on The Writing Life site:

Last week I learned one of my regular writing assignments was disappearing.

For every issue of the publication, I’ve been writing a column for the last six years.

It was sad to receive such news but in some ways it was not unexpected. One of my key relationships at the magazine was leaving.

With this change, the staff took the opportunity to revamp their publication through this revision my column was no longer needed. I responded to the editor with a gracious and understanding way with the hopes I can write articles in future issues.

My response was well-received and possibly I will be able to write more in the future.

This experience reminded me that the world of publishing is always changing.

Continue reading HERE

on Bookworks site:

At some time or another in your publishing journey, you will need to create EPUB and MOBI versions of your book, stories, or documents.

There are many reasons to do this and I hope that the information in this post will help you plan a publication and marketing strategy that incorporates sharing with early readers (beta publishing), editing, distributing book reviews, sales, and distribution.

Here are some reasons to put eBook conversion not only for your books but for your short books and other lead magnets, in your publishing plan:

Continue reading HERE

Writing while working, adulting, caring for tiny humans, and running a household often means jotting down sentences between appointments, lunch hours, school pickups, or after the kids are in bed. You know, that one part of the day you have to yourself when all you want to do is to binge watch the latest season of Orange Is The New Black and fall into a chocolate coma.

Instead, you dedicate those precious breaks to writing. But thanks to busy lives and social media, best-laid plans to craft words often gets pushed to the side. When that happens, getting creative with how you organize your writing time can mean adding to your word count rather than chasing it.

1) Make Scheduling Your Friend

Not only do you write, nowadays you also have to tweet about. Creating and maintaining a social media presence is important when you’re selling books or working…

on The book Designer:

Intro byJoel Friedlander:

The world of speaking opportunities keeps expanding, and that’s good for authors. Speaking to live audiences is one of the best platform-building activities available for both fiction writers and subject matter experts.

But how to make the connection with a live audience? What gets in the way? In this article author Betsy Graziani Fasbinder looks at how to avoid the appearance of dishonesty and be an authentic voice for your readers and listeners.

Continue reading HERE

Write The Villain Your Story Deserves

As I’ve discussed before, there’s a difference between an antagonist and a villain. Your story doesn’t need a villain, but if you’re going to have one, you should have a memorable one.

• Prince Humperdink/Count Rugen
• The Joker
• Voldemort
• Emperor Palpatine

These are the names and the stories that stick with us. And sometimes? We love them anyway.

But how does one create a memorable villain, worthy of one’s story? Here are some tips.

#1 – Avoid under-developed villains

Remember, villains have their own lives, outside of thwarting your protagonist. They need to be 3-dimensional characters with motivations that make sense — even if you disagree with their decisions.

#2 – If you must use a cliche, add a twist

The childhood trauma, the revenge on the government/mob/whatever, the delusion that they’re doing good…make sure you’re not following the formula too closely.

#3 –…

Gratitude ABC’s

Gratitude ABC’s can work wonders for a variety of situations including anxiety or panic attacks, urges to use drugs or alcohol, anxiety-inducing situations, feeling low, or even as a distraction method. It is simple to do and requires only your mind and ability to think.

All you have to do is say a gratitude for every letter of the alphabet.

Example:

I am grateful for…

• A is for my appearance
• B is for my big heart
• C is for my cat
• D is for my dignity

You just keep this up for the entire alphabet and go all the way to Z.

Now, some letters will be much easier than others, but try to come up with something for each letter. Get creative if you have to!

Give it a try and see what you think about it. I recently learned about this…

by Kathryn, TFR

Keeping in a similar theme with last week’s post about unique sources of writing inspiration, this week, I’m going to talk about finding sources of PRODUCTIVE background noise.

No, that does not mean pulling up your favorite show on Netflix or Hulu to listen to while you work (In the interest of complete transparency, I’m writing this after starting the fourteenth season of CSI. Do as I say, not as I do, people).