14 Best Articles This Week for Writers 10/15/2010

After the Sale

• Ask Daphne! How Often is TOO Often? [kt literary] How much output should a writer produce?
• Branding Leads to Landing... [Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent] 'Branding is about creating reader expectations and meeting those expectations.'
• Blurbs [Mystery Writing is Murder] To blurb or not to blurb- excellent post.
• Press Kits Aren’t Dead [Author Marketing Experts, Inc. » BLOG] They're just changing. See what should be in yours.
• Are Book Signings Worth the Time & Effort? [Author, Jody Hedlund] An outdated sales technique but good for connecting with readers?
• 7 Lessons for Delivering a Powerful Message [There Are No Rules] How to deliver a more memorable message.

Book Reviews

• THE Clockwork Angel Answer Post [Cassandra Clare's Blog] Here be spoilers -- and great answers from @CassieClare.
• QOTW: Favorite Magic System? [Let The Words Flow] Love ALL the books mentioned here.
• Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles, #2) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl - Review [Book Crazy] 'Dark, daring, haunting.'
• BOOK REVIEW: Emma and the Vampires [Writers' Ally aka ➔ sa larsenッ] 'Paranormal flair and yesterday's storytelling.'
• Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen [Steph Bowe's Hey! Teenager of the Year] 'Engaging and immensely readable.'
• Girl, Stolen by April Henry ARC review [Candace's Book Blog] Four out of five moon review and some good hints and tidbits about what to expect.
• Book Review: Jane by April Lindner [THE BOOK BUTTERFLY] 'I was extremely satisfied and closed the book with a full heart.'
• Book Review: Secondhand Charm by Julie Berry [/- LA FEMME READERS -/] 'A magical and adventurous story.'
• Book Review: I Am Number Four by Pittacue Lore [Searching] 'I found it very hard to put down.'
• Book Review: Soul Screamers Series by Rachel Vincent [Oasis for YA] ' little romance, a lot of tension, and a character I can relate to. Not to mention some truly kick butt paranormal creatures that haven’t been done to death.'
• Review- The Replacement [A Blog about Nothing] Creepy and unpredictable toward the end.

Congrats

• GIRL MEETS BOY TO CHRONICLE [Jill Corcoran Books] Congratulations Kelly Milner Halls!
• Two New Sales [Jennifer Represents...] Hooray Calef Brown and Erin Lange for your book deals!
• JANET GURTLER'S ALL THAT JAZ TO SOURCEBOOKS! [Jill Corcoran Books] Congrats, Janet and Jill!

Contests

• Writer Resources & Book Pitch Contest Extension [GalleyCat] Awesome resources and contest extension to 10/27.
• Haunted Halloween: YA Giveaway! [Confessions of a Bookaholic] Awesome! Two chances to win 12 books--enter by 10/31.
• Interview & Giveaway with Michelle Rowen, Author of Demon Princess: Reign Check! [THE BOOK BUTTERFLY] Great interview and chance to win DEMON PRINCESS: REIGN CHECK. Enter by 10/27
• AUTUMN GIVEAWAY EXTRAVAGANZA Contest #7 starts today! [Claudia's Blog] Win THE DUFF, I AM NUMBER FOUR, and MATCHED. Enter by 10/18.
• Haunted Halloween with Jordan Deen and a giveaway! [Confessions of a Bookaholic] Win an ARC of The Crescent!
• PRISONERS IN THE PALACE: Michaela MacColl Interview and Giveaway [Caroline by line] Stop by and comment to win a copy of the book!
• NIGHTSHADE ARC Giveaway! [ROOTS IN MYTH] Finally! Contest ends October 22nd!
• Interview with Ally Carter and Giveaway [Emily's Reading Room] Win Gallagher Girls goodies!
• Book Review and Giveaway: After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson [Searching] Sounds like an amazing book. Plus get Savvy, too!
• The Special December Something [Miss Snark's First Victim] Sneak preview. And it's awesome!
• FREEEE MONEY! [Grab a Pen] Yay! A great excuse to buy lots of books.
• Where the Truth Lies by Jessica Warman- Giveaway [Confessions of a Bookaholic] Enter by October 26th!
• Marvelous Middle Grade Monday--The Softwire Series (and a Giveaway!!!) [Shannon Whitney Messenger] Signed books. Enter by 10/15.
• Spin the Plate Review and Giveaway [The Character Therapist] Win this novel that works psychologically and artistically.
• Contest Central! [Personal Demons] More great contest info from @LisaDez.
• Contest Monday [Sisters in Scribe] Another great round up of contests.
• Submissions Are Now Open [Miss Snark's First Victim] Miss Snark's contest open for YA now!
• Haunted Halloween with Elizabeth Rudnick and a giveaway! [Confessions of a Bookaholic] Win a copy of Tweet Heart!
• Announcing the Classof2K10 230-Book Giveaway! [Through The Wardrobe] You've got to see this giveaway to believe it!
• Haunted Halloween: Adult Giveaway [Confessions of a Bookaholic] 10 books up for the taking!
• Contest: Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin [The Bookologist] Contest runs until October 31st!
• Another Smart Chicks contest! [Personal Demons] Win a signed copy of Keys to the Repository!
• The Great Query Contest of October 2010 [Disgruntled Bear] Fix up your query and have a chance at a 30-page crit.

Craft of Writing

• Who Should Tell the Story: POV Strategies for Successful Storytelling [WOW! Women On Writing Blog] POV can make or break your work.
• If Your Life is Boring, Can Your Novel Be Great? [Advanced Fiction Writing Blog] Yes. Just develop your characters and energize your writing.
• Firsts. Perhaps a Re-examining is in Order [The Literary Lab] The 1st line leads the reader to the next. It doesn't have to be perfect.
• Guest Elise Allen on Collaboration Celebration: a Summation [The Divining Wand] 'Collaboration makes writing more fun, it also makes the result better.'
• Do Your Research [The Blood-Red Pencil] 'Don’t rely on what you think you know about a place.'
• Writer's Wednesday: 11 Senses Excercise [Angels and Demons and Portals. Oh My!] Add Time, Temp, Pain, Balance, Motion and Direction to your senses.
• Nanowrimo Prep: Story Structure 101 [Alexandra Sokoloff] Excellent!!!!! Read this whether or not you're doing NANOWRIMO.
• 4 Tips for Researching a Novel [Author, Jody Hedlund] Jody Hedlund offers tips on the research process.
• Is Your Backstory Sinking Your Book? [Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors] How not to overwhelm your readers.
• What is a Big Book?/The High Concept Premise [Alexandra Sokoloff] GREAT examples!
• Workshop Highlights [Words and Such] Highlights from the Central Ohio SCBWI Scarlet & Gray workshop.
• Writing Fictional Characters Who Aren’t Like You [Advanced Fiction Writing Blog] There’s no way to be a great writer unless you’re first ready to be a bad writer.
• What Theatre Can Teach about Storytelling [James Killick's Blog] 'Writing for the stage teaches you how to tell a story through scenes.'
• Character Development and Plot Transcript September 13, 2010 [Scriptchat] The @scriptchat transcript. Full of great stuff!
• Verse Novel Techniques [Caroline by line] Five great tips you need to read.
• Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Book [Hey, There's A Dead Guy in the Living Room] The 2nd Act as the place where the reader should get the most bang for the buck.
• A Few Common Writing Problems [Magical Words] Seven things to watch for with great explanations.
• Is Your Dialogue Pulling Its Weight? [Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors] What your dialogue should be achieving.
• Seeing Your Characters: Creating Adolescent Charaters From the Inside Out [Ingrid's Notes] Rachel Vail's tips for developing characters fully.
• Setting Thesaurus Entry: Tropical Island City [The Bookshelf Muse] Author Janice Hardy pens her own entry.
• The All-Important First Chapter [Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent] 'The first chapter is a promise to the reader.'
• Stretching the Tension [Book Dreaming] Four great strategies.
• How to Stay Objective and Improve Your Main Character [Guide to Literary Agents] 'A time comes when a creator has to look dispassionately at the thing being created.'
• DIALOGUE TAGS [Help! I Need a Publisher!] If it's strong enough on its own, you will need very few dialogue tags.
• Quick: How many POVs in an “I” narrative? [The Book Deal: A Publishing Blog for Writers and Book People] There are actually two points of view within one “I” narrative.

Critiquing

• How to Start a Writing Group [GalleyCat] Good things to keep in mind.
• BID ON A CRITIQUE & FIGHT CHILD ABUSE! [Jill Corcoran Books] Win a critique of your query plus 1st ten pages from Jill Corcoran.
• Why You Need A Professional Editor For Your Book [The Creative Penn] An option to consider on your quest for pub.

Inspiration

• The Worst Mistake a Writer Can Make | Men with Pens [menwithpens.ca] Posture, habits, movement & creativity. Oh, my.
• Footnotes: 5 Articles on Perseverance [Guide to Literary Agents] Several meaningful sources of inspiration.
• Technique Toolbox - ABCs [The Character Therapist] 10 symptoms of "stinkin' thinkin" -- great for writers!
• Interview with Author Hilary Wagner! [Literary Rambles] So inspirational! 175 rejections to success. Go Hilary!
• A Case of the Not Enoughs [The Bluestocking Blog] Is your writing enough to beat the odds?
• Fake It 'Til You Make It (The Secret?) [There Are No Rules] 'Sooner or later, you won't be pretending.'
• 8 Lessons To Learn from Screwing Up Your Manuscript [A. Victoria Mixon, Editor] 8 hugs for your writerly soul.
• Co-authoring: Getting Started [The Daily Harrell] Thinking about a collaboration? Read this.
• 10 Things Writers Know [It's a Mystery] Love this: Asking a writer which character is their favourite is the same as asking a parent which child is their favourite.
• Ninc [GENREALITY] Love this recap: 'Write something fabulous that touches/excites you and it will do the same to others.'
• Writer’s Block [Mystery Writing is Murder] The two types and resources for beating it.
• 6 Reasons You Should be a Writer [Excuse Editor] Inspiration behind the label.
• Visual Inspiration, Week Six [Steph Bowe's Hey! Teenager of the Year] Steph Bowe shares pics that fuel her WIP. Beautiful.
• Finding Time to Write [The Katacomb] It's more a question of how we choose to spend the time we have.
• When You Discover Your Agent's Not That Into You [Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent] 'Unrequited love. Sometimes it hurts so good.'
• "Project to Published" The 5 P's of Publishing [Emma Michaels] Which of these do you practice?
• 7 Things I've Learned So Far, by Matt Myklusch [Guide to Literary Agents] Oops- 'Stay off the internet!'
• How Not to Be Inspired [Katie Ganshert] 10 ways to kill your creativity.

Issues and Trends

• Adult Hardcover Sales Sagged 24.4% in August [GalleyCat] Children's/YA HC down 14.6%, paperbacks down 7.6%.
• Sex in YA [Kidlit.com] Make your own choices. Give young adults choices. Love this!
• The Digital Revolution: Writers Becoming Content Creators [Ingrid's Notes] Meaty article with lots of numbers.
• Why You Might Want to be an Intern [Let The Words Flow] It’s 110% worth it.
• Writing for Young Adults [Ripping Ozzie Reads] YA author Lara Morgan talks writing for teens (and a contest!).
• Mark your calendar for WriteOnCon's next Live Event! [Shannon Whitney Messenger] Live-Chat with the fabulous Sara Megibow of Nelson Literary Agency!
• As I See It: Publishing Snobs and How to Ignore Them [Coming Down the Mountain: From Reclusive Writer to Published Author] Those people who have rules over how it has to be done.
• Picture books, standardized testing, and our supposedly inevitable move to a post-book society [Getting Past the Gatekeeper] A fresh look at the issue -- and some surprising stats.
• Frankfurt 2010: It Was the Best of Fairs, It Was the Worst of Fairs [PWxyz] Not a single story or big book, but several?
• The death of picture books? [Dystel & Goderich Literary Management] How do we revitalize the PB market? Ideas welcome.
• Why You Shouldn’t Click “Free Public Wifi” Network While Writing Remotely [GalleyCat] MUST read for writers!!!!

Just for Smiles

• Submissions needed for zombie coloring book published by May December [My Undead Brain] Well Color Me Zombie.
• A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A QUERY LETTER [Grab a Pen] Poor, poor query letter.
• No Panic Attacks While Writing [Creepy Query Girl] Fun to read, and haven't we all been here?
• Shocking truths about editors and agents [Don't pet me, I'm writing] They're human. And like to have someone to sit beside.
• What I've Learned So Far [Robin Mellom] Talent, conferences, Paula Deena and yoga pants.
• Writer Zen Ten [Paperback Writer] 'It’s about clearing the clutter so we can focus.'
• 6 THINGS YOU LOSE WHEN WRITING A NOVEL [Grab a Pen] Say goodbye to your friends, your sense of hygiene, and your mind.
• A Case For Reading Your Writing Out Loud [Words and Such] Several excellent points.
• The Hall of Shame- Self Editing Tips 4# [Write Anything » The Hall of Shame- Self Editing Tips 4#] Which bad habits are you hiding?
• Inside the Simile [The Bookshelf Muse] Do you overuse this figure of speech?
• Another participle thing [edittorrent] Great example of non-simultaneous action and how to fix it.
• Plots and Characters and Settings, Oh My! [The WriteRunner] The three stages of your novel and how to connect them.
• First Chapters [A Writer's Blog] How's YOUR opening?
• Cobwebs Got Your Story? [QueryTracker.net] A logical revision process with lots of tips.
• Keeping Ourselves & Our Stories as Pliable as Clay [Author, Jody Hedlund] 'The beauty comes out of the shaping and molding and polishing.'

Social Media, Twitter, and Blogging

• Listing Post Titles in Blogger [Enter the Between] A widget to reduce the clutter on your blog.
• 10 Simple Ways to Become a Powerhouse Blogger [Author Marketing Experts, Inc. » BLOG] 'You have to work the blog, and work the audience to help them find you.'
• Five Things you MUST Know About Web Marketing [Author Marketing Experts, Inc. » BLOG] Content rules and your mom drools.
• How to Promote your Book with a Blog Tour—essential information for the 21st century writer [Anne R. Allen's Blog] Author Janice Hardy offers many tips.

To Market

• Successful Queries: Agent Jim McCarthy and ''Freefall'' [Guide to Literary Agents] YA author Mindi Scott shares her query for her new book.
• Reading vs. Representing [BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency] Not the same thing--nor should it be.
• Targeting Agents Who Will Want Your Partial [QueryTracker.net] GREAT idea!!!! Fantastic service from Querytracker.
• As an unpublished writer, are my chances of getting a book published zero? [Getting Past the Gatekeeper] One in a million?
• 5 Things Working in Business Taught Me About Writing [Guide to Literary Agents] 'Creativity and business sense don’t have to be at odds.'
• Queries, Chat, OA and Elana J! [Adventures In Writing] Yay! Query chat on October 28th with Elana!
• New Agent Interview: John Rudolph, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management [Alice Pope's SCBWI Children's Market Blog] He's actively building a list and open to anything but PBs.
• Guest Post: Author Janice Hardy's Query Quest! [Hilary Wagner] Excellent post about querying. My fav? Focus on the character with a problem instead of plot.
• How I Got My Agent: Lynn Rush [Guide to Literary Agents] A great story about finding an agent (@TribeLit) via Twitter.
• How to Fire Your Agent [Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent] 'As in all relationships, good communication is key.'
• The Future of Publishing: You Get to Decide [There Are No Rules] Writers have more power than ever.
• You Really Don't Need An Agent [Babbles from Scott Eagan] Six reasons why you do.
• Choosing Which Manuscript to Query [Anna Staniszewski] Great points about multiple projects.
• Publisher Evalutions [The Blood-Red Pencil] Editor shares the form used to evaluate your manuscript.
• Agent Advice: Jennifer Schober of Spencerhill Associates [Guide to Literary Agents] On paranormal- 'It’s hot; it’s just that the competition is huge.'
• New Agent Alert: Kate Folkers of Martin Literary Management [Guide to Literary Agents] She seeks humorous, well-done fiction.
• If We're So Busy, Why Do We Judge Contests? [Babbles from Scott Eagan] Another reason why Scott Eagen is awesome.
• Interview with Agent, Amy Tipton [Dark Angel Fiction Writing] Editorial agent, loves to bounce ideas back and forth.
• Self-Publishing: Baby Steps [The Blood-Red Pencil] 'Because you'll have no more excuses and no one to blame but yourself.'
• Several kind “nudges” on what not do (during the query process) [Red Sofa Literary] Many people still make mistakes that can be easily avoided.
• PubIt! A first look… [The LL Book Review] Thoughts on B&N's new service.

 Other Weekly Round-Ups:

• Favorite Tweets for Writers This Week [All About Writing] Nicole Humphrey Cook's round-up of writing tweets.
• Jane Friedman of Writer's Digest also does a wonderful list of best tweets of the previous week. 
• Alice Pope does a Wednesday Tweet Roundup for the SCBWI Children's Market Blog.
• Northern Colorado Writers do This Week in the Writing World every Friday.
• Jennifer Roland does a Writing Roundup on Fridays.
• Ricki Schultz does an "In the Blogosphere" post on Fridays where she lists posts she's stumbled across during the week.
• Elizabeth Craig has started posting a weekly list of all her helpful Twitter posts.
• And don't forget to check Nathan Bransford's blog later this morning for his weekly recap of publishing news and information.
• Saturday Link Party [Forever Young] Jessica rounds up fun and interesting links.
• Stina Linddenblatt does a Cool Links Friday. This week, she caught a lot I wish we had on ours. I know what I'm doing for the next few minutes!
• DuoLit does a weekly list of links with some emphasis on self-publishing and marketing.
• YA Highway's Friday Road Trip hits the high points of the publishing industry, writing craft, submissions process, and other fun stuff.
• Cynthia Leitich Smith at Cynsations does a Cynsational author and book news review.

Did we miss anything? Anyone? Please leave a comment!

Happy reading and joyous writing,

Martina & Marissa