Falling In Love With Romance: nuggets

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Nuggets for November

Looking for slang or jargon? Or maybe alternatives for cuss words? This is a very useful post for the "wordy" in all writers.
http://annerallen.com/slang-jargon-insider-lingo-11-ways-to-find/

A great post about blurb writing
http://www.adazing.com/the-perfect-blurb/

Do you need an editor? And what kind of editor?
http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2016/11/no-you-dont-need-to-pay-for-a-copy-edit-except-when-you-do.html

A thought provoking article about how to make the unexpected twist believable
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/write-unexpected-story-events/

In defense of to-be verbs
http://annerallen.com/should-you-eliminate-was-from-your/

marketing for the holidays
https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/2016/10/25/book-promotion-for-holiday/

Nuggets for October

This is the very best analysis of how to write subtext that I've ever read.
www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/5-ingredients-need-story-subtext/

Another one from KM Weiland. She's on fire with this post about how to pick the right antagonist.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-choose-the-right-antagonist/

Janice Hardy has a post on Anne R. Allen's blog about how to fix that unfinished novel. Good thoughts to help you analyze what wrong.
http://annerallen.com/finish-novel-fix-fatal-flaws/

Thoughts on how get from one scene to the next
http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2015/01/getting-from-one-scene-to-the-next.html

Coming up with a title can be hard. This may help.
http://annerallen.com/book-titles-10-tips-choose-right-title/

Some solid guidelines from James Scott Bell. I especially love what he says about backstory.
https://janefriedman.com/writing-advice-to-ignore/

Another from JSB. How to write an eating scene.
https://killzoneblog.com/2016/07/how-to-write-an-eating-scene.html

This says it's about beta readers, but it could just as easily be titled "where to find critique groups."
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/find-your-next-beta-reader/
(BTW, I highly recommend Critique Circle. The site has a great structure and lots of writers at every stage of development.)

If you're at the stage where you have or are developing a mailing list, this is a useful post
https://janefriedman.com/email-newsletter-content/

Nuggets for June

Need some insights into the criminal mind? Here's a reality check from someone who knows.
http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/les-edgerton-accuracy-in-crime-novels-2/

What's wrong with your story? Common failings.
http://floggingbabel.blogspot.com/2016/06/everything-thats-wrong-with-your-story.html

Naming characters is sometimes surprisingly difficult. These tools may help.
https://kobowritinglife.com/2016/04/18/down-the-rabbit-hole-tips-and-tools-for-naming-characters-quickly/

Nuggets for May

How to write a log line
http://fixmystory.com/2016/03/03/the-killer-tool-that-can-help-you-sell-your-book/

A great analysis of covers
http://www.creativindie.com/book-cover-cliches-why-using-them-will-actually-help-you-sell-more-books/

A great article about pirates, plagiarism, DMCA, and copyright
http://annerallen.com/2016/05/book-pirates-arrgh-what-should-you-do-when-pirates-steal-your-ebook-or-blog.html

Nuggets for April

Ideas for growing you mailing list
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2015/01/15/fiction-email-list-subscribers/

Battle Scene are always Tricky
http://ryanlanz.com/2016/01/26/how-to-write-battle-scenes/

This deconstructs fight scenes. Good to know.
http://www.betternovelproject.com/blog/fight-scene/

We all want to sell well, but there's no magic bullet. Rosiland James tells her story, including the marketing moves she made.
http://www.rosalindjames.com/what-worked-for-me/

Facebook ads seem to be the hot topic of the moment. Here are a couple of posts that may help you figure out how to run an effective campaign.
http://nicholasrossis.me/2016/03/12/mark-gillespies-tips-for-facebook-ads/
http://nicholasrossis.me/2016/03/10/the-science-of-successful-facebook-ads/

An excellent analysis of how to make a supporting character matter
http://writerunboxed.com/2016/02/06/supporting-characters-life-and-death/

Nuggets for March

Help for getting a handle on your inciting event
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/your-books-inciting-event-its-not-what-you-think-it-is/

Jennifer Crusie has a tendency to ramble a bit but she has some thought-provoking ideas about how to create chemistry between characters
http://arghink.com/2016/01/questionable-character-chemistry/

Fight scenes are tough. Maybe this will help.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-write-realistic-fight-scenes-2/

Seems like everyone wants in your pocket, especially when you reach the promo stage, so it's nice to find something that makes life easier at a reasonable price.
http://www.molly-greene.com/bookfunnel-low-cost-ebook-giveaway-hosting/

You've probably seen them. The pictures with quotes from the book. Here's how to create them.
http://buildbookbuzz.com/how-to-create-shareable-images-with-quotes/

Here's another site for creating pictures with quotes
https://buffer.com/pablo#

This is one I want to try when I have the time. It's a preview widget from Amazon.
http://www.darcypattison.com/marketing/preview-widget/

Nuggets for February

How to market a sequel
http://insights.bookbub.com/publishing-a-sequel-book-marketing-tips-you-need-to-know/

I got very excited when I stumbled across National Geographic's style sheet. Not everything is suitable for novels, but it's extensive and a great standard for most things.
http://stylemanual.ngs.org/home/

A brilliant post to help you get deeper into your character's head
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/character-arcs-2/

The first ten pages
http://www.screenwritingtricks.com/2012/04/something-has-to-happen.html

A good reminder about what's supposed to happen in the middle of your novel
http://thewritinglifetoo.blogspot.com/2013_11_01_archive.html#5035542581007438090

How to set up an Amazon giveaway:
http://nicholasrossis.me/2016/02/09/how-to-set-up-an-amazon-giveaway/
I'm going to add here that I tried this and wasn't pleased with the results. It was supposed to run for a week, but instead Amazon shut it down after less than 24 hours, saying the giveaway had been "claimed." Supposedly, they're investigating, but I haven't heard back yet.

Nuggets for January

Creating complex characters
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/for-writers-on-the-verge-of-writing-spectacularly-complex-characters/

How to effective run a promo
http://insights.bookbub.com/how-to-use-price-promotions-to-market-a-new-book-release/

Here's a thought-provoking post about how to make your book re-readable.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/re-readability-factor-book-5-reasons/

Nuggets for December

I'm not crazy about the first item on the list, but I think #2 is a wickedly brilliant way to build a mailing list.
http://www.creativindie.com/how-to-use-kingsumo-and-rafflecopter-to-build-your-email-list-likes-and-follows-quickly-with-giveaways/

Trying to get your ending right? This may help.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/most-common-writing-mistakes-pt-46-anticlimactic-endings/

How do you deal with a character telling things to another character and keep it interesting?
http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2015/12/ann-has-to-tell-bob-stuff-but-the-scene-is-so-wooden.html

Writers hate writing blurbs and queries, but this will help
http://jmney-grimm.com/2015/12/how-i-wrote-and-re-wrote-cover-copy-for-my-novel/

Do you know when to start a new paragraph? Are you sure?
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/paragraph-mistakes/

See you next year!

Nuggets for October - in November

I'm heavy into edits, so time got away from me last month, so I'm a week late posting the links I found worth repeating, but here they are.

Ever thought about creating a box set? Then you should read this.
http://insights.bookbub.com/tips-on-creating-single-author-box-sets-to-sell-more-books/

Great promotional ideas
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2015/10/guest-post-by-andrea-pearson.html

Formatting books is always fun, isn't it? Well, maybe not. These posts might help you make decisions about the front matter.
http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2015/best-practices-for-ebook-front-matter-copyright-page-part-1/
http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2015/best-practices-for-ebook-front-matter-copyright-page-part-2/

Nuggets for June

Need help getting readers to click the buy button? This might help.
http://noorosha.com/why-readers-dont-buy/?utm_content=buffereb9af&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

You've heard of Rafflecopter, haven't you? Here's the skinny.
http://www.sfwa.org/2013/11/tools-writers-rafflecopter/

Some things to consider when setting up your estate
http://www.sfwa.org/2012/06/guest-post-writers-and-their-literary-estates-story-reprints/

Neil Gaman also talks about the importance of setting up an estate and has a sample simple will PDF
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2006/10/important-and-pass-it-on.html

So what do you as Beta Readers?
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/questions-for-critique-partners/

K.M.Weiland is setting up a story structure database. It's an interesting idea and I hope if flies.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/story-structure-database/

Do you know where to end your chapters? Here are ten ways to get the reader to turn the page.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/11-killer-chapter/

Want to know about Kindle Scout?
http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2014/10/kindle-scout-pros-and-cons-of-amazons.html

Some interesting promotion choices
http://www.molly-greene.com/3-book-promos-the-results/

A brilliant post about the inciting incident
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/your-books-inciting-event-its-not-what-you-think-it-is/

Want to use Pinterest to promote your books? This will help.
http://writershelpingwriters.net/2015/04/3-ways-to-use-pinterest-to-promote-your-book/

What should you include in back matter?
http://insights.bookbub.com/how-to-cross-promote-your-books-in-the-back-matter/

To Prologue or Not to Prologue.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/find-out-if-your-prologue-is-destroying-your-storys-subtext/

Nuggets for May

What basics should be on your website?
http://janefriedman.com/2015/03/26/author-website-components/

A few advanced features for your website
http://janefriedman.com/2013/04/15/improve-your-author-website/
http://janefriedman.com/2013/11/24/wordpress-plug-ins-cant-live-without/

On Self-hosting your website
http://janefriedman.com/2014/09/09/website-self-hosting/

Pinch points in story structure
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/what-are-pinch-points-and-how-can-they-make-your-book-easier-to-write/

This is one of my favorite examples of how men and women think differently by brain scientist Livia Blackburn
http://blog.liviablackburne.com/2011/02/on-writing-realistic-male-characters.html

The climax is crucial to a story. This is a good post to measure yours against.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/want-readers-to-adore-your-book-learn-how-to-ace-your-climactic-moment/

Good things to think about when writing your hero/ine
http://moodywriting.blogspot.com/2015/03/tricks-of-trade-4-hero-upgrade.html
http://moodywriting.blogspot.com/2015/03/tricks-of-trade-4-hero-upgrade.html

More help for blurb writing
http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/2015/04/how-to-write-a-book-blurb/

If you have or are thinking about a website, this is an interesting comparison of BNA websites
http://www.writersandauthors.info/2015/04/a-closer-look-at-author-websites.html

It seems like these round-up posts get longer every month. Does this work for y'all or would you prefer shorter lists more often?

Nuggets for April

Writing a book blurb is always challenging. Here's some help.
http://www.thefussylibrarian.com/blog/how-to-write-the-irresistible-book-blurb/?mc_cid=55d4b1bfe8&mc_eid=712a83f075

If you're starting a story or looking to build a story premise, this article will help you think about the things you need to wow the reader
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/find-overlooked-ingredient-successfully-marketing-book/

Now and then Jennifer Cruise posts a blog that is so on the money, I want to frame it by my computer. This one about how to use visceral reactions to show emotions is on of those.
http://www.arghink.com/2015/02/27/questionable-emotional-shorthand/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ArghInk+%28Argh+Ink%29

Don't know the difference between murder and homicide? Or scene of the crime and crime scene? Find out at http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/murder-really-bugs-me-and-so-do-stories-that-get-it-wrong/

In defense of passive voice and to-be verbs
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/to-be-or-not-to-be-in-defense-of-the-passive-voice/#comment-1073227

If you're self publishing and thinking about doing your own covers, fonts are important. Here's a great post on the subject of fonts.
http://www.creativindie.com/300-fool-proof-fonts-to-use-for-your-book-cover-design-an-epic-list-of-best-fonts-per-genre/

All I have to say about this post is: WOW! This is a must read and should probably be reviewed repeatedly as one writes to be sure you're fully exploiting your story's suspense.
http://www.ian-irvine.com/suspense.html

We all get stuck in ruts when trying to describe characters, places, or things. This collection of thesauruses is worth exploring to get us out of those ruts.
http://writershelpingwriters.net/thesaurus-collections/

I don't know too many writers who aren't a little insecure when it come to writing fights or love scenes. These two posts could help.
http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2015/03/23/how-to-write-a-fight-or-love-scene/
http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2015/04/14/how-to-write-a-fight-or-love-scene-part-2/

Nuggets for March

This is a great post about the cost of self publishing, but what I find really interesting is the pricing philosophy at the end
http://www.chancefortunato.com/zompoc-survivor-blog/the-other-cost-of-self-publishing-or-how-to-do-it-all-wrong-and-still-get-it-right

I sometimes need permission to do things in ways other than what's recommended by "best practices." This post has things to say about content editors that I already suspected, so if you're wondering if you really need a content editor, this is a post you need to read.
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2015/01/17/in-defense-of-editing/

This appeared via Passive Guy a while back, but it's worth reminding everyone that you can widen your audience by working with another writer
https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2015/01/31/how-to-win-sales-and-influence-algorithms/

Jodi Henley has a good post about blurb writing
http://jodihenley.blogspot.com/2015/02/writing-blurbs-and-short-synopsis.html

I came across this post by Chuck Wendig that's thought provoking about what it really means to write strong female characters
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/02/16/how-strong-female-characters-still-end-up-weak-and-powerless-or-do-they-pass-the-action-figure-test/

God forbid any of us ever experiences someone sending a DMCA to Amazon or any of our other retailers, claiming to own the rights to our works, but if it should happen, this site explains succinctly how to file a counter claim.
http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/responding-dmca-takedown-notice-targeting-your-content

I recently had a problem with visitors to this site getting redirected to a commercial site. Eventually, I figured out it was the Mailchimp gadget I added causing the problem. I don't understand why or how that would be the case, but it certainly put me off using their services. So if I needed an alternative. Here's what I found. (And if anyone has anything to say about these business, please leave a comment.)
http://blog.capterra.com/top-10-mailchimp-alternatives-small-business-email-marketing/

Nuggets for February

Time for the link round-up again.

Need proper language for a police character?
http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/a-crime-writers-mini-dictionary-a-through-d/
http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/a-crime-writers-mini-dictionary-e-through-f/
http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/crime-writers-dictionary-from-gabaloo-to-hydrant-humper/
http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/crime-writers-dictionary-from-ice-to-justifiable-homicide/
http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/crime-writers-dictionary-from-ka-to-mugshot/

Here's an interesting post on Impact Characters:
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/2014/08/impact-character-2.html

A great post about character arcs and theme:
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/2014/01/minor-characters-help-discover-theme.html

This post discusses ways to open short science fiction stories, but the principles apply to all fiction.
http://io9.com/how-to-pick-a-killer-opening-for-your-science-fiction-s-1652443815

Some people have a knack for coming up with titles. I'm not one of them. If you're not either, maybe this will help.
http://nailyournovel.wordpress.com/2014/11/16/i-name-this-book-tips-for-choosing-a-good-title/
Here's another:
http://www.superheronation.com/2008/07/16/titling-your-novel/

Nuggets for January

Got lots to share this month.

Don't know where to start with promotion? Well, this will help. My friend Rachelle has compiled a list of sites that help you promote your book. It's fantastic having all this information in one place, but you still have the problem of where to start.
http://www.rachelleayala.com/p/promo-sites.html

More about promos. Specifically how giveaways can help.
http://www.djgelner.com/2014/12/how-i-gave-away-over-2000-books-on-kindle.html

Don't forget that promotion starts with a few basics like writing your blurb and picking out keywords
http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2014/04/how-to-make-bestseller-lists-why.html
http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2014/03/8-tips-for-writing-that-killer-blurb.html

Want to write a plot twist? Here's a mini-lesson on what you need to know.
http://www.critiquecircle.com/blog.asp?blogID=146

Thinking about how to market audiobooks?
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2014/05/01/audiobooks-acx-marketing/

Need to update your ebook? Hugh Howey shows you how.
http://www.hughhowey.com/fixing-typos-in-your-uploaded-amazon-e-books/

Action scenes are always challenging.
http://www.superheronation.com/2009/04/03/how-to-pace-a-scene-more-quickly/

The differences between how men and women act always interests me
http://www.superheronation.com/2007/04/08/writing-male-characters-and-perspectives/

The title of this post says it all: Good Dialog is never simply Dialog
http://j.nelsonleith.com/2014/12/24/good-dialogue-is-never-simply-dialogue/

Falling In Love With Romance

Nuggets for November

Nuggets for October

Nuggets for August

Nuggets for June

Nuggets for May

Nuggets for April

Nuggets for March

Nuggets for February

Nuggets for January

Nuggets for December

Nuggets for October - in November

Nuggets for September

Nuggets for August

Nuggets for July

Nuggets for June

Nuggets for May

Nuggets for April

Nuggets for March

Nuggets for February

Nuggets for January

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