Picking Editors: What Kind Do We Need?
What type of editors are most important for our success? Let’s take a closer look at the types of editing and when we might (or might not) need that type of editing.
Pin ItAre You Drowning in To-Do Lists?
We probably all have to-do lists rolling out behind us like Santa Claus’s naughty-or-nice list. Yet if you’re like me, your to-do list never seems to relent. Part of my problem is that I’m not as focused on my priorities as I should be, so let’s talk about 4 things we can do to keep our focus on our priorities.
Pin ItAsk Jami: Can We Use Beat Sheets with Multiple POVs?
Stories with multiple major characters—with their own point-of-view (POV) scenes—can make story structure complicated. Do we have to make beat sheets for each character? As a romance author, I write with multiple POVs all the time, so let’s see if we can figure out how to make beat sheets work in those situations.
Pin ItSelf-Publishing: Prioritizing Fast, Cheap, and Good
All writers, especially those who self-publish, have to decide: Are we writing and publishing just for ourselves? Or to get customers (readers)? Depending on our answers, we can prioritize “fast, cheap, or good.”
Pin ItHow to Be a Better Hooker (in Writing!) — Guest: Mary Buckham
One of the ways we create compelling writing is by creating a need within our readers to keep turning pages. So a common piece of advice is to create hooks—phrases, sentences, ideas, questions, etc.—to fuel that need within readers. Today, Mary Buckham’s here to touch on the 9 types of hooks and to answer frequent questions about hooks.
Pin ItMarketing 101: Creating a Strategy — Guest: Jennifer Fusco
Whether we want to push our publishers to live up to their marketing promises, hire a marketing team, or do all of our promotion on our own, the best way to make sure things work out the way we want is to be informed. To help educate us, Jennifer Fusco, author and marketing expert, gives a rundown on the basic marketing strategies.
Pin ItShould We Only “Write What We Know”? — Guest: S.P. Sipal
One truism in writing that’s often repeated is “write what you know.” But that advice can be harmful—at least for fiction writing. I much prefer the advice: Write what you want to learn about. Being open to learning new things for our writing can enrich our lives—and be fun!
Pin ItWant to Start a Writing-Related Company? — Guest: Kathryn Goldman
Whether we publish indie or traditionally, we may want to start a company at some point in our writing career, either for our pen name or for a publishing imprint or author services business. Today, I’m excited to have Kathryn Goldman here to share with us the legal aspects of starting our own company.
Pin ItUsing Examples to Learn Beat Sheets
One technique for drafting or editing our stories into shape is using beat sheets, but it can be tricky to understand how to use them. Here’s a round-up beat sheet and story structure resources that might help us understand beat sheets.
Pin ItGetting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable
I’m a perfectionist, so I had to get over a lot of my own issues to be able to publish my stories. Many steps along our writing path can make us uncomfortable, as we’re not perfect, not ready. But I never would have been able to publish if I hadn’t pushed myself to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
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