Taking Care Of Business

This week in publishing...

The publishing world is watching carefully to see how the Walmart Kobo ebook store will change things. Kobo, a Canadian company, is making a strategic move against Amazon in the US by partnering with the largest bricks and mortar chain. Forbes business magazine asked the CEO of Scribd what he thought of the move. His answer surprised them.

It has happened... CreateSpace is now officially closing. Moving all your titles over is now mandatory unless you publish in Chinese. For some reason Kindle Print does not support this which is a blow for translators.

Beijing Book Fair is on the hunt for children’s books. Publishing Perspectives takes a look at the biggest Asian bookfair and why they want educational materials. 

The Guardian recently shone a spotlight on the evolution of writers festivals and the way authors are treated at them. Take your average insecure introvert writer and stand them up in front of a festival crowd and say Entertain Us... Hmmm. Are they asking too much from writers? How about appearing nude? Yes, this is happening...

TechCrunch reports that Amazon is ramping up a book subscription model for children’s books, Prime members only. Can this work? Other subscription models have fallen by the wayside. Will children’s books be any different?

I saw a reference late last week to a courtcase in Australia between an agent and a writer with the nub of the dispute- What is in a verbal contract? Kris Rusch takes a look and has some recommendations to authors. This is a must read! .

Anne R Allen has an interesting article about Ian Fleming. The Bond author was completely involved in the production of his books. This is a fascinating insight into what made these novels successful. 

I’m in the middle of writing a series... well two actually. I was interested to see Chuck Wendig recently posted an article on his blog about how hard it is to write a series. I found my self nodding along and stifling laughter. (Warning it is Chuck.)

In The Craft Section,

How to use the thesaurus properly- Useful guide fro authors-September Fawkes

How to make plot captivating- 7 strategies- Now Novel- Bookmark

Reedsy have two great posts 20 + writing strategies and a video on First Person Point of View- Bookmark

The three act structure, formulaic or foundational- Bookbaby – Bookmark

How important is talent- Lizzie Shane

In The Marketing Section,

How to write a publishable first novel- Anne R Allen

How to market poetry- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

How to target readers with Bookbub ads- Bookmark

Distribution- Should you go wide or narrow? - Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

5 ways authors can save money- Chris Kridler

How to win at the game of Book marketing – Charli Mills- Bookmark

To Finish,

Roz Morris stepped back and looked at her desk and then her office and mused about the importance of having the right things around you to write. This is a kind of a love letter to the writers desk. Stop and take a moment to look at your writers desk. Is it inspirational?

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. Thanks everyone who hit the coffee button this week. I appreciate the virtual coffee love.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Seattle Municipal Archives- Mayor John Dore 1936