40 Writing Tips for the Professional Writer by DiAnn Mills

Writers today search for tips to help them move forward in the craft. The following are 40 ways to sharpen your writing tools.

1. Pray for your writing ministry
2. Read in the genre you are writing
3. Read a craft how-to book each month
4. Read a marketing book each month
5. Study the bestsellers like a text book
6. Study daily a blog about the craft
7. Study daily a blog about branding, social media, marketing and promotion
8. Establish a daily writing schedule and stick to it
9. Establish goals for every area of your writing career and analyze quarterly
10. Analyze your career quarterly and make changes if necessary
11. Participate in a writer’s group, either online or face to face
12. Invest in a professional writer’s conference
13. Invest in time and knowledge to raise your visibility in the publishing world
14. Invest in text to voice software
15. Invest in techniques to learn effective speaking
16. Learn your genre and be an expert
17. Learn Facebook and post regularly
18. Learn Twitter and post regularly
19. Learn how to blog effectively and do it
20. Learn how to Instagram and post regularly
21. Use your knowledge and expertise on social media to help and encourage others.
22. Use the 80/20 rule in posting on social media.
23. Use a scheduling tool for social media posts
24. Use an app to check grammar on all writing projects
25. Mentor a serious writer who needs assistance
26. Edit everything you write before pushing Send.
27. Follow social media experts online
28. Follow writers online and post to them
29. Follow editors and publishing houses online
30. Develop a data base for libraries
31. Develop your brand
32. Schedule events not book signings
33. Visit bookstores and introduce yourself to manager or PR person.
34. Request permission to take photos with store owners and librarians. Post and tag on social media
35. Create a spreadsheet for blog posts
36. Create a social media library for all platforms
37. Create a street team.
38. Give back more to your street team than you expect from them
39. Remember your agent and editor(s) on special occasions
40. Remember your marketing and promotion team on special occasions

There you are! 40 tips to help you move forward in your writing career. What tip can you give that’s not mentioned above?

Amazon Buy Link

There’s a killer on the loose in Galveston, targeting law enforcement officials and using a fatal injection of snake venom to take them down. Authorities have reasons to believe the Veneno gang is behind the hits, and FBI Agents Leah Riesel and Jon Colbert team up to track down those responsible. Their best lead is an eyewitness who identifies a young man dumping the third body on a church doorstep. But their suspect has gone into hiding, and those closest to him are reluctant to reveal anything that might help investigators find him.

As Leah and Jon check connections among the victims and dig deeper into motives, they discover appearances may be deceiving. Someone is desperate to keep their secrets hidden, and Leah and Jon must face their greatest fears in order to stop the next fatal strike.

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She is a storyteller and creates action-packed, suspense-filled novels to thrill readers. Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. She is the direc-tor of the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference, Mountainside Marketing Retreat, and Mountainside Novelist Retreat with social media spe-cialist Edie Melson where she continues her passion of helping other writers be successful. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country.

Connect with DiAnn here: www.diannmills.com