September 30, 2017

NaNoWriMo 2018 Novel Binder Printables

September 30, 2017/ Shayla Raquel

National Novel Writing Month is more fun with a novel binder.

September 20, 2017

Facebook Group Admins: Are You a Mentor or a Dictator?

September 20, 2017/ Shayla Raquel

Are you building a Facebook community or a prison?

September 06, 2017

Interview with a Poet: Amy Lutes, Author of Baptism

September 06, 2017/ Shayla Raquel

Amy Lutes, author of Baptism: On Sinking and Rising, talks about what inspired her poems and the lessons she's learned in writing and publishing it.

August 30, 2017

Barcode Options for the Self-Publisher

August 30, 2017/ Shayla Raquel

Barcodes can often cause a bit of exasperation for self-published authors and new book designers. Melinda Martin shows you what to do.

August 16, 2017

The Key to Building a Tribe on Any Platform

August 16, 2017/ Shayla Raquel

Frank McKinley delivers five irresistible social skills to help you make more connections, form deeper relationships, and show people you really care—on any platform!

August 03, 2017

5 Reasons Why Every Author Needs Instagram

August 03, 2017/ Shayla Raquel

The number-one reason to be on Instagram? Book bloggers!

August 02, 2017

The 2-Day Writing Marathon Challenge (PDF)

August 02, 2017/ Shayla Raquel

Can you write 20,000 words in 2 days?

June 29, 2017

The 7 Writers You’ll Meet at Andi Cumbo-Floyd’s Writers’ Retreat

June 29, 2017/ Shayla Raquel

This past weekend, Andi Cumbo-Floyd, Kelly Chripczuk, and Shawn Smucker hosted a writers’ retreat on God’s Whisper Farm in Radiant, Virginia.

May 03, 2017

Interview with New York Times Bestselling Author Elizabeth Kostova

May 03, 2017/ Shayla Raquel

Elizabeth Kostova answers your questions about writing, deadlines, Bulgaria, and her third novel, The Shadow Land.

April 20, 2017

17 Things I Learned from Serious Writers at WordFest

April 20, 2017/ Shayla Raquel

#6: Watch out for “so what?” stories. A “so what?” story is one wherein all conflicts are resolved but where’s the payoff? Where’s the emotional satisfaction? What does the reader feel at the end?

February 23, 2017

Top 10 Best Books I've Ever Worked On

February 23, 2017/ Shayla Raquel

It's important to showcase the works of indie authors, because word of mouth is the best form of advertising. So here are Shayla's faves!

February 02, 2017

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Uncovering the Truth about Vanity Publishers

February 02, 2017/ Shayla Raquel

My goal with this post and the video is to educate readers on vanity publishers so they can help stop other authors from being deceived.

December 06, 2016

10 Updates Writers Need to Make before 2019

December 06, 2016/ Shayla Raquel

#8: Have a serious conversation with yourself about your writing goals.

October 06, 2016

10 Ways to Make Your Editor Cry

October 06, 2016/ Shayla Raquel

No one wants to pay good money to a professional editor, only to leave her in a puddle of her own tears.

September 08, 2016

How to Build Relationships with Book Bloggers

September 08, 2016/ Shayla Raquel

Sarah Fox guides authors on pitching to book bloggers.

July 14, 2016

Candace Marshall: The Heroine You Didn't Know You Needed

July 14, 2016/ Shayla Raquel

Zombie Takeover: a humorous take on the zombie apocalypse.

June 30, 2016

Get Picked to Speak: An Essential Guide for Newbie Speakers

June 30, 2016/ Shayla Raquel

Are you a newbie public speaker in need of a guide?

Shayla Raquel

Editor. Author. Marketer. Speaker. Publishing Mentor.

Instagram

Happy Wednesday from Wednesday! 😂 I started reading Recursion yesterday by the outstanding @blakecrouch1 and it is sooooo good 🙌🏻 He wrote one of my all-time favorite novels, Dark Matter 🤯

I ❤️ Bricktown, Oklahoma. Mom, Josh, and I spent the afternoon at the Oklahoma Museum of Art. I got to see pieces by Van Gogh, Monet, Matisse, and Degan. 🖼 Then I devoured ribs at Toby Keith’s restaurant. Now off to read some poetry and where is a coffee shop . . . ☕️

Finished this yesterday at the lake 💛💕 It was poignant and intelligent. I love that cover too. It’s even prettier in person. I need a new book of poetry to read, though. Suggestions?

I’m at Lake Eufala, Oklahoma with family today. 🏚🏞 I’m reading a fantastic book called The Truth of Memoir by Kerry Cohen, and now I want all my memoir writers to read it. It tackles how to handle writing about the tough stuff: ex-spouses, abuse, family trauma, and more. It’s so well done 👏🏻 I also got to meet my cousin’s baby, Evangeline. She’s a month old. I was scared at first to hold her (because how do I do the baby thing?), but she was super chill and very sweet. 👶🏼🤱🏼 It’s nice to get away and spend time with family and read for a while. ❤️ By the way, are you writing a memoir? Want to grab this book!

This is Jessa, and I stole her name for my novel. 😂 She’s my niece who now has an affinity for vanilla bean fraps ☕️ The Jessa in my novel, however, has an affinity for Knox Kevel 😂 Did you steal a name from someone you know for your novel?

3 Books That Changed How I Write:
1️⃣ Writing Deep Scenes by Martha Alderson of @plotwhisperer and Jordan E. Rosenfeld — As writers, we know that a novel has a beginning, middle, and end. But this exceptional book teaches that novels have four parts, not three: a beginning, emerging middle, deeper middle, and end. 🤯 Once this clicked for me, I was finally able to make big progress with outlining my novel, The Suicide Tree.
2️⃣ The Emotion Thesaurus by @writers_helping_writers_angela of One Stop For Writers and Rebecca Huggins Puglisi — Honestly, guys. By now, after all I say about this book, it should be sitting right next to you while you write. 😂 I cannot write without it. If you want to take your novel to the next level, then you need to have emotion, gestures, internal feelings, and everything that makes a character human.
3️⃣ A Writer's Guide to Characterization by Victoria Lynn Schmidt — I pored over this book and even bought the ebook to accompany it so I could find certain things quicker. The questionnaires and exercises for selecting male and female archetypes was a hit for me! 🙌 ➡️ Your turn! What are some books that changed you as a writer? I'm looking for books that specifically teach you how to do something outstanding as a novelist. 🤩

The face of a writer with a deadline 😂 I finished my edits for The 10 Commandments of Author Branding and just hit the send button to turn it in for proofreading with Megan Langston. Thank you to @vacca_territory_creamery for supplying me caffeine and to @g_air_e for answering my random questions with no context while I edited. ☕️☕️☕️☕️

Somehow, I managed to write another book. 😂 The 10 Commandments of Author Branding is due to the proofreader on July 13. Then off to formatting and back for another round of proofreading. I can’t wait for you all to read this one. ❤️

Man oh man. This one hooked me. I stayed up way too late reading this. Yes, I know it’s been around since 1971 and I know it isn’t factual, but it was still so good. I didn’t know anything about this book’s history until after I finished the book and researched it. I noticed that “Alice” would repeat the same words or phrases three times in her diary, which tipped me off that something wasn’t authentic here. Teenage girls don’t do that. I will admit I sat there dumbfounded after reading the last page that she had killed herself three weeks after getting her life right (again). Here’s the reality, you guys: This book is fictional, but the story isn’t. This happens, and I meet these girls every single Friday in the Oklahoma County Jail. Drugs beckon you, entice you, and draw you in like the live bait you are. If you fall into its grasp, it will take everything and more to release you. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

😱😱😱 Truly just a great page-turner from beginning to end. I grabbed this to read during the Fourth of July at the pool and zoomed right through it. My favorite Ruth Ware novel is The Lying Game, but In a Dark, Dark Wood was thrilling too. I will admit, I figured out the "aha!" moment quite soon and figured out who the real killer was early on. I rarely do that! I was so proud of myself. 😂 I could see how Ruth has morphed from a good writer here in her first novel to an outstanding one in her later novels. If you're looking for a thriller to read during a holiday weekend or on the beach, grab this one. You won't put it down.

Fact: I read newspapers to look for novel ideas. 🗞📰 The best ones are from itty-bitty no-name towns. I like to read the obituaries or the arrest records. If it works for John Grisham and Margaret Atwood, it works for me. 💁🏼‍♀️ What are some different things you’ve done to find novel ideas?

Let's have some fun! Makenzie Sparks wrote a blog post on my website today about traditional publishing and self-publishing and the pros and cons between them. Loved that article! Although it’s meant for beginners, I know I have plenty of veteran authors here. Here's the question you can answer in the comments:
❓Using 10 words or fewer, tell me why you're going the traditional route or the self-pub route. Here's mine:
😎 Self-pub: Complete creative control, no gatekeepers, supportive indie community! (Ha! I did it in 9!) Your turn!⬇️⬇️⬇️
(If you’re tagged on this photo, it’s because Makenzie and I recommended your books and websites to our readers in this article!)

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