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Best of the Blogs 7 October 2016

www.christianediting.co.nzThe best of the blog posts I’ve read this week on changes at Amazon, writing, editing, publishing and what comes next … and a fun post which basically describes my dream job. Well, apart from editing!

Changes at Amazon

But first, an announcement: Amazon have updated their rules around product reviews. They will no longer permit “incentivized” reviews, i.e. reviews where a free or discounted product was provided in exchange for a review. There are two and only two exceptions to this:

  • Advance Review Copies of books (including ebooks)
  • Products from the Amazon Vine programme

They have also expanded their Community Guidelines (including the new requirement that reviewers must have spent at least $50 on Amazon using a valid credit or debit card) and have refined their guidelines around what constitutes Promotional Content.

These changes are an attempt to close loopholes exploited by fivverr reviewers and coupon clubs. It shouldn’t mean any change for honest book reviewers, although I have seen some people saying reviewers they know have received warning letters from Amazon for breaching the guidelines.

Watch this space … and if you’ve got any questions, ask in the comments.

Now to the best of the blogs …

Writing

Setting is an important part of writing a novel, and this week Cara Lynn James visited Seekerville to give us some handy tips on the relationship between setting and character: How Setting Affects Character

Editing

Self-editing. How do you do it? In this post at Writers in the Storm, Fae Rowan shares her self-editing tips for getting a lot done quickly … and check out the comments for more handy tips: How I Edited 1200 Pages in 12 Weeks

Publishing

A lot of people get worried at the prospect of self-publishing, because there is so much to remember. If this is you, you’ll either love this post (because it’s a LIST of everything you have to do! No more forgetting things!) or you’ll hate this post (because it’s a list of EVERYTHING you have to do and it’s soooo loooong): A Checklist for Publishing Your Book from April Brown at Writers Helping Writers.

And After You’ve Published …

I know a lot of self-published authors are worried about ebook piracy (trade published authors might also worry about it, but they have agents and publishers they can delegate that to!). In this post at Molly Greene’s website, attorney Kathryn Goldman shares her tips on How To Beat Ebook Pirate Sites.

My Dream Job

Lexiographer. Yes, getting paid to read all day. Okay, so being an editor is close!

What’s the best post you’ve read this week? Leave us a link in the comments!

Best of the Blogs: 30 September 2016

The best posts I’ve read in this week on writing and social media, a fun video … and two giveaways.

Writing

KM Weiland at Helping Writers Become Authors has an excellent post on the differences between scenes and chapters: 7 Questions You Have About Scenes vs. Chapters

And Joanna Penn, on 7 Steps to Writing Your First Novel

(Hmm. There must be something significant about the number seven.)

Social Media

Two articles on social media this week, both from Social Media Examiner.

First, Twitter has introduced something called Twitter Cards. Here’s how to use them: Using Twitter Cards for Business

Second, a detailed guide to using Medium–which I don’t use, but now I’m wondering if I should! What do you think? Here’s the guide: Medium for Business

Thought

Yes, many of us feel we’re becoming overwhelmed by social media … and that’s not always a good thing. In I Used to Be A Human Being, Andrew Sullivan muses on his social media journey, from non-user to addict to recovery. This is a long article. Very long. So long I gave up halfway through, which I suspect partly defeats the purpose of the article. Or perhaps it reinforces the fact we’ve become a planet of skimmers rather than readers.

Fun

And for a bit of fun … 17 British accents in just five minutes:

Giveaways

I’m also currently running two giveaways, partly to test out the KingSumo WordPress plugin I’ve recently purchased. It comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so I want to see if it’s worth it! Check out the giveaways, then come back and tell me what you think in the comments.

One Kindle copy of My Hope Next Door by Tammy L Gray.

Click here to enter the giveaway (ends 5 October)

Click here to read my review of My Hope Next Door

One Kindle copy of An Aussie Summer Christmas novella collection

Click here to enter the giveaway (ends 10 October)

Click here to read my review of An Aussie Summer Christmas

Relz Reviews

And if you’re really in the mood to score some free Christian fiction, head over to Relz Reviewz, where uber-blogger Rel is celebrating her ten-year anniversary of blogging with a heap of giveaways.

 

What’s the best blog post you’ve read this week? Share in the comments.