Welcome to the first Top Picks Thursday of July! Summer madness is in full swing here—I hope you are all finding time to enjoy the summer weather and relax.
With the recent death of Elie Wiesel, many writers remember his life and work.
Carmen Maria Machado pays tribute to Lois Duncan, who passed away a few weeks ago.
Judith Briles explores the recent problem of readers getting digital fatigue.
Still, research shows that reading can make you happier—Ceridwen Dovey recounts her experience with a bibliotherapist.
Here’s some reading suggestions: David Bowie’s Top 100 books, Barnes & Noble’s 22 most anticipated LGBTQ YA books, and the Publisher’s Weekly Fall 2016 adult comics and graphic novels announcements.
An interesting experiment: Jim C. Hines genderswapped scenes from a few well-known, popular works of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
CRAFT
When you’re ready to start your novel, try out Laurence MacNaughton’s 6 easy steps to planning out your novel. It works for plotters and pantsers!
The beginning of your book is of the utmost importance. David Leonhardt explains why you should preface your book, Stasia Ward Kehoe shares 4 essential elements for your first 5 pages, and Janice Hardy guides us in avoiding false starts in your first chapter.
Sometimes problems arise in the large craft elements. K.M. Weiland explores stagnant story conflict, Kim English addresses show don’t tell, and Clare Langley-Hawthorne discusses how to best use subplots without losing your mind.
Once we’ve straightened out problems with the large elements, we can polish at a word level. Jami Gold shows how to strengthen your writing with rhetorical devices, Melissa Donovan improves writing through poetry, Janice Hardy lists 3 easy edits for better emotional descriptions, and Kathryn Craft shares 10 way to add a spark of fire to your writing.
Characters propel our plot. Candace Williams warns against point of view confusion, Diana Hurwitz discusses choosing our antagonist, and K.M. Weiland explains how to use minor characters to flesh out your protagonist.
Shelia Wisz Ellayn explores the mystery of creative sparks, Jennifer S. Brown comments on the benefits of reading out of your genre, and Anne Frasier shares 5 things she learned writing The Body Reader.
In the category of partly-craft, partly-business, we have Karen Ball with advice from editors on what editors wish you knew when meeting them at conferences, and Diane Rinella gives us what to know if you’re taking the audiobook plunge.
BUSINESS
Claire Armitstead examines why there are so many new publishing imprints.
Lincoln Michel explains everything you wanted to know about book sales but were afraid to ask. Meanwhile, David Streiteld looks at the new trend at Amazon—eliminating list prices.
Dan Below clarifies the differences between “publishing” and “printing”, and Savvy Book Writers compares book distributors.
You know when you totally retool an old work and then want to query the same agents as you did for the first work? Janet Reid explains when a work is “new” and how to handle re-querying an agent.
Janet Reid also discusses marketing to an increasingly annoyed customer base. One of the most talked-about marketing tools is the email list. Jason Kong helps fiction writers build a better email list, while Kirsten Oliphant looks at email newsletter content. If an email newsletter isn’t your thing, take a look at Debbie Young’s 8 book marketing shots in the dark.
One way we get marketing is from reviews. Angel Gonzalez describes how Amazon’s team of old school book reviewers influences what we read.
Other marketing items are media kits and street teams. Rachel Thompson lays out what a media kit is and why you need one, and Kerry Lonsdale discusses street teams: when and how to start them when you have nothing to offer.
On social media, Tori Eldridge has Twitter tips for newbies, Devon Fredrickson shares 4 podcast tips for authors, and Jane Friedman lists 5 common blogging mistakes even experienced bloggers make.
THE UNIQUE SHELF
Alanna Okun finds 17 objects that will take reading to the next level.
Returning to your hometown after a long absence is always a peculiar adventure. J.D. Daniels takes us on his journey home to Kentucky.
Elodie from Barnes & Noble ranks 15 Harry Potter spells by their usefulness.
Mallory Ortberg shares alternate endings to Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations.
Laura DeMarco takes us inside one of the world’s largest Alice in Wonderland collections—in Cleveland.
Explore the unique collection at Indiana University’s Lilly Library—including the Gutenberg Bible, 32,000 3D mechanical puzzles and a Lock of Edgar Allen Poe’s hair.
UNESCO has granted the Exeter Book, a compendium of Old English verse dating to c.1000, special recognition.
That’s all for this week’s Top Picks Thursday! Stay cool and we will see you next week.
The Author Chronicles 
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