Self Promotion 101: Pimp Your Fic

My parents raised two computer engineers, an apparel designer, a horticulturist, and me. And what did I, the English major, end up doing when I grew up? Mostly sales and marketing, but I’ve always dreamed of being a published fiction writer. Twenty-five years ago I read a book that said if you write your dreams down, they will come true. So, I did. And I waited. Then I waited some more. Nothing happened. Then, about a year ago, we got a Netflix account and before I knew it, I got sucked into the Fox drama ‘Bones’ universe. When the current season...

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Getting Over the Fear of Posting

First Post You’ve tossed the idea around in your head a thousand times. You’ve read dozen of fics; some made you afraid to try writing a story that could stand alongside it. Then there are those fics you wonder how the author ever thought to pass it off in your fandom! But you decide to take the dive. You come up with the best story plot ever! Or, at least it’s awesome to you. You’ve spent days writing the first chapter, using your favorite character as the hero and the worst characters as the villains. The Terms of Use and Guidelines have...

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The Top 10 Mistakes New Writers Make

A little less than five months ago, I sat in front of my laptop, nervously chewing on my fingernail, staring at the first chapter of my very first fic. It was ready to go — all I had to do was hit ‘Post New Chapter’. A series of doubts ran through my head as I hovered over the button, taking ragged breath after ragged breath. What if I misspelled a word? What if there’s a paragraph out of place? What are people really going to think of this chapter? Of this story in general? With one last sigh, I finally took the plunge, said screw it and hit...

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Fanfictionary

Wouldn’t it be nice if Webster came through, picked out all the confusing/foreign/ over-our-head fanfic terminology, and wrote up a special dictionary just for fanfic writers and readers to use? <insert dreamy sigh here> A girl can dream, right? I’m sure we’ve all wished for something to help decipher the sometimes-confusing jargon associated with a story at one time or another. While Webster may be in no hurry to help us out, there’s still some hope! I took to Twitter and Facebook to ask writers and readers alike what some of the most...

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