Saturday, April 14, 2018

A to Z - All Things Writing: Marketing

Welcome to the Blogging A to Z Challenge, where, this month, I'll be focusing on all things writing. This may be a random jumping around of topics within my theme, but hopefully something somewhere will be useful to someone. (V is for vague - see that last sentence.) Check out all the participants here . Now, lets get on with today's letter.

M is for Marketing

You might be one of those rare outgoing writers who loves marketing, but most of us would rather bang out words in the quiet comfort of our writing caves. We're not always super fond of talking to people in, you know...person. Not to mention having to put ourselves out there online, where we can pretend to be social from the comfort of our computers. Some days it feels like the only way to get your book seen is by spamming every soul you know with posts about your book. No one likes to spam people.

So how do you get your book out into the world where it might actually sell? Again, I wish I had all the answers here, but I'm struggling through it all just like most of us are.

There's book boast, instafreebie, reading deals, freebooksy, and countless other sites out there. Some will cost you, others are free. 

Those Facebook groups are a good go to for marketing as well. Find some group giveaways or sale groups for your genre. Most are free and only require you to send the sale out to your mailing list.

Get a mailing list. Easier said than done, but yes, work at it. 

Establish a web presence somewhere that you're comfortable and will actually use. You don't have to be everywhere, but do be somewhere that people can find you, be that a Facebook page, website, blog, twitter, or whatever else. Post there now and then so people know you're alive and will be more inclined to click when you have something to promote.

Connect with other authors in your area, be that your city or region or state. This is another place that those Facebook groups come in handy. Network with those authors, and see what they're doing that is successful. Do events with them and watch them in action. Discover what works best for you.

Get out there and sell your book. Attend author events. You can set up your own signing, and that's a great thing for a book launch, but also attend events with other authors. If you have twenty authors of various genres all bringing in book lovers to shop, you are greatly widening your prospective audience. Don't have one in your area? Organize one. Work with a local bookstore or venue that already has foot traffic coming in. I've done events in a retail store, library, theatre, farmers market, workshops, and at cons. If there are people who read going to be there, it's a good place to set up shop.

Find a few blogs and Facebook book loving people who will feature your book. 

Find local bookstores who will take your book to sell. 

There are radio, newspapers and tv for the more outgoing and ambitious.

Know what your book is about in a quick sentence or two. Be able to speak about your book without tripping over your own tongue. It does get easier the more you do it. 

What marketing strategies have worked for you?


Would you like a free e-book? This April, I'm giving away free copies of my new anthology, Destiny Pills & Space Wizards. Claim your copy here: https://claims.instafreebie.com/free/vhJFWpLL Enter code atozpromo
Prefer paperback? The print book goes live on April 20. Reviews are always appreciated.



Friday, April 13, 2018

A to Z - All Things Writing: Line Edit

Welcome to the Blogging A to Z Challenge, where, this month, I'll be focusing on all things writing. This may be a random jumping around of topics within my theme, but hopefully something somewhere will be useful to someone. (V is for vague - see that last sentence.) Check out all the participants here . Now, lets get on with today's letter.

L is for Line Edit

We covered the Developmental Edit last week. What we're talking about today is the step between the Dev edit and Proofreading / Copy Edit. The Line edit will focus on tone, language, sentences and paragraphs and word choices among other things. It will not focus on typos. 

Things a line edit will focus on:
Word usage:
overused words - just / suddenly / like / and many other common offenders
clarity - Is the meaning of the sentence clear? Is it clear who is speaking?
repeated words  - using the same words in nearby sentences
Sentence and Paragraph structure:
avoiding repeated structures - which can make reading very boring
openings - making sure the lines don't all start with the same word or phrasing
length - avoiding run-ons or too many short sentences which can create a staccato effect.
Dialogue:
does it feel natural?
is it in character? 
Tone of the story: 
is it consistent throughout?
Action:
is it clear and easy to follow?
Pacing: 
do areas move too fast or too slow? 
Tightening:
are there wasted words?
can adverbs be switched out for better verbs?
can anything be removed that doesn't impact the story?
are there any areas where information is repeated or rephrased that can be removed?

A good line edit will put the final polish on a story and then all that's left is to hunt down those pesky typos and check punctuation. 

Would you like a free e-book? This April, I'm giving away free copies of my new anthology, Destiny Pills & Space Wizards. Claim your copy here: https://claims.instafreebie.com/free/vhJFWpLL Enter code atozpromo
Prefer paperback? The print book goes live on April 20. Reviews are always appreciated.



Thursday, April 12, 2018

A to Z - All Things Writing: Killing off Characters

Welcome to the Blogging A to Z Challenge, where, this month, I'll be focusing on all things writing. This may be a random jumping around of topics within my theme, but hopefully something somewhere will be useful to someone. (V is for vague - see that last sentence.) Check out all the participants here . Now, lets get on with today's letter.

K is for Killing Characters

Some writers never kill anyone. That's fine too. The death of a character should have meaning and add depth to the remaining characters' arcs and impact the plot. If we went around hilly nilly killing everyone for giggles, that wouldn't make for a very engaging story. Maybe it would for some people, there seem to be readers of just about everything. However, let's just say for the sake of this post, that it's not an ideal goal. 

People die in books. Sometimes its off the page, such as to launch a murder mystery or in backstory - your main character's mother died when they were six and that impacted who they are today. Those both have impact on the character and plot. But when is it a good idea to kill off a main or secondary character? Only if it is necessary to advance the plot or drive a remaining character into change/action. As a writer you want to get your readers attached to your characters, to care about them. Killing them off could anger your readers, so it better be for a darn good reason. If you've read any of George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, you know what I'm talking about. 

Writing the death of a cherished character is also hard for the author. They created this character. They brought them into this world, and now they're taking them out of it. As many times as your mother may have thrown out that threat, she didn't act on it. Writers do and it isn't easy. It's draining and makes us sad.  

Have you ever killed off any main characters?

Would you like a free e-book? This April, I'm giving away free copies of my new anthology, Destiny Pills & Space Wizards. Claim your copy here: https://claims.instafreebie.com/free/vhJFWpLL Enter code atozpromo
Prefer paperback? The print book goes live on April 20. Reviews are always appreciated.



Wednesday, April 11, 2018

A to Z - All About Writing: Juggling Projects

Welcome to the Blogging A to Z Challenge, where, this month, I'll be focusing on all things writing. This may be a random jumping around of topics within my theme, but hopefully something somewhere will be useful to someone. (V is for vague - see that last sentence.) Check out all the participants here . Now, lets get on with today's letter.

J is for Juggling Projects

When the ideas come to fast to finished one thing before jumping to the next, how does one handle that?

I'd like to say that I only ever work on one story at a time because it would make me sound all organized, but that really just isn't the case. I do have one main project I try to stick with at a time, but there are usually a couple secondary things bouncing around in my head. And hey! Look! A Sparkly chicken! Darn ideas, are always popping up.

The best way I've found to manage them is to jot those ideas down, either in a computer file - which I do attempt to be organized and have an ideas folder on my hard drive - or in a notebook. The notebook is what a lot of people tell me they use. I have a lot of notebooks. While that sounds like I should be all good then, I'm not. I have a lot of notebooks and I have no idea what is in most of them. Rather than spend an aggravating couple days flipping through (Because I have done that and I'm not a pleasant person when I can't find something), those notebooks for the idea/ending/outline/note to self/ character idea / that one cool name I don't want to forget / etc, I'm sooooo much better off just creating a file for it and naming whatever it is and then hitting save. I know where those things are and can just search on my computer for them if it comes down to that.

Back to the juggling. I usually have a project in progress, one I've just finished that I'm contemplating edits for, and a new one or unfinished one that I'm pondering and gathering ideas for. And still, one of those sparkly chickens will hit me now and then. If it's a short story and I'm in the middle of a novel, I'm not opposed to taking a couple days off to get that story down - assuming I have it mostly formed in my head. If it's going to take days to drag out the first half and require a good deal of research, it goes into the ideas file for later. 

Working on multiple things at once isn't a terrible thing, but do try to focus on finishing one of those things before diving headfirst into the next big thing. You'll feel a lot more accomplished.

How many projects do you prefer to work on at once?


Would you like a free e-book? This April, I'm giving away free copies of my new anthology, Destiny Pills & Space Wizards. Claim your copy here: https://claims.instafreebie.com/free/vhJFWpLL Enter code atozpromo
Prefer paperback? The print book goes live on April 20. Reviews are always appreciated.



Tuesday, April 10, 2018

A to Z - All About Writing: Ideas

Welcome to the Blogging A to Z Challenge, where, this month, I'll be focusing on all things writing. This may be a random jumping around of topics within my theme, but hopefully something somewhere will be useful to someone. (V is for vague - see that last sentence.) Check out all the participants here . Now, lets get on with today's letter.

I is for Ideas

Where do writers get ideas for their stories? 

Everywhere. Ideas are all around you.

Contemplate an everyday situation, what's the worst thing that could happen to change it? Write about that.

Speculate about someone you see in a store or park. What are they doing? Who are they?

Read articles and watch the news. Ask yourself what if questions and answer those with a story.

Look at an object near you. Wonder where it came from. Who made it. What did it go through before it came to you?

Google an interesting place and do a little research. Think about what kind of story would happen there and run with it.

Writers are almost always thinking. It probably looks like their just gazing off into space and ignoring you, but they just might be plotting their next story.

Where do you get your ideas?

Would you like a free e-book? This April, I'm giving away free copies of my new anthology, Destiny Pills & Space Wizards. Claim your copy here: https://claims.instafreebie.com/free/vhJFWpLL Enter code atozpromo