Happy Friday SEers! It’s the beautiful month of May, a great time to start a new writing project or dive into an existing one. To sharpen up the tools you employ with your author platform, be sure to check out this week’s posts:
Author Media Kit, Part 3—One Sheet and Biography by Staci Troilo and my post on Personality Types and Writers. As usual, the entire SE gang has been scoping out material on the web to bring you the brightest gems of the week. Take a look at what we’ve gathered:
- Create Conflict in Your Story (the easy way)
- Redundant Phrases (50 things to avoid writing)
- Suspense in Your Story (dramatic irony)
- Writing Humor (50 funny memes)
- Legal Advice for Authors (copyright info, use of song lyrics, etc.)
- Book Promo (infographic)
- Character Journey (make sure they earn their way out of trouble)
- Branding Multi-Genre Authors (tips for creating a cohesive brand)
- The Book Blurb (tips for creating effective back cover copy)
- Senses in Fiction (sight and sound)
- Tension (why you need it and how to add it to your story)
- Three-Act Structure (discusses screenplays, but it’s applicable to novels)
- Horses (Everything you need to know to craft a believable horse, plus equipment necessary for tending them. Bonus for fantasy writers—extrapolating personality traits for fictional beasts.)
- Endings and Rules (two infographics—one serious, one humorous)
- Get to know your Characters (A fun exercise to add human elements to your characters.)
- First Lines (Set the tone of your story. Plus plenty of examples.)
- Determining Who Your Protagonist Is (if you have it wrong, these tips will help you focus)
- Clichés (a long list plus reasons to avoid them)
- Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers (examples and corrections)
- New Amazon Buy Button Program Draws Ire of Publishers, Authors
***
Craig here. I’m known for trying new things, and I found a cool site to check out. It’s called Literature Map. It makes a cloud of similar authors when you search one of your favorites. Those of us at Story Empire are experimenting with it. The goal isn’t so much to be searchable as to be in the cloud when someone searches for, say Michael Crichton. Here is what Crichton’s cloud looks like:
It appears like you have to get enough supporters before it starts finding you. I’d appreciate anyone adding the Story Empire authors to the search engine. All you have to do is search for us and add us if we aren’t found.
If you leave us a comment, and your exact author name, I’ll add you too. Only fair, right? Here are the Story Empire authors, and mind the punctuation:
- C. S. Boyack
- P. H. Solomon
- Joan Hall
- Mae Clair
- Harmony Kent
- Staci Troilo
Here is the link to Literature Map. Have fun.
Story Empire 
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Fantastic resources! Thanks to you all. 🙂
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Our pleasure in sharing!
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Great list, as always. And that Literature Map is interesting. I’ve added all of you. I don’t have a book out yet, but I’m planning to go by J. M. Holmes when I get to that point. Have a great weekend!
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Thank you, Julie. If you’ll remind me when you publish your book, I’ll add you to Literature Map. I have no idea if it accomplishes anything, but it can’t hurt. I’m constantly trying new things.
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Thanks for adding us, Julie. We will be happy to do the same when your book is out. So glad you enjoyed the list!
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Reblogged this on Archer's Aim and commented:
Here’s the curated list of posts from Story Empire!
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Thanks, P.H!
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Reblogged this on Kim's Author Support Blog.
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Thank you, Kim.
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Thanks so much, Kim. Always appreciated! 🙂
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I shared this on Facebook. Great links. And I added you and C.S. Boyack to the literature map. But Dr. Seuss for Michael Crichton? Surprised me.
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Maybe they both came up with enough fantastic worlds. It may not accomplish much, but it gives us all something to play with today. Then again, it could lead to something.
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That you, Judi. That is an odd one, isn’t it? And I’m off to add you now 🙂
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Thank you!
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Good resources. Thank you.
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Thank you, John.
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I checked and you all are there.
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You’re a star! Gotta add you too 🙂
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I figured Craig would do it.
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Should mention, I added you too.
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Oooooh, Thank you.
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Our pleasure, John. Thanks for joining us!
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🙂
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Aside from Literature Map, there is some great content here this week. Gotta admit, I like the interaction this week too.
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Searched and found all six content writers! ~Bette A. Stevens, author
Thanks to all for sharing informative and interesting posts and resources her on Story Empire! 🙂
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Thank you so much for your support, Bette. And I’ve added you on Literature Map. Happy Friday 🙂
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Thanks you, Mae… XO
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Thank you, Bette. I also added you on Literature Map.
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Thank you, too! 🙂
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Great resources lads & lasses! ❤
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Thanks, Jan. We aim to please 🙂
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Reblogged this on Nesie's Place and commented:
It’s a writer’s wishlist! Check it out! 😉
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Thank you as always, for the reblog, Felicia. We appreciate the share!
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Wonderful list this week! The Legal Advice for Authors is spot on!
Voted for all SE authors on Literature Map – I’m Felicia Denise.
Enjoy the weekend! 😉
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I’m glad you found the content helpful, and thanks so much for voting for the SE authors on Literature Map. I’ve voted for you as well! 🙂
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You’re welcome, Mae and thank you too! 😉
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Thanks for sharing, and I added you to Literature Map.
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Thank you! 😉
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Reblogged on lizziechantree.com
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Reblogged this on Lizzie Chantree and commented:
Some great content for writers here. Literature Maps and more!
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Thank you so much for the reblog, Lizzie. And I’ve voted for you on Literature Map!
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Thanks Mae:)
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Reblogged this on Don Massenzio's Blog and commented:
Here is an excellent post from The Story Empire blog with curated content for writers and information on Literature Map.
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Thanks as always, Don! 🙂 And I’ve voted for you on Literature Map!
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You’re welcome. Thanks!
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Me too, Don.
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Another great, list this week, Mae (and team).
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Some great links I need to explore, and I love Craig finding Literature Map!
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I had never heard of this before, but It’s very easy to add an author to the Literature Map. You just type the name, then confirm it. Then you tick the box to confirm they are an author. Everyone from Story Empire comes up in the list together once you type in the first couple of names, so it only takes seconds. I will happily return the favour for anyone that adds me too.
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That’s neat. When we first started this, we didn’t come up in the same list. Thanks for the support!
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Lizzie, I added you. I think I did it correctly.
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Interesting post. I’m happy to add all of your names to The Literature Map. Mine is Lizzie Chantree. I would appreciate being added to the list too. Sounds like a great idea to me! I will pop there now.
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Thanks, Lizzie. Found you and added.
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Thanks Joan! Much appreciated. It was great to see all of your names together and easy to add you all too.
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Thanks for all of your support, Lizzie. We’re happy to share the support in return. LP does sound like a great idea!
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Thank you, Lizzie. I voted for you too. It may not accomplish much, but it can’t hurt either. It’s pretty easy to copy a name here and paste it over there.
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Thank you! Everything we can do to help readers find our work is worth a try.
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