Author Anxiety

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

The Readmagine conference is underway in Madrid and after the opening keynote from Madeline McIntosh from the brand new Authors Equity publishing house, a roundtable discussed  ‘publishing in the age of anxiety.’ This has been a theme through all the bookfairs this year. Publishing Perspectives reports on the big discussion points.

 

Authors Against Book Bans was officially launched this week in America. They have 1500 authors signed up to support librarians and schools who are battling on the front line of freedom to read.

 

Dan Holloway reports on Spotify bringing in a new tier to placate the Spotify music fans. It won’t have audiobooks available in it, but if you pay a dollar more…. Meanwhile, a Spotify executive who left the company has ventured out into publishing and is creating deals with Simon and Schuster for all things media. Watch out for even more rights grabbing in contracts as publishing companies become media companies with publishing as a side hustle.

 

Dave Morris writes about traditionally published authors being told that it is super hard to make eBooks. He was asked if this was true by a best-selling author whose publishing company assured him it was.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors decided to canvas their authors for their best tips for success in 2024. They came up with 25 tips and tricks for success.

 

Jane Friedman has an interesting guest post from author brand strategist Andrea Guevara, on being yourself so others can find you.

 

Joanna Penn has an inspirational interview with disabled writer Daniel Bate on how he overcomes his challenges and manages to write, and what sort of technology and apps allow him to do it. This article has been written by Daniel using dictation software as he is blind, paralysed, and dyslexic.

 

Dave Gaughran has a new series starting on his YouTube channel. How to turn your book cover into a killer Facebook ad. If you haven’t come across Dave before I recommend you check him out. He is highly regarded by everyone who is anyone in the Indie Author community for the quality and expertise of his advice, all of which is free.

 

Penny Sansevieri looks at why your Amazon Ads might not be working and Sandra Beckwith talks about author technophobia and how to overcome it.

 

Written Word media have a comprehensive post on 100 book marketing ideas for authors.

Katie Weiland has a great post this week on 9 ways to maintain your creative focus while you juggle writing and life.

 

How do you know when you are telling in a story? Check out this great post from Suzy Vadori on how to spot the signs.

 

In The Craft Section,

Choosing the chosen one- Vaughn Roycroft- Bookmark

The most important thing to include the story- Angela Ackerman

Getting the best response from your characters- Janice Hardy

How are Archetypes different from Tropes- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Inner conflict -the driving force- C S Lakin- Bookmark

 

In the Marketing Section,

Beyond the words, the impact of a brand style Deb Vanasse-Bookmark

Using hashtags-Kathy Steinemann

Using Bookfunnel as a landing page – Katie Cross-Bookmark

Canva tips for authors- Jeevani Charika- Bookmark

Book marketing strategies- Dale Roberts

 

To Finish,

You know the scenario… you are at a party and inevitably someone asks what you do? You tell them and you get the reply, ‘Have I heard of you?’ Aside from being annoying – how would I know what you’ve heard? How do you navigate the conversation after that? James Scott Bell looks at this dilemma and how to rise above it.

I am reminded of my uncle who used to make up highly technical terms for ordinary jobs when he was asked these questions. 

I am a content creator for an international media company currently specializing in long form content for juveniles in the speculative genre. 

Or you can just invent a boring job title.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Pic: Photo by Cosiela Borta on Unsplash