It is November! Outside I hear fireworks… inside, everyone wants to know who has won the US Election. Meanwhile, there are writers around the world trying to block out all distractions to get on with NaNoWriMo. Don’t forget to check out the NaNoWriMo Storybundle of craft books available until the end of November. (Early Christmas present to yourself. There are some great books in there!)
This week the big news was the arrival into the UK of Bookshop.org just in time for the UK lockdown. This initiative has made news in the US and surpassed all their projections in the first week in the UK. This is a way for indie booksellers to sell books that keeps the money in their pockets. Great for shop local campaigns. Meanwhile, Passive Guy takes a look at Indie Bookshops that have started Go Fund Me pages just to stay afloat.
Across the channel, the European publishing industry is fighting a campaign of cultural awareness. Books are essential to the well being of a community and therefore bookshops should stay open. Some countries agree- others not so fast, Monsieur.
An ugly rumour about Audible has been doing the rounds among authors. They are promoting trading in your audible book credit for another book. Surely not, said authors. That would mean authors would never get paid for their audiobook under the subscription model. Nate Hoffelder found out the rumour was true and Audible is promoting this. This is a despicable thing to do to authors stuck in this program.
Kris Rusch had a great blog this week on how much writing and storytelling is an escape for the writer as well as the reader. How often are you diving into your manuscript with relief as you escape from the outside world?
Writing and Wellness has an article on ways writers can benefit from silence and how to build it into your busy day.
Joanna Penn has an interesting interview with Wendy H Jones on writing and marketing in multiple genres. How do you market yourself when you tackle such widely different markets?
Ev Bishop has a must-read post on Branding 101 for Authors. This is a really interesting article on mindset. For instance, what do you want your readers to take away from your stories? The answer is your brand. Sounds simple but that is only the start.
Litreactor has a great article on story openings. What are the five things to keep in mind to wow the socks off anyone reading the first page.
In The Craft Section,
Incidental Characters that make your novel zing- C S Lakin- Bookmark
Love triangles that work.- Roz Morris
Top 5 mistakes writers make with police characters- Stuart Gibbon- Interesting
How to develop your character- and writing exercises on tense - Now Novel- Bookmark
10 ways to get a stuck story moving- Janice Hardy- Bookmark
12 tips to write tight- Debbie Burke- Bookmark!
How to spill strong emotion on the page- Laura Drake
In The Marketing Section,
Selling books internationally – Dave Chesson- Bookmark
20 tips to rock your Social Media- Frances Caballo
5 Book Launch prep essentials- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark
Email marketing – Julia Evans- Interesting
5 reasons authors should email market- Rachel Thompson
To Finish,
With the word count of 1667 per day to crack in the month of November for NaNoWriMo, many writers look for ways to avoid distractions. One of the biggest distractions is the internet… and the US Election. I have a nifty Neo keyboard that doesn’t connect with the internet and runs on batteries. But this week Techcrunch unveiled a little beauty of a keyboard The Freewrite Traveler- a clamshell, take anywhere keyboard and screen. Of course, you don’t need a dedicated unplugged device. You can write anywhere if you have the tools, on your phone, dictation, message yourself, or good old pen and paper. Get those words down. Escape into your writing!
Maureen
@craicer
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Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Eden Janine and Jim- Magician Cardone
