Join us on Apr 20, 2023 and share book tweets with #MFRWauthor #MFRWorg @MFRW_ORG

Book Retweet Day is the third Thursday of each month.

All members of the Marketing for Romance Writers IO Group are invited to set up tweets for their books.

Join us! It's free and we promote each other.

Book Retweet Day Directions

The purpose of Book Retweet Day is to gain help from other authors in sharing a tweet about your book.

How does it work?

You create a tweet and copy the tweet's URL, then share it in the comments here. Another author clicks on your tweet's URL and then retweets it on Twitter. You do the same for them on a tweet they shared. If you have 500 followers and the other author has 500, then by sharing tweets, you each had a reach of 1000.

What do I have to do?

1. Before Book Retweet Day, log in to Twitter and create a tweet. You can share up to 280 characters per tweet.
2. Use an image to attract attention (i.e., your cover or a banner).
3. Use hashtags that fit your book's genre. Readers often search Twitter for their favorites.
4. Once the tweet has been posted, click anywhere in the white background of the tweet. This will open it and allow you to highlight and copy the URL.
5. Navigate back to here and paste the URL in the comment section of this post.
6. Come back on Book Retweet Day and retweet everyone on the list whose work fits your stream. **

You do not have to respond to each comment. If you have completed several, you have the option of commenting: "caught up to here". This will also help you see where you left off if you come back later.

**If a tweet doesn't fit your stream, you are under no obligation to share it. You will NOT be able to edit the tweet because you are only retweeting what they have already shared. Please note that if you continue to not share, no one will share yours either. 

Here's to a great day of book retweets! 

Kayelle Allen writes Sci Fi with misbehaving robots, mythic heroes, role playing immortal gamers, and warriors who purr. She is the founder of Marketing for Romance Writers, a US Navy veteran, and has been married so long she's tenured. https://kayelleallen.com/immortality

Retweet with fellow authors on Apr 13, 2023 for Book Retweet Day #MFRWauthor #MFRWorg @MFRW_ORG

It's Retweet Day for MFRW on Twitter. All members of the Marketing for Romance Writers IO Group are invited to set up tweets for their books.

Join here: https://marketingforromancewriters.groups.io/g/main

Go into Twitter and create a tweet. Make sure to use #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg. You can share up to 280 characters per tweet.

Once the tweet has been posted, click anywhere in the white background of the tweet. This will open it and allow you to highlight and copy the URL.

Navigate back to here and paste the URL in the comment section of this post.

Each month, the RT post goes live the Monday before RT day. You can post your tweet until Wednesday night at midnight of the same week.

Retweet Day is on the second Wednesday of each month. Retweet everyone on the list who uses one of the hashtags - and who is sharing a tweet that is suitable for your stream.

OPTIONAL HINT:

To help people find your tweet, click the the white background and then the down arrow (found on the right side). Choose "Pin to Your Profile Page." This will keep the tweet at the top of your Twitter feed so more people can find it.

Retweet Day Rules

1. Must have #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg in the tweet. (This retweet day is to promote each other and our group.)

2. Do not use profanity or sexual explicit graphics. Keep it for all age groups.
3. Please do not use adult topics for this one tweet.
4. Limit hashtags to three (3) per post.

5. Return on Retweet Day and click each link in the comments.**

6. On the tweet, click the heart and then the retweet button.

** To share a tweet, highlight the url, right click, and you will see an option to open the link or go to the url. Do that, and it should open in a new window and take you there.

Come back after sending the tweet and go through the entire list. 

PLEASE NOTE: If a tweet doesn't fit your stream, you are under no obligation to share it.

Here's to a great day of retweets!

Kayelle Allen writes Sci Fi with misbehaving robots, mythic heroes, role playing immortal gamers, and warriors who purr. She is the author of multiple books, novellas, and short stories. She's also a US Navy veteran and has been married so long she's tenured.

https://kayelleallen.com/immortality

Join us on Mar 16, 2023 and share book tweets with #MFRWauthor #MFRWorg @MFRW_ORG

Book Retweet Day is the third Thursday of each month.

All members of the Marketing for Romance Writers IO Group are invited to set up tweets for their books.

Join us! It's free and we promote each other.

Book Retweet Day Directions

The purpose of Book Retweet Day is to gain help from other authors in sharing a tweet about your book.

How does it work?

You create a tweet and copy the tweet's URL, then share it in the comments here. Another author clicks on your tweet's URL and then retweets it on Twitter. You do the same for them on a tweet they shared. If you have 500 followers and the other author has 500, then by sharing tweets, you each had a reach of 1000.

What do I have to do?

1. Before Book Retweet Day, log in to Twitter and create a tweet. You can share up to 280 characters per tweet.
2. Use an image to attract attention (i.e., your cover or a banner).
3. Use hashtags that fit your book's genre. Readers often search Twitter for their favorites.
4. Once the tweet has been posted, click anywhere in the white background of the tweet. This will open it and allow you to highlight and copy the URL.
5. Navigate back to here and paste the URL in the comment section of this post.
6. Come back on Book Retweet Day and retweet everyone on the list whose work fits your stream. **

You do not have to respond to each comment. If you have completed several, you have the option of commenting: "caught up to here". This will also help you see where you left off if you come back later.

**If a tweet doesn't fit your stream, you are under no obligation to share it. You will NOT be able to edit the tweet because you are only retweeting what they have already shared. Please note that if you continue to not share, no one will share yours either. 

Here's to a great day of book retweets! 

Kayelle Allen writes Sci Fi with misbehaving robots, mythic heroes, role playing immortal gamers, and warriors who purr. She is the founder of Marketing for Romance Writers, a US Navy veteran, and has been married so long she's tenured. https://kayelleallen.com/immortality

Retweet with fellow authors on Mar 8, 2023 for Book Retweet Day #MFRWauthor #MFRWorg @MFRW_ORG

It's Retweet Day for MFRW on Twitter. All members of the Marketing for Romance Writers IO Group are invited to set up tweets for their books.

Join here: https://marketingforromancewriters.groups.io/g/main

Go into Twitter and create a tweet. Make sure to use #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg. You can share up to 280 characters per tweet.

Once the tweet has been posted, click anywhere in the white background of the tweet. This will open it and allow you to highlight and copy the URL.

Navigate back to here and paste the URL in the comment section of this post.

Each month, the RT post goes live the Monday before RT day. You can post your tweet until Wednesday night at midnight of the same week.

Retweet Day is on the second Wednesday of each month. Retweet everyone on the list who uses one of the hashtags - and who is sharing a tweet that is suitable for your stream.

OPTIONAL HINT:

To help people find your tweet, click the the white background and then the down arrow (found on the right side). Choose "Pin to Your Profile Page." This will keep the tweet at the top of your Twitter feed so more people can find it.

Retweet Day Rules

1. Must have #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg in the tweet. (This retweet day is to promote each other and our group.)

2. Do not use profanity or sexual explicit graphics. Keep it for all age groups.
3. Please do not use adult topics for this one tweet.
4. Limit hashtags to three (3) per post.

5. Return on Retweet Day and click each link in the comments.**

6. On the tweet, click the heart and then the retweet button.

** To share a tweet, highlight the url, right click, and you will see an option to open the link or go to the url. Do that, and it should open in a new window and take you there.

Come back after sending the tweet and go through the entire list. 

PLEASE NOTE: If a tweet doesn't fit your stream, you are under no obligation to share it.

Here's to a great day of retweets!

Kayelle Allen writes Sci Fi with misbehaving robots, mythic heroes, role playing immortal gamers, and warriors who purr. She is the author of multiple books, novellas, and short stories. She's also a US Navy veteran and has been married so long she's tenured.

https://kayelleallen.com/immortality

Join us on Feb 16, 2023 and share book tweets with #MFRWauthor #MFRWorg @MFRW_ORG

Book Retweet Day is the third Thursday of each month.

All members of the Marketing for Romance Writers IO Group are invited to set up tweets for their books.

Join us! It's free and we promote each other.

Book Retweet Day Directions

The purpose of Book Retweet Day is to gain help from other authors in sharing a tweet about your book.

How does it work?

You create a tweet and copy the tweet's URL, then share it in the comments here. Another author clicks on your tweet's URL and then retweets it on Twitter. You do the same for them on a tweet they shared. If you have 500 followers and the other author has 500, then by sharing tweets, you each had a reach of 1000.

What do I have to do?

1. Before Book Retweet Day, log in to Twitter and create a tweet. You can share up to 280 characters per tweet.
2. Use an image to attract attention (i.e., your cover or a banner).
3. Use hashtags that fit your book's genre. Readers often search Twitter for their favorites.
4. Once the tweet has been posted, click anywhere in the white background of the tweet. This will open it and allow you to highlight and copy the URL.
5. Navigate back to here and paste the URL in the comment section of this post.
6. Come back on Book Retweet Day and retweet everyone on the list whose work fits your stream. **

You do not have to respond to each comment. If you have completed several, you have the option of commenting: "caught up to here". This will also help you see where you left off if you come back later.

**If a tweet doesn't fit your stream, you are under no obligation to share it. You will NOT be able to edit the tweet because you are only retweeting what they have already shared. Please note that if you continue to not share, no one will share yours either. 

Here's to a great day of book retweets! 

Kayelle Allen writes Sci Fi with misbehaving robots, mythic heroes, role playing immortal gamers, and warriors who purr. She is the founder of Marketing for Romance Writers, a US Navy veteran, and has been married so long she's tenured. https://kayelleallen.com/immortality

Retweet with fellow authors on Feb 8, 2023 for Book Retweet Day #MFRWauthor #MFRWorg @MFRW_ORG

It's Retweet Day for MFRW on Twitter. All members of the Marketing for Romance Writers IO Group are invited to set up tweets for their books.

Join here: https://marketingforromancewriters.groups.io/g/main

Go into Twitter and create a tweet. Make sure to use #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg. You can share up to 280 characters per tweet.

Once the tweet has been posted, click anywhere in the white background of the tweet. This will open it and allow you to highlight and copy the URL.

Navigate back to here and paste the URL in the comment section of this post.

Each month, the RT post goes live the Monday before RT day. You can post your tweet until Wednesday night at midnight of the same week.

Retweet Day is on the second Wednesday of each month. Retweet everyone on the list who uses one of the hashtags - and who is sharing a tweet that is suitable for your stream.

OPTIONAL HINT:

To help people find your tweet, click the the white background and then the down arrow (found on the right side). Choose "Pin to Your Profile Page." This will keep the tweet at the top of your Twitter feed so more people can find it.

Retweet Day Rules

1. Must have #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg in the tweet. (This retweet day is to promote each other and our group.)

2. Do not use profanity or sexual explicit graphics. Keep it for all age groups.
3. Please do not use adult topics for this one tweet.
4. Limit hashtags to three (3) per post.

5. Return on Retweet Day and click each link in the comments.**

6. On the tweet, click the heart and then the retweet button.

** To share a tweet, highlight the url, right click, and you will see an option to open the link or go to the url. Do that, and it should open in a new window and take you there.

Come back after sending the tweet and go through the entire list. 

PLEASE NOTE: If a tweet doesn't fit your stream, you are under no obligation to share it.

Here's to a great day of retweets!

Kayelle Allen writes Sci Fi with misbehaving robots, mythic heroes, role playing immortal gamers, and warriors who purr. She is the author of multiple books, novellas, and short stories. She's also a US Navy veteran and has been married so long she's tenured.

https://kayelleallen.com/immortality

Join us on Jan 19, 2023 and share book tweets with fellow authors #MFRWauthor #MFRWorg @MFRW_ORG

Book Retweet Day is the third Thursday of each month.

All members of the Marketing for Romance Writers IO Group are invited to set up tweets for their books.

Join us! It's free and we promote each other.

Book Retweet Day Directions

The purpose of Book Retweet Day is to gain help from other authors in sharing a tweet about your book.

How does it work?

You create a tweet and copy the tweet's URL, then share it in the comments here. Another author clicks on your tweet's URL and then retweets it on Twitter. You do the same for them on a tweet they shared. If you have 500 followers and the other author has 500, then by sharing tweets, you each had a reach of 1000.

What do I have to do?

1. Before Book Retweet Day, log in to Twitter and create a tweet. You can share up to 280 characters per tweet.
2. Use an image to attract attention (i.e., your cover or a banner).
3. Use hashtags that fit your book's genre. Readers often search Twitter for their favorites.
4. Once the tweet has been posted, click anywhere in the white background of the tweet. This will open it and allow you to highlight and copy the URL.
5. Navigate back to here and paste the URL in the comment section of this post.
6. Come back on Book Retweet Day and retweet everyone on the list whose work fits your stream. **

You do not have to respond to each comment. If you have completed several, you have the option of commenting: "caught up to here". This will also help you see where you left off if you come back later.

**If a tweet doesn't fit your stream, you are under no obligation to share it. You will NOT be able to edit the tweet because you are only retweeting what they have already shared. Please note that if you continue to not share, no one will share yours either. 

Here's to a great day of book retweets! 

Kayelle Allen writes Sci Fi with misbehaving robots, mythic heroes, role playing immortal gamers, and warriors who purr. She is the founder of Marketing for Romance Writers, a US Navy veteran, and has been married so long she's tenured. https://kayelleallen.com/immortality

Retweet with fellow authors on Jan 11, 2023 for Book Retweet Day #MFRWauthor #MFRWorg @MFRW_ORG

It's Retweet Day for MFRW on Twitter. All members of the Marketing for Romance Writers IO Group are invited to set up tweets for their books.

Join here: https://marketingforromancewriters.groups.io/g/main

Go into Twitter and create a tweet. Make sure to use #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg. You can share up to 280 characters per tweet.

Once the tweet has been posted, click anywhere in the white background of the tweet. This will open it and allow you to highlight and copy the URL.

Navigate back to here and paste the URL in the comment section of this post.

Each month, the RT post goes live the Monday before RT day. You can post your tweet until Wednesday night at midnight of the same week.

Retweet Day is on the second Wednesday of each month. Retweet everyone on the list who uses one of the hashtags - and who is sharing a tweet that is suitable for your stream.

OPTIONAL HINT:

To help people find your tweet, click the the white background and then the down arrow (found on the right side). Choose "Pin to Your Profile Page." This will keep the tweet at the top of your Twitter feed so more people can find it.

Retweet Day Rules

1. Must have #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg in the tweet. (This retweet day is to promote each other and our group.)

2. Do not use profanity or sexual explicit graphics. Keep it for all age groups.
3. Please do not use adult topics for this one tweet.
4. Limit hashtags to three (3) per post.

5. Return on Retweet Day and click each link in the comments.**

6. On the tweet, click the heart and then the retweet button.

** To share a tweet, highlight the url, right click, and you will see an option to open the link or go to the url. Do that, and it should open in a new window and take you there.

Come back after sending the tweet and go through the entire list. 

PLEASE NOTE: If a tweet doesn't fit your stream, you are under no obligation to share it.

Here's to a great day of retweets!

Kayelle Allen writes Sci Fi with misbehaving robots, mythic heroes, role playing immortal gamers, and warriors who purr. She is the author of multiple books, novellas, and short stories. She's also a US Navy veteran and has been married so long she's tenured.

https://kayelleallen.com/immortality

It's All About Her Humanity – How to Create the Perfect Heroine for Your Story by Alice Orr @AliceOrrBooks #AmEditing #MFRWauthor

Mike Nichols was a master storyteller, one of the best that ever lived, in my opinion. I saw him in an interview once where he was asked to name the most important element in a story. His answer was this. "All we care about is the humanity."

How to Create the Perfect Heroine for Your Story

He was saying we must put the core of what makes us all human into the characters in our stories. Their dreams and hopes. Their disappointments and losses. Especially how they FEEL about their dreams, hopes, disappointments and losses. All portrayed in well-written scenes.

In Nichols' film Heartburn, from the novel and screenplay by another great storyteller, the fabulous Nora Ephron, humanity is at the burning heart. Rachel Samstat spends the entire story trying to get into, get through and eventually get out of the marriage of her hopes and dreams. She is toppled into disappointment, one she creates for herself by an error in judgment.

Her blunder sets her up for what feels at the moment like the most devastating loss of her life, the discovery that her husband Mark Forman has been unfaithful. Let me emphasize that Rachel FEELS like his infidelity is the greatest loss of her life and this is what matters. How the situation FEELS to the character. How what happens to her impacts her humanity.

We may know she is better off without this lying, philandering so-and-so, but she doesn't FEEL that truth. She triumphs, so to speak, in the end because she comes to grips with that truth, and we FEEL that triumph with her. We also FEEL her heartache. We FEEL her humanity.

The entire story really belongs to Rachel Samstat. It could have been titled The Adventures (or Misadventures) of Rachel Samstat. Similarly, each of our own stories could be titled The Adventures of ________ (fill in the name of your story heroine). Or more accurately The Emotional Adventures of ________.

It's All About Her Humanity

In the romance genre in particular, our audience, our readership, cares most about the humanity of our heroine, and how that humanity acts itself out in our story. How her humanity comes to life on the page in the way she behaves and talks and most of all FEELS. In other words, what our readers care about most is our heroine's Emotional Truth.

Emotional truth is what's really going on in your story. The real, underlying truth of what is happening to your heroine, and all of your characters. What your characters allow us to see and hear on their surfaces can conceal what they are truly feeling. Great stories are all about TRUE FEELINGS REVEALED.

This is exactly like real life, and real life is the mother lode from which you mine your own emotional truth and refine it into storytelling treasure. The precious coins of that treasure are the deeply felt emotions at the beating heart of your story, the deeply felt emotions that make your reader feel deeply too. Like we feel for Rachel Samstat, because we recognize her heartburn and her heartbreak, because at one time or another it has most likely been our own.

I write romantic suspense novels. Scary things happen in my stories. In my latest novel, A Time of Fear and Loving, my heroine, Amanda Miller Bryce, is terrorized by a brute. That same thing happened to me once. Fortunately, Amanda and I both survived. In the meantime, as I wrote the story, she and I both benefited from my emotional truth of that awful experience.

We shared the powerlessness we felt while the awfulness was happening. We shared the shock and numbness we felt after it was over. We also shared our awareness of the way others reacted around us. I didn't need to take notes. All of that was branded on my own, very personal humanity in indelible emotional ink. Now it is branded on my heroine's humanity.

We have all had emotionally indelible experiences. We have been changed by them, traumatized by them, sometimes stopped in our tracks by them. As writers, we get to pass those experiences on to our heroines. We get to convert our own emotional landscapes into the very raw material of very intense, very dramatic, very powerful storytelling.

You know what these stories are for you. Pass them on to your heroine. Write those stories the way your heart FEELS them to be true. Don't worry about whether or not these stories may differ from factual truth. Facts are verifiable. Feelings are not. Someone else's emotional truth may vary from yours, but that doesn't make your truth any less valid. Besides, you are creating fiction, which can be anything you, as creator, want it to be.

Emotional Truth is individual, for you and for your heroine. Her truths are what she honestly FEELS. That honesty gives your story authenticity and makes your heroine come to life on the page. That authenticity gives your heroine her humanity. It is what makes your story really matter, to you as you write it, and to your readers as they read it.

Dig Deep

So, dig down and dig deep. You will know when you hit the humanity mother lode because it will zing straight to your heart, just before you zing it straight onto the page, where you will create the perfect heroine for your story.

For more insights into writing and publishing, visit my blog at www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Alice Orr is author of 16 novels, 3 novellas, a memoir and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. A former book editor and literary agent, Alice now writes full-time. Her latest novel is A Time of Fear and Loving – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5. Find all of Alice Orr’s books at amazon.com and other online retailers. Alice has two grown children and two perfect grandchildren and lives with her beloved husband Jonathan in New York City.
Author Website www.aliceorrbooks.com
Author Blog www.aliceorrbooks.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aliceorrwriter
Twitter https://twitter.com/aliceorrbooks
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Orr/e/B000APC22E

How to Write Characters Inside Out: The Exercise by Alice Orr @AliceOrrBooks #AmWriting #MFRWauthor #AmEditing

My Holiday Gift for You is an Alice Orr How-To! Write in the first person, using "I." Answer as your character. Speak with her voice from her experience. Record the ways you feel (as her) about how each exercise item relates to you. Answer from your gut, not your head. Be specific.

My Full Name is….

I was born in (place name)…. My heritage is (racial, ethnic),,,,

My birth (or adoptive) family's financial situation was…. Their community status was….

The family I grew up with consisted of (member names and relationships)….

The family member I am closest to is…. because….

The family member of my family I am most distant from is…. because….

As a Child.

I would describe myself as…. My most memorable childhood experience was….

As an adolescent, I was…. My most memorable adolescent experience was….

My first sexual experience was…. My attitude toward sex then was…. And now is….

My Appearance.

What I like about the way I look is…. What I hate about the way I look is….

I believe that other people think I look like…. My style of dress is…. because….

If you ask me what I am like as a person, I would say I am…. because….

My religious or spiritual beliefs are…. My political beliefs are….

My overall attitude toward life is….

My Self.

The most significant thing I have ever discovered about myself is….

I feel that my greatest talent is…. The thing I believe in most strongly is…. because….

The thing I have enjoyed most in my life is…. The thing I disliked most is…. because….

My most important goal in life is to…. because….

My Emotional Life.

My biggest inhibition is…. because…. My superstition is…. because….

My greatest disappointment in life is…. because…. I was most joyful when…. because….

My greatest frustration in life is…. because…. My biggest regret in life is…. because….

I was most enraged in my life when…. because…. I was most terrified when…. because….

I was most humiliated when…. because…. I was most heartbroken when…. because….

My deepest fear is…. because…. My darkest secret is…. because….

The biggest lie I ever told was…. I told it because…. I yearn most for…., because….

More Areas to Explore.

Friendships. Sexual history. Romantic history. Professional history. Educational history. Hobbies and leisure time activities. Health issues. Plus, anything else you should know to get inside your character and write her from that very intimate place.

Use the Above to Dig Deep into Each of Your Big Three characters.

Protagonist (hero), secondary protagonist (mate, sidekick, foil), antagonist (villain) – and any other character you need to know Inside Out. Do this and you will create the most compelling characters who have ever flowed from your imagination onto the very powerful pages of your best stories ever.

For more insights into writing and publishing, visit my blog at www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Alice Orr is author of 16 novels, 3 novellas, a memoir and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. A former book editor and literary agent, Alice now writes full-time. Her latest novel is A Time of Fear and Loving – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5. Find all of Alice Orr’s books at amazon.com and other online retailers. Alice has two grown children and two perfect grandchildren and lives with her beloved husband Jonathan in New York City.
Author Website www.aliceorrbooks.com
Author Blog www.aliceorrbooks.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aliceorrwriter
Twitter https://twitter.com/aliceorrbooks
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Orr/e/B000APC22E

Aerobics for a Writer's Imagination Muscles by Alice Orr @aliceorrbooks #MFRWauthor #AmWriting

Time to buff up your Writer Imagination Muscles

An editor and author provides advice on th eessential storytelling question.

Would you feel better or worse if I told you I get rejections? In my pre-indie days, I

traditionally published several romantic suspense novels and a nonfiction book. One night back then, I had a dream so vivid I woke up trembling, short of breath and convinced the goddess had sent me a bestseller for sure.

I'd actually experienced An Idea That Wasn't A Story. Too bad I didn't recognize this. To my credit, I honed that nightmare scene till the impact was razor sharp. Too bad I didn't have much to go with it. I figured my boffo opener would carry the rest. My agent disagreed, and pointed out that, after the boffo had passed, pacing lost steam, story urgency waned, my heroine lacked a compelling voice. I'd built up expectations with my opener, then squandered them.

I'd leapfrogged over the essential storytelling question. "What am I going to write about?" as filmmaker David Lynch, author and director of some of the most imaginative screen scenarios ever, says. "Ideas dictate everything. You have to be true to that or you're dead."

Yet, there's always pressure to write what will sell. I'd been piling that pressure on myself when I conceived my boffo opening with no follow-through. I was writing pyrotechnics I thought might turn my agent on, instead of seeking the true conflicted heart of my story and letting my imagination lead me onward from that place.

I call it the Idea from Heaven. The idea that makes the heart of a story pound. I could have taken my nightmare inspiration, then coaxed depth and richness from it to create an Idea from Heaven. I forgot I possessed the power to accomplish that. What, specifically, should I have remembered to do?

Imagine that the imagination is a muscle. To make and keep the imaginative muscle equal to the rigors of storytelling, we must give it a daily workout. If I'd gone from terrifying dream to imagination exercise mat, instead of straight into writing, the results would have been very different. Here's the five-step exercise I should have done. You should do it too.

Step 1. Find your most fertile imagination time. For me, that's morning, immediately after waking, close to the state that produced my terrifying dream. Pen and pad are ready. I believe imagination, and writing voice, are best accessed in longhand. BTW I used to think night was my most imaginative time, but found that being tired encouraged me to natter on way too much.

Step 2. Find the idea recording method that works best for you. Notebook, cards, a voice recording device, which works well for many verbal people. Try different possibilities.

Step 3. Pose yourself a question. "Where does the story go from here?" Or, "What does my main character do next?" Fashion your most pressing question, take your time, but don't obsess over it. Trust your writerly instinct to know what your story needs. Use a current writing project as subject ground. If you don't have a current writing project, get one.

Step 4. Come up with answers to the question you've posed. Never settle for the first idea that comes. Keep thinking. Push yourself to the more original response, the less expected reaction. Burrow deeper into the situation and the characters. Encourage your mind to run wild.

Step 5. Record each idea as it comes. Limit the exercise to 10 or 15 minutes. Don't censor your responses in any way, like "That's too outlandish," or "This won't work." Record everything, without critique or evaluation. Time limit ends. Put down your pen or turn off the recorder.

The Crucial Cool Down. Sit for a moment and take note of how you feel. Maybe stimulated, full of mental energy, ready to spin off still more ideas in a cannonade of creativity. The imagination muscle has had a good workout for sure. Do this every day. You'll find yourself being more creative than ever before, and enjoying it too.

I robbed myself of that enjoyment when I neglected to take time for this exercise as preparation for developing my story idea. My flabby imagination muscle failed me because I failed it. Learn from my negative example. Take power over your own creative laziness, and give your story idea the strength it needs to succeed.

For more insights into writing and publishing – Visit my blog at www.aliceorrbooks.com.

About Alice Orr

Alice Orr is author of 16 novels, 3 novellas, a memoir and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. Hero in the Mirror: How to Write Your Best Story of You is in progress. A former book editor and literary agent, Alice now writes full-time. Her latest novel is A Time of Fear and Loving – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5. Find all of Alice Orr's books on Amazon. Alice has two grown children and two perfect grandchildren and lives with her beloved husband Jonathan in New York City.

Author Website www.aliceorrbooks.com

Author Blog www.aliceorrbooks.com

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aliceorrwriter

Twitter https://twitter.com/aliceorrbooks

Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Orr/e/B000APC22E

How to Get an Edit Bird on Your Shoulder @AliceOrrBooks #MFRWauthor #amediting

Writing advice from thriller author and former editor Alice Orr

Every writer I know has endured rejection. If you’ve escaped that fate, you should be writing this, because my work has been rejected many times. On the occasion of my first major rejection, the editor implied, or maybe told me straight out, that I had no idea what I was doing.

My big mistake was agreeing to a sushi lunch. I didn’t know sushi from tsunami, but, to appear cooperative, I replied, “Sure. Sushi’s good.” Had I understood the purpose of the lunch, I’d have made a different response. I didn’t have a clue, though I probably should have.

I was writing my second novel for this editor. The first didn’t set the world afire. The second had dragged through two extensive revisions, and I’d pretty much lost track of what the story was originally about. As I took a wobbly chopstick grip on my third portion of something raw wrapped in seaweed, my editor let me know she felt the same.

“This just doesn’t work for us,” she said. I plunged into shock, but I was also suddenly no longer clueless. I was stone-cold certain. There would be no more revision chances. Novel #2 had gone down the plumbing and months of my work along with it. The sushi slipped from its precarious perch between my chopsticks and plummeted to the edge of my plate.

“You seem to think a little bird sits on your shoulder and tells you how to write,” my editor was saying. “Like you don’t have anything to do with it.” I couldn’t respond. I excused myself, dashed to that upscale restaurant’s upscale ladies’ room, and leaned my clammy forehead against the cool tiles of the black marble stall, struggling to keep my insides under control.

Bird on my shoulder? What was she talking about? I’d never been aware of anything, with or without feathers, telling me how to write a book. What I had always been aware of was my helplessness. Because of the way the publishing world works, I had no control over the destiny of my writing career. Now, I understood how perilous cluelessness can be.

If you’ve ever submitted a manuscript, you know what I mean. You labor over your work, send it out into what feels like a void. then wait for a thumbs up or down on your efforts, your ambitions, your hope. You endure this because you have no idea what else you can do. You are as clueless as I was in that ladies’ room with my forehead pressed against tile as black as I believed my future to be.

A couple of years later, I became an editor myself. That choice had a lot to do with power. I was determined to regain mine, and to share it. As an editor, then a literary agent and teacher, I would be that bird. I’d sit on a writer’s shoulder and whisper in her ear the words she needed to hear to avoid demoralizing rejection scenes of her own. I could do that because my years on the other side of the desk taught me a lot about creating publishable fiction.

Now I write articles and blog posts to share that knowledge. Still, the dread words are out there, “This just doesn’t work for us.” Words that hit their mark hard for any writer. I wish I could guarantee they will never be heard again, but I can’t. What I can offer is my experience and expertise, and to be a bird on the shoulder with an empowering song to sing.

About Alice Orr

Alice Orr is the author of 16 novels, 3 novellas, a memoir and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. A former book editor and literary agent, Alice now lives her dream as a full-time writer. Her latest novel is A Time of Fear and Loving: Riverton Road Romantic Suspense - Book 5. Alice has two grown children and two perfect grandchildren and resides with her husband Jonathan in New York City.
Author Website: www.aliceorrbooks.com
Author Blog: www.aliceorrbooks.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aliceorrwriter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aliceorrbooks
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Orr/e/B000APC22E

Alice Orr: Nobody Wants a Sagging Middle: How to Avoid Writing a Muddled Story @AliceOrrBooks #MFRWauthor #amwriting

The struggle in your story is the drama of your story. That struggle must begin at your Dramatic Opening and continue forward without letup. The course of the struggle is the course of your plot. The more intense the struggle, the more intense the plot. That is the secret to writing a page-turner story. Escalate the power, the intensity and the drama of your main character's struggle, and you are in the winner's circle. What could screw that up for you? The middle, where you are likely, with unfortunate regularity, to find a muddle. Why? Because the middle is where the story line is likely to sag.

Nobody Wants a Sagging Middle: How to Avoid Writing a Muddled Story

When your story loses momentum in the middle you must make these crucial assumptions. You need to know more about your characters. And, therefore, you need to ask yourself three crucial questions.

• What hidden relationships could there be between my characters?
• What further conflict lies beneath the surface of their relationships?
• What further secrets do they have, and why have they kept them from me?

In my contribution to the MFRW magazine's February issue, "Well Begun is Well Done," an article on the Dramatic Opening, I used the classic film Casablanca as a story example. Let's continue with that example here of how to create the story middle that avoids a muddle.

At the Dramatic Opening of Casablanca we found Rick, played by Humphrey Bogart, bitter and disillusioned, but we are well into the story before we learn the source of his bitterness. At the opening, there are hints at the problems in Rick's history, but we still don't understand what's up with him. Then beautiful Ilsa arrives, played by Ingrid Bergman, and Rick reacts. We might say he overreacts because we still don't know what's really going on between them. Ilsa is with her husband Victor when we first encounter her, so we don't get an explanation until she returns later to the closed café where Rick is alone. Now we find out about Paris and the past love affair between Rick and Ilsa that sent him soaring then smashed him back to earth.

At this point, we are truly hooked because what began as a suspense plot, has turned into a love story as well. We are hooked in the heart by the love story even more deeply than our adrenaline was pumped by the danger of the suspense story. We are also at the middle of the story, and there's not a sign of a sag anywhere. Why? Because we have learned more about the characters. Because the story situation has begun to satisfy those three crucial questions I mentioned, with a hidden relationship, a deep conflict and a significant secret that had been kept from us concerning the main character. Your story situation can do the same.

To add even more anti-muddle momentum to your story middle, all you have to do is make two more crucial assumptions. First, the hot water you have dumped your characters into needs to get hotter, much hotter. And, second, for that to happen, you must ask yourself three more crucial questions.

• What additional misfortunes can happen to my characters?
• What powerful dangers surround my characters?
• What can happen that will jolt my main character?

In Casablanca, we find the motherlode of misfortune and danger, World War II and Nazis. We also have a powerful villain in the German Major Strasser. Nothing accelerates story tension better than a truly evil bad guy. There are high stakes too. Ilsa's husband Victor must be smuggled to neutral territory or he will be captured and tortured and his patriotic anti-Nazi work will end. Meanwhile, the jolt to main character Rick comes in the form of Letters of Transit. They are what Alfred Hitchcock called the Macguffin. The Macguffin is the thing everybody in the story wants, either for good or evil reasons, depending on who they are. Rick has these letters. They will decide Victor's fate. They will also decide the fate of Rick and Ilsa's rekindled passion. Da Da Da Dum!

Drama. High stakes. An uncertain outcome.

The middle of Casablanca provides all of this and more, and you can re-imagine your story middle to do the same. Simply re-imagine your characters. Dig beneath the surface of the way you see them now by answering the first three crucial questions. Dig beneath the surface of the way you now see your story by answering the second three questions. Do all of that, and you will excavate your own motherlode of page-turner storytelling. It is there already, beneath the surface you have already written. When you unearth that treasure, you will have banished your sagging middle forever.

Where to buy A Time of Fear and Loving

Publisher. Alice Orr Books
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Time-Fear-Loving-Riverton-Road-ebook/dp/B075FHBNK2

About Alice Orr

Alice Orr is the author of 16 novels, 3 novellas, a memoir and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. A former book editor and literary agent, Alice now lives her dream as a full-time writer. Her latest novel is A Time of Fear and Loving: Riverton Road Romantic Suspense - Book 5. Alice has two grown children and two perfect grandchildren and resides with her husband Jonathan in New York City.
Author Website: www.aliceorrbooks.com
Author Blog: www.aliceorrbooks.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aliceorrwriter
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/aliceorrbooks
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Orr/e/B000APC22E

Authors and Social Media: It's Like Furniture @KayelleAllen #MFRWauthor #Authors

If you decided to open a store selling furniture, you would want windows on the store so people could see inside, right? You'd want a phone so they could call and ask about products, delivery, and so on. You'd want a sign posted so people would know when you have something new to sell. Having an online presence with social media is like all those things combined into one -- but for authors. Our furniture is books.

Authors need:

1. website
2. newsletter
3. social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest)

Why have a website?

Because it will be yours and no one can take it away from you. It is your home on the net. It's where anyone anytime can find out about you, your characters, and your books.

Why a newsletter?

Because again, this is yours. It's like real estate. You could send everyone to amazon to buy, and perhaps they will. But when you release the next book, wouldn't it be nice if you could just contact the buyers of book 1 and say, hey -- here's the sequel? With a newsletter, you can. It's the #1 thing you should have after a website. The purpose of your website is to get people to sign up for your newsletter, and to learn about your books.

Why social media?

Facebook is where adult women gather. They are usually our audience. But don't pass up Twitter. It's the #2 source for book sales, behind Facebook and ahead of Pinterest. It's EASY. You can only write a sentence or two at a time, so it's not time consuming. Pinterest is HUGE for sales. Make boards where you share pictures from online of things that inspire you, places you'd love characters to go in a story, material from sites where you gathered research, books you love, fancy quotes, funny animals, anything that catches your fancy.
On all these, get an account with your author name. Don't get cutesy with "mom2aboy" or "justawriter" or anything like that. Use your author name, because when someone wants to mention you, they would write your name and expect that would work. So you don't want something weird. Your author name IS your brand. It should be on everything.
Then start following other writers, and follow the people they follow. On Twitter, you'll see things set up where someone has to fill in a code to follow. Don't do that. You are a public figure as an author. You need to be found by fans. So make your account public and use an avatar for your brand or your book. Fill in the bio about yourself with something that says writer or author.
Don't follow people who offer for you to buy followers (in fact, block them). They come out of the wordwork, and blocking them alerts Twitter to remove these people. They are annoying spammers, and they are violating the TOS for Twitter, so don't go near them. But be aware, you will see them every week the rest of the time you're on the site. They try, and they get newbies who don't know any better, so if they make a sale before they're axed, they just get a new name and try again. >_< It's part of online life so just deal with them and move on. I wish it wasn't so, but I will not give up a great source for sharing my books and talking to fans because of spammers. Besides, these people are just so obvious. Look for people with a string of numbers behind their names (i.e., jason97349857). You will spot them even without trying. You'll see. They can't seem to help themselves.
But oh my goodness, yes yes yes get Twitter! It's so much fun. It's so easy. It's so great for boosting sales. When people guest on my Romance Lives Forever book blog, I put their Twitter handle in the post title. It gets shared dozens and dozens of times. That boosts sales. Those authors get followers.

What are you waiting for?

Go get Twitter and other social media and move forward. Let's do this.

---

Kayelle Allen writes Sci Fi with misbehaving robots, mythic heroes, role playing immortal gamers, and warriors who purr. She is the author of seven books, three novellas, and multiple short stories. She's also a US Navy veteran and has been married so long she's tenured. She is the founder of Marketing for Romance Writers.
https://kayelleallen.com

9 Easy Tips for Using Google by Kayelle Allen @kayelleallen #MFRWauthor #Authors

Is Google your friend? It can be. Here are tips on how to use the search engine. http://google.com Anything can be researched from the Google website. It's the world's biggest help menu.

Google Account

If you don't have a Google account, create one now. This will give you an email and much more. Once you create the Google account, set up your search preferences. I suggest opening new results in a new window (or tab). This way, when searching for an item, if you click a link, after you finish reading you can close the window and your search results will still be there. This saves you having to go back a page or six or twenty if you start clicking forward in your article. Be sure to save your preferences.

Search by Image

Click on the Images button and you can then drag an image to the search bar to search for a similar image. Try it with a book cover! You can also type in the name of an item to find images of it. Try typing in the name of a character in one of your books. You'll be surprised what you find.

Find Exact Matches

Type quotation marks around a phrase to find the exact match. "Bringer of Chaos" is the title of one of my books. Typing it this way will make sure the results put all the words together in that order.

Exclude or Include Words

Let's say you want to find the phrase "marketing tips" but don't want to read material written for entrepreneurs. Type "marketing tips" -entrepreneurs (using a hypen for the minus sign). Google will eliminate articles with that term from your search.

To include a specific word add a plus sign and then the word. Google will show you only items that include that word.

Search a Specific Website

This search is super handy for finding a specific reference on a large site. In the Google search bar, type: site:domain.com (where domain is the name of the site you choose). Example - site:kayellallen.com Do not put a space between site: and the domain name. Then type any word you choose to search for. Example - site:kayellallen.com Pietas would bring up all the references to my character Pietas on my site.

Get a Definition

Type Define: then the word you want defined. A box pops up at the top with a dictionary entry including a speaker that will let you hear the word pronounced.

Translate Text

Type translate in the search bar. At the top, a box pops up with Enter Text on one side and Translation on the other. Paste in the foreign word you want to define. Google will attempt to determine language for you, but you can also tell it what language you want. Paste in the text, and it will guess the language and pop up a small bit of text saying "translate from ___" and what it thinks is the language. Click the name of the language and another drop down menu appears above. You can choose from dozens of languages in the drop down.

There is a speaker icon as well. Click that to hear the word/s pronounced. Click the square in the translation box (next to the speaker icon). It will copy the translation for you. You can then paste it into a document or other site.

Search Different Types of Responses

After you enter an item to search and hit return, you'll see tabs appear at the top of the search screen. They are titled All, News, Images, Videos, Maps, More. Click those to see other aspects of your search.

Find Food

This is one of the most useful search tips and is handy for using on your phone. If you decide you want Mexican food but don't know the location of a place nearby, type: mexican food near me. You don't even need to put quotes around it. Google will show you the names of places and even include a map. This assumes you allow Google to know your location. Because I use Google Maps to navigate, this is true for me. It's handy for finding all sorts of places. If I get lost, I can just ask for directions.

Speak Up

On your phone or your computer, click the microphone icon and then ask your question. Very handy for searching when you get hungry --or lost-- while out and about.

Hear about Updates

Follow Google on Twitter for news and updates. https://twitter.com/google

Google Queen

People say I'm the Google Queen. I doubt that, but when people ask me a question, most of the time I can find the answer on Google. You can too, now that you know how to look.

Have any good tips for using a search engine? Leave a comment below. You are welcome to share this post with friends.

About Kayelle Allen

Kayelle Allen writes Sci Fi with misbehaving robots, immortal gamers, and warriors who purr. She's a US Navy veteran who's been married so long she's tenured.
https://kayelleallen.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/kayelleallen
Facebook https://facebook.com/kayelleallen.author
Join one of Kayelle's Reader Groups. You can download four free books and get news about books coming soon. You can unsubscribe at any time. https://kayelleallen.com/reader-groups

Author Interview Checklist: What You Need to be Ready @KayelleAllen #MFRWauthor #Author

Imagine your book is coming out and you want to line up interviews for the release. Or you're scheduled to appear on a blog to talk about one of your characters. Perhaps you set up an interview months in advance and now the date is looming. How do you prepare?

Some things will be part of every interview. You can have those on hand and be ready at a moment's notice. Use this checklist and you'll have a marketing or media kit that will support any endeavor.

Fill in the following and keep it handy. You'll be able to copy/paste this into forms online and into interview forms you download.

Author Interview Checklist

This checklist is in three parts; author, book, and marketing.

Author Checklist

Author name

Author bio

Website

Blog

Twitter

Facebook

Pinterest

Instagram

Snapchat

Goodreads

Amazon Author Page

Newsletter

Instafreebie

Bookfunnel

Book Checklist

Book title

Series title

Genre

Heat level (Rating)

Blurb (full length)

Mini-blurb (100-150 words)

Tagline (1-3 sentences)

ASIN

ISBN

Publication date

Link to downloadable excerpt or excerpt online

Word count

Page count

Affiliate link (i.e., Amazon associate or Smashwords affiliate link for book)

Shortened link (bit.ly, etc.)

Publisher (name)

Buy Links

Publisher 

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

iBooks

Kobo

Smashwords

Books2Read (universal link) 

Marketing Checklist

Six hashtags (use no more than three per tweet)

Three  tweets (up to 240 characters each)

Three  Facebook posts

Six excerpts (4 short, 2 long)

(if you write spicy romance have both hot excerpts and family friendly ones)

Image Checklist

Cover in three sizes: 200x300, 500x750, 1800x2700 (or close equivalents)

Banners (memes) - good rule of thumb is 3x wider than tall or 3x taller than wide (i.e., 200x600 or reverse) or 2x taller than wide (450x900 or reverse) or square (fits any social media format)

Author bio pic (headshot)

Banner with one or more books together

Pictures of author with book

Other images that help reveal your story

Book video or trailer

This author checklist is far from exhaustive, but it will get you started. I create one for myself as an author and keep book info separately, with one document for each book. Each book helps sell the one released before it. Having this material on hand will ensure you are always ready to share the stories of your heart.

What types of things do you have ready? Are there tried and true items you find valuable when preparing a media kit? Please share them in the comments.

Advice for Authors Doing Blog Tours by @KayelleAllen #MFRWauthor #Author

I host over 350 authors a year on Romance Lives Forever, and I have hosted many blog tours. I currently have about 2k viewers a day on RLF, and to get them, I use good content, good formatting, and consistent posting. I also amplify my blog's reach with Triberr (more about that in an upcoming post).

Purpose of Blog Tours

Blog tours are primarily used to get your book in front of readers. When you launch a new title, it's an efficient way to show off the cover and the blurb and tease readers into pre-ordering or buying.

Blog tours should allow readers to see how original you are as a writer. Having different subjects for each post can help. If you have 10-12 posts, each with an identical title, it's a bit boring. Change it up by using new titles on each site.

Use solid hashtags in the title. Yes, in the title. Why? Hashtags are search programs. When you click one on social media, it shows you other tweets or posts that used the same topic. When people share your post on social media, that title becomes a tweet or a Facebook title. If it has a hashtag, your chances of being seen shoot up exponentially. Even more if your Twitter name is in the title. Search Twitter for the hashtag #RLFblog to see this in action. To know if a hashtag is worth using, search it on Twitter or for faster results, try a site like RiteTag.

However, do not use your Twitter name as a hashtag (#yourname). If you're the one sending the tweet, your name is right there in the sent info. If you're a guest somewhere, give them your Twitter name to use as a mention (@yourname). Readers on social media can click the @name and easily follow you. The hashtag is going to take them to a search program. Use your name to get followers and pull them to your homepage, not to send people on a search.

A bonus of the @name versus a hashtag is that Twitter will pull those mentions into your notifications page. They will not show you who used the hashtag. You're on your own finding those.

I've seen something lately that I hope dies a quick death. People are writing "Book Promo" or "Book Blitz" somewhere in the title. This is a big red flag that screams "Advertisement" or "Commercial". Readers don't want to be bludgeoned with ads and commercials. Please don't do this, especially on blog tours where you will be producing multiple posts. Please put those old fashioned words away and let them die in peace. They will kill your sales. I do not permit this type of wording on RLF.

 

When you use blog tours properly by setting out new posts, good hashtags, and snappy titles that draw attention, you are well on your way to a successful book launch.

New from Kayelle Allen

Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire

When the immortal Pietas is marooned on a barren world with no food and few survival tools, he knows it could be worse. He could be alone. But that's the problem. He's not.
Half a million of his people sleep in cryostasis, trapped in their pods and it's up to Pietas to rescue them. Before he can save his people, he must take back command from a ruthless enemy he's fought for centuries. His brutal, merciless father. Immortals may heal, but a wound of the heart lasts forever... 

Amazon and in print. Free on Kindle Unlimited
http://amzn.to/2ABIcCI

Kayelle Allen is the founder of Marketing for Romance Writers. She writes Sci Fi with misbehaving robots, mythic heroes, role playing immortal gamers, and warriors who purr. She's a US Navy veteran and has been married so long she's tenured.

https://kayelleallen.com  / https://rlfblog.com 

10 Ways to Make Readers Happy by Kayelle Allen @kayelleallen #amwriting #MFRWauthor

I host 350+ authors every year on my Romance Lives Forever blog. I'm the founder of Marketing for Romance Writers. Authors talk to me. I hear a lot of stories about readers who are unhappy and about ones who are ecstatic. There are some things in common. Here are ten of the best ways to make readers happy. Some are from personal experience, many from other writers.

1. Write well. If you don't do this, it doesn't matter what else you do. Triple check your spelling. Punctuate properly. Readers today have been exposed to a wide variety of writing due to the internet and have learned to be discerning. A poorly written, misspelled book will be passed over in short order. For blog posts, spellcheck and/or use a site like Grammarly or SmartEdit. For books, hire an editor.
2. Use proper formatting. Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, Lulu, CreateSpace, etc. each has its own requirements for formatting. Follow them to the letter. Whatever the requirements say should be done -- do it. These services know what the programs will do and what it takes to make them work best. Follow their advice. A hard to read book gathers no interest.
3. Along those same lines, when posting quotes to the web, in email, on Yahoo Groups, and so on, never use "curly" or "smart" quotes (the type that curl toward words on the left, and away on the right). Many programs, blogs, and sites cannot read the code that word processing programs use for these, so they substitute code to try to make sense of what they see. Instead of your quoted text appearing as: "I didn't do it." The reader sees:  tm&amp;*I didn#@*$t do it.98cm&amp;  Imagine an entire page of this. Trust me, this does not make reaaders happy. Go into the autocorrect features of your word processing program and turn off these types of quotes (and look at all the tabs -- they are in more than one place), then, using the Replace command on your editing toolbar, replace all " to ", and ' to '. It will look no different to you in the replace command dialog box, but the computer will change all the codes and the formatting on the other end will come out right. Your readers will thank you.
4. Use only a simple serif or non-serif font (like Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri.). Readers who do not have a special font loaded on their computers will see plain text (such as Courier) because their machines will substitute the fancy font for a default one.
5. Provide good content. If you have interesting information to share with your readers, they will come to you. Whether you use blogs, Facebook, Twitter, or other services, content is the number one reason people will follow you. "Getting your name out there" is a byword. Everyone wants to know how to do it. How do you gain friends on Facebook and so on? How do you get people to read your book? The answer is to give them solid content, well written.
6. When promoting your book, provide a "set up" -- a few lines so people know what the scene or excerpt they are about to read is about. Help them understand the characters, so they don't feel they walked in during the middle of a conversation.
7. Share your work on more than your website and your blog. Yahoo groups, Facebook, other authors' blogs, Goodreads, and other places are good sites to share your material with readers.
8. Use Twitter to generate interest in your books by sharing tidbits and snips of dialog or scenes. Believe it or not, there are Twitter accounts that post entire stories, each less than 140 characters long. Try delivering your hero or heroine's lines in successive tweets. Not all of them, mind you -- just a few to create curiosity.
9. Share promos with other authors. If you and another author have similar books (say vampire romances) hold a contest together. You promote your book and hers to your readers, and vice versa. You will both gain. I've done this with friends over the years and gained not only readers, but best friends who will promo with me at the drop of a hat. You can't beat that.
10. Tell people you meet that you're an author. Carry your business cards or bookmarks. When I'm at a bookstore, or looking at books at the grocery store, I invariably start talking to the woman who's standing next to me. Especially when she picks up a book I already own, or am about to buy. Or she's buying an author I've never heard of before. I ask questions. Somehow it always leads to sharing my own story. I hand over my card. I once got an email from someone who said she'd met me in a doctor's office several years before, and wanted to let me know she'd bought one of my books and loved it. Made my day.

If your goal is to make readers happy, show them you are a wellspring of stories to whom they can go. If you can meet that need and do the things above, you are well on your way.

---

Kayelle Allen is a best-selling American author. Her unstoppable heroes and heroines include contemporary every day folk, role-playing immortal gamers, futuristic covert agents, and warriors who purr.
Homeworld/Blog https://kayelleallen.com
Join the Romance Lives Forever Reader Group Download four free books and get news about books coming soon. You can unsubscribe at any time. 

5 Tips to Avoid Author Burnout @kayelleallen #writertips #amwriting #MFRWauthor

Burnout: Melt, break, or become otherwise unusable. If you've experienced burnout, you know how hard it is on the mind, body, and spirit. No simple process can eliminate it, but even little things can help. 

Burnout is dangerous.

When writers get it, they stop writing. Teachers stop teaching. Mothers stop mothering. Wives stop... well, being wifey. Avoid burnout if possible. If you've got it, deal with it. Here are five things you might not have considered.

Put off decisions.

Rather than say "no" say "I'll think about it." Then write it down, so that your mind isn't busy trying to remember. When burned out, the mind stops being able to focus, so we put off doing things because we don't have the energy or ability to decide. We stress when we have unmade decisions. Listen to your body. Allow yourself the freedom to put off making a decision until you've rested. Write it down and then come back to it later.

Permit yourself to take a break.

Notice that I didn't say "take a break." I said to "permit yourself to do it." One of the reasons we don't fully rest is that we feel guilty for taking time off. When you get away from the computer, or your job, or your family, or whatever is burning you out, let yourself relax. Give yourself mental permission for that break. You'll feel better than if you walk away but then mentally pace until you can get back to your desk.

Put things in order.

Straighten your desk. Make your bed. Fold the towels and put them away. Sweep the kitchen. Wipe down one shelf of the refrigerator. Doing mundane tasks that make your environment neater, cleaner, and more organized can free your mind for other tasks. When you're folding laundry, your mind isn't focused on the task, yet you are accomplishing something important.

Purchase something you've wanted but normally wouldn't have bought.

Not talking about a diamond bracelet, although if you can afford it and want it, then why not? I'm talking about some little thing that you would get as a impulse gift for a friend that you might not indulge in for yourself. I bet when you read that line you thought of something right away. Why not let yourself have it? You deserve a goodie.

Pay attention to something insignificant.

Pet a kitten and notice the underlying stripes in its fur. Feed a goldfish and watch it swim. Toss a ball for a toddler and watch how their legs move when they run. Unwrap a straw and look at the way the paper is fastened around it. These things are minute details, but each has meaning in its own way. Doing this can give your mind the kind of break it needs to think about other things.

Want another source of ideas on handling burnout? I was inspired recently by a blog called The Freedom Experiment. There were many articles on self care. One of them inspired this post.

How do you avoid burnout? Share it in the comments.

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Kayelle Allen, author of unstoppable heroes and warriors who purr
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