Over the past few weeks, I've been experimenting with Short Reads, one of the sections on Kindle. Taking classes and conference speeches and other material, I have been slowly, but surely converting them into articles to publish using KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing)....
Madeline Smoot
Prepping for NANOWRIMO
It’s that time of year again! Time to get ready for that month of frantic writing and nail biting experience known as NANOWRIMO or National Novel Writing Month. For those who don’t know, the premise is pretty simple. On November 1, you start a brand new novel. On November 30, you finish said novel. Simple, right?
Building Your Author Brand
Nowadays when we hear the word “branding” we tend to think in terms of marketing, but branding originally meant to mark something or claim it. Whether this was done to prove that a cow belonged to a rancher and not to the rustler that stole it or whether it was done to ostracize someone, the point was to notify the world.
As authors, it’s time for us to make our own marks on the world and claim our writing space as our own.
Motivated Villains
I attended RWA 2017 last month, not as a speaker, but just as a normal attendee. There’s something freeing about attending workshops and classes for writing that is outside your genre.
So, you think you’re a …
Plotter or a pantser, right? The thing is, it doesn’t really matter. At some point, you will have to outline your book. It’s just a matter of when.
Book Review: The Creeping Shadow
This book is the fourth in the Lockwood & Co series that follows a group of teen ghost hunters as they try to rid London and the surrounding countryside from the paranormal problem that’s been hunting the world for just under 100 years. Fast paced and well-plotted this entire series is a must read for anyone who is writing middle grade or YA adventure. (They’re also just good reads!)
Marketing Your School Visit
In a couple of weeks, I’ll be speaking at the North Texas SCBWI Schooled on School Visits Event. I’ll be talking about a number of things including MG/YA school visits and doing joint visits with other authors. And I’ll be talking about marketing. I always end up...
Book Review: Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time
By Bill McGowan This book is not specifically about pitching your book to agents and editors. It's broader than that. The skills in this book are applicable whether you are sitting in a pitch session or are about to do your very first school visit. It's about...
Running a Critique Group
One of the best things for your writing is to get feedback from other knowledgeable authors. The easiest way to do this is to set up a critique group. Then, you and like-minded individuals can get together to review and strengthen each other’s works.