Key Business Partners, LLC

Here we go with the Tweets-Acular list:

@writersrelief tweeted about post entitled Query Letter 101. Some great and simple advice– 1)don’t use any “fancy” tricks to grab the agent’s attention like bright purple highlighters or crazy fonts. 2) the query letter is your one shot to prove your books’ worth 3) keep current on industry standards for writing query letters 4) be sure to read the guidelines and follow them specifically

@tips4writers tweeted about a post by Mark Pennington entitled Top 40 Grammar Gaffes. A few tips Mark shares within the post are 1) Keep modifiers close to the words they are describing to avoid dangling modifiers. 2) An infinitive has a to + the base form of a verb. Placing a word between the to and the base form of the verb can create confusion. If tempted to split the infinitive, brainstorm for better verbs. 3) (and one of my peeves as well) Don’t use no double negatives….oops..hehehe. I mean…It is always bad to use double negatives.

@thecreativepenn tweeted about a post written via @selfpublishingreview entitled Do Writers Use Twitter?Now, this blog post was interesting because there was a conversation about how twitter has helped writers. Some say they don’t feel Twitter has helped them in their writing but it has helped build relationships. I would just like to add here — isn’t that what is the basis of writing, building solid relationships? How does a writer receive readers? By allowing the readers to get to know them as the author of their work. Just my .02 cents.

**An added treat to the above blog post was a link to a post by @helengallagher
>>See, this is the magic and wonderment of Twitter. I found Helen’s blog because I am connected to @thecreativepenn on Twitter. I may not have found Helen’s site otherwise and I would not be able to share this…>>

A social networking site for writers called Author Advance

@michaelhyatt tweeted about @chipmacgregor blog post titled What is a Brand? He summaries it as “what a reader has in his or her mind when they walk into a bookstore and see your book”. This is a great post with tons of information for writers. I recommend it! There was one thing Chip mentions at the end of the post. He said, ” But even a wonderfully inventive brand won’t support a lousy product, which is why I always say the success of a writer always comes back, eventually, to the quality of the craft.” —>yes it does.

@rachellegardner tweeted about author @jodyhedlund and her blog. It was interesting to go on there today because she wrote a post How important is an author’s brand?. And here take on it is very appealing as well. She met with some marketing experts on the subject and the summarized it this way…in their many years of working with authors, what they’ve experienced is that the author’s name becomes their brand and that usually doesn’t happen until after at least 2 to 3 books are published.–>
And that is because people need to get to know you and once they know you for the quality of the work and your subject that your audience wants to read, you will have a following, those creating a brand with your name.

I do hope you enjoyed this week’s Fab Five Friday (with a few extras) as there is some really good content out there for writers, authors, entrepreneurs and business owners.

Have a great weekend!

This has been a fabulous week for me…many of my friends and clients have book launches, book events, writing contest or interviews to share.

#MojoTweet came out this week by author Marshall Goldsmith published by ThinkAha books.
You can read more about this book and his other book notably named MOJO: How to get it, How to keep it, How to get it back, if you lose it.

Also, my friend, Heidi Richards has an ebook coming out tomorrow, called, Quirky Marketing Calendar 2010. And she is giving away over $1600 in FREE bonuses with it. You can read more about it here

And you still have time to enter the TRUE LOVE writing contest being sponsored by Folkheart Press and Key Business Partners. 2 days left and here are the details.

And now for the FAB Five Friday:

1)@Tips4Writers tweeted about a post by Judy Collins titled 7 Top Mistakes Writers Make. Judy discusses how writers procrastinate in writing for different reasons such as thinking they need to be an expert before they can write OR believe they will have to do the process all by themselves. I work with clients who share these similar worries. I ran into the procrastination issue before I started writing my first novel because I thought I had to write it completely write the first time. Silly, I know but I thought I should not need to rewrite it…not realizing it is exactly what writers do when they are writing a book. Revisions galore. It is all part of the process. And the other one, going through it alone. Well, I handled that rather quickly because it was my editor who told me “No just start writing. It doesn’t (and probably won’t) have to be perfect the first time.

2) @lorimcneeartist tweeted about a post on The Red Carpet Broadcast titled 5 Proven Techniques to Establish yourself as a web author and writer. one of the techniques provided was make the web writing scanable meaning make it easy to understand when the reader scans the data on the page.

3)@inkyelbows posted an tweet via @vickydelany discussing Book Trailers, Are they worth it? She states she had one very professional (and in turn expensive) book trailer for one book, however, decided not to have one for her follow up book. Her reason…she stated no return on investment. I have to differ a bit here because I do believe there are ways to effective create and promote a book trailer that helps with increase visibility and not cost tons of money. Share your thoughts.

4)@thecreativepenn via @JFBookman wrote about What every self-publisher should know about editingHe talks about having publishers understand the book editing process.

5) @Writersgroup posted a tweet about what a debut novelist says about how to use and sell on Twitter.She shares her journey with using Twitter to help sell her book. All I will add is there is many channels to marketing and promoting a book.

I hope you all had a wonderful week and keep writing!

If you are in search of an great editor, I happen to have a wonderful  lady, Leah Dallaire of 911 editing, as my editor. You can learn more about Leah and 911 editing by visiting her site at 911editing.

Now for this list for the FAB FIVE FRIDAY:

1) via @freelanceguru tweeted about a post called Do you send query letters? Chris Bibey discusses the importance even in today’s electronic driven days, to send out query letters to publishers.

2) via @writingspirit tweeted about a NY Times post discussing Amazon raising the royalty rates for ebook Kindle authors. This post suggests the royalty rate for Kindle ebook authors could be as high as 25%…not bad at all. Another option for authors of all genres.

3 from @bookbuzzr tweeted a post via @toddeldridge & written by Phyllis Zimbler Miller which outlines about how to optimize your twitter profile to attract more client (and readers). I liked the two things she talked about regarding authors being sure they add personal attributes to their profile such as  photo and bio. Your potential readers want to see you and know more about you.

4) via @thewritersden shares a post The Pic as a Prompt. Do you think a great pic can spark your creative juices? Check this pic out and see what comes to you.

5) via @creativepenn and @seanplatt comes a post called 6 people to trust in publishing. On the list is Joanna Penn and Christina Katz…and a few new people I now connected with on Twitter. Thanks Sean!

Each week, I am always excited about sharing with my readers a few twitters, posts and blogs on the subjects of writing, publishing and editing.

Thanks for reading and writers…keep writing!

Quick Tip of the week:

Writers & Authors: Did you know that most agents only read the first three paragraphs of your query letter? Well, it is true according to publishing coach, Molli Nickell at Get Published Now.  Need to have a pro look over your query letter before you send it out. Molli does a consultation for under $100.00.

Now for the Fab Five.

1) @WordyWoman tweeted about 1st time authors: The Do and Dont’s of getting an agent or book deal in today’s market . The post talks about the truth of getting an agent if you would like to get your book published by a traditional publisher. Most publishing houses will not even look at material from unknown authors.

2) Writers Digest RT @creativepenn shares a post by Lance Whitley from the CNET  blog Network about how authors worldwide (including outside US) now can publish their books on Kindle themselves. This is BIG news. More great opportunities for authors.

3) @bethnewstar tweeted about Marketing Tips for Writers and Authors – 3 Ways  to Capture and Keep Your Readers. The one tip I enjoyed is BE PASSIONATE. I agree, if you are writing about something you love and enjoy, the passion for it will come through to your readers.

4) @lindadessau RT @steveslaunwhite posted 3 ways to double your writing speed to his fellow copywriters. One of the ways it worked for him he says is get rid of interruptions and distractions during writing time. Read the rest to find out the his other advise – this is good tips for all writers.

5) I retweeted this last post by @elizabethscraig titled Why you shouldn’t settle with the first plot or character idea you get. I know this first hand because I have changed my book ideas, chapters and characters a couple of time while writing my first novel. I enjoyed how she mentions just because you change it, it doesn’t have to be looked at as a negative, maybe by changing the plot or character, it is better for the story.

I hope you have enjoyed another edition of Fab Five Friday! Fellow writers, remember, keep writing!

This week has been a pretty good. The virtual blog tour for Rajesh Setty’s book, Upbeat, continued this week.

I have continued my writing on various projects. I am excited to be working on a young adult series with my daughter Amanda. I am also working on doing a few ebooklets for my husband’s cleaning business. And my own novel. Writing, writing and more writing.

Since I have started the Fab Five Fridays (formerly the Weekly Roundup), each week there are such wonderful places on the internet I am happy to share with you.

Here are my finds for this week:

1) Book Tour.com – I found this site by reading a tweet regarding the discussion
blog post with Seth Godin about Chris Anderson’s new book, Free and how free is a part of our society. Book Tour.com allows authors to list their book tour events. You can also search to see the authors “touring” in your area.

2) Author Central on Amazon -If you are an author and sell your book on Amazon be sure to have your profile up on Author Central. I believe you can have your Book Tour.com event information linked to this author page.

3) The next resource for Fab Five Friday is an author whose book, Get Known Before the Book Deal, Christina Katz. I also found out this week (since I now follow her @thewritermama) she hosts a chat on Twitter called #platformchat. When you go to her site, you will find more neat things and resources…including her email classes and workshops.

4) Interesting article (tweet from @RebeccaWoodhead) from The Boston Globedescribes how The Northshire Bookstore in Vermont has decided to add a Espresso Book Machine (or as they call it “The Lurch” to their decor to allow customers to receive print on demand books in the store. Could this be the future of publishing?

5) I found an agent. Well, at least on twitter I did anyway. @RachelleGardner answered questions in her blog post, If you have written more than one book, who do you query first? She replied with an interesting question, why are you writing more than one book at the same time? Well, I have to say, I am guilty of this same thing at the moment. I am in the middle of writing a few things, however, they are in different genres. So I don’t believe I would be seeking out one agent for all of them anyway. However, I do see how if you are writing more than one romance novel, you may wish to pitch them to a agent in the genre.
(Also, please read the submission guidelines are Rachelle’s site before you just submit to her- thank you.)

I do hope you enjoy this Fab Five Friday. Have a wonderful memorable and celebratory weekend~Happy 4th of July!