Welcome to the January 21, 2013 edition of tips and tricks for writers and authors. We have some great blog posts on social media, writing and self-publishing, and we hope you find them useful. Thank you to the contributors!

Self-Publishing

Simpsonsparadox presents Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur posted at Simpson’s Paradox, saying, “Here’s a review of Guy Kawasaki’s new book aimed at independent authors.”

Joel Friedlander presents 6 Winning Ideas for Self-Publishers Straight from “Downton Abbey” posted at The Book Designer, saying, “This article discusses what writers can learn from the success of Downton Abbey.”

Social Media

Phyllis Zimbler Miller presents Why Authors Need to Participate on Social Media posted at Phyllis Zimbler Miller, saying, “As explained in the post itself, the notice from a book publisher in its submission instructions made it very clear how important social media is for authors. I decided to quote from the publisher to help authors understand how vital social media activity is for their own book marketing.”

Writing

Dana Sitar presents 5 Weird Ways to Find Inspiration for Your Writing [Infographic] posted at DIY Writing, saying, “A brainstorming boost for your next writing project.”

Jon Rhodes presents The Four Essential Components of Storytelling in Scriptwriting posted at Film Script Writing, saying, “Story telling is the most important component when writing a movie script. This article shows you the best ways to incorporate story telling within a movie script.”

Chrys Fey presents Six Writing Tips You Should Know! posted at Write With Fey.

Matthew Hall presents How to Outline with yWriter: Step # 4, Sketching out your Characters posted at M.L. Hall, saying, “Tips for using yWriter for outlining.”

Nick Daws presents The National Emerging Writer Programme – a Great New Free Resource for Writers posted at Nick Daws’ Writing Blog, saying, “This Irish programme is open world-wide and well worth checking out if you’re a fiction writer.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of tips and tricks for writers and authors using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.