Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
by Anne R. Allen Blogging can boost your career in so many ways, as I wrote in my September 13th post, “Does an Author Really Need a Blog?” This blog sure has helped mine. Plus if you write non-narrative nonfiction like, ahem, How to be a Writer in the E-Age, a blog is pretty essential to your platform. […]
by Anne R. Allen “Blogging doesn’t sell books.” “Don’t waste your time blogging.” “Make book trailers! Email those newsletters! Spend more time on Pinterest and Instagram! Blogging is so over!” I’m hearing this stuff every day. But I still think a blog is one of the best uses of an author’s time. Even if […]
by Anne R. Allen Joining a good critique group can be the easiest (and cheapest) way for new writers to learn the nuts and bolts of writing and keep those cringe-making first drafts from gumming up slush piles or becoming part of the infamous “tsunami of self-published crap.” Whether online or in-person, critique groups can […]
by Anne R. Allen When I teach blogging to new writers, the most common question I get is: “What should I blog about?” My answer isn’t the same as you’ll hear from the major blogging gurus, because most of them are teaching people how to blog for its own sake. They will all tell […]
by Anne R. Allen A lot of marketing gurus are advising authors to cut back on blogging and social media and go back to the email marketing of the last decade. “The author with the biggest mailing list wins,” has become a mantra with self-publishing gurus. Go to most blogs and websites these days […]
by Anne R. Allen I get a lot of bargain ebook newsletters: BookBub, Fussy Librarian, Kindle News Daily, EBUK, etc. Often a book intrigues me enough that I click through to look at the book’s full details on the retail site. But I almost never buy. Sometimes the full blurb or a review will […]
A social media executor can keep you from haunting the Internet forever by Anne R. Allen One of my blogger friends died last week. Ann Calhoun was a regular commenter here from the beginning and often gave me suggestions for blog topics (she commented as “Churadogs”.) Her own blog, Calhoun’s Cannons, grew out of a local newspaper […]
We’re jazzed to have a visit this week from one of the most respected journalists in the publishing industry. Porter Anderson‘s resumé includes CNN, The Dallas Times Herald, and the Village Voice. He also writes for online biggies like Writer Unboxed, ThoughtCatalog, and FutureBook. He visits most of the major publishing industry conferences worldwide […]
by Anne R. Allen Lots has been written about the pain caused by online bullying of children and teens—and that stuff is horrific—but we don’t hear as much about the cyberbullying that goes on in the adult world. But cyberbullying can have disastrous consequences, no matter what the victim’s age or social status. In […]
by Anne R. Allen So you think you want to write a novel? You’re not alone. According to a New York Times study done a decade ago, 81% of Americans “think they have a book in them”. With the indie ebook revolution, I’m sure the percentage has grown. Of course, most of that 81% won’t ever write […]
The self-publishing movement that was sparked by the introduction of the Kindle ereader eight years ago has taken the entire industry on a rollercoaster ride that shows no signs of slowing down. The only thing we can count on in today’s publishing world is change. Solid advice given yesterday may not work today. Authors need […]
by Anne R. Allen Everybody keeps telling authors we should blog. But for a lot of new authors, the challenge of a blog is daunting. How can we write our books if we’re spending every day blogging? You can’t. And you shouldn’t. If you think you have to blog every day, or even every […]
by Anne R. Allen I’m not going to pretend that picking a title for your book is easy. In fact, it gets tougher all the time. We have to consider a lot more than how grabby a title looks on a bookstore shelf these days. In choosing a title now, we have to think […]
Anne R Allen’s Blog With Ruth Harris