Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
Make a Living Writing Fiction: Follow these Ten Steps By Elizabeth S. Craig I’ve been asked by everyone from writers with day jobs to high school students if it’s possible to make a living as a writer. The answer is easy—it’s definitely possible. The next question is trickier to answer—how does one go about making […]
by Anne R. Allen First I have to say how jazzed I am to be named one of the 16 Best People to Follow on Twitter by book marketing guru Penny Sansevieri at Author Marketing Experts, Inc. Thanks Penny! It’s a great list and I’m honored to be on it. Okay, I know why […]
by Ruth Harris What’s a Style Sheet? Look, guys, I don’t want to freak you out but, if you’re writing a book (or a short story or a novella), you need a style sheet. If you plan to self-pub, a style sheet will save your sanity while you’re writing—and after because a style sheet will […]
We’re jazzed to have a visit this week from one of the most respected journalists in the publishing industry. Porter Anderson‘s resumé includes CNN, The Dallas Times Herald, and the Village Voice. He also writes for online biggies like Writer Unboxed, ThoughtCatalog, and FutureBook. He visits most of the major publishing industry conferences worldwide […]
by Anne R. Allen Ruth and I often get requests to censor our posts when a word or link or piece of news has offended somebody. We usually comply. We don’t want a minor distraction to interfere with our purpose—which is to share information about the writing business in a straightforward, lighthearted, encouraging way. But […]
by Anne R. Allen A few years ago, soon after the debut of the Kindle e-reader, the world was buzzing with talk of self-published “Kindle Millionaires” like Amanda Hocking and John Locke, and big publishers were beating a path to the doors of all the newly successful self-published ebook writers. Even modestly successful self-publishers […]
This week I’m totally jazzed to host my agent, Pam Van Hylckama Vlieg (aka Pam Howell) . She’s one of the new breed of agents at the cutting-edge literary agency, Foreword Literary, founded by “Agent Savant” Laurie McLean. Pam represents the book I wrote with Catherine Ryan Hyde, How to Be a Writer in the E-Age: […]
by Anne R. Allen If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to become a successfully published author, it’s a good idea to consider first what that means to you.What is your personal definition of success?Do you want to be a professional writer or a hobbyist? Before you burst into high dudgeon and say, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
