Playtime is almost over ~ Writing Plans for the New Year

photo from erincondren.com

I'm not much for resolutions but I set all kinds of goals for myself from fitness to budgeting and all other things in between.  With the end of December and my self-imposed break approaching quicker than I anticipated, I've been thinking about my upcoming writing goals.

One of the last courses I'm taking this month is called Scrivener for Beats on Udemy.com by Sean Platt, a writer whom I've mentioned in a previous post. Beats are Sean's version of outlining stories, with pictures of actors that could portray the characters in a movie. He also includes pictures of locations that the story could possibly take place.

I attempted this a few years ago when I first encountered Scrivener but I lost all of my pictures and notes when my PC started acting crazy.  I was forced to practically wipe my whole system clean, which made me cry like a new born baby for about 2 days (Don't judge me).

The notes I made were nowhere near as detailed as the ones in Sean's video. I can't wait to get started working on my failed NaNoWriMo 2014 project again. It's a good story, I guess it wasn't time for me to write it then. Once I apply Sean's tips, I'll be in a much better place than I am now.

Have you set any goals or resolutions for 2015? Tell me about them.

As always, happy writing.
I'll Holler!!!

Newbie on the Scene

I just finised J A Konrath's e-book, A Newbie's Guide to Publishing. It's a compilation of over 300 of his blog posts, and I must say, J A Konrath is a "JAK" of many writing trades. Or shall I say "Jack" since he is the author of a female detective series, the main character's name being Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels.

His Newbie e-book is really helpful because it gives new writers advice on how to have a "sticky" online presence, which basically means having a website with alot of links, contests, and free stuff. The site should be informative as well as entertaining and J A's is definitely all of the above.

I like J A because he explains how much hard work goes into being a professional writer. Yes, writing a good book is essential but if you really want your book to sale, you can't leave all of the promotion up to the publisher. It's your book, your thoughts, who better to talk about it than you?

You have to check out J A's website . I also have a link to his blog in my links.

Best Marketing Book I've Read

If you are an author or a publisher and you are trying to think of different ways to market your book, I suggest getting a copy of "1001 Ways to Market Your Books". This is the 6th Edition of this book, which means author, John Kremer, tries to keep his readers in the know about any changes or improvements in advertising, promoting, and gaining book reviews.