• Write every day (even if it is only a paragraph).
• Read, read, and read.  If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have time to write.  Know what is happening in your genre and feed your soul.
• Guard your writing time.
• Be consistent.
• Spend a little time on social media each day.  Build a supportive community.  Be generous.
• Have your work professionally edited–by more than one editor (content and line-by-line editors).
• If you don’t write, don’t beat yourself up. Just get back to it.

Keep a journal to jot down ideas. Keep notes on characters, allusions, symbols, plot points, scenes, etc.

After using blank journals for a few of my novels, I developed my own journal filled with graphic organizers.

Several writers who I’d been working with asked me for all of my organizational material, so I turned it into a workbook for everyone to use. Prompt Me Novel: Fiction Writing Journal.

I use one of these for each of my writing projects. It keeps me organized and pushing forward.

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Try to write each day to help with continuity in your larger projects. If you can’t, don’t beat yourself up. Just get back at it.

• Twenty-two Lessons on writing from Stephen King.
• Why Are Editors so Expensive? by Belinda Pollard
• “Self-publishing a Book: 25 Things You Need to Know” via  CNET Considering self-publishing a book? CNET’s David Carnoy discusses the ins and outs of what it’s all about.
• Room Planner.  Once in a while, I need to map out a room to make it concrete in my head. Two benefits: 1. You won’t give wonky description as to who is where  2. You have a cool extra to post.
• “How to Respond to Negative Reviews” by Beth Revis.  Click here.  I LOVE this article!
• Writer’s Jargon. Commonly used publishing lingo: Writing Terms & Abbreviations.
• An amazing list of resources from the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.
• Word Count 101: How many words are in a novel, novella, novelette, and much much more.
• Author Collaboration. Planning on writing a book with someone? Read this article for some great tips: “How to Collaborate on Writing without Killing Each Other” by Josh Bernoff.
• Get Smarter. Did you know that you can increase your IQ with creative writing? Check out the article.
• “Money Saving Guide for Authors & Writers” is a fabulous collection of information for everything from college scholarships, career options, working with editors, to organizations for writers and authors. (Thanks Dorian & Michele for the recommendation)
• Writer Resume Example (Full Guide & Examples for 2022)
• Hand Hobbies: A Resource Guide to Writing Basics (Thanks to Laura Henne and her amazing Senior Scouts for the suggestion)

• US Copyright Office. You can apply for your own copyright, it isn’t hard. Honestly, if you make a mistake, they will contact you. They are very nice.
• QR Code Generator.  Don’t pay to have someone do it for you.  This is easy and free! And this one allows you to add a picture to the QR code. I love this option because I can tell them apart visually, as well as, with the file name Thank you Kindlepreneur!
• New Author Checklist: 10 Things to Do. You finished your manuscript. You’ve published or are about to publish. Here’s a list of 10 things you need to do now.
• Creative Commons Licenses. The Creative Commons copyright licenses and tools forge a balance inside the traditional “all rights reserved” setting that copyright law creates.
• How to start a Blog. 12 steps to a well-planned blog with links to help put it together.

• Twitter. My list of 7 Easy Twitter Tips.
• Social Media Scheduling. I use www.HootSuite.com to schedule my posts for the future.
• How to create a website. Great step-by-step instructions.
• 3 Reasons I Love Pinterest–and why you should be using it as a writer.
• Author Central Links. If you want an author page on Amazon, you need to manage it. Here are the links and instructions for the following sites: U.S., U.K., Germany, France, and Japan.
• +127 OF THE TOP FREE AND PAID BOOK PROMOTION SITES via Dave at Kindlepreneur. This a great list of resources to promote free and sale days.
• KDROIV2: Okay, this one is paid, but I use it and it’s a huge time saver. If you are running a book promotion, you can fill out one form and it will sent it out to 30+ promotion sites. This is just one of the functions, and I love it.

Do your due diligence and research the information you present in your writing. Starting with simple things like realistic travel times to the realistic use of poison.

• Inflation Calculator: If you are writing a period piece, this will help you figure out how much money was worth at the time.
• Realistic Travel Times― by sea, air, and land.
• Air Travel.  Are your characters traveling by private plane?  How long does it take to fly from Paris to Prague?  You can figure it out here and keep your timelines intact.  Do the research–even for fantasy novels.  Remember, we want the audience to buy into the story.  Don’t distract with unrealistic settings.
• Weapons: Do you have weapons in your story? Check out A Writer’s Guide to Weapons site. Do revolvers have a safety? Is a switchblade the right choice?

• My 7 Fave Free Design Resources.
• How many spaces after a period?
• Book Interior Template: If you are going to be formatting your own book, save yourself hours of grief and write directly into the template.  KDP has a wonderful set of free templates (my publisher even uses them).  Make sure you choose the size that is standard for your genre.  I use the 5.5 x 8.5 template for Young Adult Lit.
• Book Cover Template: Generate a free Photoshop book cover template.  You need to know how many pages your book will be in order for the spine to be the correct size.
• Fonts. Make sure all of the fonts you are using are free for commercial use.  Font Squirrel is one of my favorite sites because they are all “free for commercial use.”  I also love dafont.com, but you need to be careful, shareware is not always free for publishing use.
• Amazon Description Generator: Kindlepreneur is one of my favorite resource sites. It’s by authors for authors. Don’t worry about any HTML, plug your book description in here and you can make it look fabulous on the first try!

• Quick reference guide for CaPiTaLiZaTiOn.
• Using Numerals in Text: “Eight or 8?”
• Repetition. Have you ever been reading a book and thought, “If they use that word one more time, I’m (fill in the blank).” I certainly have.  Here is a wonderful tool, it counts the Word Frequency.  They also have a Phrase Frequency Counter. Even NY Times bestsellers can have this problem. Edit! Edit! Edit!
• This is an Adverb Detector. It is working from a list of commonly used adverbs, so you will need to decide if you actually used the word as an adverb. Is it the end of the world to use an adverb? No, but as with everything, use in moderation. Always ask yourself if it is redundant or clarifying.
• Taste & Smell. Good writers include sensory detail. That means that they tap into taste and smell, as well as, sight and touch. I have compiled a Tastes & Aromas Cheat Sheet on this blog post.
• Dialogue. Here are 8 Tips to help make your dialogue sparkle.
• Check out my blogs tagged “Writing Resources.”