Is Anyone Thinking Of The Children?

 

In Publishing News this week.

Long time readers of the blog will remember that I used to feature the writings of publishing commentator Mike Shatzkin in the first 12 years of the blog. Mike retired but occasionally would pop back to make a interesting observation on current changes in publishing. He had been around publishing in one way or another his entire life. His recent death has been marked by many across the industry. Publishing Perspectives has a great obituary of his life and times. R.I.P. Mike.

 

The UK Guardian has an article on yet another celebrity who has written a children’s book. Children’s Authors Frustrated By Rise Of Celebrity Penned Titles. Speaking as a children’s writer, yes, it is frustrating. What more do they need for validation? A children’s book. – it’s easy to write and you have a built-in marketing factor for the publishing company. Right. Publishers taking a punt on a celebrity is a no brainer. The bare minimum of editing and all the TV shows will book them so that’s the publicity sorted. Pity about the reading quality and the longevity, but there will be another celebrity author next year. 

 

If you look at the latest surveys like The Guardian last week, they report that children are reading less than ever. This has sent shivers down the spines of writers and publishers. After all, if we can’t get kids reading for pleasure when they grow up they won’t be reading adult books either. The last writer who had a huge impact on children’s reading was J K Rowling whose series positively impacted a generation. Since those heady days of 1997 when the first book was published quietly until 2000 when the juggernaut took off every publisher has dreamed of finding the next big children’s book. 

 

The Hollywood Reporter has an article on TV shows using AI to script children’s television that resulted in a hot mess of awfulness. However, the AI tools that are developing are finding favour with the creators.

 

The big children’s fairs of Bologna and Shanghai are collaborating, sharing ideas and resources in this weeks Shanghai Children’s Book Fair. Publishing Perspectives writes about their partnerships.

 

Elsewhere in the UK the GLL foundation which funds writers has created 20 children’s author bursaries for residencies in libraries across the UK. The programme aims to help writers develop their business as well. This is a fantastic initiative.

 

Publishers Weekly writes about initiatives to rebuild libraries in conflict zones. 

 

With the rise of Print on Demand publishing, Princeton University Press has opened up an office in China offering their backlist in English. A canny financial move that is paying off. 

Meanwhile, Hachette is bleeding employees who are disgusted with their new imprint Basic Liberty which is following a conservative publishing agenda. It looks like Hachette launched the whole enterprise in a hurry to take advantage of election outcomes. 

 

Two great writing craft articles caught my eye this week. Antagonist vs Villain- what’s the difference by Katie Weiland which is a must read. Sue Coletta writes an in depth article- Does your story have a full circle moment? Cue slot machine sounds as your brain makes connections. 

 

In the Craft Section,

4 things that make your writing boring- Suzy Vadori- Bookmark

Balancing your cast of characters- September Fawkes – Bookmark

Don’t make this conflict tension mistake- Janice Hardy - Bookmark

5 common reasons your hero is too powerful- Oren Ashkenazi

Four dialogue tips- James Scott Bell- Bookmark

 

In the Marketing Section,

How to create a newsletter

Ultimate guide to festival success-  J Alexander Greenwood-Bookmark

9 key reasons your book is not selling- Laurence O’Bryan

2 excellent posts from Sandra Beckwith- Finding Beta Readers and Boost your author brand- 31 tips- Bookmark

 

To Finish

Recently, social media sites have been churning with change. People are ditching their accounts and setting up new ones on different sites. The publishing world is no exception. In the beginning Twitter was the publishing industry water cooler meetup place for everybody. If you are trying to find the social media literary community Bluesky has had an influx of publishing industry people. It feels a lot like Twitter in the good old days.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links you can subscribe here to join our happy band.

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If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic Photo by Allen Taylor on Unsplash

Looking For A Hero

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

The regular news has been dominated by the Election in the United States of America. The world is going to change. Publishers are already looking at how the election result will impact their business.

If you publish books in/for the LGBTQ+ community, you may have a harder time in the business according to James Folta writing for LitHub. Authors against Book Bans took the time to read the Project 2025 book outlining a conservative agenda for the USA  (all 900 pages) but very early on they were confronted with some disturbing statements that will wreak havoc on the publishing community.

 

Libraries are also looking at the challenges they will face as the result of the election. With conservative states promoting Book Banning some libraries are thinking of adopting Idaho’s model of banning children from libraries so they can’t be prosecuted if the child sees a book that would be problematic e.g. Anne Frank’s Diary or How To Be An Antiracist.

 

Elsewhere in the world of publishing, Sharjah International Bookfair and the Publishers Conference was making news. The Bookfair starts today with over 2500 publishers from 112 countries. This Bookfair is going from strength to strength. Mark Williams offers an interesting view on the importance of the Sharjah Bookfair and how quickly it is becoming a fixture in publishers diaries.

With a dedicated free trade area for anything book related it’s no wonder that big printers are seeing the benefits of setting up shop there. John Ingram of IngramSpark and Lightening Source was interviewed about the benefits to the Print on Demand community. 

 

Publishers are embracing AI after condemning it. Translators are eyeing Simon and Schuster sideways as they committed to using AI for translating into English books published in other languages. First up Dutch through the Dutch publishing house that S&S acquired this year.

 

It's November and usually writers would have been settling in for NaNoWriMo. But news has been scarce of late due to changes in the structure of the nonprofit organization. If you have decided to turn off the news and just hunker down to write you can still join in with NaNoWriMo – maybe aim for 40,000 words instead.

 

If you are looking for a news escape and want to dive into some craft reading, Kevin Anderson has curated the annual November Storybundle of writing craft books. The Storybundle offers great craft books for cheap, money going directly to authors and a charity. Wins all around. This year there is even a year’s subscription to The Indie Author magazine.

 

Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur has a swag of free tools for writers, he has just launched a little app that can keep an eye on all your reviews. Check out what Writerwatch can do for you.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has an excellent post on special editions. This goes into detail about crowdfunding the edition, print runs, how to get special detailing all sorts of nuts and bolts information. If you have a special project that you want as a limited edition this is the article you need to read. 

 

Katie Weiland has a great article on the most important characters in your novel. She identifies three that you must have for your structure to work. The protagonist, the antagonist, and the relationship character. This is a super post on writing craft.

 

James Scott Bell has been looking at old movies for inspiration and he talks about the literal mirror moments in films that do the same things in a well written book.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to avoid author intrusion in the first person- Becca Puglisi-Bookmark

7 tips for finding perfect character names- Becca Puglisi

6 powerful techniques to escape tedious descriptions- Sandy Vaile- Bookmark

3 questions to ask about the protagonists goal- Susan DeFreitas- Bookmark

How to approach editing- Stephen Geez

 

In The Marketing Section,

The best time of the year to sell books- Rachel Thompson

Maximise Goodreads giveaways- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Getting Beta Readers- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Catalog sales campaigns, pros and cons- Authors Red Door- Bookmark

6 ways to boost author website visits – Rob Bignell

 

 

To Finish,

It can be tempting to wallow in the doom and gloom of an unexpected outcome. Although most people agree that wallowing can really hit your mental health. (Chuck Wendig -Terribleminds.) Many writers take their pain and rage and use it to fuel their writing. Others look objectively at how to promote the change they want to see in the world. 

Donald Mass on Writer Unboxed has a post asking if Heroes Are Obsolete. He suggests using your fiction to create the heroes you want to see in the world. 

I am reminded of the student protests in Asia where the hunger games salute became synonymous with defiance against a military regime. The power of a fictional character transcended language and culture to be a symbol for others. 

Writers have the power to change attitudes. It might be time to get your Big Damn Hero pants on.

 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? You can subscribe here to join our happy band.

If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Reynolds Those who know... Know.

Just When You Thought It was Safe

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

The Gremlins got into my blog and sent people off on a wild goose chase looking for my post last week. I am still trying to fix it so eagle eyed readers will notice that my header has gone back to the old old Blogspot address.

If you missed last week’s post, Writing Resistance, you can check it out here. And if you are a week or so behind you can check out the 800^th blog post here. Thank you to the readers who alerted me to the problem. You are the best!

 

As we wrap up October, National Book Month (US) The Independent Publishers Association published an article on The Copyright Alliance's website about the importance of copyright and the current moves to allow AI to erode it.

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard highlights the success that educational publisher Pearson is having with AI and customized lesson plans. I was caught by the last line on the continued relevance of print in the classroom. I want to cling on to the printed book with two hands but the future might have other ideas.

 

Two trade authors who were having moderate success separately have teamed up at the request of their publishers to produce books. Publisher’s Weekly reports on the pairing and why they are now having more success as part of a team. This could be a great move or a horrible can of worms depending on their publisher support.

 

Scribd, almost the last of the all-you -can-eat digital subscription model, has now bowed to the inevitable and is introducing tiered pricing. The unlimited digital reading experience was great to get people into the eco system but whale readers, who read a book a day, can quickly have reading subscription services in the red. They read faster than the subscription model can make money.

 

Publishing Perspectives have a quick run down on the publisher’s conference in Sharjah that is happening next week. They are getting bigger every year.

 

Dan Holloway takes a look at the results of the Written Word Media Survey and there is a big chunk of change going into romance and fantasy authors pockets. 

 

John Gilstrap wrote this week of an unnerving experience when an AI muscled in on his Zoom call. This surprised everyone but what happened next was cause for concern. 

 

The Alliance of Independent authors have shone a spotlight onto contract clauses to watch out for in serialized fiction. It is useful to glance over these stories so you are familiar with contract language and what to look out for.

 

Jane Friedman looks at the recent moans about Print On Demand and the perceived lower quality of these books coming out from big publishers. For years the printing industry has been asking publishers to standardize their print sizes. With Print on Demand they may be getting their way at last.

 

Amazon is tightening up on author claims of being 'best selling' and 'award winning.' If you use these slogans in your marketing be prepared to show the evidence. Penny Sansevieri has a run down on what is happening. 

 

It’s always interesting to drop into Maria Popova’s blog The Marginalien to explore language and all its little quirks. Recently she explored the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig and shared some beautiful words for feelings that we don’t have a name for. This is an article to savor and a book to buy the word nerd in your life.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to end a scene- James Scott Bell- Bookmark

How to use Goal Motivation and Conflict- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Why conflict drives a story- Jerry Jenkins- Bookmark

7 tips to avoid overwriting- C S Lakin- Bookmark

How to hook readers with character descriptions- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

5 reasons to consider translating- Angela Ackerman

Best communities for marketing- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

The ultimate book cover reveal – Sandra Beckwith-Bookmark

ISBN’s made easy- Comprehensive article – N.B. ISBN’s are free in NZ

9 Key reasons why your book is not selling.- Laurence O’Bryan

 

To Finish

If you haven’t discovered Canva yet and yes there are some authors who haven’t. Check out this powerful friendly design site. There are heaps of templates for marketing as well as Book Cover designs, banners, Ads, Video’s Reels etc. Canva is free and it also has a paid tier. The free tier can give you pretty much everything. Author, Jeevani Charika has a YouTube channel to help authors get the most out of Canva. Canva has just dropped a whole lot of new features. Jeevani shows you how you can use them. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? You can subscribe here to join our happy band.

If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate all your kind virtual coffee love, 

Thanks.

 

Pic Photo by Nikola Tasic on Unsplash

 

Writing Resistance

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

AI is back in the news in publishing, specifically how big the international petition calling for a halt to unlicensed use of creative work for training AI is. Publishing Perspectives looks at the big players that have signed and how critical this is to put a stake in the ground for creative livelihood.

 

Frankfurt has wrapped up. One of the interesting sessions which reflects the uneasy feelings of global politics was the session on Storytelling as Resistance. This article has some great statements which could be important to reflect on in the coming months. This one caught my eye. “Storytelling is a tool for human rights…”

 

Publishers Weekly has an article on a new imprint from Penguin partnering with John Green- Crash Course. This builds on the popular Crash Course YouTube channel that he started with his brother Hank over a decade ago. These books are aimed at young adults/students non fiction. The first book on tuberculosis has a 500,000 print run ordered. Just contemplate that last sentence again. If you haven’t investigated Crash Course and you have a teen getting ready for exams point them in this direction. My PHD student child swears by the physics courses which helped her at Uni.

Rachel Thompson has an in depth article looking at the prevailing scams targeting authors at the moment. Facebook scammers are quite prevalent. Scammers are getting more sophisticated so check out this article. Rachel has quite a few tips to show you what to look for. 

 

Publishers Weekly also has an article on Lit RPG becoming a mainstream genre rather than an interesting niche genre for gaming aficionados. Lit RPG is Literature based on Role Playing Games. Ready Player One was the crossover hit. But it now includes anime and other big interests of today’s young adults.

 

Thomas Umstattd has a deep dive into the two act chiastic storytelling structure that is used in anime and manga. He looks at best sellers over the years that have used this eastern form of storytelling. Dracula fits this storytelling structure as does Goodnight Moon.

 

Kim Bullock shares her journey of Promoting Literacy with a side of Activism on Writer Unboxed. This is a subtle form of putting a stake in the literary ground without confronting or using a loud hailer to get your point across.

 

Stephen Pressfield, known for his popular books on creative resistance has been writing a really interesting series of posts on how to get to the 'I love you stage' in your writing. This is not just for romance writers. There is an I love you stage in all genres. Check out this post and then deep dive into the series.

 

Marissa Graff has an interesting article on when you start to lose your readers trust. 

 

In the Craft Section,

How to master story rhythm- Sue Coletta- Bookmark

2 elements you need to catch readers- C S Lakin

Types of POV head hopping- K M Weiland- Bookmark

5 plot hacks that can save your novel- Susan DeFreitas- Bookmark

9 ways to craft the perfect opening line- Ryan Lanz

 

In the Marketing Section,

7 ways to promote your book on Goodreads- Rob Bignall

Book marketing on a budget- Jenn DePaula- Bookmark

How to write a book press release- Fussy Librarian- Bookmark

Master consistency to promote an indie published book- Penny Sansevieri

The must have author success checklist- podcast from Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Joanna Penn has a great interview with Rachel McLean about scaling your author business. This interview had me thinking about all the possible ways to spin off stories, work with different tools and ways to work differently. If you are wondering how to scale the next mountain in your author journey this is a must listen or read. Absolutely fascinating.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? You can subscribe here to join our happy band.

If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate all your kind virtual coffee love, 

Thanks.

 

Pic Photo by ALEXANDRE DINAUT on Unsplash

Reaching A Milestone

 

In Publishing News this week

 

It’s Frankfurt Bookfair time and publishers are showing off their booths on social media.

Publishers Weekly has a report on the first of the big stage moments – the CEO’s of 3 of the biggest publishing houses talking about aspects of modern publishing and the challenges to change the industry.

 

Publishing Perspectives has an in depth chat with Philippians publishers who are guests of honour at Frankfurt about their publishing business and the challenges of a western publishing model. 

 

Amazon has released a new Kindle according to GoodEreader. Spotify have expanded their audio book business into Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands. The numbers of books in these languages are growing all the time. 

 

Nielsen Book data have released their half yearly global report on which countries are reading and what they were buying. Fiction was more popular than non fiction. Many countries sales were staying the same or dipping slightly except for New Zealand which has had a nearly 10% decline in book buying. (Come On Kiwi’s- buy a book!)

 

The Guardian has an article on why bookshops are the new cool place to shop. It seems everyone is looking for the curated experiences and community that bookshops bring to the shopping experience.

 

While bookshops might be the place to hang out, this is not so true for the writers who provide the books. The income of writers has been steadily declining. In a recent article many writers who in the past would have been receiving a modest income are now struggling. ‘It’s a hobby not a profession anymore.’

 

Joanna Penn has been celebrating a milestone with her podcast. It has racked up over 10 million downloads. She examines the highs and learnings she has gained from having a popular podcast.

 

James Scott Bell has a great post on how writing can sometimes feel like trudging over the tar pits. It’s a wry look at the writer’s dilemma – when the book is not working where do you cut. 

 

Katie Weiland has made it to the end of her Structure series with a close look at resolution. This has been a super series and if you have been following along you should definitely check out her book on Structure. (It’s really good!)

 

In The Craft Section,

6 cheats to tell well- September Fawkes- Bookmark

Clues to a great story- The Pixar talk- Bookmark

Using Chekov’s gun strategically- Kevin Tumlinson

How to write a short story- ProWritingAid

Murky middles and how to strengthen them- Kristen Melville- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Authors are assets not competition- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Finding Readers who write reviews- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

When you need an author website- Grace Bialeckie

How to make a book trailer- Reedsy 

We are all marketers- Ann Marie Nieves Bookmark

 

Finish

This is my 800^th blog post. I feel like I have been talking publishing and writing forever. 

The blog has given me into some interesting insights into the publishing world. I think we can say that the experiment of the Kindle as not killed publishing. It is continually evolving. It has been interesting to see the rise of audiobooks and the changes that Indie Publishers have forced the traditional publishing houses to take. 

Staying nimble in this business is the key to success. I hope that you have learned along with me and that I have not bored you. 

A huge thanks to those who have been with me from the beginning. I’m still interested in this world, so I’ll keep going for a little while longer.

All celebrations should have cake… I’m off to find one.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? You can subscribe here to join our happy band.

If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, or celebratory cake, I appreciate all your kind virtual coffee love, 

Thanks.

 

 

Accessing your Fearless Superpower

 

 

This week in Publishing News

Coming soon are the new European Union laws on accessibility. This matters as digital books, if they are being sold in Europe, will need to comply with the accessibility guidelines. Publishing Perspectives reports that publishers are already asking for more clarification. Meanwhile Dan Holloway of The Alliance of Independent Authors has written a quick breakdown of what you need to do. First, use the Epub format.

 

Frankfurt Bookfair is ready to start, and Porter Anderson interviewed the fellows in the Special Program. They are all publishers who are near or in war zones. This is an interesting article that shines a light of the problems of publishing in a war zone.

 

Mark Williams looks at how Korea is managing to be nimble as they stay ahead of trends. This is interesting as smaller publishers can quickly pivot into new genre trends. It’s all about Horror right now but Happiness is around the corner.

 

Written Word Media has a comprehensive guide to Tax Deductions for authors. Even though the article is skewed towards the American tax system there are still items that go across all taxed nations. Take a look you might be able to claim back some tax.

 

Kevin Anderson has curated another StoryBundle of Writing Craft books. StoryBundle is a great way to get books – You pay what you think they are worth- The Author gets the money- A charity gets a slice, and everybody is happy. Don’t forget that reference books can be claimed on Tax as professional development.

 

Joanna Penn interviewed Ariel Curry on non fiction writing and marketing recently. If you have some non fiction projects that you want to dig your teeth into, check out the podcast transcript.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a comprehensive guide on the Ethical and Practical use of AI for authors. This is a very useful article to help you understand how to use AI tools. Publishers are already getting on the AI train. You don’t need to use it for creativity but it could speed up those mundane challenging jobs that are part and parcel of the authors world.

 

Colleen Story has a great post on How to identify your writing business relationship type. She uses 5 well known stories to help you pinpoint where your writer business is and how you could help it get better.

 

The dream team of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have ticked over nine years with their great website One Stop For Writers. Take a look at all their resources and take advantage of the birthday discount. 

 

Greer McAlister has an interesting post in Writer Unboxed about ideas and how you can have many of them but they aren’t necessarily book ideas. Figuring out which ones are book ideas is the hard part.

 

Katie Weiland is up to the climax in her story structure series of posts. This is where the story lives or dies.

In The Craft Section,

All the different words for hard- Kathy Steinemann

Vulnerability in fiction- Angela Ackerman

The book in your head vs the book you write- Kathleen McCleary - Bookmark

Beta reader options- Lisa Poisso- Bookmark

7 tips for perfect character names- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Writing good bio’s- Bang 2 Write- Bookmark

How to be a great guest blogger- Sandra Beckwith

Lessons in Business Cards and Bookmarks- Debbie Burke- Bookmark

How Substack is revolutionizing writer careers- Jaime Buckley

How to get your book into libraries- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish

Sometimes the last thing you want to do is admit that you are an author. Aside from the inane comments like – have I read anything that you have written, or I’ve got an idea for a book, you write it and we’ll split the money, writers can feel shame that they have written something that didn’t quite work. Jennie Case writes about these feelings on Jane Friedman’s blog. It is natural to feel hesitant when you put your writing out there. But you do it. This is what Bridey Thelen-Heidel calls Fearless Writing. How to look the world in the eye and write and live fearlessly.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter to go out. If you want the best of my bookmarked links you can subscribe here to join our happy band.

If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic Photo by James Healy on Unsplash

Reading The Small Print

 

 

In Publishing News this week

 

Lately there has been much discussion online about students arriving in University to study who have never been assigned a whole book to read at their high school. When questioned by professors they hear that students have been assigned excerpts or handouts to read and mark up but never a whole book. You might dismiss this as a socioeconomic problem if the Atlantic hadn’t canvassed professors at elite universities to find that their students lack the reading stamina to complete one course novel in humanities. An open letter from authors and teachers to the UK Prime Minister is being circulated in the UK to highlight this problem. 

 

Many authors have websites powered by Wordpress which is the most popular website builder and host of author websites.  Lately there have been some problems with their websites and it is all because of a stoush between the founders of Wordpress and WP Engine which hosts the websites. Techcrunch explains the drama.

 

The Frankfurt Book Fair is fast approaching and Publishing Perspectives has an interview with the Director on all the reasons Frankfurt Book Fair wants to stay out of international politics.

Richard Charkin writes in his monthly column about preparing for Frankfurt and why he thinks the Frankfurt Book Fair is the best.

 

Publishers Weekly has an article on whether POC representation in publishing is going down in real terms. After the push to highlight that lack of diversity in Publishing and efforts to rectify this in recent times, has anything changed?

 

Mark Williams highlights an article in The Hollywood reporter on AI being the new darling of the film industry. After the writer’s strike you would think they would be pushing it away with a big stick. Not So.

 

Joanna Penn has a great interview with Dave Cohen on writing humour. Can you make them laugh? Where is the line between comedy and offense and how careful should you be when crafting humour.

 

 A few years ago, publishing pundits wondered if print books would become collectable items as the world embraced digital editions of books. I couldn’t help but think this as I read the news that Macmillan Publishers have launched a new imprint. Think finely crafted handmade papers, limited numbered editions, full colour illustrations etc. Yes, they are a trade publisher. 

 

Robin Henry has a guest post on Jane Friedmans blog about structure. She takes a deep dive into Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. After 250 years what makes her novels stand the test of time? A great read.

 

Katie Weiland continues her great series on structure this week she looks at the beginning of the third act with the third plot point that builds the story to the climax. 

 

In The Craft Section,

Character ideas- Fictionary- Bookmark

Crafting a killer motivation- Laurel Osterkamp

Writing flawed characters- Angela Ackerman

Using tropes- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

How to use setting to reveal character- C S Lakin- Bookmark

Write fight scenes the comic way- Carla Hoch- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

November Book Promo ideas- Sandra Beckwith

Author newsletter data- Infographic

Getting more reader reviews- AJ Yee- Bookmark

Amazon Central Author pages- Clayton Noblit

How to optimize wide digital sales- Kelley Mc Daniel- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

A cautionary tale from Donald Maass who aside from writing great craft articles is also the founder of a well known Literary Agency. He writes about a WFH (Work For Hire) contract that set all the red flags flying. This is an article all writers should read. WFH contracts are increasingly being offered to tie up multimedia deals for streaming. Donald even references Rock Bands asking for WFH book tie ins. Do you know the flags to look for? Do you even know that your WFH is not yours even if they make a movie and franchise out of it? Always be clear on who owns your IP. Is it you?

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter to go out. If you want the best of my bookmarked links you can subscribe here to join our happy band.

If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash