Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Links of Interest



BUILDING A DRAMATIC MOMENT IN FICTION:


CREATING AN EFFECTIVE TAGLINE:


CONTRACTS, OUT OF PRINT CLAUSES:


USING A FACEBOOK PROFILE VERSUS AN OFFICIAL PAGE:


CREATING A GREAT “ABOUT ME” PAGE:


EIGHT WORDS TO CUT TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING:


USING MAPS DURING THE CREATIVE PROCESS:


KEEPING GOALS AND MOTIVATION FRESH IN YOUR STORY:


CONTRACTS, SUBSIDIARY RIGHTS:


GETTING YOUR SELF-PUBBED BOOK INTO A LIBRARY:


ONLINE WRITING TOOLS FOR AUTHORS:


CONFLICT IN THE ROMANCE:


USING CREATE SPACE TO CREATE ARCS:


SETTING UP SCRIBNER:


FIXING PLOT HOLES:


FOUR TOOLS TO BUILD BOOK BUZZ:


A GUIDE TO USING GOOGLE DOCS:


ACTION AND REACTION IN CHARACTERS:


HOW TO START BLOGGING:


AN INTERVIEW WITH A REAL CSI:


OPTOMIZING YOUR AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE:


SETTING UP YOUR AMAZON BOOK PAGE:


PRINT ON DEMAND PRIMER FOR SELF-PUBS:


INSTAGRAM VERSUS TWITTER ADVERTISING:


WHEN TO WRITE “THE END:”


USING SCENE CARDS:


USING PREORDERS TO BOOST SALES:


FORENSIC DNA:


CHARACTER CHANGE:


AN INSTAGRAM MARKETING TRICK:




Monday, March 28, 2016

What Genre is My Book?

QUESTION:  Help, I can’t figure out what genre my book is.

Many writers, particularly those who self-publish, believe that genre has nothing to do with them.  They write what they write and refuse to follow the “rules.”

What most don’t realize is that genre is not so much about following a particular formula as it is about finding the right market and readers.  Publishers and Amazon want the writer to know the correct genre to insert their book into because they know that that’s how the readers find the books they will enjoy.  

Nothing makes a reader madder than reading a book labeled as a romance where one of the romantic pair dies instead of offering a possibility of a “happily ever after.”  Or a mystery where the bad guys win or the murder isn’t solved.  This fails the promise made by the genre label.  

How do you determine your genre or decide what genre you want to write? 

One of the first things you do is consider the books that are similar to what you are writing.  What genre are they listed as?  Pick books that are from traditional publishers since some self-pubs haven't a clue about their genre or they slap on a popular genre to attract more readers.  

Once you have some clue about the genre or genres to look at, do some searching of terms.  If you think you may be writing urban fantasy but several searches and reading of articles on urban fantasy tell you that you aren't, do some more searching for terms like "contemporary fantasy."

As a starting place for finding good writers to read in a particular genre, go to a site like RTBookReviews and read a bunch of reviews to find books similar to yours.  Pick the writers who are recommended reads.  It's best to pick writers who aren't "names."  Nora Roberts can do what she wants because she's Nora Roberts so she's not the best example for the books you want to emulate.  Neither is Stephen King or James Patterson.  

If you discover that you have done very little to no reading in a particular genre, you need to rethink your book because you will open yourself up to writing cliches, annoying readers, and making massive mistakes that will destroy the book's market value.

Genre distinctions are a particular interest of mine so I have a number of articles on the subject.  Click on the "genre" label.  If you are writing a mix of genres (cross-genre) or a subgenre of a popular genre like romance, several of these articles are of particular use to you to help narrow your book’s market term.  

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Links of Interest

YET MORE ON DEEP POV:


PITCHING YOUR BOOK TO REVIEW BLOGGERS:


WRITING A FUNNY CHARACTER:


OPTOMIZING YOUR AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE:


USING PINTEREST:


EVALUATING A SMALL PUBLISHER:


WHY ONE AUTHOR LEFT SMASHWORDS:


GROWING YOUR EMAIL LIST:


TEN LOCATIONS WITH FREE STOCK PHOTOS:


HOW TO RUN A KINDLE SCOUT CAMPAIGN:


TIPS ON BEING ACCEPTED BY BOOKBUB:


USING PINTEREST TO SELL BOOKS:


WRITING DEEP CONFLICT:


MAINTAINING BELIEVABILITY:


DEEPENING YOUR READER’S EMOTIONAL CONNECTION:


SETTING UP AN AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE:


AVOIDING THE MIDDLE SLUMP:


THREE THINGS FANTASY NOVELS FAIL TO GET RIGHT IN COMBAT INJURIES:


BUILDING  YOUR AUTHOR PLATFORM BEFORE YOU PUT YOUR BOOK OUT:


ADDING A CLICKABLE LINK TO YOUR YOUTUBE BOOK TRAILER:


HISTORICAL RESEARCH RESOURCES:


WRITING A GREAT LOVE SCENE:


THE GRAMMAR EVIL THAT IS OVERUSED HYPHENATION:


LIST O’ LINKS:


FINDING THE BEST PLACE TO START YOUR NOVEL:



Monday, March 21, 2016

Our World vs. Your World

One of the questions you have to ask yourself when you create the world of your fantasy or science fiction novel is how much of our world do you want to include in your world.

Science fiction set in our future is easy enough to figure out.  Humans are humans whatever the time period.  More than likely they will drink coffee or some form of caffeine beverage.  Do you call it coffee or give it a new name?

Usually, the best answer is to just call it coffee if it’s in the background of the story because the reader has more than enough to keep up with otherwise.  Generic terms like “shuttle” and “matter transfer machine” which are often used in science fiction can also be used.  

Your created terms are best used for important elements of your world.

Fantasy is not as easy to figure out because, with the exception of some urban fantasy and contemporary fantasy, the world is built anew.  Some choices are easy.  A horse is a horse, a sword a sword.

Some common usages and terms, however, are jarring in fantasy.  In the last week, I’ve read about a character eating a “hoagie” and “poppers,” and another using modern psychological terminology.  Each time, the term knocked me right out of the story.  

A writer really needs to think about the words she uses in relation to our world and the one created.  Simple words like “sandwich” are jarring enough, but a term with a great deal of history behind it is a mistake every time.  


We are always told to be specific in our language when we write, but, when we are creating a new world, going for the general term rather than the specific is often the best idea.  

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Links of Interest

THE COST OF SELF PUBLISHING, 4 AUTHORS SHARE THEIR NUMBERS:


WORKING WITH READER FEEDBACK:


WRITING BETTER DIALOGUE:


EXAMPLES OF GREAT AUTHOR WEBSITES:


HOOKING YOUR READER:


HOSTING A FACEBOOK AUTHOR EVENT:


WRITING AN ENSEMBLE/MULTI-POV NOVEL:


ELEVEN STEPS IN WRITING A FIGHT SCENE:


SELF PUBBING, SETTING UP ACCOUNTS, ETC.:


YOU CAN NOW GIVE AWAY EBOOKS AT AMAZON:


THE PLOT TWIST:


AGE CATEGORIES FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS:


SUBPLOTS:


WHAT THE READER NEEDS AT THE END OF THE STORY:


THE PARAGRAPH IN THE NOVEL:


CONNECTING WITH READERS:


DEEP POV, PART 2:


THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS IN THE FIRST CHAPTER:


BUILDING YOUR CHARACTER:


ON WRITING A SCENE:


4 LESSONS FOR WRITERS ON THE CURRENT STATE OF TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING:


MOVING FROM ONE CHARACTER TO ANOTHER:


CHOOSING YOUR NOVEL’S POV AND TENSE:


WHAT TO DO AFTER YOU BLOG:


ONE AUTHOR’S EXPERIENCE ON KINDLESCOUT:


GETTING INTO CHARACTERS’ HEADS THAT AREN’T LIKE YOURS:


FROM IDEA TO BOOK:



Monday, March 14, 2016

Stomp the Butterfly

Over the years as an English major, teacher, and volunteer usher for the local theater, I’ve seen and read more than my share of Tennessee Williams’ plays.  I’m not a big fan of “A Streetcar Named Desire.”  The play is about a fragile and delusional woman who is destroyed when those delusions are crushed, and she is raped by her brutal brother-in-law.

My primary dislike of the play is that Williams writes what I call a butterfly character.  Blanche DuBois flutters about the stage like a fragile and damaged butterfly through most of the play until brother-in-law Stanley squashes her.  She has no strength of character, no chance to win any victory against the destructive forces against her, and she puts up no real fight.  Just flutter, flutter, smash.  The end.  

This kind of character is as prevalent in novels.  I just finished a dark fantasy which had a woman who had genuine potential as a strong character and had a viewpoint, but she ended up as the squashed butterfly when the monster destroyed her.  Flutter, flutter, smash.  All that lost potential and a flat ending for her that only offered a brief moment of horror for the reader but little else.  

Even if a viewpoint character stands no chance against what she faces, she should at least try to survive or offer some struggle.  Otherwise, that character might as well be a nameless extra shrieking and running away from Godzilla.  

A passive viewpoint character is as bad for a story as passive writing.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Links of Interest

CHEAT SHEETS FOR USING LINKEDIN, YOUTUBE, PINTEREST, AND INSTAGRAM:


PEN NAMES 101:


PROMO, TOOLS FOR BUILDING BOOK BUZZ:


GETTING THE ENDING RIGHT:


CREATING A READER RETENTION PLAN, PART 1:


WRITER BEWARE, A&M PUBLISHING:


PLACES TO FIND YOUR NEXT BETA READERS:


REGAINING YOUR RIGHTS WHEN YOUR PUBLISHER GOES UNDER:


TRACK CHANGES USING WORD:


USING ONOMATOPOEIA: 


BUILDING A PROMOTION TEAM, PART 3:


SHOWING THE PASSAGE OF TIME:


THE REACTIVE VERSUS THE PROACTIVE CHARACTER:


FIVE STEPS TO CREATING GREAT COVER ART:


DOES YOUR WEBSITE’S FIRST IMPRESSION SELL ART?


FORMATTING SOFTWARE FOR EBOOKS:


SELF PUBS, BUDGETING YOUR BOOK:


GOING FROM SELF-PUBBED TO A TRADITIONAL PRESS DEAL:


GRAMMAR, THOSE TRICKY PARALLELISMS: 


SETTING AS CHARACTER:


FACEBOOK AS A RESEARCH TOOL:


SOME REASONS GREAT FIRST LINES WORK:


THE IMPORTANCE OF TYPESETTING:


HOW TO PUNCTUATE DIALOGUE:


ADDING A FOLLOW BUTTON TO YOUR AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE:


DEEP POV:


WORKING WITH THE PUBLICIST AT A TRADITONAL PUBLISHER: