This Week on Books Direct - 26 May 2013
Here's
a list of the articles you may have missed this week:
"Top 3 Tips To Banish Writer’s Block" - Article by Karen Rowe.
According
to Karen, Writer's Block is a sham. It doesn't exist. It's a figment of your imagination. If you wrote
yesterday, you can write today. It’s really just a question of whether you can
do it to your own satisfaction. It's not your fear of writing that’s blocking
you; it's your fear of not writing well.
Do
you agree?
"25 Things You Should Know About Outlining" - Article by Chuck Wendig for Terribleminds.
Here
are 25 outlining tips from Chuck. What's your best outlining tip?
"The Writer and Social Media" - Article by Alethea Williams for Writing Wranglers
and Warriors.
The
release of an author's new book means it's promotion time. Since most new
authors can't afford much paid advertising, we are always looking for free ways
to bring our work to the public's attention. In these days of proliferating
social media, there are some outlets that are crucial.
"150 Foreign Expressions to Inspire You" - Article by Mark Nichol for Daily Writing Tips.
Here's
Mark's writing challenge for you: He's listed foreign expressions, mostly in
Latin, that offer wisdom or otherwise encapsulate a thought-provoking idea.
Select one (or more) that resonates with you and employ it as a writing prompt.
"How I Fought the Amazon Wars and Won" - Article by Jim Musgrave for Writers Get Together.
Jim
shares his knowledge and experience of being an independently published author.
"How NOT to Self-Publish: 12 Things for New
Indies to Avoid" -
Article by Anne R. Allen.
Self-publishing
has lost its stigma, and it's the publishing path of choice for a lot of
writers these days. If you want to launch a career as a professional,
self-published author, here are some things it's better not to do.
"The Book Marketing Strategy Every Author Must
Implement" - Article by
Robert Smith for Author Media.
Robert
has spent over 20 years trying just about every possible way you can think of
to sell a book. Over and over again, however, there is one key strategy that
has resulted in more sales, readership growth, and overall engagement than any
other - giving the book away. For free. You heard right.
"The Dangers of Overindulgence" - Article by Travis Luedke for The NightLife.
There
are empty calories for people and there are empty calories for manuscripts.
There are words that add nothing to the vitality, exposition or description of
a manuscript and should be eliminated - or like chocolate, indulged in
sparingly. Here are some of Travis' favorites.
"An
Inside Look at Today's Book Reviewers" - Article by Big Al for Writers
in the Storm Blog.
Big
Al covers two subjects in this article: the world of book reviewing in general
and how to increase your chances of getting your book reviewed.
"5
Essential Team Members in Self-Publishing" - Article by Kristina
Ludwig for Random Inspirations.
Writers
must have a team behind them to succeed in self-publishing. Some have gone it
alone, but it's a rare author who's also proficient at social media, book cover
design, marketing, copy-editing, running ad campaigns, and designing websites.
By using the expertise of others, the writers' strengths can shine even more.
"Digital
Tools for Crime Writers" - Article by Jason Boog for GalleyCat.
Jason
Boog caught up with journalist Steve Lillebuen to find out what digital tools
he used to build his book, The Devil's
Cinema. Lillebuen explains how he used valuable tools like OCR software
and the Wayback Machine to explore the killer’s life.
"Sixty
Second Writing Tips: Getting Fresh Editing Eyes by Random Dipping" -
Article by M. J. Wright.
One
of Matthew's favorite writing tips is so well known it barely needs repeating.
When you've written your first draft manuscript, stick it in a (metaphorical)
drawer for a month and don't look at it. The idea is that you come back with
fresh eyes.
"Write
It Now: Part 11, Introducing the Organising Principle"- Article by M.
J. Wright.
In
the last few weeks we've been exploring the ways writing is structured. Last
week we looked at large-scale structure – the big-aim content defined by
log-line or thesis. This week we're moving on to how that is done – the detail
of how these over-arching ideas are translated into written content, chapter by
chapter or – if it is a short piece – paragraph by paragraph.
