Book Chat #6 – Nick Stephenson, James Scott Bell, and Rachel Aaron

I got a lot of reading done this weekend!

I finished SECOND DAUGHTER this past weekend, and sigh. I wish I didn't have other books I have to read before reading the final book in this series, FIRST DAUGHTER. First of all, I'm really glad the story continued where THIRD DAUGHTER left off and stuck with Aniri. I really love her and want even more Aniri stories in this world, so I hope this is not the last of the Dharian Affairs. This book was delightfully packed with action and adventure, love and loyalty. I often read it during lunches, while making dinner, any time I could fit in a few pages. So far, this series does not disappoint! Definitely check it out.

Supercharge Your Kindle Sales: Simple Strategies to Boost Organic Traffic on Amazon, Sell More Books, and Blow Up Your Author Mailing List (Book Marketing for Authors 2)
by Nick Stephenson

Lots of great ideas in this book! I'm maybe slightly dubious about the keywords (and if you do change your keywords, will it change what categories you're in?) because I've changed mine in the past with little effect. Nick provides great information on how to do this so I'm sure it works for other even if it doesn't work for me (or hasn't as of yet). The information on squeeze pages and newsletters is essential for all authors. Those sections are worth the money spent on this book! I can't wait to implement these features on my website early next year.

Write Your Novel From the Middle
by James Scott Bell

Wow. This is now my new favorite book on writing. If you love the Hollywood Formula but struggled with how to use it, this will put everything into sharper focus. I really loved all of the examples given, especially since I knew 80% of them by heart (Gone With The Wind, Lethal Weapon, Silence of the Lambs, being a few). They helped clarify the advice given.

What I found most helpful were the bullet points for plotters in Chapter 8, “Writing From The Middle.” I'm a pantster, and I've never written an outline, but it takes me FOREVER to write a book because I often get lost, then I have to fix my novel over several revisions. I've had an idea for a new novel brewing so I copied his bullet points into Evernote, and, over the past few days, I've been filling out what I want to happen. This was so helpful!! I have a better vision of my book going in than I have of any other book in the past. I'll still pants most of the actual writing, but hopefully this will speed me up, and make all the acts come together in just one revision, not five. I highly recommend this book!

2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love
by Rachel Aaron

The first half of this book is definitely the most helpful part. All of her advice on how to get in and write your work quickly make perfect sense, to the point where I read it and thought, “Duh! Why haven't I realized this before?” I can apply a lot of her ideas even though I'm a pantster, so it gets my vote there.

The second half of the book I mostly skimmed through. As much as I want to go into a novel with a clear picture of everything to happen, I usually get bored with an outline and research and then not want to write it at all! The magic gets lots for me in too much planning. So while I think it's great advice if planning is your thing, I didn't need any of it.