Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Tuesday's Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts


By: Nancy Martin

What exactly was Rhett Butler doing when he was “blockade running?” What went on in Boo Radley’s home? What kind of crime does Morelli fight when Stephanie Plum is busy catching bail jumpers?

Questions like these are writer heaven. Sure, we know what our secondary characters are doing while the main character is busy telling the story. But readers rarely get to find out.

Until now.  I think we’re entering the Golden Age of the Novella.

Me, I write a mystery series and publish one hardcover a year. When I’m at the top of my game, it takes me about nine months to write a Blackbird Sisters Mystery. By contrast, when I made a good living at romance novels years ago, I could write two or three books in the same amount of time. But those romances were only 200 pages in manuscript and featured a streamlined A story. The B story was very short, and the C story nonexistent.  

My Blackbird books are driven by a convoluted mystery plot and embellished with B, C, D and E stories—and sometimes more.  I may have several plot threads going--each addressing some current event or subject that takes research.  Plus after the draft is finished, I like to tweak the language to make the book more fun to read. Bottom line? I can’t dash off a full-length mystery in a few weeks.

Can I get tacky here and talk about money?  Because I can only write one book a year, I only get paychecks twice every twelve months. And royalties come in dribs and drabs. That makes for tricky cash-flow.

So I looked around and noticed other writers were supplementing their A writing with some B projects.  The short story has been around a long time in all genres, but not very lucrative. The novella e-book can be priced in the sweet spot of 99 cents to $2.99 and make real money.  Which makes it good business for writers--especially when our readers are clamoring for more, more, more, faster, faster, faster. 

Creatively, the novella can be a blast . . .

Read the full article HERE!

~*~


If you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are again:
  1. You Need to Ask this Question Every Time You Sit Down to Write http://ow.ly/BdQLJ
  2. Succeed At Writing: Taming the Inner Critic http://ow.ly/BdQXc
  3. Putting Author Thoughts into Author Action - Where Writers Win http://ow.ly/BdRai
  4. 12 Most Freeing Reasons to Scrap a Blog Post http://ow.ly/BdRev
  5. Aimee L. Salter: The Difference Between Being Critiqued and Being Edited http://ow.ly/BdRub
  6. Better With Age: Giving Elderly Characters the Spotlight | LitReactor http://ow.ly/BdRxG
  7. Character Talents and Skills: Re-purposing - WRITERS HELPING WRITERSWRITERS HELPING WRITERS http://ow.ly/BdRF2
  8. There's More to the Story http://ow.ly/BdROW "I think we’re entering the Golden Age of the Novella."
  9. ThrillWriting: Transforming Your Beta Heroine into Her Full Alpha Potential w/ Danielle Serpico http://ow.ly/BdS2M
  10. Fiction University: 5 Guidelines for Approaching Book Review Bloggers http://ow.ly/BdSk4
  11. Kill me now – what do I do about a negative review? | Nail Your Novel http://ow.ly/BdSpq
  12. Build Your Reputation As A Writer With These Seven Techniques http://ow.ly/BdSt3
  13. 7 Ways to Use Pinterest to Promote Your Business - Plus Infographic http://ow.ly/BdSAW
  14. The 5 Step Voyage of Creating Awesome Content : @ProBlogger http://ow.ly/BdSG6
  15. How to Craft a Book Idea that Sells - How to Blog a Book http://ow.ly/BdSLw
  16. Overcoming Fear So You Can Finish and Publish Your Books | Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors http://ow.ly/BdSPI
  17. Anne R. Allen's Blog: The Biggest Mistake New Writers Make and 5 Ways to Avoid It http://ow.ly/BdSXR
  18. The Creative Penn Blog: Helping you write, publish and market your book | The Creative Penn http://ow.ly/BdT9j
  19. 3 Reasons I’m Glad I Chose Self-Publishing | Lindsay Buroker http://ow.ly/BdTmp
  20. Reviewer Databases: An Author's Best Friend - The Author CEO http://ow.ly/BdTW6
  21. Live dangerously. Use an adverb. | @Belinda_Pollard http://ow.ly/BdUum
  22. Self-Publishers Looking for Book Design inspiration Can Find it in the History of Printing — The Book Designer http://ow.ly/BdUAt
  23. Are You Building Your Writer Platform at Gunpoint? | Your Writer Platform http://ow.ly/BdUOe
  24. From Grief to Glory: 5 Perfect Moments to Start Writing a Book |  http://ow.ly/BdV2d
  25. The Kill Zone: POV 102 - How to Avoid Head-Hopping http://ow.ly/BdV7v
  26. ThrillWriting: EMTs and Gunshot Wound Information for Thriller Writers http://ow.ly/BdVq3
  27. 52 Ways To Sell More Books - Tip #50 http://ow.ly/Be6FC
Happy writing and running, Kathy

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