It has been a clear-the-decks week.
Empty out a room. Paint it. Put it back together. Chuck out what you don’t want. Find stuff chucked out and rescue it. Justify why you saved the chucked out item.
Writers are hoarders. Teachers are hoarders. I am doubly dammed or blessed whichever way you look at it.
While I have been painting and contemplating treasure or trash... Bob Mayer has been taking a hard look at the Digital Book World conference and weighing up the worth of their speakers and the comments on twitter about where digital publishing is going...self publishing... and being your own publisher/bookstore owner.... This is a must read. Bob walks the talk. He pulls no punches.
Zoe has released a couple of ebooks and designed and executed an amazing campaign around getting her name out there. This name is a pseudonym and in this critique of her year, social marketing her ebooks she compares it with her other ‘real life’ writer persona. Zoe shot to fame on the writer’s blogosphere with her video series Who is Zoe Winters...clever marketing. This article is also a must read for people contemplating ebooks.
I post these articles because the face of publishing is changing rapidly and writers should be aware of what is happening in the industry and what other writers are experiencing.
This week Publishing Perspectives posted an article entitled Half of US Publishers Believe ebooks Will Be Dominant By 2014 and Mike Shatz of Nokia wrote a guest article on Moconews On Why Online Retailers will Squeeze out Publishers In the Book Business.(as always I recommend you read the comments that these articles generate.)
Know what you want to do and go in with eyes wide open.
So after that dose of reality...back to Fiction
Callihoo has posted George Polti’s 36 dramatic plots...a good reference tool and Publetariat has answered the question How Do You Keep Your Plot from Feeling Contrived..if you are stuck for ideas.
On Craicerplus (my Amplify page) I have links to articles on
Hunger Games- Why Kids Love Disaster Distress and Dystopia...(not only kids...this is a great article by a psychologist.)
10 Steps for Working Past The ‘This Stinks’ Blues.
How To Organise Your Assignments, Research, Interviews and All The Rest
How To Write Your First Novel In Under Four Weeks.
A Handy Beginners Guide To ebook Formats Apps And Devices.
Conference season is upon us and WriteOnCon kicked off with an Agent’s Panel which is covered on Heather McCorkles Blog.
And the Big One SCBWI NEW YORK...kicks off tomorrow....However you can hole up in your office and follow it all as it happens by going to the live blog site...I did that for LA...great little insights and it didn’t cost me the ticket...(but oh how I wished I was there.)
If you are interested in a conference closer to home Spinning Tales in Auckland is still open for registrations for another month.
Anita Laydon Millar advises that you must stick your neck out because you never know where it might lead you...(all from a reader of her blog...)
Here is episode 2 of Zoe’s Self Publishing Video Series...have a laugh.
enjoy,
maureen
