by Anne R. Allen First: many thanks to Indies Unlimited, which named this blog to its 10 Blogs and Websites Every Indie Should Know. If you’re an indie, or thinking of going indie (self-publishing or small-press), do follow them for great tips and news from a very savvy team of writers. Most writers these days […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Biggest Problem Facing the Beginning Novelist—And 6 Tips for Avoiding It
by Anne R. Allen Creating compelling narrative takes more than great characters, sparkling dialogue and exciting action. All those elements have to come together in one story. One story. Not a series of episodes. As creatures of the television era, a lot of us tend to think in episodes rather than one long story […]
The Story that Took 50 Years to Write: an Interview with Michael Harris
Ruth and I are totally jazzed to announce that this blog has been named one of the Top 50 Blogs for Writers by Tribal Messenger Daily. To be up there with Konrath, Kristen Lamb, and Jane Friedman is an amazing honor. Here’s what they said: One stimulating blog, two of the most prolific digital and print authors […]
Top 10 Self-Sabotaging Mistakes of Author-Bloggers
by Anne R. Allen Aspiring writers are told we should all be blogging. If you’re willing to make the commitment, I do think it’s the best way to start building platform and getting your name out there. If you have no Web presence, agents, reviewers and readers are a lot less likely to take […]
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 […]
How Do You Learn To Be a Writer?
by Anne R. Allen I’m often approached by parents or grandparents of children who’ve shown a talent for writing. They ask how a child can learn to be a writer. Or sometimes a person going through a mid-life job change will ask my advice about going back to college to pursue a long-deferred writing dream. […]
