This week, Chris Winkle reviews common IT mistakes in fiction and how to correct them while Angela Ackerman helps us improve our character descriptions. Speaking of characters, Ruth Harris runs through a roll call of irresistible rogues and shows us how they can spice up our fiction.
Nate Hoffelder offers financial advice for first time self-publishers and Crystal King provides a brief tutorial on Instagram. Kristen Lamb talks breakout novels and gatekeepers, Maria Grace reminds us that mere machinery does not good science fiction make, and writer pal Donna DeLoretta Brennan is in the spotlight for her new short story collection!
All that and a bit of counseling from Konrath, too. Enjoy!
Five Information Technology Blunders and How to Fix Them by Chris Winkle
Character Descriptions: Avoiding the Boring Stuff by Angela Ackerman via Jami Gold
Six Things Writers Need to Stop Worrying About by Joe Konrath
Instagram 101 for Authors by Crystal King
How to Waste Money When Self-Publishing a First Book by Nate Hoffelder
Rogue Characters: The Secret to Compelling Fiction by Ruth Harris
Forget the Mess-It’s a Time for a Story with Donna DeLoretto Brennan via Catherine Castle
Science Fiction: More than Gizmos by Maria Grace via Kristen Lamb
The Breakout Novel and Why Publishing is Desperate for the Next Big Thing and Gatekeepers & Good Books: Trophy Fishing in a Literary Tsunami by Kristen Lamb
Thank you for these insightful articles! I am getting so much out of reading them. I need these doses of reality. After reading Jon Konrath, I am not going to waste my time checking out awards and contests. Keep up the good work.
Thanks, Idelle. Certain contests might be worth it if the awards include publication in an anthology. For example, this is how one of my best ghost stories came to be published by Cat & Mouse Press in Delaware and since then, I’ve published two more stories in one of their open call anthologies. Contests and awards can be a way for burgeoning and experienced writers alike to find new opportunities to be published and even if you lose the contest, you now have a story that can be shopped around and published elsewhere. It all depends on your objectives as a writer. If you prefer to focus on novels and not bother with short stories, then contests and awards would not be goals to pursue.