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August 19, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 80 Comments

Should You Eliminate “Was” From Your Writing? Why Sometimes “the Rules” are Wrong.

Should You Eliminate “Was” From Your Writing? Why Sometimes “the Rules” are Wrong.

by Anne R. Allen   No matter how much time and energy we put into querying agents and editors–or learning the ins and outs of self-publishing–it’s all wasted if we don’t have a polished piece of work. One way to make sure your book is the best it can be is to brush up on […]

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Filed Under: Writing Craft Tagged With: Elizabeth S. Craig, grammar lessons, Grammar nerds, Karin Cox, Passive voice, Passive writing, Past perfect tense, squirrels

August 12, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 32 Comments

How a 91-year-old Author’s Debut Mystery Hit the Bestseller List

How a 91-year-old Author’s Debut Mystery Hit the Bestseller List

by Anne R. Allen NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS! Recently, my publisher, MWiDP, relaunched Shirley S. Allen’s cozy mystery, ACADEMIC BODY as an ebook. Sales had slowed for the print version published by Mainly Murder Press in 2010, but Mark Williams saw my ad for the book on this blog, read it and loved […]

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Filed Under: Social Media and Marketing For Writers, The Writing Life, Writing Craft Tagged With: Academic Body, Bob Mayer, Catherine Ryan Hyde, cheap ebooks, cozy mysteries, How to Be a Writer in the E-Age, KDP Select, Kindle ebooks, Mark Coker, Shirley S. Allen

August 5, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 31 Comments

Terence Stamp: Actor, Writer, Publisher—His Journey from Academy Award Nomination to Unemployment and Back

Terence Stamp: Actor, Writer, Publisher—His Journey from Academy Award Nomination to Unemployment and Back

  I’m excited and honored to be hosting a superstar today! Terence Stamp is one of my favorite actors of all time. His career has spanned more than four decades, from his Academy-nominated and Golden Globe-winning title role in Billy Budd to his Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award winning role in The Collector to his portrayal of General […]

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Filed Under: Writing Craft Tagged With: Alicia Street, Andrew Loog Oldham, Anne R. Allen, Double Feature, Escargot Books, Rare Stamps, Richard LaPlante, Ruth Harris, Stamp Album, Terence Stamp

July 22, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 46 Comments

Cybermen, The Colorado Tragedy, and the Sociopath in the Comment Thread: Don’t Add to the Crazy

Cybermen, The Colorado Tragedy, and the Sociopath in the Comment Thread: Don’t Add to the Crazy

by Anne R. Allen   We still know nothing of the motives of the demented gunman who perpetrated the horrors at the screening of The Dark Knight Rises on Thursday night—and my heart goes out to the victims of that tragedy. But I think it’s important to note that earlier that day, the Rotten Tomatoes movie review site had […]

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Filed Under: Social Media and Marketing For Writers, The Writing Life, Writing Craft Tagged With: Anonymice, Colorado Tragedy, Cybermen, Dave Congalton, Dr. Martha Stout, Dr. Who, Reviews, Rotten Tomatoes Reviews, Sociopath, Terence Stamp, The Dark Knight Rises, The Sociopath Next Door

July 15, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 37 Comments

Social Media vs. a New York Times Book Review Cover: Which Sells More Books?

by Anne R. Allen   Yesterday Catherine Ryan Hyde and I spoke with a wonderful bunch of eager authors at the Digital Authors Seminar in San Luis Obispo. They were full of lots of great questions, some of which I’ll address here on the blog in coming weeks. We talked about the two events that […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, The Publishing Business Tagged With: Alan Rinzler, Catherine Ryan Hyde, Dr. Who, How to Be a Writer in the E-Age, Jennifer Weiner, KDP Select, New York Times Book Review, Publisher's Weekly, Shindig, Social Media Marketing

July 8, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 43 Comments

Bad Reviews—Six Reasons to Be Glad You Have Them

Bad Reviews—Six Reasons to Be Glad You Have Them

by Anne R. Allen   “What? Glad?” sez you. “There is nothing that makes a writer sadder than a bad review!” That’s true. They can feel like a sudden, nasty downpour on the biggest parade of your life. Whether you self-pubbed or worked with a traditional publisher, the publication of your first book is a […]

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Filed Under: The Writing Life, Writers Dealing with Reviews and Rejection, Writing Craft Tagged With: Amazon Review Guidelines, bad reviews, cyberbullies, Elizabeth S. Craig, Food of Love, how to deal with negative reviews, Kristen Lamb, MWiDP, Popcorn Press, The Best Revenge, trollosphere, Trolls

July 1, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 38 Comments

What if Hollywood Rewrites Your Book? Survival Tips from Catherine Ryan Hyde

What if Hollywood Rewrites Your Book? Survival Tips from Catherine Ryan Hyde

First: The big day has arrived!The ebook version of HOW TO BE A WRITER IN THE E-AGE…And Keep Your E-Sanity which I wrote with my mentor Catherine Ryan Hyde is now available on Amazon from MWiDP. For a limited time, the e-book price will be $2.99 in the US and roughly the equivalent in the UK. (This book […]

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Filed Under: The Publishing Business, The Writing Life, Writers Dealing with Reviews and Rejection Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Catherine Ryan Hyde, Dave Congalton, Digital Age Authors, Don't Let Me Go, How to Be a Writer in the E-Age, Kevin Spacey, Pay it Forward

June 17, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 56 Comments

Hello Darkness, My Old Friend: New Research Helps Writers Fight Depression

Hello Darkness, My Old Friend: New Research Helps Writers Fight Depression

by Anne R. Allen   I started feeling it this last week: that dark heaviness lurking somewhere just below my conscious thoughts. It makes me burst into tears for no reason. I get clumsy and out of touch with my own body. I feel raw and unprotected. My joints ache. All I want to do […]

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Filed Under: The Writing Life Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Depression and Writers, Fight Depression, How to Be a Writer in the E-Age, Imagine: How Creativity Works, Jonah Lehrer, Nancy Andreasen, Robin LaFevers, Suzanne Collins, Writer Unboxed

June 3, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 149 Comments

The Slow Blog Manifesto…and 8 Reasons Why Slow Blogging Will Help Your Career, Your Love Life, and Protect You From Angry Elephants

The Slow Blog Manifesto…and 8 Reasons Why Slow Blogging Will Help Your Career, Your Love Life, and Protect You From Angry Elephants

by Anne R. Allen   What is the Slow Blog Manifesto? It’s an essay written in 2006 by Canadian software designer Todd Sieling at the height of the everybody-must-get-a-blog frenzy.  Slow Blogging is modeled on Alice Walker’s “slow food” movement (the opposite of McBurgerish “fast food.”) The point is quality over quantity. Todd wrote: “Slow Blogging is […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: Catherine Ryan Hyde, Digital Age E-Authors, How to Be a Writer in the E-Age, Mark Williams, Miss Snark, Nina Badzin, Pay it Forward, San Luis Obispo, Slow Blog Manifesto, slow blogging, Todd Sieling

May 13, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 47 Comments

Indie or Traditional Publishing? Don’t Take Sides: Take Your Time

Indie or Traditional Publishing? Don’t Take Sides: Take Your Time

 by Anne R. Allen   For a new writer, this can seem like a terrifying time to be launching a career. Everything in the publishing industry is in upheaval. Bookstores are closing all around us. Publishers and online retailers are conducting high-profile battles in the legal system as well as the court of public opinion. (If you want a […]

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Filed Under: Self-Publishing, The Publishing Business, The Writing Life Tagged With: Amanda McKittrick Ros, E-Book Revolution, Hire an Editor, Indie or Traditional Publishing?, Mark Coker, Nathan Bransford, Porter Anderson, Rachelle Gardner, Roz Morris, self publishing, Victoria Strauss

May 6, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 59 Comments

How to Blog VI: 15 Tips for Guest Bloggers

How to Blog VI: 15 Tips for Guest Bloggers

by Anne R. Allen   Guest posting on blogs is a great marketing tool. The frenzy for blog tours seems to have quieted down a bit recently, but whether you’re launching a new title, promoting an editorial service, or simply building platform, providing content for other people’s blogs is still an effective way to reach potential new readers […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: Alex J. Cavanaugh, Alexa Ratings, Anne R. Allen, Blog tour, Bob Mayer, Guest blogging, how to blog, How to Query a Blogger, Ruth Harris

April 22, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 60 Comments

I Have Written a Book. Now What? 22 Steps to Getting Published.

I Have Written a Book. Now What? 22 Steps to Getting Published.

by Anne R. Allen I’ve had a number of people ask me that “now what” question in the last few months. There’s tons of info out here in Cyberia, but not everybody knows how to access it. And along with the good info, there’s plenty of bad—especially from predatory vanity publishers and bogus agents. So here are some basics. […]

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Filed Under: The Publishing Business, The Writing Life, Writers Dealing with Reviews and Rejection, Writing Craft Tagged With: AgentQuery, Casey McCormack, How to publish a novel, Janet Reid, Literary Rambles, Nathan Bransford, Query Shark, QueryTracker, Saffina Desforges, Spywriter

April 15, 2012 By Anne R. Allen 34 Comments

Writers: Are You Taking Care of Your Emotional Health? 8 Tips to Keep From Going Batty as You Launch Your Career

Writers: Are You Taking Care of Your Emotional Health? 8 Tips to Keep From Going Batty as You Launch Your Career

  This week we have a returning guest, literary author and college professor Samuel Park. Last year when he visited us, Samuel had just published his first novel, THIS BURNS MY HEART with Simon and Schuster. (And he told us NOT to kill our darlings.)  His spectacular reviews are the kind most of us just fantasize about.) Now he’s preparing for […]

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Filed Under: The Writing Life, Writing Craft Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Michael Harris, Overrride: a Thriller, Ruth Harris, Samuel Park, This Burns My Heart, Write every day, Writer’s Emotional Health

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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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