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March 10, 2013 By Anne R. Allen 36 Comments

The #1 Reason for #QueryFails—How to Avoid Automatic Rejection from a Reviewer, Agent, Editor or Blogger

by Anne R. Allen   Whether you’re a freelance journalist trying to place an article, a novelist looking for literary representation, or an indie author seeking reviews and/or guest post gigs, every writer needs to learn to write a smart, short, compelling query letter. (And no, it can’t be a Tweet or personal message on […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, The Publishing Business, Writers Dealing with Reviews and Rejection Tagged With: #QueryFail, Book Blogger, Foreword Literary, Gordon Wornock, How to Query, how to query a book reviewer, Laurie McLean, Michael Murphy, Pam van Hylckama Vlieg

February 24, 2013 By Anne R. Allen 46 Comments

Self-Editing 101—13 Questions to Ask Yourself about Your Opening Chapter

Self-Editing 101—13 Questions to Ask Yourself about Your Opening Chapter

By Anne R. Allen   This is usually Ruth’s week to post, but she’s busy proofing galleys of her much-anticipated new novel The Chanel Caper. And next weekend, I’ll be busy teaching THE TECH-SAVVY AUTHOR workshop. So we switched. On March 3rd, look for Ruth’s post on why we like a tough, flinty heroine. OK, […]

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Filed Under: Writing Craft Tagged With: how to start a novel, Laurie McLean, Mary Sues, Nathan Bransford, prologues, Robinson Crusoe openings, Roxanna Britton, Self-Editing, Shirley S. Allen, Tech-Savvy Author winners

February 17, 2013 By Anne R. Allen 61 Comments

12 Social Media Mistakes for Authors to Avoid

by Anne R. Allen   Are you “building platform” or just annoying people? This week, author Mary W. Walters blogged that promoting your books on Facebook and Twitter is a total waste of time for book sales. That’s because Social Media is not for selling books. It’s for making friends—friends we hope will help us in our […]

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Filed Under: Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Bit.ly, David Gaughran, Elizabeth Ann West, Elizabeth S. Craig, Facebook, Kristen Lamb, Mary W. Walters, Social Media, The Passive Voice, The Tech-Savvy Author, Twitter

February 10, 2013 By Anne R. Allen 33 Comments

Are You Neglecting This Important Book Sales Tool? 5 Steps to a Great Product Description

Are You Neglecting This Important Book Sales Tool? 5 Steps to a Great Product Description

Today we have some valuable advice from Mark Edwards, one of the superstar authors who made indie publishing the powerful movement it has become. He and Louise Voss made history when their self-pubbed books soared to the top of the UK bestseller lists and got them a big-money deal with HarperCollins.  One of the secrets […]

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Filed Under: Self-Publishing, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, Writing Craft Tagged With: All Fall Down, Anne R. Allen, how to sell on Amazon, how to write a blurb, how to write a book product description, Killing Cupid, Learn to be a ghostwriter, Mark Edwards, My WANA, Tech-Savvy authors

February 3, 2013 By Anne R. Allen 53 Comments

Why You Should Google Yourself: It’s Not Vain—It’s Good Business

Why You Should Google Yourself: It’s Not Vain—It’s Good Business

by Anne R. Allen   First: Many thanks to Writers Digest editor Robert Lee Brewer, who put this blog in his list of “Blogs that Rock” in his BEST BLOGS FOR WRITERS TO READ IN 2013 this week. Yes, you should do frequent Internet searches of your own name. I have to laugh when I see writers apologizing on their […]

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Filed Under: Social Media and Marketing For Writers, The Publishing Business Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Bing, Elaine Raco Chase, Klout, Kristen Lamb, No Place Like Home, PeerIndex, Porter Anderson, Robert Lee Brewer, your name is your brand

January 20, 2013 By Anne R. Allen 54 Comments

5 Blogging Rules Authors Can Ignore…and 5 You Can’t

5 Blogging Rules Authors Can Ignore…and 5 You Can’t

by Anne R. Allen   Do all aspiring authors need to blog? The answer used to be: Only the ones who want to get published. Now, agents and publishers are letting up on the requirement. Recently, agent Rachelle Gardner changed her stance on blogs.“A few years ago, the standard wisdom was that authors, both fiction […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: blogging for authors, blogging rules, Do authors need to blog, how to blog, how to write blog headers, Kristen Lamb, Nina Badzin, Porter Anderson, Rachelle Gardener, Social Media, The Slow Blog Manifesto

January 13, 2013 By Anne R. Allen 54 Comments

The Number One Mistake New Writers Make

The Number One Mistake New Writers Make

by Anne R. Allen   Most complaints about authors by agents and editors as well as reviewers can be boiled down to the same offense. It’s the major reason so many reviewers won’t read self-published books by unknowns. What is that mistake? Rushing to publish too early. Nobody wants to read a rough draft. Your […]

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Filed Under: The Writing Life, Writing Craft Tagged With: 99 cent book bubble, critiquecircle.com, Editing, Kathryn Rusch, Kristen Lamb, Malcolm Gladwell, NaNoWriMo, publishing business, self publishing

January 6, 2013 By Anne R. Allen 60 Comments

Online Book Reviews: Games People Play

Online Book Reviews: Games People Play

by Anne R. Allen   Last year I wrote a post about the importance of writing Amazon reviews that caused something of a poop-storm in the bookish corners of Cyberia. Although most readers—especially in my own Boomer demographic—were grateful for the post, a furious minority exploded in fits of high dudgeon. I even got death threats […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Writers Dealing with Reviews and Rejection Tagged With: Amazon review removal, Book review blogs, Boomer Lit, Dorothy Parker, Gary Trudeau, Jeremy Duns, Jess Walter, Joanna Harris, John Updike, Mark Billingham, Mark Coker, New York Review of Books, The New Yorker

December 23, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 43 Comments

The Secret Writing Rule Book…and Why to Ignore It

The Secret Writing Rule Book…and Why to Ignore It

by Anne R. Allen   Somerset Maugham famously said, “There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, nobody knows what they are.” But pretty much everybody you meet in this business will tell you there are a whole bunch. (One is “never start a sentence with ‘there are’” —so watch yourself, Mr. Maugham.) I recently read […]

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Filed Under: Writing Craft Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Beginning Novelist, Dorothy Parker, editor Jamie Chavez, Secret writing rule book, show don't tell, words to eliminate from your writing, writing rules

December 16, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 37 Comments

Social Media Overload: How Do Authors Reach READERS? Advice from Bestselling Romance Author Roni Loren

Social Media Overload: How Do Authors Reach READERS? Advice from Bestselling Romance Author Roni Loren

  by Roni Loren   If there is one question that all writers would love to have a definitive answer to, it’d be: How do I reach my current readers and attract new readers? For many of us, the most practical place is online. We don’t have the funds to fly around the country for […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: blogging for authors, Facebook, Fall into You, Janice Hardy, Roni Loren, Social Media, social media for authors, Social Media Marketing, Twitter

December 9, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 56 Comments

Self-Publishing or Traditional Publishing? Which is the Right First Step for YOU?

by Anne R. Allen   The list of million-seller “indie” authors is growing every day. Self-publishing has not only become mainstream—it’s edgy and cool. Persuasive blogs by self-publishing stars like Joe Konrath, Dean Wesley Smith, David Gaughran and Kris Rusch have inspired a staggering number of new writers to self-publish in the past two years. […]

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Filed Under: Self-Publishing, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, The Publishing Business Tagged With: Big Six publishing, Catherine Ryan Hyde, David Gaughran, Jane Friedman, Janet Reid, Porter Anderson, Publisher's Lunch, Publishing alternatives, Rachelle Gardner, Ruth Ann Nordin, self publishing, Writer Beware

December 2, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 70 Comments

Indie Publishing: Why We Can’t Party Like It’s 2009

Indie Publishing: Why We Can’t Party Like It’s 2009

by Anne R. Allen   Amazon’s Kindle turned five years old last week. What an exciting half-decade it’s been! Jeff Bezos showed his genius when he gave his e-reader that name. The device sparked a conflagration that is still pretty much out of control. The old publishing world is in chaos, and nobody has a […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Self-Publishing, Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: Big 6-5-4, Derek Haines, Jane Friedman, Joe Konrath, KDP Select, Kindle Millionaires, Kobo, Kristen McLean, Mark Coker, Meghan Ward, missing Amazon reviews, Smashwords, sock puppet reviews. Elisa Lorello

November 18, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 25 Comments

What’s Next in Publishing? Literary Agent Laurie McLean Looks Ahead to 2013

What’s Next in Publishing? Literary Agent Laurie McLean Looks Ahead to 2013

   This week, we’re honored to host Laurie McLean, a senior agent at the Larsen-Pomada Literary Agency who is also a pioneer in the indie revolution. Since she’s been pretty good at predicting the big changes in the publishing industry in recent years, I asked her to look into her crystal ball and tell us […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Self-Publishing, The Publishing Business Tagged With: $13 e-reader, Agent Laurie McLean, Big Publishing, digital paper, Larsen-Pomada Agency, Penguin House, publishing in 2013, San Francisco Writers Conference, Smashwords

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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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