Writerly Round-Up (March 17 – 31)
Welcome to another Writerly Round-Up. This post contains links and news gathered over a 2 week period. The following information came from my email and social media feeds.
Homicide Investigations: Solving the Murder Puzzle
Sometimes it’s best to work a case in reverse by ruling out potential suspects who couldn’t have committed the crime. Then, when all is said and done, the last man standing, so to speak, is the killer.
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Some Tips to Make Your Ebook Look Great
By Kevin Callahan
In my previous post, I offered a few ideas on how to make ebooks feel unique by taking advantage of some visual design cues.
But I neglected to mention one crucial step: test, test, test your EPUB and MOBI files on multiple devices and apps.
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Malpractice in Mysteries Medical and Thrillers
By D. P. Lyle, MD
Too often, fiction writers commit medical malpractice in theirs stories. I see it all the time, and unfortunately, these mistakes can sink the entire story.
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From the 365 Daily Book Marketing Tips series
Use the “Book Marketing Canvas” template to create a one-page business plan for your book. http://tommorkes.com/book-marketing-canvas/
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Anatomy of an evidence room
Law and Fiction
When I practiced in Seattle, a small group of lawyers in my firm represented commercial fishermen and seafood companies. That’s what led us to involvement in a large criminal conspiracy case against a man known as “the Geoduck King.” (That’s gooey-duck, and it’s a big old ugly clam.)
I thought of that recently when I read this article on a police department evidence room in a Twin Cities suburb. It’s an eye-opening look at how physical evidence is handled and stored, how it can pile up, and how it’s managed.
But they don’t say anything about storing a freezer full of big old ugly clams.
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4 steps to an About Me page that sizzles by Andrew Wise
Build Book Buzz
Blogging isn’t easy. We are constantly being pulled in a million different directions, so it’s not uncommon for one task to take precedence over another. In our haste to get out blog posts out, we often neglect the little things . . . like the importance of a well written “About Me” page for an author.
Believe it or not, the About Me page on any given site is usually somewhere in the top ten most visited pages. It makes sense, too, when you consider that nearly 80 percent of daily blog visits are from new visitors. They want to trust that the person they are getting their information from is reliable, and the About Me page is the place where they find that out.
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7 Things That Will Doom Your Novel (& How to Avoid Them)
By: James Scott Bell
There are a lot of ways not to do something. Like the new boat owner a few years ago who was filling up his pleasure craft with fuel for that first time out. Only he mistook the tube meant to hold fishing poles for the gas tank. After completing his work he started up the engine.
The gas fumes ignited and blew the boat owner into the sky. He came down in the drink and was rescued, but the boat was a goner.
You can be just as creative in finding ways not to write your novel. With a little thought and not much effort, you can easily devise methods to prevent yourself from actually finishing a book—or finishing a book that has a chance to sell.
So if not finishing or not selling are your goals, I’m here to help you with the following seven tips (also, grab this free download on how to write a novel)
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The Internet of Things: Who’s in Your Bed…or Toaster?
This is an article about your toasters, toothbrushes and TV’s, and your refrigerators and the locks on your front doors. Your new cars and baby monitors and your wrist-worn exercise trackers. And let’s not forget watches and even your mattress covers. Yes, I said mattress covers.
I’m talking about the “Internet of Things” and how our homes are ripe for anyone and everyone to use our gadgety-things as listening devices. That’s right, the tinfoil-hat-wearing-folks were absolutely and undeniably correct. Our toothbrushes are indeed capable of spying on us.
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My book If I Should Die is available for pre-order at Amazon.
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Till we meet again, don’t touch anything sharp.