Writing Blog Treasures 6~2

Welcome to Writing Blog Treasures! Here you’ll find the best of the blogsphere from the past week. So, grab your coffee, sit back and above all – enjoy *smile*

Featured

While the life of luxury as a self-pubbed indie author may seem an easy road to take, the realities say otherwise. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy – But – anything worthwhile is also worth the effort to pursue, at least in my (sometimes humble) opinion. Lindsay Buroker is a full-time indie fantasy/steampunk author that has made her own success, failures and learned a great deal on the journey. She is also wonderfully gracious in sharing her knowledge.

Excerpt from What Does It Take To Become a Full-Time Indie Author by Lindsay Buroker:

A few months ago, I changed my Twitter bio from “indie fantasy/steampunk author” to “full-time indie fantasy/steampunk author.” Apparently a couple of people actually read that Twitter bio, because I’ve had questions about it.

–You really earn a living from your ebooks?
–How many books do you have to write to do that?
–Are you a bestseller?
–If not, how many do you have to sell?
–How do I sell that many books?…(find the rest at the above link – worth the read!).

On the Publishing Industry

On Writing and Publishing Trends by Ava Jae. Good assessments!

The Business Rusch: Not a Real Survey by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. (About the recent Taliest Survey, you’ll want to read this post and check out the comments thread).

On Aspects of Publishing

Covering Our Bases by Elizabeth S. Craig. On choosing a publishing route.

Business Decisions for Publishing Careers by Susan Spann. Great advice! (Posted on Writers in the Storm).

Promoting Your Book on iBooks by Jen Talty.

JA Konrath vs. Stephen King by J.A. Konrath. What you’ll really want to see in this post is the amazing things that Konrath is doing with online book covers. Let me just say, “Wow!”

Marketing Non-Fiction vs. Fiction with Johnny B. Truant via Joanna Penn (audio, vlog, blog). Also from Joanna: Demonstrating Your Author Brand with a Professional Head Shot.

The Secret to Publishing Success by Joel Friedlander.

On Social Media

You Need to be Active on LinkedIn by Dan Blank (vlog). Also from Dan: The Real Value of Social Media: Connecting Online to Offline (vlog).

When Building Your Brand Think, “People Connect With People” by D. D. Scott on EPubGuide.

Tips for Fighting Spam Online by Carrie Mumford.

Google’s Policy on Tracking Clicks on the Google+ Button from Digital Inspiration.

Should You Move from WordPress.com to WordPress.org? by Melinda VanLone guesting on Marcy Kennedy’s site.

Top 10 Blog Traffic Killers by Jane Friedman. (Advice drawn from Michael Hyatt’s book Platform).

DIYMFA Resource Week

DIYMFA (add a hashtag and you’ll find them on Twitter) spent the week sharing and compiling some of the best of the web/blogsphere. If you’re here then you must like finding great resources. Here are links to their posts from this amazing week.

Top 10 Website Picks. Top 10 Twitter Feed Picks (I’m one of them). Top 10 Book Picks.

Blog Party Bonanza! Share your favorite resources.

On Writing Craft

4 Tips On Plotting Your Novel by Janice Hardy. Excellent Tips! Also from Janice: Pacing & Hooking Readers in the Opening Scene.

Hunger Games – Lessons From the Film Adaptation by Larry Brooks. Part of his continuing deconstruction of the Hunger Games, masterful advice.

Words that Tattle Telling – Tips for Young Writers by Lisa Hall-Wilson.

My Fast Draft Experience by Angela Quarles. Great overview of the Candace Haven’s FastDraft! I’m signed up for the July class.

25 Things to Know About Writing the First Chapter of Your Novel by Chuck Wendig.

On the Writer’s Life

What Happens After Writing 3 or 4 Books a Year by Elizabeth S. Craig. Good pro’s & cons!

It’s Not Just About Numbers. How Many Books Can You Write in a Year? by Janice Hardy.

Believing in Achieving by Ingrid Schaffenburg (with appearances by James Rollins, Kristin Lamb and Piper Bayard).

Stop Looking for Excuses to Not Be Awesome by Jeff Goins.

The Worry of the Artist: Am I Good Enough? by Jenny Hansen (with an appearance by James Rollins).

Are You In This for the Long Haul? by Jami Gold. A journey of a thousand miles is traveled a step at a time – are you willing to take the trip?

How To Remain Sane While Writing by Ava Jae. (Assuming one is sane to begin with *grin*).

Is Perfectionism Killing Your Career? by Kristen Lamb.

Ways to be More Productive: Leave Yourself Notes by Janice Hardy.

Movies

Jillian Dodd reviews Men in Black 3. Amanda Rudd reviews Arrietty’s Secret.

Two Announcements:

First, be sure to stop in at Kristen Lamb’s site on Monday for an a thrilling announcement of an amazing new opportunity for writer’s! Kristen is always looking for ways to help writers achieve their dreams and goals and this is one of the best ideas yet.

Second. Are you a fan of James Rollins? If not, well, you should be. James is a skydiving veterinarian who also happens to be a New York Times Bestseller. This week James publisher opened up the FIRST SIX CHAPTERS of his upcoming release: Bloodlines.

You can download them for FREE at the below link

James Rollins Bloodline Sneak Peek!

My latest: Designing from Bones: Royal Mountain Majesty. What is a ruler to do when they want to both live above the people and command authoritative respect? Well, they build their own mountain and call it home. Today we will take a look at two such locations and see what lessons they have to teach us…

Peaceful Journeys!