by Anne R. Allen I visit a lot of author websites and blogs. Most are delightfully creative. I love how so many of the sites—especially the blogs—express the author’s personality and genre in a unique and clever way. But then there are the others… I’m talking about the sites that seem to have forgotten […]
7 Ways Authors Waste Time “Building Platform” on Social Media
by Anne R. Allen Authors are getting hammered with more and more demands on our time. We get escalating pressure to blog more! tweet more!! send more newsletters!!! churn out 12 books a year!!!! And don’t query unless your Klout rating is as high as Justin Beiber’s !!!!! It’s making us all feel as […]
10 Things Your Opening Chapter Should Do: A Check-List for Self-Editing
by Anne R. Allen Let’s face it: first chapters are hard. When you’re writing your first draft, you’re writing for yourself—getting to know your characters and their world. You should let everything spill out on the page free of your inner editor’s censorship. But when you’re revising, it’s a different story. You’ll need to cut […]
Short is the New Long: 10 Reasons Why Short Stories are Hot
by Anne R. Allen Ruth Harris will be posting on June 2 instead of today. She kindly switched with me because I’m going to be out of town next weekend, celebrating my Mom’s 92nd birthday. Thanks to all of you who downloaded my mom’s pioneer saga, ROXANNA BRITTON, and sent it to #1 in […]
How NOT to Self-Publish: 12 Things for New Indies to Avoid
by Anne R. Allen Self-publishing has lost its stigma, and it’s the publishing path of choice for a lot of writers these days. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Or that everybody who self-publishes will succeed. Unfortunately, I’m seeing a lot of writers dive in head first without having a clue what they’re doing. Even long-time […]
Top 10 Questions from New Writers: Answers to Your Most Burning Questions
by Anne R. Allen We welcome questions from readers, and we always try to offer an answer or at least steer you to a place where you can find one. A good place to get more detailed information is a book I co-wrote with Catherine Ryan Hyde: How to be a Writer in the E-Age…and […]
Gangs of New Media: Twitchforks, the Hive Mind, and “Social Lasers of Cruelty”
by Anne R. Allen I spend a lot of time here telling writers how and why to use social media, but I don’t often address the dangers. Yeah, they exist. I don’t know why, but otherwise sensible people can morph into irrational brutes when they’ve got their fingers on a keyboard and a connection […]
Author Etiquette 101: Do’s and Don’ts for Writers Using Social Media
by Anne R. Allen “Authors behaving badly” tends to be a hot topic on booky forums and blogs these days. A lot of people blame the indie movement, but some of the worst social media behavior I’ve seen comes from Big 5 authors who are following the dictates of their marketing departments. Unfortunately, a […]
What are Algorithms—and Why Should Authors Care about Them?
by Anne R. Allen First, an awesome announcement: this blog will be named to Writer’s Digest’s Best 101 Sites for Writers in the May-June issue! (special thanks to Lila and Janet for the heads-up.) We are so jazzed! The magazine should be in stores soon. Subscribers have already got their copies. Many, many thanks to whoever nominated […]
When is it OK to Blog Your Book?
by Anne R. Allen What? Blog a book? Sez you. You’re always hammering us NOT to put our WIPs on our blogs! True. And I continue to do so—if you’re a beginning novelist hoping to get a traditional book contract. Tiny snippets of fiction for blog hops and other writing-community bonding exercises are OK, […]
Is it Really Time for Authors to Stop Blogging?
by Anne R. Allen In a guest post on Jane Friedman’s blog on March 15th, L.L. Barkat said “blogging is a waste of time” for experienced authors. She feels blogging is only helpful for beginning authors who need “to find expression, discipline, and experience.” Her piece suggests blogging is for farm-leaguers only. Once writers […]
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 […]
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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