101 Tips for Writers

We're celebrating our 101st post here on Book Pregnant with 101 tips for writers! Dive into our past posts for some great pointers, and look for more from all of us in the months to come.

1-9 Nine New Year's Not-Resolutions for Writers

• No one sticks to resolutions--but hopes for the new year? Sure. 

10 Stop Writing

• Sometimes the best way to move forward with your WIP is to walk away from the computer and stop writing. The best ideas and solutions may come when you're taking a drive or a walk, and you can listen to your imagination and not focus on your word count.

11 The Best Piece of Writing Advice-Thanks to My Mentor

• How to find your way back to the story in your novel.

12 The Next Big Thing

• Where do you find inspiration for your novel? Don't discount your own family history which can inspire your novel.

13 The Ghost of Novels Past

• Write What You Love! Love what you write, write what you love. 

14 What Cancer Has Taught Me About Writing And Living 

• Seize your passion and write your heart out. Laugh, love and live. Live deeply. Smell the salt air, caress the butterfly wing, stare into the October sky. The more you live, the more you will be able to write.

15 Write Naked

• The second book comes with a whole set of new pressures and it's hard to write from that gutted-open place once your first book is out in the world, but we have to figure out a way to write like no one's watching. 

16 Why Not All Books Should be 50 Shades of Grey 

• Although erotic fiction is, pardon the pun, hot right now, not all books should be titillating. Almost all people have sex, but that is not what every story is about. When writing you have to decide what is important to include and what is important to exclude. What would the point of view characters share? How would they experience that moment? Would they tell their secrets? 

17-20 Three Ways Non-Writer Job Skills Can Help as You Publish Your Novel 

• Did you have other jobs before you sold your book? So did most of us! Here are three ways you can apply the skills you learned in previous positions to your author career!

21 Getting Book Pregnant 

• Most writers don’t enjoy querying—but you can’t find an agent without this process and that means writing the dreaded query letter. REMEMBER a query letter is a tool and tools need to be USED to get a job done--so stop over working your letter and send it. 

22 So You Found An Agent? Yay! Welcome to Hell 

• Finding the agent is the least stressful part of the publishing process. 

23 Books, Blogs and BFFs: How One Thing Leads to Another 

• Once you have a concept for a book find a community of other "pregnant authors" to support you! 

24 Writers Write 

• When you're discouraged about rejection after rejection, remember why you're a writer! Writers write because they love to. So don't give up! 

25 Once You Sign With An Agent, The Wait Is Over (Oh, I Crack Myself Up!) 

• It may take a very long time, but the perfect agent for your book is the one who loves it and sees its potential as a saleable book in the current market. Keep trying, keep querying, and wait for that right agent. 

26 Being Unreasonable 

• It takes an unreasonable person to make the journey to publication. You must accept staggering odds, rejection, criticism, and bad reviews. And you must want it enough to persevere. As unlikely as it is, you must be unreasonable in order to succeed. 

27 Confessions of an Anxious Novelist 

• Anxieties on the eve of publication are normal.

28 The Importance of a Great Editor 

• A great editor can take your book and make it better in many ways. Trust her advice, but also trust yourself. 

29 Evolution Of A Book Cover 

• Get the Cover you want. Don't be afraid to push for the cover you like.

30-40 You’ve Sold Your Novel and Don’t Have ESP? Ten Things You Should Do ASAP

• A list of ten things you should do as soon as your novel is sold! 

41 Rabbit Test, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Me 

• Reasons why--or why not--to have a blog. 

42 Premature Delivery 

• Once a book is bought writers have less control than they think - make sure to find a community to support you! 

43 Setting Priorities on the Journey Towards Publication 

• You're finally published -- learn to put Amazon rankings, reviews and sales in perspective. 

44  Conquering My Fear of Book Presentations 

• Use your passion for your novel to get over your fear of public speaking. 

45-56 Writing Anxiety 

• Eleven tips for controlling your inner critic. 

57 DIY Promotion 

• How to promote your book without losing your mind. 

58 Book Baby Two 

• It’s very common for writers to have a weak second book; publishers refer to it as a ‘sophomore’ book. Some ideas for making that second, stressful pregnancy a success. 

59 The Waiting Game 

• Publication day will come and then you will have to find something else worth waiting for. 

60-70 Live Author Appearances 

• Ten Tips to Surviving A Book Signing 

70-73 And Now The Book Store Reading... 

• Three Ways to Survive A Book Store Reading

74-81 AUTHOR INTERVIEWS: Staple of the Blog Tour and Terror of the New-book Mother 

• Seven tips to help you through a blog tour.

82 A Debut Author Learns About Libraries 

• Don't forget the importance of libraries to your books success! Make sure to introduce yourself at your local libraries. 

83 On Being Nice 

• Be nice. Always good advice, but especially when your trying to spread the word about your book! 

84-89 How To Get The Crap Out of Your Book 

• 5 tips for editing the extraneous out of your WIP 

90 Why Does It Take So Long to Publish A Book Anyway? 

• Be realistic about the length of your journey. 

91 Blubs-What Are They Good For? 

• It's nice to have complimentary comments on the front of your book, but there's more to the picture than this. 

92 NEIBA and NAIBA & Independent Bookstores

• If you have an opportunity to go to one of the trade shows for booksellers, jump on it. This is an opportunity to meet the people who will sell your book. 

93-101 Writing The Reader's Guide 

• Eight tips to help you provide that extra-special something for your readers.

Thank you to everyone for following us through our birth pangs, we hope you'll continue on the journey with us as we learn more along the way - from second books to third books... and onward!