ARCHIVE FOR Crystal King

Writing Rules That Were Made to Be Broken

Think in Terms of Guidelines, Not Rules

There's a distinctly rebellious air about the Muse and the Marketplace Conference this year. Come April 6-8 at Boston's Park Plaza, #Muse18 presenters will be letting loose on the writing rules that have held our manuscripts hostage for far too long. To kick off the conversation ahead of the Muse weekend, this year's Muse series explores the writing, publishing, and workshop rules, conventions, and accepted norms that authors, agents, and editors at the Muse love to hate—and why they'd love to see them broken. Some presenters will also offer their own rules or conventions that ...

March 28, 2018 | Crystal King

The Socially Savvy Author

Facebook's Recent Changes -- What it Means for Authors

Last month Facebook implemented new changes in their ever-changing algorithm, this time with the intention to counteract a few things: unhealthy Facebook addiction and ongoing problems with Russian influencers, both brought on by passive consumption of material

February 23, 2018 | Crystal King

The Writing Life

The Socially Savvy Author

How Authors Can Rock 2018 Using Social Media For Book Marketing

It's a new year and what better time to think about how you can do things differently when it comes to marketing your book online. These eighteen tips will help you put your best foot forward, right from the beginning.

January 26, 2018 | Crystal King

The Writing Life

The Socially Savvy Author

Gifts for the Socially Savvy Author (or Those Who Want to Be)

It's that time of the year when we're all decking the halls, turning up the holiday music and biting our nails about the perfect gifts to give.

If you know an author with a book out or a book in the works, then chances are they are also trying to figure out how to boost their social media presence to reach more readers. Forget the coffee mugs and sharpened pencils...this year give them the gift of bettering their digital platform.

December 1, 2017 | Crystal King

The Writing Life

The Socially Savvy Author

DIY Social Media and Blog Content for Authors

In the last few years we've seen a huge shift away from text toward visual imagery dominating social media. Sharing a text blurb isn't often enough anymore. Much of the reason for this has to do with retention. Brain Rules author John Medina tells us that "we are incredible at remembering pictures. Hear a piece of information, and three days later you'll remember 10% of it. Add a picture and you'll remember 65%." It's part of the reason that Pinterest took off and why Instagram is hot right now. But for an author whose primary ...