Fantasy and Karma

This week the arrest of a literary agency accountant for embezzlement had many authors checking their records. For 17 years the agency accountant was skimming money to his personal use. This has resulted in one famous author being close to bankrupt. As you can imagine Kris Rusch has a few timely things to say, including what happens to the other authors at the literary agency. I had no idea that they lose the rights to their books if the agency bankrupts.

How to spot self publishing scams –Bookbaby’s CEO Steven Spatz has written a quick guide to help you spot the scammers out there. Scammers are active in all parts of our industry. They prey on the dreams of budding authors. Share the article around to help others be vigilant.

Book Expo (America), one of the biggest book fairs in the world, is on now. Every year the question gets asked... Where are the readers? Publishing Perspectives interviewed Austrian book consultant Rudiger Wischenbart about the panels he is chairing and the wild ride he is predicting for publishers. BEA always has an active Twitter stream with comments from all the keynote speakers being discussed. This caught my eye this morning -1 in every 3 teen girls in the U.S are on Wattpad. No wonder Wattpad is moving into TV and film. Are publishers even aware of this, asks Rudiger.

The Publishers Association in the U.K. are calling for their government to follow the E.U’s move and abolish the 20% VAT on eBooks. This makes interesting reading because they are quoting stats of 80% of children needing to read digitally because they can’t afford print.

Aussie children’s author Jacqueline Harvey has written a plea for the labeling of books for boys and books for girls to stop. She is bringing out a new series with covers that are neutral. Take a look.

Dan Holloway puts together a weekly roundup of news for the Alliance of Independent Authors. This week he updates Cockygate. (The anthology he talks about hit the USA bestseller list this morning.) GDPR also gets a revisit with non compliance suits being taken against some of the biggest digital names out there.

I enjoy dropping into the SFF Marketing podcast every week. The team recently interviewed Damon Courtney from Bookfunnel on selling direct from your website, cultivating a rabid fan base and other timely topics. This is one of those brain exploding episodes that if you are an Indie publisher is a must watch/listen.

Long time readers of the blog will know that I am a fan of author collaboration and always look out for new ways to do this. J J Toner has an interesting article on the Alli blog about a successful marketing collaboration.

In The Craft Section,

So you think you know how to write a sequel?- Fonda Lee

5 editing tips you need to know- C Streetlights

The ultimate checklist for Chapter One- K M Weiland – Bookmark

How long should a chapter be?

How to make an index for nonfiction- CMcMullen

Resurrecting a shelved manuscript- Writer Unboxed- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

4 tips to change your mindset on selling- Joanna Penn- Bookmark

How to make a good author website – Nathan Bransford

How to create a compelling bookcover-Joanna Penn- Bookmmark

How to write brilliant blog posts- Aliventures

How to get free book reviews- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

How to grow your author platform- Catherine Bigwharfe- Bookmark

To Finish,

Some could say that the happenings in the blogosphere I have listed this week are a sort of karma on the unworthy. They might not have sacrificed to the right writing deities or have let greed trump common sense. To get back on the right path your writing office needs to have good Feng Shui.

Anne R Allen has a great post on fantasy and reality in a writers life. How the fantasy keeps us going. May all your writing fantasies come true... off to find fairy dust now.

Maureen

@craicer

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter where I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. Get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes free, when you subscribe! 

Pic: Flicker Creative Commons- Fredkatvox

Questioning Karma

This week I have been thinking about Karma. (As we sow, so shall we reap.)

Jami Gold has an excellent post which generated lots of comments on Writer Sanity and Recognising Takers. This follows on from last weeks excellent post on what do you do for others in the writing community. 

Jami always has really interesting articles about all things writing. Her name comes up a lot in my blog along with Anne R Allen, K M Weiland, Janice Hardy, Jane Friedman, E S Craig, Angela Ackerman and Kris Rusch. Along with many others they GIVE an enormous amount to the writing community. But some people don't understand that this takes time away from their own writing. Takers expect answers to their specific questions and feel entitled to get an answer right away- They can be pushy, and demanding of your time. They usually don’t bother with thanks either. I have experienced many of the situations Jami’s commenter’s have. I shrug it off and wish Karma back on that person in such a way that they learn. My Karma is to teach and remain positive, (tho in this game it is sometimes harrrrrd- pours wine.)

All of us Paying It Forward to the writing community would just like to say... before you ask your question...

1. Can you Google your question and then read at least the top two pages of links first. (We all did- that is how we learned!)

2. Find an expert in the field and then read everything they write on the subject. (Again, it’s a learning thing.) A lot of blogs have search functions. Read the comments as well. There is usually a ton more information in the discussions

3. Check out a curated blog (like this one) for links to lots of experts. Read them for a while, chances are your question will be answered somewhere.

I always have to laugh when someone asks me a question- about 90% of the time the answer was in one of my roundups within the previous month.

David Gaughran (an all round stellar person) has had his Karma moments on Twitter.

David has a great book, Let’s Get Visible, on author digital visibility. He posted a chapter quite a while back as a promo on the Alli blog. This was ripped off along with other peoples work and posted in an elaborate software scam. As David and Writer Bewares’ Victoria Strauss work through the implications... it gets murkier and murkier. Other writers have been taken in. There are arrest warrants out there.

Julie Hyzy has an interesting tale to tell about a work forhire situation. This is a glimpse into the world of book packaging, which can be lucrative for writers but perils await when the editors move on.

Roz Morris has taken a good hard look at what it means for Ingram Spark to own Aer.io. And it means that she is about to change her marketing strategy. This is Ingram expanding their book distribution service into storefronts for authors. (In the battle for P.O.D. Ingram may have scored a coup over Createspace.)

In the Craft Section,

How to write Fabulous Dialogue

Writing conflict to ruin characters lives- Bookmark!

Mastering the art of the cliffhanger ending- Becca Puglisi- 
Boomark!

Dictating a Book – tips for editing- The Book Designer

Janet Reid on using italics for thoughts-

How to write loglines- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark!

10 habits of successful authors- KM Weiland

Joanna Penn on her creative process.

In the Marketing Section, (Bookmark All of Them)

Molly Greene has a great post on low cost ebook givaway hosting.

Jane Friedman has two excellent posts - Optimizing Amazon descriptions and an interview with Patrick Walsh, a book publicist.

Lindsay Buroker – How to increase sales at Apple ibooks

Elisabeth S Craig on Timing Book Releases and her take on Ingram Spark

Carolyn Howard Johnson has a post on altering a published book – Do you need a new ISBN

Website of The Week,

Anne R Allen has a very informative blog. There are great articles on writing and publishing and guest posts from industry insiders. This week she has a great guest post, looking into the future, from Laurie McLean, a Fuse Literary Agent.  Recently she had a post on what to do with social media accounts in the event of your death. Very interesting stuff and a must read.

To Finish,

Often signing up for webinars is problematic because of our Time Zone but I try to attend various ones that have content available after the event. Joel Friedman and Joanna Penn have put together a great one on Self Publishing in 2016 this week and added some cool extras. Find a quiet space to meditate on Karma and thank these two for a great 90 min video.

Maureen

@craicer