Twitterific

Twitterific

Bluebird with beak open and 'Twitterific Writing Links' by ElizabethSCraig superimposed on the image

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 45,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

I’m going to be offline this week , so won’t have posts tomorrow or Friday.  I’ll be back next Sunday.  :)

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BookBub for Authors Who Don’t Run Ads

Promo Tips

Man holding cell phone in black background.

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Although I haven’t run a BookBub ad, I have an author profile on BookBub.  It’s free and there are excellent reasons for having a presence there, whether or not you ever intend to run an ad.

Perhaps the biggest reason is that BookBub will update your followers when you have a new release. This is what my readers received from BB on the 23rd:

BookBub also can help us connect with new readers by emailing subscribers and suggesting authors to follow.

Tom Corson-Knowles of TCK publishing points out that linking your author profile on BookBub to your website also is a huge SEO boost for your site.

I wondered, when I set up the profile there if my readers were BookBub subscribers. But with absolutely no effort on my part, I have over two hundred followers there.  So…the answer is yes.  :)Continue reading

Developing Your Cozy Mystery Story Concept

Mystery Writing Tips, Uncategorized

Blank sheet of paper with a coffee cup nearby.

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

One of the questions I’m most asked when I speak is how I come up with my ideas.  This,  of course, is probably the number one question that all writers are asked when they’re public speaking.  At least I usually am asked a variant of the question because they want to know how I come up with mysteries.

I usually say that I start with the victim.  And that’s true … about 75% of the time.  It’s an easy way to start out a cozy mystery.  You can develop someone who’s either really hateful and has plenty of enemies or create a character who seems too good to be true…and is.

Once I have a good idea who my victim is, it’s easy enough to come up with my suspects. Who would most want this person dead?  An ex-wife?  A neighbor he’s had disputes with? The husband of the woman he’s having an affair with?  The suspects come together naturally when you really know your victim.Continue reading

Twitterific Writing Links

Twitterific

Bluebird with beak open and 'Twitterific Writing Links' by ElizabethSCraig superimposed on the image

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 45,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

News and Cool Stuff

I have a book coming out tomorrow.  :)  Book 9 of the Southern Quilting Mysteries, Rest in Pieces releases April 23.

Interested in reading free translated books?  AmazonCrossing has 9 translations available for free in celebration of World Book Day…only through April 24, so be quick.  More information in this Publishing Perspectives article by Porter Anderson.

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Recaps in Mysteries

Mystery Writing Tips, Uncategorized

Apartment building with repetitive pattern of windows with two that stand out.

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Recently, I was looking over my customer reviews on Goodreads (I know…I rarely read my reviews there, although I always read them on Amazon) and one of them stood out to me.  A reader said that he especially appreciated the way that I handled recaps because he was able to catch back up when his Kindle malfunctioned and skipped ahead.

The Best Way to Recap:

I think the best way to handle recaps (especially in a cozy mystery) is to have them between the sidekick and the sleuth.  Otherwise, you end up in a situation where you have a lot of interior dialogue.  That makes your sleuth engage in too much thinking and not enough doing.  Even for the slower pace of a cozy mystery, that can slow the story’s pace down a little too much.

Although:

I find it’s also helpful for the sleuth to think private editorial comments  while interviewing suspects.  Especially if something a suspect says directly contradicts something that another suspect said. I keep it very brief and keep things moving in the interview. It’s the sleuth registering contradictions (which helps the reader notice them, too). Continue reading

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