a word for the wordsmiths: 5 great articles about writing

Remember that exciting announcement a few weeks ago?  After several months of outlining, gathering information and writing drafts, we are on the final countdown to release. We sent the copy to Sandra Peoples, our editor, and she has returned it with notes and suggestions.  We’re making minor adjustments and finalizing the details of this project.   After months of writing, reading about writing, writing about writing, and sorting all of it into a book for those who want to self-publish—that would make a great name for a book, huh?—we find often ourselves giddy with anticipation of sharing what we’ve learned with others who are ready to explore the options self-publishing offers.

All that to say, in the course of all our reading about writing, we have found some fantastic information to share with you—some in our book and some here on the blog.  This week, we wanted to give you a round up of excellent insight for authors and authors-to-be.  

• We love Jane Friedman’s suggestions for building a great author bio for Twitter.  We also encourage writers to craft a compelling About page.  {This post from ProBlogger has basic information concerning About pages.  For examples of good About pages, check out  Mary DeMuth and Jeff Goins.}
• The Write Practice offers excellent tips for increasing word count without decreasing writing quality.  If you are struggling to add more substance to your work-in-progress, this article may be valuable.
• Marketing can be the ongoing nemesis for many authors.  We loved DuoLit’s post encouraging us to adopt more of an Avengers’ mentality in writing and less of a Survivor mindset.  Great insight about teaming up with another writer to build a marketing strategy together.
• Responding to lackluster sales can be difficult for authors.  AuthorMedia offers several specific reasons why a book may not sell as well as action steps writers can take to improve the sales.
• Nick Thacker shares The Secret to Writing Great Non-Fiction.  Definitely a must-read for all of us who write in this genre.

And finally, what about some listening material?  Michael Hyatt shares his best advice for first-time authors in two podcasts.  Both part one and part two are filled with excellent counsel from an industry insider.

What great information have you read lately about improving your writing or developing your book?