work for them. How can you adapt their methods to build your writing business?

Related Posts:

• Writing Roundup, June 25
• Writing Roundup, June 18
• Writing Roundup, June 4
• Writing Roundup, May 28
• Writing Roundup, May 14