The September issue of Writers' Tricks of the Trade eZine is now available on this blog as well as www.morganstjames-author.com and http://morgan-stjames.blogspot.com.

Every month we get wonderful articles from people in the industry, listings of writers conferences and helpful links, brags from our readers and much more.

The Life Stories feature has yielded some very entertaining stories from readers every month. This month Jakki Pransky  reminisces about the day her father brought home two "prized possessions" and installed one in their kitchen and one in the bathroom. What was it? A TowelMaster paper towel dispenser like the ones you see in gas station restrooms.

John Brantingham talks about what he learned as an editor in Part II of his topic, Irene Watson discusses the state of bookstores, and Fred Rayworth shares insight on using point of view with Part I of his article. Mike Dennis reviews the latest book by Max Allen Collins, the author of Road to Perdition and the resurrected Mickey Spillane novels. To round it out, my article is "What Are Your Characters Thinking?"

Download your copy, and remember submissions for future issues are open--guidelines are always in the front of the eZine--and we want to hear about your successes and announcements. Writers' Tricks of the Trade has an international readership and features articles from contributors worldwide.

CLICK ON THE JULY WRITERS' TRICKS OF THE TRADE FLIP BOOK ON THE RIGHT TO OPEN THE FULL ISSUE

The July issue of Writers' Tricks of the Trade eZine is now AVAILABLE!


Just click anywhere on the flip book on the right and the full issue will open. Lots of interesting articles, writer's conference listings, Life Story, helpful links, industry news and more.


If you are considering submitting an article, the guidelines are in the first few pages of the ezine.


Enjoy!

JULY ISSUE WILL PUBLISH TOMORROW NIGHT

July edition will publish on July 18

Another great issue of WRITERS' TRICKS OF THE TRADE eZINE will publish tomorrow night. Just waiting for clearance on one really fun article. You're gonna love it.


If you are in the L.A. area, be sure to visit the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society website. Their conference is this coming weekend and if you hurry you can still 
register.

WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF A BAD REVIEW?

Oh no. While cruising Amazon, I saw much to my chagrin that Writers' Tricks of the Trade got a dreaded one star review. Back when my first few novels were published, a one star review would have thrown me for a loop. I would have battled the cold sweat and spots before my eyes, as I searched my tortured mind to figure out where I'd gone wrong.

No more. You see, getting a poor review can happen to most writers at one time or another. Sometimes the book just doesn't float the reviewer's boat. The majority of Amazon reviews are posted by readers and that's great because I'm always interested in readers' feedback. Without readers, where would authors be?

Unfortunately, sometimes the person who posts the review loves to look at their own snarky or clever titles while they dismantle the work letter by letter. One thing to do is to look at many of their other reviews to see if this is the case. If it isn't, maybe they do have valid observations.

I'm writing this today to encourage authors who get a bad review to look beyond it before deciding to stick their head in the oven. The first thing I did was to check the reviewer's track record on Amazon. This person has given tons of reviews and certainly is entitled to her personal opinion. If you decide to post a comment on a particular review, and sometimes that is appropriate, don't shoot back like you are attacking the enemy. Respect the fact that perhaps the person just didn't like it while others did.

If a review points out a misplaced hyphen or anything of that nature, just ignore it. Sure it shouldn't have happened, but it even happens in books released by New York publishers. The eye often sees what it thinks it sees and those nasty copy errors sometimes sneak past the most astute copy editors. I recently read a James Patterson book with two copy errors on the same page.

The only reason I decided to post the following comment on the one star review for Writers' Tricks of the Trade: 39 Things You Need to Know About the ABCs of Writing Fiction, is to point out that there are always "different strokes for different folks."

"Sorry you didn't like the book. Like the old saying goes, "You can please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time." I'm just glad that many others have enjoyed it, found it inspirational and given it four and five stars. There are lots of writing books on the market that cover specific topics in depth in a more or less clinical way--this was never intended to be one of them. Rather, it is a look at what fiction writers need to be aware of with a little humor added to get through frustrating situations, plus a look at some of the backfires I experienced on my journey to becoming a multi-published fiction writer. I'm sure you'll find a book that contains the elements you're looking for and thanks for sharing your opinion."

Always look at the big picture. How many good reviews did you get? Only if the answer is "none" should you be concerned.

Happy reading and writing.

WRITERS' TRICKS OF THE TRADE EZINE

It is almost time for the April Writers' Tricks of the Trade eZine, and as always, we have several great articles for you. The issue will be available in the evening of April 15, so be sure to come back and click the flip book on this site or www.morganstjames-author.com for writing tips and techniques, conference listings, reader brags and more.

To submit a query about doing an article, submitting a brag or a Life Story for an upcoming issue, just email Writers Tricks Magazine with your idea or submission. 

Welcome to guest author Marilyn Meredith, an expert at promoting herself and her books

Planning Promotion for a New Book

Marilyn Meredith

Though writers (at least those who write for small publishers) know that besides writing and editing a book, just as important is planning the promotion for that new book.

For all my last few books I’ve done mostly the same things. In the past, I’ve hired a blog tour company to plan a blog tour for me. They found the blogs and I added some, they figured out the dates, contacted everyone, let me know what was required from me and took care of the rest. For No Bells, I planned the tour myself. It wasn’t easy.

I’m not going into what all it takes to do that as I’ve written about the subject for another blog. What’s important during the tour, and too many writers don’t do this, is to promote the blogs each day, visit them, read the comments and respond to each one. Yes, it takes a lot of time, but that’s what makes a tour successful.

Every author should be on Facebook and post regularly. Don’t just promote your book or blog stops, but let your “friends” know what you’re doing during the day. I’ve become known for what I cook for supper—in fact, people ask me about the recipes. (Not so easy since I mainly make them up as I go.)

What not to do on Facebook is air your political rants—half the people may agree, but the other half might hate you. This goes for anything controversial.

I have my own personal blog and since I ask people to let me visit their blog, I love to reciprocate. My blog is a bit of this and that. Sometimes I give writing and publishing advice, I talk about my family—it’s a big one, I post reviews of books I’ve read, and about anything I can think up. My blog automatically posts to Facebook and Twitter, but I still let both know what my latest blog subject is.

I use the site Ping.fm to post things to all the sites I’m on all at once. Saves time.

When I’m on a tour I let people on the lists I’m on know about my stops.

DorothyL is one of the best places to promote there is if you’re a mystery writer, but you need to post on there at least occasionally about the books you are reading and what you think about them. It’s even better if you can get someone else to post about your latest book on DorothyL. About 3000 readers are on that list—people who love to read, love books, and love to talk about them.

In person, I always do a book launch at our only little used bookstore. They’ve been good to me and have a special bookcase with all the local authors’ books for sale—and my books take up a whole shelf.

Book and craft fairs are something else I go to, and I have my favorites. I do events at libraries, will give talks on writing and my books to any group that asks, and I love being an instructor at writing conferences.

I also attend mystery conventions and writers conferences, though I’ve cut down on how far I’ll go to attend one.

Though all this takes away from writing, it is fun to get out and talk to readers, the people who buy and read books.

If anyone can think of other promotion ideas, please do add them in the comments section.

Thank you, Morgan, for hosting me today.

No Bells Blurb:

Officer Gordon Butler has finally found the love he’s been seeking for a long time, but there’s one big problem, she’s the major suspect in a murder case.

Bio:

F.M. Meredith, also known as Marilyn Meredith, is the author of over thirty published novels—and a few that will never see print. Her latest in the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series, from Oak Tree Press, is No Bells. Rocky Bluff P.D. is a fictional beach community between Ventura and Santa Barbara and F. M. once lived in a similar beach area.

No Bells

F. M. (Marilyn) is a member of EPIC, Four chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and serves as the program chair for the Public Safety Writers of America’s writing conference. She’s been an instructor at many writing conferences.

Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com and her blog at http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com

CONTEST: The person who comments on the most blogs on my tour will win three books in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series: No Sanctuary, An Axe to Grind, and Angel Lost. Be sure and leave your email too, so I can contact you. 

         
  No Sanctuary                   An Axe to Grind                Angel Lost