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May 3, 2025 By Anne R. Allen 15 Comments

The Hidden World of Writing Scams: What Every Author Needs to Know

The Hidden World of Writing Scams: What Every Author Needs to Know

  by Rachel Thompson BadRedhead Media, LLC. I have written many posts about the various scams targeting authors. Here are snippets from each one, specifics to look out for, and examples of these scams. My Substack is free, so you can click on each link to read more if you’d like.  PR Scams Marketing and […]

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Filed Under: Scams and Alerts for Writers, Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: Book Marketing, Rachel Thompson

April 26, 2025 By Anne R. Allen 22 Comments

THE CLIP FILE (Every Writer’s Best Friend and Secret Weapon)

THE CLIP FILE (Every Writer’s Best Friend and Secret Weapon)

  by Ruth Harris The clip file. Remember those? Gone are the days of messy, torn-out newspaper and magazine articles jammed into over-flowing, disorganized files. Those ancient artifacts have been replaced now by their neat and spiffy digital counterparts. Writers are readers and what we read is (or should be) a rich mine of ideas. […]

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Filed Under: The Writing Life, Writing Craft Tagged With: From East Hampton With Love, Ruth Harris, tips for writers, Where do you get your ideas?

April 19, 2025 By Anne R. Allen 26 Comments

10 Pieces of Bad Advice New Writers Get from Unhelpful Friends

10 Pieces of Bad Advice New Writers Get from Unhelpful Friends

Bad advice and false friends can destroy a career before it starts by Anne R. Allen Happy Easter! I hope everybody is enjoying biting the ears of chocolate bunnies, eating expensive hen’s eggs you’ve dyed garish colors, and other fun seasonal rituals. Yes, I love them all, and I admit to nearly decapitating a chocolate […]

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Filed Under: The Publishing Business, The Writing Life Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Bad advice for new writers, The Hour of the Moth, Tips for new writers

April 12, 2025 By Anne R. Allen 22 Comments

6 Book Marketing Tips for New Authors

6 Book Marketing Tips for New Authors

Multi-author anthologies are a great marketing tool by Anne R. Allen A couple of weeks ago, a European blogger asked if she could reblog a post I wrote 10 years ago. She said it was the best piece on marketing she’d ever  read. (Aw shucks. Here’s me blushing.) The truth is I’d forgotten all about […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: Book Marketing, multi-author promotions, The Hour of the Moth, Volumes of Pleasure Bookshoppe

March 8, 2025 By Anne R. Allen 60 Comments

Blogging is Still a Great Way for Authors to Reach Readers

Blogging is Still a Great Way for Authors to Reach Readers

by Anne R. Allen Two weeks ago, I posted a helpful piece from children’s author Sarah Allen about using Substack. A Substack newsletter is the trendiest way for authors to communicate with readers right now. But here I am, still blogging, with no newsletter, much less a fancy Substack one. In fact, this is my […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, The Publishing Business Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Should authors blog?, The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors

February 23, 2025 By Anne R. Allen 37 Comments

The Beginner’s Guide to Substack (and Why you Should Care)

The Beginner’s Guide to Substack (and Why you Should Care)

  by Sarah Allen To say that our online world looks different now than it did a decade ago is a wild understatement. In ye olden social media days of yore, the people who clicked to follow you actually saw your content. Feeds were in chronological order. Twitter was called Twitter and was a genuinely […]

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Filed Under: Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: Sarah Allen, Substack, What Stars are Made of

February 1, 2025 By Anne R. Allen 32 Comments

Can Marathon Writing Sessions Lead to Depression?

Can Marathon Writing Sessions Lead to Depression?

  by Anne R. Allen Last July, I put this blog on hiatus after 15 years because I had a novel to finish and blog business seemed to be taking all my time. I also felt worn down by the daily disrespect from the 1000s of wannabe guest bloggers who will not read or follow […]

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Filed Under: The Writing Life Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Fast writing, Thalia Press, The Hour of the Moth, Work-life balance, Writing and Depression

January 4, 2025 By Anne R. Allen 69 Comments

Are Misconceptions and Old Ideas Burdening Your Writing Life?

Are Misconceptions and Old Ideas Burdening Your Writing Life?

  by Anne R. Allen Happy New Year everybody! Yes, I’m back. Sort of. I won’t be posting every Sunday morning like clockwork the way I did for the fifteen years before I paused the blog last July. That rigid schedule was becoming a burden, and I’ve decided to unload some of my burdens this […]

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Filed Under: The Writing Life Tagged With: advice to new writers, critique groups, The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors, the Dunning-Kruger Effect

December 21, 2024 By Anne R. Allen 24 Comments

Wishing You Very Booky Holidays!

Wishing You Very Booky Holidays!

Have a Soulful Solstice, Happy Hanukkah, and a Merry Christmas! We’ll be back on a limited basis in the new year, and wish you all very happy holidays! Anne and Ruth    

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Filed Under: uncategorized Tagged With: blog news, Christmas, holidays

October 13, 2024 By Anne R. Allen 14 Comments

Personal Appearance and Reading

Personal Appearance and Reading

  If you happen to be on California’s Central Coast next Saturday, October 19th, TV actress Mara Purl and Anne will be doing a presentation and dramatic reading at Volumes of Pleasure Bookshop in Los Osos at 1:00 PM. We’ll read four scenes from our published and upcoming novels.    

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Filed Under: uncategorized

July 14, 2024 By Anne R. Allen 86 Comments

Blog Vacation Time! This Blog is Taking a Hiatus.

Blog Vacation Time! This Blog is Taking a Hiatus.

  by Anne R. Allen Yes, Ruth and I are taking a break. I’ve kept this blog going for fifteen years, posting every Sunday morning for most of that time, except the 5 months in 2020 when I was hospitalized. During that tough time, Ruth took the reins and kept the blog going with great […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, The Writing Life Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors

July 7, 2024 By Anne R. Allen 18 Comments

Tips on Finding the Right Agent and a Secret Way to Discover Agents You Don’t Know About

Tips on Finding the Right Agent and a Secret Way to Discover Agents You Don’t Know About

Find the right agent with the help of Literary Rambles by Natalie Aguirre Thanks so much for having me here, Anne and Ruth. Finding an agent can be incredibly challenging, and sometimes, it can feel impossible. One thing I’ve learned from my almost 15 years of interviewing debut and traditionally published authors and agents at […]

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Filed Under: The Publishing Business Tagged With: find the right agent, how to research agents, Literary Rambles, Natalie Aguirre

June 30, 2024 By Anne R. Allen 17 Comments

Rejected? How to Keep it in Perspective

Rejected? How to Keep it in Perspective

  Rejected? Maybe it’s not you. Today we’re celebrating Ruth Harris’s 13th blogiversary. Ruth joined this blog in June of 2011, and I know it wouldn’t have succeeded without her expertise, humor, and warmth. To celebrate, we thought we’d re-run Ruth’s very first post. It’s packed with wisdom that still applies today. How to Keep […]

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Filed Under: Writers Dealing with Reviews and Rejection Tagged With: A Sampling of Sleuths, Husbands and Lovers, rejection, Ruth Harris, the writing life

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writers digest 101 best websites for writers award

Anne R. AllenAnne R. Allen writes funny mysteries and how-to-books for writers. She also writes poetry and short stories on occasion. She’s a contributor to Writer’s Digest and the Novel and Short Story Writer’s Market.

Her bestselling Camilla Randall Mystery Series features perennially down-on-her-luck former socialite Camilla Randall—who is a magnet for murder, mayhem and Mr. Wrong, but always solves the mystery in her quirky, but oh-so-polite way.

Ruth Harris NYT best selling authorRuth is a million-copy New York Times bestselling author, Romantic Times award winner, former Big 5 editor, publisher, and news junkie.

Her emotional, entertaining women’s fiction and critically praised novels have sold millions of copies in hard cover, paperback and ebook editions, been translated into 19 languages, sold in 30 countries, and were prominent selections of leading book clubs including the Literary Guild and the Book Of The Month Club.

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