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Alina Wells

Welcome to Writing It Wells, a writing blog dedicated to providing tips, resources, and inspiration for writers at all stages.

Blogger, Author, Creative Entrepreneur

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Hello Friends!

Welcome to Writing It Wells. Here I share my thoughts on all things literary.

Tune in every Tuesday for a new blog post and connect with me on social media for nonstop writing fun!

2 days ago

8 Steps To A Killer Pre-Order Book Campaign: What You Need To Know To Succeed

You've got your book written and are well on your way down the publishing road. Now it's time to switch gears from the technical steps of formatting and turning your manuscript into a physical book, to creating a marketing strategy that will help you succeed in selling your book. The first thing to consider is a pre-order campaign. For those who are new to the process or not familiar with it, a pre-order campaign is essentially a "pre-sale" where you allow your book to be av

Apr 6

About To Publish? Prep Your Book Marketing Tools With These 5 Practical Tips!

Happy April writers! Exciting news: Our March marketing blogging series will be extended into April. There's so much to share and learn that we felt a month wasn't enough. This month we will be covering tips that apply to your book launch, socials, gaining reviewers for your book, etc. so check back every Tuesday at 8 am to read each installment. If you missed our former marketing posts in this series, here they are: 5 Successful Strategies To Help Identify Your Target Audien

Mar 30

10 Amazing Tips To Boost Your Book Sales

Last time in our March Marketing Series we covered 5 Successful Strategies To Help Identify Your Target Audience, Making A Good First Impression: How To Build An Awesome Author Platform, and Book Cover Designs: 6 Smart Tips You Need To Know. Today we're sharing 10 amazing tips to boost your book sales. As writers, we tend to focus on the writing process and minimize what comes after. We obsess over sentence structure and angst over character arcs. But when the writing and edi

Mar 23

Book Cover Designs: 6 Smart Tips You Need To Know

What do you look for when you go book shopping? How do you know which book is "the one"? More often than not it's because you shopped with your eyes first and fell in love with the cover. An eye-catching design, bold fonts, and stellar images can set your book apart in a sea of other competitors. But if you aren't traditionally publishing, the responsibilities of creating a competitive cover falls on your shoulders as an Indie author. That can be a lot of pressure, particular

Mar 16

Making A Good First Impression: How To Build An Awesome Author Platform

Last post in our marketing series we discussed 5 Successful Strategies To Help Identify Your Target Audience. Today we're building off of that lesson and stepping further into the world of book marketing. Most of you will be familiar with the term author platform. For those of you who aren't, this refers to a writer's ability to market their work after publication. It's the strategy used to boost your target audience and achieve greater visibility. Measuring a successful plat

Mar 9

5 Successful Strategies To Help Identify Your Target Audience

When you first publish your book, the next challenge that comes is successfully marketing it. Whether you're traditionally published or an Indie author, neither are exempt from self-promotion online and in person. A large part of marketing is knowing WHO your book is for. But identifying which genre our book falls under and what age range it's appropriate for can be difficult, especially when our books can technically fall into multiple genres. This can make identifying our t

Mar 2

How To Develop An Idea Into A Story Part 2

Last week we talked about how to begin developing an idea into a story in part 1. We covered brainstorming techniques, how to develop characters, worldbuilding, and setting. Today we're picking up where we left off and discussing how to structure your plotline, how to map out your timeline, getting your seasonal facts straight, deciding who your narrator is, and using it all together. Let's dive right into developing your Plotline! Plotline is the essence of a story. It's mad

Feb 23

How To Develop An Idea Into A Story Part 1

Have you ever had an idea that you'd love to turn into a novel? If you're new to book writing you're probably brimming with enthusiasm and ideas, but not quite sure where to start. The good news is that you've already started! All stories begin with the spark of inspiration. But being inspired alone is not enough to turn your idea into something more. You must develop your idea into an actionable plan in order to prepare to write your novel. While you can approach a novel wil

Feb 16

A Step-By-Step Guide To Writing An Enticing Romantic Scene

Picture this: You're sitting down in your favorite writing chair, wrapped up in blankets, with a steaming mug of tea (or coffee) at your disposal. You boot up your laptop and open your story's manuscript. You're so excited to begin writing you can feel your heart fluttering in your stomach. Today's the day your protagonist and their love interest are finally going to be together after all the challenges, hardships, and obstacles you've put in their way. It's time for the big

Feb 9

14 Compelling Novels Written By Black Authors To Read Next Month

Searching for your next read? Look no further! Here are 14 new releases written by Black authors that are hitting bookshelves near you. Open Water Summary: In a crowded London pub, two young people meet. Both are Black British, both won scholarships to private schools where they struggled to belong, both are now artists―he a photographer, she a dancer―and both are trying to make their mark in a world that by turns celebrates and rejects them. Tentatively, tenderly, they fa

Feb 2

How I Wrote 20k Words In Two Weeks (& You Can Too!)

Ever wonder how published authors churn out so many novels in a five month period? If you've watched them carefully enough, you'll notice that not only are they successfully producing books but that they seem to be constantly writing in large doses. For those of us with publishing dreams this type of writing schedule can seem insane. Most of us have jobs on top of pursuing our writing, children who need our attention, and lives that need living alongside our fictional ones. I

Jan 26

10 Tips For Building Your Book Marketing Strategy On A Budget

Writing a book is an exciting adventure. But what comes next is often the most challenging for writers who only dream as far as writing the novel itself. One of the primary concerns most writers have once they publish is how they are going to fund their efforts to promote their book. For an Indie writer, the realities of making their book a success can come as quite a shock. Often the price tag associated is much higher than expected, and the pay off doesn't match up, and the

Jan 19

The Different Types Of Editing (And How To Tell Them Apart)

Is anyone else confused about what kind of editor to hire? We sure are. When you write a book you don't necessarily think about what comes next, but if you intend to be published it's inevitable that somewhere down the line you'll want to hire an editor (or in some cases editors). Editors are the people who are there to catch your mistakes, but did you know there are actually five different types? We didn't either! Our search to find out what the different types of editors ar

Jan 12

20 Inspiring Ways To Get Back To Writing In 2021

Writing? How can I possibly put words on the page when the world is on fire? If you're asking yourself this question in the wake of political unrest in the US right now, you're not alone. I've seen many writers this past week asking exactly the same question. While it can be difficult to recenter and focus on your manuscript, we can all agree that the work doesn't stop just because the world isn't cooperating. To be successful writers we have to be able to take feelings of fe

Jan 5

27 Writing Prompts For January

Happy January writers! We're so proud to be entering our second year of blogging here at Writing It Wells. We're dedicated to bringing you resources, tips, and advice to help you better your writing and get you one step closer to your goals. We've got exciting changes coming so make sure you subscribe on our homepage to never miss an update. Inspiration may be around every corner but sometimes when the holidays come to an end and the new year begins we find ourselves falling

Dec 31, 2020

How To Make Writing Resolutions For 2021 (That You'll Actually Follow-Through On)

New Years is a time to reflect back on the past year and refocus our goals for the future. It's a time to be simultaneously grateful whilst also turning to the hope that will carry us forward. We can all collectively agree that we're happy to see 2020 come to an end. We have all struggled and faced unexpected challenges. 2021 offers new hope but also a prolonging of certain pandemic challenges. While we all eagerly await the vaccine, we will still have to live in the current

Dec 22, 2020

How I Built A Creative Business In Chaotic 2020

Last December I made a decision. A terrifying, riveting, exhilarating decision that changed my lifestyle and my perspective of what's possible. I quit my day job and started a creative business...without experience, know-how, or a clear idea of where I would end up. Crazy right? Absolutely. Certifiably nuts. As an organized, Type A, planner this kind of dive-in-and-go-with-the-flow approach has never been natural for me. In fact, if you had told me two years ago that I would

Dec 17, 2020

Are These Editing Mistakes Costing You Readers?

Writing It Wells is here to help you learn the in's and out's of writing. Today we look at 6 editing mistakes that could cost you your next reader. We all know that the physical act of writing a book is only one part of writing. As writers we tend to wear several different hats, one of which (and arguably one of the more important ones) is that of an editor. Even if we end up hiring someone to edit our book, self-editing is still inevitable. Whether we're scanning for copy ed

Dec 8, 2020

5 Myths About Self-Publishing You Shouldn't Listen To

When it's time to consider what publishing direction you should go in, there are two paths: traditional and self-publishing. While traditional publishing has been labeled as the respectable route, self-publishing still carries the stigma of being less professional. This simply isn't true! Self-publishing bears no influence upon the quality of a book and there are many benefits from self-publishing (mainly more creative and financial control). Today we're going to myth-bust 5

Dec 1, 2020

Are You Making These 5 Book Marketing Mistakes?

Writing a book is only a 1/3 of the writing process. While many writers are familiar and enthusiastic about writing and publishing their books, few give thought to how marketing said book will affect them in the future until they find themselves waist deep in mistakes. If you've recently published or are planning to publish by the end of the year, check your strategy for these 5 marketing mistakes! 1. Thinking Your Book Will Sell Itself For some writers, writing the book is t

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Alina Wells is a writer, blogger, and poet. She studied at the University of West Florida and received her degree in Journalism and Creative Writing.

She started Writing It Wells as a way of embracing a new creative career while pursuing her first novel Star-Crossed.

When she's not writing she's spending her time reading fantasy or fiction, cooking, hanging out with her husband, wrangling her miniature pinscher Ranger, and collecting more gnomes.

TESTIMONIALS

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"I would highly recommend working with Alina to anyone who wants a comprehensive and professional review of their book for critiquing. In the future, as I write more books, I will definitely be asking for her professional opinion again. She was a pleasure to work with and anyone would benefit extremely well from her knowledge. Thank you Alina!"

Charli West, author of To Catch The Wind

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"Life is a book. We fill the pages." -Victoria Valentine