Fill-Me-In Friday: Best Writing Links of the Week

Photo via Ben Salter (Flickr cc)Is it Friday already? Wow, weeks fly when there's a deadline looming. : )  Today will be a pretty short list since my web surfing time has been limited lately, but I wanted to pass along a few links of awesomeness I came across this week.

But first, an announcement. :) My NEW covers with their new look for my series will be revealed on Tuesday on the USA Today Happily Ever After blog! Yay! Can't wait to share them with y'all. That also means I'm going to need to find some time to update my website and the header because I've got a brand new...uh brand. :)

Alright, on to the links...

On Writing/Publishing:

Screenwriting Tricks for Authors - FREE this week! <-- love this book, go get it

What's New in YA? Mashups via Publisher's Weekly

Author Image | Annie Neugebauer <--should your author photo match the vibe of your books? (I know mine doesn't. But I've got no shot of being dark and sexy in a photo. My non-smiling expression in photos always look like a frog is peeing on my foot.)

NA Alley: Entangled Publishing Announcement <--more news on the New Adult front

On Social Networking/Marketing:

The Bookshelf Muse: The Path To 10K In Sales: Strategy, Luck & Mistakes

Who Needs a Platform? | Rachelle Gardner

Author, Jody Hedlund: Is Blogging a Time-Suck for Writers? <--really interesting discussion and points from James Scott Bell on both Rachelle's and Jody's post.

For Gits and Shiggles:

This Risotto Gonna F**k You Up, Son via Chuck Wendig - so, so funny. He needs his own cooking show.

EXCLUSIVE Cover Reveal: Maya Banks’s Breathless Trilogy! <--so purty

What You May Have Missed Here:

Is Reading the Genre You're Currently Writing Dangerous?

That's what I've got for this week. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend! I think I'm going to head out to the TX State Fair for all things deep-fried (cinnamon rolls, grilled cheese, jambalaya, the list goes on.)  :)

Fill-Me-In Friday: Best Writing Links of the Week

Bellagio Fountains

So it's that time of the week. I missed it last week because I was on my mini Vegas vacation (hence the photos), so this will include links from the last two weeks.

Also, you may have noticed (if you're particularly observant) that I've been a bit quieter on the blog and on Twitter lately. This has been by design because I'm under a tight deadline right now and have to put most of my time into that. BUT, it's working. I just tallied last month's word count and I wrote 40k in September. Woot! That's definitely a record for me. Now I have 35k to write by Nov. 1. *breathes into paper bag* So posting may be continue to be a little less regular for a little while longer. 

Alright, on to the links...

*First, I've posted an exclusive snippet of FALL INTO YOU on facebook if you'd like to check that out. (And if you want to follow me there, this is the place I focus on more reader-oriented vs. writer stuff.)

On Writing/Publishing:

What a Concept! Plotting Your Novel Conceptually via Janice Hardy

real actual hilary: Why writing with a book deal is a whole different game

delilah s. dawson: 10 Tips for Barfing a Book

Penguin, 3M E-Book Pilot 3M Goes Live <--Penguin working with a new library ebook service

How to write a bad review - Salon.com

Book Piracy – An Insiders Perspective - Stacey O'Neale's Site

Comparison Doesn’t Work - Books & Such Literary Agency : Books & Such Literary Agency

Co-Authoring: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly via Rachelle Gardner

Our hotel bed looked like it should be at The Ranch

Calls for Submissions:

Submissions opportunity: one week only…feedback & 6 week response time via Carina Press -- Great opportunity to get feedback

Now acquiring: Contemporary crack at Carina Press <--after reading Angela James' discussion of contemporary crack, I'm starting to think this is what I write, lol. The drama! The angst! The smex! :)

Now acquiring: New Adult at Carina Press <--I just talked about this genre in a post last week (linked below) and here you go, a publisher actively looking for it

On Social Media/Promotion/Marketing:

Is Your Author Website Helping You or Holding You Back? | BookBaby Blog

Why Content Marketing is the New Branding | Copyblogger

Does Social Media Sell Books? « Writerland

For Gits and Shiggles (and a little panting):

Channing Tatum opens his New Orleans bar “Saints and Sinners” this weekend - NYPOST.com <--why oh why didn't I plan a trip home to New Orleans this weekend??? I'm tempted to send my mother out to the opening with a camera. ;)

Ten Tips for Bringing BDSM Into Your Bedroom by Joey Hill | TheCelebrityCafe.com <--I get asked about this privately pretty often since my books make some readers curious about how BDSM can work in real life. These are some great, practical tips on getting started.

At the Marilyn Manson (and Buckcherry) concert

What You May Have Missed Here:

The New Adult Genre: Here To Stay This Time?

Natalie Bahm and Agent Sara Megibow On Self-Pubbing For a Good Cause

7 Things That Make the Chronic Finisher Put Down a Book

Book Deal Squee-ing: More Loving on the Edge On the Way! <--in case you haven't seen me squaking about it all over the interwebs. :)

That's all I have for you this week. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Fill-Me-In Friday: Best Writing Links of the Week

Hurricane Isaac Makes Landfall 

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class R. Jason Brunson) 

Hope everyone has had a good week. It hasn't been the best week on my end. Hurricane Isaac made its way through Louisiana and my parents' house (the house I spent most of my life in) was flooded. Luckily, they evacuated before the storm, but their house which they literally just spent two years completely remodeling from top to bottom is going to be ruined. :( And because it was only a Cat 1 storm, they didn't even bother to take things like photos and such with them. They've lived there twenty years, through Andrew, through Katrina, and never even had water on their street. Then this one comes along and wham. : (  So send prayers to Louisiana and anyone who's been affected by this storm.

All right, now on to the links for the week...

Favorite Link of the Week: The Publishing Process in GIF Form | Nathan Bransford, Author <--so funny AND true

On Writing/Publishing: 

• Monday News: Cheaters prospering; Backlist sales declining; Online dictionaries more of a hinderance via Dear Author
• Are fan fiction and fan art legal? via Io9
• Lance Armstrong & Jonah Lehrer–What are We Willing to Do to Win? « Kristen Lamb's Blog
• Leave a Message at the Tone: Setting the Right Tone for Your Story via Janice Hardy
• The Revival of the Serial via Dear Author and in a related post: 'Because You Are Mine' author Beth Kery on writing a serialized novel - USATODAY.com
• Jumpstarting Fiction: How to Find Unique, Timely Ideas to Energize Your Creativity  via Anne R. Allen
• Joe Wikert's Publishing 2020 Blog: Why a Used Ebook Ecosystem Makes Sense
• Not So Fast: Ideas to Rethink | Rachelle Gardner
• The Kill Zone: How to Write a Novella by James Scott Bell
• Publishing Is Broken, We're Drowning In Indie Books - And That's A Good Thing - Forbes
• 7 Essential Elements of Scene Scene Structure Exercise | Jane Friedman
• Against Acknowledgments at the End of Novels : The New Yorker <--This just annoyed me. If you don't like the author thanking people, just skip that page. Writers are human and would like to have our one little page to say what we want to people who are important to us. That'd be like telling actors to not give Oscar speeches. Please.

On Social Media/Marketing: 

• 5 Lessons About Community that Writers MUST Learn « DIY MFA
• Seekerville: Why Free Won’t Build Following with Guest Nancy Kimball
• Top Five Creepy Social Media Marketing Tactics « Kristen Lamb's Blog
• A 5-Step Plan to Improve Every Blog Post You Write | Copyblogger
• Build a Better Author Bio for Twitter | Jane Friedman
• Author Magazine - An Interview with Kristen Lamb <--good overview of Kristen's perspective on social media
• How Often Should You Blog? (Hint: The Answer Might Surprise You) : @ProBlogger
• Hashtags: How to Use Them Without Abusing Them - She Writes by Meghan Ward
• Let’s Talk Blogging and Your Website via Smexy Books (geared toward people who want to build a book blogger site)

For Gits and Shiggles: 

• Ryan Gosling coloring book via Melissa Blake
• Publishing world is turned on by 'Fifty Shades of Grey' – USATODAY.com
• Lea recommends 'Because I Said So,' 'Inside Bet,' 'Melt into You' - USATODAY.com <--okay so this one is totally self-serving. But it's my blog and I can do that every now and then. ;)

What You May Have Missed Here:

• Finding Your Novel's Theme and Your Universal Theme

That's all I've got for you this week. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend. : )

Fill-Me-In Friday: Best Writing Links of the Week

Kidlet goes back to school next week!

 So this week has continued to be crazy and my current WIP has changed a few times over again. Let's not even talk about deadlines. But I'm not going to complain because deadlines mean I have book contracts and that is always a good thing. :)

But can I say I'm SO happy kidlet goes back to school next week. He only goes for half a day in the afternoons so I'm not going to be getting much more time than I get now with him in daycare in the mornings, but afternoon time is so much more productive for me writing wise. AND a bus will pick up kidlet instead of me having to play taxi. So yay for that.

Oh, and for those of you who remember me asking about other programs to use to organize and save links like Delicious, I think I've found one that works for me. Zootool allows me to save a link with one click of a bookmark button and I can organize them into "packs" which is similar to when Delicious still had "stacks" (the feature I was missing in the new design). So then I can just make a pack for each week and save things throughout the week for this Friday post. :)

Now, on to the links...

On Writing/Publishing:

• The Gold Medal Race To The New York Times Bestseller List. Write Your Heart out. Run your ass off. | Danielle LaPorte
• Finding Comparables for Your Novel | Annie Neugebauer
• The Inner Struggle: Guides for Using Inner Conflict That Make Sense via Janice Hardy
• Michael Hauge’s Workshop: Combining Emotional Journeys and External Plots | Jami Gold, Paranormal Author
• Author, Jody Hedlund: What's Life Really Like as a Published Author?
• Beware of This Sly Writer's Enemy - also Jody Hedlund
• William Petrocelli: Who Needs Publishers & Bookstores? Writers, Readers & Everyone Else via Huffington Post
• throw another bear in the canoe - thirteen things to do when you run out of plot:**
• Does the Publishing Industry Care Too Much About Writing Quality? | Nathan Bransford, Author

On Social Media/Promotion: 

• Should You Preschedule Tweets? « Writerland - Meghan Ward
• 8 Tips for Promoting Your Book Online | Rachelle Gardner
• 13 Simple Tips for a Better Blog - Rachelle Gardner
• Copyright Is Not a Verb | Jane Friedman
• All We Needed To Know About Social Media Success, We Learned in Kindergarten « Kristen Lamb's Blog

Other Awesome Stuff:

• Natalie Bahm: BIG News - My agency-mate Natalie is self-pubbing her first novel and ALL proceeds are going to help a family with a very sick child. How amazing is Natalie? She's going to stop by the blog next month to talk more about it, but go check out what she's doing and spread the word.
• Dogshaming - This was making the rounds on Twitter this week, but in case you missed it, go check it out. HILARIOUS. 

What You May Have Missed Here:

• Do Quirky Writing Habits Equal Greatness?
• The Uncomfortable Pantser: When Your Method Doesn't Fit Your Personality

That's all I've got this week. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! 

Fill-Me-In Friday: Best Writing Links of the Week

(Photo via the U.S. National Archives)

Status: Still trying to find balance this week

So I'm still buried this week with writing the new WIP and going through copyedits for FALL INTO YOU, so this list may be a little shorter than normal. Maybe one day I'll figure out how to balance working under deadlne and keeping up with everything else. But hopefully you'll find some links worth clicking. 

On Writing/Publishing:

• Sara Megibow Sells Romance – The Girlfriend’s Guide to Being a Debut Author | Romance University - if you weren't at RWA and you missed the panel I did with Sara, you can check out the highlights here.
• 6 Ways to Pull off Dual Timelines in Your Novel via K.M. Weiland - I remember googling like hell trying to find this kind of info when I was writing a dual timeline for CRASH INTO YOU, but couldn't find much. So now here you go. Dual timelines can be a really tough thing to juggle, but I really enjoyed writing a story that had them. And these are good tips.
• Building Your Production Capacity - Susan Kaye Quinn
• How I’m Learning to Live With and Love 50 Shades of Grey via Dear Author
• Things You NEED To Know When Meeting An Author via Julie Cross

On Social Media/Marketing:

• The Slap-Your-Head-Simple Secret for Selling More Books — Self Publishing Team
• Unwitting Newsletter Douchebaggery And How to Avoid It | Blog | Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
• Authors, How Do You Gauge Your Social Media Tolerance? | BookBaby Blog
• Why I Will Be Posting Less on My Blog | Michael Hyatt <--some good food for thought
• Social isn’t a magic bullet, but it can sell books | FutureBook
• An Author Platform Built on SPAM is Doomed to Fall via Kristen Lamb

Other stuff and what you may have missed from me this week:

• 6 Myths about BDSM… Inspired by 50 Shades of Grey via Bring Back Desire
• My mini-rant on the BDSM "You're Not Doing It Right" police via Scorching Book Reviews
• Because Good Smut Should Be Shared...Book Recommendations - from me

So what good links have you come across this week? Hope y'all have a great weekend!