A Little Sh*t Can’t Hurt

As a librarian I can tell you many people will religiously read the same authors' books. We see this constantly as the request list for the latest Patterson or Steele novels head into the hundreds. As a reader myself I've read a familiar author's book that once I was done said, "that was a waste …

Avoiding Emotional Cliches

I came across this great piece of advice from Anne R Allen's great blog. How to Avoid Cliched Emotional Responses We've all fallen into the trap at least once. Cliches are easy and sometime our brains just don't have anything more to say about something. One of my favorite things is to mix up the …

Newsletters For Authors

9 Reasons to consider a newsletter if you're an author.

From the Blogs: Writing Yourself Into a Corner

I can see this as more of an issue with seat-of-their-pants writers. Still I can imagine sitting over an outline and realizing that it's not going where you need and or want. Scott Hale, over at The Creative Pen has some great advice for dealing with that. https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2019/04/19/why-writing-yourself-into-a-corner-can-improve-your-writing/

Should All Authors Blog

This was a very interesting post from Rachel Gardner. Should All Authors Blog A few years ago that answer would be, "of course, don't be silly." Now that is not necessarily so, and this piece puts it into perspective. If you are an author and thinking if you need to blog I would stop everything …

Writing Contests Yay or Nay

I'm no where near an expert on the subject of writing contests as I've only entered a handful or so. I have had success, garnering an honorable mention for one of my short stories. Still when I came across this post on Anne R. Allen's blog I thought I'd share it. Writing Contests Are Important: …

Some Great Do’s and Don’ts

I came across this article on Anne R Allen's great blog. You Finished Your First Novel! What To Do Now: 7 Do's and Don'ts I often get asked what the steps are after the novel is finished. There truly is no single one answer nor is there a path that works for everyone. This piece …

Traditional vs Self Publishing

In my trek across the blogoshere I came upon this article on The Creative Pen. Pros and Cons of Traditional Publishing vs Self-publishing I think the author does a real good job of laying it all out in a simple way. I tend to use Independent Author synonymous with Self-Publishing so I do not necessarily …

Don’t Push That Button

Going through my RSS feed from Problogger.net, I came across this little gem. Stop. Don't post that post! 7 questions to ask before you hit publish. I think all bloggers could use a list of these rules taped right to their computer monitor. Since I do a lot of blogging on my tablet I'll tape one there …

Start Your Blog – Grow Your Platform

This article came to me via one of my fellow Inkslingers, thank you Gale. I found it a great resource for writers just starting a blog or even those looking to refresh their current blog. I have heard many writers ask, "Where do I start with a blog?" The simple answer is, you start with the content. What do …