# Blogging Ideas for Fiction Authors



## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

_"Many novelists fail to take full advantage of blogging as a promotional tool because they just aren't sure what to write about. With No More Blank Screen: Blogging Ideas for Fiction Authors, there's no more excuse for not blogging! This book is packed with practical advice to help novelists promote their books through blogging. Highly recommended."_
--Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer

*Blogging should never be a painful chore. 
*
"No More Blank Screen" contains over two hundred blog post ideas. The blog ideas and questions-to-ponder attempt to cover the full experience spectrum that is encountered along the path to publication and well beyond. Along with the blog ideas, the basics of blog creation is covered, plus special notes on guest blogging and avoiding the dreaded "pretentious" label.

Regardless if you are a new writer or an experienced author, "No More Blank Screen" can help you expand your blogging experience.

(About 9000 words / 25 pages)

$2.99

Amazon Link: http://tinyurl.com/3hugebj


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Krista-

Welcome again to KindleBoards and congratulations on your book!

(If you've gotten this welcome before, it's just as a matter of housekeeping. We like to put a copy of the "welcome letter" in each book thread. It doesn't mean you've done anything wrong, it just helps us know that you know the rules.)

A brief recap of our rules follows:

--We invite you to use your book cover as your avatar and have links to your book and website in your signature. Instructions are posted here

*--Please bookmark this thread (using your browser's bookmark/favorite function) so you can update it as we ask that authors have only one thread per book and add to it when there is more information.* You may start a separate thread for each book (or you may have one thread per series of books, or one thread for all of your books, it's your choice).

--While you may respond to member posts to your thread at any time, you may only bump your thread (back-to-back posts by you) once every seven days. Once you've responded to a member, that resets the clock to zero and you must wait seven days to post, unless another member posts before then.

--We ask that Amazon reviews not be repeated here as they are easy to find at your book link. Also, full reviews from other sites should not be posted here, but you may post a short blurb and a link to the full review instead.

--Although self-promotion is limited to the Book Bazaar, our most successful authors have found the best way to promote their books is to be as active throughout KindleBoards as time allows. This is your target audience--book lovers with Kindles! Please note that putting link information in the body of your posts constitutes self promotion; please leave your links for your profile signature that will automatically appear on each post. For information on more ways to promote here on KindleBoards, be sure to check out this thread:
Authors: KindleBoards Tips & FAQ.

All this, and more, is included in our Forum Decorum: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,36.0.html. Be sure to check it from time to time for the current guidelines and rules.

Oh, and one more thing: be sure to check out the index threads at the top of the Book Bazaar. . . .there are details there about how you can be listed so that our readers can find you.

Thanks for being part of KindleBoards! Feel free to send us a PM if you have any questions.

Betsy & Ann
Book Bazaar Moderators


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

I'm about to head out on vacation, so wanted to give a heads-up that the price of "No More Blank Screen" will remain at $2.99 until I return to the world of internet on June 28th, where the price will increase to $3.99.

You can purchase on Amazon and Smashwords (if you need other formats beyond kindle).

Thanks!


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Today is the last chance to get NO MORE BLANK SCREEN for the vacation sale price of $2.99!

Amazon linkage: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005455MSG?ie=UTF8&tag=writerin-20&linkCode=shr&camp=213733&creative=393177&creativeASIN=B005455MSG

Smashwords linkage: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/63977


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

bumpedity bump bump

I've raised the price of Blank Screen to its regular price of $3.99. However, it looks like Sony has been slow to update, so you can still grab it there for $2.99, but I have no idea for how much longer.

Thanks to everyone who has picked up a copy!

I know that the sample size on Amazon isn't the best, so you are welcome to check out the sample on Smashwords. I made it a fair bit bigger so that you could get a better feel for it.


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## Steve Vernon (Feb 18, 2011)

Great idea for a book, Krista!


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Steve Vernon said:


> Great idea for a book, Krista!


Thanks  I was getting asked a lot of questions about blogging over email and at conventions, and I thought I'd put together something to help folks out who were struggling.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Just a little bumpedity-bump-bump


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Here is a small snippet from NO MORE BLANK SCREEN. One of the problems I have with the LOOK INSIDE is that I can't get it to also pick up a middle section, so that folks can see it's more than just the information at the beginning.



> How Did You Come Up with That?
> 
> How does your tangled mess of ideas turn into the characters and stories your readers love? Readers are always interested in knowing how authors develop ideas, so share your story.
> 
> ...


c Krista D. Ball 2011


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)




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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

TODAY ONLY! Enter the coupon ZV57C on smashwords to get NO MORE BLANK SCREEN for $1!

Link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/63977


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Just giving this ye ol' bumpity-bump-bump.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Ye ol' bumpity-bump-bump


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

You know the drill


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Ye ol' bumpidity bump bump


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

You know the drill 

Just an FYI - there is a 25% off coupon buried on my website for smashwords. But, you have to look for it


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Updated Dec 27th -- Boxing Week Sale. 99 cents! on Smashwords and Amazon (who is dragging their feet updating it, but customer service said should be updated tonight)


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

4 star review on Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/63977

_Have something to help refresh the mind is useful...I also like how it shares some helpful advice _


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

New review on Amazon 



> I really like how this book is laid out, it has gave me some really good ideas. I never thought of posting my contact information until this book. Regardless of what genra you write there this book will help. It's also a very quick read which is great for a busy author these days.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Sometimes I feel really awkward bumping these things and I can pretend to be all smary, but really I'm just ye ol' bumping 

and thanks! I would get asked a lot about how I came up with ideas. My blog doesn't get a lot of comments; instead it tends to generate conversation elsewhere like on Twitter and Facebook. I'm not sure why it works out like that, it just does. But I get asked a lot about how I come up with ides or what to blog about. I decided to do the guide. It's not long (maybe 9000 words), but it doesn't prattle much. Just explained how to blog and what to blog about without annoying people


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

4 star review on Amazon:


> The bottom line is that I don't think I am in the target market (I have a hard time believing people aren't interested in everything I have to say) and I got a little bit out of it so I think if you are in the target market, you'll get a lot of out it.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

All right, I don't have anything really clever to add here today


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

A little treat. Pick up a copy of No More Blank Screen from Smashwords and you can have 25% off with coupon WT79M


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## Sean Patrick Fox (Dec 3, 2011)

This sounds like a helpful little reference guide. I'm not a huge fan of blogging, but I've accepted that it's something I need to do to help become a successful author (apparently waiting for one of the big six to give me a million dollar advance and favorable royalty rates is not realistic. Who knew?).


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

You can read the beginning on Smashwords (the Amazon clip is way too short), where I talk about if you actually need a blog. Blogs don't work for everyone, so it's important that a person is blogging for the right reasons - namely, they like it or want to try to get better at it.

The guide works if you want to do exclusively guest blogging, as well. So either having people come in to your blog, or you only ever posting on other people's. There's a handful that can be turned into week-long panel discussion-style posts, too.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Don't have any new reviews, but thanks to everyone who's picked this up and have let me know it helped them!


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

*Get NO MORE BLANK SCREEN for $2.00 on Smashwords until March 10! Use Coupon Code RM88S (Amazon price change for sale is delayed, so not sure when it will update)*


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Sale is over, but it's still a great little guide


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Giving away 3 review copies. Get in while you can! offer expires next Tuesday


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

So it looks like Amazon decided it was time for me to run a sale    NO MORE BLANK SCREEN is on sale for I have no idea how long at $2.99! 

I also updated the format last night, since I got some feedback that the first two pages were a little off for those reading on Kindle PC.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Just a little bump. The pricing matching sale will probably end this week, since I'm updating the prices on Smashwords.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)




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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

No new reviews, but just wanted to pop this up in case anyone was looking for something to help with blogging


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Just wanted to give a little bump


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

This week only~~~ *Back from vacation $1.00 sale!*

On Smashwords and Amazon (I just updated Amazon's pricing, so it might not go live for a couple hours).


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

I've decided to keep the price at 99 cents.

It's been a tough decision because I actually sell *less* at that price (I know, weird!). But over the last year, people have been wonderfully supportive of the guide and it's helped a lot of people. It's made back my investment, so I want to lower the price for those who couldn't access it at the higher price.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Just a little bump for anyone needing help with blogging


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## CaitLondon (Oct 12, 2010)

Super Title. I worry about my blog sounding like a lesson.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

CaitLondon said:


> Super Title. I worry about my blog sounding like a lesson.


That was one of the reasons I wrote the booklet. A lot of people were struggling with blogging and had been asking me for help. So, put together a getting started primer. It's mostly all ideas, organized into sections, with ways to bring in guest posts, opposing arguments, etc.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Huh:



> Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,824 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
> #61 in Books > Computers & Technology > Home Computing > Blogging & Blogs
> #89 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Reference > Writing > Writing Skills


Go little book go!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Congrats, Krista!  Do you think a non-author who should get her blog restarted would benefit from your book?  

Betsy


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

It is focused on writers and books (a lot of book reviewers have also found the book helpful, especially if they are interviewing a lot of authors...they've been able to find ideas for guest posts!). So, hmm can a non-writer, non-book related blog use this? That's a really good question. 4 sections are completely non-writer related; they are about random things, books, movies, and weird facts about yourself, as opposed to writing-specific.

Let me see if it converts (picks a very author-centric example):



> The Subjective World of Quilting
> 
> We quilters talk a lot about the rules of quilting almost as much as we talk about how we break them. There are some universally accepted rules, such as never be boring. Others are more along the lines of personal decisions, opinions, and what works best for our lives as quilters.
> Explore these differences because they are what make us all unique.
> ...


I'm rather shocked that some of those converted rather well to quilting!!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Hmmm...I might need to get it.



> The Subjective World of Quilting
> 
> We quilters talk a lot about the rules of quilting almost as much as we talk about how we break them. There are some universally accepted rules, such as never be boring. Others are more along the lines of personal decisions, opinions, and what works best for our lives as quilters. -- *This is sooooo true of quilters.*
> Explore these differences because they are what make us all unique.
> ...


What did number seven originally say?

As for the rest:
8. What are the popular word counts of your genre?--_This could be what are the popular sizes of art quilts?_
9. What is the current news on your genre? Some examples include female authors in hard SF, female characters in Fantasy, erotica is not porn, and so on.--_This one definitely translates._
10. Writers have their own terminology. Post a glossary for your readers._Also translates/_
11. How do you show emotion in your work?--_This translates for art quilts._
12. How do you make your dialogue realistic?--_OK, maybe this one doesn't translate...._
13. How do you choose when to listen to feedback?--_This one definitely translates._
14. What are your top five things to do before submitting a story?--_This one definitely translates--I would say before sumitting to a show._
15. Do you believe new writers should have short story publishing credits?
16. Do you believe it's important to read widely in different genres?--_This works, too..._
17. Post a writing-prompt idea. _ This could be a quilt challenge...._

Bonus: Make a contest out of a writing prompt, where the winner gets a micro piece of fiction written for them by you or perhaps a small prize such as an Amazon gift certificate.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Hmm, it didn't copy right; here is the original:


The Subjective World of Writing

We fiction authors talk a lot about the rules of writing almost as much as we talk about how we break them. There are some universally accepted rules, such as never be boring. Others are more along the lines of personal decisions, opinions, and what works best for our lives as writers.
Explore these differences because they are what make us all unique.

1. List five things that spark your creativity.
2. What is your favourite sense to include in your works? How do you use it?
3. What is your opinion on fan fiction?
4. Do you let your manuscripts "sit"? (Not sure what I mean? Many authors swear by letting their work sit untouched/unread for a period of time, be it a week or a month, and go work on something else. Then, after the period is up, they come back and re-read the work. Many authors feel it helps them gain separation from the story, ensuring stronger editing.)
5. How can a new writer develop good habits? How did you develop your writing habits?
6. What is it like diving into a new novel?
7. How do you get to know your characters?


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Hmmm...I might need to get it.
> 
> What did number seven originally say?
> 
> ...


Wow, ok, it really does translate better than I thought! Perhaps I should make a quilting one, a crochet one, a knitting one...


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I'll tell you what, I'm going to pick it up and check it out for myself...and maybe you just need to market it as "not necessarily just for authors who blog..."  

Betsy


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Yes, but making a million varieties of it would be a lot of fun, too


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Just a little bump. Didn't have anything to report, other than thanks to everyone who bought No More Blank Screen in June; it was the book's 3rd highest month! (behind Month 1 and Month 2). So it's greatly appreciated.

If you read it and enjoyed it, please take a couple moments to write a review. If you hated it, please take a couple of minutes to write a review that says "udder crap" in it  

If you have any ideas for an expanded edition, please feel free to let me know. I've been pondering that, perhaps, it could use an expansion.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

A new review:



> I found a lot of resources for non-fiction writers, but this is the first guide I have come across that actually lists A LOT of workable and realistic blogging ideas for fiction writers. Also, reading the different ideas helped me to brainstorm several of my own topics. Thank you Ms. Ball for publishing this guide. It is exactly what I was looking for.


 -Amazon


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

I'm going to be raising NO MORE BLANK SCREEN to $2.99 this week. I openly admit it's due to the Amazon royalty cut off. I find it frustrating to hand over so much money to Amazon. So it you want to pick up a copy, do it now!


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

A bump. The book is back to $2.99, but if you're looking for blog ideas it's still a good price for you


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Here is a little section from the book:


Quirky Habits

All authors have them. Superstitions, brain processes—whatever. They exist. Share them. Even if the only people reading your blog are related to you, they still probably don’t know the ins and outs of your writing brain. Let us in on your secrets.

1. Do you play-act scenes while writing?
2. Do you imagine movie stars in the film version of your books while you write?
3. Do you visualize a cover, a movie, the length of the book before writing?
4. Do you type your stories or use the old-fashioned notebook?
5. Do you do character profiles before writing a story? 

Bonus: Have you ever used a movie scene to spur your creativity for a scene or to work out a battle technique? 
Discuss the clip and share how it inspired you to develop your own scenes or work.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Just a bit of a bump. No new reviews to report


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Still no reviews  

As Betsy and I showed earlier, the book is a good choice for those who wants to blog, even if you aren't a writer.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Holding steady


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Huzzah! A lovely review: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2U3TVT6HEMZ1B/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B005455MSG&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=



> She tells how to craft a blog, what one CAN include and things that one SHOULD (and shouldn't!) include in blogs. A little bit of humor is there in perhaps the exaggeration of what NOT to blog about, but such practical advice. Do read it for yourself and I think you'll find yourself smiling at least once or twice while she's getting her points across! And she gives so many GREAT ideas for jump-starting a blog whenever a writer comes to a day when he or she thinks there's nothing (or nothing more) to write about. THANK YOU, KRISTA, for sharing down-to-earth details and ideas of how to create and maintain a fiction writer's blog!!!


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

I dropped the price to 99 cents for October only. I'm participating in a couple of promos, so I decided to keep it at that price for the month.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Not much longer for 99 cents


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