Capture Ideas with Evernote

E is for Evernote, the universal-platform note-keeper. I first found out about Evernote on the forums for Getting Things Done, the book by David Allen, but it wasn't until I added my iPad and iPhone to my tech gagetry that I became a convert.

So for that reason, I suggest that Evernote is perhaps not the best choice for those who don't own a smartphone and/or tablet. You just won't get as much out of the "on the fly note-taking" (though you still may appreciate the syncing). But if you do? Holy cow. I just started using it three months ago when I became an iPad owner, and well...let's  say now I understand the hype.

In Evernote, you can sync across every device you own: PC, Mac, Android—doesn't matter. You can even access your own notes via the web. And you can make darn near anything a "note..." Want to record something? Go ahead. Have a handout at that meeting? Touch the camera icon and snap a photo of it. And of course, you can just take notes, too.

If you're like me, the muse sometimes strikes in really inconvenient places, and the perfect line of dialogue or the exact image you need to make the transition that's had you stuck for weeks pops up when you least have the ability to wrangle it. But now, if you want to jot some of your WIP on the subway, you can do so, and let it sync back up with your laptop or desktop when you next have a good connection. Or if you see a billboard with the perfect embodiment of your main character, just snap a photo.

You can organize your notes into notebooks, or let them float free, since Evernote has a fantastic search tool, as well. You can even take photos of text and make it searchable.

Best of all, the basic service, which gives you all most people would ever need, is completely free.

I use it for taking notes on data for my students, for jotting down ideas that come to me about my WIP, or for crafting whole scenes on the go. Although I prefer to write in Word and Scrivener, I know some novelists who write their entire novels on Evernote and use the notebooks to organize their ideas.

I'll stop, before I sound any more like an ad (seriously, I love this program), but this is one of my writers' tools that I'm glad I dove into, and which I can't imagine living without again. I encourage you to give it a try.

Evernote

This month I'm participating in the A-Z blog challenge. My theme is "writer hacks," or 26 shortcuts you can do as a writer to get the most out of writing and the journey toward and through publication. Find out more about it at a-to-zchallenge.com, and hop around to read the other cool blogs that are part of the challenge!

Make Your Desk Environment Work

My D writer hack is for Desk Environment. If you're serious about writing, you're probably spending some reasonable amount of time writing each day. Given that, it's helpful to take the time to make your desk or other writing space work for you. 

Some things to think about:

• Ergonomics. Yes, writing curled up on the couch with your cat and a cup of coffee feels nicely indulgent. But it can be hell on your back. One of the better investments I ever made was in a decent desk chair with a mesh back and adjustable everything, so that I could set it to exactly what I need to write. Since I freelance for extra money, write with hopes of publication, and 
• Appearance. What's appealing to you? No two people like the same environment. Do you need sun? Color? A plant? Room for the cat? You'll spend time in your writing area (one hopes), so make it visually appealing.
• Organization. Yech, I know. But my favorite definition of "organized" is that organization means that you know where everything is—even if its place is "In the middle of the giant stack on the left." Are you a super type-A  like me who needs a step file sorter and an inbox/outbox to feel like a pro? Or do you thrive on the chaos of balled-up papers from the last round of edits and a few leftover cups of coffee? Think about what you need and create it. 
• Supplies/Reference. I do academic writing, freelance work, and fiction writing from my desk. So one thing I've done for myself is keep all the necessaries at hand—a shelf above my desk holds dictionaries, style guides, and notebooks for all my WIPs, and a full bookshelf within arms' reach has two shelves of books on my academic discipline, and a full shelf of writing books (as well as supplies and knicknacks and whatnot). Maybe all you need is the dictionary on your computer and room for a big mug of coffee. Or maybe you need a fifth of vodka for those times your characters are getting out of hand. Whatever it is you need, keep it close at hand.

One of the best things about having a good desk environment is that when a place is appealing to write, you'll write in the same place—and when you write in the same place, the mere act of sitting down there can literally fuel you to write. When I plunk down in my desk chair, I know I mean business...and that's a helpful mode to get myself into.


And lest you assume from this post that I must be a complete Type-A neatnik--a photo of my writing space in its usual "in use" state.

Some desk inspiration for you: Lifehacker's Featured Workspace Page. Or check out this post by Kendall at Blogging for YA about Judy Blume's envy-inducing writing space!

Do you have a favorite thing about your writing area?  Or is there one you lust after?


This month I'm participating in the A-Z blog challenge. My theme is "writer hacks," or 26 shortcuts you can take as a writer to get the most out of writing and the journey toward and through publication. Find out more about it at a-to-zchallenge.com, and hop around to read the other cool blogs that are part of the challenge!

Use Children's Nonfiction for Research

The C writer hack is for Children's Nonfiction, or Using Children's Nonfiction for Research

This is one of my absolute favorite writer hacks, one I discovered while researching some history for fanfiction. I needed the information, but I didn't want to spend forever hunting it down and reading some dissertation on my topic just to write a fanwork.

So I took a shortcut. I headed to the children's section.

Children's nonfiction is a great place to start for story research. Not only is it appealing and quick to read, it is often full of illustrations and the kinds of fun, interesting factoids about life as a 17th century peasant/ police officer/ child of a president (to name a few that I've looked up) that really allow your writing to pop. And if it turns out to not be quite enough information, just check the index in the back for that book's source material—you can always grab the sources if you need more.

DK Eyewitness Children's Nonfiction


This month I'm participating in the A-Z blog challenge. My theme is "writer hacks," or 26 shortcuts you can take as a writer to get the most out of writing and the journey toward and through publication. Find out more about it at a-to-zchallenge.com, and hop around to read the other cool blogs that are part of the challenge!

7 Things a Writer Should Do at The Bookstore

One of my favorite indie bookstores, Kramerbooks.

B is for Bookstore, or specifically, 7 Things a Writer Should Do At The Bookstore.

If you're a writer serious about publication, whether trade or self-publishing, there is no better place for you to spend a good amount of time than your bookstore. I spend a ton of time in mine—I work there! And all those hours gives me some insight into what kinds of things have been insanely helpful in my own understanding of publishing and bookselling more generally.

1. Go beyond the bestsellers. Most people wander into a bookstore and mostly browse the bestellers or the books that are on co-op (the endcaps and tables—those are mostly paid promotional spots that are figured into a book's marketing budget). If you'd like to really get a broad view of what's being published, you have to dig a little deeper. One easy place to look is in a new release area for a given section. These are often constantly being updated with new titles as they come out, and frequent visits will open your eyes to books you might not hear about otherwise.  
2. Look at covers. This is more helpful for the self-publishing authors out there, but sometimes it can be helpful for trade published authors as well, if for no other reason than to feel comfort about the cover designed for their title. Booksellers can often tell from a cover what genre a book is and what demographic it's geared for, and readers, can, too. It's important to have a sense of what covers for books like yours look like.  
3. Check out the spine-out books. Yes, faced-out books and books on a promo rack, endcap, or table are eye-catching. But a lot of more interesting information about the publishing industry is to be seen in the spine-out titles. How many copies of each book are there? Are the books like yours mostly bought in onesies and twosies, or do they have huge stacks? Is the section dominated by a few authors? This information can be valuable as you think about what your goals are on your publication journey. (And again, you'll probably find some neat titles you weren't aware of!)
4. Figure out your genre. Some authors have trouble categorizing their books, or insist their books defy categorization (almost always not true). The advantage of being in a bricks-and-mortar bookstore is that you can physically walk through the different genres. Where are the books like yours shelved? What is the sign on top of their shelf? This will at least give you a broad place to start.
5. Ask about sales. Technically, most booksellers aren't supposed to talk about sales. But almost all of us do. Exact numbers are often taboo, but you'll get information about what titles are flying out the door versus ones that sell more slowly. It's never a good idea to try to catch a trend in publishing—you'll be a couple years behind the curve, more than likely, but again, it can help with your own goal-setting.
6. Write. Bookstores are great places to huddle up with your laptop and just soak in the inspiration. I think it leeches out of the books. So find a good place to plug in and do so. But don't forget to...
7. Buy books! I'm of the firm belief that no matter how much ebooks explode, the continued existence of bricks-and-mortar bookstores is important for authors. Many online book sales are still originating in bricks-and-mortar stores. So while you're there, don't forget to support the store by buying a new title or two. Even better if it's a local independent bookstore.

Writing can be a solitary endeavor. So every now and again, hit up your bookstore, for the social aspect and the knowledge both. And have fun!



This month I'm participating in the A-Z blog challenge. My theme is "writer hacks," or 26 shortcuts you can do as a writer to get the most out of writing and the journey toward and through publication. Find out more about it at a-to-zchallenge.com, and hop around to read the other cool blogs that are part of the challenge!

Use Amazon to Find Great Comp Titles

First of all, welcome to my rendition of the A-Z Blog Challenge! Blogging from A-Z is all about getting words out there, every single day. As this is probably my biggest struggle as a writer, I'm all about it. Plus, I can't wait to make some new friends in the blogosphere. So welcome to my blog, and let me say now I'm looking forward to visiting yours!

The A-Z Blog Challenge was started by Arlee Bird, and as such, since today is "A," we're all giving him a shoutout. It's a phenomenal idea, has only steamrolled into a larger and larger community with each year, and I'm happy to make this year my first year participating. Thank you, Arlee, for creating such a fun challenge! You can check out Arlee's blog at Tossing It Out.  


My other A for today is Amazon. Or specifically, How to use Amazon to Find Comp Titles. If you're like me, you've heard a lot about comps: pick a good one, don't use a mega-bestseller, find one that reasonably represents what you write, but isn't such a precise match that an agent or publisher will think your book has already been written.

And if you're like me, this left you scratching your head. How on earth are you supposed to find a book that meets all those criteria?

Well, we have a super, free, and easy to use comp title resource in Amazon. The guys and gals over there spend all their days aggregating data—who says they should be the only ones who get to mine it?

Here's how to do it.

1. Find a book you've read that's somewhat like yours.
2. Check the "Customers Also Bought" links at the bottom of the page. Most often, these are going to be books in the same genre. Read their summaries, download a sample of the ebook to your tablet if you have one to check out the writing style, etc. BUT DIG DEEP! The first few books in this pile will be the books everybody is reading; those mega bestsellers that don't do you a lot of good as a querying author—as much as my books might be like John Green's, I don't want anyone to think I've  put on airs about how big I think I might sell. So click through three, four screens until you see books you haven't heard of before. Check *those* out. 
3. Check the sub/sub/sub genre. These days, Amazon thrives on metadata. (See a great post by agent Kristin Nelson on that here.) You'll see books being ranked as #1...but in Romance > Cowboy > Billionaire > With Pet Dragon > Who Turns Into Human. It seems silly, but it's a huge boon to you. Go to the lowest part of that sub-genre of a book, and see what other books are there with it. Then back up a level (to "Billionaire" in my fake example), and check out the books there. The more detailed you go in the hierarchy, the more likely you are to find books that are close to yours...and ones that not everyone on the planet has heard about, but which nonetheless have decent sales. 
4. Look at the person who wrote the most popular review. You can say a lot of very valid bad things about Amazon reviews. But one great thing about them is that prolific reviewers often review in the same genres, because that's what they like to read. So find the most popular review, or the review you agree with most, and click on "See This Person's Other Reviews." Boom. More comps. 
5. Hit your library. If you're made of money, great. Go ahead and add these cool books to your cart and click "purchase" (or load them on your e-reader). But if you're of more modest means like most of us, add them to your cart...and then print your cart and hit your library's website instead. You don't need to own your comp titles, and you don't even need to read all of every single one of them...you just want to find books that are enough like yours that you can lift them up as good examples.

So have fun, but be careful...looking for comp titles is sure to land you a new favorite author or two.  Happy hunting!



This month I'm participating in the A-Z blog challenge. My theme is "writer hacks," or 26 shortcuts you can do as a writer to get the most out of writing and the journey toward and through publication. Find out more about it at a-to-zchallenge.com, and hop around to read the other cool blogs that are part of the challenge!