Reading Between The Lines

 

In Publishing News this week,

Last week publishing social media was full of comment from disgruntled authors discovering they had been let go from a prominent author agency. I didn’t link to it at the time as tempers and opposing viewpoints were swirling and I figured that everyone might calm down and things were not as bad as portrayed. Then the Authors Guild got involved to try to sort out the mess of over 20 authors with contracts in various states of negotiating being hung out to dry. So yes, things were bad. The fallout has probably permanently tarnished the reputation of the agency. There are no winners.

 

This week a hybrid virtual/in person book fair in New York was held over three days. It’s the only Book Fair that attempts to be a national book fair for the USA. After the demise of Book Expo America and virtual Digital Book World offerings, the flagship shows like London or Frankfurt aren’t happening for the U.S. Mark Williams looks at the problems of running a big book fair. Does the English language publishing world really need another bookfair?

 

Germany has just published a survey on reading in their country and the declining levels of literacy among children is alarming. They are embarking on a huge campaign to lift literacy. However, recently their teen reading levels have been huge. Is it the power of TikTok influencers?

 

James Daunt CEO of Barnes and Noble recently spoke on how his policies have changed the face of the bookselling company. The secret is in curation, and local curation at that. Also shelving non-fiction books by subject instead of alphabetically. Wow. Who knew that might work?

 

Jane Friedman has a guest post by Joni Cole on cover woes and what you can do when your publisher gets it so very wrong. Her publisher though she would be happy with an explicit cover on a book about… writing craft. 

 

Randy Peyser has an interesting post on what publishers want. This is not a specific post but does have some interesting ideas for what you should keep in mind when approaching them.

 

Ingram Spark has a useful article on choosing readable fonts for your book. If you are into designing print interiors check it out. Warning- once you go down the typeface rabbit hole you will discover a wonderful new world that can be quite addictive. 

 

Recently the Spa Girls writing podcast had an interview with Matt Bird – a writing craft teacher on the secrets of story. It’s a great interview with different ways to look at scenes and characters.

 

September Fawkes has a great article on things she wished she knew as a beginning writer. This is a must read. It doesn’t matter if you are beginning or not, there are gems to think about… print out…carve on your wall, in here.

 

In The Craft Section,

7 cool tricks for beating the maddening middle- Holly Lisle

Hero’s journey structure and examples- Lisa Taylor- Bookmark

3 steps to engaging your readers- Angela Ackerman

The difference between Character Archetypes and Tropes- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

How to create insanely complex characters- K M Weiland- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Marketing to Libraries- Goodstory company- Bookmark

12 ways to promote your book- Green Leaf

First impressions, Book Covers-Mibl Art-Bookmark

Relaunching with audiobooks- Bookboss Academy

Moving the needle- Huge Marketing post from SCBWI – BOOKMARK

 

To Finish

Lisa Cooper Ellison has a great column on Jane Friedmans blog, this week she writes about Beta Readers. Lisa looks at  how important they are and how you can help them out. If you prepare questions and manage their expectations it should be a positive experience for everybody. If you haven’t really made use of Beta readers before this is a handy article on how to get started with them.

 

Go Forth and Read.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Reading gymnastics- or how many ways you can curl up with a book.

Publishing By Numbers

The Big Big News in the publishing world was the sale of Barnes and Noble this week to Elliot Advisors hedge fund.
After five CEO’s in four years the lifeboat may have arrived in the nick of time for the troubled bookseller. Publishers have been holding their breath as the demise of the largest bookshop chain in the United States would decimate their bottom lines. 
Last year Elliot Hedge Fund bought Waterstones, a large UK chain of bookstores. James Daunt, who had his own branded chain of bookstores, continued as CEO. Waterstones went through a massive rebranding to make each of their bookstores act and feel like an Indie bookstore, thanks to James leading from the front, since 2011. 
So now that they are on the up, Elliot Hedge Fund must be betting that James Daunt can pull it off again as he has been named as the new CEO. (No pressure James.) Barnes and Noble came cheap. Only two years of Waterstones profits to buy one of the largest bookstore chains in the world. 
So how did Barnes and Noble get it so wrong? Author Kristen Lamb shines the spotlight on how the publishing companies could have done something and didn’t. After all, this was their biggest showroom and they effectively gave it to Amazon.

Staying with our global focus on bookselling, Sharjah Emirate has been making waves in the International Book World. They have built Publishing City, a purpose-built complex of over 400 offices for the worlds publishing community. ALL TAX-FREE. This week Ingram signed a large contract to bring Print on Demand services into Publishing City. Porter Anderson takes a look at how this might challenge and change publishing globally.

Amazon has been running a large literary prize for a few years now. This year entries are open to any book published in the English language. The prize is a wad of cash and a translation deal because translations may be the next big thing.

Anne R Allen has an interesting blog post on the lure of the writing template. Are all novels beginning to feel like more of the same? Are writers playing it safe with form and format and copying down the same format time after time or is this just the essence of storytelling.

Jami Gold has a great folder of templates to help writers on her website. She recently came up with another good one to add to her resources for Authors. A truthful to the Author priority list. If you flail around looking for all your to-do lists and get overwhelmed at setting goals and priorities for your writing, this is the template for you. A step by step breakdown of how to prioritize.

While you are thinking of goal setting  Katelyn Knox has figured out a way to track your daily writing and focus goals on a google form. This is really interesting. I never thought of using a google form in this way.

Another tool in the Indie Arsenal is this great website. Creative Law centre. This is a lawyer specialising in authors and their contract needs. Check out this great template for audiobook narrators and then fossick around and find other useful stuff.

Writer’s Digest has a roundup of twenty new agents and what they are looking for... If you want to get a feel for what may be coming in the next few years, go into Twitter (Agents love Twitter) and type #MSWL (manuscript wishlist) for a comprehensive list of agent wants.

Reedsy has put together a collection of solutions for Writer’s Block. Just in case you still need help to figure out what to write next, who to send it to, what your contract could mean. after you’ve used the right template, set your goals and tracked them before heading to Sharjah and appearing in a huge book tour through Waterstones and Barnes and Noble.
It’s all in the little details that add up to the big numbers of dollars... (WriterDreams)

In The Craft Section,

Writing scene endings – Now Novel

How to hint at emotional wounds- Angela Ackerman

Writing tone and voice- Dana Sitar-Bookmark

Internal conflict types- Lonerwolf

2 basic rules of editing- Allegra Huston

Overwriting- How to reduce your word count- Tara East- Bookmark

Story goals are they slowing your pace- Jami Gold - Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Guide to getting more readers reviews- Bookbub- Bookmark

8 query letter don’ts- K M Allen

11 steps to stellar Instagram- The Digital Reader

The new look KDP reports- Elizabeth S Craig- Bookmark

How to build an author platform- David Gaughran- Bookmark

To Finish,

Suzanne Lakin has a handy blog that I have linked to for quite a few years. Today she posted that she was involved in a huge story bundle. Over $5000 worth of courses, books, and templates for only $49. I was intrigued. It looks pretty impressive. It’s only available for a week so check it out. ( Tip: Go to the learn more page and scroll down the list of goodies.)

Maureen
@craicer

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Pic: Flickr Creative Commons- Rafael Matsunaga- That was supposed to be going up, wasn’t it?

Diverse Publishing

This week I have been thinking about Diversity and the representation of diversity in publishing. Some of this was sparked by the campaign of an 11 year old girl who was searching for books that showed people of her race as the main characters in books.

I was talking with my writing buddy recently over my characters and I made the comment that none of my main characters were the same colour as me. I always saw them as mixed race though I never made a point of describing them as such. As my writing buddy hears and critiques my writing first... the fact that the characters were mixed race was news to her. This sparked a conversation about whether to info dump character information. (NO)

Info dumping statistics this week was Lee and Low, children’s publishers, with their report on Diversity in Publishing. We all know that publishing is White Skin dominant... It is also female gender dominant...

Porter Anderson takes a look at other statistics to pop out of the report.

Here in very multi cultural NZ, the loss of many of our NZ publishing offices to Australia has always concerned writers here. It widens the ditch that our distinctive Maori/Pasifica stories have to hurdle over to get published.

Today I was watching #Pit2Pub on Twitter. It was interesting to see the number of pitches that used diversity hash tags. A new kid on the Twitter pitch block is Pitch Match. – this is a 3 hour pitch fest broker party happening on the 11^th.

A brief Twitter storm happened with the reporting that Amazon was opening bricks and mortar bookstores across the U.S. This was quickly shut down on Twitter but it still raises questions...

Bob Mayer has been rallying the writing troops this week with two great posts on ambushing writing fear and what is becoming his annual exhortation to writers to face up to the harsh truths of this writing business. Go in with your eyes open...

This has been echoed by Agent Jennifer Laughran when she answered a question about sham agents and how you can tell who they are. (Especially important for people doing Twitter pitches)

You’ve dodged the sham agent and got your diverse story polished, what can you do next on your publishing journey?

You need an Author Business plan. This one is a comprehensive lists of things to think about on your way to establishing your author business.

Joel has put together a workflow checklist for book designing and publishing your project.

When it comes to selling this discussion on Ingram’s acquisition of Aer.io, a turn key bookstore that can be dropped into an author website, by Bookworks has some interesting opinions.

In the Craft Section,

The problem with revealing information- Janice Hardy

Using Twitter for research

Using a scene template- C S Lakin Bookmark

Mastering the art of the cliffhanger chapter ending- Bookmark

Seven stages of the writer process- Orna Ross- Bookmark

What’s killing your creativity

Who is the better hero - Han or Luke?

Drafting in layers- Elizabeth S Craig- Bookmark

In the Marketing Section,

Metadata-why it matters to Authors

How to develop and perfect your author marketing- Rachel Thompson Bookmark

24 tips for using photos in your POD book- The Book Designer

Rethinking book cover design – Dave Bricker

Book Marketing ideas -Bookbub- Bookmark

5 reasons Canva is your blogging design heaven

To Finish,

The last memory I have of the late, great Dame Katerina Mataira (Ngati Porou) was the speech where she didn’t mince any words to the publishing establishment. ‘Where are our Maori books? ‘The market is too small’ they said. So I have to do it myself.’ She went on to write, publish and sell in all genres across the board at over 70 years of age. “You have a niche product. No one will publish you. Get out there and do it yourself.”

The Pic is the cast of the new Harry Potter play. Yes, that is the Golden Trio. J K Rowling has said she never mentioned skin colour in the books for Hermione. Score for Diversity!

Maureen

@craicer

Being Conflicted...

This week the blogosphere is trying to digest the news that Google won the lawsuit taken against them for scanning books under copyright and uploading them to Google books. Feelings are mixed...it’s been an 8 year battle. Authors are annoyed but the tech geeks see it as a victory.

Will there be an appeal? As the Author’s Guild have taken this case... can their membership sustain this fight?

This week Rachel Gardner talked about the conflicted nature of needing Amazon while it also is your biggest rival.

Joanna Penn and her agent parted ways ... it was bittersweet and a business decision... and definitely shows how the business has changed.

Alison Cherry on the conflicted feelings she has after she published...

The news is out... The market you want to get into is the German one if you are self publishing... The Passive Guy checks out why and Publishing Perspectives examines how 50% of authors there are self published. How to feel conflicted about your own countries practice.

Young Adult (YA) has always been the subject of conflicting emotions (probably because it is about conflicting emotions.) However these two articles will probably push your writer buttons. What books to give YA(reading) virgins and New trends in YA literature from the agents perspective.

If YA is not your thing...authors and agents are participating in PiBoIdMo...got 30 ideas for a picture book?

Author Beware tips on how not to get scammed.

In the Craft section,

Publishing Perspectives on how to spot a good editor

Writer Unboxed on Creating a Masterpiece...lots of juicy comments here.

The Plot Whisperer on pre-plotting a series.

Victoria Mixon on 10 tips to make you a better writer in 10 days.

K M Weiland on the top 25 ways to write an awesome book

In Marketing,

A discussion on price promotions... and how they can backfire.

Jane Friedman on the difference between marketing and promotion.

How to sell more books... and what you should be doing with the back of your ebook.

The key to growing readership.

To Finish,

Charlie Redmayne (he of Pottermore and now poached back to HarperCollins) has laid out the warnings to the publishing industry. Take back content! Spend money on building the brand.  Author’s will be conflicted about the implications...especially in light of new contracts with nice phrases like...  universe rights and in perpetuity.

O what a tangled web we weave...

If you know the author of that line and can finish the quotation...you are PrDmBrll.

maureen

pic from Flickr /creative commons/lju 

Conversation Starters

I’m always up for a good conversation and there are many happening in the publishing blogosphere this week.

Publishing Perspectives' recent one day conference had people talking about what’s happening next in YA.

Quite a few people are talking about Amazon’s latest initiative, a subscription service targeting... KIDS?

Curtis Brown (respected literary agency) are partnering with Amazon in a new initiative...the conversations are just getting started on this breaking news. Are we getting into the murky waters of agent publishers?

Smashwords are talking up Apple iBookstore move into Australia and New Zealand.

Anne R Allen has had some big conversations about her blog post this last week on the changes in the publishing industry due to the Kindle and how the algorithms, to become a best seller, on Amazon have changed Indie Publishing.

Artistsroad is having a conversation on Kickstarter for Authors...is it worth it?

Bubblecow has an interesting conversation on giving your book away for free. Why would you do it?

Porter Anderson has gathered quite a few conversations about the Publishing Future along with Jane Friedman who has a conversation about curation and best business links for Authors.

Publishing Perspectives has a conversation going on e-serials and how they are turning into the next big thing!

NY Times is talking with bookshops about the shunning of Amazon published books and and what it all means for sales.

In Craft

Agents are telling anyone who will listen what to do at revision time...listen up all you NaNoWriMo-ers...

Roz Morris always a great conversationalist has a pursuasive argument on how to be original in your writing.

Steve Laube wants to tell you about fair use and permissions to copy another authors work. When do you need them?

The wonderful Children’s Publishing Blog is having a great conversation on making your characters totally loved.

The superb K M Weiland talks about the 10 lessons she learned while writing her novel Dreamlander (which took 12 years) and each lesson is a conversation in itself.

In Marketing,

Bob Mayer has a great post on using your storyboard to market your book...This is one of those lightbulb learning conversations.

Metadata is a scary conversation but necessary for all publishers (that’s you, Indie author) to understand so get yourself over to 

Publishing Perspectives and listen in on 13 tips about how to use metadata effectively.

The Book Designer wants to tell you about 5 things to consider in Book Cover Design...first up Genre!

Have you wondered about selling books off your own site? The Passive Guy has a great conversation about the pitfalls and plums of doing it all yourself.

The Bookshelfmuse is doing more than talking they are having a huge Be Nice To Others Promotion on their blog where you can nominate people to get a present from the Christmas Elf. Go and check it out.

Ebookfriendly is NOT talking. They are showing! They have a cool infographic showing the biggest themes in bestsellers.

So what issue on this list gets you talking?

maureen

Pic from Lovelornpoets /flickr

Socially Speaking....

Around the country Children’s Writers and Illustrators are getting together to celebrate Margaret Mahy’s life by going to their local library and reading Margaret Mahy stories at 11am on the 11th of August.

This is happening at public libraries up and down the land and overseas....If you want to find out more check out this great website especially put together for the event.

This whole event has snowballed from comments, made on social media among a bunch of children's writers, to become a National Event, getting press coverage around the country, in under 10 days.

In the blogosphere this week a lot of comment was devoted to Ewan Morrison’s piece in the Guardian about the (non) value of Social Media for authors.

Morrison often stirs the pot of controversy just before a speaking engagement and he is in fine form...however he took some flak for his blanket statements and figure analysis of the 80/20 rule of social media.

(You know it’s important if Shatzkin comments.)

Part of Morrison’s piece was to focus on Joanna Penn, who this week made a stir with her blog post on why she, a successful self published author, has just signed with an agent. It is all about putting the right team together. It is a good read and very timely as agents are re-examing their role in the changing marketplace...along with legacy publishers who seem to be chasing after the indie authors. 

SelfPublishingAdvice has a timely post on how Indie authors can work with traditional publishers.

Books and Such Literary agents have an interesting blog this week on Why Agents Blog.

Staying on the Social Networking topic, Writers Funzone looks at adding value in your social networking....and no, its not the 80/20 rule.

Publishers Weekly looked at the supposed Long Tail of publishing and wondered where it was...Their commenters put them straight! (you wonder if some publishing execs have been buried in sand for the last three years...)

It is conference season....and last weekend was the SCBWI summer conference.

I try to drop in, during the conference, to their live blog and get a feel for what people are talking about, hot trends, changes in the industry, things that will filter down here.

The running conference blog is a wonderful idea for those of us who can’t make the Los Angeles Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference...(tho over 1300 people did.)

Drop into the blog and scroll down the links to keynotes, panels etc. There is heaps of information just a click away.

However if you do feel like a conference experience...Check out WRITEONCON.

This is a free online children’s writers and illustrators conference which is getting bigger by the year. There are over 4000 members. I ‘attended’ last year...squashing in some online panels during the afternoon (NZ time). The big bonus tho for attendees is that everything is recorded online so those of us living in different time zones or having to work can drop in anytime and get up to date or post questions before panels and it is FREE. If you want to register go to forums. (if you registered at a previous writeoncon just log in) WRITEONCON goes live for forum and agent questions on Monday and conference live 14^th and 15^th August.

Dee, from I Write For Apples, has ten tips that will make WRITEONCON sooo much better for you.

In the Craft section,

The fabulous K M Weiland strikes again with her great common mistakes series This week Tension....

Joanna Penn has a great post on How To Create An Audio Book and why you should consider it.

Chuck Sambuchino has made public his Pitch Sheet Template...fill this in and you have your pitch sorted.

20 tips for writing strong heroines

Jodie Renner is guest posting on Elisabeth Spann Craig’s popular blog looking at how to name characters...and where to find their names....

Passive Guy takes a good look at which Creative Commons License is best.

Two links I just had to include for you... (the everything you want to know group of links.)

Mashables collection of digital tools to create ebooks

Inspired to Writes 25 helpful websites for writers

I am a fan of author collectives and their power to do good out there in the marketing world. Joanna Penn has a post on the 7 Benefits Of An Author Collective and how one such collective works specifically.  If you don’t know much about them, Read It... it will open your eyes!

I’m off to practice my Margaret Mahy story and work out which WRITEONCON sessions I can make...after all the power of Social Media to connect with others is what it is all about.

maureen

pic from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/ Stuart Miles

Eyes Wide Open

Today I was discussing the concept of ‘The Hybrid Writer’ with Melinda. 

For those of you wondering about what a hybrid writer is...the term has been used lately to describe a writer who has some Traditionally Published work, some Indie published work, some Digital only published work, a mixture, in other words, of publishing outlets for their creativity. Hybrid can also describe a mix of print publishing outlets, Big Press, Small Press and Indie Press.

A writer is a small business of One selling creative works to interested publishers. Some publishers are huge corporations with a commercial focus, some publishers are passionate small businesses with a niche focus and sometimes the publisher is the author who just wants to find a home for a good story. (Yes, it is a business.)

A writer has to be very aware of how each publisher works and what the advantages and disadvantages of each one are to the writer. If you are a regular reader of Craicer you will know that I have linked to many writers discussing the current upheaval in traditional print publishing and why writers must keep informed of the current changes and the impact this will have on their careers.

Roz Morris has two agents and decided to self publish a book with their support....she discusses this move and why she loves the term Hybrid Writer.

In the blogosphere writers are still discussing the implications of agents moving into publishing. Passive Guy who is a lawyer as well as a writing blogger has some interesting comments to make on the Bookends Literary stoush (I linked to last week) and the legal implications for writers and agents. As always please read the comments as they add a fuller picture to the current discussion.

Bob Mayer takes it a step forward by weighing up whether an agent should step into the publisher’s shoes. His arguments are well reasoned and the comments are very meaty. There are lots of issues for the writer to think about. Step Into This World With Your Eyes Wide Open!

Laura Paulin discusses with her readers the impact of vanishing shelf space in her local chain bookstore. As the bookstore becomes increasingly filled with novelties and not books, what impact will this have on the writer?

Kris Rusch explains how carrying less books in a bookstore leaves writers with less time than ever to promote their book before it is pulped. Even the big name authors are hurting...when you can’t find any earlier books by them in the bookstore, something is up.

Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware detailed this week the cruel hoax perpetrated on a new writer who was led to believe they had a reputable agent and a book auction in three days...except the agency had never heard of her. 

Anne R Allen is sharing the load over at her popular blog and in the post introducing her new blogging buddy she shares 6 things that writers won’t miss about the big 6 ‘when they’re gone’

Jane Friedman has taken issue with Adrian Zacheim’s blog post on The Myth Of Self Publishing. If you  are thinking about this take a look at the arguments put forward.

Over in the craft corner,

For all you closet comic readers out there, superheronation has defined 17 stock plots for getting Bruce Wayne into and out of trouble.

Harry Potter For Writers takes a look at how the final battles of Deathly Hallows were crafted and what writers can learn from the twists and turns of the story arc.

Jane Friedman has posted her worksheets for writers to help them become pitch ready.

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

New Book Anaylytics App

Finding Qualified Book Reviewers

Q R Code Mistakes

To finish,

If you are thinking about dipping your toe in the water with ebooks, Sarah Billington has set up an ebook project management business. Sarah has expertise in cover design editing and formatting. Check out her site and her unbelievable rates.....

SCBWI  LA summer conference is about to start. You can attend it virtually by hanging out at the SCBWI blog...I have done this for the last two years and although I get a case of writer envy there are lots of little bon mots to share. It all helps to keep me informed about what is happening in children’s publishing.

How are you staying informed?

maureen

Gotta Fly...

This week’s blog post is going to be an ‘on the fly’ posting.

It could have been a rant on the NZ government screwing up the school terms for the benefit of the rugby world cup...meaning that all primary sport tournaments have changed...leaving us with conflicting schedules all over the place...

It could have been a thoughtful look at the impact of the reorganisation of chain bookstores and the rise of indie bookstores and authors selling direct in Australia and New Zealand.

It could have been a rant about the first released pics of the male lead characters in the Hunger Games film and how my teen has just found time to start reading the book after I warned her not to do so because her Nationals are this weekend and she needs her sleep. It is unputdownable and why do teen male leads have to look like beef cakes...this is not reality that I have seen...are we setting boys up to fail in the beauty stakes?

It could be about the wonderful Wellington Children’s Book Association AGM tonight where we celebrate the year with a panel discussion on Is Storytelling Dead?

We hope not...

But on the Twitter feeds at the moment there is discussion about the LA Times dropping all their book reviewers...and how Forbes Magazine is highlighting their ‘content creators.’ (Sort of a formalising of the brave new world...)

Jane Friedman has gone out on her own, because she has the clout to do so after maximising her visibility through Writers Digest...(Something Forbes maybe trying to tie up, by giving their journo’s permission to do likewise.) Jane has a great take on how to transition yourself...

Over on Craft

Jami Gold looks at Character Driven vs Plot  and how we fall one way or the other...and Procrastinating Writer has one on Establishing Writing Rituals.

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

Indie, Big 6 and Small Press Publishing (and how a writer can do all three)

The Hybrid Writer........(you have permission to be one)

To finish,

I would have talked about the huge stoush/debate/argument/angsting going on over at Bookends Literary blog over their decision to set up an epublishing arm. This has become the place where the whole agents becoming publishers debate is being held! At least they are trying to engage the writing community....tho some want to hang them out to dry...

And I was going to look at why book trailers could be the next big thing in your marketing arsenal following on from last week...

And this year’s Bulwer Lytton winners are out...(for the worst opening sentence)

But I have to fly...AGM’s... Tournaments...and National Dance events...are all steaming towards me....

maureen

pic is from Gizmodo...a new plane design

Gate Keepers And Their Shiny New Keys...

The Gate Keepers jobs are changing.

The big news in the writing blogosphere this week is Agents Becoming Publishers. From a few testing out the brave new world of ebook publishing (see a previous blog post of mine) a couple of months ago, this week more agents are jumping into the publishing water. 

What does this mean for writers? 

Unscrupulous agents can take their 15% as agent and pass you on to their publishing arm which may take 50% as the publisher.  A few agents are renting their services out for flat fees. A writer must weigh up very carefully the pros and cons of traditional agent services and ‘new’ agent services....

Anne R Allen has written an excellent blog post looking at the new moves from the agents and weighing up the advantages for the writer. Writer Beware has a blog post examining the ethical issues surrounding the ‘new agency’ model. Elisabeth S Craig has a good post on why she is still keeping her agent under the traditional model. 

If you are in the market for an agent or thinking it may be a good idea in the future, read these and be aware of how agencies are changing in this brave new world.

Another big move this week was the launch of Pottermore, JK Rowling’s new website, ebook publisher, storefront and fan club all rolled into one site. Phyllis Miller comments upon the changes that the launch of Pottermore might have on the ebook marketplace...especially the ditching of DRM (Digital Rights Management) on the Potter ebooks. Publishers Weekly is taking a ho hum approach while commenting on how rare it is that a writer still has ebook rights...

If you have a successful brand, and J K Rowling does, why not look at what merchandising opportunities you can get out of it. You are a business after all. You have created the characters and the world etc etc...a range of clothing, mugs and stationary can be sold exclusively from your website. One of my favourite authors Jasper Fforde (NYT describes him as Harry Potter for grown ups) is doing it and if it is Ok for an Adult Writer to do it...surely a Children’s Writer can do it.

Joe Konrath has a great post on how to make your ebooks another storefront for your work. Put the blurb on the front cover...such simple advice.... Anne Allen has a post on the new trend of using ebooks as queries, and the reverse, Agents looking to rep successful ebook writers...sticky sticky.

In the craft corner,

The League Of Extraordinary Writers has a great post on Dystopian Rites of Passage.

Bob Mayer has taken a good look at great plot. You must get Primal!

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

5 Things More Important Than Talent- this is a great post...lots of comment on this.

Ten Terrifying Questions For Authors...how do the great and the good do it?

The Art Of Being Different-Justine Musk. Justine writes a wonderful blog and this article is a great self affirming read...because all of us writers are quirky and interesting, aren’t we?  

To finish,

I was having an email chat with Dylan Owen of The National Library of New Zealand (Children’s Collection) about being on a panel addressing the topic of whether storytelling was dead.(upcoming AGM of WCBA) 

In the conversation I referred to a problem I have been mulling over lately, the fact that traditional gate keepers seem to be reluctant to get involved in children’s ebook reviewing. Dylan was able to give me some hot off the press news. School Library Journal has started a new review blog looking at apps for children and Dylan was about to extend the School Library Service, Create Readers blog that reviews books to include ebooks...

So the Gate Keepers have some new hats to try on and some new shiny keys to play with...

maureen

pic The gates of Graceland.