11) Short Stories

Short stories.

Short stories are a growing trend among all authors, new and published alike. While old publishing methods arguably did not favor production of short stories, new publishing practices with the advent of the eBook market (Here's lookin' at you Kindle/Amazon) are enabling all writers to produce and distribute short works to a massive audience. Here are some benefits of short stories:

Earning Potential: With the ability to put out multiple short stories within a short length of time, and sell them at a price that most full length novels are being sold for. Shorts offer a great way to make quick income. Per word, a short story can make more money than a novel. Shorts also offer multiple selling options. You could sell: Short 1, Short 2, Short 3. Three options right? Well consider a 4th option which won't cost you anything but a few extra minutes, sell a collection of the first three shorts as a value bundle. More often than not a reader will pick up the first short, and if they like it purchase the collection instead of individually buying the other two -which works out great for you, if you stop to consider what is actually taking place.

Bridge Between Novels: Alright, so you wrote Novel 1, and are getting to work on Novel 2. Meanwhile your loyal fans and ravenous readers are chomping at the bit to get at more of your work. To see other aspects of your world, and to be taken on more adventures. You can use short stories to sate the hunger of your followers while you type away at Novel 2, whether its to include short side stories or introduce other characters.

Networking: Short stories offer a great way for you to network with other writers and readers. You can use it to hook new readers onto your work, or to develop writing skills. Plenty of websites like Figment, and Wattpad service thousands upon thousands of new writers and offer readers looking for the next big thing a source to scour. (Shameless plug: Check out our new wattpad where we will be sharing shorts/flashfiction randomly. http://www.wattpad.com/user/WordsmithsFoundry)

Now go forth, and forge your story!
-Matt

If you liked this post, and like the blog, help us grow! Like, comment, share, tell everyone you know about this great blog and be part of a growing writer community. Follow each of us on Twitter! (@MattTaylor1776 and @derekdyer_WF) and NOW on Wattpad! http://www.wattpad.com/user/WordsmithsFoundry

6) Midweek Madness! NaNoWriMo ALERT! /*Writing Prompt*/

As some of you may know, November is the National Novel Writing Month, or, NaNoWriMo!

The website is here: http://nanowrimo.org/ (go check it out.) (seriously...) (do it.)

The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words or more before November ends. This year, we here at Wordsmith's Foundry, will be taking up the challenge! (I will definitely, I'm pretty sure Derek will be too... go comment on his stuff and tell him he best be doin' it. Wow I sound bossy today.)

The website is cool because it will show you writing groups in your region, give you a progress tracker, and when you finish you get a little pat on the back and a rah rah rah email (something cheery and encouraging, like a, YOU DID IT!)

I recommend that as November approaches, you start world building, or any outlining, now. By getting all of that out of the way, you will make the job of actually throwing 50k words onto paper a hell of a lot easier.

If you are interested, you can join us in this challenge. Visit the website for more details. If you like this post and this blog, comment below, and share. Let's nail NaNoWriMo, get your friends involved, your dog, your hamster, your mailman, everyone.

Now go forth beloved readers, and forge your story!

Matt

(Follow Derek and I on twitter! @MattTaylor1776 @derekdyer_WF)

/*Writing Prompt*/

Start world building for your NaNoWriMo project!

1) Writer Networking: Twitter

An essential part to success as a writer (if you are aiming to make any profits off your work) is networking, and growing your "base". There are many ways to network with other people who share your writing and reading interests: blogs (like this one), twitter, facebook, google+, figment, etc. My post today will be focusing on one key tool for networking, if you read the title you probably can already guess, Twitter. With millions of users active every. single. day.

Twitter provides a way to connect and grow your social network. By having a larger network, you improve the number of people who will see you talking about your work, be able to offer insight on writing, as well as insight on other activities you may enjoy.

The essential part to Tweeting is to keep your tweets relevant. If you are making a twitter to promote writing, make all of your tweets about writing. There are exceptions to this, you can always say "happy birthday" if you know it's someone's birthday. Or "Merry Christmas" around Christmas time, but you want to try and stick to your purpose for the "Twitter Machine" as much as possible. Oh, and follow EVERYONE. the more people you follow, the more followers you will get. Most people stick to a code of "follow for follow." Which is exactly how it sounds, you follow me? I follow you!

Now you may be wondering, "Matt, how do I get people I don't know to see these tweets?!", that is where the infamous 'hashtag' (#) comes into play!

There are a series of hashtags the writing community has developed to connect with other writers and readers. I have compiled a list of common ones for writing. You can simply add it to the tail end of one of your tweets. ie: "Tweet tweet tweet other bird noises tweet tweet, #1k1h #amwriting" -yes, it is that easy. If I can do it, you can too!

Here is the list:
#1K1H (write one thousand words in one hour)
#AmWriting
#AmEditing
#AmRevising
#CopyWriting
#EditGoal
#Editing
#IndieAuthor
#MyWANA (writer’s community created by Kirsten Lamb)
#NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month is held every November)
#RomanceWriter
#ScriptChat
#WIP
#WordCount
#WriteChat
#WriteGoal
#WriteMotivation
#WritersLIfe
#WriterWednesday
#Writing
#WritingBlitz
#WritingPrompt
#WritersBlock
#WroteToday
#WW

By following this simple piece of advice, you will be able to help grow your network and "base" easily, as long as you stick to it. Don't just do one tweet a month, try and stick to a schedule, like one or more every other day, or better yet everyday. This is really all I have to say about this! I am still learning new things everyday, and will be happy to spread the advice to all of you when it comes to my attention!

If you found this helpful, share it! Link it to your Facebook, blog, random forum, moms fridge, and your Twitter.

Add Derek and I while you're at it! I promise, we will follow back!
@MattTaylor1776
@derekdyer_WF

If you have any questions or your own insights to share, feel free to comment below!

Now go forth, and forge your story!

-Matt

P.S. I'm going to propose we start our own hashtag! just for the Wordsmith Foundry community! #Wordsmithing