Author Archives: Jenny Hansen

About Jenny Hansen

Avid seeker of "more"...More words, more creativity, More Cowbell! An extrovert who's terribly fond of silliness. Founding blogger at Writers In The Storm (http://writersinthestormblog.com). Write on!

Writing Agreement # 1: Be Impeccable with Your Word

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Jenny Hansen

Turning Whine into Gold By Kathryn Craft, @KCraftWriter Last year, Janice Gable Bashman and I co-wrote an article for Writer’s Digest Magazine, The 7 Deadly Sins of Self-Editing, that turned out to be quite popular. Apparently sinning resonated with writers … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration, Kathryn Craft | Tagged , , , , | 55 Comments

10 Reasons Why You Should Know How To Format Ebooks

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Jenny Hansen

By Kait Nolan, @kaitnolan I’ve been around since the fairly early days of self publishing. My first ebook went live in early 2010. Since then, the market has exploded and a thousand things have changed. Something that’s true this month … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging Guests, Publishing With Amazon | Tagged , , , , | 42 Comments

Want To Write Like a Best Seller? Write Naked First!

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Jenny Hansen

by Tiffany Lawson Inman, @NakedEditor There it is.  LARGE bold print peering out at me from underneath the Life and Home section….THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLERS LIST, nagging me to grab my Kindle and start downloading fabulous fiction at … Continue reading →

Posted in Craft, Tiffany Lawson Inman | Tagged , , , , , | 31 Comments

5 Tips for Effective Author Marketing: Small is the New Big

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Jenny Hansen

by Lynda Bouchard

What can an author learn from a pair of Spanx? A lot.

I was in a mall last week with my aunt and, as we walked through the pantyhose department, I noticed that one brand stood out. Spanx.

How Spanx got noticed and the unique marketing of this product is a brilliant lesson for all authors. Small is the new big. Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging Guests, WriterStrong | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Comments

Dr. Watson, I Presume? The Importance of Killer Sidekicks

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Jenny Hansen

by Susan Spann, @SusanSpann Whether you write detective fiction, romance, historical novels or fantasy epics, a lone protagonist never receives as great a reaction as one with a well-developed supporting cast. Foils serve to reinforce and highlight the hero’s good (and … Continue reading →

Posted in Craft, Susan Spann | Tagged , , , | 43 Comments

4 Pieces of Facebook Advice You Can Ignore

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Jenny Hansen

What to do? Facebook has changed – again. There’s more competition than ever for reader attention.

Writers are frustrated and it’s easy to understand why. How do you build a business when the goal posts for success keep moving? What’s the point?

Facebook is probably the slowest platform to build an audience on, and shooting yourself in the foot by listening to bad advice only makes it more difficult. Continue reading →

Posted in Bumps & Bruises on the Road to Publication, Technology Fun | Tagged , , , , | 30 Comments

Classifying Your Book: How to Research & Target Literary Agents

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Jenny Hansen

By Chuck Sambuchino Once your book is finished, it’s time to start submitting to agents. For this, a simple first step is to create a new Microsoft Word or Excel document so you can keep detailed track of your submissions, target … Continue reading →

Posted in Bumps & Bruises on the Road to Publication, Chuck Sambuchino | Tagged , , , , | 32 Comments

Achieving Work-Life Balance…A Story of Balls

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Jenny Hansen

During weeks like this, when I’m juggling a lot of commitments, I think a lot about work-life balance and how freaking hard it is to achieve. I got some perspective from a very unexpected source recently. I got my epiphany at … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspiration | Tagged , , , , | 40 Comments

Do You Dream of Being an Organized Writer?

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Jenny Hansen

by Jenny Hansen I dream of being an organized person, but being an organized writer would be even better. I’m popping in here on a Sunday, so excited to have found my shortcut to organization, that I had to share! … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology Fun | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Beat Sheets: For Plotters, Pantsers, and Technophobes

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Jenny Hansen

by Jami Gold If you’ve heard of beat sheets before, you might have heard about complicated forms or spreadsheets. I don’t know about you, but I don’t do math. Heck, I write my stories by the seat of my pants, … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging Guests, Craft | Tagged , , , , | 44 Comments