JOANNA ELM, Author, Journalist, Attorney
The Pleasures and Perils Of A Writing Life
I discovered something about authors and social media this week — at least if my writers group in Palm Beach is anything to go by: A) Every author knows he/she must have some sort of presence on social media. B) Some authors have a social media presence, engage with it and enjoy it. C) Most simply don’t know what to do with the social media accounts they have signed up for. Continue reading “Social Media For Authors: Choose Your Poison”
Serial-killer thriller author, J.D. Barker is the latest writer to become a James Patterson co-author. Evidently, working with the world’s #1 bestselling author is rubbing off on him. J.D. has become a writing machine this year.
The Fifth To Die, the second offering in the Fourth Monkey (4MK) trilogy was published this summer. Dracul, the prequel to the Dracula series which J.D. was commissioned to write by Bram Stoker’s family is to be released on October 2, 2018. The novel was inspired by notes kept by Bram Stoker, the author of the original, classic novel, Dracula. It is co-authored by Dacre Stoker, Bram’s great grand-nephew. Continue reading “How Author J.D.Barker Nails The Rules For Writing Suspense”
You may not be instantly familiar with the name A.J. Finn. But I bet you’ve heard of his book,The Woman In The Window ? Yep, that’s the one that catapulted straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list the week it was published. Okay, now you know the one I’m talking about, right? The NYT one-liner description of this psychological thriller is: “A recluse who drinks heavily and takes prescription drugs may have witnessed a crime across from her Harlem townhouse.” Continue reading “How A.J. Finn Landed At #1 On The New York Times Bestseller List”
They’re called plot twists. You’ll recognize them almost immediately because one minute you’re reading, happily turning the pages faster and faster, and then suddenly, wham! You have to read the sentence again. You re-read the paragraph. You go back a couple of pages, and you think to yourself: WTF? What just happened? Continue reading “8 Great Thriller Plot Twists — Why 4 Of Them Are Perfect”
Most indie authors grapple with the all-consuming issue of how to stand out from the crowd by creating memorable content and sufficient “buzz” for their self-published novels. Of one million books published a year, some 700,000 are self-published. Very few indie authors reach sales in the thousands, and fewer still break even after costs for giveaways and promotions and advertising are taken into account. A recent article by author Nicole Dieker (on the website of publishing industry expert, Jane Friedman) attested to just how disheartening statistics for self-published authors can be. Continue reading “Before You Hit The “Publish” Button: An Indie Author’s Checklist”