Wednesday links: Missing the mark, validation, setting with soul, and Authors for Indies

I love regularly reading tips and advice articles in certain subjects — particularly writing and publishing. I don’t always need the information right then, but I know that it’ll eventually come in handy. Or at least, I hope it will.

I know there are a lot of other people out there who feel the same way I do, but sometimes it can be difficult to find every useful advice article that’s out there. So I thought I’d bring you a few. Here are the tips and advice articles that jumped out at me the most over the past week.

1. When You’re Missing the Mark, from Rachelle Gardner: If your agent is having a hard time selling your manuscripts, you need to look at why that may be before you decide what your next step will be. Excerpt: “Each agent is different, and some agents might set you free at this point, believing they’re not the right agent to help you find success. You’ll want to clarify whether your agent wishes to continue or hang it up.”
2. Your Writing Should Not Be Your Main Source of Validation For Who You Are as a Person, from Pub Rants: Rejections happen, and they happen for a lot of reasons. But they don’t necessarily mean you’re a bad writer, and certainly not a bad person. Excerpt: “I think this can be the most debilitating mistake an aspiring writer can make. There be dragons if you start down this mental path.”
3. 6 Hot Tips for Putting Soul Into Your Setting + A Contest, from Pub Crawl: I’ll admit it–I have a hard time incorporating setting into my novels properly. But these tips should help, and I hope you’ll find them helpful, too. Excerpt: “Unfortunately, setting descriptions are also the parts that I often find myself skimming, and I imagine I’m not alone. Describing something accurately is not the same as bringing a place to life.”

And a bonus: This one isn’t really a post or article, but I wanted to bring it to your attention. Authors for Indies day is coming up (it’s April 30 this year), and independent bookstores across Canada are opening their doors to authors who volunteer to act as guest booksellers. Here’s a quote from the website: “On Authors for Indies Day, Canadian authors show our appreciation for independent bookstores (indies) by volunteering as guest booksellers. Last year Authors for Indies Day gave participating bookstores an average boost of 18.5% in sales, a phenomenal result which put this event on the CBC’s List of 10 Biggest Book Stories for 2015.”

So, if you’re a Canadian author interested in supporting independent bookstores, visit the Authors for Indies website to sign up. Or, if you’re just a Canadian who loves books, check the website to find out what bookstores in your area are participating. And have fun!