Rocking

Over the last week I have been wandering up and down the country avoiding the earthquakes in my home city...they were waiting for me when I came back...another three today...It’s like being on a moored boat every now and then the floor rocks.

Rocking the publishing blogosphere is some Amazon bashing that is going over the top...Melville House engages in some strong rhetoric that had the blogosphere shaking heads. Passive Guy takes a look at the impassioned argument from Melville House in Breaking News: Amazon declares war on the Book Industry and discusses what it may mean...someone needs to have a lie down.

Here in New Zealand the keynote speaker, Sandy Grant, at our local Publishers Association Awards...painted a disquieting picture echoing some of the passion from Melville House as well as looking at copyright issues and government efforts to break this. Authors are left scratching their heads...um where are we in all this?

Jami Gold has discovered new and horrible ways that authors are being pirated...and scraped by lowlifes and you will need to hang on to a table while you read this. It involves mash ups...fan fiction...scraping and Amazon...actually mixing that lot up and it could be some sort of new adult stuff which is the target of pirates at the moment. Wouldn’t it be simpler to write your own book?

Every now and again there is a publishing blogosphere story that won’t lie down...and the RandomPenguin washing of Author Solutions is one of them...Porter devoted a whole Ether post to it last week...I flagged it for you in my last post but since then it has got bigger and murkier....

Finally some happier news...after all how many shocks can you take...(last count over 1900 this week)

The fab Literary Agent Jennifer Laughren, from whom I shared a tweet with you a couple of weeks ago, had a Reddit community question time when you got to ask her anything on the agenting business. It is a great little read and explains why she is one of the top agents specializing in Kids Lit.

And Smashwords has a preorder button...Media Bistro tells all about it.

In Craft,

Chuck - Ten Thoughts On Story...by now you should be used to the warnings on content.

James Scott Bell from the great Killzone blog on creating conflict in fiction.

Elisabeth S Craig on creating back stories for characters.

The League of Extraordinary Writers have their top craftbooks list...and I’m pleased to say I have about half of them...and JOLLY GOOD they are too. I’m working on acquiring another couple.

Writers In The Storm have a great post on figuring out turning points in your story...

In Marketing,

Joel Friedman has copyright disclaimers that you can use in your book

Getting the most out of Facebook

Selfpublishing advice talks to Bob Mayer on How He Did It....which echoes Kobowritinglife’s advice on how to promote on Kobo...

Bestsellerlabs has the second part of their navigating the book marketing maze...full of helpful tips.

Darla has another list of self publishing tips...

To Finish,

If you think you would like to try doing the audiobook yourself... Joanna Penn has a nifty little article for you about what it entails.

Since I started writing this...we had another three quakes...mostly they are little but every now and again Mother Earth likes to wake us up...which is why you need Resilience if you are a writer (Rachel Gardner) or just live in an earthquake zone....

maureen

Knowing Your Business

Knowing what business you are in has been theme of the publishing blogosphere over the last couple of days.

In an ideas convergence, sparked by Kodak going bankrupt, many commentators are looking at what happened to Kodak and drawing some parallels to the publishing industry.

Knowing what business you are in is the most important pointer to your future as Rachel Gardiner points out with this comment.

Publishers, agents and authors need to start from this very important truth: We are not in the “book” business. We are in the business of storytelling. This encompasses entertainment, information, ideas, creativity, inspiration, and intellectual exploration. It also comprises a social element—the relationship between reader and writer. We are in the business of fostering this relationship.

Mike Shatzkin, publishing futurist, puts it another way using statistics to highlight that in a conservative estimate publishers are looking at over 30% of their revenues coming from online...either through ebooks or Amazon bookstore.

But being halfway through the change in consumer buying habits in our decade of change has profound implications for all the big players in the publishing value chain.

Both these commentators are calling for a wakeup in the publishing industry and this is echoed in the comments section of each of these posts with big hitters weighing in to comment.

Kristin has advice for the big six to take now. Her post, bracing for impact, has a list of important points the traditional publishers should be doing now so they don’t go the Kodak way. (here is just one point she makes...)

New York, if you guys had an e-division, you could take on new untested writers that agents deliver with very little risk. If a new writer sells so many e-books, she earns a print deal and can earn a spot in a…bookstore. Publishers don’t waste paper printing books that don’t sell and bookstores don’t waste shelf space on…books that don’t sell.

 (Since this morning, when the post went up, she has over 109 comments endorsing her call and it is being retweeted everywhere.)

In the spirit of knowing what business you are in, a few writers have been looking at tips to improve the storefront of the author.

Authorculture looks at the author photo and the common mistakes authors make with this vital tool.

The wonderful team at Bookshelf Muse has a pithy post on creating a good Author platform.

Joanna Penn has a guest post on writetodone with the 7 truths of being a writer. This has struck a chord with nearly 100 comments on the subject.

In the add-this-to-the-craft files....

Joel has rounded up the best grammar sites...

Jami looks at using the Save The Cat Beat Sheet...(Save The Cat is one of the foremost books on screenwriting...)

Alison has an interview with Holly Cupala about marketing...check out Holly’s trailer...

Do you have a book manifesto? If so, does it reduce you to tears? If not, something is wrong...or why you are writing in the first place....

This morning I heard about the pinterest site on radio that is taking the social media world by storm. I know a few writers who use mood boards or inspiration boards to gather pictures of their characters houses maps etc...Check out this post about how pinterest works and how authors can use them to huge advantage...

As you contemplate the changes in the publishing business, spare a thought for those who are up against the wall holding on to the need for a printed book... a list of the downsides of an ebook.

1.You can’t hide a gun in an ebook...check out the rest of the list.

Of course if you can figure out a way to hide a gun in an ereader...a life as a crime writer could be beckoning or you could be taking care of business in a new way....

maureen

pic is a star wars bounty hunter...

Socially Speaking....

Social Media...say what? You don’t waste time on that stuff do you?

Sometimes there is a fine line between wasting time and working on growing your brand, marketing in other words.

There have been lots of posts by respected industry professionals recently that highlight the fact that authors need to be google searchable. They must have a web presence and be active in the web community even before you have a book out. This shows potential editors and agents that the author understands that the web is a vital part of the marketing arsenal. If you are an established author it is a given that you will have a web presence for you and the book.Social Media sites makes you web searchable, this can help with branding and contribute to making you a better bet to publish. 

If you are going to be active in Social Media you need to set goals and limits for yourself. (What is best for you? How much time should you put into it...)

What is your core business, networking or writing? If you are networking all the time, chances are you aren’t writing. And if you are always intending to get around to Social Media or are unsure whether it is even relevant for you, chances are you are not networking or growing your brand.

So what is Social Media and where do you start?

Social Media is Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ping, Digg....Yup it is seemingly endless.

T K Richardson has an interesting series on her blog looking at marketing, social media and time. She has a quick roundup of ways authors can use Social Media.

Nathan Bransford asked the question, Social Networking- Does it really work in selling books? His forum community waded in on the topic and there is a great for and against debate going on. In the end as one commentator said ‘It is the strength of the story which sells the book.’ Using Social Media with only the intention to sell books and not participate in the community is just spamming.

Jody Hedlund has the most comprehensive round up of pros and cons on using Social Media. Jody’s blog is always worth the read and her debut book is racing up the charts. She has a loyal and savvy group of followers so that hasn’t hurt either.

Jane Friedman has been picked up by Cincinnati University to teach Digital Media. She was interviewed this week by Dan Blank about How Digital Media Can Empower Writers. This is a thirty minute skype interview so grab a coffee and sit back. Jane does know of what she speaks being an extremely popular blogger and editor with Writers Digest.

Justine Musk this week talked about technology and how it is changing the way people will see books in the future and the writers brand.

Bob Mayer has taken his Who Dares Wins philosophy a bit further and established his own publishing company. Go and have a look at his rules for engagement and why he decided to take his brand of writing and popular workshops into another sphere. (Hint Digital Media played a huge part in all the possibilities.)

Rachel Gardner has given everyone a wakeup call about what happens around the acquisitions table. Are You Brave Enough To Find Out? Some of her regular readers were not....

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

Victoria Moxon - Interview. (This is a fabulous article. All Victoria’s advice is worth its weight in gold!)

John Steinbeck’s Advice For Beginning Writers.

The Fifty Best Author Vs Author Put Downs Of All Time. (ouch)

What Star Trek Can Teach Us About Writing...(very very good grasshopper...yes I know I mixed my genres.)

Marketing Tips For Author-Niche Marketing...(echo’s of a recent blog)

As you can tell I use Social Media. You are already reading this blog. I use Twitter primarily as a resource tool to get great links for you to read. I retweet some and Amplify others. My Amplify links get directed to Facebook and Twitter. Each of these Social Media groups have their own followers. I try not to spend more than four hours a week on research, networking and being social...The benefits tho are The FaBo Project put together with Facebook writers. Up to date knowledge of cutting edge news (UK Penguin and open submissions) some fine reading and great friends met over the blogosphere (waves to friends...my there are a lot of you...)

Questions and comments about using Social Media are welcomed...dip your toe in and comment....

enjoy

maureen