Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas To All Our Friends In The Catosphere

How To Increase Tension In Your Writing

You can find it in the Catosphere.

Panzer was searching for information about increasing the tension in his mystery writing. And ... the Catosphere helped him again. He found a post at wordserve water cooler about subtle ways to add tension to your stories.

Novelist Rachel Phifer has three tips about what to put in your story to add tension without being overly obvious. Then she gives three tips about what not to put in your story and slow it down and remove tension.

Panzer says, "If you need to find something, just look in the Catosphere. You'll find it there."

If you're looking for help with your storytelling, tootle over to increase tension

Five Web Mistakes I See All the Time

Never-ever-ever-do-these things!

Panzer was traveling around in the Catosphere researching homepages today. He's been thinking he wants to make a few changes to the Panzermobile's landing site. He found an interesting post by Lisa Hazen over at the Book Promotion.com blog.

Lisa writes about the five most common mistakes she sees on homepages. She mentions things like putting too much "stuff" on the page, having outdated "stuff" there, the never-ever-ever-do-this coming soon "stuff" that you don't change forever, and  a couple more things to finish out the list.

If you want to read the top five no-nos for your homepage, tootle over to Five Web Mistakes I See All the Time

At the back?

Panzer and I were enjoying a little trip out in the Catosphere today. We stopped in at The Future of Ink to read a guest post by Shelley Hitz.

Shelley talks about the three things we should include at the back of our ebooks. Her list includes 1) information about your opt-in list, 2) information about your other ebooks, and 3) requesting reviews at Amazon. She includes samples from her own books to illustrate each item on her list.

If you want to read the whole list, tootle over to The Future of Ink.

Tina Gayle's Unique Flavors of Life: Do Author's Need A Website?

So much work to do!

Panzer and I headed out into the Catosphere today looking for some helpful ideas to freshen up the site here at Cats and Crime. We stopped in at Tina Gayle's "Enjoying the Unique Favors of Life" blog for a visit. Boy is Panzer glad we did!

Tina gives some excellent advice about constructing a website. She includes which pages to include with a description of each and some reasons for her choices. Panzer and I are going to add some of her suggestions to our pages here!

If you're looking for some help setting up your website or if like us you want to make some changes to your existing site, tootle on over to Tina Gayle's Unique Flavors of Life: Do Author's Need A Website?:  

Another Panzerism

Hehehe!

Panzer on Cat Behavior:

Humans wonder why cats run around with their tails straight up in the air and bushed out.

Well, hey. You got a better way of checking catospheric conditions?

Ireland’s New Stamp Features a 224 Word Short Story

Special Delivery!

Panzer was out in the Catosphere today and he stopped in at the Passive Voice blog.

Guess what he found?

Ireland has a new stamp. And that stamp has a short story on it. Can you believe it? A whole short story on a stamp.

Panzer says, "It gives a whole new meaning to Special Delivery!"

To see what it looks like, tootle on over to Ireland’s New Stamp Features a 224 Word Short Story

Amazon Tools For Marketing Your Ebook

You need to read this.

Panzer is still traveling around the Catosphere gathering marketing tips. Today he's doing the happy cat dance! He found more marketing information for you at Joseph Kunz's blog.

Kunz's post includes seven tips for using Amazon's own tools as marketing vehicles for your book. Panzer will tell you the truth. There are two of those seven he didn't do until he read this post.

Panzer says, if you want to add more marketing tools to your kit, tootle over to Amazon Tools.

Amazon Gobbled Up Goodreads!

The world is not going to end!

Panzer came home with cotton stuffed in his ears today. The Catosphere is filled with yowling yet again. Just look at my poor bad boy. His black fur is starting to turn white from all that noise!

Oh no! The world as we know it is coming to an end! Amazon bought Goodreads!

I'll admit I don't use Goodreads. I know a lot of authors do, but I just don't have the time to do all the marketing at all the places everybody says we authors should. So it's just not going to make that much difference to me. But according to the yowling in the Catosphere, Amazon must be stopped! "Stopped!" the Amazon haters yell.

Panzer went out hunting the Catosphere looking for an explanation of what's behind this anti-Goodreads sale uprising. He finally found a quiet place of respite at novelist Chuck Wendig's blog, Terrible Minds.

While Chuck does admit to having a working relationship with Amazon, Panzer thinks he presents a cogent explanation for why the world is not coming to an end for today's authors.

If you're interested in reading Chuck's take on the sale of Goodreads to Amazon, tootle on over to Terrible Minds

Do you truly own your e-books?

Will it never end?

Panzer found that the yowling about the DRM-free lawsuit by the independent booksellers continues in the Catosphere.

Today, he found an explanation for the booksellers' lawsuit by Laura Miller at Salon. As usual, Laura delves into the important part of the issue at hand instead of being waylaid by the minor issues. In her post she addresses why it might prove to be in the ereader owners best interests to support the lawsuit.

 For instance, she asks, "Do you own those ebooks on your ereader?"

The answer might surprise you.

If you haven't grown tired of this argument yet, tootle over to Do you truly own your e-books?

Killer Characters: Cat Fight in the Offing

Panzer picked out our stop in the Catosphere today. He parked the Panzermobile at the Killer Characters blog to read about the library cat from Miranda James' "Cat in the Stacks" mystery series. We learn about Diesel the Maine Coon cat and what's going on at the library now. And it looks like murder is in more than the mystery books there.

If you're interested in cat mysteries (besides Panzer's, of course), tootle over to Killer Characters: Cat Fight in the Offing: Stewart Delacorte from the " Cat in the Stacks " series by Miranda James Charlie Harris is a great landlord, and he's actually beco...

13 Ways To Kickstart Your Writing in 2013

I need help!

Okay, Panzer has been dragging his paws since New Year's Day. He just hasn't been able to get any new cat adventures started. So, he went out in the catosphere today looking for a little inspiration.  And he found it at the Andrew Jack Writing blog. He parked the Panzermobile to do a little reading. Now he's ready to hit the ground running and get some new cases started!

Do you need some inspiration, too? Well, here you go. Tootle on over and read 13 Ways To Kickstart Your Writing in 2013

Mystery Writing is Murder: Top 10 Things One Writer Learned About Social Medi...

Panzer and I were out tootling around in the catosphere and we stopped in at Elizabeth Spann Craig's  Mystery Writing Is Murder blog. We found a guest post by Colby Marshall about using social media.

Now, as all of you who have been here at the Cats and Crime blog for a while know, social media is not Panzer's fete. (Remember, cats don't have thumbs, so it's very hard for them to use the keyboard!) But, my bad boy reads about it so he can tell ME what he wants done. He did find some good information in the list of 10 things to know before you use social media.

So, if you're thinking about jumping on the social media bandwagon to build a tribe of followers, read the rules first. Tootle over to Mystery Writing is Murder: Top 10 Things One Writer Learned About Social Medi...: Guest Post by Colby Marshall , @ColbyMarshall In my (very brief) career as a writer, I’ve learned a few things about self-promotion on soc...

Improve Your Amazon Listing

As you know, now that Cats and Crime has hit the rEtailers, Panzer has been scouring the Catosphere looking for marketing/promotion tips. Over at the duolit blog he found an oldie but a goodie. It comes from Laura Pepper Wu and has four easy steps to improve your Amazon listing. Panzer immediately put all four steps to work for Cats and Crime and he'll let you know how it works out.

If you're interested in trying these steps to improve your Amazon listing, tootle over to Improve Your Amazon Listing.

Free Sites to Promote Your eBook - GalleyCat

Free! Free! Free!

My bad boy was out in the Catosphere today looking for promotion sites for his new ebook. And of course he stopped in at GalleyCat one of his favorite blogs. And there was the answer to today's search: FREE promotion sites for ebooks. And you all know how Panzer loves FREE stuff!

Just because Panzer uploaded Cats and Crime to Amazon and Smashwords that doesn't mean his job is over! Now starts the promotion/marketing. And GalleyCat has a treasure trove of sites.

For FREE promotion sites for your ebook, tootle over to Free Sites to Promote Your eBook - GalleyCat

Miss Writerly Crankypants: A Writer in Bad Review Land

Panzer is laughing so hard he fell out of the Panzermobile! Every writer in the Catosphere who has ever gotten a one star review can relate to this post. Miss Writerly Crankypants' post should make you think twice before you post that bad review at Amazon!

Tootle over to Miss Writerly Crankypants: A Writer in Bad Review Land: Today Miss Crankypants finds herself wallowing with some other writers in Bad Review Land and boy, is the fur a'flyin'. Writers can't ju...

Panzer Did It. He's On Smashwords!

Panzer is doing the happy cat dance! He got his ebook up at Smashwords. He's an indie publisher. Now the whole world will know carpet snakes don't stand a chance when he's around.

You can read the ebook description and 20% of it here Cats and Crime. (We haven't set up an affiliate account yet, so you can just click through using this link.) The ebook is still pending vetting, which can take awhile. When it passes, it will be available in all the eRetailers Smashwords distributes to.

Some tweaks to the formatting and next up is Amazon.

For all of Panzer's friends, we'll be putting together a free PDF of the first two stories (one is really, really short) for download here.

My bad boy is so happy today! He's flying all over the Catosphere in the Panzermobile. So be careful, it's a jungle out there.

Yet Another Panzerism

When you're traveling with Panzer in the Catosphere, there are two things you have to understand.

1) The second law of thermodynamics: for every positive action there is a negative reaction.

2) Panzer's first law of diminishing kitty litter: when you run out of kitty litter, you've got big problems.

Facebook Pages vs Profiles

Panzer and I are still not feeling 100%, but we managed a short trip into the Catosphere today.

We parked the Panzermobile at author Nathan Bransford's blog. He has an informative post about whether as an author you should use Facebook's Pages option or Profiles option. He's got the pros and cons of each listed for you. You can study each and make your own decision about which is right for you.

Tootle on over to Author Nathan Bransford's Blog.

How To Add Subtitles To Your Book Trailer On YouTube - GalleyCat

Panzer and I told you a few days ago that we are working on a book trailer for Cats and Crime. So, we've been out scouting the Catosphere looking for tips on putting it together.

One of our favorite stops when we're looking for information is Galley CAT. And ... once again they delivered. Panzer found a post that explains how to add subtitles to YouTube book trailers.

So ... if you've been searching like we have, tootle over to  How To Add Subtitles To Your Book Trailer On YouTube - GalleyCat  and then get to work on your book trailer.