Saturday, October 31, 2015

Tag Crowd

Make a tag cloud from your text to see what words you're overusing.

http://tagcrowd.com/

Friday, October 30, 2015

Manuscript Wish List

Find out what specific types of manuscripts individual editors and agents are looking for.

http://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Pinterest for Writers

You can use Pinterest as part of your book's marketing strategy.

https://janefriedman.com/pinterest-market-childrens-books/ 


Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Want to Win a Newbery?

What makes a turns a good book into a Newbery-level one?

http://www.hbook.com/2011/07/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/what-makes-a-good-newbery-novel/#_

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Author Platform

What constitutes and author platform and how do you build one?

http://snip.ly/DKBm#http://bit.ly/1DnGmoM

Monday, October 26, 2015

Middle Grade or Young Adult?

What are the key differences between a novel for 8-12 year olds and one for teens?

http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/the-key-differences-between-middle-grade-vs-young-adult

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Do You Have a Good Agent?

Here are some ways to figure out if your agent is doing his or her job.

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2014/04/8-ways-to-know-if-you-have-good-agent.html

Friday, October 23, 2015

Historical Fiction

If you're writing historical fiction, you have to do the research.

http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/8-rules-of-writing-historical-fiction-research

Thursday, October 22, 2015

NaNoWriMo

Get ready for National Novel Writing Month.

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2015/10/your-nanowrimo-tuneup.html

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Prologues

The pluses and minuses of having a prologue in your book.

https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2015/09/22/to-prologue-or-not-to-prologue-that-is-the-question/

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Contracts 101

Here are links to a series of posts about literary contracts.

http://wolflit.com/category/contracts-101/

Monday, October 19, 2015

Book Title

Though the title of your book may change after acquisition, it's still a good idea to choose one that will attract the attention of editors and agents.

http://www.rachellegardner.com/create-a-compelling-book-title/

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Improve Your Dialogue

The number one suggestion on this list of how to improve your dialogue is to punctuate correctly.

https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2015/09/10/9-ways-to-improve-your-dialogue/

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Book Release Timeline

What should you do to prepare for your book release and when should you do it.

http://www.lisaschroederbooks.com/2010/02/timeline-and-checklist-for-ya-of-mg.html

Friday, October 16, 2015

Facebook for Authors

Here are some tips for authors new to Facebook.

https://janefriedman.com/facebook-for-authors/

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Fair Use

Ask yourself these questions before using copyrighted material.

https://janefriedman.com/the-fair-use-doctrine/

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Picture Book Dos and Donts

Author Mem Fox shares twenty things picture book writers should (or shouldn't) be doing.

http://memfox.com/for-writers-hints/for-writers-20-dos-and-20-donts/

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Goodreads Giveaways

What's the best strategy to use in planning a giveaway on Goodreads.

http://catherineryanhoward.com/2014/08/18/goodreads-giveaways-dont-do-what-youre-told/

Monday, October 12, 2015

Cliches

It's good to use metaphors and similes in your writing, but not if they're cliches.

http://suspense.net/whitefish/cliche.htm

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Are School Visits Mandatory?

It's up to you how many and what kind of school visits you feel comfortable doing.

http://schoolvisitexperts.com/?p=1143

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Reducing Word Count

Whether you write picture books or novels, cutting out words will tighten your writing.

http://www.susanuhlig.com/2015/08/reducing-word-count.html

Friday, October 9, 2015

Self-Editing

Here are some simple tricks for editing your manuscript.

http://thewritelife.com/self-editing-basics/#.aj6dpc:sAb7

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Balancing Dialogue and Description

Your story should contain a good mix of dialogue and description.

http://snip.ly/kN1a

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Pinterest

How can you use Pinterest to raise awareness of your book?

http://mandywallace.com/writers-leverage-pinterest/

Monday, October 5, 2015

Critique Group Sandwich

A popular method of critiquing is the sandwich: what you liked about the text, what you think needs more work, and what you liked again.

http://www.childrenswritersguild.com/critique-group-sandwich/

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Satisfying Endings

Your ending should wrap up the story in a way that resonates with your readers.

http://www.adventuresinyapublishing.com/2015/08/crafting-satisfying-ending-to-your.html#.Vgwy-s9Vikp

Saturday, October 3, 2015

What an Agent Looks For

Obviously an agent wants to see good writing, but what else is important?

http://writersrumpus.com/2013/12/06/what-i-learned-in-an-agents-inbox/

Friday, October 2, 2015

Age Level

Make sure your writing is appropriate for the age level of your audience.

http://www.childrenswritersguild.com/are-you-writing-for-the-right-age/

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Rejection to Revision

Use the comments you gather from your rejections to make your manuscript better.

http://nerdychicksrule.com/2015/03/12/marcie-colleen-how-rejection-leads-to-stellar-revision/