Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
In these days of the “look inside” feature on retail sites like Amazon, the opener of your book is more important than ever. Whether you’re going the query route or self-publishing, your first page is essential to the success of your book…and may be your most crucial sales tool. Those first 250 words can […]
I’m so jazzed we’re hosting Nathan Bransford this week! Mr. Bransford—who is a children’s author, former literary agent, and blogging legend—gave this blog its start when he offered me a guest spot on his blog in 2010. I wrote a piece on why you should keep writing, no matter what, called You May Be a Bestseller on Trafalmadore. […]
Today we’re excited to be hosting freelance writer Nina Badzin. I’ve known Nina since she started blogging and it’s been fantastic to watch her career soar. Nina was a compelling blogger from the time she wrote her first post. It was obvious she had tons of talent and skill. And her “query addiction” post […]
by Anne R. Allen I recently heard from a writer who said she felt disrespected by her writing group. They were all working on novels and memoir and didn’t take her short fiction work seriously.I saw another writer on Google Plus asking for help because his work kept coming in at around 40 pages—like that […]
by Anne R. Allen Publishing isn’t the only thing that’s being transformed by the digital age. Reading and writing themselves are evolving.We may not like it, but as writers, we need to be aware that our audience’s habits are changing. Last month I wrote about how to format your blog for easy skimming, and unfortunately, […]
by Ruth Harris Fiction or non-fiction? Thriller or sci-fi/fantasy? Romance or mystery? Young adult or self-help? Readers know what they like and what they want. Categories help them find what they’re looking for whether it’s the latest in steamy romance, a classic, time-tested bestseller or a gardener’s guide to growing petunias in Petaluma. Basically, […]
Blog content is easy to write if you know a few tricks by Anne R. Allen You started a blog. Congratulations! But nobody’s reading it. Sigh. Don’t give in to despair. It takes a while to build a readership. Usually a long while. For the first six months I blogged, my followers consisted of my […]
by Anne R. Allen When I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the importance of commenting on blogs to raise your social media profile, I forgot to say one essential thing—probably because I figured it’s something your mom told you—but for those who’ve forgotten, here it is… If you don’t have anything nice to say, […]
Today’s guest post is from freelance writer Sarah Allen (no relation that we know of, but we do have a lot of things in common, including the agreement that Colin Firth is THE greatest Mr. Darcy, and a tendency to knee-weakness at the sight of Benedict Cumberbatch’s cheekbones). She is still in the query […]
by Ruth Harris You’ve written a book! Or: You’ve started the first draft. You’ve finished the first draft. You’re waiting for your editor’s comments. You’re thinking about writing a book. You’ve got a great idea for a book. You’re making notes for a book. You’re outlining a book. No matter what stage you’re in, […]
by Anne R. Allen Writers know we need a “platform” these days. That means we need to be on Twitter and FaceBook and Google+ and LinkedIn and Pinterest and Tumblr and have a blog with a ton of followers and get 100s of reviews on Amazon and Goodreads and drive ourselves batty keeping up […]
by Anne R. Allen We live in a speed-obsessed culture. Whatever it is we crave—cars, trains, electronics, food, dates—we want them ever-faster-and-furiouser. In fact, much of the developed world seems to be engaged some turbo-charged drag race of the soul, hurtling our frenzied selves from cradle to grave, terrified of slowing for even a […]
by Ruth Harris You’re happy, even delirious. You’ve finished your first draft! Then you read it. OMG, you think, did I write that?Yes, you did. 🙂 It stinks. It sucks. It’s so rancid it threatens to warp the time-space continuum. Think you’re alone? Here’s Hugh Howey in a blog post: “I suck at writing. Watching a rough […]
Anne R Allen’s Blog With Ruth Harris