Tips and Tricks for Writers

Here are a few of the latest tidbits culled from the blogosphere that may be helpful to mystery writers:

ON WRITING

Literary agent Jane Dystel has suggestions about "What to Title Your Book."  But is it really that important? As Dystel points out, "If the title doesn’t work, the book might not sell."

Although there are a wealth of books out there on "how to write," authors Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman have taken their 30 years combined experience in teaching, editing, writing and reviewing fiction to create a book on How to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. And they have a book video to prove it.

Speaking of rules and do's & don'ts, Author Lori L. Lake was the guest blogger for Sisters in Crime, with her humorous take on "Twenty Laws for Writing Unbelievable Mysteries."

You often hear about "raising the stakes" in a novel. Book editor Jason Black tells why you should be thinking about castles while you're working on those stakes.

ON LEGALITIES

GalleyCat's latest "Ask a Lawyer" column discusses how to avoid getting sued for copyright violations.

With more on copyright issues, attorney Alexander Macgillivray (now with Twitter and formerly Google's deputy general counsel for products and intellectual property) discusses publishing legal topics that he feels need updating, including Copyright, DRM and Uses of Books, Orphan Works, Twin Books, Section 108 and Rights Reversion.

ON PUBLISHING

Best-selling author Marcus Sakey (The Blade Itself) offers up his "Secrets to Getting Published," which is also the title of a workshop he frequently teaches. His advice is both incredibly straightforward and uncomplicated—but there's a catch. (Hint: how's your book coming?)

Literary agent Rachelle Gardner talks about queries in one of her latest blog postings.

So you've gotten an agent who's shopped your book around. Hooray! But what happens when the book is unsold to a publisher?

The debate on eBooks and how they will affect (or alternatively ruin or enrich) publishing rages on. Ed Gorman recently featured two rather depressing takes from author Dave Zeltserman and Laura Miller who writes for Salon. Why did I suddenly have a craving for a Slush Puppy?