Story planning, naming things and reading fewer books

Iain Broome -

Oh hello!

It's another edition of Unslush, the newsletter for authors who want to write better and get noticed. I'm still working on that line. I'll get there.

I'm also working on something special to sit on the unslush.com domain. Like many people who run their newsletter on Substack, I've been wondering what to do with my own domain name. Substack doesn't do custom domains. So the best you can do is forward your domain on. Domains. Domains. Domains.

I'll reveal all when it's ready. But I've decided to get you all excited with a fairly unhelpful screenshot. I'd say sign up to the mailing list if you want to know more. But you're likely on it. Because it is indeed this very newsletter.

Enjoy the links below. Have a lovely week!

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Every issue I collect and share the best advice, apps and other shenanigans that I find on my internet travels. Find something useful? Subscribe for free.

  1. 6 Reasons to Read Fewer Books – Nat Eliason makes the case for reading slow and ditching books that don't grab you
  2. Canva's free book cover designer tool – handy resource from Canva, which is also a super-ace platform packed with design templates
  3. Poolside FM – your new favourite radio station (I've loved writing to this in my writing shed)
  4. Story Planner – an app designed specifically for planning your next novel
  5. How to find time to podcast – my own advice to clients is to treat it like a meeting and then you'll find the time and turn up ready
  6. How bestsellers are born – fascinating interview with an agent, editor and author about the publishing process
  7. 3 Most Common Book Formats for Self-Publishers – in case you didn't know
  8. How to create a fully customised weekly newsletter – great insights from Kai Brach who writes one of my favourite newsletters, Dense Discovery
  9. A list of tools and resources for naming things – an absolutely brilliant resource (found via the Storythings newsletter, which is also excellent)
  10. Cory Doctorow describes his writing process – always fun to hear how other people work

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Tweets of the week

Tweets are but dirty paw prints on a well-soiled carpet. But some of them are quite good. You can follow @iainbroome and @unslush on Twitter.

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Unslush is an email newsletter written and published by Iain Broome, freelance copywriter and author of the novel, A is for Angelica.

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