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April 17, 2022 By Anne R. Allen 48 Comments

Why Every Writer Needs a Social Media Executor, NOW!

Why Every Writer Needs a Social Media Executor, NOW!

  by Anne R. Allen Social Media Executor? That may not be a term you’re familiar with, but believe me, you need one. That hit home for me this week after the tragic death of my friend, the kind, talented, funny author Barbara Silkstone. I hadn’t heard from her for a month or two, so […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, The Writing Life Tagged With: Barbara Silkstone, Facebook memorial page, Social Media Executor, social media ghost, The Lady of the Lakewood Diner

January 9, 2022 By Anne R. Allen 57 Comments

5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Book Title in the Internet Age

5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Book Title in the Internet Age

by Anne R. Allen I’ve blogged before with tips on choosing a book title, but recently I’ve become aware of a few other things we need to consider in the age of online bookselling. I ruminated about titles over the holidays, when I had a chance to read some titles from my TBR pile, and […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, The Publishing Business, Writing Craft Tagged With: bad book contracts, Book titles, Why Grandma Bought That Car

October 24, 2021 By Anne R. Allen 24 Comments

The Things I’ve Heard: Confessions of an Audiobook Narrator

The Things I’ve Heard: Confessions of an Audiobook Narrator

The audiobook market is booming! By William L. Hahn When Love and Need Become One So here comes a heaping helping of what’s good for my soul. I’ve always told tales. I just had trouble, the first fifty years or so, believing that people would pay me to tell them. But I had a revelation […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers Tagged With: Audiobook narrators, audiobooks, Harbingers of Hope, William L. Hahn

June 6, 2021 By Anne R. Allen 57 Comments

Self-Publishing is a Business: Don’t Treat it Like a Childish Game

Self-Publishing is a Business: Don’t Treat it Like a Childish Game

Self-publishing isn’t about the author. It’s about pleasing the reader. by Anne R. Allen Easy self-publishing and the introduction of the e-reader brought seismic changes to the publishing world a decade ago. The “Kindle Revolution” propelled a bunch of smart authors from the slush pile to the top of Amazon’s bestseller lists. Suddenly writers had […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Self-Publishing, The Publishing Business, The Writing Life Tagged With: Amazon reviews, Amazon scams, Anne R. Allen, negative review swarms, So Much for Buckingham

November 29, 2020 By Anne R. Allen 35 Comments

DIY Book Covers Have Come a Long Way — How to Create Professional-Quality Covers with Design Apps.

DIY Book Covers Have Come a Long Way — How to Create Professional-Quality Covers with Design Apps.

Now authors can make DIY book covers with easy-to-use, drag-and-drop design apps by Ruth Harris In the early days of self-publishing, authors who didn’t know know coding had to hire formatters to make their books cyber-ready. Since then, formatting has become part of many writing programs. Word processors like MSWord, Scrivener and Pages will output […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Self-Publishing Tagged With: DIY covers, ebook formatting, Park Avenue Blondes, Ruth Harris

December 22, 2019 By Anne R. Allen 98 Comments

Leaving the Wild and Crazy Decade of the Self-Publishing Revolution

Leaving the Wild and Crazy Decade of the Self-Publishing Revolution

The self-publishing revolution started on clunky computers like this one by Anne R. Allen In a few days we’ll be leaving the twenty-teens to enter the 2020s. We’ll be saying goodbye to a decade of wild upheaval in the publishing industry. It’s been quite a ride. On January 5th, we’ll host agent Laurie McLean from […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Self-Publishing, The Publishing Business Tagged With: Kindle Millionaires, No Place Like Home, self-publish successfully

June 2, 2019 By Anne R. Allen 64 Comments

The #1 Mistake New Self-Publishers Make That Leaves Them Vulnerable to Publishing Scams

The #1 Mistake New Self-Publishers Make That Leaves Them Vulnerable to Publishing Scams

Publishing scams target babes in the woods by Anne R. Allen I hear about new publishing scams all the time. Sometimes scammers approach me personally, but more often I hear a sad tale of woe from some newbie who has fallen for the latest con. This week I realized that almost all the victims of […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Scams and Alerts for Writers, The Publishing Business Tagged With: avoiding scams, Googling Old Boyfriends, Publishing scams, Readers Magnet, Writing scams

March 3, 2019 By Anne R. Allen 67 Comments

How to Write for a Blog: 10 Tips for Writing Strong Web Content

How to Write for a Blog: 10 Tips for Writing Strong Web Content

Good Web content attracts those search engine spiders. by Anne R. Allen These days, pretty much all writers need to learn to write Web content. Yes, even if you’re a Victorian romance author whose readers care more about reticules and spatterdashers than retweets and SEO.  Even if you don’t have your own blog. Any website […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, E-Books and Technology for Writers, Writing Craft Tagged With: blog traffic, Blogging, C. Hope Clark, how to write Web content, Web content provider

August 12, 2018 By Anne R. Allen 29 Comments

The New Gmail: 12 Gmail Hacks Every Writer Can Use

The New Gmail: 12 Gmail Hacks Every Writer Can Use

Ever wished you could unsend email? Now Gmail lets you do that…and more! by Nate Hoffelder. With Google releasing a new version of Gmail, now is a great time to reconsider how we can use Gmail to get more done. Gmail is possibly the most widely used email service, but are you getting the most out […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers Tagged With: gmail, gmail hacks, Nate Hoffelder

July 8, 2018 By Anne R. Allen 39 Comments

6 Steps to Achieving Zen-Like Writer Efficiency

6 Steps to Achieving Zen-Like Writer Efficiency

by Dave Chesson. I’m a big believer in making the most of the time we have to write and getting the best possible output from it. After all, for most writers, time is the ultimate luxury. We can always experience ebbs and flows in sales or followers, but time is truly a finite resource. Once […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, The Publishing Business, The Writing Life Tagged With: Dave Chesson, the Kindlepreneur, time management, Writing efficiency

March 11, 2018 By Anne R. Allen 73 Comments

Want More Readers for Your Blog and Books? Fix These 5 Website Mistakes.

Want More Readers for Your Blog and Books? Fix These 5 Website Mistakes.

It turns out authors make lots of website mistakes. by Gill Andrews You didn’t sign up for this. Writing and sharing your ideas with others – sure. But this website thing? You just wanted more people to read your stories. But now you spend hours agonizing over blog post topics, looking for free images, and […]

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Filed Under: Blogging for Authors, E-Books and Technology for Writers, Social Media and Marketing For Writers Tagged With: Author blogs, Gill Andrews, website design. author websites, website mistakes.

January 21, 2018 By Anne R. Allen 23 Comments

Agent Laurie McLean’s Crystal Ball: Publishing Predictions for 2018

Agent Laurie McLean’s Crystal Ball: Publishing Predictions for 2018

Agent Laurie McLean gives her publishing predictions for 2018.  By Laurie McLean, Partner, Fuse Literary My crystal ball is telling me that not a lot in the publishing industry is going to change from 2017 to 2018. I think publishing was mesmerized by Washington politics in 2017 and were slow to make any forward progress […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, The Publishing Business Tagged With: Agent Laurie McLean, Fuse Literary Agency, publishing predictions, The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors

January 14, 2018 By Anne R. Allen 66 Comments

The One Thing That Will Kill Book Sales Dead—And 10 Ways to Avoid it.

The One Thing That Will Kill Book Sales Dead—And 10 Ways to Avoid it.

Don’t kill book sales dead with a less than enticing “look inside” sample. by Anne R. Allen I never have as much time to read as I think I will, and my trusty old Kindle is pretty loaded up. So I’m a picky book-buyer. Unfortunately, there are a lot of readers like me out here, […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Self-Publishing, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, Writing Craft Tagged With: book editing, first chapters, Look Inside, Novel openers, The Best Revenge

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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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