The 22 Rules of Writing

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 Today I have an infographic for you based on tips and advice on storytelling shared on Twitter by Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats.

Emma set out "22 Rules of Storytelling" based on what she learned working for the animation studio (responsible for such blockbusters as the Toy Story series and Finding Nemo). In my opinion there are some real gems for fiction writers in all formats and genres here.

The infographic was created by Jessica Bogart of PBJ Publishing, and is shared with her permission.

 

 

 

Note that I had to reduce the size of the graphic to work on my blogging platform. If you can’t read it clearly, you can access the full size (5 MB!) version at this website.

If you would like a printed, poster-size version of the graphic, you can buy it from Jessica’s Etsy store (not an affiliate link).

I particularly like Rule 12: "Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself." As a writing tutor myself, I can testify that one of the most common mistakes in new writers’ work is predictability.

I also love Rule 19: "Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating." If you stick to this one rule alone, it will put you ahead of 90% of fiction writers immediately!

I hope you enjoy reading "The 22 Rules of Storytelling". If you have any comments about it or suggestions for additional rules, please do post them below.

 

This is a reprint from Nick’s Writing Blog.

 

Note-Taking And Writing Apps For iPhone and iPad

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Sometimes it’s hard to find ideas for a new blog post, short story or a poem. That’s why it’s so important to catch them at the moment they come to mind.

Mobile devices are a great way to capture ideas, no doubt about it. You’ve got a mobile phone always with you. It’s much quicker to start writing ideas on a tablet than a computer.

Most smartphone or tablet users will probably agree that those devices are not meant to write and publish a complete piece of work. You can write draft posts, scratch new ideas, or list topics to be included in a presentation. You can and should develop them on a computer if you want to work with text effectively.

That’s why syncing is one of the most important features of any note-taking or writing application. It gives the opportunity to access your work from any device and to make your writing as productive as possible. 

 Notes

Available for: iPhone, iPad | Syncing: Gmail | Price: free | Default app

The default iOS note-taking application. Users usually neglect it as it’s very basic. Many still don’t know that the app can sync files via Gmail account. All updated notes are stored in a Gmail account, under a Notes tab. More details in this post.

If you write notes from time to time and need a simplest possible way to do it, you won’t need probably anything more advanced than Notes.

EvernoteEvernote

Available for: iPhone, iPad | Syncing: Evernote | Price: free | App Store link

The most powerful and advanced note-taking, idea-grabbing solution for iOS. You can add not only text, but also audio and photo notes. Access them via web browser and Mac or PC applications.

To start using the app you have to sign up to Evernote. A free account allows for 60MB of data transfer per month. Offline note-taking is not enabled, but you can send notes to your account via e-mail, to a special address created for your Evernote account.

With Evernote, you are either a powerful user or don’t use it at all. Premium account costs $5 a month or $45 a year. A comparison of features is available on this page.

SimplenoteSimplenote

 

Available for: iPhone, iPad | Syncing: Simplenote | Price: free | App Store link

Evernote made easy. The app is very simple to use, yet has all the features you would need. You can access and edit your notes from a web browser as well as many third-party apps and add-ons, listed here. You can publish a note and it will be available at a unique simp.ly url address. You can also share the note with others by tagging it with their e-mail addresses.

A free account is ad-supported. The ads are not intrusive, but if you want to remove them, you have to spend $19.99 a year or $1.99 a month for an upgrade to Premium account – which also enables Dropbox sync and writing notes by e-mail.

Awesome Note (+Todo)Awesome Note (+Todo)

 

Available for: iPhone, iPad | Syncing: Google Docs, Evernote | Price: iPhone – free or $3.99, iPad – $4.99 | App Store links: iPhone, iPad

Note taking application and to-do manager in one. Out of all applications featured in this post this one has the best design and richest personalization options. You can change not only a font but also a theme to match the type of note.

I’ve used the app for some time as I’m very keen to be connected with Google Docs ecosystem – and Awesome Note can sync with it. It’s not perfect, though, as you can only do it manually. It’s good to remember to sync before you open and after you finish your note to make sure you don’t lose anything.

To use Awesome Note on both iPad and iPhone you have to buy two separate versions.

MoleskineMoleskine

 

Available for: iPhone, iPad | Syncing: no | Price: free | App Store link

The official application of the legendary Moleskine notebooks. It’ll surprise you with a modern UI concept and design. You can draw sketches as well as add pictures and labels from a large selection of Moleskine icons. You can also geotag your notes.

There is no sync functionality, so the only way to use notes on another device is to send them as an e-mail to yourself.

ElementsElements

Available for: iPhone, iPad | Syncing: Dropbox | Price: $4.99 | App Store link

This is how I think a writing application for mobile devices should look like. Once you open a note you can focus on writing. The design invites to write longer forms, but you can always use scratchpad to write a quick idea.

You can check word, line and character counts for every note, send a note by mail or print it. The notes are synced back to your Dropbox account as .txt files.

iA Writer for iPadiA Writer

Available for: iPad | Syncing: Dropbox | Price: $0.99 | App Store link

The application makes writing on the iPad serious. It helps you focus on writing by providing features no other app has. You can use FocusMode to concentrate on one sentence at a time.

The keyboard is tailored for writing needs – word and arrow keys as well as most used punctuation marks are available without switching. Word count and reading time is shown at the top bar. You can manually sync notes with a Dropbox account.

The overall design, typography and care for details make this app a great choice for professional writers.

Pages for iPadPages

 

Available for: iPhone, iPad | Syncing: iTunes File Sharing | Price: $9.99 | App Store link

The ultimate text processor for iPad. It includes Apple-designed document templates, several formatting options and advanced layout tools. You can style text, set intents and margins and insert tabs with ease.

You can import and work with Pages ’09, Word and text files. Share your work as Pages ’09, Word and pdf.

Pages includes most of the features of the desktop word processor. The only question is, whether you really need them on an iPad or iPhone.

* * * 

If you are looking for ways to write and edit Google Docs on your iOS device(s), there are applications like Go Docs ($4.99) or Documents ($0.99). Use them with care as you can lose formatting of your original document when you open it in the app and start editing. This happened to me a couple of times. When I really need to change something in one of Google document, I’m using either Safari browser or Safari-powered G-Whizz.

My favourite app is Simplenote. You can’t write for a long time on an iPhone. iPad is not for writing a content but for curating a content. What I really needed was a simple, fast, reliable app which syncs notes across all devices seamlessly. Simplenote matches those needs perfectly. 

If you liked this article, please share it with your friends. Get free updates by e-mail or RSS, powered by FeedBurner. Let’s meet on Twitter and Facebook. Check also my geek fiction stories: Password Incorrect and Failure Confirmed. 

 

This is a reprint from Piotr Kowalczyk‘s Password Incorrect. 

6 Predictable Romance Novel Heroes

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This post, by Susan Whelan, originally appeared on her Reading Upside Down site.

The Doctor

Still grieving for the loss of his wife/child, this gifted medical practitioner puts all of his emotional energy into healing his patients. Somehow he manages to maintain a buff physique despite his 16 hour working days.

The Cowboy 

Practical, tough and sexy as all-get-out, this hardworking rancher doesn’t have time for anything except for his property and his horses.

Funnily enough for a man who only seems to leave his property to visit the rodeo, feed store or local honky tonk, he can be amazingly suave when the right woman comes along (see Hugh Jackman in Baz Luhrman’s Australia for the Aussie equivalent, The Drover).

The Billionaire Tycoon

From dirt poor beginnings, probably with one alcoholic parent and one absent parent either through death or desertion, this man has abandoned all emotion in his single-minded quest to accrue wealth and power.

He is most inclined to fall in love with a) his plain-jane secretary who’s really stunningly beautiful and incredibly nice and has secretly loved him for years, b) a sassy woman who cares nothing for wealth or monetary success and is not impressed by him in any way or c) a random woman that he asks to marry him to fulfil some business ultimatum from a managing director or to avoid some money-hungry socialite trying to trick him into marriage.

 

Read the rest of the post, which covers three more stereotypical romance  on Reading Upside Down.

Quick Tips for Contests & Giveaways

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When authors think about book marketing, they often begin with a groan. It seems like an endless trudge from one social media site to another, trying to spark interest in readers who have hundreds of offers, ads, and other promotions coming at them every day.

That’s not a pretty picture.

But it doesn’t have to be that way, and authors who find ways to stand out from the crowd get a lot more eyeballs on their books than those who sink without a trace.

One of the easiest ways to generate some interest and enthusiasm is by making your promotion more fun, and more rewarding for people who participate.

That’s where contests, giveaways, and freebies can boost your marketing to a whole new level. Let’s take a look at some ways you can use these reader-engagement and promotion tools to gain more attention for your books.

Contests Engage Readers

Like most of these promotions, contests are mostly used around the time authors are launching a new book and trying to get some attention while it’s new.

But you don’t have to be limited to just running contests during your launch. You can also tie them to holidays, special events, and any other time when there’s some link to the subject matter of your book, or just for fun.

And who doesn’t want to win something? What you give away is up to you, but you might be surprised how many people will enter your contest even if the prize is something modest like a $25 Starbucks gift card.

Contests bring traffic to your site, put names on your email list, and help spread your brand.

Tips for using contests: 

  • Choose a prize or prizes for your contest carefully. Most authors want to give away a copy of their book, but you have to ask yourself whether that’s going to motivate people to enter. Consider giving an e-copy of your book to everyone who enters your contest and you might get a head start on your word of mouth marketing by putting your book into the hands of a lot of people over a short period of time.
     
  • Keep the entry time limited, since our attention spans seem to be shrinking all the time. A contest that goes on for a month will likely lose steam.
     
  • The bigger the prize, the more interest and attention your contest will generate. If your budget is very limited, get some other authors together and run the contest jointly, with everyone contributing to the prize and sharing in the excitement on their own blogs. You can amass a lot of books in the same genre from different authors, for instance, for a more impressive prize, or chip in and give away a more expensive gift than you could manage on your own.
     
  • Clearly state the rules and deadlines for the contest when you ask for entries. Make sure your rules and deadlines are simple to understand.
     
  • Entries can take any form you like. For instance, if you want more comments on your blog, make commenting the way people enter. If you want links back to your blog, make the entry a blog post on the entrant’s own site that links to yours.
     
  • Be careful what you ask for. Don’t make posting a review a condition for entering your contest, as e-retailers have to be careful about authors trying to “game” their ranking system. You don’t want to run a contest and end up getting banned or demoted.
     
  • When the contest is over, get those prizes out right away. Follow up to deliver the goods, and make sure you post an article telling everyone who the lucky winner was.

Freebies and Giveaways

Besides being declared the “winner,” the next best thing is to get something for nothing. Giving stuff away is one of the most common marketing techniques, and it’s easy to see why.

If I offer to give you something of value in exchange for a few minutes of your time, or your email address, or for taking a survey, you’ll balance what the cost is against your own perceived value of the “freebie.”

Most authors want to use their book as what they’re giving away but, again, think about whether your new, and therefore mostly unknown book, is really the best thing to motivate people to take part in your promotion.

More on Contests and Giveaways

There’s a whole science to running contests that focuses on social media sites. If you have a good-sized following on Facebook or Twitter, a contest can be a great way to engage with your readers, spread the word about your books, and make a lot of new fans.

For instance, you might run an entire contest on Twitter and gain a lot of new Twitter followers at the same time.

If you decide to use Twitter for your contest, you’ll want to create a unique “hashtag” so people can follow your contest. This is a way to tag tweets so they can be filtered out of the stream of all tweets, and it will allow people following the contest to stay up to date with developments.

On Facebook, the most common request is to ask readers to “like” your fan page in order to enter. That’s a very low barrier and, depending on what the prizes are in your contest, you may want to raise the bar and ask for a comment, a suggestion for topics for your next book, or for results they’ve achieved using your ideas or your program.

These forms of feedback can be very helpful to your other promotions down the road, since you are soliciting testimonials at the same time that you’re running your contest.

The best guides for authors who want to incorporate contests and giveaways into their book promotion is to see what other authors are doing, and to approach it as if you were going to enter the contest yourself. Is it worthwhile? Will the prize motivate you? Is it fun?

Be creative, and use these proven promotional tools in your book launch. Your readers will thank you.

What results have you seen from contests or giveaways? Were you happy with the result? Got any tips for us?

Originally published by CreateSpace in a slightly different form as Promote Your Book with Contests & Giveaways.

 

This is a reprint from Joel Friedlander‘s The Book Designer.

Mad Dash – How To Use The Dash In Writing

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This article, by Ben Yagoda, originally appeared as part of The New York Times Draft series on the craft of writing.

Let’s consider the most versatile piece of punctuation — the dash. That’s right — I’m talking about the horizontal line formed by typing two hyphens in a row. It’s the mark that — unlike commas, periods, semicolons and all the others — doesn’t seem to be subject to any rules. 

You can get a sense of the dash’s versatility from the above paragraph, every sentence of which employs at least one of them. As for rules, well, there are some guidelines, but not too many.

First, make the thing the right way. There are a few ways to do it, but generally, on a keyboard, you can do as follows: previous word/no space/two hyphens/no space/following word. Word-processing programs turn the two hyphens into an unbroken line that’s roughly the width of a capital “M” — hence the official name of this punctuation mark, the em-dash. (Some publications, including this newspaper, add spaces around dashes.)

Do not call a hyphen (-) a dash — as, for some reason, computer-support personnel feel compelled to do when they recite into the telephone the characters you are supposed to enter.

Dashes are used for two main purposes. The first is what I call the Pause Dash. It more or less says to the reader, “Right here, I want you to take a breath. What you will read next relates to what you have just read in an interesting way, and I would like to emphasize it.” When using dashes this way, you are allowed only one per sentence.

The second main category is the Parenthetical Dash, in which dashes are deployed in pairs and set off nonessential elements of the sentence. When using dashes this way, limit yourself to one pair per sentence. (More than that produces confusion about exactly what is meant to be set off by the dashes, as in this sentence from a well-known piece of social criticism: “While an ethic of justice proceeds from the premise of equality—that everyone should be treated the same—an ethic of care rests on the premise of nonviolence—that no one should be hurt.”) In addition, make sure dashes are placed in such a way that, if the material within them is removed, the sentence still makes sense.

A third purpose of dashes is to indicate disjointedness. This function shows up in dialogue (“I saw Bill yesterday — wait, is that a helicopter up there? — never mind”), in prose with a stream-of-consciousness quality, and in poetry, and is subject to no rules at all.

 

Read the rest of the article on The New York Times blogs site.

To Write Horror, You Must Be Horrified

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This post, by Matt Moore, originally appeared on Matt Moore Writes.

If you write horror, you know that sometimes it can be fun. The set-up, misdirection, the monsters and mayhem, blood and gore. There is fun in horror writing and readers often share in that fun.

But the question to ask is: Do you want readers to have fun?

 

Think about the over-the-top slapstick gore of Evil Dead II, the self-referential nature of theScream series or the unintentional hilarity of the Friday the 13th films. (And I am going to use films because they are more well-known.) Is that what you’re trying to write? Maybe you just want to tell a story about blood and guts to make the reader feel queasy.

Or are you trying to horrify the reader? Think The Exorcist or American Psycho. Stories that make us squirm. True horror stories are those that leave a lasting impression of something being just plain wrong.

So how do you write horror?

Horror is a Moral Genre

At its heart, a good horror story challenges our morality. (And don’t worry, I’m not going to ride a morality high horse here. Neither does Rev. Jonathan Weyer in his blog post, which I highly recommend.) It’s not the blood and guts that horrify us, it’s that our sense of right and wrong is thrown off balance.

 

What makes Psycho unsettling is not (just) the spooky house, insane mother and mad-slasher elements. It’s matricide, suggestions of incest and the mother being so hung up on her son getting laid she’ll kill to prevent it.

In other words: sex. Considering when Psycho was released, it was shocking material.

But the motivation of the killer in Psycho can be explained. What drives:

  • Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs (let’s assume the subsequent books/movies never happened)
     
  • The Joker in The Dark Knight


  • The demon in The Exorcist


  • The xenomorphs in Alien and Aliens

 

 

Read the rest of the post on Matt Moore Writes.

5 Fanbase-Boosting Facebook Secrets

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Do you want to know something that makes me feel old?

Facebook has been around for eight years.

I was a sophomore in college back in 2004 when Mark Zuckerberg first launched the social media site that changed the world. Back then, only college students could have profiles on the site — making it easier for us to stalk meet new friends.

Now everyone (including your grandma) is on Facebook and happy to overshare every detail of his/her life.

But with the launch of the new timeline feature and the addition of in-page apps, Facebook has also become an essential, powerful tool for business owners (including us career-minded indie authors) to connect with fans.

 

Best of all? It’s FREE.

If you’re not harnessing the power of Facebook to promote yourself, find new readers and chat with fans, you’re missing out!

There are a MILLION ways to build your fanbase with Facebook fan pages and, to get you started, I’ve nailed down 30 tips you can start using today (15 here and 15 more I’ll tell you about later).

First, a few pointers!

As much time as I’ve spent on Facebook (read: a lot) there are still a lot of terms and such that I stumble over when making changes to my fan page especially.

Just to be sure we’re all clear on the lingo, here’s a quick look at the main components of your Facebook fan page:

Your Facebook fan page is broken up into a few different key sections — the cover photo, profile photo, apps/tabs and your about area (the ad pictured above is just to give you an idea of how big they are and where they appear on the website).

A couple of quick bonus tips on the Facebook basics:

  • Cover Photos: Update yours often (once a month, at least) but don’t ever include your website address in your cover photo (Facebook doesn’t like that, and can ban you for doing it — yikes!)
     
  • Profile Photo: This should always be a picture of you, so that when your updates appear in someone’s news feed they’ll see your smiling face right beside it! You can update it periodically, but it’s not as crucial to update your profile photo as it is your cover photo.
     
  • Bio Area: Make sure you DO list your website address in your about section.
     
  • Apps/Tabs: This the major area where you can get the most out of your Facebook page. Your photos tab always has to go first, but you have 11 other spots to add tabs with custom images, links, contests, etc. (See below for more!)

If you’re unsure about the difference between Facebook fan pages and personal profiles, shoot me an email and I’ll help you out with that one (took me a while to get it straight, too!).

1. Maximize your reach with Agora Pulse

Sign up for a free Agora Pulse trial to find out when most of your fans are online so you can maximize the views of your post (ours is Thursday morning between 7 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.!).

2. Grow your likes with WooBox

Use an app like WooBox to create a custom page with content hidden behind a “fan-gate.” That means it requires someone to be your fan before they can access the content, which then gives them that extra incentive to like your page! You can also choose a “friend-gate” option where someone has to get a certain number of their friends (you choose between 1 and 100) to like your page before they can see your special content.

3. Promote Facebook in your e-mail signature

Add your Facebook page link to your email signature, encouraging anyone you interact with via email to visit your Facebook page!

4. Host a contest on your Facebook page

Run a fan-only contest like a photo competition, trivia, giveaway, etc. with an app like SweptIn or WildFire. (Note: Facebook does NOT like users to have contests using only Facebook’s functionality — you MUST use a third party app to run a contest!)

5. Share a video

Upload video directly to Facebook to share with your fans. You could:

  • Answer some frequently asked questions
  • Share insight into how you developed your latest novel
  • Dish about what you’re working on now
  • Read a sample chapter of your book

Also consider sharing a book trailer or other promotional video for your book release!

6. Create an event on Facebook

Create a Facebook event for an appearance, book signing, Q&A or any other upcoming event and share it on your fan page!

7. Direct traffic to your page with a QR Code

Have you ever used your smartphone to scan a QR code? It’s a fun, easy way for people to go straight to your website on their smartphone, and you can get one for free!

Use your code in your paperback, media kit and any other print materials (like flyers and bookmarks) you use to promote your book. You can send people to your Facebook page or straight to your website!

8. Join a Facebook Group

Back in the day it was all about joining groups like “I *heart* Josh Groban” and “I’m addicted to Sims 2,” but now Facebook actually has groups that can help you network. Check out Authors Helping Authors, Authors, Agents and Aspiring Writers, and Authors & Writers Co-Op. (Note: Those are all open groups that anyone can join, but there are some closed groups which require an invitation to join.)

9. Announce your fan page to your mailing list

Use the power of your mailing list to drive traffic to your Facebook page by promoting it in your next newsletter or e-mail. Don’t just relegate it to the sidebar either — make an announcement, promote Facebook-only content, or advertise a Facebook contest.

10. Take advantage of a captive audience via SMS

Next time you have the attention of a group of fans at a signing event, appearance or speaking engagement, encourage them to pull out their smart phones and text “fan [yourusername]” or “like [yourusername]” (without the quotes, obviously) to 32665. This will automatically make them like your page – abracadabra!

11. Use your Facebok link to leave blog comments

When you’re commenting on another blog, instead of using your website link in the URL space, why not leave your Facebook fan page URL instead? Other commenters will be able to connect with you immediately via Facebook, instead of going to your website where they might have to search for a way to contact you!

12. Install a “Like” Button for your posts

WordPress has several plug-ins (like this one or Digg Digg, which we use) that will let your readers “like” a specific post directly from your website. Using a feature like this (to cut out the extra step of your fans going to Facebook to share your post) is a win-win!

13. Connect your Facebook fan page to Twitter

Cross-promotion between your social media networks is a must! WooBox has a free app you can use to add your Twitter account to your Facebook page. It brings your Twitter profile and latest tweets right into Facebook, so fans can easily check for updates, follow you and see your newest activity without leaving Facebook.

14. Connect your Facebook fan page to Pinterest

Ditto the above for Pinterest — this is an awesome way to showcase your boards on your Facebook fan page and again, WooBox has a free app to make that happen.

15. Connect your Facebook fan page to GoodReads

Do you see a pattern? This one is little different than Twitter and Pinterest, however. GoodReads has its own app you can add to your personal profile to share your latest activity on that social network, but I wasn’t able to find one specifically for fan pages. BUT, you can use WooBox’s regular HTML page and drop in the link for your GoodReads account. We’ll even help you out with this GoodReads tab image that you can download and use for the custom image!

But wait…there’s more!

We have 15 more tips for using Facebook, but we hid them — guess where?

On our Facebook page, of course!

Do us a favor and go like our Facebook page (if you haven’t already) and you’ll see the full list of 30 Facebook tips for authors!

Have you had success with other Facebook fan page add-ons, tips or tricks?

Share with the class, please!

Facebook is developing so quickly that it’s hard to keep up with everything that goes on there! If you have some ideas or insight into other apps, strategies or tools for getting the most out of your Facebook fan page, share them in the comments.

 

This is a reprint from Duolit.

A Line In The Sand

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This post, by Peg Brantley, originally appeared on the Crime Fiction Collective blog and is reprinted here in its entirety with that site’s permission.

 

If you draw a line in the sand—over which you affirm you will not cross—where do you redraw it when a wave washes it away? Or when a jogger comes along and tramples it? Do you draw it in the same place or move it somewhere out of the way?

 

 

Integrity only means something when you stand strong. It’s mist in the wind if you adjust your values because they become inconvenient. Keeping your integrity might mean you have to lose a few quick sales, or build your career a little slower than you’d like.

Here’s what I’ve seen with many authors recently—traditional or indie:

A lot has been made lately about phony or paid reviews. Most of us were righteously indignant, and deservedly so. Some people unfortunately, simply wish they’d thought of it first. But that’s only one piece of the game.

What about biographies? Is your biography dead-on, or have you played with reality a bit? I’ve heard it referred to as "permissive puffery" which to me is just another way of moving that line in the sand. Did you really make your living as a journalist or is the truth that your local hometown paper published two letters you wrote to the editor? Or that you were a star for your school newspaper?

How about calling yourself an award winning author because you came in second place in some obscure writing contest? (I have a framed certificate on my wall. Does that count?) I remember when I won that award, a friend told me I could now refer to myself as an award winning author. I think she meant it tongue-in-cheek, but it did make me wonder.

Then there’s calling yourself a bestselling author because your book hit the top 100 of a free list, narrowed down by three or four categories? Are you serious? The NYT’s Bestseller list has a few ethical issues of its own—don’t compound it by adding yours.

Or review trading—explicit or implied. This was kind of a new one for me. No one actually came out and said "I’ll give you a great review if you give me a great review", but the timing of their review and suddenly receiving their book made it hard not to hear those words. And when I wasn’t crazy about their book? I sort of felt like I should somehow move to have their review taken down. It felt fake and sleazy.

To be perfectly honest, I asked a few readers who had given my first book a positive review to take a look at The Missings early in order to give it a nice bump at its launch. But I also spread that request out to others who may or may not have ever read my first book. One of my first 5-star reviews is from such a reader. Dishonest? Unethical? Lacking in integrity? I don’t think those were any different than publishers sending out ARCs to try and get that same bump.

Writers, what about you? Have you seen things that made you shake your head? Were you ever tempted?

Readers, especially readers… have you begun to see through some of this stuff? Does it make you doubt everything?

Peg Brantley was never a journalist or a screenwriter or a sought after speaker. Although Amazon might say she has some bestselling books, she’s still trying to reach that mark. Yes, she did receive second place in a writing contest once and even an honorable mention in another… but award winning? Net yet. RED TIDE rose as high as number two one time when she happened to look at the list. That was a kick. It didn’t last.

 

 

Pricing Your Novel

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This post, by Robert Kroese, originally appeared on the New Wave Authors blog on 10/3/12.

 

When you self-publish your first novel, I recommend pricing the e-book very low. Currently $0.99 is the lowest price Amazon will allow for a Kindle book, and I think this is a good starting price. Smashwords allows free downloads, but I think most authors are better off not giving away their books (except as a limited time promotion). Even if you get a lot of downloads, it’s hard to know how that’s going to translate into actual sales if you start charging later on. 

Free-book-downloaders are a whole different market segment than book-buyers. People who seek out free books are likely to continue doing that, whereas someone who pays $0.99 for your book and loves it probably won’t blink at the idea of spending $2.99 or even $4.99 or more for your next book.

At $0.99, you’ll make next to nothing per book, but you’ll have a good chance at catching the interest of a lot of potential fans. If you just can’t stomach pricing your baby that low, you can try setting the price a little higher. Currently, $2.99 is the minimum price that qualifies for Amazon’s 70% royalty option (at $0.99, you’ll make only 30%, less delivery costs), so you’ll make significantly more per copy at that price. $2.99 is still low enough that people will be willing to take a chance on an unknown author, but I wouldn’t go any higher than that.

I’ve heard many writers argue that they shouldn’t be expected to work for free; that their book is worth more than $0.99; that if authors keep giving away their work, it will depress prices overall, making it impossible to make a living as a writer; etc. I urge you to drop all these idealistic delusions right now. Besides being misguided, these sorts of notions are NOT helpful when it comes to trying to sell books. You can’t afford to be a snob or an idealist if you expect to make it as a writer. Before you draw a line in the sand, ask yourself whether you’re going to be content with your principles and less than a hundred sales.

Reality check: no matter how good your book is, or how long you worked on it, your book is worth what someone will pay for it. There is no minimum wage for authors or other artists (just ask Van Gogh, who sold exactly one painting while he was alive). Furthermore, it isn’t your job to worry about shaping the future of the publishing industry. The publishing industry is going to roll on, in one form or another, with or without you. It isn’t waiting breathless to find out whether you’re going to price your book at $2.99 or $4.99.

 

 

Read the rest of the post on the New Wave Authors blog.

What Is Speculative Fiction?

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This post, by N.E. Lilly, originally appeared on GreenTentacles.com.

 

Well? What is it? You don’t really know do you? Well that’s OK, because then there would be little point in writing this article.

Speculative fiction is a term, attributed to Robert Heinlein in 1941, that has come to be used to collectively describe works in the genres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.

But if we already have science fiction, fantasy, and horror, then why do we need to muddy the water with yet another genre description? Because speculative fiction addresses fiction that includes Weird Tales, Amazing Stories, and Fantastic Fiction. It also may include other genres, such as Mysteries, Alternate Histories, and Historical Fiction. Speculative fiction can be a collective term to describe works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror and also addresses works that are not science fiction, fantasy, or horror, yet don’t rightly belong to the other genres.

 

 

Speculative fiction is also more than the collective title for works of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. The term also embraces works that don’t fit neatly into the separate genres. Tarzan. Television’s Early Edition. Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Tales that span the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. Stranger in a Strange Land. The Twilight Zone. Stories by Edgar Allen Poe. Tales that have been labelled simply as ‘weird’ or ‘adventure’ or ‘amazing’ because there was no proper place to put them. Stories on the fringe.

When you’ve come across a story or movie or game that both is and isn’t science fiction, fantasy, and/or horror, then you’ve discovered speculative fiction.

Examples of speculative fiction may run the gamut from the outright weird, such as in the short stories ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ by H.P. Lovecraft or ‘The Metamorphoses’ by Kafka, to the frighteningly possible, such as in the movie ‘Jaws’ directed by Steven Spielberg.

Speculative Fiction is Everywhere

Nearly every major industry has some little niche that produces content for or about speculative fiction. From an obvious industry such as cinema or toys, to industries that are not quite so obvious such as the manufacture of clothing and jewelry (costuming).

Nearly all content and media created for children contains some aspect of speculative fiction, such as talking animals, magic, or monsters. When speaking of children’s literature it’s almost impossible not to find speculative fiction in the form of fantasy or science fiction.

The majority of computer game titles produced, whether for personal computer or gaming consoles, also contain some element of speculative fiction. Whether it be a science fiction strategy game like Sid Meyer’s Alpha Centauri or a fantasy based first person role-playing game like Everquest.

And I defy you to find a single pen and paper role-playing game that doesn’t draw on some element of speculative fiction. There may be one, but I wouldn’t hold my breath looking for it.

Speculative Fiction is everywhere. It has invaded our lives… but what is it? We’ve contacted various people in the specultive fiction industry to profess their knowledge of the question… What is Speculative Fiction?

 

 

Read the rest of the post, which includes definitions and remarks from five more contributors, on GreenTentacles.com.

Should Authors Blog Or Not?

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This post, by Misti Wolanski, originally appeared on her Another Author’s 2 Pence blog on 5/3/12.

Should the modern-day author blog or not?

Though that seems like a straightforward question, it really isn’t. Some say authors should be on every social media site possible, pimping their book out for sales—and, to be fair, trade-published authors often do have a limited amount of time to make the majority of their sales. Some say authors should just spend their time writing the next book, not worrying about marketing. 

And some of us just shrug, pick a few social media techniques we enjoy, and work on our next stories. *twiddles thumbs*

That said, I’ve kept an eye on online media and publishing information and all that jazz for… well, at least 7 years. I’ve seen very few folks (other than John Locke in his much-debated How I Sold 1 Million Ebooks in 5 Months) say that blogging nets them a worthwhile number of sales for the time spent.

Even if I speak as a blog reader or commenter, I haven’t actually bought many books by folks whose blogs I’ve read. I could count on my fingers the folks for whom appreciation for their blog (or helpful online presence) led to me buying books I wouldn’t have otherwise. I’d need more than one hand, granted, but we’re talking over 7 years’ time, here.

So, since I know it’s usually ineffective marketing, why do I blog?

Short answer: I enjoy it.

Long answer: I have a big mouth and like having a place where I can share what I know (or think) and folks can listen (or not) as they prefer. I’m the type of person who will be shopping for a cupcake, hear the person behind me cough, and offer them a horehound candy, after checking if they’re allergic to corn, fish, or mint.

(Horehound candies make fantastic cough drops, by the way, and they don’t close your throat up like menthol. And genetically modified corn has a fish gene in it, so corn and corn syrup can trigger some folks’ fish allergies.)

Back on topic…

Should an author blog?

Before I answer this question, I have a definition to share, as well as a small confession.

copy: writing that seeks to trigger a particular action in the target reader

(That’s why ad text is called ad copy.)

Blurbs are copy. Queries are copy. Blog posts meant to trigger a comment or a sale are copy.

And that is the difference between a blog that successfully leads to sales and one that… doesn’t. Its copy.

Some blogs are all information, no copy. Some have little (or downright bad) copy. In fact, my guess is that most blogs neglect to actually encourage their readership to take the action that the blog owner wants them to take.

 

 

Read the rest of the post on Another Author’s 2 Pence.

NaNoWriMo Cometh: A Terribleminds Primer

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This post, by Chuck Wendig, originally appeared on his Terribleminds site.

This past weekend, I spoke at the Crossroads Writers Conference in Macon, Georgia. I’ll presumably get to a full recap eventually (wherein I explain a weekend where I encountered people like: my first nervous fan, a former dominatrix, Delilah Dawson with her 1989 cell phone, Nathan “Baby Goose” Edmondson, Robert “Not-An-Accessory-To-Murder” Venditti, and various other awesome humans).

I also met Chris Baty, who is of course the big brain behind NaNoWriMo.

Now, I have my reservations about NaNoWriMo (which I pronounce “wree-mo,” as in, “NaNoWriMo Williams, The Adventure Begins”, even though it is, I’m told, technically “wry-mo”). I think like with all “get-thee-to-the-writery” initiatives, it’s a perfect fit for some and for others an anchor around their ankles, so you just gotta know what’s right for you and what works and not blame yourself when what’s really going on is you’re just adhering to a process that isn’t really your process.

Square peg, circle hole, and all that.

So, that being said, I also know that National Novel Writing Month gets a helluva lot of you up off your leafy, moldering bed of sadness and shame — and anything that forces you to shake off the barnacles and get your ass out to sea is good by me. (Actually, Baty had a good Grace Hopper quote comparing writers to seafaring vessels: “A ship in port is safe… but that’s not what ships are built for.”)

Anyway.

So, first up, I figure I’ll ask: who’s doing NaNoWriMo?

Have you done it before? What was your experience?

What are your hopes and reservations for doing it again?

Also — here’s a list of ten posts here at terribleminds that maybe, just maybe, will help you start to prep for the coming tide of furious frenzied cram-a-holic novel-writing come the month of November. 

 

Read the rest of the post, which includes many helpful links to Chuck Wendig’s helpful writing how-to posts, on Terribleminds.

My Response To "That" Sue Grafton Quote, And Self-Pub Philosophy In General.

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This post, by A.J. Pearson-VanderBroek, originally appeared on Apology to John Keats on 8/28/12.

So, I’m a little late on this topic, but I feel it’s time that I sat down and assembled my philosophy of self-publishing in wordage. And the topic/quote is a springboard for just that.

So, bestselling author Sue Grafton made a lot of independent and self-published authors angry when she basically called self-publishers lazy wannabes. I originally saw the quote in this Forbes article by David Vinjamuri, and soon after on writer’s blogs. Grafton has since issued some damage control and explanations about her quote, but the embers still burn.

 

Here is the quote, I found here:

"The hard work is taking the rejection, learning the lessons, and mastering the craft over a period of time. I see way too many writers who complete one novel and start looking for the fame and fortune they’re sure they’re entitled to. To me, it seems disrespectful…that a ‘wannabe’ assumes it’s all so easy s/he can put out a ‘published novel’ without bothering to read, study, or do the research. Learning to construct a narrative and create character, learning to balance pace, description, exposition, and dialogue takes a long time. This is not an quick do-it-yourself home project. Self-publishing is a short cut and I don’t believe in short cuts when it comes to the arts. I compare self-publishing to a student managing to conquer Five Easy Pieces on the piano and then wondering if s/he’s ready to be booked into Carnegie Hall."

So, here we go. 

Honestly, getting mad about "wannabe" writers is the third in the Big Three, as I like to call them, of Things Every New Writer Thinks. One is needing to put a © symbol on everything they submit/don’t submit for fear of having their work stolen. Two is honestly believing that their book’s themes are universal themes, so everyone will want to read it. Third, I reiterate, "Omg, I bleed ink better/harder/longer that that guy. I’m mad now." (And I’m speaking from experience as well as observation.)

I ran into the same thing in college. I was a lit major, and I took lit classes. I had peers who never read the books assigned. (That’s all lit classes are. Reading books. And they didn’t. Why. No idea.) Or the scope of their literary criticism/critical thinking was, "Yeah, I didn’t really like that book. That wasn’t a good book." Well, guess what. I loathed "Cry, the Beloved Country" but that thing is underlined and noted on every other page, and I learned a lot from reading it. At the end of the day, it didn’t really matter that they just read Sparknotes and got C’s or B’s, when I stayed up every night reading 300 pages and got A’s. We graduated with the same degree. And since it doesn’t really matter if you can list Dante’s circles of hell when applying for jobs in telecommunications or customer service, I guess everyone wins. (I mentioned writing literary criticism as a hobby at my interview for the grocery store. Express cashier, baby.)

But it’s everywhere. In every job I’ve had, in every hobby I’ve seen, there are people standing around lamenting over the wannabes. Fearing they may be thought of as a wannabe. Pointing the finger at the wannabe, haha, wannabe! But let’s not dwell on the wannabes. Wannabe’s gonna wan..na.

The main point that has ruffled so many feathers is "Self-publishing is a short cut and I don’t believe in short cuts when it comes to the arts." Like many of the angered self-pubbers out there, I do not see self-publishing as a shortcut. I have spent hours (Blood! Tears!) teaching myself formatting. I have honed my skills as an editor, because, honestly, good editors are very hard to find. I’ve read graphic design and art books to learn about cover design and have actively been trying to sharpen my skills in photography. Not to mention that I spend hours in between my three jobs reading fiction, non-fiction, blogs and articles. I take notebooks with me everywhere I go. I write on napkins, in texts, on my breaks, late at night. And many self-publishers do that. They work diligently to polish their product and get better at their craft. But it doesn’t matter to anyone else that I’m sitting at my patio feverishly trying to get a page written before I have to go to work. No one’s life is changed by me staying up too late again to write this blog post. We’re all doing our own thing, to cope, to live, to survive, to escape, to whatever. And we get great books out of it all, that we all enjoy and share. We also get bad books. 

 

Read the rest of the post on Apology to John Keats.

Wasted Words

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As writers we are told to avoid clichés, to come up with a new and better way to describe and characterize.

Here are some of my pet peeves:

 

  • Irregardless. It’s just plain regardless.
     
  • We’ll meet at 9 a.m. in the morning. As opposed to 9 a.m. in the evening?
     
  • The good doctor. Maybe he’s a bad doctor.
     
  • Very unique. Unique is a word unto itself. It doesn’t need any qualifiers. What is fairly unique? Uniquely unique?
     
  • At this point in time. Where else would it be?
     
  • At the end of the day. Probably a good phrase the first 5 times it was used, but now…sick of it!
     
  • Think outside the box. Again a good one the first 10 times, but…
     
  • I personally believe. As opposed to I impersonally believe?
     
  • It is what it is. Huh?
     
  • To be honest. That makes me think you might NOT be!

BBC’s Magazine has posted a funny list of its readers’ most hated cliché phrases.

To be honest and fair, going forward, this is basically something that, at the end of the day, we’re likely to touch base about again.

Let’s face it, the fact of the matter is that literally all of us succumb to the use of these stock phrases — even when bringing our A game and giving 110%.

What are your most hated clichés — and how do you avoid them? 

 

 

This is a reprint from author and editor Heidi M. Thomas‘s blog.

Author Tweets

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Rant Warning: This is an opinionated rant. You are entitled to your own opinion, of course, and may disagree with what I’ve posted here; but the chances are that if you do, you’re probably part of the problem.

I enjoy the back and forth that comes from collaboration and discussion. I suppose at some very elemental level, it’s this pleasure which provokes me to write; hanging up my ideas for all to react to. It’s an invitation to absolutely guaranteed rejection – at least half the time. OK. Most of the time. My wife worries about the psychic damage that may occur.

I try to reassure her that I see it as an academic thing, not personal. So the discourse goes on. There is one area of discussion that seems to provoke rapid, decisive behavior on my part. Author tweets.

I am always glad to receive that happy little email that I have a new follow from someone. I always like to read the profile linked to the notice, and from the description, figure out what they thought about my online presence and writing might be entertaining or useful. But many times, among their pastimes, or career choices, I see the dreaded words. Editor. Writer or, even worse… Author.

I’m not a self-hating writer. Woody Allen’s theory of club membership comes to mind, but I don’t subscribe. I understand how hard it is in this spin-meister controlled world, for an author to get the word out about their work. It takes a huge commitment of time and energy and the willingness to risk behaving foolishly in newly discovered venues. I’ve done it myself. But, there is one thing that really rankles me in the sphere of writer self-promotion. Author Tweets.

Now, while Mutual Tagging and Review and Freebie parties are annoying enough – the whole perpetual motion machine thing – they are still something that one has to stumble into. No, they aren’t as insidious and aggressive as logging into your Twitter account to find twelve consecutive tweets from a writer, methodically blaring out excerpts from his work, or ethereal questions about its impact upon the Olympian Heights.

Twitter, I believe is a very, very useful tool. I think it can be a really great way to create a dialog between a vendor and their customers and between an author and their readers. The marketing validity has already been proven. But this ceaseless beating of the old, tin drum – is it really necessary? I wish more authors would take a moment to consider the impact of their side-show act upon the midway regulars. If we’re there doing the same ourselves, the chances are we know where you hid the card. It’s not a fresh idea with us. Plus, you’re giving your hand away. You’re tipping it over every time your tweet has anything resembling “my book” in it. I see that too often and I walk away, or more accurately, I UNFOLLOW.

I really believe that it is possible to actually share things that are useful, or that communicate one’s own opinions effectively without a big sloppy “See what I did!” tagged onto the end. Readers are intelligent, resourceful people. They read. They can make judgment calls when it comes to deciding whether they find an author’s words worth paying for, or spending the time to read them. If they find something useful in what is written, they’ll decide to pursue it. Otherwise, no amount of repetition (I know repetition is considered a key element of success, but who made up those rules anyway?) or public flagellation will force their hands.

So, rather than spend our time finding clever ways to game the system more than it already is, why not actually try to tweet out something useful, something heart-felt, something of value? Your book probably (I’m going out on a limb, here…) has some really moving themes, or useful information, or common ground or thoughtful discussion in its pages. It’s the “why” that answers the question: why would anyone read this? If you can keep that in mind, and build up awareness of the useful material or awareness of the questions your work poses, without just hanging out your shingle or a bigger, brighter, shinier shingle, you will have succeeded while all around you others will be flailing around. Beating each other over the head with their newest book covers or scintillating reviews. You’ll keep my follow and I might even read your book!

Added thought: Not to say I don’t want to know when you release a new book, but I only need to hear the news occasionally, or it’s really no longer news, right? 

 

This is a reprint from Richard Sutton’s Saille Tales blog.