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www.writersmarket.com Subscribe In This Newsletter From the Editor Platform-Building Tips for Writers Write a Kick-Ass Novel! Writer's Digest Blogs What's Happening in Publishing Build a Bulletproof Platform Follow WD on Twitter 2012 Writer's Market Deluxe Edition Written by writers for writers and backed by 90 years of authority, Writers Market is the #1 resource for helping writers sell their work. LEARN MORE FROM THE EDITOR A writer platform is the second most important thing a writer can develop. The writing should always come first, because that's a writer's product and service. The better that writers write the better their offering to the world. But even as writers develop their writing skills, they need to develop their writing platforms. In today's changing media landscape and unlimited opportunities, it just makes sense for writers (and other professionals) to develop connections now.   In April, I led a 30-day challenge for writers to build (or improve) their writer platforms. Earlier this week, I collected the whole 30-day series in one post to make it easy for any writer to jump in and start building away.   Start making money with e-books! E-publishing guru Jane Friedman will lead the live webinar Do Your E-book Right and Start Making Money on May 17. Friedman will cover distribution services available to e-book authors, 3 essential factors that impact e-book sales, how to appropriately price e-books, and more. Click here for more details.   Until next we meet, keep writing and marketing what you write.   Robert Lee Brewer Senior Content Editor Writer's Market WritersMarket.com Follow us on Twitter Become a fan on Facebook Featured Workshop Blogging 101: How to Set Up and Effectively Manage a Compelling Blog Anyone can set up a blog—yes, even the least tech-savvy writer on the planet. That part is easy. The real challenge is making that blog compelling enough to build an audience, which will only benefit your other writing efforts. This 4-week course helps writers create and own their blogs. Click to continue. Featured Webinar 10 Elements of a Saleable Novel Today Anyone with enough patience can write a novel. That's the easy part. What complicates matters is writing a novel that sells—to agents, editors, publishers, and eventually readers. Bestselling author I.J. Schecter teaches writers how to transform their novel manuscripts into blockbuster novels. Click to continue. PLATFORM-BUILDING TIPS FOR WRITERS Here are the steps writers can take to build their writing platforms in 30 days. Each step represents a day. While using this list as an outline is helpful, I must emphasize that clicking on each link and reading each post thoroughly will provide you with so much more information and insight into how to complete (and optimize) each day's task. Also, go in order if you can help it, because it's in a certain order for a reason. Define yourself. There are questions every writer should ask before building a platform. Set your goals. Goals provide you a purpose and a finish line. A smart writer has long-term and short-term goals. Join Facebook. Even if you're already a member, this post shares some tips on how to improve your use of the popular social media site. Join Twitter. Again, optimization tips are included for Twitter users. Start a blog. It sounds like an important step—and it is—but it doesn't have to be painful. In fact, starting a blog is easy. Click to continue. Bookstore Writing Your Query Letter & Novel Proposal Independent Study Workshop How to Make Your Romance Hot Enough for an Agent Secrets to Getting Published Kit - Fiction 2nd Draft Writing Critique Services WRITE A KICK-ASS NOVEL! WRITER'S DIGEST BLOGS It's one thing to write a novel; it's something else to write a novel that creates a reader frenzy! The 10 Essentials for Writing a Kick-Ass Novel Premium Collection brings together six books, three webinars, and an independent study course—all at a deep discount! In fact, you'll save more than 70% when you order before supplies run out (less than 60—out of 100—available as of writing this newsletter).   This collection includes: How to Balance Showing & Telling Independent Study Story Engineering Novel Shortcuts The Writer's Compass Three OnDemand Webinars And More! Click to continue. WritersDigest.com is filled with great information, including its stable of blogs with new content added regularly. Here is a round-up of some recent postings: How I Got My Agent: Beatriz Williams Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 174 7 Ways to Write a Stand-Alone Book (With Series Potential) The 10 Commandments of How to Write a Thriller Poem Types: A List of Poetry Forms The Key to a Good Series Is Excellent Characters WHAT'S HAPPENING IN PUBLISHING Follow the latest publishing news you can use, updated daily, on our exclusive Market Watch feature, by senior content editor Robert Lee Brewer. Recent headlines include: F+W Media Launches New Young Adult Fiction Imprint With Bestselling Author: F+W Media, which has made a habit of launching new fiction imprints recently, has just added another one: Merit Press Books, a young adult imprint. Maybe even more surprising than the new imprint is who F+W snagged to head up the venture: bestselling novelist Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean. Newspaper Circulation Rises: In a report measuring 618 newspapers, daily and Sunday circulations rose. The most significant increases came on Sunday editions and digital. Time Is Magazine of the Year: Time magazine took home the top honor at the National Magazine Awards by winning Magazine of the Year. Keep checking Market Watch for all your publishing news. Missed a Market Watch item? Subscribers to WritersMarket.com can access a three-month archive of Robert Lee Brewer's Market Watch news.   Click to continue. BUILD A BULLETPROOF PLATFORM FOLLOW WD ON TWITTER As I mentioned above, building a platform is essential to a writer's success in the new publishing and media environment—whether you intend to publish with a traditional publisher or do it yourself. Luckily, Writer's Digest offers several resources for expanding your platform. Platform, the Backdoor Way, live webinar (with critique) from C. Hope Clark Get Known Before the Book Deal, by Christina Katz Author Social Media Kit (4 webinars and Katz's book) How to Use Social Media to Promote Your Writing and Yourself One of the great things about technology is that writers can find helpful information in several different places, including Twitter. By the way, click here to learn how to use Twitter to boost your writing income.   Follow the following Writer's Digest personalities to boost your writing and publishing IQ: Brian Klems Chuck Sambuchino Jessica Strawser Robert Lee Brewer Of course, you should be following @WritersDigest too!