This week in the publishing blogosphere, there was lots of
discussion around the article published in The Guardian about author Kathleen
Hale (gleefully) stalking a reader/book reviewer because her book didn’t rate a
5* review. The ethics around this and the fact that The Guardian published this
and effectively implied that book reviewers/bloggers could be called out for
giving a less than brilliant review has riled a lot of people. The Dear Author
site and The Passive Guy have got very strong opinions on this. Yes, book
reviews are subjective. Yes, you might get a lukewarm review... but you don’t
engage in troll behaviour. You suck it up and move on.
Published to Death has a list of online reviewers who will
look at your book. Obviously they won’t want any troll behaviour.
We want book reviewers. They benefit the whole industry. Do
we want to have a reading public who won’t read anything new because they can’t
be sure the review was paid for?(sock puppetry)
Hugh Howey is on a roll with some more examination of publishers and book stores.... should we really feel sorry for them? Possibly
not when you see what earnings the big 5 (4) racked up in the last few years.
At a recent conference in the US... a comment was made about
authors having all their eggs in the Amazon basket. Porter looks at the use and abuse Amazon may be wielding with Kindle Unlimited.
Audible (the audio book publishing outlet) is owned by
Amazon. Recently Jane Friedman had a guest post on her site comparing what CD Baby has to offer... and it’s all good! (starting with 90% royalties vs 30%)
The Plot Whisperer takes a look at NaNoWriMo. What is your
goal and how are you going to achieve it. November is always quiet in the
publishing blogosphere. Authors are writing and editors are quaking awaiting
the December onslaught.
Publishing Hub reckons they have found the secret to writingfor children... hiking up the emotional intensity.
Brain Pickings has the article that explains that Einstein quote that
reading Fairy Tales is the best way to improve children’s intelligence.
The 50th Anniversary of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has arrived this week... The only children’s book written by Ian Fleming. It is being re-released with new covers
etc and the original illustrations by a much loved illustrator now. (Chitty was
his second book.)
Also in the news this week a Slovakian company has made the flying car a reality. This is a seriously up market Chitty!
In the Craft Section,
Using layers to pre write your scenes – Janice Hardy
Whose point of view should you use? – Jami Gold
Do you have sympathy for your villain? –James Scott Bell
Effective story description – K M Weiland
In the Marketing Section,
Finding your books ideal audience – Angela Ackerman
To Finish,
Joanna Penn has joined together with Dave Gaughran, Sean
Platt and Johnny B Truant to bring you a deal that I urge you to get. They have
combined their 3 magnificent writing and marketing craft books into an Indie Ebook
bundle for 99c (no that is not a typo) I already have one of these books (eye
poppingly good) and had put the other two on my Christmas list... but I snapped
up this deal and you should too. Fly Fly Fly to Joanna’s site and learn more
(and get your preorder in on your favourite reading platform.)
The deal is for
a limited time. Release date is 3rd November.
(secret news: Joanna will be in Auckland over summer... )
maureen
