Are you part of the resistance?

Hands up if you have listened to a podcast lately.

Hands up if you have read a book or a long-form essay on your phone.

The rise and rise of audiobooks and podcasts are making traditional publishers sit up and take notice. Publishing trends reports on the voice first generation. With the rise in voice AI assistants such as Alexa and Siri able to take on audiobook narration, publishers need to be thinking about audio books first not last.

I was interested in an article this week from Publishing Perspectives about the rise in children’s publishing in China. This was an almost non-existent market fifteen years ago. In the usual China fashion when the behemoth makes a decision the market can change almost overnight and so it is with children’s publishing. Stop and think what an opportunity awaits the savvy entrepreneur who markets into their school system.

Mailchimp is a popular email newsletter provider. If you have ever subscribed to an email list chance are high that you have received it from Mailchimp. Many authors use their platform to send out newsletters. (myself included) Mailchimp has recently teamed up with Square to offer a point of sale shop on a landing page. For any author who has wondered about direct sales, this is an interesting development.

Staying with tech tools for writers- Dave Chesson has pulled together his favourites. There might be something in there for you.

Joanna Penn has an interesting article on 7 mistakes that Non-Fiction writers make. How do you know if your idea is a good one, is one of them? 

Kris Rusch has a great article on resistance. Are you getting in your own way when it comes to making a decision about projects? If you have ever second-guessed yourself or put writing projects away because someone else told you it wouldn’t fly... READ THIS ARTICLE! 

Anne R Allen has two great pieces of writing advice. Confessions of a slow writer... and  Stupid writing rules. They are both timely for NaNo and important just for the freedom to write without a nagging sense of doubt. Share them around with your writing groups.

In The Craft Section,

Can you put lyrics in your book- Bookbaby - Bookmark

Showing vs Telling, how do you choose- Jami Gold - Bookmark

What makes a good story - Now Novel- Bookmark

Finding your unique planning style – Megan Barnhard on Joanna Penn’s site-Bookmark

Writing the small town setting - Elizabeth Craig

Classic Story Structure- Jess Loury on Jane Friedman’s site

Resources for NaNoWriMo

Deliver critical backstory using setting

How to focus on writing right now.

How to power through the 30k slump

Don’t forget to check out the Storybundle Nano collection. There are some great books on offer here going very cheap!

In The Marketing Section,

How to throw a book launch party that’s not a waste of time- Bookbaby

8 tips to give a book talk like a pro- Bookbuzzr

Creating promo copy that works – Marcy Kennedy Bookmark

5 questions on book production and marketing- Joel Friedlander

Easy template for writing query letters- Debutanteball- Bookmark

KDP vs Ingram Spark Paperbacks- Bookmark

To Finish,

The first of the holiday gift lists for writers have appeared with Write Life first off the mark this year. As it’s Thanksgiving in the US there are lots of specials on hand for writers in the tech scene Nate Hoffelder has the list. 

If you relaxing after stuffing yourself... Take a look at this iconic Thanksgiving song by the master storyteller Arlo Guthrie. 

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 Kofi button up top.
Apologies for being late this week...

Pic Flickr Creative Commons – Paul VanDerWerf

UN - Natural

Autumn... and the summer weather goes on and on...and so do the list of provinces now officially drought stricken. As I write this half the North Island has been declared officially in drought. The flow on effects of a drought are not obvious now but will come back to haunt us later in the year, with a shortage of food as crops dependent on water won’t be sown. There is an extreme fire risk.

In the publishing blogosphere, this week, a similar disquiet is being felt with the news of class actions and shonkey contracts from reputable publishing houses.

For those authors in the lucky position to have a self published book picked up by a trad 6...5...4... publishing house. It is not all a bed of roses as this cautionary tale illustrates...Amazon contacted the readers who had bought the Indie published book and said they were withdrawing it and if the customer wanted a refund they could get it and a new copy of the book. But who is paying for this? The Author...who didn’t know anything about it. OUCH.

A New York Law firm is gathering data to bring a class action against Author Solutions and its owner Pearson for scamming authors... People check the contracts before you sign them!

Today the association on Science Fiction and Fantasy writers alerted everyone to the major problems with Random’s Hydra eBook imprint contract. John Scalzi, head of this association, publically stated that anyone publishing with Hydra will not be eligible for membership. He spells out all the problems in the contract. This is required reading! The hooks are large...and YOU NEED TO KNOW.

Kris Rusch looks at the Death Of Publishing...and after the last three posts you might well think it...however Kris is upbeat and there is HOPE....

Bob Mayer takes it another step with his Survival For Writers and Rachelle Gardner details what Agents are working on now in the Brave New World and why they are still relevant.

Joel Friedlander has a great article on the progression of writer, author, publisher, marketer....

Susan Kaye Quin takes a look at hiring your writing business team.

If you have a Kindle you may want to take notice of this backup technique just in case Amazon pulls another swifty.

In Craft,

A handy info graphic on scene construction.

The great Janice Hardy on five quick edits to strengthen your writing.

How to find your creative sweet spot.

In Marketing,

How to use Mail Chimp. (that’s for your email newsletters)

Perfect press releases.

Does advertising on Goodreads work?

To Finish,

Hugh Howey has a thoughtful post on the reality of publishing now. You would think Hugh has reached the top of the mountain but as he says it is only just beginning...his thoughts while shelving books in a bookstore...Yes, this is his day job.

maureen

pic from Koshyk Flickr Creative Commons....Imagine opening that pea pod.