Rockstars and Writers

Last night I sat glued to my cell phone and the computer and vicariously shared in the excitement of attending the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards.

Melinda Szymanik, who blogged about being in the room so eloquently today, was my secret weapon. 

Melinda texted me the winners and Johanna Knox and I got them onto our WCBA blog in close to real time. As each text from Melinda came in I cheered the winners. 

The text announcing Fleur Beale’s win had me jumping up and down with excitement.

Fleur is the great heroine of Children’s Writing in New Zealand. Since 2005 she has been a finalist every year. Her work has consistently made the top five in all the big awards for children’s writing here in NZ but she has never won until Last Night!

Absolutely Well Deserved – A Long Time Coming and Oh So Sweet! Congratulations Fleur!

So what do I have for you this week...

Gabriela Pereira has blogged beautifully about why writers need writer friends...and for me Fleur has been every one of the main points listed here.

Business Insider has a great post about the four hour work day...and I know that Fleur in her new writing studio does this which is why she is a winner...

YA Highway has a great reference post about the differences between MG and YA . Fleur writes both and she is very good at both...

Around about now Fleur is probably reaching for a stick to beat me over the head so I’ll stop....

(Gotcha, Fleur xx).

Seth Godin  and Michael Stackpole have been busy rattling cages this week.

Seth has written an interesting and very thought provoking post on the future of libraries. I’ve passed it on to my librarian friends and hopefully they are still speaking to me. What do you think the library of the future will look like...I think there are some positives here for librarians....

Michael Stackpole has a post looking at House Slaves vs Spartacus....This is an examination of writers who are traditionally published and Independently published. Michael is in both camps but which one is better...?

If you are looking at epublishing here is a nifty roundup of the best conversion tools around.

If you like contests this one is a doozy.

The wonderful PJ Hoover has a great contest happening on her blog to celebrate the ebook launch of Solstice. 

I referred you to P J Hoover last week when I mentioned that P J’s Agent was bringing out Solstice and she was being interviewed on The Spectacle blog about this new move in publishing. P J has a 20 book giveaway happening...Go and Check It Out!

Janice Hardy has written a wonderful clear description of the difference between Show and Tell. This is one of those posts you bookmark and refer to again and again.

Over on Craicerplus (My Amplify Page) I have links to articles on

Children’s Writing and Cross Promotion

Boys Don’t Read -Except They Do

Why Writers Drink (warning content, hic)

To Finish,

Kristen Lamb has a great post on why Rock Stars and Writers are the same- Yes we really do work!

Access your inner rock star, people!

For all the finalists at the NZ Post Children’s Book Awards and for all those cheering them on...

The pen is mightier than the sword...

and The Solstice ebook trailer By P J Hoover



Enjoy,


maureen

Pic is the cover of Fierce September by Fleur Beale. NZ Post Children’s Book Awards -Young Adult Winner 2011.

Future Creativity...

This week I have been thinking about creativity and the future. 

This came about because I was at the Storylines committee wind-up dinner (being an email member qualified me...yippee) and Adele Jackson fab co-ordinator and all round creative ideas professional started talking to me about Creativity and the impact on the classroom of the news that creativity is falling away as we focus on assessment.

Of course the teacher in me takes notice. Adele is in touch with some very classy educationalists whom we invited to The Spinning Gold conference to give us a perspective of writing and illustrating for the classroom in the future. Derek Wenmouth of CORE had posted an article on his blog about creativity which featured an excellent video address by John Cleese on the subject. If we don’t block out sustained quiet time we will not have any creative ideas. We must work at it...carve out time!!!

So of course after those stirring words I looked at my to do list and carved out time. Yes I got some big projects done but unfortunately some more got added to the list...Oh well I know what I need to do. Unplug the internet! (yep I hear you all laughing) I am resisting all efforts by the family to make this a wireless household...too easy I think to get sucked in into checking facebook when I am supposed to be writing. Fleur Beale has a good system, every morning she goes to an office in town without internet and writes...which is why we are all going to the launch of her new book Fierce September tonight....(a great launch and Fleur is going all techy with added content on linked blogs to the book. Check out the Fierce September website.) 

 Looking into the future is what the sci fi pop culture site i09 is all about. It has some great articles abut what is current, analysis, reviews etc...geek stuff including ask a physicist... I was interested in an article this week about the rise of Science Fiction lit. novels and how writers who previously were known for ‘literature’ were now moving into Science Fiction....(making it legit? Guess my reaction...)

E books are on their way to Australia and  New Zealand with news this week that major publishers are about to sign deals that will enable their lists to be published as e-books. As the readers start to make their way into this part of the world it would be good to have local content available to read on them.

Sydney Salter, one of the 30 mid grade authors running the midgrade site From The Mixed Up Files has a great blog post looking at her reaction to her child who saved up and bought herself an e-reader. So is this what kids of the future want to spend their money on? Sydney was sceptical but her non reader is now reading...

So how to get that content picked up so you can be part of the publishing lists of the future....

Mary Kole of Kidlit.com has been interviewed on several blogs about being a young agent and she has written a thought provoking post on how she acquires authors. Here in NZ we don’t have many agents...so we do more ourselves but overseas getting the agent can be the hardest part of the whole publishing process.

Sunny Frazier has written a no nonsense straight talking guest post on being an acquisitions editor...she doesn’t bother with the query letter but goes straight to google search to find out how web savvy the author is...go read it...it is eye opening!

 If you are now in a state of shock about your publishing and the future you might want to check out this collection of tips from authors who are using social media for marketing... and Chris Brogan has a good post on blogging and websites if you need to do something concrete...(Thanks to Justin, for the link.)

Over on Craicerplus (my Amplify page...which is getting a following of its own)

I have links to articles on

Finally Someone Admits To What The Print On Demand Business Model Really Is

Genreality- Self Publishing Realities

Ten Ways To Improve Your Writing

13 Wonderful Truths About Publishing

Dear Dan Brown...(you will laugh)

Ten Tropes you Will Find In Science Fiction Over and Over Again...(geeking over the video clips)

How To Effectively Manage Your On Line Reputation

How To Read A Publishing Contract

In the good news corner Debbie Redpath Ohi,  whose cartoons I have enjoyed over the last few years, got some well deserved recognition purely by accident and through a rejection picked up a publishing contract and a new career...nice one! She carved out time in her hotel room in a frantic rush but the payoff was oh so sweet.

So how do YOU carve out time for writing? All tips appreciated...

enjoy

maureen

pic is a bike for the future...

The power of the image...

This morning while telling Fleur Beale how busy I was....she knows... she's on the Spinning Gold Committee too ...we got to talking about the power of image... specifically images that you manufacture as marketing yourself.

I was mentioning them in relation to the billboards around at the moment with pictures of Ms Hilton and the word Vacant. The billboards are advertising that the space is for rent. Fleur thinks that Ms Hilton has a good PR machine as she is known for being known, the drug of celebrity.

My business card is finished and I’m very pleased and judging by others reactions....they are cooly spiffing! I’d show you but I’ll wait until after the conference is over...(really it’s because the camera has left me to go cover a story with my husband.)The image is fantastic!

Less than a week to go and I have a lot to get through....My personal goals for the conference are now becoming urgent must do items which I have to find time to address before Thursday, the day before the conference opens!

On Thursday night there is an event at Story Time that I am involved in and have to prepare for and I would love to go to the Speculative Fiction event in town on the same night with one of our Spinning Gold Panellists.

However with the urgent press of details to be ticked off, I am in danger of getting to the conference and quietly collapsing.... Just prop me in a corner. (Icky image) The committee have all worked their socks off!

We are proud of this conference and everything we have put together...and we know everyone coming will have a blast! (If the daily emails of excitement flooding our conference in-box are anything to go by.)

I’ll leave you with the new book trailer For Scott Westerfeld’s new book, Leviathan. He is getting into the Steampunk genre and if you don’t know what that is... watch the trailer....

My daughter said she wants to read the book based on the power of the images in the trailer (and she didn’t like Scott’s Uglies series...

Like I said the IMAGE has POWER.

See you after the conference is over...

maureen

I'm not sorry...

1150 people attended the SCBWI (society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) 38th L.A. summer conference last weekend. Many more attended it virtually including yours truly whenever I got the chance.

There were five bloggers in a team who blogged the entire event.

It is an amazing read! But you need to clear the decks, sit down with a coffee and have no interruptions. The team reported the main points of every presentation over the four day conference and it is remarkable reading.

The presenters are all at the top of the publishing tree in the US and the bloggers made sure they covered every hand’s on workshop by Writers, Illustrators, Editors, Agents and Publishers.

Besides the conference, theirs and ours (only 42 days to go) I have been intrigued with the concept of book tours -Blog style.

Going on a blog book tour...means staying at home in your jammies and bed hair and promoting your book as a guest author on a different blog everyday.

Aussie author Alan Baxter has just finished a blog book tour and he has written an analysis of the experience and whether it resulted in any sales.

Alan started off his tour by talking to Smashwords an indie e-publisher, about blog book tours. Alan has a couple of books with them but he was promoting his new print book.

Smashwords are an interesting outfit. If you upload your book with them you get about 80% of the retail price. Their books are sold for all e-reading devices.

I think e-readers will benefit the Adult and Young Adult reader. I am yet to be convinced that Mid Grade, which I write, and Picture Book readers would get much out of it...but I am prepared to be persuaded, especially if I can get 80% of the price. Authors typically get between 3 and 10%.

Jeff Bulla has written a great post on the 10 new rules of Press Releases. The best advice for writers is contained in point number 10.

If you are thinking of the sea change for authors, where they have to learn marketing, take some time to read this post. If you are in business and every writer and illustrator is, you need to be up with the play on new marketing strategy. Here is a sample of what Jeff has to say.

The best PR and marketing pros know that Web-based communication delivered directly to their constituents is highly effective. Now, press releases circumvent the media and appear in real time on millions of desktops. Bloggers almost instantly comment on product announcements, and smart communications pros treat these “new journalists” with respect.

I don’t apologize for linking you to lots of extra reading in this weeks post.

All of it is relevant to our core business of making a living as a Writer for Children.

Extra Extra....

Fleur Beale, countless bridesmaid at the NZ Post Children's Book Awards has scored!

Congratulations To Fleur- Esther Glen Medalist 2009

maureen