Tag Archives: goodreads

Articles, Blog, Craft, Opinion, Writing and Publishing

About This Writing Stuff…

This week, James Scott Bell offers practical advice on crafting stronger scenes. At Writer Unboxed, Donald Maass examines what it means to write authentic characters while Kathryn Craft urges us to elevate our descriptions from the prosaic to the extraordinary.

Lincoln Michel sheds light on nearly every facet of being a professional writer, Janice Hardy discusses character agency, and over at TIME, Megan McCluskey exposes the career-damaging extortion and fraudulent book reviews running rampant on Goodreads.

All that and a lot more. Enjoy!

Everything I’ve Learned About Being a “Professional” Writer in One Post  by Lincoln Michel

How Extortion Scams and Review Bombing Trolls Turned Goodreads Into Many Authors’ Worst Nightmare  by Megan McCluskey

Three Easy Ways to Strengthen a Scene  by James Scott Bell

4 Ways to Develop Character Agency  by Janice Hardy

Aim for the Extra in the Ordinary  by Kathryn Craft

6 Twisty Ways to Trick Your Reader  by Dana Isaacson

How to Avoid Repeating ‘I’ in First Person Writing  by Louise Harnby

How to Bring History Alive in Your Fiction  by Dana Cameron

The Walking Stick  by Donald Maass

From Mary Shelley to Carmen Maria Machado, Women Have Profoundly Shaped Horror  by Danielle Binks

 

Articles, Blog, Craft, Opinion, Writing and Publishing

About This Writing Stuff…

This week, Kristine Kathryn Rusch summarizes exciting opportunities brewing in the audio book space while Anne R. Allen instructs us on writing the almighty query letter.

We’re often inundated with lessons on time management to help us balance our workloads and achieve our writing goals, but Paula Munier reminds us that it’s equally important to set boundaries and learn to say NO.

On a related note, Jami Gold shares the frustrations of juggling contradictions in the writing and publishing world based on a glorious article from Kali Wallace (included below) about the pressures and stresses placed on writers today.

Matt Knight discusses cover art copyright and Kathryn Craft offers methods for handling leaps of time in our narrative. Meanwhile, trolls and sockpuppets continue to erode the value of Goodreads.

All that and a little more. Enjoy!

Business Musings: The Future of Audio by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

How to Write a Professional, Not-Embarrassing Query to an Agent, Reviewer, Editor, or Blogger by Anne R. Allen

The Key to a Writer’s Productivity: Just Say No by Paula Munier

Your Heart is a Moving Target by Kali Wallace

Writing and Publishing are Full of Contradictions by Jami Gold

12 Tips for New Public Speakers by Debbie Burke

Can a Work of Fiction about the Holocaust be Inaccurate? by Patrick Freyne

Looking Deeper into the Goodreads Troll Problem by Camestros Felapton

Book Covers and Copyrights by Matt Knight

The Compelling, Emotional Complex Sentence by Jeanne Cavelos

Bridging Temporal Story Gaps by Kathryn Craft

 

 

Articles, Blog, Craft, Opinion, Writing and Publishing

About This Writing Stuff…

This week, Goodreads announces a change to its US giveaway program and it comes with alarming costs. The Authors Guild provides information on the new GOP tax bill and Douglas Preston laments the fact that writers can no longer make a living from their craft.

From The Guardian, a recent study comparing literary fiction against science fiction returned rather “stupefying” results. John Gilstrap discusses the importance of book cover design while K.M. Weiland and Becca Puglisi each offer different tactics for character development.  From Writers Helping Writers, Sacha Black gives us the nitty gritty on sentence structure.

All that and a little more. Enjoy!

Goodreads Announces New US Giveaway Program by Greg Seguin

What Authors Need to Know About the New Tax Bills by The Authors Guild

Why Is It So Goddamned Hard to Make a Living as a Writer Today? by Douglas Preston

(Too) Close Third Person by Jeanne Kisacky

Science Fiction Triggers ‘Poorer Reading’, Study Finds by Alison Flood

Judging a Book By Its Cover by John Gilstrap

4 Ways to Amplify Your Characters’ Subtext by K.M. Weiland

Writing Characters that Mirror Real Life by Becca Puglisi via Kristen Lamb

Action Beats: More than Dialogue Tag Surrogates by Kathy Steinmann

Getting Jiggy with the Nitty Gritty, or, Improving Your Sentences by Sacha Black

Blog, Book Reviews

A Marvelous Review from the Land Down Under!

I just happened across this recent Goodreads review for my novel By Your Side from a reader in Australia. It made my weekend!

Indy Fernandez rated it Five Stars – It was amazing

Shelves: read-2017
This book has chills, thrills, suspense and even light hearted humour. Will keep you engaged from start to finish, a very well written novel, I applaud the author Phil Giunta as the story is intriguing with characters that are portrayed with so vividly you are caught up in their nightmares.
By Your Side by Phil Giunta

 

 

Blog, Book Reviews

Reviewing Your Favorite Books, Even When You’re “Not Very Good At Writing”

While many of my readers take the time to leave reviews for my books, others often compliment me in person, via Facebook, or email, but when I ask these particular readers to leave a review on Goodreads or Amazon, they express reluctance, stating that they’re “not very good at writing” or they assure me that they will leave a review and never follow through. 
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Remember, you do not need to purchase a book from Amazon to leave a review for the book there.  Also, for those unfamiliar with Goodreads, it is a social media site for book lovers where you can rate and review books, create an online library of books you currently own and would like to read, and join groups of like-minded readers to discuss your favorite books. Best of all, it’s free to join!
 
The screen capture below shows two Amazon reviews for Beach Nights, a collection of short stories from Cat and Mouse Press that contains my paranormal tale, “Tower Sixteen”.  The book was published in October 2016. 
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Note the second review from Early LBI. It’s one brief sentence: “Great group of short stories.” Five words. That’s the perfect example of a brief review you can leave for any book that you enjoyed even if you’re “not very good at writing.”
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Ratings and reviews help authors immensely. As our volume of reviews and ratings increases, new promotional and writing opportunities open for us, new readers notice our work, and most importantly, reader feedback encourages writers by letting us know that our work is reaching and touching people. 
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Thank you so much for your support! We deeply appreciate it. 
Blog, Writing and Publishing

About This Writing Stuff…

This week, Kristen Lamb and John Gilstrap talk story synopses to attract agents while Cynthia Shannon offers tips to engage readers on Goodreads.

We blur the line between science and science fiction with Veronica Sicoe and Kate Gwynne, who respectively explore interstellar communication and storytelling through virtual reality.

Amazon initiates new rules regarding reviews, while a common question is answered about the quality of self-published versus traditionally published books.

Janice Hardy and K.M. Weiland talk about tricks, surprises, and honesty in our fiction.

All that, and a little more. Enjoy!

Engaging with Readers on Goodreads by Cynthia Shannon

The Synopsis: Demystifying the Mystery by John Gilstrap

The Dreaded Synopsis—How to Get Started & Why We Need One BEFORE Writing the Book by Kristen Lamb

Storyworld Design: Communication Technologies by Veronica Sicoe

Read It and Bleep: Is Virtual Reality the Future of Storytelling? by Kate Gwynne

Authors Guild Opens Membership to New and Unpublished Writers by Daniel Berkowitz

Amazon’s New Review Rules: What Authors Need to Know by Anne R. Allen

The Difference Between Tricking Your Reader and Surprising Your Reader by Janice Hardy

What is Honest Fiction? by K.M. Weiland

Are Self-Published Books Inferior to Self-Published Books? Answered by Archie D’Cruz