Best Articles This Week for Writers 3/4/11

After the Sale

• Monetizing Your Intellectual Property [A Newbie's Guide to Publishing] Great case study in saavy e-book positioning.
• Fans, Friends, and Followers: How to Build a Solid Author Platform That Sells More Books, Part Two [Author Marketing Experts, Inc. » BLOG] Great ideas for building your marketing roll-out.
• A Writer Muses On Marketing And Sales, Part I [www.publetariat.com] What is the difference between the two?
• And more publishing tips... at Author 101 in LA [About.com publishing] Book publicity 101.
• Authors As Salespeople [www.publetariat.com] How much does financial incentive play a role in your author marketing efforts?
• Switching Genres [BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency] How often do you need to publish for your current readers?
• Is Marketing Non-Stop & All-Consuming For All Authors? [Author, Jody Hedlund] 'Self-publishing marketing is NOT equal to the marketing done by traditional publishers.'
• Effective use of Twitter [Janet Reid, Literary Agent] Ten-tip guide to help you get the most out of twitter.
• Could the Living Room Save the Book Tour? [GalleyCat] A personal touch to building a readership and making contacts.

Book Reviews

• CLARITY by Kim Harrington [YA Author Elana Johnson] "Great writing. A fast pace. A tight plot. Get it, read it, love it."
• Bookanista Review: Delirium and Why I Almost Didn't Review It [Carolina Valdez Miller] Intriguing review. Definitely going on my TBR list.
• Reading Like a Writer: Character in Maggie Stiefvater's LINGER [Through The Wardrobe] Haven't read it yet? You'll want to after reading this.
• Cover Love: The Pledge by Kimberly Derting [Confessions of a Bookaholic] Absolutely gorgeous. November 15th is too far away!
• Tantalizing Future YA Releases! Holy Cover Heaven! [/- LA FEMME READERS -/] Fantastic roundup of upcoming YA covers.
• Review: Please Ignore Vera Dietz [In Bed With Books] 'One of the reasons YA is such an exciting genre.'
• Book Review: Clarity [Breaking the Bookshelf] Highest rating for this beautifully crafted suspenseful fantasy.
• Book Review: The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell [Novel Novice] Looking forward to this one: "Will in turns have you sighing in delight... then biting your nails."
• 100 Best Opening Lines [The Other Side of the Story] Hmmh. Can't say I agree. Do you?
• A Year of Reading: ANNOUNCING!! 2011 NCTE Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts [readingyear.blogspot.com]
• Review: Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers [Confessions of a Bookaholic] 5 out of 5 stars. I have GOT to read this one.

Congrats

• 2011 PEN/Faulkner Award finalists announced [Jacket Copy] Congats to Jennifer Egan, Deborah Eisenberg, Jaimy Gordon, Brad Watson, and Eric Puchner!
• We interrupt this voice series to bring you the following announcement: [Dancing with Dragons is Hard on Your Shoes.] Miriam Forster signs with Jennifer Luaghran!!! Woot!
• Celebrating 1,000 Followers With a Prize Package Drawing [Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors] Congrats to K. M. Weiland on hitting 1000 followers on her EXCELLENT blog!
• My Agent Story [Once Upon A Time in Writer Land] HUGE congrats to Kathy Bradley for signing with Suzie Townsend of FinePrint Literary Management!
• The cover of AUDITION [Writer on the Side] Another gorgeous, intriguing cover!
• Happy Birthday, THE LIAR SOCIETY! [Carolina Valdez Miller] Congrats, Lisa and Laura on your FABULOUS book release and brilliant buzz!
• Harper Lee to receive National Medal of Arts [Jacket Copy] And about time...
• I have an agent! [Buffy's write zone] Yippee! Our dear friend Buffy Andrews lands an agent!
• I SOLD MY BOOK! [Write Me!] Congrats, Leah! We are SQUEEEEEEing for you!

Contests

• Guest Post + E-Book Giveaway: In The Storm by Karen Metcalf [/- LA FEMME READERS -/] Enter by 3/17.
• Bookanista Review: Thirteen Reasons Why--AND A GIVEAWAY!!!! [Shannon Whitney Messenger] Enter by 3/12.
• Giveaway: Friendship On Fire by Danielle Weiler [Steph Bowe's Hey! Teenager of the Year] Enter by 3/7.
• What’s Your Echo? Desires of the Dead Writing Contest [Novel Novice] Enter by 3/31.
• Bid on a Consultation With Me (for Charity) [There Are No Rules] Help Jane support the Red Cross. Plus donate over $25 and get a free book. Win!
• Review: Falling Under (and Contest) [In Bed With Books] Enter by 3/14. And Happy Blogoversary, Gwen!
• YA Highway Goes Pink for THE LIAR SOCIETY! (+ giveaway!) [YA Highway] Enter by March 7th to win @LandLroecker's book!
• Win THE LIAR SOCIETY Prizes! [WriteOnCon.com] Enter to win LiLa's new book!
• Lisa and Laura Write [lisa-laura.blogspot.com]
• HarperCollins Dark Days of Supernatural Giveaway! [/- LA FEMME READERS -/] Five great books. Enter by 3/15.
• Interview with Allison Pang and #giveaway of A Brush of Darkness [Candace's Book Blog] Enter by 3/12.
• Win a Book!!! [Never as the crow flies] Go Vanessa! And stop by and enter to win her new e-book.
• Tweet #LiarSociety and Win Signed Books [Lisa and Laura Write] Chance to win one of ten signed copies!
• March Contest Coming Later This Week: Adult SF/F/H, Thriller, and Romance [QueryTracker.net] Opens 9:00 AM EST on 3/3/11.
• Guest Post and Contest with Becca Ritchie, Author of Wynter Chelsea [THE BOOK BUTTERFLY] Enter by 3/10/11.
• Book #Giveaway! Hourglass and Afterlife by Claudia Gray [Candace's Book Blog] Enter by 3/1/11.

Craft of Writing

• Tools of the Trade: The notebook [Megan Crewe - another world, not quite ours] Do you use one?
• A Perfectionist’s Guide to Editing: 4 Stages [Jami Gold, Paranormal Author] When to stop editing.
• Trust Me, I’m a Reader: Writing for Your Audience [The Other Side of the Story] Will your reader understand, or do you need to explain more? How to know.
• 4 tricks for getting to know new characters [Don't pet me, I'm writing] How roleplaying & bulletin boards can help you develop them.
• Talking about Voice, part 2: Three authors, three books [Dancing with Dragons is Hard on Your Shoes.] Awesome, awesome examples. And love: "Read. Write. And be patient."
• Creating Emotional Impact [Cheryl's Musings] Love: Make people care by letting them see smaller acts of heroism unfolding in the present moment.
• Symbols in Your Writing [Write-Brained] Awesome story about the power of symbols in life as well as literature.
• Make 'Em Hang Onto Every Word - reconnect with simmons [www.simmons.edu]
• Better Than A Writing Course? [Seeing Creative] Reading great writing blogs is a free education.
• Story Arcs [Book Dreaming] Apply a short story arc to individual scenes of your MS to increase the story's tension.
• How to write a page-turner (part 2: more on characters) [Time to Write] Great: Push the envelope, but ensure character quirks fit her history, social circle, and values.
• Expanded Story Elements Checklist (Act I) [Alexandra Sokoloff] Great: The framework for writing and analyzing ANY story.
• Back-story Informs Front Story [Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers] The backstory wound becomes what the mc must consciously overcome in the final 1/4 of the story.
• What I learned from my editor in the first 60 days [Dark Angel Fiction Writing] What's your crutch phrase to show emotion?
• Spotlight: RWA: It's Not Just for Romance Writers [The Other Side of the Story] Annual conference June 28 to July 1.
• Mark Your Calendars for SCBWI's 40th Annual Summer Conference! (It's Gonna Be Awesome) [Alice Pope's SCBWI Children's Market Blog] New conference format. Get ready to register 4/15.
• Your Setting Examples - #6 [edittorrent] Excellent case study in using setting active, present details to support mood and action.
• Randy Recommends: Story Engineering [Advanced Fiction Writing Blog] LOVE: Pinch points remind us what’s at stake, what’s at risk and what the hero must conquer.
• Advice to writers: Skip the scenery [Books] For those of us who can't get away with it by being brilliant.
• Tip Tuesday #78 [Literary Rambles] An easy resource to find out a book's word count.
• Unstoppable Characters [Writers' Ally aka ➔ sa larsenッ] It doesn't have to be complicated.
• Sound of words [edittorrent] Interesting point about beats and the effect of sound on the reader.
• Five Ways to Show Emotion in Your Writing [Ingrid's Notes] Great: physiological, body movement, flashbacks, references to desires or fears, setting.
• Talking about Voice, part 1: What is it? [Dancing with Dragons is Hard on Your Shoes.] The distinction between character voice and writer voice.
• Three questions to ask when you don't know your plot from your story [James Killick's Blog] Plot is what happens, and story is why it happens and who is reacting to it.
• How to establish your characters: endings [Show Some Character!] Fantastic post about wrapping up your character arcs and showing growth.
• How Backstory Can Make Readers Care [Anna Staniszewski] It's easier when we know about what made the character the way she is.
• Play by Play Narration [Kidlit.com] You are the curator of your story--guide your reader to the important stuff.
• Execution or Idea. Which Comes First? [The Other Side of the Story] Developing both skills at different times builds a solid writing foundation.
• 5 Ways to Keep Readers Riveted With Conflict [Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors] Nice collection of previous posts.
• Preserving the Act of Discovery [Writer Unboxed] Sometimes, we need to get out of our readers' way.
• Where I’m Going Is Shaped By Where I’ve Been [Magical Words] If your character is falling flat, study his history.
• The Elements of Sexual Tension [The Enchanted Inkpot.] Great post on what keeps readers engaged in a couple's struggles.
• How to spotlight important prose [The Blood-Red Pencil] EXCELLENT post on specific techniques for different situations.
• Everything Speaks: The Intention in Our Words [Claire King] Excellent point about the choices we make in writing.
• Guest Blogger Aliette de Bodard on Plotting Your Short Stories [The Other Side of the Story] Short stories are like compressed novels.
• Integrating Our Research [Mystery Writing is Murder] Putting bits and pieces of your research into characters and setting.
• Kristen Lamb's Blog » Blog Archive » Anatomy of a Best-Selling Novel–Structure Matters (Part One) [kristenlamb.org]
• Writing Theory — The Monomyth Part 4 [Magical Words] Excellent post on structure for Journey or Ordeal type stories.
• Turn your “first five” pages into fireworks | Restless Writers [restlesswriters.ca]

Critiquing

• WRITERS BE NICE [LM Preston] When to listen to the advice of other authors.
• With a Little Help from My CPs... [The Bluestocking Blog] OMG -- I LOVE this. Wonderful to hear today particularly. (See our blog for deets.)

Inspiration

• How Reading Changes Lives [Words and Such] LOVE: Life, energy, and a great sense of stroy will flow across the pages...
• How Do We Know When It's Time To Quit Being A Writer? [Guide to Literary Agents] Never! Great story about one writer's journey.
• Three Goals For Writers [Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent] Unexpected ways to look at you and the people around you.
• T3 - Predicting Fictional Breakups, Part One [The Character Therapist] Great ways to signal trouble in your dialogue!
• Stubborn or Stupid? [YA Author Elana Johnson] For undertaking the writer's journey? Don't give up.
• Enduring the Pain in the Quest for Publication [Author, Jody Hedlund] FAB: Pain can either make us bitter or push us to be better.
• Inspiration and Influence [Write Anything] Great: The more you live, the more you can imagine.
• A Chat With Roald Dahl, Part 2 [Falling Leaflets] LOVE: The line between roaring with laughter and crying because it's a disaster is a very, very fine one.
• 5 Steps to Mindful Writing [iggi & gabi] Show up, be aware, draw on your wise mind, sit on your discomfort, and practice, practice, practice.
• Are You Stalling Your Writing Journey? [Excuse Editor] LOVE: Take a hard look at time spent tuning up your writing vehicle vs. actual driving.
• 3 Times I Remember Why We Writers Do This Work [A. Victoria Mixon, Editor] Love this. Great moments to help us be thankful for creativity.
• Don't Break the Chain - by Donna [YA Muses] How many days in a row can you write?
• Wise Words about Passion in Writing [How to Plan, Write, and Develop a Book] Do you swim in the joy of your words?
• Learning to Rewrite [Writer Unboxed] You don't learn to be a carpenter by building several bad houses-you learn by building a good one.
• Query Quest: My Journey to Agent Land [The Other Side of the Story] Inspirational journey of perseverance & learning from newbie mistakes.
• Remembering Lisa Wolfson [Kidlit.com] A round-up of tributes from those who knew her well.
• Seven Strategies to Keep Momentum When You Don’t Have Time to Write [Cheryl's Musings] Good tips for squeezing in every moment.
• You Really Hate Your Writing? That’s a Good Sign! [Writer Unboxed] LOVE: You have to write a lot of crap while you hone your skills.
• Friday Speak Out!: Potty Tales: How Toilet Training Made Me a Writer Again, Guest Post by Julie Duffy [WOW! Women On Writing Blog] Rediscovering why we write.
• R.I.P. L.K. Madigan [/- LA FEMME READERS -/] Our condolences! And an opportunity to donate for an excellent cause.
• L.K. Madigan: An Author, A Friend, An Incredible Person [Novel Novice] A heartwarming tribute.
• Being Open to Ideas—Whenever they Strike [Mystery Writing is Murder] Give yourself permission to daydream.
• A Writer’s “Defining Moment” Book [The Blood-Red Pencil] Which book made you change the way you write?

Issues and Trends

• And I’m Still Talking About Derivative Works [Pub Rants] Listen up folks! This is important.
• Infringement, Fair Use and Derivative Works [iggi & gabi] Definitions every writer must know.
• Let’s Continue Talking About Derivative Works [Pub Rants] A derivative work could be a book trailer?
• Random House will adopt agency ebook pricing model [Jacket Copy] Just in time for the iPad 2 debut.
• HarperCollins Boycott Launched Over Library eBook Policy [GalleyCat] Seriously. What do you think?
• Tablets, Tablets, Tablets [PWxyz] eBooks are about to be one more step closer to ubiquitous.
• The Numbers Game [www.publetariat.com] Another example of how the self-publishing numbers compare.
• Do the Write Thing [Just Jemi] A charity raffle to help with Christchurch NZ relief efforts.
• Top 10 Pirated eBooks at The Pirate Bay [GalleyCat] Bundles of 2500 books packed together...value = ???
• 4 Ways to Prepare For a Professional Writing Career [Author, Jody Hedlund] Are you setting up a solid foundation?
• Writers For The Red Cross [Inkygirl.com: Daily Diversions For Writers - by Debbie Ridpath Ohi] ACP friend Debbie Ohi(aka @inkyelbows ) is donating her greeting cards & more to #write4red!
• Teen Reading Trends 2011 – Young Adult Books and Teen Books Reading Trends [childrensbooks.about.com] Urban Fantasy, Supernatural, Romance, and more...
• Now that you’ve “survived” the writing conference. . . [Red Sofa Literary] What to do AFTER the conference is over.

Just for Smiles

• CHECKLIST: 50 Important Things To Do Before Writing a Novel [Grab a Pen] How many do you do every day? :D
• An Open Letter on Discovering Self [Kiersten Writes] Awesome correspondence between @KierstenWhite and a fan
• What's an Idea Worth? [Writer Beware™ Blogs!]

Self-Editing

• 6 Common Plot Fixes [There Are No Rules] Excellent post on diagnosing and resolving potential issues with your ms.
• The One Percent [Write Anything] Writing is in building on the revelation of the first draft with the hard graft of the other ninety-nine.
• Consolidating Critiques Using Track Changes [The Blood-Red Pencil] Step by step instructions. Yes!
• Selling Our Readers on Our Writing [Mystery Writing is Murder] Great ways to strengthen wishy-washy prose.
• If it Smells Like a Cliché, It is a Cliché. Try Something Different: First Lines lll [TheWriteGame] How to spot them and fix them.

Social Media

• The business of writing: Part I [Anita Laydon Miller's Blog] Preparing your public persona for professionalism.
• My Latest Thoughts on Writers & Social Media [There Are No Rules] Platforms, tools, physical books, digital media, reader habits and more.
• Facebook for Authors - How to Get Started [Nathan Bransford - Blog] A fabulous breakdown.
• Is My Platform Big Enough to Land an Agent? [Author Marketing Experts, Inc. » BLOG] Putting "platform" in perspective.
• Ten Reasons I'm Not Reading Your Blog [Anne R. Allen's Blog] Too many blogs, too little time. What can you do so you don't turn readers off?
• Best of the Web Tips for the Week of Feb 21, 2011 [Author Marketing Experts, Inc. » BLOG] Social networking and book marketing.

To Market

• Children's Fiction Book Proposal Overview [Buried in the Slush Pile] Interesting--and something we rarely talk about.
• Knight Agency Launches Speed-Date Contest To Find a New Client [GalleyCat] 125 writers selected at random to form the pool.
• WriteonCon Chat Recap [Sisters in Scribe] What's hot? What's not? Agent Suzie Townsend answers.
• Agent Miriam Kriss On: What’s In A Name? (When Should You Use a Pseudonym?) [Guide to Literary Agents] And how to pick one.
• Workshop Wednesdays [BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency] Intriguing analysis of a query letter by agent Jessica Faust.
• Tools for writers: Choosing your book title [Guardian Cats] Have you Googled your prospective book title for competition?
• How to Write a Synopsis [Kathryn Jankowski] Clear, simple post on boiling your story down to 250 words.
• "Secrets of Publishing" panel in NYC [About.com publishing] Free to the pubic March 2, NYU bookstore.
• Can't Hit Send? [Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent] Don't wait for perfection. Just make it as strong as possible.
• Agent Advice: Naomi Hackenberg of Elaine P. English Literary Agency [Guide to Literary Agents] She is seeking a wide range of YA and MG.
• Agent Advice: Eddie Schneider of JABberwocky Literary Agency [Guide to Literary Agents] He seeks character-driven YA and MG.
• Monster List of Picture Book Agents - Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency [Frolicking through Cyberspace] Links to everything about Jennifer.
• So Let’s Talk Derivative Works [Pub Rants] Questions on new Macmillan boilerplate--this is why you need an agent.
• TKA's New Intern [The Knight Agency Blog] Yes, interns DO read slush.
• What Will Make an Agent "Gong" Your Query [* Fiction Groupie *] Thirteen tips to keep you in the running.
• Query Update: January '11 [Neverending Page Turner] The numbers from @Kortizzle
• The Query Letter That Won Me An Agent And A Four Book Deal (And Why It Was So Successful) [BubbleCow] Play to your strengths.
• The Parts of a Good Query Letter [Let The Words Flow » The Parts of a Good Query Letter] Get pulled to the surface of the slush.
• When Multiple Agents Are Interested [Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent] Take your time and do your homework.
• Gnome Attack Roundup: Analysis of the First Six Months (Part 1) [Guide to Literary Agents] Behind-the-scenes of a book sale.
• Publicity Tips When Publishing Your Book [Guide to Literary Agents] For both before and after your book comes out.
• Get Personal Attention and All Your Questions Answered Through the Agent Power Panel (March 11-13) [Guide to Literary Agents]
• Why Is "Fiction Novel" Redundant? [Literary Rambles] And what to say instead.
• Pay attention to who you pay attention to [Janet Reid, Literary Agent] Read agent blogs for query format. (But read this post for a surprise.)
• Pitch It! Pitch It Good!* [* Fiction Groupie *] LOVE: Don’t stop believing and you’ll find them believing right alongside you.
• How To Write A Query Letter [BubbleCow] 4 paragraphs in 4 easy steps.
• How I Got My Agent: Cori Doerrfeld [Guide to Literary Agents] Yes, luck plays a big role.
• Twitter Tuesday~Writer Contest & Agent Advice [Heather's Odyssey] Great round-up, including lots of market insight.
• Sample pages – the big reveal [Behler Blog] What do your first three chapters say about your book?
• Johnny Temple: ‘Authors Don’t Need Agents To Submit To Us’ [GalleyCat] Flat out: For him, it's who you know.
• “Story Engineering” by Larry Brooks: A Review [Write It Sideways] Sounds like a great book on story architecture.

Other Weekly Round-Ups:

• Jane Friedman of Writer's Digest 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 enjoyed during the week.
• Elizabeth Craig posts 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 and Clara