New Kids On The Block

Tonight I was at the launch of a Bookshop. Usually, I’m at Book Launches so it was interesting to be at a bookshop launch. Every community needs a good independent bookshop responsive to the community it serves. Locally there are a lot of technology firms as the Mayor reminded us and the new bookshop is themed around STEM subjects. This means that along with the usual bookshop fare is the truly eclectic and interesting deep dive into STEM subjects. With books face out and on big tables, You don’t know what you are going to find and immediately want to buy. It’s a cunning sales plan*...and why Amazon’s bookshops have their books face out. Go out and support your local community bookshop. After all, we want them to stay around.

The New Publishing Standard had an item in their news today that got me thinking. Nickelodeon has just launched a kids e-reading subscription in France. Now I’m wondering if in the next year we are going to see subscription battles as companies try to compete with the Everything store for entertainment subscription eyeballs. After all how many subscriptions does the average family want to have?

Larry Brooks of Storyfix has been beavering away on a new Writers Craft Book which is coming out with Writers Digest next month. Larry has produced some great craft books over the years so check out what he is tackling now.
Larry name-checks another great writer of writing craft books James Scott Bell who has a great little article on how realistic your action scenes need to be. This is timely as I’m trying to choreograph a spaceship battle. Do I go Star Wars or Star Trek? Does the new bookshop have a book on this subject?

Maps. They can suck you in... and if you are a writer you can spend hours pouring over them. We have a map book full of writer fantasy maps... one of those essential books you come across and have to have. Chris Fox has been playing with Wonderdraft. A map-making tool for the gamer or writer out there. Take a look at how it works. Brilliant stuff!

Kris Rusch is up to part 10 of the licensing series and she shines a spotlight on what a lot of authors do, but don’t know. Buy licenses. Once you really think about it, licenses are everywhere in publishing. Now think about your own Intellectual Property... rethinking your writing business.

In The Craft Section,

2 great posts from Bang To Write – How To Plot Like A Goddess and Do You Really Have  A Story- Bookmark both

4 keys to a powerful denouement- September Fawkes- Bookmark

8 ways to improve your writing- Literary Architect

The definitive list of Cliches- Go Into The Story-

Writing yourself into the heroes journey-Lara Zielin 

In The Marketing Section,

3 simple hacks for your mailing list-Miral Satter- Bookmark

Using Goodreads to increase book sales- Christine Nolfi

Weave Buying Persona’s into your landing pages- Blogging wizard

How to drive sales with Pinterest- Avasam

How to use a book award for marketing- The Book Designer- Bookmark

6 marketing myths that harm writers- Lisa HallWilson - Bookmark

To Finish,

Besides reading and buying books... Canva is one of my guilty pleasures. I love playing around with fonts in design.  Recently I came across this collection of cool font generators... Do you want glitter or glow or 3D effects? It’s all here. Font Nerds Unite.

*my wallet got an airing at Schroedinger's, Jackson St, Petone.

Maureen
@craicer

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Pic: Flickr Creative Commons - Jonathan Rolande

The Good and The Bad….

In publishing news this week,

Book Funnel has released download codes.
These are one use codes that you can hand out at events for free copies of your books…
This is another great tool in the PR arsenal for writers.

The New York Times has an article about the alternative Nobel Prize for Literature that the
Swedish librarians are promoting. If you haven’t caught up with Nobel news… due to a scandal the
Nobel Prize for Literature was not awarded this year.

Joanna Penn has two really interesting videos up this week on her blog.
Writing a series - the continuation issues to avoid. This is part of her video shorts series.
The other video is a long form interview with Stephen Pressfield. I linked to Stephen’s blog
last month … he has been posting his latest book as a serial on his blog, The Artist’s Journey.
Stephen is a writer’s writer. He looks at deep issues that fuel or stop creativity.
It is a great interview.

Kris Rusch has an interesting blog about reader tastes and blaming the writer.
Many people agree that not everything released on TV or at the movies is to our taste but somehow we
hold writers to a different standard. What happens when our favourite writer tries something different?

Editor/Agent and Kidlit specialist Mary Kole writes interesting writing craft articles.
This week she looked at writing the book that you don’t want to… what can you do about it?

What would you sacrifice to be a successful writer? First born child… health…. Sanity?
Writing and wellness has an article on the five sacrifices every writer must make in order to succeed.

Jeff Goins writes interesting long form articles.
This one touched a chord with a lot of writers commenting. What to do when you feel like a fake?
Why a shadow career is necessary. (Jeff references Stephen Pressfield in the article.)
Jeff talks about the dance we make between art and money...

Blogging isn’t to everyone’s taste.
Many writers struggle to know what to put in a blog.
I did, hence you have been reading writing craft tips and marketing ideas etc for the last ten years on this blog.
Anne R Allen has an interesting post on how blogging jump started her career.
Long term blogging does work for your writing output and has other unexpected benefits.

Sara Letourneau is celebrating her ninth blogoversary with a list of great writing tips.
Sara always has great advice so check these out.

In The Craft Section,

Katie Weiland has been on fire with great craft articles. I discovered I had
bookmarked four of them for this weeks blog.

Write a better antagonist

Point of View Problems

How to write unique themes

The truth your character believes.

Mythcreants has an interesting article on hiding your foreshadowing in plain sight.

Now Novel looks at Person vs Society conflicts- Bookmark

Reedsy has The Book Title Generator… go and have some fun….

In The Marketing Section,

Mailing lists for authors- Chris Fox- Bookmark

10 reasons Book Reviews still matter- Interesting long form article from Litreactor

Book reviews - The primer- The Book Designer

When to start book marketing - The Creative Penn

How to make instagram work for authors- Monica Corwin- Bookmark

12 key ways to make sure your website is helping you sell books-Penny Sansevieri

The lazy authors guide to platform building by the fab David Gaughran.

To Finish,

There are writers who you read everything they write...follow their social media… enjoy hanging out
with talking shop… or worship from afar through time and space.
And then there are the other kind- The ten types of writers we need to throw down a well.

Amy Collins details what you should do to not be a bad writer on social media.

Maureen

@craicer

 I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. I appreciate all the virtual coffee love from people who hit the Kofi button as a thank you for the blog. (I needed it... I'm nearly ready to push the publish button on my first two Circus books...)

 

Legally Spotted

What a week in the publishing blogosphere.

Cockygate and the GDPR have filled my news feeds. They both have some important takeaways to consider.

Cockygate is the term writers and industry pundits have applied to a situation involving a romance writer who has trademarked the word ‘cocky’ in relation to her romances. Yes, a word can be trademarked. Will it stand up in a court... that’s the big question? The can of worms has got bigger because in addition to the trademark the author has been sending cease and desist notices to other authors who have the word cocky in their titles. It all gets very emotional with authors and lawyers and lawyers and authors and RWA and lawyers etc. Jami Gold boils it down to branding- The right way and the wrong way - This is a must read.

G.D.P.R. is the new regulations from Europe, which take effect on the 25^thMay and affect anyone who has or operates a mailing list. That includes authors who have newsletters and mailing list sign ups on their websites. 

Seth Godin has written about the GDPR and the marketer’s dilemma very neatly and succinctly. This gives you an overview. Nick Stephenson engaged a lawyer to talk him through what changes he had to make on his website. 

Another excellent resource is Mark Dawson and James Blatch’s latest podcast which goes in depth on the topic.

Sharp eyed readers will notice a small privacy policy notice on my websites. I’m still working through all the ramifications so this policy may change in future.

Now armed with all your knowledge of GDPR you can read Nicholas Erik’s huge post on everything to do with mailing lists.

Joanna Penn is talking about critical mindsets this week. Do you have the right mindset for your author business. And yes, if you are writing it is a business.

Kris Rusch takes it one step further looking at growing the author business too fast and not having the right people in place to help you when you need it.

And have you ever thought about copywriting... In the Alli blog this week was an interesting post about fiction writers making money on the side with their writing skills.

Natasha Bajema talks about creating 1000 reader superfans from zero. In the article she references David Gaughran’s new book. (I think it’s 5 star)

Anne R Allen features a lot in this week’s blog... mainly because she consistently puts out great stuff. Check out this post on 10 tips for getting your novel off to a good start.

In The Craft Section,

The eternal question- what should I write- Chuck Wendig

100 scripts to download and study- Go into the story- screenwriting - Bookmark

3 writer guide sites examined- Writers Digest

How to measure your success as a writer- Bibliocrunch

9 ways to keep your writing safe- Alexa Bigwharfe- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Write an Author bio for any occasion And Publishing business tips- Anne R Allen- Bookmark Both

Seven new books for writers- WrittenWord Media

Platform building and related terrors- Draft2Digital

Bookbub ads readers want to click- Bookbub- Bookmark

Not sold in stores- ways to excite readers- Bookfunnel- Bookmark

To Finish,

Chris Fox is an Indie Publisher guru and so I was interested in his short video about shortcuts... and how sometimes they are a massive mistake for the writer.  This is an excellent motivation video. Let’s be careful that we are dotting i’s and crossing t’s.

Maureen

@craicer

My monthly newsletter is due out soon. I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. If you appreciate the blog, hit the coffee button up top and feed my addiction  LOL. 

Pic: Flicker Creative Commons- USFWS Mountain Prairie

When To Take Advice

In the news this week Nate Hoffelder examines Amazons surprise new move that has authors mad and perplexed. Amazon owns Goodreads and Authors have been used to running giveaways of their Print books for no money at all. Now Amazon want to extend giveaways to eBooks. Before you cheer... Amazon wants to charge you a lot for the privilege.

Porter Anderson has an interesting article on Publishing Perspectives on Amazon creating a new imprint for short fiction... from famous writers.

This week there was a lively discussion over on Passive Guys blog about how Indie booksellers came to thrive in the current book market, defying expectation.

Christmas season seems to start earlier and earlier every year. This week on the blogosphere blog posts were appearing with lists of gifts for writers. If you want to get a head start on gift buying for a writer check out Chucks Gift List... (Warning it’s Chuck so be prepared.)

Hannah Holt has an interesting post on how to make a living as a children’s writer. As a children’s writer myself, we all want to know how to do it.

One of the regular discussions in the children’s writing world is how to get boys to read. Lili Wilkinson has an impassioned article that we are reinforcing that boys don’t read because we are making a big thing about it. I found myself nodding all through it. Read it and see if you agree.

If you are a writer you have to develop a thick skin. I really hate that saying but I think I hate it because I recognise it to be true. Marie McCann has an interesting blog post to help you deal with thecritics.

Ruth Harris has put together and A-Z of interesting and informative blog posts for authors... This is one of those bookmark posts full of goodies.

Chris Fox has written some great guides on the Indie Author life but this week he posted a short video about the stuff no one really talks about. The pressures that come with being a successful author.

Joanna Penn has been rounding up some great content on her blog recently. James Haight guest posted with an article on crowd funding for authors. This is a really in depth look at how to do it. Joanna recently interviewed the two Mark’s behind the Bestseller Experiment. They talk about how they wrote published and marketed a bestseller in 52 weeks using in depth analysis of what works.

September Faulkes has a great craft post on hiding what the main character knows from the reader. This is one of those posts that explains how to do that nifty surprise switch that leaves you in awe of the writer.

In The Craft Section,

6 pillars of writer education- Art Newcomb- Bookmark

Tips for writing cross genre fiction- Casis Schreyer

Keeping your characters compelling- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

How authors can write faster- Bibliocrunch

How to make every character detail count- and Successful Query Pitch-Angela Ackerman-Bookmark

How to write funny- K M Weiland- Bookmark

What writing to market means- Holly Evans

 In The Marketing Section,

5 things I’m not doing to launch a book

Social Media content tips- Frances Caballo- Bookmark

Facebook advertising tips- Joanna Penn

Preorder strategy to build book platform- Bookbub- Bookmark

Create screencasts on mobile phones

The ultimate children’s illustrator gift guide

Writing effective query letters- Write to Done

Book marketing for children’s books

To Finish,

Write to Done has compiled a handy list of writing and blogging tools. If you are looking for anything writing software related take a look at the list.

McSweeney’s humour blog has taken a stab at how authors can ask people to buy their book. This will have authors laughing... in sympathy. (Just don’t take their advice!!)

Maureen

@craicer

I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces every month. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes.  My speech is done... The feeling of relief! Thanks to all of you who hit the coffee tab during the month.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons- Tory

Writing To Conquer

This morning I read a nifty blog post by Hugh Howey* entitled What Is A Book Worth.

I have been mulling over it all day. A book can be a brief escape or a lifeline. It can mean the key to passing a grade or a library fine. Some stories resonate so deeply you must have them in every form available. Some stories only last in the memory a few hours.

Hugh was exploring the moment when the book crosses over and it becomes something you must have as a high end artifact. Bring back personally bound books of beauty.

This week Kris Rusch has been exploring what I.P. means to her. She has a great post on this. Too often she sees writers squandering their IP as they don’t even know what they have until its gone. If you have no idea what I.P. is, Read The Blog Post!

Ricardo Fayet of Reedsy was Joanna Penn’s guest this week on her podcast. Joanna asked Ricardo about the top 5 mistakes he sees Indie Authors making all the time. This is a full and frank discussion about attitude and execution.

Barnes and Nobel have thrown in the towel over the Nook platform. Nate Hoffelder of The Digital Reader explains where they went wrong and what it means for Authors who sell on the Nook platform. (Again there is that scary thought... is the whole company going down the tubes.)

Bookfunnel have done a crazy thing that has some authors cheering... They have extended their service to hosting shops for authors. Book funnel is a great service that takes the hassle out of delivering ARC’s and Book Prizes.

The Independent Book Publishers Association have pulled out of Book Expo America- The biggest book fair. Among their reasons, they feel they get no value for money from it. They feel B.E.A is increasingly fixated on the Big 5 traditional publishers. (What big 5? Amazon, Random Penguin, Hachette, Harper Collins...)

Will they start up their own fair?

(This week I have been watching NZ’s own Indie publishers doing an Expo style road trip to all our big cities just to gather booksellers together for wine, nibbles, goodie bags and the chance to view the latest catalogue offerings for Christmas.)

This week I was struck by two little articles dealing with imposter syndrome. I think every writer suffers from this. I definitely do. Usually when I’ve finished editing and doubt my own skills in telling a story. You are not alone- Neil Gaiman suffers from it... and so does Nathan Bransford.

Seven offensive mistakes that well intentioned writers do. Once you start reading these... the ghosts of past books rises up before your eyes... Note To Self: Be Better!

In The Craft Section,

How many words in a novel- Reedsy- Bookmark

10 Key scenes for framing your novel-C S Lakin- Bookmark Print out!

How to write a scene-and Writing scene transitions- Now Novel  - Bookmark

Writing sad scenes- Ryan Casey

7 character non negotiables- Novel Rocket

Chris Fox has a great video on the one big mistake authors make when writing to the market.

In The Marketing Section,

How to become a best seller-Bookbub case study and How to get on the USA today Bestseller list- Writelife

Advanced marketing skills – Kevin Tumlinson- Bookmark

Sending cold emails- Copyhacker- Bookmark

What to do with snarky reviews

How to attract more readers with a playlist strategy.

To Finish,

Do you ever think about your writing process? How do you trick the muse into turning on just when you want it? Ruth Harris has written a fantastic blog post on writing process. This is where bite sized goals really work! 

Pat Olsen also has a great post on focus... especially when you are in a busy household. She has some tips to help. Between them you will feel that you can conquer anything!

Maureen

@craicer

* Kia Ora Hugh, Welcome to New Zealand!

I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces every month in a newsletter. When you subscribe you will also get my nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. Feel free to hit the coffee tab. I need all the coffee I can get. One series in production... another being written... websites here and there... SIGH. 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons Stephen Bowler- Knights