12 Best Articles This Week for Writers 10/14/11

After the Sale

• Tips on Marketing Your Novel [Adventures in Agentland] Great post!
• Are Writers without Business Sense Doomed? [Jami Gold, Paranormal Author]
• 10 Ways Your Friends Can Help You Sell More Books [Author Marketing Experts, Inc]
• Best of the Web Book Marketing Tips for the Week of October 3, 2011 [Author Marketing Experts] Some excellent tips here.

Book Reviews

• So, it's my pub date... [Writer on the Side] Congrats @SWKehoe! And Happy B-Day AUDITION!
• First Page Critique: THE BLINDED GARDENER [Artzicarol Ramblings] Some good learning points from Michael Di Gesu's novel.
• Dr FaustusAU Does H.P. Lovecraft a la Dr. Seuss [GalleyCat] What do you think of these sample pages?
• New Young Adult Book Releases: October 11, 2011 [Novel Novice]
• Birthday Bash: Top Ten Creepy Covers! [Katie's Book Blog] Some great reads to get us in time for Halloween.
• Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins [Confessions of a Bookaholic] A fun read!
• Book Review: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare *spoiler FREE* [Mundie Moms] Excellent. Can't wait for this one!
• YA Cafe: New-and-Improved Book Club [Iggi & Gabi] Some great ideas here. Looking forward to YA Cafe's new stuff.
• Clockwork Angel Read-A-Long [Mundie Moms] Great giveaway and group read. Join in starting 10/12!
• Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi [Confessions of a Bookaholic] A masterpiece.

Congrats

• Finalists for the National Book Award - Young People's Literature [Cynsations] Awesome list of books.
• SHATTER ME LAUNCH PARTY!! [Grab a Pen] Congrats @TaherehMafi--SOOOO exciting!
• Write It Sideways Regular Contributor Search [Write It Sideways] Congrats on the baby, Suzannah! And a great opportunity for writers.
• Tina Moss | Urban Fantasy, Paranormal & Historical Romance Author |: So You're Looking for a Literary Agent... [Tina Moss] Great post on what it takes to make it.

Contests

• Giveaway: The Earth Painter by M.J. Lee (kindle format) [Candace's Book Blog] Enter by 10/23.
• Final Giveaways! [Class of 2K11] Amazing giveaways -- HUGE prize pack for a library, and one for you.
• Haunted Halloween: YA Giveaway #1 [Confessions of a Bookaholic] Enter by 10/25.
• Cheryl Klein's Spring 2012 List (+ Galley Giveaway Contest!) [Brooklyn Arden] Beautiful covers!
• Birthday Bash Giveaway #3: 2012 Releases! [Katie's Book Blog] Enter by 10/31.
• The Doctor's Lady--Interview with Author, Jody Hedlund, and a Book Giveaway! [Julie Musil]
• First Page and Giveaway: VIRTUOSITY [First Page Panda] Enter by 10/25.
• The 2nd Annual Baker's Dozen OFFICIAL RULES AND INFORMATION [Miss Snark's First Victim] Great new contest.
• October Secret Agent Early Info [Miss Snark's First Victim] Open to all genres of YA/MG!
• Book Commercials & Giveaway: Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow by Daniel Nayeri [Cynsations] Enter by 10/24.
• Freebie Friday: CROSSED ARC Giveaway! [Mundie Moms] Enter by 10/31.
• Exclusive Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick Book Giveaway [Novel Novice] Enter by 10/14.
• Aphrodite the Diva Swag Giveaway [Cynsations] Enter by October 23rd.
• Swoon by Nina Malkin: Trivia Contest #3 [Novel Novice] Fun #giveaway.

Craft of Writing

• The Butter Speaks (How to Cook Up a Terrific Narrative) [San Diego Professional Writer's Group] Lovely post on ingredients and balance.
• Plot is Exactly Like a Hail Storm [Words from the Woods] Lovely and accurate metaphor. Check it out.
• Consider the Why & Why Not of Rules Before You Break Them [Magical Words] Be sure your reason is valid.
• Create Your Own E-Book with Open-Source Sigil [ProfHacker]
• Symbolism in Key Points of Character Transition [Harry Potter for Writers] Deepen your own key moments.
• Give a Man a Hammer (or Other Cool Ability): Fifty-Seven Ways it Can Be Used [Cheryl Reif Writes] Great brainstorming list.
• The Build-a-Book Workshop [Writer Unboxed] Only the end result matters. Write however feels good.
• Urban Fantasy versus Paranormal Romance [Fantasy Faction] Some helpful and uncommonly-stated distinctions.
• Making the Most of Your Paragraphs [The Other Side of the Story] Four critical places to use a brilliant sentence.
• Dialogue and Exposition [Fiction Notes] Great post on mixing it up.
• Plan, Central Question, Central Story Action [Alexandra Sokoloff] Easy way to find and define your central premise.
• Nail Your NaNoWriMo #11: Cast Your Story With Familiar Faces [storyfix.com]
• The 25-word hook revisited [Help! I Need a Publisher!] Brilliant techniques and a chance to ask for help.
• NaNoWriMo Prep Week 2: Characters [Novel Novice]
• Two Questionnaires to Help You Understand Your Character [www.stumbleupon.com] From Gotham Writers' Workshop & Marcel Proust.
• Character, Plot or Setting? Building Your Story's Universe [Adventures in YA & Children's Publishing] How do  you get from idea to full-fledged premise?
• The Middle Grade Voice [YA Highway] Excellent post.
• Karen Mahoney - Sometimes... [Kaz Mahoney] A ladder can be disguised as a writing block.
• Writing Bootcamp: Five Ways To Revive Your Novel by Luisa Plaja [Steph Bowe's Hey! Teenager of the Year] Good tips!
• Why No Sex Doesn't Mean No Tension by Jody Hedlund [Roni Loren - Fiction Groupie] It's about the push/pull.
• Avoiding Fantasy Gender Stereotypes in Your Heroine [Fantasy Faction] Make her real and complex.
• TOTW: A Past That Never Was [The Enchanted Inkpot.] Historical fantasy, gaslight fantasy, and steampunk. What's the dif?
• Reading With Attention [Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors] Fantastic! Plot structure and character development. by Victoria Mixon
• Foreshadowing -- Don't You Love it? [Janice Hardy] Techniques to use in your own work with great examples.
• Character Traits Thesaurus Entry: Worry Wart [The Bookshelf Muse] Excellent!
• Rethinking Motivation for Character Arc [Writer Unboxed] You must read this. Now. Seriously.
• 50 Rhetorical Devices for Rational Writing [www.dailywritingtips.com] Fascinating. I am going to print this as a reference.
• When a YA Novel is Not [kt literary] Important #pubtip about keeping things current for today's teens.
• Go Big or Go Home [GENREALITY] Commit fully within the scope of your story.
• Writing tips from Jan Winburn [Buffy's write zone] Great post for any writer.
• Telling Stories: There Is No Story Until There Are Two Stories [Magical Words]
• Editing Your MS in 30 Days or Less [YA Author Elana Johnson]
• Believe It Or Not « Angela Wallace ~ Believe, Dream, Awaken [angelawallace.wordpress.com] Great post to help keep you from losing readers.
• You Spin Me Round: Making Clichés Work for You [The Other Side of the Story] Reverse them to make them new.
• Structure Part 2–Plot Problems–Falcor the Luck Dragon & the Purple Tornado [Kristen Lamb's Blog] Great post!
• Clothe Characters Well—Choose Words that Fit [The Editor's Blog] A must-read post on choosing the right words.
• May the Five ‘Forces’ Be With You [storyfix.com] The physics that pull your reader through a book.
• Before You Write “The End”: Climax and Denouement [Fantasy Faction] Excellent post.

Critiquing

• The Art of Critiquing [www.publetariat.com]
• Writer’s Den: Using Feedback to Better Your Work [Fantasy Faction]
• How To Get The Most Out Of A Critique, Part Five [Writer Musings]

Inspiration

• Do You Take Yourself Seriously? [Cheryl Reif Writes] Investing mentally and physically in your writing career.
• WOW Wednesday: Teri Hall on What Makes a Writer [Adventures in YA & Children's Publishing] And the compromises we have to make.
• Happy Writers: On Hope [Between Fact and Fiction] Important post for every writer on the road to pub.
• Pathway to Publication: An Interview [QueryTracker.net] with debut author Ryan Graudin. Inspiring!
• 5 Mistakes I’ve Made in My Journey to Publication [Author, Jody Hedlund]
• Why It’s Harder To Write When You’re Happy [thoughtcatalog.com] Thoughtful, intriguing poast.
• Rise of the Machines: Why We Keep Coming Back to H.G. Wells’ Visions of a Dystopian Future | Underwire | Wired.com [www.wired.com] Great post.
• On Writing and Fear [Magical Words] So much to fear, & so many ways to overcome.
• 3 Tips for Riding the Rejection/Acceptance Roller Coaster [Writer Unboxed] Excellent points about the non-linear nature of the the road to pub.
• Writing Bootcamp: Victoria Schwab says, 'Be Brave!' [Steph Bowe's Hey! Teenager of the Year] Inspirational advice
• Beyond the Basics—Push the Story and Push Yourself [The Editor's Blog]
• Making time to Write—by Glenn Gamble [Mystery Writing is Murder]

Issues, News, and Trends

• Laura Miller Calls National Book Awards Irrelevant [GalleyCat] Is it the literary equivalent of spinach?
• Library eBook Checkouts Up 200% This Year [GalleyCat]
• This Week in Books 10/8/11 [Nathan Bransford, Author]
• Why Is Dark YA So Popular? [www.sfsignal.com] Smart post by Stina Leicht.

Just for Smiles

• Tuesday Ten: Ways to Irritate an Editor [Cheryl Reif Writes] Funny with a side of truth.
• Comic: Autumn Procrastination [Inkygirl: An Illustrated Guide For Writers] LOVE this comic by @InkyElbows

Self-Editing

• 20 More Smothered Verbs Set Free [Daily Writing Tips] Simplify and activate your prose.
• The Importance of Staying With Your Character [Nathan Bransford, Author] Good crit of 3rd close vs. 3rd om POV.
• Plurals of Proper Names [Daily Writing Tips]
• Editing - is it necessary? [Market My Words] Interesting perspectives and breakdowns.
• Testing the Middle: Subplots [edittorrent]
• When comma's destroy you... [Unedited] Some fun examples.
• The Importance of Story Questions [Ara's Blog] Several great reminders for all writers.
• Buried Dialogue: The Unofficial Rules [*Lynnette Labelle* @Chatterbox Chitchat] Great, clear examples.

Social Media

• The Post In Which I Rant About Blogging, Platforms,and the Pressure on Writers [* Roni Loren - Fiction Groupie *] FABULOUS post. READ THIS!
• Why Successful Bloggers Always Win The M&M Game [Cat's Eye Writer Blog] Great post!
• How to Make Any Good Blog Great [www.problogger.net] True for all writing?
• Contact Tip for Writers [Words from the Woods] Is it easy for people to contact you? Are you sure?
• Meet the Salesman–Every Deal Needs a Closer [Kristen Lamb's Blog] Who are the influencers on social media?

To Market

• Critiquing the Query [Oasis for YA] Different perspectives on a single query from the Oasis for YA writers.
• Tips and Tricks from Indie Authors [Market My Words] Thinking of going it alone? Read this.
• Should You Send Your Book To An Agent Before Its Finished? [BubbleCow]
• What Not to Say in a Query [Rachelle Gardner]
• The Query Isn't Working, Maybe It's the Book [BookEnds, LLC] Hard truth from @BookendsJessica.
• Queries with Lots of Voice [Kidlit.com] Don't do it.
• Today's query pitfall [Janet Reid, Literary Agent] Avoid cliches and focus on something interesting about your character.
• The Falling Domino [Behler Blog] The reality of new publishers and how to protect yourself.
• Call For Submissions, Query Contest, & Agent News [Falling Leaflets] OUTSTANDING opportunities roundup!
• Getting published: The inside scoop from 3 top editors [The Book Deal: A Publishing Blog for Writers and Book People] Excellent info and discussion
• A Time to Kill…Your Novel [Rachelle Gardner] Three reasons to consider retiring it.

Other Weekly Round-Ups:

• Jane Friedman does a wonderful list of best tweets of the previous week. 
• Alice Pope does a Tweet Roundupfor the SCBWI Children's Market Blog.
• Northern Colorado Writers do This Week in the Writing World.
• Elizabeth Craig posts a weekly list of all her helpful Twitter posts.
• 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, Clara, and Marissa