Top Picks Thursday 09-25-2014

As always, we welcome our readers, new and old, to our weekly round up.

If you enjoy children’s literature, check out the 2014 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature longlist.

Authors Josh Weil and Mike Harvkey recently completed a cross-country book tour, and found that the rumored death of indie bookstores is premature.

CRAFT

If you write short stories, Dr. John Yeoman shows how using deep structure can help you write contest-winning stories.

Do you ever find yourself stuck in your writing? Lynette Eason tells us how we can use social media for brainstorming.

If you want to write a great bad guy, check out Adrienne deWolf’s 10 tips for writing bad guys readers love to hate. And C.S. Lakin reminds us to bring settings to life by showing settings through the eyes of your characters.

Revising is essential, but it can be very hard to revise your own work. Jami Gold lists 5 ways to see our story objectively, Carly Sandifer advises that we think big while revising with these 9 steps, and Janice Hardy lays out the benefits of doing an editorial map.

There are many different paths to success. Kristin Lamb says that to succeed, we must learn to quit. But sometimes we need to get started in order to succeed. In that case, Jenna Avery has 7 ways to beat procrastination.

No matter where you are in your writing career, there’s more to learn. Anne R. Allen notes 10 things that red flag newbie novelists, while Gene Doucette shares some really good bad advice for writers. The psychology of a writer is a mysterious thing. Lauren Sapala discusses the difficulty writers have with identity.

BUSINESS

Lawyer Helen Sedwick tells us how to use real people in our writing without getting sued, and Penny Sansevieri shares the secret formula of a bestselling book.

Marketing is not a passive activity. Jason Kong explains how to be active in our marketing. To that end, Molly Greene shows how to vet book blogging sites, Naomi Blackburn lays out how to create a blog strategy, Anne R. Allen urges us to find success partnering with other authors, and S.R. Johannes lists 8 marketing don’ts.

That’s it for us this week! See you in October!