Reality Bites

January is full of predictions and goal setting for the coming year. Writers enjoy marking off their new wall planners with book goals and organising their writing desks. Then reality sinks in as they note the first deadline is coming up fast. Productivity tool posts start filling up the internet. Writers In The Storm have a good blog post for the writer’s greatest challenge- Time Management. You may need to select from one of these useful collections of tools and tricks.

Time Management Apps.

No Cost tools for writers- Publication Coach

Five Writing Apps from DIYMFA

Every year The Write Life blog collects their 100 best websites for writers. Regular readers of my blog will see familiar names in the list. However their are some nifty new names in the different categories. (They also have a great post on writing residencies – in case you were thinking if it is worth it.)

Victoria Strauss has collected a list of Writer Beware posts from 2015. Writers should be regularly dropping into this site and getting familiar with the scams and dodgy contract language that is directed at them. Writer Beware has direct support from many writer associations.

Susan Spann is doing guest posts on what to watch out for in Contract Clauses- This month is the Out Of Print Clause.

Passive Guy takes a look at Kameron Hurley’s post on Non Compete and Rights Grab Clauses (PG is a lawyer so he has an eye for this.)

Today Kris Rusch warned about Anthology Contracts by new independent publishers. They have the best intentions and their contracts are the worst! Kris has seen some absolute nightmares in the last few weeks. Last week she wrote a great post - Whining is not a business model! Writers you must carefully look at your contracts. This is your work, your future earnings... you need to read the small print and walk away if it is not fair.

In the Craft Section,

The joy of nuances and shades of feelings- Celtic Frog-Bookmark.

Building Empathy- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark.

Sara Letourneau – Character evolution- Bookmark.

Self Editing for Dummies- Bookmark.

Five steps to writing faster.

In the Marketing Section,

Authors often struggle with Book Marketing. It is out of the comfort zone of the introverted garret dweller who talks to imaginary people. 

This week there were helpful posts on author blogs from Joanna Penn - Author blog mistakes, Molly Greene – What authors can blog about, Veronica Sicoe – building relationships with readers and Angela Ackerman- Social Media - why I don’t follow the rules.

Penny Sansevieri has a good post on Amazon reviews.

Lindsay Buroker has one on tips for getting a Bookbub advert.

Rachel Thompson- 4 ways to improve your sales.

Silas Payton has a guest post on Joe Konrath’s blog on collaborative marketing.

To Finish,

Digital Book World has an interesting post today from Jason Illian on the real future of digital publishing. Jason looks at a few company results which journalists didn’t cover and then started asking questions. This is a must read! In the comments SCBWI blogger Lee Wind referred to Enthrill (a company I have been watching for a few years.) They are about to ramp up their eBook gift cards after a long time developing and testing. I have a feeling that 2016 will be an interesting year in the digital book world.

Maureen Crisp

@craicer

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons/ DLG Images www.directline.com