Writing about Real Places/Products

It's okay to include brand names and real locations in your manuscript as long as you don't defame them.

https://www.indiesunlimited.com/2018/04/30/using-real-places-products-in-your-novel-name-but-dont-defame/

Why You Need a Synopsis

Everyone hates to writing synopses, but they can help to show problems in your manuscript. 

https://authorkristenlamb.com/2018/04/writing-synopsis/

Kidlit Editor Twitter Handles

Keep us with the world of kidlit by following these editors. 

https://twitter.com/inkyelbows/lists/kidlit-ya-editors/members

Opening Scenes

What do you need to accomplish in the first few pages of your manuscript? 

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/your-ultimate-first-chapter-checklist-pt-2-writing-the-first-scene/

Finding the Perfect Agent

You need to figure out your own career priorities to find the agent who will be best for you. 

http://middlegrademinded.blogspot.com/2018/02/finding-your-perfect-agent-match.html

Writing Middle-Grade

Here are some tips to make your book appeal to this audience of eager readers. 

http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/6-golden-rules-of-writing-middle-grade

Social Media Conventions

Here are some suggestions of how to follow the often unwritten "rules" of social media. 

http://annerallen.com/2018/04/4-ways-not-dork-social-media/

Settings

Creating a map of your story's setting will make your vision more concrete. 

http://writershelpingwriters.net/2018/02/mapping-storys-setting/

Openings

You'll have a great opening to your novel, if you start with conflict and action.

https://kidlit.com/2018/03/26/novel-opening-pages/

Choosing Your Social Media

Different social media platforms help authors connect with different audiences. 

http://www.ingramspark.com/blog/what-social-media-should-authors-use

Premature Editing

Editing too soon may take away some of the creative spark for your story. 

http://authorkristenlamb.com/2018/03/premature-editing-kills-amazing-stories/

Author Photos

Avoid these mistakes in your author photos. 

https://www.millcitypress.net/blog/mistakes-with-author-photos

Scenes

For every scene you write, you should ask yourself, "What is the point of this scene?" 

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2018/03/the-question-you-need-to-ask-for-every.html

Query Letters

What is the standard information you should include in your query letter? 

http://bookendsliterary.com/2018/04/17/the-art-of-the-query-letter/

Author Website Mistakes

Don't confuse or turn away readers by having a poorly designed website.  

http://annerallen.com/2018/03/5-website-mistakes/

Show, Don't Tell

We all know the writing rule that says, "show, don't tell," but how do you actually do that? 

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2018/04/7-ways-to-master-show-dont-tell.html

Social Media for Authors

The time to start your social media presence is now, even if you don't yet have a book out. 

https://blog.nathanbransford.com/2018/04/a-guide-to-social-media-for-authors

Book Series

Ways to make your book series better, both in the individual books and over all of them. 

http://writershelpingwriters.net/2018/04/how-not-to-mess-up-your-book-series/

Pacing

Here are twenty tips on how to rethink the pacing in your book. 

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/pacing-your-plot-20-ways-to-rethink-your-narrative-pace

Bookstore Appearances

How to give patrons a reason to come up and talk to you when you're appearing at a bookstore. 

https://lithub.com/how-to-make-bookstore-appearances-ten-times-more-interesting/

Picture Book Publishers

Here's a list of children's book publishers that focus primarily on picture books. 

http://www.authorspublish.com/30-childrens-book-publishers-seeking-picture-books/

Saying Goodbye to a Manuscript

How do you know if it is time to finally put away your work in progress for good? 

http://annerallen.com/2018/04/saying-goodbye-to-that-wip/

Visual Thinking

Will thinking visually improve your writing? 

http://writerunboxed.com/2018/03/26/visual-thinking/

Author Category and Genre Loyalty

Should you stick to one category and genre in order to build your author brand? 

http://authorkristenlamb.com/2018/02/genre-cohesion-foundational/

Royalty Statements

You can't assume your royalty statements are correct; check them. 

http://www.jacquelinedavies.net/blog/2018/2/25/women-read-your-royalty-statements

Author Rights

It's important to know your rights as an author. 

https://blog.nathanbransford.com/2018/04/know-your-rights-as-an-author

The Odds of Getting Published

Although the odds of getting published may seem overwhelming, most of the people who say they want to have a published book will never put in the work to get there.

http://authorkristenlamb.com/2018/03/author-success-actual-odds/

Deep POV

When you're writing in deep point of view, you need to filter everything through your main character. 

http://writersinthestormblog.com/2018/02/description-and-setting-in-deep-pov/

Self-Editing

A reason to edit as you write is to avoid small problems snowballing into larger, harder to fix ones. 

https://blog.nathanbransford.com/2018/03/how-to-edit-your-novel

Backmatter

Here are some fairly common types of material you find in backmatter. 

https://mentorsforrent.wordpress.com/2018/03/18/how-to-write-a-nonfiction-picture-book-step-14-come-on-backmatter/

Emotions

Help your readers make an emotional connection with your work.  

http://writerunboxed.com/2018/03/12/3-tips-to-hook-your-readers-emotions/