Tools for writers

I’m going to share with you all the tools that I use for writing and publishing.

Let’s start out with what to do with all those ideas you have. I’ve tried many ways but the best I’ve found is an old fashioned notebook. And yes, once upon a time I had a stack of notebooks with all sorts of ideas, but I’d never know where certain ideas were. So I got a little organized and it’s definitely helped me.

What I do is I put tabs throughout my notebook. For example, my tabs on my notebook are Sci-fi, thriller, humorous, mystery, characters, next novel. So these are genres that I write in.

If you’re like me you probably have a nice stack of clean, unused notebooks. Pick one out, put some tabs in it, mark them with the genres you write in, and start using it...

Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

When you get into the business of writing, you might think that your fellow authors are your competition, but the truth is they are really an opportunity to grow your business and make some new friends.

Unless you’re a big name, when you have a book signing, it generally brings your own friends and family. If you combine forces with others, including other authors, you can bring in a bigger crowd and you can get some cross interest in your books.

If you have an email list, which if you don’t have one yet then you should really start one, then you can find other other authors to do a newsletter exchange. Basically, sharing to your audience a similar author that they might enjoy...

Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

At one time self publishing was considered the last ditch effort for those unfortunate souls not able to get a traditional publishing deal. But that’s not the case anymore. 

Self publishing is for authors who want to take charge of their own process.

Not only that but for women and other marginalized individuals who’ve hit roadblocks in traditional publishing, self-publishing Is an asset.

Speaking of roadblocks, when I tried to publish my book in 2014 I had agents say no one would ever buy an adventure book with a main female character. Guest what, they were wrong. 

Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

A review group (also known as a critique group) is a group of writers who will give you honest feedback on your story or novel so that you can fix your mistakes. Let’s be honest, you know your story inside and out, but if a reader doesn’t understand it, you’ve missed your mark. That’s where a review group shines.

And, a review group should get a look at your book, after you’ve made it as clean as possible but before you give it to your editor and definitely before you publish. 

I know that I’ve learned more about being a better writer from a review group than any creative writing class...

Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/

Writing a novel can be a daunting task. It can be even made harder by the people around us, or by how we work on it. So I’m going to get into all the ways to get that novel done. 

Let’s say you just have a nugget of an idea. Where do you start?

From that point you have to figure out what kind of writer you are. If you need an outline to follow your story or do you prefer to just start writing. For either of those you need to set time side to try out each possibility. (Pantsers vs planners)

Find show notes on my website at https://womensthrillerwriters.com/blog-2/