Michael Cristiano published a guest post on “A Writer’s Path”, informing us about 5 major mistakes authors make on social media. Thank you very much for this helpful post, Michael.
I thought writing a novel was the hard part. I thought endless drafting and editing and proofreading involved the most work when it came to being a writer.
I was wrong. My debut novel has been on sale for a little less than a month, and I came to the conclusion very early on in its release that writing it was the easy (and far more enjoyable) part. Why? you ask.
Marketing. Marketing is a hard and seemingly endless process. Why is it so hard?
It’s been three years since I self published my first book. It’s definitely been a learning experience marked by relative successes and failures. As I mark the 3rd anniversary since I self-published Before the Legend , here are the top ten things I’ve learned over the course of three years in no particular order.
Today, Alex Limberg is with us again, and he is talking about one of the most important and tricky issues in writing: Endurance. It doesn’t matter how well we write, how pretty the prose or witty the dialogue. WE MUST FINISH.
No half-finished brilliant manuscript ever became a runaway best-seller but a lot of finished “meh” ones have.
Alex has some very effective tactics and practical examples to help you out.
Just look at his list and pick out the ones that work for you. And if you want to see how good your story really is or what it might be missing, definitely check out his free checklist of “44 Key Questions” to make your story awesome. Post starts in 3… 2… 1… 0:
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Have you ever written an entire novel? If so, then you know that it takes a lot of stamina.
Olga Nunez Miret shares another fantastic article about book blurbs with us, mentioning more information in other posts and articles. Thank you so much Olga. You are a gem!
As you know I write (and translate) and I’m currently going through the corrections of my next novel (Escaping Psychiatry 2. The Case of the Swapped Bodies, is proving challenging, or rather the circumstances around it are. I might tell you the story some day). Although there’s still a while to go (I always publish both versions, Spanish and English, of my books at the same time, and that means multiplying by two everything, including the time it takes to get everything ready), I started thinking about blurbs. Despite having written quite a few, I always hesitate when I’m about to write another one, and check advice on it.
Escaping Psychiatry 2. The Case of the Swapped Bodies by Olga Núñez Miret. Cover by Ernesto Valdés. Any day now… well, not quite
I decided to share some of the articles I found about the subject…
Kristen Lamb re-published one of her great and fun posts and I decided to re-blog it quoting her: “… because we all need a good kick in the ass now and again, even ME.” Enjoy the post. And yes… I definitely needed this now! Thank you very much Kristen!
Today is a repost because of a death in the family last week. But you know what? Life moves on. I chose this post because we all need a good kick in the ass now and again, even ME.
It was a FUN post and a good way to get my moxie back….because seriously my moxie got kicked in the face last week. I am sure NONE of you have been there. Feeling like a failure, like nothing you do matters?
Well, get over it. We are going to have a hell raising Monday!
Contrary to some critics first person point of view does work. I disagree with those critics (snobs) that argue writing in the first person is a sign of an amateur.
Writing in the first person is my preferred method. I know, I know, I’m not burning up the NYT Best Seller list. Well, not yet but give me time.
But there are many famous, and successful authors that have proved those critics wrong.
Cynthia B Ainsworthe, experienced and successful author is telling us about the difference between page count vs. word count. Quite valuable information in my opinion. Thank you Cynthia for sharing this with us.
During several book signings, one question frequently asked of me has been, “How many pages is the book?” I always explain that the novel is over 90,000 words. The person’s expression, tells me that I might as well have been speaking a foreign language.
I have no idea why the publishing industry has not educated the reading public that word count determines the length of a novel and not the number of pages, and that a 70,000-word book can have more printed pages than a 90,000-word novel.
There are several reasons for this that are useful to the publisher:
Font style and size: A font style and size will either increase or decrease the number of characters per page. Times New Roman font delivers fewer characters per page than Garamond. The industry standard for size is from 10 point to 13 point…
For a while now, I have been searching for writing conferences. All I come up with are events across the pond in America. That is, until I was talking with my friend Christina, and she mentioned that conferences were probably called festivals here.
Well, what do you know, I had a google and a wealth of events opened up.
In every industry I can think of there is one rule to getting ahead of the game.
Networking. How better to network than a festival full of literary people?!
Shirley McLain has published an article about 7 tools for pacing a novel. I find it very useful and decided to re-blog it. Thank you Shirley for sharing this!
Weird fiction, a label for macabre and unsettling stories from before the terms “fantasy” and “horror” were widely used; also the most modern forms of slipstream fiction and the New Weird
Wuxia, Chinese martial arts fiction often incorporating fantasy elements
(Source: Wikipedia)
What subgenre do I categorize my own stories in?
Here it’s getting difficult. The only thing that’s clear is that my writing is ‘fantasy’.
At the moment, I am working on several stories. I’d sort one of them within the subgenre ‘urban fantasy’, the other one might be identified as “heroic fantasy.’ The novel I work on is a mix between ‘Contemporary fantasy’ – and ‘paranormal romance’.
And here I am now, switching between the real world, fantasy worlds, romance, funny characters, creepy creatures, and magic.
I love what I do! And even though the fantasy genre with its numerous subgenres is a little confusing, I’m sure I am working myself into it.
What is it that I like so much about fantasy that I decided on this genre? I think it is quite easy to answer this question. I can let my imagination run amok. If I am going to turn the hair of my heroine blue and give her gills, who will stop me? If I decide to create a child with magical abilities, who will tell me that it “cannot be”? I love myths, legends, and mystical creatures like unicorns… and once in a while I need a protagonist being a princess. This is why fantasy is just my genre. (or – paranormal romance, or contemporary fantasy… Maybe I should try to categorize my story after completing it.)
One of my favorite books is a fantasy book. I identified it a mix of Science fantasy and dark fantasy. It is: “Watchers”, written by Dean Koontz. I love this book even though it’s one of Dean Koontz older books. It impressed me and I never forgot it I wish I one day can touch my readers as much as Dean Koontz can do it.
Do you have a favorite genre or subgenre you read or write in? Don’t be shy, please tell me!
For a while now, I have been searching for writing conferences. All I come up with are events across the pond in America. That is, until I was talking with my friend 
