Aspiring Authors, Get Your Writing Mojo Here.

I haven't posted on this thread for a while, I've been busy with end of the school year stuff, as I'm sure you all have been too.

I've posted about Nina Amir before and it seems that she has an ongoing platform devoted to nonfiction writers. I'm thinking about joining, but first I want to check out her free online webinar http://writenonfictionnow.com/landing/nfwu-teleseminars/ scheduled for July 8 at  5 pm PT/8 pm ET.


Also, I'm looking into starting a mastermind group for aspiring authors. PM me if your interested in joining.

I've been researching mind mapping programs this morning. I don't remember signing up for MindMeisters's email list, but apparently I did. They only offer 3 free boards before they want you to sign up. I like them, but not enough to pay a reoccurring fee. However Life Hacker has listed their top 5 picks. http://lifehacker.com/five-best-mind-mapping-tools-476534555. Take a look in the comments for useful feedback and suggestions for other programs. I haven't made my final choice yet, but I found two more lists. The first list contains several popular subscription programs. http://mashable.com/2013/09/25/mind-mapping-tools/. The second list touts the programs as all being free http://www.imdevin.com/top-10-totally-free-mind-mapping-software-tools/, but actually some of the programs offer limited services until you sign up for the plan. I haven't decided which one to go with yet. I'm still poking around at this point. I'm not sure if digital mind mapping is something I'm going to stick with, but I'm thinking about giving it a try.

Edit: I'm going with Coggle. It seamlessly integrates with Google (yeah, I'm a big Google fan). I've been parking my stuff on Google Drive, so it seems like the natural choice. It's free and just as good as the subscription programs from what I can tell. http://coggle.it/ It's my shinny new toy of the moment and a very useful tool in helping me get my ADD brain focused on where I need to go. There is a bit of a learning curve, but it wasn't too steep or I would have given up on the get go. Were talking idiot proof here, folks.

Random list of tutorials and resources:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/coggle/hbcapocoafbfccjgdgammadkndakcfoi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYaO7nrQvUE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzniw6I9c9w

Update:
I've pretty much put the entirety of my manuscript on Coggle. I'm a very visual person, so it has helped me  see the holes that need to be filled. I knew there were holes, but they were just floating around in my head. (he, he) This tool has allowed me to concretely see the next sections that need to be written and it has enabled me to see the branches that need to be pruned. As an added bonus, I can decide which sections I want to write. I don't have to rely on some nebulous concept that this or that has to be written today. I can just look at the empty Coggle branches, and know exactly what needs to be done next. It has proven to be a very invaluable tool.

Sidebar:
I added Coggle as an app to my Google Drive and promptly forgot about it. (Duh.) Today, when I was scrolling through recent documents, there were my Coggles. I'm lovin' this new tool!

BTW - It can be a very useful tool for those of you who teach writing. (I'm going to introduce it to my team when the new school year kicks off.)

Here's a podcast that I've been following for a few months. They usually have some good guests on. They're on hiatus for the summer but will return soon.
http://bookmarketingtools.com/blog/

Another podcast I listen to on a regular basis is http://publishingprofitspodcast.com/. I don't recommend that you sign up with his publishing company, as he takes 50% of your profits for the first 3 books you write, and offers very little in return. However, he does have some fairly knowledgeable guests on and he cranks out new content weekly, so hats off to to him for that.

Another cool tool:
Recently, I ran across Bublish. http://bublish.com/ Bublish is a really cool platform for already published authors, as it offers snippets from your book and then the story behind the story. Keeping that concept in mind, I've decided to randomly compose behind the scenes stories by creating comments in Google Docs, which is where I park my content. I think it is a good habit to get into, as it will provide a plethora of material for future use. There is some talk about providing another Bublish tool for authors who are still in the writing phase, but that probably won't be rolled out for a few months yet.

For all you non fiction writers out there, November is NaNonFiWriMo.
It's a challenge conducted on the honor system to start and finish a work of nonfiction in 30 days—any work of nonfiction. If you meet your goal, you get the personal satisfaction of knowing you did so—and a manuscript, or maybe several manuscripts, with which to pursue publication.
http://writenonfictionnow.com/about-write-nonfiction-in-november/wnfinnanonfiwrimo/

Yeah! I'm doing it too!

I'm active on the China boards, you? Anyway, I'll PM ya. 

The landscape of publishing is changing. The Sell More Books Show does a pretty good job of keeping up with the trends.

http://sellmorebooksshow.com/episodes/

I've decided to put Amazon on the shelf in favor of going with Smashwords. They have an enormous distribution base.

http://www.smashwords.com/distribution

Their formatting is bit finicky, but IMHO well worth it, as I'll be able to tap into a worldwide audience once I land a spot in the premium catalog. Fortunately, my editor has agreed to take on the job of formatting which is freeing me up to focus on creating content for the next book and literally being stuck in this two mule desert city with next to nothing to do is an added bonus (I guess). 

If I was still in Chengdu, I would be too distracted to write. There would be too much galavanting around to do. 

Well, here's the long and short of it. I finally finished my book. When I went to fivver I found someone to format it for both Smashwords and Amazon for only $5. I uploaded it to Smashwords about 3 days ago and have done next to no marketing. To be honest, marketing isn't my strength, but I suppose I'm going to need to hustle at some point down the road. Right now, I'm more interested in wrapping up the school year and start the editing process for book two. You can preview my book over at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/544375

Well, here's the long and short of it. I finally finished my book.

 

Thanks AMonk. 

If there's some mojo going around, I'd wouldn't say no.

For two years now I've been writing the same no-story. Nothing happens. And then one day I was like, screw this, that boring central character guy, refusing to change, imma kill him. So I start pushing him around, start putting him right in the middle of harm's way. Of course, he does what he can to get away, and holy crap, I have like a nearly-story happening here, this is actually interesting.

Yeah so then he was in a place he's just not getting out of on his own. He was going down. His health was zeroing out and no power ups available. He was dead, man. Game over.

But I let him out. The story force killing him just stopped and went home. Sure, there could be a reason for that and it could be explored in some actually storylike way buuuuut nope. Bored already. That's the same old no-story coming back and pffft. Where's the mojo now?