Gifts and Predictions

This will be my last post for 2017.

As the politics of the USA played out throughout the year... everyone in the publishing blogosphere became effectively punch drunk. Predictions went out the window and future planning in the industry had an undercurrent message of unless-we-haven’t-all-perished-in- an-apocalyptic-event.

Jane Friedman has a good roundup of 2017 and the trends and events that happened in publishing.

Predictions for 2018 are already starting.

Publishing Perspectives looks at 5 trends Scholastic editors think will be popular in 2018 for children’s books.

Neil Hughes looks at the how digital storytelling is shaping what stock images are going to popular in 2018. This is an interesting look at what is being requested across the visual platforms.

Goodereader has an in depth look at where audiobooks is heading in 2018 based on statistics. There a quite a few interesting trends being highlighted including a global library card.

Alice Lutyens of the Curtis Brown Agency warns about a trend she is seeing from Traditional Publishers. Contracts are arriving with the assumption that audio rights will be included in the print/ebook deal. It seems that Audio books are a thing now... (who knew?) and publishers want a piece of this rapidly growing market.

If you have spent 2017 trying to make sense of Amazon’s constantly changing rules you are not alone. John Doppler from Alli has a good round up of what myths or misunderstandings you might have about publishing with them.

Facebook has been changing the way it is dealing with authors. Alex Newton has a look at what they are cracking down on and what might be changing in the near future.

If you are an Indie publisher and are thinking about translations... Porter Anderson has an interview with an agent that specialises in matching up indie stories to translation publishing houses.

Kris Rusch looks at quitting.... No, not her career... just the reasons that authors quit the publishing business. This is a follow up to her burnout post. Food for thought over Christmas and for 2018 planning.

Anne R Allen talks about the secret rules of writing... you know... the really secret ones... and when to break them. A stellar writing craft post to end the year with.

In The Craft Section,

Short Story ideas- Reedsy- Bookmark!!!!

7 deadly sins of world building

Deadliest first page sin-Peter Selgin

Six tips for sequels- Mythcreants

20 step plan for writing a book- Bookbaby

Dumb little writing tricks that work- Go Into the Story-Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Book Promotion- The Book Designer- Bookmark

Book Marketing vs Book Publicity- Bookmark

How to tell a story on Social Media

What you are doing wrong on Twitter- Rachel Thompson

Two events that authors need to be aware of- C K Syme

Marketing as an author group

Self publishing software roundup - Dave Chesson- Bookmark!!!

To Finish,

Last minute Christmas presents for writers... besides the journals, pens, chocolate, bookcases, alcohol... which are essentials!

Bill Ferris has the Passive Aggressive Christmas gift list for writers....

and Angela Ackerman has the Writers Holiday Gift List... where you can’t go wrong... and

Reedsy has 28 gifts for writers... which you could have year round... Jane Austen socks...mmm

Have a peaceful Christmas break filled with all good things.

I will see you half way through January...

Maureen

(about to load two huge boxes of books to read over Christmas into the car...)

 @craicer

I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces every month. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes.  Thanks for all the messages and coffees over the year... 

Present and Future Plans

We are rapidly coming to the end of the year. Thoughts turn to finishing up projects before Christmas, the ideal Christmas presents and what projects to start 2018 with.

In the publishing blogosphere Patreon decided this week that increasing charges to people who were only paying a small sum to artists was the way to position themselves for the coming year. They could not have got it more wrong. Artists value their Patrons. Most creative’s have a lot of small donor patrons. These people often support many artists by sharing a couple of dollars a month around a lot of people. It all adds up. The backlash was swift. Patreon realised its blunder today. However the whole experience has left a sour taste in many peoples mouths.

Mark Coker of Smashwords has begun a podcast. He has launched with a few episodes that everyone is talking favorably about. If you listen to podcasts about the writing business you should check it out.

Rachel Thompson has a post about the end of year clean up of your Social Media. Just what does this kind of clean up entail? Rachel lists all the things you should be thinking about with the different social media accounts.

Publishers Weekly reported on the Global Kids Connect panelheld in New York last week. What is selling globally at the moment? Trends were discussed and predictions made...

Orna Ross examines the role of the entrepreneur and discovers that being an author ticks all the boxes. However there are some mindset adjustments for authors. Do you believe in yourself?

Kris Rusch has a great blog post on Sustainability. Are you prepared for it? Do you know what it looks like to sustain a career over the long haul? This is a must read post.

Joanna Penn has a great interview with Andy Bromley on selling print books through Ingram and why what they do is so interesting. (P.S. You can always find a discount code to use so it won’t cost you anything.)

The wonderful Tara Sparling has a great post on the 12 days of Christmas for writers except that hers deals with the 12 writing cliches. This is a read and must share with your writing buddies.

Christmas presents for authors... I go into my local stationery shop and spend ages in the journal and pens section... filing boxes are so pretty... Can I justify a new desk... Dream about an office... Build Book Buzz has a list of gifts for readers and writers... and check out thisgift guide from the Millions website... of course you need book wallpaper.

Some bright spark has compiled all of J K Rowling’s writing advice. It's good advice too

In The Craft Section,

Story Immersion – Improve your reader’s experience- Jefferson Smith- Bookmark

Q & A on Coming of Age stories- Michael Hauge- Bookmark

Mastering Showing vs Telling- Meg Latorre Snyder Bookmark

The power of writing groups- Writer Unboxed- Bookmark

Piller 2 for the writer – Mentoring- Art Holcomb- Bookmark

Adapting a novel into a screenplay- Alex Bloom- Bookmark

Digging Into Deep Revision- Beth Camp- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

640 killer Book Marketing ideas... Bookmark

How to find your ideal audience- Kimberley Grabas

Creative ways to boost reader engagement- Bookbub- Bookmark

How to sell more paperbacks in December- Selfpublishing Advice blog

36 best blogs on the business of writing- The Digital Reader

eBook distribution- Reedsy

10 major areas Authors must focus on- BookMarketing Buzz- Bookmark

To Finish,

Book Covers... They make or break your book. I always try to drop into Joel Friedlander’s Book Cover Monthly Design Awards

Lindsey Vontz from 99 designs has a look at the Top trends in Book Covers for 2018. Typography is the in thing... Lets go crazy with font...

And while we are playing with letters... Take a look at this Fantasy Pseudonym Name Generator...

You could plan a whole writing career for a pseudonym over the Christmas break....

Maureen

@craicer

I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces every month. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. My last newsletter for the year is coming soon. It’s Christmas lucky dip time!

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons Just Album

https://www.flickr.com/photos/justdigital/13984474798/in/photolist-niL69s-7MG5UL-

Looking For The Silver Lining

This week the Christmas music really ramped up in stores. Here in the Southern Hemisphere we have the triple threat of School Year End Madness, All Things Festive, and Summer which starts on December 1. We are in the middle of a heat wave and facing water restrictions six weeks earlier than normal. The grass is dying.

Indie Burnout is the topic of Kris Rusch’s latest blog. Are you setting yourself punishing schedules? Worrying about 60 day cliffs or writing 10K in a day. Kris is noticing more and more burn-out cases. She has some good advice for managing your career.

A must read/listen is Joanna Penn’s latest blog on estate planning for authors. Do your heirs know that they are responsible for your literary estate for 70 years after you die? Have you got everything organised? There are lots of tips in this podcast.

School Library closures are happening more and more in the UK. Cressida Cowell is sounding a warning that this trend is really hitting the already disadvantaged children who don’t own books. The National Literacy Trust’s latest report is particularly grim reading. 

Meanwhile UNESCO has released a report highlighting a real concern over boys reading ability. This week on Facebook I shared a post on why kids are turned off reading. If you assess their every page turn how do they learn to read for pleasure?

The Guardian published an article about a once respected publisher going to the wall leaving huge debts and then seemingly starting up another publishing company. Authors are crying foul...

Meanwhile Rosie Amber has a post looking at the dodgy nature of some independent presses. Are they asking for money... always a worrying sign. Know what you are getting into.

It is not all Doom and Gloom... Publish Drive a nifty little aggregator, based in Europe and distributing into China and the East has just made their service available to the US. This is great news for all those people who got stuck with Pronoun’s sudden demise.

Anne R Allen always has great advice. Here she looks at 10 tips that keep your author blog running sweetly.  Elizabeth S Craig has some great tips for productivity and To Do Lists.

How Indies can stop worrying and learn to love bookmarketing. This is an attitude change. A timely post from Belinda Griffin.

In The Craft Section,

Wounds matter- Kristen Lamb

Identity and theme in YA- Sara Letourneau- Bookmark

PB creation templates-Debbie Ohi- Bookmark

The reason you aren’t happy with your novel- Daniel Nathan

Editing your writing- NowNovel- Bookmark

Perfect podcasts for writers

In The Marketing Section,

Building a sales funnel with storytelling- Bookmark

Book Review sites and Twitter lists –Bookworks- Bookmark

Finding a Literary Agent- Jane Friedman

What to include on your author questionaire

How to write, promote and sell books- Joanna Penn

Ten action steps for author success- Bookmark

Author tips on Twitter lists- Bookworks 

To Finish,

It’s been an interesting time recently watching prominent people in the media fall on their swords... or get impaled by their actions over sexual harassment. You would like to think publishing is above all that.... sadly no.

To Finish on a happier note... I’ve been named as one of the five judges for the New Zealand Children’s Book Awards. This means that I will be doing what I love best over Christmas – READING!

Maureen

@craicer

In my monthly newsletter I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. If you like what I do, feel free to hit the coffee button. Thanks.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons/ Caligula 1995