Seven Writing Links -- Volume 122

It's Friday, thank goodness, and I'm breathing a sigh of relief as I drag myself out from under the blankets.  Thanks to a cold that hit me pretty hard for most of the week, I haven't done much other than to sleep or walk around like a zombie.  I'm hoping to get some writing done this evening, but there's a good chance I'll be back in bed by 9 o'clock, so I'm not holding my breath.  In the meantime, I wish you all good health and good writing.

Enjoy the links and the weekend!

ChemistKen


How to Write a Scene

Getting Your Novel to the Finish Line (Part One: Getting Past Getting Stuck)

Give your manuscript a running start

Why Instagram Works for Writers

Amazon Giveth, Amazon Taketh Away and Now… Amazon Giveth Again!

How To Share Your Protagonist’s Deepest Feelings With Readers

Download the Ultimate Collection of Book Marketing Examples
A huge collection of examples of authors websites, bios, facebook covers, etc. A great resource, although you do have to subscribe to BookBub (free) to download it.

Seven Writing Links and Seismic Crimes Release Day!

Fridays represent the end of the week for me, a time when I can sit back and reflect on my writing progress of the last seven days.  But for Chrys Fey, today means so much more.  It's the release day for her first novel, Seismic Crimes.

So after you're finished with the writing links, be sure to check out the blurb for Seismic Crimes. 

Enjoy!

ChemistKen


An Update on a Pre-order Experiment

How to Save Money and Do Online Book Publicity Yourself

Creating Promotional Copy That Works: Book Descriptions

Making a Case for Novellas: Short is the New Black

Subtext: Creating Layered Characters

Creating Easy Branded Images for Your Blog and Social Media

12 Common Writing Errors Even Bestselling Authors Make

Seismic Crimes

BLURB: An Internal Affairs Investigator was murdered and his brother, Donovan Goldwyn, was framed. Now Donovan is desperate to prove his innocence. And the one person who can do that is the woman who saved him from a deadly hurricane—Beth Kennedy. From the moment their fates intertwined, passion consumed him. He wants her in his arms. More, he wants her by his side in his darkest moments.

Beth Kennedy may not know everything about Donovan, but she can’t deny what she feels for him. It’s her love for him that pushes her to do whatever she has to do to help him get justice, including putting herself in a criminal’s crosshairs.

When a tip reveals the killer's location, they travel to California, but then an earthquake of catastrophic proportions separates them. As aftershocks roll the land, Beth and Donovan have to endure dangerous conditions while trying to find their way back to one another. Will they reunite and find the killer, or will they lose everything?

DIGITAL LINKS:

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / KOBO / The Wild Rose Press

ALSO AVAILABLE IN PRINT!

A Writer's Choice: The Red Pill or the Blue Pill?

Ten years ago, I hated writing. Then I discovered how much fun it was to write fiction and I was hooked. Of course, writing was much more fun back when I had no clue what I was doing. Today, I’m wiser about writing, and sometimes (usually while I’m beating my head against the keyboard) I ask myself: If I had known what I was getting into back then, would I have chosen the Red Pill or the Blue Pill?

I tell myself I would have taken the Red Pill and dove head first into writing with the same passion I have now. But after days like yesterday, after brutally beating a chapter into submission and hating every minute of it, I think about the Blue Pill. There’s still so much more for me to learn, so much more for me to do before I’ll be ready to publish my first book that it wears me down. And then I get to start the whole process over again with another book.

Knowing what you know now, would you still have chosen the Red Pill?  How often do you fantasize about the Blue Pill?

P.S.  If it sounds as though I'm suffering from writing fatigue today, you're correct.  I'll feel better tomorrow.  I always do.

Seven Writing Links -- Volume 121

Oh well, another week without a Wednesday post.  What can I say?  I was working hard on my story and didn't want to stop.  I know you understand, but I still feel a little guilty.

Have a fun weekend and enjoy the writing links!

ChemistKen


Top 10 Ways To Write A Self-Rejecting Query To A Blogger, Agent, Or Publisher

The Anatomy of a BookBub Blurb & Ebook Description Copy Tips

Want to Evoke Emotions in Readers?

Attract And Engage Readers With Image Marketing  Man, I wish I had time to do this kind of stuff.  It sounds like fun, especially when I hit a snag in my manuscript.

Take Two: When to Start a Sequel

Believe It Or Not: How Not To Write Action

How to Use MailChimp and Bookfunnel to Grow Your Author Mailing List

Seven Writing Links -- Volume 120

Okay, this week there's no denying I'm late with the writing links. Blame it on my schedule, or perhaps my lack of organization. Probably both. Either way, here they are. Enjoy! 

Have a great weekend!

Chemistken


How To Sell More Books on iBooks

Indie Publishing Paths: What’s Your Reader Retention Plan? Part Two

Promote a New Release by Marketing the Entire Book Series

Amazon Sales Rank: Taming the Algorithm

6 Things to Consider Before Starting a Small Press

Creating Tension: Put Dialogue to Work

The Key to Creating a Wholly Believable Character

The Insecure Writer and Doing the Math

Today is April's contribution to Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.



Why am I an Insecure Writer this month? 

Because I've done the math, and it ain't looking good for me as a writer.

You've all heard me complain about being a slow writer before, so I won't dwell on it overmuch.  It's who I am and their's no point in whining about it.  As long as I'm having fun, that's all that matters.

Even so, I was determined to push my writing to the max this year.  No more arriving at crit group meetings with nothing to submit.  No week-long hiatuses with nothing to show for it but a few revised paragraphs.   Just keep writing, I told myself, and I'll eventually reach "The End."  And for the most part I've been pleased with the results.  My story is taking shape, I've managed to bring something to both of my crit groups every month (well, almost), and the number of completed pages is growing.

But then I did the math.

To give all the writers in my groups a chance to be read, both of my crit groups generally limit submissions to  8-10 pages.  One of the groups gets the first shot at critting my submissions; the second group sees them later, after I've made revisions based on the first group's comments.  What this means, however, is that I'm progressing toward "The End" at the tepid pace of 10 pages a month, which means it will take me 25 months to complete a 250 page story.  Arg!!  My progress no longer seems quite so satisfying.

But it's still progress, and for that I'm thankful.

Are you satisfied with your writing pace?

ChemistKen

Seven Writing Links -- Volume 119

Congratulations to those of you partaking in the annual A to Z blogging challenge. Once again, I declined to participate -- not because it didn't sound like fun -- but because I couldn't justify spending that much time on blog posts when I still haven't finished my first book. However, my goal is to finish it by next April, so I plan to join the challenge next year. Heck, I've already chosen my theme. Wish me luck!

Have a great weekend and enjoy the links.

ChemistKen


15 Instagram Book Marketing Ideas from Publishers -- I don't use Instagram, but some of you might find this interesting.

The Cycle of Action-Reaction in Novel Scenes

Your Biggest Book Marketing or Platform Building Roadblocks – And How to Overcome Them

My Super-Easy Formula for Writing a Blurb

Six Ways You Are Ruining Your Book Marketing Campaign

What's the Problem? The Four Classic Conflict Types

The Myth of the Average Reader