ePublishing: Questions to Ask Before You Decide to Self Publish an Ebook.

ePublishing: Questions to Ask Before You Decide to Self Publish an Ebook. (via ePublish a Book)

Fiction books are almost always a good match for ebook publishing, and the word “almost” is only there to be on the safe side. Fiction is story telling, and story telling is now moving fast to ebook format.  So the question is most relevant when it comes to epublish a non-fiction book. Does your…

Guest Poster: Li Vooght ~ Great Ideas for A-Z 2013

Please join me in welcoming Li Vogt, two-time challenge participant, who works in the field of special education, adores history and science (especially

the weird and the gross), and admits to being a terrible procrastinator. She also does a little folk art painting in her spare time. While she'd like to publish a collection of flash fiction at some point, right now she's concentrating on honing her writing skills and getting individual pieces published. She's got some great ideas to get our creativity flowing for April 2013. 

Hi A to Z ers! 2012 was my second year of the challenge, and I had a great time both years. I met a ton

of people, and found some really great blogs to follow. The A to Z community is a warm and welcoming place to be throughout the year.

Since it's never too early to start thinking about the next one, here is my A to Z list of possible topics and resources to get your creative juices flowing.

A. Almanacs have lots of cool trivia and stats to give you ideas.

B. Beneficence. Highlight charitable organizations throughout the world.

C. Cliches. Love 'em, hate 'em, explain their origins.

D. Dictionary. As writers/bloggers, we can all benefit from an expanded vocabulary.

E. Eating. We all do it. Feature exotic foods, cool restaurants, worst cooking disasters.

F. Fiction. If you've always wanted to try your hand at short stories, the A to Z is a friendly environment

to give it a whirl.

G. Guinness Book Of World Records. Lots of people/events you could feature.

H. Home improvement. Any DIY whizzes out there? Give us a few pointers/projects.

I. Inventions. From the practical to the wacky, there are plenty. Or, make up your own!

J. Jokes. We can all use a laugh.

K. Kings, real or fantasy.

L. Languages. Feature a word each day in a particular language – or several!

M. Movies are a popular topic. Suggest alternate casts/endings, or dig up little known trivia.

N. News. My local newspaper generally has at least one odd/weird/interesting tidbit each day.

(Drunk Bicyclist Arrested After Hitting Police Cruiser!)

O. Origins – of words, folktales, customs, etc.

P. Prompts. There are several sites which feature writing prompts on a daily basis.

Q. Quotes. I thought that it was a lame idea, and yet I am still getting plenty of hits on that post.

R. Rare anything – elements, animals, plants, diseases.

S. Superheroes

T. Torture through the ages, for those with a slightly macabre bent.

U. UFOs or unexplained/paranormal phenomena.

V. Vintage. Choose a particular time period in the past and write about clothing, customs, everyday life.

W. Weather, wars, wines, witchcraft...it's a fun letter.

X. Xerox this list if you want, but for x ideas you're on your own.

Y. Yiddish words, expressions, and terminology.

Z. Zombies. Of course. Give us an A to Z prep list in case of attack.

Right now, I'm planning on writing flash fiction again for the 2013 challenge, but in creating this list I generated two ideas that I might pursue instead. I hope you find some inspiration here as well! 

See you at the 2013 A to Z Challenge...

Li @ I Write At Flash Fiction

P.S.  I of course find her "L" idea the best.  Ahem...probably because that's what I did last year.  (Shameless self-promotion...sorry.)

Tina

Alphabet Remix - Wrestling with Writing

These blogging prompts are brought to you by Nicole at The Madlab Post....

It’s time for The Alphabet Remix - A Writing Prompt Idea Engine Treating A to Z Blogging Avoidance Disorders

Today, W is for Writing -- probably one of the most commonly topics addressed prior to, during and after the Blogging from A to Z Challenge each year. I have encountered a bit of writer’s block trying to find one topic of interest to Remix for writing prompts that all of you can use when developing a blog post in April. So rather than talk about Wrestlers, Water or Weather (all of which could be a useful topic for some of you who are looking for an entire theme for the next A to Z Challenge), here are subjects about writing that can be covered in April without making your blog look like it’s singing the same old tune as all the other A to Z participants.

Written by...

Publish a list of all the guest posts that you have written for other blogs in the last year and then share some tidbits on the how and why you structured them in one way or another. If you do a lot of guest posting, just pick out a few of your favorite ones and then go from there. Another way to approach the “written by...” topic is by uploading a photo of a poem, essay or short story that you wrote during grade school. This is a fun way to get a blog post up quickly while also reminiscing on your earlier writing and noticing how it has either changed or evolved over the years. You could also compare two photos of handwriting -- one written by your younger self and one as an adult -- to see if it has improved, stayed the same or declined in time.

Writing Weaknesses

Are you a sucker for a certain type of writing? Do you gravitate toward works written by specific authors because of their writing style? If so, highlight some of them in a blog post that either evaluates similarities between the authors or, at the very least, cause readers to do some self-reflection on the writing styles that peak their interest most. If this particular angle for “Writing Weaknesses” doesn’t excite you, then try another approach: Critique your own writing, specifically, pointing out areas where you either know you could have done better or you feel you should have but have no idea how. This particular approach to the topic could open your blog post up for discussion and constructive feedback from readers -- a plus, if you’re still working on the work that you are critiquing.

Who Wrote What?

Use the A to Z Challenge as your opportunity to dispel some myths about where a famous poem, story, magazine article, song, novel or other piece of literary material actually originated from -- as in, who really is the source of it. Or, remix this to quiz your readers on their knowledge of old written works. Ask a question such as “Who wrote ‘nothing gold can stay’ -- Margaret Mitchell or Robert Frost?” and then sit back to find out which of your readers knows this without having to do an online search for their answers. Make sure, however, that you DO actually know the correct answer before quizzing others on such works.

Now, onto other Friday Fun Time news:

Since no one unscrambled any of the motion picture companies in last week’s Alphabet Soup game titled Big Wigs in the West, Tina at Life is Good remains the Alphabet Wizard, by default.

Here are the answers:
1. The Weinstein Company (Django Unchained; Silver Linings Playbook; Seal Team 6)
2. Warner Bros. Pictures (The Dark Knight Rises; Wrath of the Titans; Cloud Atlas)
3. Walt Disney Pictures (Brave; The Muppets; Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides)

Have a Fun Friday, everybody!

NICOLE
Find Me @MadlabPost on Twitter

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