Between The Covers

 

This week in the publishing world,

Simon and Schuster are back in the news again- for all the wrong reasons. In a case of not knowing what their left hand is doing- their distribution arm picked up a controversial book – this week of all weeks. This also begs the question, What was the publisher thinking when offering a book deal to someone involved in a heinous crime that hasn’t gone to court? Is it news? Is it privilege? Is it balanced? It’s not justice for the victim!

 

While everyone is talking about Amazon moving into serial publishing… Wattpad, the first serial publisher is heading to the movies. Publish the story – find the best – make a movie.

Is this what Amazon wants to copy with Vella? Crowdsourcing movie ideas?

 

This week, Mark Williams commented on Mike Shatzkin’s article about half the NY Times list being Print on Demand Books. Have the publishers turned a corner because of Covid 19?

 

Jane Friedman has two excellent posts on her blog. Everything you want to know about Hybrid publishing, a comprehensive rundown of this style of publisher. And how the pandemic has affected book publishing. Will 2021 be better? 

 

Kris Rusch celebrates 12 years of her business musings blog this week. She started it to make sense of the publishing world and we have all benefitted from it. She is an inspiration, mentor, and teacher to so many people in the business.

 

Kevin Tumlinson of Draft2Digital has an interesting blog post today on imposter syndrome. How do you know you are a real author? What are your benchmarks for this? Kevin offers some ways to think about what you are really asking yourself. 

 

Have you got a writing routine? Kristen Kieffer has an interesting post on the strong foundations you need to build a good writing routine. First, start with self-trust. 

 

In The Craft Section,

How David Lynch writes a script- take 70 cards.- Scott Myers

How to nail the first 3 pages- Lisa Cron- Bookmark

Writing prompt ideas- Now Novel

Write a story backward for climactic results- Save The Cat- Bookmark

Naming fictional characters- Anne R Allen- Bookmark

The negative Queen archetype- K M Weiland - Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Do you need to copyright your manuscript- Anne R Allen

Book promotion ideas for May- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Marketing a children’s book- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

DIY graphics and fonts Pam Hillman- Bookmark

How to make an editorial calendar- templates- Norm Brekke- Bookmark

Should you start a podcast? Liz Barret Foster

 

To Finish

This writing game can take a lot out of you. Recently I had the day to myself. Right, I thought, I’ll get some writing done. That little comment to myself seemed to sabotage the whole process. I had an attack of the Writer Shiny Object Syndrome.

In the end I listened to MY music up loud and folded washing. Wonderfully energizing and I got some good ideas out of it too!

Scott Myers has a great article on writing and playlists for creative inspiration.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter full of the best of my bookmarked links. 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 blog birthday coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: The assassins cabinet inside a hollowed book 1682- Article by Open Culture

 

The Same But Different

Another New Year... Another set of Writing Relating Goals and Publishing Predictions... reach for the last of the New Year’s party wine. 

Last year predictions were that Audio would start to take off. – This year continues that prediction- we haven’t seen the end of the beginning of the explosion in audiobook sales...  AI technology is ramping up. Chuck in publishers making audio-only deals and everyone in publishing is starting to take note of the gold in them thar hills....

Mark Coker always has an interesting perspective on what the new publishing year might bring. He’s more often right than wrong so take a look at what he considers to be the big issues going forward.

Joanna Penn dashed down under to catch up with family but still had time to make sure that her great podcasts were ticking over. Two recent ones that are well worth checking out are Creative Goal setting trends for 2019 and a great interview on 21st-century lessons for a creative mindset with Mark McGuiness.

Agent Laurie Mclean has also dipped her toe into the prediction pond for this year. Her big message – people reading (and finishing) a book is declining... we must encourage the eco system of books if we want publishing to survive. 

Kris Rusch and her husband Dean Wesley Smith have seen too many new publishing years to count. Kris is doing a great series on planning for the New Year. The longer I have been watching this industry (coming up to 11 years soon) the more I value Kris and her insights into what is going on. Start with her Boxing day post – The Current State Of Disruption... follow up with Part Two- Sales ... Part Three - on libraries and Part Four- Audio

Over The Christmas Break...when everyone was recovering from Christmas dinner Amazon changed tack again. Gone are product display ads... and in are Lockscreen ads. As everyone is commenting it’s a pay to play world out there.

Also in the news was the highlighting of a new trolling behaviour that is targeting successful sellers on Amazon.  They target the reviews and tell Amazon that you paid for 5-star reviews... The Zon comes down with their big sledgehammer... meanwhile the originator of the false claim reaps rewards... It’s a long process to get back to square one.

If one of your New Year’s Resolutions was to get a handle on Social Media you are not alone, Fae Rowan writes about the pain she feels when she contemplates Social Media marketing. Drop into the Writers In The Storm Blog to join in the conversation.

Penny Sansevieri has decided that 2019 should be the year of the vlog. Writers need to get a handle on using digital media as search becomes increasing image driven. And it is so easy, says Penny....

Anne R Allen highlighted a tidy list of ... new writer scams for 2019. They don’t stop trolling for newbies as we hit another new year. If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know who to avoid and where to go to find out more... don’t forget to tell the newbies out there that there is heaps of information if they just search for it. Google is your friend. Typing ‘to-good-to-be -true-offer and scam in a search bar is the first thing they should do. Remember anyone who wants you to pay them to publish your book... tread really really carefully!

Keren David over at an awfully big blog adventure ( children’s writer's blog) throws down the gauntlet to publishers about diversity... getting out of London and seeing what’s happening in the smaller centers etc etc. She has a list of great things she thinks they should do this year... after all, it is 2019. Has anyone in publishing heard of Skype? 

In The Craft Section.

How to get emotion on the page- Lisa Cron-Bookmark
The different types of editing- Writer Unboxed
Resources for writers- June Takey- This is an all you can eat blog post Bookmark!
8 writing tools to get the words flowing
Setting up a kanban board to reach writing goals in 90 days. Organise and win at writing...

In The Marketing Section,

What to include in your marketing strategy
Follow these steps when you publish your first book
Bookbub ads- David Gaughran- Bookmark
Using Pinterest to market children’s books- Jane Friedman- Bookmark
Amazon Advertising for KDP authors in 2019- Chris McMullen

To Finish,

Over my summer break, I had some fun trying different dictation solutions. Google came out the clear winner with almost 100% accuracy... except for the lag in voice capture which meant I lost the beginning of every sentence. All the words it caught were 100% accurate tho. At the huge Consumer Electronics Show (CES) The big tech giants were showing off their snazzy voice everything applications... including translations.
In 2019 will we be able to dictate content and have it automatically translated including social media posts to become a truly global publishing consumer and provider... 
Fasten your seatbelts...  

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 coffee- hit the coffee button up top. Thanks. I appreciate the virtual coffee love.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons- Davity Dave

Independent Unique Individuals

How often this week have you wondered about the motivations of people?

Shannon Hale is a top notch children’s author. She recently wrote a post on her experiences with school visits where she was introduced as a girls writer. She has some interesting strategies to challenge this opening but she raises an interesting question- Are we unconsciously limiting boys reading due to gender bias?

This week The NY Times launched a new best seller list.Audio. This will be interesting as Audible (owned by Amazon) has 90% of the market and they never share data...

Draft2Digital, ebook aggregator, has introduced a new nifty feature, book formatting for print books. You can use this feature for free.

Nick Stephenson has an interesting blog for Indie publishers. This week he profiled an author who amassed 3000 rabid fans before the book was out by creating the world the book is set in. It is a fascinating story... if you are into world building check it out.

When was the last time you walked into a bookstore? Was it an Indie bookstore? Did you feel the difference? Julie Rosenberg on Writer Unboxed has a post on how important Indie bookstores are becoming.

Penny Sansevieri has written a great post on Amazon ads. If you have wondered about how they work this is the post to read and Bookmark.

Roz Morris has a great post on the five stages of book production and why Indie publishers should follow them in strict order. Not only will it save you heartache it will also save you money!

Anne R Allen has a great post on choosing character names. For me the story doesn’t start until I have the character name sorted. It is so important. If you have ever struggled with getting the right name check this out.

In The Craft Section,

The myth of all you can eat sensory details- Lisa Cron- Bookmark

Creating editorial maps- Marcy Kennedy

Dumb little writing tricks that work

Writing a perfect first chapter- Writer Unboxed Bookmark

Is your novel premise and no plot?- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

What are your catnip tropes?

What is a Mary Sue? This is a must read post! TCK publishing- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Amazon book promotion techniques- Bookworks

Author website basics

How to find a reputable agent- Bookmark

9 types of pitches for promoting- Joan Stewart - Bookmark

5 unique strategies to market on Goodreads- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

To Finish,

What’s the opposite of a dystopian world... If you said utopian you would be nearly right. There is a new Sci Fi kid on the block... Solar Punk and its mission is to promote an alternative future within reach... oooh Shiny!

Hands up if you’ve stretched today while sitting at your computer.  Here are 5 tips to get that author body moving so you can invent more independent and unique characters.

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 enjoyed this blog you can shout me a coffee by hitting the coffee button up top or share the blog with your writing friends. Thanks
 

Pic Flickr Creative Commons/ Dave Catchpole