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Writing Strong Interior Monologue

Write Tip | Writing Strong Interior Monologue (an #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop post)

This post is part of the monthly Author ToolBox Blog Hop, organised by Raimey Gallant. We now have over 40 blogs participating. To find more Blog Hop posts:

Writing Strong Interior Monologue

Last week, I suggested three alternatives to action beats. Today I’m going into more detail about one of these, interior monologue. As I’ve said, interior monologue is one of three main ways authors indicate when a character is thinking:

1. Quotation marks

2. Italics

3. Interior monologue

Quotation Marks

I was taught that double quotation marks indicated spoken dialogue, while single quotation marks indicated unspoken thought. However, it’s now common to use single quotation marks to indicate spoken dialogue. It would seem odd to then use double quotation marks to indicate unspoken thought, and it would probably confuse readers.

As such, it is no longer considered correct to use quotation marks.

Italics for Direct Thought

One solution to this dilemma is to use italics to indicate direct thought. Italics do distinguish unspoken thought from spoken dialogue, but there are disadvantages:

Long passages of italics are more difficult to read.

Italics can slow the pacing of the scene, and overuse of italics can confuse and annoy the reader.

Point of View

Direct thought is always first person present tense, whereas most novels are written in third person and past tense. Switching from third to first person and past to present tense can come across as a glitch.

Italics presume characters think in words.

There is another issue with both using quotation marks and italics to indicate thought: both presume that the characters think in words … and that’s not always the case. Apparently, only a quarter of the population think exclusively in words.

The rest either use visual/spatial thinking (30%) or a combination of visual/spatial thinking and thinking in words. Other recognised forms of non-verbal thought include, kinesthetic, musical, and mathematical thinking. If your character doesn’t think in words, using italics for direct thought might feel wrong as it’s emphasising the words over the impressions and feelings.

But how can we use acknowledge non-verbal thought in our writing? The best way is to use interior monologue.

Interior Monologue

Interior monologue is what your point of view character is thinking, expressed in their own voice. This is the preferred style for modern fiction, whether contemporary or historical. With interior monologue, the reader assumes the viewpoint character is narrating the story, so assumes everything is shown from that character’s point of view.

This means getting inside your character’s head and telling the story through that character’s eyes and ears, and in their voice. Any time the narration steps outside the character’s head, we have a point of view violation. Sometimes we hop into another character’s head—that’s called headhopping. Sometimes we hop into the author’s head—that’s called an author intrusion.

So here are some tips for writing solid and engaging interior monologue:

Stay in the Point of View Character’s Head

Modern writing tends to stay in one character’s head for an entire scene. If the point of view does change, this can be indicated by a scene break (e.g. ***), or by starting a new chapter. But don’t be like the author I saw who added *** between each paragraph because they couldn’t be bothered to rewrite the novel to eliminate the headhopping.

My personal preference is to only add a break if there is a new scene, which usually means a change in time, location, or point of view character. (And check out Scene and Structure by Jack Bickham for an in-depth analysis on how to write a scene.)

Staying in the character’s head means the reader can only experience what the character experiences. We can only:

  • See what the character can see. If the door opens behind the character, we can’t know who comes through that door unless the character turns around, or there is some other cue (e.g. the person they’re with says “Hi, John,” or there is a convenient mirror).
  • Notice what the character would notice. A botanist would probably call a flower by its Latin name. A keen gardener or a florist might know a flower by its Latin name, but could use the common name. A child might refer to the flower as the pink one with the nice smell.
  • Hear what the character can hear (or not, if the character has a hearing impairment). If a character is mumbling under their breath, it’s likely the point of view character won’t hear all the words. Show that.
  • Say what the character would say. An uneducated character will use different vocabulary than a more educated character, and their dialogue should reflect that. Equally, their interior monologue should reflect their unique character voice.
  • Know what the character would know. If your character is a telepath, then they will know what another character is thinking. Non-telepaths can’t know what other characters are thinking. They can only infer thoughts and feelings from spoken dialogue, body language, or other external cues (e.g. how the character is speaking).

Change Scenes to Change Heads

If you want to write the story from more than one point of view, you can. But introduce the new character at the beginning of a new scene by ensuring their name is the first name mentioned in the new scene. This tells the reader there is a new point of view character, and that the interior monologue is from the viewpoint of that new character.

Four tips for writing strong interior monologue (and why it's a better option than using italics for direct thought) #WriteTip. Share on X

Avoid Adding Narrative Distance

When you show the reader what the character can see or hear or smell or touch or feel, show them directly. Don’t add filter words—words that add a layer of distance between the character and the reader—because they are telling what you should be showing.

Words which indicate the author is adding narrative distance include:

  • Feel (felt, feeling)
  • See (saw, look, looked, glanced, noticed)
  • Hear (heard, listened)
  • Think (thought, wondered, pondered, realised, knew, remembered)

Readers don’t need to be told the character can see or hear or feel. Nor do readers need to be told what the character is thinking—if you’re writing interior monologue correctly, the reader knows all the narrative is the character’s own thoughts. And the deeper you can go into that character’s mind, the stronger and more engaging your novel will be.

Because that’s what readers want: an engaging story.

How to punctuate dialogue

How to Punctuate Dialogue in Fiction (an #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop post)

Every now and again, I come across a self-published novel where the author doesn’t know how to punctuate dialogue correctly. This can make it difficult for the reader to follow the conversation, because it’s hard to work out which character is talking.

The good news is that this is one of the easiest aspects of punctuation to fix, because there are clear guidelines:

  1. Start a new paragraph for each new speaker.
  2. Use a comma with a dialogue tag.
  3. Use a period with an action beat.
  4. Use question marks for questions.
  5. Use exclamation marks only when necessary.

Let’s discuss each of these guidelines.

1. Start a New Paragraph for each New Speaker

If you only remember one thing, remember this: each new speaker’s dialogue must start on a new line.

It sounds obvious, but I do sometimes see paragraphs like this:

“John, would you like a cup of tea?” Jane filled the kettle and turned it on. “I’d prefer coffee.”

That’s correct … if Jane is the only character speaking. But it seems odd that Jane would offer John tea and not coffee. The reader is likely to pause and wonder who wanted coffee—Jane or John. Using correct formatting and punctuation makes it clear who is speaking:

“John, would you like a cup of tea?” Jane filled the kettle and turned it on.
“I’d prefer coffee.”

Starting the second line of dialogue in a new paragraph makes it clear that it’s not Jane speaking.

3. 2. Use a Comma with a Dialogue Tag

The most well-known way of indicating which character is speaking is to use a dialogue tag such as said:

“Yes, I’d love a cup of tea,” John said.

Many writers don’t like using “said” for their speaker attributions—they say it gets boring. That might be true, but “said” is considered invisible to readers (although it often stands out in audiobooks).

Authors might be tempted to use creative alternatives to “said.” But these alternatives are often telling where the author should be showing:

“I’m sorry,” Jane apologised.

Yes, I’ve seen that. Instead, keep dialogue tags simple. Stick with:

  • Said
  • Asked
  • Shouted
  • Whispered

Obviously, you’ll only use “asked” for questions, and will restrict other tags to when the character is actually shouting or whispering.

Rather than overusing “said”, use action beats. Action beats show, rather than telling.

Instead, authors can avoid “said” by using action beats.

3. Use a Period with an Action Beat

There are several kinds of action beat, and they all use a period rather than a comma:

  • Action beat
  • Dialogue cue
  • Body language
  • Interior monologue

All use a period rather than a comma.

Action Beat

Action beats are small actions performed by the speaker, and used to both identify the speaker and provide the reader with an image to help them visualize the scene. For example:

“I don’t know.” Jane shrugged.

Shrugging is an action, so uses a period.

Sometimes people confuse dialogue tags with action beats, especially when sounds are involved. For example:

“I don’t know,” Jane laughed.

Laughing is an action, so this paragraph should use a period rather than a comma:

“I don’t know.” Jane laughed.

If you don’t believe me, try laughing and talking at the same time. It usually sounds false, or deranged. Other commonly misused action beats include:

  • Smiled
  • Shrugged
  • Nodded

Action beats follow the dialogue in the same paragraph, which means they are an effective way of showing who is speaking:

“Would you like a cookie with your coffee?” Jane placed a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table.

This action beat makes it clear that Jane is the speaker. If the action beat was on a different line, it would imply one character spoke, and another performed the action:

“I’m sorry.”
Jane placed a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table.

The issue here is that we don’t know who spoke—only that it wasn’t Anne. We still need to identify who apologised.

Dialogue Cue

Dialogue cues tell us something about the way the character is speaking, and it’s a way of sharing subtext:

“I’m sorry.” Jane’s voice was low and deep, and she reinforced her words with crossed arms and a scowl.

As you can see, we can also add body language to reinforce the image.

Body Language

Body language is a movement or physical reaction observed by the point of view character. Body language can be used to suggest emotion in other characters:

“I’m sorry.” Jane blushed.

The point of view character must be able to see the physical reaction. If the point of view character makes any assumptions about the speaker’s emotions, that assumption must be a logical follow-on from the body language that was observed. For example:

“I’m sorry.” Jane blushed. Poor woman. How embarrassing, inviting John over for a drink and not having any coffee in the house.

People tend to blush when they’re embarrassed, so that makes sense. This does not:

“I’m sorry.” Jane blushed. She must be annoyed with herself.

If Jane was annoyed with herself, I’d imagine she’d sigh or shake her head, not blush.

Interior Monologue

If the point of view character is speaking, then it does’t make sense to show emotion through body language or dialogue cues. Instead, use interior monologue:

“I’m sorry.” Sure, Jane was sorry. Sorry she’d invited John over.

Or we can use an action beat, with or without a beat of interior monologue:

“I’m sorry.” Jane rolled her eyes.

What we shouldn’t do is fall into the trap of telling the emotion:

“I’m sorry.” Jane felt embarrassed.

4. Use Question Marks for Questions

If a character is asking a question, use a question mark:

“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Jane asked.

My preference is to use “asked” with a question, but I have also seen “said” used:

“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Jane said.

Remember, questions tend to start with “W” words:

  • Who
  • What
  • Where
  • When
  • Why
  • Would
  • How

Yes, I sometimes see question marks on sentences that aren’t questions. Small errors like this with important, as the reader will often stop reading to go back and see if they’ve missed something … and that’s not good.

You can use a question mark with a dialogue tag (as above), or with an action beat:

“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Jane reached for the kettle.

 5. Use Exclamation Marks only when Necessary

If a character is shouting, you can use an exclamation mark:

“Fire!” Jane shouted.

Again, you can use an exclamation mark with a dialogue tag or with an action beat:

“Fire!” Jane ran for the door.

However, don’t use too many exclamation marks—one per chapter is usually more than enough. Like adverbs, they’re easy to overuse, and using too many is often considered the sign of an inexperienced writer.

Watever you do, don’t combine an exclamation mark with a telling tag:

“The house is on fire!” Jane exclaimed.

It’s a subtle and unnecessary form of repetition.

Those are the five main guidelines around punctuating dialogue in fiction. What’s your personal punctuation bugbear?

This post is part of the monthly Author ToolBox Blog Hop, organised by Raimey Gallant. We now have over 40 blogs participating. To find more Blog Hop posts:
How Do I Organise a Blog Tour?

How Do I Organise a Blog Tour? | An #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop Post

Over the last two weeks, we’ve discussed what a blog tour is, some of the different types of tour, and the tasks a tour organiser will need to complete.

If you decide to organise your own blog tour, you’ll need to make time to undertake most of the activities a professional organiser would undertake. Today I’m sharing some tips on  how to organise your own blog tour, based on my experiences as a reviewer and tour participant.

Start Researching Early.

The hardest part of organising a blog tour is finding bloggers, especially book reviewers. There is no easy way to do this—it’s going to take a lot of research if you’re starting from nothing. I suggest:

  • Identify three to five recent novels in your genre that would appeal to your target reader.
  • Check the four-star and five-star Goodreads reviews for those books.
  • Check the profile of each reviewer—most bloggers will include their blog address in their Goodreads profile.
  • Visit their blog and see if it looks like a good fit for your novel e.g. does it appear the blog features or reviews books in your genre, or does it look likely to appeal to your target reader.

If so, follow the blog (e.g. via WordPress or Feedly). Also, note the blog name, website address, and a link to their guest post or review policy. If they don’t have a policy, then you have nothing to lose by making a polite enquiry through their Contact form.

If one of your objectives is to get book reviews, then make sure that you’re approaching book bloggers who are also active reviewers on your target sites (e.g., Amazon). You can’t require a blogger review your book on Amazon, but you can ask them to review on their blog and on their favourite booklover and retail sites.

Interact with your Target Bloggers.

Bloggers find it easier to say yes to someone they already know and like, so:

  • Sign up to follow their blog (e.g. through Feedly or WordPress).
  • Visit regularly.
  • Comment when relevant.

In particular, if they review a book you’ve enjoyed or that’s similar to your book, comment on that post about how much you also enjoyed the book. Don’t mention your own book at this stage—your objective is to get the blogger (and possibly other blog readers) to recognise your name.

Contact the blogger as early as possible.

Many bloggers plan their editorial calendars several months in advance, especially their review posts. I’ve had to decline to participate in many blog tours because I already had posts scheduled or planned for every day in the blog tour window. I’ve declined others because the author wanted a review and wasn’t prepared to offer an author interview or guest blog post instead.

Yes, I understand that authors want—need—reviews.

I also understand that guest posts and author interviews take time to write, and there is no guarantee of book sales from a blog tour. Even if your objective is to build reviews, a feature on a large blog might still be useful for visibility.

If you’re asking for a review within a specific timeframe, then it’s wise to ask at least three months in advance (the longer, the better). If you’re looking for an interview or guest blog spot, then six weeks might be enough time—but again, the more lead time you can provide the blogger, the more likely they’ll be able to say yes.

[Click here for more information on working with book bloggers and reviewers.]

Consider a ‘Save the Date’ request.

One of the first authors to contact me requesting a review or interview as part of a blog tour sent her first request a full six months before the release date. Her initial email introduced herself, her book, and why she thought my blog was a good match for her novel.

She asked if I’d be prepared to offer an author interview spot, a book review, or both within a certain date range. She also told me the book wasn’t yet ready, and the date she expected to get me a review copy (which was a month before the release date). Giving me six month’s notice made it easy to say yes because I could reserve the slot on my blog, and time in my reading schedule.

As a first-time teenage author, she set a high standard for other authors to follow.

Respect the Blogger’s Time.

If the blogger is only able to offer you a book spotlight post or author interview, then accept gratefully. Don’t resent the fact they wouldn’t review your book (it’s more likely that they couldn’t, especially if they don’t know you, or you asked at the last minute).

Deliver the requested materials before the blogger’s deadline—especially if you’re dealing with bloggers in different time zones. Most bloggers have a set time each week when they upload their posts. If you miss their deadline, you’re putting extra pressure on them to find time in their schedule to upload your post. It also means the post might go up with missing information if you didn’t leave enough time for them to get back to you with any issues.

Respect the Blogger’s Audience.

When your post appears, visit the blog and leave a comment to respond to any comments and thank the blogger for interviewing you, featuring your blog post, or reviewing your book. Visit the blog a couple of times over the next few days to respond to any additional comments.

If you have offered a giveaway, also visit the blogs to thank people for entering, and announce the winner.

Conclusion

Yes, there is a lot involved in organising a blog tour—more than I thought when I started writing what I thought would be a short post! Can you think of any other tips, or anything I’ve missed?

Have you ever run a blog tour as an author, or participated in a blog tour as a blogger? What lessons can you add?

This post is part of the monthly Author ToolBox Blog Hop, organised by Raimey Gallant. We now have over 40 blogs participating. To find more Blog Hop posts:
Top Blog Posts of 2019

Top Blog Posts of 2019 | An #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop Post

Welcome to the first Author Toolbox Blog Hop of 2020!

This post is part of the monthly Author ToolBox Blog Hop, organised by Raimey Gallant. We now have over 40 blogs participating. To find more Blog Hop posts:

I’ve seen a lot of roundup posts in the last couple of weeks, where bloggers share their most popular blog posts from 2019. That seemed like a good idea for a post 🙂

So here are the eleven most popular blog posts over the last year, as determined by page views. I was going to stop at ten, but I think number eleven deserves another outing.

What’s interesting is the number of older (pre-2019) posts. Putting my marketing hat on, this helps prove the value of providing your readers with quality evergreen content i.e. content which doesn’t date. (Well, it mostly doesn’t date. As you’ll see, there have been some changes.)

1. Three Tools to Build Your Email List (April 2018)

There are two main kinds of giveaway tools—giveaway tools, and tools that allow all entrants to receive a free ebook in exchange for signing up for an email list. This post looks at three such tools: BookFunnel, Prolific Works (affiliate link), and MyBookCave. Note that Prolific Works was previously known as Instafreebie.

Click here to read the post.

The post mentions GDPR, which is now old news. But online privacy and spam are still issues, as evidenced by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which became effective on 1 January 2020 (and seems to have a lot in common with the New Zealand Privacy Act 1993).

2. How Long Will it Take to Edit my Novel? (July 2018)

How long it takes to edit a novel depends on the level of editing you are doing, and the state of the manuscript. This post also looks at how much it will cost to get your novel edited … a figure that will vary depending on word count and the level of editing needed.

Click here to read the post.

3. Introducing Three Online Giveaway Tools (April 2018)

This post discusses the three online giveaway tools I see authors use most often to build their email lists:

  • Gleam
  • KingSumo
  • Rafflecopter

Click here to read the post.

I’m currently investigating another tool, Vyper.io (affiliate link). I’ll give you some feedback on that soon.

4. 10 Popular Romance Tropes (June 2019)

Most genre fiction uses some kind of trope as a shorthand way to hook a potential reader. This post defines a trope, and describes 10 popular romance tropes.

Click here to read the post.

I also had a follow-up post: 12 More Popular Romance Tropes.

5. How Long Should my Novel Be? (November 2018)

How long should a novel be? This is a common question from first-time authors. Unfortunately, the answer is often vague: it depends. This post explains different kinds of fiction, and typical novel length by genre.

Click here to read the post.

How long should my novel be? How long will it take to edit? Check out the answers to these and other common questions. #WriteTip #EditTip Share on X

6. Plot and Structure: Michael Hauge’s Six-Stage Structure (January 2018)

Michael Hauge is best known as a screenwriting consultant, and his books do tend to focus on screenplays. But (as he argues), the essential elements of fiction are the same. His Six-Stage Structure combines plot and character is an excellent tool to use in developing plot and character arcs.

Click here to read the post.

7. Keys to Writing Your First Novel (December 2018)

I regularly see social media posts from aspiring fiction authors looking for tips on writing their first novel. But there is more to writing than just writing. Here are my nine keys to writing your first novel, based on being a lifelong reader, and a freelance editor.

Click here to read the post.

8. Questions to Ask When You’re Revising a Scene (September 2019)

One common mistake new fiction writers make is not structuring their scenes for maximum impact. Many don’t even realise there is a correct or best way to structure a scene. This post takes writers through 14 questions they need to consider when writing or revising a scene.

Click here to read the post.

I was thrilled to have this post selected as a Featured Post for the October 2019 edition of Carnival of the Indies, coordinated by Joel Friedlander of The Book Designer.

9. How do I Find a Christian Literary Agent? (March 2017)

Many of the big name Christian publishers state that they only accept manuscripts submitted from recognized literary agents. So how do you find one? This post explains what a literary agent does, and offers some suggestions for finding a reputable agent—one of the most common questions I see in writer discussions.

Click here to read the post.

10. A (not so) Short History of Fake Reviews on Amazon (May 2018)

As Amazon gained their reputation as the powerhouse of online shopping, sellers attempted to game the reviewing system by posting fake reviews. Amazon responded by tightening and clarifying the reviewing guidelines—an ongoing process.

In this post, I highlight some of the background to these changes.

Click here to read the post.

This post was also selected as a Featured Post for the June 2018 edition of Carnival of the Indies—my first Featured Post.

11. The Importance of Revision and Self-Editing (July 2019)

Why do authors need to know how to revise and self-edit? Because you only get one chance to make a first impression. Don’t destroy your chances by submitting or publishing something that’s less than your best.

Click here to read the post.

This was another Carnival of the Indies Featured Post, this time in August 2019 (a great birthday present!)

So those are my top eleven blog posts from 2019. What’s your most-read (or favourite) post from last year? Share a link in the comments!

 

Your Author Platform

Marketing 101 | Your Author Platform (an #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop post)

This post is part of the monthly Author ToolBox Blog Hop, organised by Raimey Gallant. We now have over 40 blogs participating. To find more Blog Hop posts:

Modern writers need to do more than write. They need to market as well. That means understanding the basics of marketing.

In particular, it’s important for unpublished authors to being working on their online presence: their author platform. This post brings together some of the many (many many many) posts I’ve written on the subject.

Platform

An author platform is any means by which you can connect with readers and sell books:

Some writers have an established platform that has grown out of their non-writing activities e.g. a businessperson, an academic, or a preacher.
The rest of us have to build our platform from the ground up, and the easiest way to do that is online. We need:
  • A website (which can include a blog, but doesn’t have to).
  • An email list (which we use to send a regular newsletter).
  • Social media profiles.

Website

Do I need an author website? (Spoiler: yes).

I do not recommend building your website on a free site such as Blogger or WordPress.com. Both are limited in terms of their functionality e.g. you can’t use them to sell books.

Nor do I recommend using a proprietary platform such as SquareSpace, Weebly, or Wix. Yes, they produce a beautiful result, but you don’t own the platform in the same way as you don’t own your platform on social media.

Instead, I recommend building your own website with WordPress.org. (Yes, that’s different from WordPress.com).

WordPress powers around 30% of the internet, which means you’ll always be able to find help if you have a problem. It also means there are thousands of free and paid plugins (apps) that will enable you to do pretty much anything you can think of on your site.

Once you’ve decided you need a website, you’ll need a domain name and website hosting, and you may need help in building your site.
I’ve now built five sites using the WP-BFF free 5-Day Website Challenge. The first (this site) took me over a month, as there were a lot of decisions to make. The last took me less than a day, because it was a relatively simple site and I knew what I wanted.
*Note: these are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission if you click my link and make a purchase. This doesn’t cost you anything.

Email Newsletters

Many authors forego building an email list, as they say they can connect with readers through social media on platforms such as Facebook. That’s true. It’s also not true.

Once upon a time, you could post about your new book on your author Page on Facebook, and everyone who followed your Page would see that post. Facebook is now monetised, and no longer give you that kind of free exposure. Instead, their algorithm only shows the post to 1% or 2% of your audience … unless you pay to Boost a post, or buy some other form of advertising.

If you choose to develop an email newsletter, then you’ll need to use an email service provider. Why? Because sending bulk emails from your regular email provider (e.g. Gmail) is considered spam. Using a reputable email service provider will also help ensure you comply with international laws regarding email (e.g. GDPR and the CAN-SPAM Act).

If you don’t currently have an email list, then I recommend using MailerLite.

It is free for the first 1,000 subscribers, which includes free automation sequences. As a bonus, you get $20 of free credit if you sign up using my affiliate link: click here to sign up to MailerLite*.
MailChimp* is another popular email service provider, and the provider I initially used for my lists. While MailChimp is free for the first 2,000 subscribers, they no longer offer free automation sequences, and they are more expensive than MailerLite (and I think MailerLite is easier to use).
If you’re wondering why an automation sequence is a big deal, check out Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert by Tammi L Labrecque*.
Once you’ve set up your email list, you’ll want to build that list. There are various methods you can try, which I cover in this blog post: 6 ways to build your email list 

Blogging

Many authors have a blog attached to their website. Do Authors have to Blog? Maybe. It’s more important for nonfiction authors than fiction authors, but many fiction authors do blog because they enjoy it.

Do authors have to blog? Maybe. Find out the answers to this and other author platform questions in Marketing for Authors 101 | Your Author Platform #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop #BookMarketing Share on X

Blogging is a great way of developing an online platform, and it’s great for SEO (search engine optimisation aka helping people find your site through Google or another search engine). Here’s how to make your blog SEO-friendly: 12 Steps to a Great Blog Post 

Social Media

Do I have to be on social media? Probably. But social media should be about connecting rather than selling. We want to:

  1. Connect with readers
  2. Connect with other writers

Should I hire someone to build my social media presence? Maybe. However, we need to be authentic on social media, which is easier when it’s you. And we shouldn’t be tempted to take short-cuts like buying followers (which can get us kicked off the platform). Instead, we should play the long game, and build a group of engaged followers.

That’s my quick tour of building an author platform. What would you add?

 

When does contemporary fiction become historical fiction?

Historical vs Contemporary Fiction (An #AuthorToolboxBlogHop Post)

This post is part of the monthly Author ToolBox Blog Hop, organised by Raimey Gallant.

We now have over 40 blogs participating. To find more Blog Hop posts:

When does historical fiction become contemporary fiction (or vice versa)?

This question came up in a Facebook group recently. How do we classify historical vs contemporary fiction? Is a novel set in 1979 historical fiction? Or contemporary fiction? That got me thinking … and searching.

When do you think a contemporary novel becomes historical fiction (or vice versa)? Who decides? #WritersLife #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop Share on X

Who gets to decide whether a novel is historical or contemporary fiction? It could be:

  • Libraries (if they classify by genre)
  • Bookstores (who usually classify by genre)
  • Writing organisations (especially those with genre-based contests)
  • Authors (especially when they’re self-publishing)
  • Readers

Most libraries I’ve visited organise fiction by author surname, not by genre, so that’s no help.

Bookstores often classify by genre.

But each store has different classifications, and it’s not always easy to tell what’s what. It doesn’t help that bigger stores usually classify a Christian historical romance as Religious rather than Historical (and if a book featured an African-American character or was written by an African-American author, it might be classified as African-American fiction, not Religious or Historical).

I checked Amazon, but couldn’t find any definition of historical.

That’s not to say it doesn’t exist. I just says I couldn’t find it. If you know where Amazon has a definition of contemporary vs. historical, please add it in the comments!

Amazon use the BISAC (Book Industry Standards and Communications) codes, and I couldn’t find any definition of historical on their site either.

Amazon also isn’t helpful in that publishers self-classify—which is how we find novels in the nonfiction categories, and The Tattooist of Auschwitz in the Australia and Oceania category. (I can only assume someone mixed up Austria and Australia …)

How do writing organisations classify historical vs contemporary fiction?

American Christian Fiction Writers have Contemporary and Historical categories in their Genesis and Carol Awards. They define Historical as “up to and including the Vietnam era”. The Vietnam war ended in 1975, so I guess that’s ACFW’s current definition of “historical”.

In contrast, the Romance Writers of America RITA Award and Romance Writers of Australia Ruby Award both classify “historical” as set before 1950. If you’d asked me, I think this is what I would have said—but I’m equally happy with a 1975 or even 1980 date.

With more recent historical fiction, I expect the time setting to be deliberate. For example, Pamela Binnings Ewen has written several legal thrillers set in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She’s writing about things like women’s rights and women in the workplace, so the time setting is important. They would be different stories if they were set in the 1990s or 2010s—no matter whether the stories were labelled “historical” or “contemporary”.

In general, I expect contemporary stories to be set today—this year (or last year).

I expect characters in contemporary novels to have smartphones and Facebook and GPS and the Uber app (unless they’re philosophically opposed to smartphones and Facebook and GPS and Uber … which could make for a fascinating story).

If the novel is “contemporary” and doesn’t have these things, then I need to be clued in pretty quickly that the novel isn’t set today.

When does historical fiction become contemporary fiction? Is there a fixed date? Or is it up to the publisher (or reader)? #HistoricalFiction #ContemporaryFiction Share on X

I’ve recently reviewed West of Famous by Joni M Fisher, which was set in 2010. That worked for the story, but also worked because the opening made it clear the story was set in 2010. (And yes, there were a couple of plot points that wouldn’t have worked as well in 2019). In that respect, the story was actually historical … even though 2010 is hardly a long time ago.

But what about a story written and published in 2010 that I’m only reading today? Personally, I say that’s a contemporary story. Why? Because it was contemporary when it was written and published.

Using that same logic, Jane Austen was a contemporary novelist, because she was writing about the issues of her day. So were Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie.

So I consider a contemporary story as one that is written and published in the time in which it is set (whether that’s today or two hundred years ago). And a historical story is any story where the author is consciously looking back in time by at least a couple of decades.

What about you? When do you think historical fiction becomes contemporary fiction (Or vice versa)?

 

When does contemporary fiction become historical fiction?
Do Authors Have to Blog?

Dear Editor | Do Authors Have to Blog? (An #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop Post)

Writers are an odd bunch. I’ve come across many writers who are more than comfortable with the idea of writing a 90,000-word novel, but have palpitations at the thought of writing and publishing a 500-word blog post.

These authors often ask the same question:

Do Authors Have to Blog?

My answer? Maybe. But maybe not.

If you’re a non-fiction author, then you do need to blog. It establishes your expertise in your specialist area, which will build credibility.

But you might not need to blog if you’re a fiction author. Many established authors don’t have a blog on their website. Others do, but blog only a few times a year (usually to promote a new release). Some blog on group blogs.

Do fiction authors have to blog? And what should they blog about? #Blogging #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop Share on X

Fiction authors may still need to blog.

If you’re aiming for a publishing contract with a major traditional publisher, then you almost certainly need to have an author blog and post regularly. Social media expert Edie Melson points out that regular blogging shows industry professionals you can write to a deadline and produce quality work. Melson does point out that blogging isn’t a way to sell books, but does provide a way of connecting with readers.

What if you’re aiming to self-publish?

Then it depends. Self-published authors need a website and an email list, but blogging? It’s not the most important part of a website—that would be your About page, and your Books page, because those are the pages readers are most likely to be looking for.

Do you enjoy blogging?

No? Then don’t start a blog. You want your blog to show readers an interesting person they want to know better. That’s not going to come through if you think blogging is a chore on a par with cleaning the toilet (or whatever household task you loathe most).

Can you commit to regular blogging? Will you?

Will you commit to a regular blogging schedule, including writing, editing and publishing a new blog post at least once per week for at least the next six months? No? Then don’t start a blog.

Don’t I have to blog to sell books?

No—even a strong blog might not help you sell books. Think of Mike Duran. I often share his posts  because they are thought-provoking and relevant and he’s not afraid to ask the hard questions about Christianity and literature. But he writes Christian horror, and while I think his blog is great, I’m not interested in his fiction (sorry, Mike).

Anyway, no one is going to be interested in your blog if it’s a constant infomercial (let your Home and Books pages do the selling).

Okay. I’m going to blog.

If you enjoy blogging and can commit to a regular schedule, then maybe blogging is for you. Now your choice is between blogging on your website, or blogging as part of a group blog. Here are some I read regularly:

If you blog on your own website:

  • Be regular. Blog at least once a week, at the same time and on the same day each week. Announce this on your About page. Don’t overcommit yourself: if one good post each week is all you can manage, then blog once a week.
  • Be intentional. Choose a topic or theme, and stick to it. If you don’t know what your theme might be, Jeff Goins has a 12-part free email course that might help you.
  • Don’t put blogging ahead of writing your book. If blogging is taking over your writing time, you might need to reconsider how regularly you blog.

If you post on a group blog:

  • Get your post up early. The earlier, the better. It saves the blog organiser the last-minute stress of wondering whether they need to find a filler post if you miss your slot.
  • Ensure your posts fit the blog. Some group blogs have different themes for different days. I find a set theme makes it easier to write a post. Ensure your posts are consistent in length and style with those of the other contributors. This doesn’t mean letting go of your unique author voice, but it does mean making sure you’re not posting deep theological treatises when everyone else is posting about their cute pets (or vice versa).
  • Put blogging ahead ahead of writing your book. You’ve made a commitment. Keep it. If you need to step back from contributing, contact the blog organiser and work out a mutually agreeable schedule. Don’t leave your blogmates in the lurch.

What do you blog about?

This is the more difficult question.

If you write non-fiction, blog about subjects related to your book (or even blog your book).

It’s not so cut and dried if you write fiction, especially if you’re not yet published. You want to your blog to appeal to your target reader—it’s a place for your potential audience to get to know you better, so write to appeal to that audience.

Do Authors Have to Blog? Tips for fiction and non-fiction authors #Blogging #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop Share on X

What subjects are your readers interested in?

Rachel Thompson and other blogging gurus suggest picking four or five topics and blogging about each once a month. Topics should be:

  • Something you’re interested in, so you can bear to write about them each month.
  • Something your target reader might be interested in. There is no point in building an audience of manhwa (Korean manga) fans if you’re writing inspirational women’s fiction.

Your blog needs to serve your reader, not you. What questions are they asking?

This doesn’t mean you can’t post about your writing—you can, but in a way that’s relevant for your target reader. For example, you could post:

  • Short stories (so they know your writing style).
  • Reviews of books in the same genre (because you want your blog to attract readers, right?).
  • Movie reviews in your genre (because readers are fans of story, and movies often have great stories).

Once you’re published, you can add book-related content, such as:

  • Character information, maps or related plot information.
  • Questions for book clubs.
  • Outtakes or deleted scenes (maybe).

The Novel Marketing Podcast has a useful episode on what novelists can blog about.

One last tip . . .

If you do choose to blog, ensure your blog integrated into your website (so your blog is a page on your website, not a completely separate site). Your blog is where you’ll start connecting with readers, through regular blog posts, so don’t confuse potential reader by having two sites.

Do you blog? How often? What do you blog about? What hints to you have for your fellow authors?

Twitter Hashtags Lists and Mentions

Twitter Hashtags, Lists, and Mentions (An #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop Post)

Last week, I talked about why authors need to be on Twitter.

Today I’m going to give you a little background to three important Twitter topics: hashtags, mentions, and lists. And an important Twitter Tip that you’ll need to remember before you even think about automating any Twitter tasks. I’ll be back next week to talk about Twitter tools and automation.

About Hashtags

You’ve all seen hashtags—they’re all over social media. Things like #amreading or #amwriting or #amediting … basically, anything preceeded by a hash symbol (#, which is what Americans call a pound key).

Hashtags are important because they are how people search for topics on Twitter (and Instagram). You want to hear the latest publishing scandal? Search for #CopyPasteCris. Want the latest Game of Thrones gossip and spoilers (or to vent about the current episode)? Try #gameofthrones or simply #got. Looking for a book to read? Try #amreading or #christfic or #inspy or #romance or #bookworm. Using #cr4u (Clean Reads for You) will always get you a lot of retweets.

You can even invent your own hashtag, for a book, a series, a genre (like #cr4u), or an event. And you can use the same hashtag on Facebook and Instagram (Instagram loves hashtags. Facebook … allows them, but not everyone uses them properly #soyougetlotsofwordsjoinedtogetherwhichdontmeanmuch.

#TwitterTip. If you are using multiple words in a hashtag, capitalise each word to make it easier to read: #SoYouGetLotsOfWordsJoinedTogetherWhichDontMeanMuch. Still a mouthful, but it is at least readable. Share on X

Mentions

These are called @-mentions (at-mentions), because of the @ key which comes in front of your Twitter name (so I’m @iolagoulton). If you want someone to see your Tweet, you tag them with an @-mention. This also means your tweet will show up in the Twitter feed of all their followers … so it’s not something to abuse.

But it is considered good Twitter etiquette to @-mention someone if:

  • You’re linking to a blog post about them.
  • If you’re reviewing their book.

If you’re interviewing them.

(This relates to my post last week, about why you need to be on Twitter. Why would you want to miss out on knowing when people are being nice about you?)

Twitter Lists

Once you’ve been on Twitter a while, you’ll find you can’t actually scan every tweet from every person you follow (and you wouldn’t want to, especially not if some of the people you follow are the spam-every-six-minutes types). But that doesn’t mean you want to unfollow them …

Twitter lists are the answer to this dilemma.

Group similar accounts into a List, and you can just review tweets from that list. Sometimes I add interesting people to a list, then find out they are tweet-every-six-minute spammers. The solution is simple: take them off the list.

(As an aside, this is why you shouldn’t be a tweet-every-six-minute spammer. It’s possible no one will notice if they follow hundreds or thousands of active accounts. But if they put you on a list, spammy behaviour is easy to spot and difficult to ignore.)

The way they achieve this annoying omniscience is through automation. They’ll use a tool to preschedule hundreds of tweets each week, each promoting themselves or their books. This behaviour gives automation a bad name.

But there is a better way to use automation. I’ll talk about that next week.

Meanwhile, here’s my big #TwitterTip (hey! See the hashtag!):

Twitter is not all about you.
If you spend any time on Twitter (or read blog posts about Twitter or other social media), you’ll come across some variation of the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80:20 rule #TwitterTip Share on X
No more than 20% of your posts should be about you.

Most of your posts (80%, or four out of five) should be posts from or about other people, such as retweets of interesting blog posts. That is, blog posts which are interesting to your target reader … which may or may not be people like you. Not blog posts you liked because they had useful writing or editing tips (unless your target reader is a writer).

If you can focus on this 80:20 principle, focus on providing content that your readers will find interesting, you’ll get interaction with readers and you might even find you come to enjoy using Twitter.

But if you make it all about you … Yeah. You might get nothing but tumbleweeds. Not so good.

This post is part of the monthly Author ToolBox Blog Hop, organised by Raimey Gallant. We now have over 40 blogs participating. To find more Blog Hop posts:
How to Writers Earn Money? (An #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop Post)

How do Writers Earn Money? (An #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop Post)

I recently came across an advertisement for a website offering a new way for writers to get paid for their work. Having observed the publishing industry for several years, my experience has been twofold:

  • There are more people claiming to have invented a “new way” than there are new ways.
  • Most of the “new ways” are ineffective or unethical.

Anyway, the advertisement got me thinking: how do writers earn money?

Selling Books

Selling books is the obvious source of income for published authors. However, that’s one of the many things in life that’s easy to say and much harder to do!

Writing Articles

Many sites pay up front for contributions (but many more pay only in “exposure”). Payment isn’t high, and can start from $5 for a 300-word blog post. If this interests you, I suggest checking out sites like Fiverr and Upwork. Just don’t get caught up in something unethical, like writing $5 Amazon book reviews for books you haven’t read …

Blogging

Writers don’t actually earn money by blogging. But bloggers can monetise their blogs through advertising, affiliate income, and sponsorship.

The challenge here is traffic. No one is going to want to advertise on a blog no one visits, and many advertising networks won’t even sign up bloggers with less than a specified number of page views (e.g. 10,000 page views per month, as measured by Google Analytics).

Advertising

Most blog advertising is direct advertising. Some websites have enough traffic that they can actually sell their own advertising for a monthly fee (e.g. SBTB, who have 350,000+ page views a month on desktop alone). The advantage of this is you control the content that will appear on your site, and you set the fee so you know how much you’ll get paid. The disadvantage for writers advertising on their own site is that you might only want to advertise your own products.

The more common blogger advertising model is to partner with an advertising network such as Google AdSense. Bloggers then provide a blank space which the advertiser fills, and the blogger pay be paid on a pay per view (PPV), pay per click (PPC), or on actual sales. Payments will therefore vary depending on traffic and engagement.

I see two issues with using an advertising network:
  1. With PPC and other click-through advertising, you’re getting paid for taking people away from your website, not for keeping them on your website. That’s bad for your SEO, which rewards people visiting your site and staying there. It also doesn’t say much for your writing if visitors would rather leave than read your content.
  2. You don’t control the advertisements that are appearing on your blog. I visit a lot of book blogger sites where the ad spaces are advertising vanity presses (no doubt because Google sees a lot of writers visiting those sites). I’m against vanity presses, so there is no way I’d want advertisements for a product I despise on my site. I’ve also seen advertisements for violent R16 video games on Christian review sites. I want to control what I advertise, which is why I stick with affiliate marketing. While bloggers can block certain categories of advertisers, those categories are broad (dating, drugs, games, sex).

And advertisers can still slip through the cracks. The site which prompted this post was clear that it did not accept adult content. But the first affiliate link I clicked took me to an advertisement for a famous lingerie brand, complete with a lingerie-clad model. The second link took me to a pirate video site.

Again, not products I want my brand to be associated with.

Affiliate Marketing

Organisations such as Amazon have affiliate programs to encourage website owners and bloggers to advertise their products by providing a small percentage

I am an Amazon affiliate (which earns me around $10 a year—4% of a 99c books means a lot of people have to click through for me to earn enough to get paid!)

I’m also an affiliate for several of the products and services I use in writing and blogging, such as:

I’m also an affiliate for Draft2Digital even though I don’t use their services (yet). This is because I’ve seen them recommended by others, I’ve seen the work they do, and know I’ll want to use them when the time comes.

Do these schemes earn me a lot of money? No—less than $100 a year, but that’s because I don’t put a lot of effort into them. Some bloggers earn a full-time salary through affiliate income. Some authors (e.g. Joanna Penn) earn substantially more.

Again, it comes down to traffic. Joanna Penn earns more in affiliate income than I do because:

  • She gets more traffic.
  • She’s an affiliate for some higher-ticket items, like courses from Nick Stephenson and Mark Dawson.

I also refuse to be an affiliate for products I don’t support. For example, I paid $297 for one course I wouldn’t recommend. I could earn back my (wasted) fee by signing up for an affiliate of the course and pocketing 30% every time someone signed up using my link. But I see that as somewhere between misleading and dishonest, so I won’t do it.

(Yes, all the above links are affiliate links, which means I’ll earn a small commission if you buy something from one of those links, but you’ll pay the same amount).
How do authors earn money? There are several ways ... but there are potential traps. #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop ##WritersLife Share on X

Sponsorship

As with affiliate marketing, sponsorship is working directly with product or service providers. For example, I often get approached by service providers offering me a free product in exchange for a review (none of them have yet offered actual money as well!). I don’t usually accept these offers, as most of them aren’t relevant to my audience (e.g. the quiz app that costs $209 per month).

If you’re interested in chasing sponsorship dollars, you’ll need an established site and audience, and you’ll need to pitch to the service providers you’re interested in.

Speaking Engagements

Many writers are also speakers, speaking to writers at conferences or local writer groups, or speaking to readers at reader conventions, book clubs, and book signings. Children’s authors may also speak in schools. Many of these engagements are unpaid or compensated only with a token gift.

Other speaking opportunities are paid, but most are only an honorarium and don’t cover the cost of the conference, let alone the associated travel and accommodation costs. Most writers speak as a way of enlarging their platform and giving back to the community, not as a form of income.

There is also the reverse: business professionals who write a book. For this group, a book is a sign of authority in their field, and earnings from the book are secondary to their earnings from their business. These authorities (some of whom do speak on writing or book marketing) are usually paid hundreds or thousands of dollars, as well as having all their expenses covered.

What have I missed? How else can writers earn money from their writing? Let me know in the comments!

This post is part of the monthly Author ToolBox Blog Hop, organised by Raimey Gallant. We now have over 40 blogs participating. To find more Blog Hop posts:
Building Your Author Website

4 Decisions to Make Before Building Your Author Website (An #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop Post)

I’ve been busy building websites. The demise of Google+ has meant we’ve created a new WordPress-based site for Australasian Christian Writers, and I’m now doing the same for International Christian Fiction Writers. And I still need to review my own sites …

I’ve been reminded that building your author website is a lot easier if you make some of the key decisions before you start. This site was the first I built, and it took weeks—simply because there were so many decisions to be made. The most recent site only took two days, because I made all the big decisions before I started (although we still haven’t officially launched the site … and I’m not responsible for the content).

Here are the big four decisions:

1. Decide on your platform

Website design has come a long way from the days when people had to speak html as a second language in order to be able to develop a website. Now there are a variety of free and paid options that mean even the least tech-savvy person can set up a website.

The most well-known options are Blogger and WordPress. Other options include SquareSpace, Weebly, and Wix. All have free and paid options, with the paid options allowing you to use a custom domain name (i.e. www.iolagoulton.com rather than www.christianreads.blogspot.com).

Blogger (powered by Google) is probably the easiest to use, especially if you’re not especially tech-savvy. However, it’s an old platform, needs investment, and it’s unclear how the death of Google+ will affect Blogger commenting going forward (and existing Google+ comments will be lost, along with images stored in Google+).

WordPress.org (the paid version) has a huge range of themes and plugins you can use to customise your site, but most people would need the assistance of a web designer to undertake any customisation. The advantage of using a WordPress-based site is that it’s designed to be a website not just a blog, so the finished product looks a lot more professional.

(If you want help building a WordPress.org site, either click here to sign up for my March Marketing Challenge, or check out Shannon Mattern’s free 5 Day Website Challenge.)

2. Choose a Theme

WordPress has a virtually unlimited number of themes, both free and paid. It might be tempting to use the standard theme (currently Twenty Nineteen), but that’s soon going to date your site … and you run the risk of your site looking exactly the same as all the other sites using the same theme.

I use the free version of the Make theme from Theme Foundry on this site—it’s fully customisable, but not difficult to use (especially not if you sign up for the 5 Day Website Challenge). A lot of people use and love Divi, available from Elegant Themes.

The most important things to look for in a theme are:

Mobile Responsive

More and more people access the internet using mobile and tablet devices, so you need to chose a theme that automatically adapts to the size of the screen.

Customisable

Many themes have a limited number of fonts and colourschemes. That might not matter if you don’t already have your own brand fonts and colours. But if you do, you’ll want a theme you can adapt to your own branding rather than being forced to use the preset colours and fonts.

3. Decide your colourscheme.

The problem with picking a colour is you’re not at school any more. You have more than the standard eight colours of crayon on offer at school (although you might have been one of the lucky kids to have Crayola crayons with 64 colours).

No, now you have an almost unlimited choice (somewhere around 16,700,000, if I’ve calculated correctly).

Colour should reflect your genre: black and red probably aren’t the best choices for a contemporary romance author.

How do you choose? What colours go together?

Don’t worry. Canva.com has some blog posts which will give you some good ideas around possible colour combinations:

4. Pick your fonts.

Fonts are both easier and more difficult to pick than colours. Sure, there are less than 16,700,000 choices, but you have to choose two, or maybe even three.

You need an easy-to-read font for your body text, and another font for your headings (perhaps more than one, as you can have several levels of headings and subheadings). You can be a little more creative with this choice, but it still needs to be consistent with your genre and author brand.

Canva and Elegant Themes have some excellent blog posts on font choices:

It can be tempting to stick with the tried-and-true Arial or Times New Roman fonts, perhaps because it’s hard to decide on a font. But some fonts are best avoided.

As you look through the font lists, you’ll see a lot you don’t like, some you like but which aren’t right for your brand, and (hopefully) a smaller number of appropriate font choices. Then you need to consider which two or three fonts you can use together.

Here are some useful resources on font pairings:

That last resource is very cool. Pick a font, and it doesn’t just tell you what fonts would pair well. It shows you four or five options on a mock website, so you can really see how the fonts look together (hover over the text for it to tell you the font name).

Just set a timer: there are so many options that it’s easy to get lost!

Do you need help in developing your website or your author platform?

If so, check out my March Marketing Challenge: Kick-Start Your Author Platform. It’s a 40-day Challenge, and I take you through every step, from considering your genre and target reader, to a real live website. You’ll receive a 70-page workbook, and membership to our exclusive Facebook group—a great place to ask questions.

Click here to find out more.

This post is part of the monthly Author ToolBox Blog Hop, organised by Raimey Gallant. We now have over 40 blogs participating. To find more Blog Hop posts: