Rejection, Rotten Reviews, and Social Media: 7 Ways Writers Need to be Like Rhinos

by Ruth HarrisWriters are always urged to have or develop  “rhino skin.” But let me add a few words about rhino skin.When I wrote ZURI, I did lots & lots of research about rhinos. As it turns out, rhinos have thick hides but sensitive skin—quite different from the usual perception.What rhinos have is, in fact, is exactly what writers need:1) We need thick hides to help insulate us from rejection, rotten reviews and incoming from the demands...

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Is Your Author Website Working Against you? Top 10 Things to Avoid on your Author Site or Blog

I visit a lot of author websites and blogs. Most are delightfully creative. I love how so many of the sites—especially the blogs—express the author’s personality and genre in a unique and clever way.But then there are the others... I’m talking about the sites that seem to have forgotten they have a purpose. They don’t offer even basic information. They may have a rant front and center, with no info on who the author is and what he/she writes. Or...

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7 Ways Authors Waste Time "Building Platform" on Social Media

Authors are getting hammered with more and more demands on our time. We get escalating pressure to blog more! tweet more!! send more newsletters!!! churn out 12 books a year!!!! And don't query unless your Klout rating is as high as Justin Beiber's !!!!!It's making us all feel as if what we do is never enough, as Nathan Bransford lamented last week."It never feels like there are enough hours in the day, or days in the weeks, or weeks in the months,...

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10 Things Your Opening Chapter Should Do: A Check-List for Self-Editing

Let’s face it: first chapters are hard.When you’re writing your first draft, you’re writing for yourself—getting to know your characters and their world. You should let everything spill out on the page free of your inner editor’s censorship.But when you’re revising, it’s a different story. You’ll need to cut a whole lot of info you’ve put into the opening chapters. Don’t delete anything—save it for later to scatter through the book.You’re going to...

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Writer Power: The Rebirth of the American Author

This week Ruth Harris gives us some powerful reasons to be happy about the ongoing changes in the publishing business."What?" sez you. "But we see such woeful lamentation and wringing of hands over the demise of the book industry."It's true about the laments. Scott Turow, bestselling author and president of the Author’s Guild mourned “The Slow Death of the American Author” in an Op Ed the New York Times in April. And James Patterson took it...

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