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

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter?
When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you.
If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons - Jonathan Rolande

The Epic Roundup of 2018…

This will be my last post for 2018.
I’m having a few weeks off over Christmas. And it’s a day late too…. So what exciting things can I draw your attention to…
I thought I’d look back over the year and see what happened…

In January everyone was processing all the changes of 2017 and making predictions for 2018. Let’s see how they did. Joanna Penn had a list of coming tech trends for authors. Imposter syndrome- (Warning it’s from Chuck) and layoffs at Createspace had authors wondering what’s up?
Standout Craft and Marketing Articles 
The eyes have it- A fascinating look at how people view the Amazon buy page 
Katie Weiland’s fabulous infographic on Storytelling nuts and bolts.

In February
Scandal in the Children’s Lit community, Apple and Google playing with their book store fronts and the first inklings of how big Audio was going to get this year. Author Solutions has been pinged for predatory practices on newbie authors so much that their other name is shark. But did you know how many aliases they operate under?  
Standout Craft and Marketing Articles 
Killing Writer Perfectionism and Reverse Engineering Your Editorial Calendar

March was the month of… Death. With the deaths of Stephen Hawking, Ursula Le Guin and the news about Harper Lee’s estate… How prepared is your literary estate for after your death?
Findaway voices offer serious competition to Audible and writing podcasts – a source of information and creation for the modern writer., with serial novels. Don’t forget to stretch at your writing desk.
Standout Craft and Marketing Articles 
Seven strategies and Ninety-four tools to find readers 
Anne R Allen- Plot holes and Pot Holes

April had…my eleventh-year blogversary. Reviews disappearing left, right and center around the internet. The rise and rise of AI- Get Siri or Alexa to buy the books and then read them to your child. (I wouldn’t have predicted that eleven years ago!)
Standout Craft and Marketing Articles from 
Larry Brooks- Everything you need to know about story structure and 
David Gaughran- Canva- the author Go To for graphics.

In May   
Literary Embezzlement, the demise of Kindle worlds and implications thereof and GDPR and what it means for authors were the huge talking points in May. Take control of your author business and sell direct. Responsible use of mailing lists is a must.
Standout Craft and Marketing Articles from
Jami Gold - Why head hopping is lazy writing
SFF Marketing podcast- Cultivating a rabid fan base.

June followed up with Book Stuffing scandals and the implications for writers regarding copyright that Cockygate is highlighting. Patricia Cornwall jumps to Amazon and Writers and learned helplessness. Audio publishing- The next big thing!
Standout Craft and Marketing Articles from
Jane Friedman’s guests this month.
What does it mean to write a scene that works and The psychology of Author Marketing

July… When agents are found to be crooked.#daniellesmith and other predators in publishing. Why the literature Nobel was not awarded. Author income surveys and Wattpad the new go-to source for publishers to find the next big thing.
Standout Craft and Marketing Articles 
Sell your books, not your soul
Procrastinating productively

In August Walmart and Kobo teemed up… Is there serious competition ahead for Amazon? Createspace was shut by Amazon in favour of Kindle Print – (They are still ironing out the problems of this move.) Audible, owned by Amazon, changed their contracts… not for the better. And remember Cockygate?
Standout Craft and Marketing Articles from
Anne R Allen-Troubled Characters and their personality problems
Roz Morris- Building readership – a quiet rebellion

In September Bookstores were bought and sold. 
Contracts were contested and explored and Amazon put up the price of their Ads.. catching everyone on the hop. How will Brexit affect publishing? The days of nice booksellers are on the wane.
Standout Craft and Marketing Articles from
Bookbub- The biggest Ad mistakes
Go Into The Story- Protagonist vs Nemesis

October saw… a global and future focus with the Future Book conference. Publishers are looking at Asia as their next big markets to tackle and you should be too. Blockchain in publishing was talked about as the next big change to negotiate. And everyone everywhere is looking into book serialisation either Audio or subscription streaming. October is also the month where you plan for NaNoWriMo.
Standout Craft and Marketing Articles from
Katie Weiland has a magical post about the power of language
Joanna Penn Interviewed Dave Chesson about keywords for Amazon ads.

November, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo…. Craft articles were the flavour of the month. In publishing news- Amazon changed their systems and glitched a whole lot of writers. Now you really need to advertise as the organic discovery writers used to be able to do has disappeared. Viral sensation The Scottish Granny elevated a children’s book from 7-year-old obscurity to marketing sensation. And China is hunting for children’s books. 
Standout Craft and Marketing Articles 
I guest posted over on Jami Gold’s blog on leveling up your craft learning.
70 plot twists and examples – Reedsy
Bookcover Zone - seriously addictive

And now we get to this week in December 
Publishers Weekly had an article on Hybrid publishers and how authors are redefining success and failure in publishing.
Nate Hoffelder comments on how often Publishing hit USA Today’s list of big job layoff’s in the last decade.
Bookmark worthy posts
Make your own book video trailers for free... 
Writing intuitively - September Fawkes
Writing beats and meaningful actions- Women on Writing

As I’ve rolled through the year’s blog posts I discovered that 2018 was the year of the book cover for me. I bought six and commissioned three. I finished Book Three in my Starlight series and discovered that I have to add another book to that series.  I launched the first two books in The Circus Quest Series. (On sale over Christmas if you need some great books for your child's new Tablet /eReader.) and I was part of the Judging team for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. (Waves Hi to the current crop of judges who will have their first onslaught of books about now!) It’s been a full 2018.

Have a safe and relaxing Christmas break filled with love, laughter, and great writerly thoughts.
I’ll see you back in mid-January 2019 with all those goal planning posts.

Maureen
@craicer

In my monthly newsletter, 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 like the blog and want to shout me a Christmas coffee, hit the coffee button up top or Buy a Circus Quest Book for the creative quirky kid in your life.   

pic: Flickr Creative Commons Lindsaye Eyink

It’s All About The Author Business

London Book Fair is on.

Along with all the usual Fair news there was one item which was making waves. Publica announced that they had published the first blockchain author. I spoke about the future of publishing in an event at the end of last year, where I mentioned that blockchain publishing was on its way. The future is now.

Around the time of the London Book Fair the Alliance of Independent Authors has a free online conference. This year the schedule is packed full of goodies. If you want to partake you need to sign up so you can get the webinars. It is free and you shouldn’t miss it.

 Meanwhile on the other side of the world, Wattpad is eying up the Southeast Asian market for... film, television print and digital content. They already have a toe in the water, it looks like they are going to dive in. This could be very interesting for all the Young Adult authors. Check out what else they have in store...

Amazon is not coping with scammers very well. The Digital Reader reports that they have asked a court to confirm an arbitration... which doesn’t even go after the big guys. Meanwhile they are pulling Cassandra Clares brand new book series because they thought she would never self publish... this has caused another Amazon storm this week.

Kobo, that upstart Canadian rival to Amazon’s digital distribution model has published an interesting interview with one of the big stars in the Indie Author world, Marie Force.  How did she create her empire and what tips does she have...

Joel Friedlander has written an informative article on print distribution and discounting and all the ways you can do it. This is a good starting point if you want understand what it entails.

Anne R Allen has a fabulous article on ten tips for protecting your creative writing self as you go about the business of publishing. This is a must read!

Sacha Black has written the best article on Series bibles and keeping track of characters timelines etc for the Writers Helping Writers website. If you are neck deep in series writing this is a must read!

In The Craft Section,

10 ways to show character emotion- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

How to write a Book Proposal for a non fiction book- Writelife

Story Structure- the whole enchilada- Larry Brooks- BOOKMARK

Delaying submission to an Agent- Why you should- Mary Kole - Bookmark

Dragon Dictation for authors- Nick Stephenson- Bookmark

A story idea every day for April- Go Into The Story- Bookmark

10 typesetting rules for Indie Authors- Michelle DeFillipo- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Query letter strategies that don’t work- Writers Digest

Email marketing mastery- Derek Murphy- Bookmark

Promo sites- Nicolas Serik-BOOKMARK

How to create pre launch buzz- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

The dollars and sense of audiobooks- what authors need to know- Deborah Jacobs

How and Why to clean up your email subscriber list- Emily Wenstrom - Bookmark

To Finish,

Joanna Penn interviewed Jane Friedman about her new book, The Business of Being A Writer. This is the latest book on understanding author business. Jane, coming from an academic background, has written this as an academic textbook aimed at the MFA students who discover that writing that bestselling book didn’t make them rich. Check out the interview- two great gurus in one place!

The Independent Book Publishers Association has started a new podcast. They have got some great speakers and great plans for their podcast. Check out their first week’s playlist. Impressive!

Maureen

@craicer

I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces in a monthly newsletter. (This weekend I promise!) When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes.
If you like the blog and want to fuel my coffee habit you can hit the coffee tab. Don’t forget to share the blog around your writing friends.
 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons / infous

Marketing The Writer

This week all the different ways to market seem to be discussed everywhere. Authors are always stuck when it comes to marketing. Marketing is a mindset and suits an extroverted personality. A lot of authors are introverted so marketing books can be a real trial let alone marketing themselves.

Kris Rusch responded to a question about author newsletters this week with a thoughtful blog about why she feels uncomfortable about them. You might feel the same way.

Anne R Allen also was thinking about author marketing mindsets and wondering if a blog was a better way than a newsletter.

Donna Galenti explores some of the rookie mistakes that authors make when they first try to market themselves. Tip. Start before the book launch.

Writers know how to write but do they know how to write marketing copy? Joanna Penn has a great interview with Joanna Wiebe on tips and tricks to help you write marketing copy for your books.

Sonja Yoerg wrote a guest post for Writer Unboxed unpicking the love-hate relationship many authors have with Goodreads. Is Goodreads your friend?

Buffer had an interesting article on Google Plus for marketing. People often forget that this website is a direct link into a Google search engine.

Chris Lavergne’s publishing business is directly to young mobile professionals. He explores the way his business has been growing in a great article on Techcrunch. Short books are the way to go... and Print is for luxury books with an appropriate mark up. This seems to be flying in the face of publishing accepted practice so how come his business is expanding in leaps and bounds? Porter explores what Chris is doing and offers his perspective on it.

Alison Morton recently wrote on the Alli blog about what constitutes a marketing success. Are writers guilty of only seeing traditional publishing bestseller numbers without understanding what a break even point might be. Maybe it’s not too hard to get a bestseller after all.

In The Craft Section,

Common writer entry level mistakes- Larry Brooks- Bookmark

Writing habits we can’t fix- Jami Gold- Bookmark

How to right size your book- Ruth Harris on Anne R Allen's excellent blog.

5 qualities of a brilliant story- Roz Morris

Writing voice lessons- Paula Munier- Bookmark

The biggest reason for storytelling- K M Weiland

How to write when the going gets tough- Litreactor

April – a month of story ideas- Scott Myers- Bookmark

Improve Book Descriptions- Jane Friedman-LBF17- Bookmark

25 habits that will make you a writer.- Bookmark

How to avoid the telling trap- Marcy Kennedy

In The Marketing Section,

Sorting out your media book pitch- The Book Designer- Bookmark

How to promote a series- Bookmark

10 ways to increase your book sales- Karen Dimmick.

Seth Godin’s 5 book marketing tips

3 easy steps to double your book discoverability

17 ways to use ibook author right now- Bradley Metrock

Get over your marketing resistance- Author U-Bookmark

Social Media content categories

Joanna Penn’s keynote at LBF17 on making money with your books- Bookmark

To Finish,

Are we guilty of snobbery when it comes to Book Marketing? Is our mindset a build it and they will come attitude? Does it work? And what about the writers who think that other genre writers are somehow a lesser breed? Mandy Hager, one of New Zealand’s best writers for Young Adults puts her finger right on a problem that many writers pretend they don’t have. Are all writers equal? Is it a fault of marketing?

Maureen

@craicer

My monthly newsletter is out. If you want to get a collection of the best of my bookmarked links plus other goodies make sure you subscribe.Thanks to all those who have fed my caffeine habit by hitting the Kofi button.
 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons/ Financial Times/ Sotheby Auctioneer.

The Merry Go Round

As I write this, news is filtering out from agents and publishers on Twitter about changes to the New York Times Bestsellers List. In 2015 The NY Times added a lot of categories that were seen as good news for publishers and authors in the diverse and children’s markets. Not any more. It seems that most of the children’s books categories have been pulled leaving only MG and YA Hardcover and Picture Books and Series. Mass Market Paperback and Graphic Novel bestseller lists have been pulled. Print and Ebooks have been combined.

I haven’t been able to find an official report on this but I expect it will come soon. (Edit Update, Now out from Publishers Weekly) 
Publishers and Agents are already flagging that unless you have a lot of marketing dollars to go hardcover, chances will be slim to get on the list in future.

In other news George Orwell’s 1984 is topping the Bestseller lists... I wonder why?

In the decline and fall category, but in a good way... Writer Beware points to the latest Bowker statistics. The drop in ISBNS issued to Author Solutions companies...

Now that the Digital Book World Conference is finished, people are reporting on all the great ideas to take forward into 2017. Jane Friedman and Porter Anderson have a comprehensive roundup of ideas, themes and tips discussed. And Goodreads gets specific with their 7 Savvy Insights for Book Marketing from DBW17.

Take some time to look at what everyone was talking about.

Publishing Perspectives took a look at New Zealand’s Storylines Festival changes. If you haven’t caught up with the news... coming to a small town somewhere in the provinces this year...

Joanna Penn has a guest post from Rachel Amphlett on her popular site about getting into libraries. However if you are in Auckland on February 11^th you can see Joanna Penn in person and learn lots of tips about Self Publishing and Marketing books in person. Joanna also talks about 5 ways to make money from your books in 2017.

Elizabeth Craig has a great post on preorders. She has been trialing them and she writes about what impacts they have on her writing and sales.

Larry Brooks has an interesting post on the bottom line explanation of why authors fail. This is a must read and a soul search.

Roni Loren has an inspirational post on choosing a word that will encapsulate your writing year.

The 12 by 12 Picturebook challenge is on. Every year I say this year will be the year to do it... and then I get sidetracked. Go and have a look. It is awesome!

Reminder also Write On Con is coming soon...

In The Craft Section,

Reverse Outlining- Purdue University

Storyboarding your plot arcs- Bookmark

6 vocal tips to cultivate voice

How to make your home office work for you

An authors guide to Book Subtitles-Ingram Spark  Bookmark

Writing Memoir- Think outside the book- Anne R Allen- Bookmark

How to make a good story in 9 steps – Now Novel- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

5 tips to create a cover that sells

Tech tools to produce and sell children’s books

7 things authors must do differently in 2017- Penny Sansevieri- 

Bookmark

Sell sheets – Judith Briales- on The Book Designer- Bookmark

Essential tips to promoting Non Fiction on Goodreads

Podcasting for authors -Sean Platt-Bookmark

The Bookblogger list- Bookmark

To Finish,

The SFF Marketing podcast is well worth your time. The team of Lindsay Buroker, Joe Lallo and Jeff Poole have great guests and the marketing discussions are universal. Their latest podcast is on the 80/20 marketing ruleand tips learned in 2016. 

And if you are looking for more resources check out this list of Apps for the Serious Writer.

Everyone is heading back to school and work this week. Get your writing plans locked in and jump on the Merry Go Round again.

Maureen

@craicer

Pic from Flicker Creative Commons- Forsaken Fotos

If you want to catch up on the best of my bookmarked links every month make sure you subscribe to my newsletter.    

Christmas Craic-er

This is the last roundup for the year. 2016 has been a bit of a rollercoaster with world events. Hopefully 2017 will be more settled.

Last week the folks at the Future Book conference were looking forward to publishing in the future. This is a gathering of publishing industry movers and shakers who try to do some crystal ball gazing for planning. Porter Anderson writes about what issues were discussed and the way that the ‘book’ is making a comeback. An interesting read.

Kris Rusch talks about unexpectedly getting her rights back on some books and what that means for rejuvenating a series. This is a hot topic for authors who are often abandoned by their publishers in mid series. (All the reports I’ve read is that series traction is on Book 5 and publishers are bailing by Book 3 just when it gets interesting.)

Two great posts on the Killzone blog this week.

Larry Brooks on the Bestseller code- he examines that new book about how to make a bestseller and James Scott Bell on the Three Stooges of writing. Yes it is the Three Stooges!

Have you gone on a writing retreat? I go to a friend’s house twice a week to write. No internet...  no housework... no phonecalls... no distractions... It has been the best thing for my writing. Melanie Bishop writes about going away for long writing retreats and what happens to your brain, your soul and your writing.

Kelly McClymer talks about how and why you should be protecting your writing time. Sometimes it’s really hard. (This is why I leave the house... I dream of a little office every time I do the laundry.)

In The Craft Section,

Planning Character arcs- Mythcreants. This is a fascinating look at how to strengthen your characters. Bookmark

Rival Archetypes for your novel –Who’s the best antagonist for your protagonist C S Lakin- Bookmark

Writing while traveling- best tips- If you are traveling this Christmas break- Do some writing on the side.

Developing themes in the inciting incident- Excellent discussion by Sara Letourneau- Bookmark

10 ways to write better plots- Now Novel- Bookmark. Also 50 Creative Writing prompts- Bookmark and Print out!

How to make readers deeply connect with your character –Jeff Gerke (Hijack their emotions!)

In The Marketing Section,

Bookmark the Subscriber Newsletters Report by Virginia King on Molly Greene’s site. Virginia studied author newsletters in depth and found out what works and what doesn’t.

Writers Win has a great roundup of Author Cross Promotion ideas – Get a group together and have fun! Bookmark

Tara Spaldings Book Title generator- for that Christmas writer game that just might generate plot ideas.

Joanna Penn talks to J Daniel Sawyer on audiobook rights. If you thought there was only one right to exploit... think again... and they talk about how overseas authors can get into ACX. (yay!!)

To Finish,

Janice Hardy and Jami Gold are two smart cookies and they have blogs with EXCELLENT writing advice. This week Janice posted a great blog about ways to fight the end of year writing fatigue.

Jami has an exhaustive list of great writer gifts. I’ve got some great inspirations from this list to give myself... and others. Check it out!

I wish you a Happy and Festive Christmas Break... with lashings of plot ideas and laughter and friendship.

I’ll be back halfway through January 2017.

This year's christmas video. Enjoy! 

Merry Christmas,

Maureen

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons All Is Possible/wheatfields

Give yourself a Christmas present every month with the best of my bookmarked links by subscribing to my newsletter.    

Waiting For The Sun

This week I attended the NZ Children’s Book Awards. As in recent years Indie publishers were 25% of the finalists and winners. Some of the small publishers from a few years ago are growing, which is good news. This year’s winners came from a group of writers who have consistently produced great work but have never won big awards. We all celebrate their moment in the sun.

I have been thinking about stickability, especially from the writers that keep producing good work year after year. They barely make a living yet they still keep writing and contributing their time to the writing community. All of the winners of the children’s book awards this year exemplify this. Finalists have to take unpaid time off work to visit schools and libraries as part of an awards roadshow. Kristen Lamb has a great article on embracing the grind. Ann Kroeker also has a wonderful article about writers seeing the 3D sound effects movie in their heads and the feelings when this translates as 2D flatness of their writing.

We’ve all been there. We are there still. Someday we will crack it!

Chuck Wendig wrote an interesting blog post this week, 25 reasons why I put down your book. This is a great list to remind authors that first and foremost you have to entertain the reader. (Warning it is Chuck so be prepared!)

From the writers point of view sometimes things can get a little dicey in your head. Stuart Nadler has written a moving tribute to all the characters he has killed off who haunt him still. Every writer has struggled with their conscience as they killed off a character... but sometimes the ghosts live on....

Writer Unboxed had an interesting article from Jo Eberhardt that garnered over 290 comments. The problem of female protagonists. If you look at your bookshelves how many of your books have Female protagonists or are written by women? Jo highlights recent research into the myth that we are writing gender balanced books. A very interesting read.

Jane Friedman has an interview with two literary agents on hybrid authors and how they can navigate their way in the publishing world.

David Gaughran reminds all authors to research who you are working with and go in eyes wide open.

In The Craft Section, (A fabulous list today)

13 ways to add depth to your novel- Victoria Mixon- Bookmark

How your characters failures are a recipe for self growth- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Choosing your antagonist- Blood Red Pencil- Bookmark

How to write a synopsis- Bookmark

How writers can stretch their creativity- CS Lakin- Bookmark

When Theme smothers premise- Larry Brooks- Bookmark

How to write stronger characters- SheNovel- Bookmark

Sequel scenes- K M Weiland - Bookmark

In The Marketing Section

Do Indies have to do print- Digital Reader

7 tips for blog traffic- Anne R Allen – Bookmark

Marketing a book after the buzz dies down- Bookbub

Tips for branding your book series- Book marketing tools – Bookmark

How I launched my book and sold 20K copies- Daniel Arenson- Bookmark

2 Goodreads features – Frances Caballo

Indie publishing paths- Janice Hardy

To Finish

Angela Ackerman has written a fabulous article on influencers. How to find them, what they can do for you and more importantly what you can do for them. This is a must read! All authors need that helping hand... and big mouth to spread the news about your latest book.

You can’t rely on winning an award right off the bat. It takes years of crafting relationships and being prepared for the long haul before  the sun comes out. Then it will feel absolutely blinding if the reaction from one of my friends who won this week is anything to go by.

Maureen

@craicer

Get a selection of the months best links and other interesting extras when you subscribe to my monthly newsletter.

 Pic From Flickr/ Creative Commons/ John Taylor

You thought I was going to post a picture of the sun.... hehehe. TA DA!

From Space.com

Money In Money Out

My 400th Post!

This week in publishing news Simon and Shuster were hit with a class action on payment of eBook royalties. This one will be rattling the cages of a few big publishers. It all hinges on whether publishers treat an Ebook sale as a ‘sale’ or a licensing agreement.

Rattling Author and Agent cages; the news that Month9 publishers were in trouble and having to downsize their business. There was lots of support for the authors and editors caught up in a financial mess not of their making. This great article on how to evaluate a publisher got shared around.

Kris Rusch has another installment in her deal breakers posts, on Non Compete clauses. This is an awful little clause that can stop a writing career in its tracks. Writer Beware has highlighted a few over the years. Read and be very aware what the implications are.

Nicola Morgan is an in demand festival and school speaker in the UK. Lately she has been coming up against the notion that writers should be ‘happy to speak at festivals for free as exposure.’ The UK Society of Authors is running a campaign about this and here Nicola sets out her reasons why she won’t lower her fees without a good cause!

Porter has a thought provoking article about book prices being driven downwards thereby devaluing all creative work. There was lots of discussion around these ideas. Have we encouraged the reading public to only buy free?

We have all heard about laptop crashes and writers losing manuscripts... Janice Hardy has a great article about organising your hard drive to find your work in the first place and then you can back it up!

Rachel Thompson is a force to be reckoned with. I’ve linked to two of her marketing posts today. However this article struck a chord. How often are we left wondering why something failed? Rachel has written a great post on turning rules for failure into success.

Jane Friedman is one of the industry’s Go To Guru’s. She turns her clear and insightful gaze on crowdfunding. Should authors do it?

In the Craft Section,

Creating unforgettable settings- Part 3 and 4 Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi

What are your characters not saying- and What can you do about plot -Two Bookmark posts from Janice Hardy

Avoid this pitfall when plotting –Roz Morris Bookmark

Editing for people who hate editing- Bookmark

12 steps from Inspiration to finished novel

Embrace imperfection- Bookmark

5 traits of a winning concept- Mythcreants-Bookmark

Getting the right feedback- Belinda Pollard- Bookmark

In the Marketing Section,

10 cringeless self promotion ideas

On submitting and submitting again

Why keywords are so important

Contest ideas for FB pages- Bookmark

Rachel Thompson hosts a Twitter chat on book marketing. She has a helpful list of book marketing tips -Bookmark

Mastering your Author Brand

Website of the Week

The Killzone is a great collective of crime and thriller writers who post great articles on the writing practice. Larry Brooks has a fabulous guest post here on receiving and working with editing criticism. As with all my links read the comments for a fuller picture.

To Finish

This week I was thinking about what my next writing craft book might be... and telling myself that really I didn’t need another... (oooh look shiny new book over there) My Kindle is mostly packed with writing craft books which I dip into on a fairly regular basis. Storybundle has been a great source for good writing craft books. And they have another great offering this month. 5 great books in a bundle or 10 if you pay over $15- you do the math. I have some gems in my Kindle from the last Storybundle. You pay what you like, the author gets a sale and you help a charity as well.

Maureen

@craicer

Photo from Flickr/ Creative Commons- 401kcalculator.org