Everyone touts Twitter as great for building a target audience. Starting a platform, they call it. But to get on Twitter solely for the purpose of selling books I haven’t even published yet? I’m bored already. I need more instant gratification for motivation to decipher the crazed universe of Twitter. There are obvious benefits: making… Read more »
You’ve been social networking on Facebook and LinkedIn for years, and you can hunt down lost high school friends with the best of them. So when it comes time to build a professional network for your writing career, it’s understandable if you’re not clear on the difference. What’s wrong with what you’re already doing? The… Read more »
Superheroes are not just for kids anymore, if they ever really were. With the popularity of the Marvel movies and television shows, people in capes and spandex out to save or rule the world have definitely gone mainstream. As a lifelong comic book reader and superhero story fan, I couldn’t be happier about that. … Read more »
Writing groups take many shapes and sizes. Frequency of meetings, general purpose, size, and requirements all vary from one group to another. Many writing groups exist for more than manuscript exchanges, special events, and critiques. I found myself leading the charge in organizing a writing group in which the members were interested in readings and… Read more »
Series are a big business these days. If you can hook the reader in with the first book, then you’ve got a built-in base of sales for the next two (or three or more) books. Before you start writing a series (or further developing your current one), here are five tips to keep in mind…. Read more »
When you’re writing a story, how often do you think about theme? It’s OK if your answer is, “Not often.” That was mine last year when a friend asked me about themes in my fantasy novel. Fortunately I found a few, but only after paying close attention to the story. Which got me thinking: Even… Read more »
I’ve submitted to writing contests every so often for the past few years, and honestly, I’ve always found it to be a pretty intimidating process. You know what I’m talking about: I search through dozens (hundreds?) of listings until I find one that fits, Google the judges and read the previous winner’s work, then shell… Read more »
I can credit my local writing group with a lot of things: Teaching me craft, encouraging me to write, critiquing my work, and convincing me to pitch my book. And now, I don’t think it’s too much to credit them with also getting me an agent. Yes, I wrote the book. Yes, I edited it… Read more »
When it comes to Fifty Shades of Grey, commenting on the poor quality of the writing has become cliché. Mentioning the book in a circle of authors requires a caveat of, “Yes, I know. The writing is weak,” before any further comment can be made. But the fact remains: the trilogy has been wildly successful…. Read more »
“Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.” – Kurt Vonnegut Conflict, rising tensions, epic rivalries; we writers love to finger paint with all of it. But what if you could use the same raw materials of story to map out your marketing efforts? How fun would that be?… Read more »
