Check back next Friday for a brand new giveaway. Meanwhile, Happy Christmas. Have a wonderful holiday, everyone. May every moment be filled with friends, family, warmth, love, and laughter!
Clara's Favorites
- 75 rejection letters and 100+ rejection emails: proof there's good things to come if you don't give up.
Hilary Wagner: My REAL Rejection Letters and Why You Should Never Give Up! - Love, love, love this video of YA authors singing Winter Wonderland!
Mundie Moms: It's a Winter Wonderland - The FPP: The make or break moment of your story and where it must occur.
A Little Holiday Gift for You: Part 1 of a 2-Part Mini-Workshop - Fantastic post on promotion and what you should do NOW, before you sell.
Targeted PR, Cross-Promotion, and Knowing Your Audience - Ran out of enthusiasm for your story? Focus on your Kernel Idea to reignite that spark.
The Kernel Idea | GENREALITY - Don't let genre be your brand. It's not WHAT you write, it's HOW you write. Brilliant. Simply brilliant.
Don’t Get Burned By Branding - Raw emotion: Make readers witness the most personal, vulnerable moments in your characters' lives.
Character Rants | The Editor's Blog - Bookmark this post!@JaneFriedman's best advice of 2011.
My Best Advice for Writers From 2011 | Jane Friedman - Love love love this list of superhero cliches!
A List of 28 Superhero Cliches - Many people are crushed each year by overturned book shelves! and more reasons to abandon the printed book. Laughs
The Kill Zone: It's High Time We Abandon The Printed Book Once and For all. - Indie vs. traditional: We are on the same team! +excellent advice on choosing which way to go from @RoniLoren at @annerallen
Anne R. Allen's Blog: Why One Author Chose Traditional Publishing--And How to Decide if it's Right for You
Martina's Favorites
- Thirteen picture book tips. Great post.Picture Books: An Overview
- Catalyst, goal, motivation, message: the meat of story. Excellent post.2011 Blog-Reader Favorites: What I Learned From Watching Sucker Punch
- Share your love of books on April 23 and be a World Book Night 2012 Giver.
Register to be a WBN 2012 Giver - Brilliant! Get ebooks from your local indie stores at Amazon pricing
IndieBound Reader for Android and iOS | IndieBound - If you don't link to Barnes and Noble, will they stop carrying your book?Do You Only Link to Amazon on Your Site?
- You're a writer when you admit/say you are one. Great post.
The Only Way to Become a Real Writer | Goins, Writer - Want to become a pillar in your writing community? Ways to show your support.
Google Reader - Five stellar reads of 2011 that typify the psychological probing and artistic ambitiousness of modern YA lit.
The Teens Are All Right: 2011's Top 5 YA Novels : NPR - Increase your characters goals and motivation to raise the tension in your ms.Raising the Stakes
- Four great tips to amp up the excitement in your ms.How NOT to Bore the Reader
- Congrats to @JulieMusil for being this week's writing hero over at @thebookshelfmuse. SO well deserved!Writing Heroes: Julie Musil
- Five 2011 not-to-be-missed article recommendations for writers. Did you read all these?Top 5 Posts of 2011
- Agenting can only be done for the love of books. Plus mistakes learned by agent @SaraMegibow.#amwriting
Sara Megibow Sells Romance – What Newbie Mistakes Have I Made As An Agent? | Romance University - New short story contest for young writers 8-12 from @AnneMazer @EllenPotter.#contests
Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook - CONTESTS! - In defense of the public library. ACTION NEEDED.
The Public Library Manifesto - Excellent discussion of balance, conflict, conventions, problems and fixes related to dialogue use in your fiction.
Too Much Dialogue---Characters Talk Too Much | The Editor's Blog - Hollowing out a place inside yourself for characters who don't exist yet. BRILLIANT post.
"Pathetic email." - Sean Ferrell - Four detailed posts on the hero's journey--with charts. Excellent resource!
hero's journey
Book Reviews and Giveaways
- Corrine Jackson's IF I LIE looks like an excellent read. Coming August 2012.Cover Reveal: IF I LIE by Corrine Jackson; Also, Watch me Ramble
- Share your love of books on April 23 and be a World Book Night 2012 Giver.
Register to be a WBN 2012 Giver - Some great new books to put on your list. Including HUNTED by @CherylRainfieldHappy Book Birthday: New Releases in YA and MG
- Brilliant! Get ebooks from your local indie stores at Amazon pricing
IndieBound Reader for Android and iOS | IndieBound - Check out the gorgeous covers nominated for the Paranormal Cover Art Awards. Congrats to all!
All Things Urban Fantasy: Voting is now open! 3rd Annual Paranormal Cover Art Awards - Great interview with @JodiMeadows and a lovely book to add to the reading list.Debut December Interview: Jodi Meadows (Incarnate)
- Five stellar reads of 2011 that typify the psychological probing and artistic ambitiousness of modern YA lit.
The Teens Are All Right: 2011's Top 5 YA Novels : NPR - RADIANCE giveaway plus a boy reader on what he loves, how he gets books, and what he does online.
Literary Rambles - Increase your characters goals and motivation to raise the tension in your ms.Raising the Stakes
- 10 great 2011 YA novel recommendations from @MundieMoms.#reading 2011 Mundie Moms Favorites: '11 Debs/Stand-Alones
- Best magazine stories of the year from Longreads.
Top 10 Longreads of 2011 - I love this book review comic of @plotwhisperer's new book by @inkyelbows.#writing
MY PLOT SUCKS! IT'S CONFUSING. BORING. MEANDERING.... - Finally. A web site that may mimic the browseability of a brick and mortar bookstore.
Jellybooks: New Book Discovery Tool Offers Groupon-Style Deals
Craft of Writing, Self-Editing, and Critiquing
- Does your denouement prevent your characters from living on for your readers?
Plot to Punctuation: Does your Denoument Murder Your Characters? - The FPP: The make or break moment of your story and where it must occur.
A Little Holiday Gift for You: Part 1 of a 2-Part Mini-Workshop - Honing your mad drafting skills. Great tips from @AngelaAckerman#writing
The Bookshelf Muse: Stocking Stuffers for Writers: DRAFTING - Great post. What are the rythms of your story?
The Undercover Soundtrack – Jennie Coughlin « My Memories of a Future Life - How much liberty with facts is too much for fiction?Guest Post: Carol Fisher Saller on Details from a Diary: Mining a Family Treasure for Fiction
- Thirteen picture book tips. Great post.Picture Books: An Overview
- Catalyst, goal, motivation, message: the meat of story. Excellent post.2011 Blog-Reader Favorites: What I Learned From Watching Sucker Punch
- Ran out of enthusiasm for your story? Focus on your Kernel Idea to reignite that spark.
The Kernel Idea | GENREALITY - Raw emotion: Make readers witness the most personal, vulnerable moments in your characters' lives.
Character Rants | The Editor's Blog - Push it! Dramatize those embarrassing/horrible moments as much as you can for the best reader experience.
Anna Staniszewski» Blog Archive » Go Big or Go Home - Great post! The responsibilities of individual critiquers and how to give an effective critique.
Are You an Ideal Critique Partner? - Giving the reader a question is not the same as withholding interesting information and more great tips.Four ways to kill narrative drive
- Audience, chemistry, and conflict: three things to always keep in mind while writing.Guest Author Kody Keplinger: 3 Things to Consider When Writing Teen Romance
- The four reasons to use dialogue in a scene, and how to make it stronger.
10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Dialogue | Write to Done - Using character names in a scene. How often and when is appropriate?
Two Notes on Names - How do you keep track of your mc's best-friend's hair color? Create a story bible.Creating a Story Bible by Suzanne Johnson
- Four great tips to amp up the excitement in your ms.How NOT to Bore the Reader
- Love love love this list of superhero cliches!
A List of 28 Superhero Cliches - Your NaNo novel is done. What should you do now? REVISE.@writeitsideways shows you how.
7 Steps to Taming Your NaNoWriMo Manuscript - Five 2011 not-to-be-missed article recommendations for writers. Did you read all these?Top 5 Posts of 2011
- The flawed hero: A case study in Doctor Who.
13 Days of Doctor Who: The Doctor as an Anti-hero | Phoebe North - Don't perpetuate stereotypes in your villains. Give mcs something honest to fight against.
BOOK VIEW CAFE BLOG » Villains: Evil and Otherness - Liven up your scene. Show choices being made on the fly.
Dead Story Walking - Know the difference between that and which?
That which is restrictive - Watch movies to learn to be a better writer. (Among other good tips)Aspiring is for Pansies–Tough Love and Being a Writer
- Being spontaneous is good for your writerly soul as well as for your characters.
Don’t Forget to Dance* - Excellent discussion of balance, conflict, conventions, problems and fixes related to dialogue use in your fiction.
Too Much Dialogue---Characters Talk Too Much | The Editor's Blog - Introduce your magic BEFORE the critical moment. Great advice from @HP4Writers and JK Rowling. Deja Vu Blogfest -- A Taste of Magic
- Three more great worldbuilding tips from the @YAMuses. Excllent. Slipping Sideways into Your World
- The "magical negro" trope does not make your book "multicultural." It makes it cliche.
Stacy Whitman's Grimoire » Writing diversity: avoiding the Magical Negro - Four detailed posts on the hero's journey--with charts. Excellent resource!
hero's journey
Inspiration and Smiles
- 75 rejection letters and 100+ rejection emails: proof there's good things to come if you don't give up.
Hilary Wagner: My REAL Rejection Letters and Why You Should Never Give Up! - Amazing story and a lovely bit of inspiration and encouragement for all writers from @Holly_Schindler.#amwriting
Smack Dab in the Middle: DECEMBER THEME: WRITING GIFTS (Holly Schindler) - How badly do you want it? Forcing yourself past the 'no's.What’s Your Brick Wall?
- Do you love books for Xmas? Love this cartoon.Will Write For Chocolate updated
- You're a writer when you admit/say you are one. Great post.
The Only Way to Become a Real Writer | Goins, Writer - Want to become a pillar in your writing community? Ways to show your support.
Google Reader - Congrats to @JulieMusil for being this week's writing hero over at @thebookshelfmuse. SO well deserved!Writing Heroes: Julie Musil
- "I don’t have ideas because I’m a writer. I write because I have ideas." Deciding which story to write
Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors: How Do You Which Story You Should Write? - A story to smile about. Scoring the perfect christmas gift and taking credit.
it came upon an unmarked truck - The Daily Blog - Erica Lucke Dean - Why writers need each other.
Irreverent Muse » Blog Archive » Writing Shouldn’t Be a Solitary Activity - Hollowing out a place inside yourself for characters who don't exist yet. BRILLIANT post.
"Pathetic email." - Sean Ferrell - Need to kill off your character? Try the random death generator.
The novel writer with random death
Issues, News, Trends, and Congratulations
- On a writer's wish list for Santa? Actual, understandable sales figures.Writer Unboxed: Dear Book Biz Santa
- Congrats, Kristi on signing with an agent. WOOT!All It Takes Is One Yes
- Do tween books deserve their own place on the e-shelf?@srjohannes is self-pubbing her tween angel series to prove they do!
Market My Words: A tween marketing experiment - Indie vs. traditional: We are on the same team! +excellent advice on choosing which way to go from @RoniLoren at @annerallen
Anne R. Allen's Blog: Why One Author Chose Traditional Publishing--And How to Decide if it's Right for You - Congrats to Laini Taylor! If the movie is half as good as the book, it will be brillliant.Not Just for Kids: 'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' -- the movie
- In defense of the public library. ACTION NEEDED.
The Public Library Manifesto - Congrats +on TWO new fiction releases in early 2012. WOOT!Good News Friday!
- Will Amazon's price comparison app ultimately change its sales tax status? Is that good news or bad?
amazon-commits-rare-strategic-blunder-using-brilliant-tactic from... - StumbleUpon - Surprising and excellent 2011 best-of-the-best article recommendations from @JaneFriedman. Great list! 12 Must-Read Articles From 2011
Social Media
- This post at Publetariat makes me want to give Google+ another try!
Google+ : Do Writers Need It? | www.publetariat.com - Offer to guest post for other bloggers for mutual benefit.
I play well with (blog with) others – how to query another blogger - Another lovely round-up of all the writerly news from @CynLeitichSmith. Some great posts in here! Cynsational News and Giveaways
- Publishing and writerly/readerling tweet round-up from @KateHart.#writing Field Trip Friday, Twitter Version: December 16, 2011
- Fabulous idea from @BrendaDrake @CreepyQueryGirl-- revist the best blog posts of Christmas past. (And other days.) Deja Vu Blogfest
- Don't let genre be your brand. It's not WHAT you write, it's HOW you write. Brilliant. Simply brilliant.
Don’t Get Burned By Branding - If you don't link to Barnes and Noble, will they stop carrying your book?Do You Only Link to Amazon on Your Site?
- Do tween books deserve their own place on the e-shelf?@srjohannes is self-pubbing her tween angel series to prove they do!
Market My Words: A tween marketing experiment - Want to sub to the new book club at the Huffington Post?What Writers and Publishers Need to Know about HuffPost Book Club
- Important caution about D Publishing's contract for those considering self-pubbing with them!D Publishing: Dymocks' New Self-Pub Service
To Market
- Contest! The Book Wish Foundation: Win a critique of your YA manuscript by acclaimed authors and agents.
Reading, Writing and Waiting: Contest for Aspiring YA Writers - What @JillCorcoran loves and wants to rep. (Just what I want to read :))
YA ROMANTIC COMEDIES--BRING 'EM ON! READ A SAMPLE OF WHAT I LOVE - Looking for an agent? Here's a profile of Caroline Sheldon. Countdown to Christmas: Agent Caroline Sheldon
- Agenting can only be done for the love of books. Plus mistakes learned by agent @SaraMegibow.#amwriting
Sara Megibow Sells Romance – What Newbie Mistakes Have I Made As An Agent? | Romance University - New short story contest for young writers 8-12 from @AnneMazer @EllenPotter.#contests
Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook - CONTESTS! - Thinking of sending your novel for film consideration? Think twice.What Happens to Your Manuscript in Hollywood? Part Two: Coverage
- Great new contest opens 12/16.Gotcha knickers twisted, yo?
- Great new pitch contest from @QueryTracker and agent @Natalie_Lakosil opens in January.
QueryTracker.net: Latest Contest - How much is your writing worth?
Want to write full time? Don’t Sell Yourself Short - Sign of the times: Publishers say stories these days have to "blow them away."Question from a Writer - Rejections from publishers
Other Weekly Round-Ups:
- Cynthia Leitich Smith at Cynsationsdoes a Cynsational author, craft, and book news review.
- Elizabeth Craig posts a comprehensive weekly list of all her helpful Twitter posts.
- Stina Lindenblatt does a fabulous Cool Links Friday post every week.
- YA Highway's Friday Road Trip hits the high points of the publishing industry, writing craft, submissions process, and other fun stuff.
Happy reading and joyous writing,
Clara and Martina
I'm AMAZED at how many blogs you were able to read with all the holiday busy times. Thanks so much and have a great holiday.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Natalie! It's Clara. She's a dynamo, I'm telling you! Hope you are all set for the holiday.
ReplyDeleteWishing you much joy!
M.
Thanks again for a great list! Really appreciate this. So many links I want to check out--and plan to here soon :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great linky list! I'm going to WRITE first and use this list as a reward after I've made some progress. ;o)
ReplyDeleteYou continue to AMAZE me with your cyber-spotting. Thank you for the targets. Have a wonderful holiday. *hug*
ReplyDeleteNatalie, Kendra, Carol, and Leslie: I'm so glad you find the links useful. I love finding them for you! Carol, using the links as a reward after writing is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteHave a joyful holiday, everyone.
Love and hugs!
~Clara
Awesome list again!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard Julie was the latest writing hero - fabulous choice! :)
Awesome advice as always!!
ReplyDeleteGuys, thanks so much!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd Merry Christmas to each of you.
Jemi, Traci, and Julie -- thanks so much! Hope you had a wonderful holiday and that you keep coming back for more links. We appreciate the support so much! :)
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Martina