Remember When…

 

 

This week in publishing,

When you get to a certain age you notice that nostalgia becomes big entertainment business. *coughMarvelcomicsCough* Sometimes the reason for the reboot of these older entertainment properties is that the new executives are mining their childhood fads. The 90’s generation is getting its turn now. This week Vulture reports that Sweet Valley High is getting a TV show. The SVH books were written by ghostwriters back in the day. A popular choice for publishers who found a formula and pumped books out using a stable of writers to do it. This is why a backlist is so important. What if that small hit spawns a cult phenomenon?

 

Mark Williams at The New Publishing Standard has been looking at the Wattpad Webtoon moves as they partner with ViacomCBS and Paramount. Intellectual Property generated by Indie authors are up for grabs for new video streaming services as all the big entertainment companies try to copy Netflix. Soon everyone will be subscribed to an entertainment streaming service.

 

Meanwhile, Kickstarter sent out a press release this week announcing their move onto the blockchain to decentralise their operation.

 “As a first step, we’re supporting the development of an open-source protocol that will essentially create a decentralized version of Kickstarter’s core functionality. This will live on a public blockchain, and be available for collaborators, independent contributors, and even Kickstarter competitors, from all over the world to build upon, connect to, or use.”

This looks like bringing the blockchain more mainstream. Interesting times ahead for the creative and collaborative community.

 

Last week I mentioned the New York Times article on Publishers and their unrealistic expectations of profits from celebrity books. This week Passive Guy dived into the article and shared all the numbers. There are eye-watering hits that publishers are taking on these celebrities. However, getting the publishing deal could be just part of the merchandise income stream for these celebrities who might not be making much money from their main source of creativity. 

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has published their Year in Review. January seems so long ago. The publishing industry has grown despite Covid and supply issues. 

 

Kris Rusch continues her close look at the implications of various events in the publishing industry. She is now watching the widening of the ways between Traditional and Indie publishing. They are almost two completely different models now.

 

Tara Sparling is back on Anne R Allen’s blog with her annual funny Christmas story which pokes fun at the writer's life. This year visit Mr McGuffin’s Plot Device and Writer Unblocking Emporium where stirring events are taking place as characters complain about their stereotypes.

 

Writer Unboxed has a large group of great writers who contribute excellent articles on the craft of writing. This week Barbara Linn Probst has an excellent article on Trusting The Reader.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to make your character choices more difficult- Angela Ackerman – Bookmark

Common mistakes that pull readers out of stories Elizabeth Craig - Bookmark

How to develop a story idea- Now Novel- Bookmark

The future in stories- Jim Dempsey

8 scintillating rules for writing romance- Dana Isaacson-Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

How to build a platform when you have no idea what it means- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

3 ways to learn what your readers want- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Authors – Tiktok promo ideas- Bookbub- Bookmark

How will sharing book recommendations help me sell books- Shepherd for Authors

10 social media design tips – Infographic

 

To Finish,

We are moving into the last week before Christmas. The Writers Advent Calendar, organised by The Dream Team AKA Angela and Becca is on the last few days. If you haven’t checked it out – you can still put your name in the giveaways for some great prizes. 

 

Next week is the last blog post for the year. I’m ready to wave goodbye to 2021.

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter to go out, with the bumper edition of great links from the year. If you want to 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 eggnog for Christmas, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate all the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: 

 

To Do …

 

In this week’s roundup

If you have been keeping one eye on Audiblegate, Passive Guy has a roundup of the state of play so far. He also speculates that it would be nice if the print publishers also put limits on how long they would hold the print rights. Susan May, who is the force behind the movement to get owed money back from Audible responds in the replies to the post.

 

With audiobooks being the next big thing for streaming services, it was interesting to come across this article on podcasts that are being snapped up by subscription streaming services and the murky waters of their copyright. 

How many entertainment channels do you subscribe to? Who will buy out who in 2021?

 

Techcrunch reports that a Kids Bookclub company, Literati, has raised $40 million to expand their book clubs to Adults. For a monthly fee, you get sent a print book and the chance to join in book chat about the book with the celebrity curator. The idea is to get more people reading… 

 

Another year… another set of scammers. Anne R Allen has a roundup of the scams just appearing on the horizon of 2021. Cast your eyes over the list and warn others especially newbies. 

 

Ruth Harris has a great post on reviewing readers. What type of nutty reader replies have come across your desk? My mother in law, a romance writer, had a rabid fan who read every one of her books and always complained about the unrealistic weather. Eg. It doesn’t snow in August in America. The romances were clearly set in the southern hemisphere, down under, with maps….

 

David Gaughran has an interesting article on publishing short stories. Have you thought about writing shorts and publishing them? There might be a little bit of money to be made or you could give them to your fans.

 

In The Craft Section,

Writing lessons from Pride and Prejudice- Terena Bell - Bookmark

What good are sex scenes?- Litreactor

Idea testing stages in brainstorming- Janice Hardy

Short Video of master screenwriter Robert McKee on what to keep and what to cut.

Brainstorming the novel- Julie Duffy

Can you have more than one protagonist?- Abigail Perry- Bookmark

 

In the Marketing Section,

Outside the box marketing ideas- Bookmark

How to market an ebook- Reedsy

Endorsing books- who should you ask

33 tips to improve email marketing- Barb Drozdowich – Bookmark

Timing your book launch -Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

My To-Do Lists constantly change… probably because I promptly lose them meaning I have to write the list again from memory. How are your To-Do Lists? Have you ever thought of plotting this way? Elizabeth S Craig found it gave her a whole new perspective on plot momentum.

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 – Hey Paul Studios

 

Decluttering Ownership

This week Microsoft readers woke up to discover that Microsoft was shutting its e-library down. Unfortunately, that meant that all their books disappeared. After nearly twenty years of ebooks, there are still people out there who think that once they have bought an ebook it is theirs. No, it isn’t. You have bought a license to read the book on a proprietary software. That is what DRM (Digital Rights Management) means. If you have a DRM free copy you can put it on other devices and so keep the copy. 
This is why Kris Rusch is so interested in potentials available for authors in the licensing business. Do you really know what you have created and what it is worth?

While Microsoft was decluttering their library... Anne R Allen was looking at decluttering novels. This is a great post on how to streamline your work.

Streamlining. Become an author. What every teen overachiever has on their bucket list of things to do before they turn 20.  Jane Friedman has an interesting post on the rise of Teen Authors hiring ghostwriters. 

Reedsy has a post on free book cover makers which is chock full of tools. BUT YOU MUST OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE IMAGES YOU USE. I put that important sentence in caps because Book Riot reported this week on the plagiarism of the image that was used to make the iconic book cover for Elizabeth Acevedo’s multi-award-winning book, The Poet X. So is this a case of Steal Like An Artist?

Reedsy also has a great post on Bookbub ads for anyone who wants to get a grip on these. 

Passive Guy reports on a court case where Amazon was found to be liable for third party sales. This might not seem big just yet but... if your book is pirated then sold on Amazon... then Amazon could be liable. ( cue pirate cleanup)

Every year around this time Joanna Penn writes her version of Author Earnings when she does a deep dive into her business and looks at how it is doing. She even makes pretty graphs and does data analysis. Have a look at this years report. This is what we can all aspire to. 

In The Craft Section,

The importance of character names- Scott Myers

Trim the fat from your fiction- Utopian Editing

8 quick tips on Show not Tell- K M Weiland

Writing your novels blurb- Staci Troilo- Bookmark

How to see the holes in your stories ending-Roz Morris - Bookmark

Planning your opening passages- Mythcreants- Bookmark

How to slash your word count by 20%- Jodi Renner

In The Marketing Section,

How to test Bookbub ads- Bookbub- Bookmark

20 Quick book marketing ideas- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

10 things to update every time you release a book- Deborah Jay

Reader Targeting influences everything- David Gaughran- Bookmark

Production calendars- DIYMFA

How to use book content to reach more readers

25 newsletter incentives for fiction authors- Mixtusmedia- Bookmark

To Finish,

It’s been a book cover week. I’ve relaxed looking at Bookcoverzone. ( No I haven’t bought any more covers for nonexistent books this year...Yet.) Design Wizard sent me a link to their selection of the most creative book covers. Go and be inspired.

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 – Phil Hearing

Positive Learning

Today as I was researching good articles for you I kept feeling like I was witnessing a slow-motion car wreck. I like Twitter but there are days when the good people of the Twitter world that I follow are in meltdown fatigue over the incessant bad news coming out of the US. But it is important to still keep an eye on what’s happening over there. If you start opting out because the news is not good, big changes that you should be vocal about will be slipped in when you are not looking. This is democracy. You participate in it or lose it.

Anne R Allen had an interesting post on Author persona. Who are you really? This is a good post if you are struggling with the whole online identity thing. This goes together nicely with DIYMFA’s article on building a good author brand. How far do you go being authentic online?  Bill Nye decided to break his whole nice scientist guy brand this week by swearing about how bad Climate Change is and demanding the world take it seriously. And yes the media ignored the message to talk about Bill using the F word. Was there any other way it was going to go?

When is your image not your image? When a photographer takes a picture. If you think this is messed up, author lawyer Passive Guy explores the problem of celebrities getting sued for using pictures of themselves on Instagram. It’s a copyright violation. Image use and consent are important. However in good news... Creative Commons has made a search engine to help everyone find the right picture in the public domain. 

Kris Rusch has an interesting post on Kickstarter stress.  First, you have the stress of putting a Kickstarter together then you have the stress of the outcome. Kickstarter success can be just as stressful as a failure. If you are looking for ways to make some money for your writing project check out these 9 inexpensive revenue streams for broke writers.

Publishers Weekly had an article this week on the rise of chapbooks. These are little giveaway books that publishers make available to retailers and reviewers to stimulate word of mouth. It’s an interesting marketing tool. Penny Sansevieri has a great post on the importance of having a marketing plan which ties in nicely with Createifwritings one on how to get reviews.

Emmanuel Nataf, a founder of Reedsy, has an interesting post on why speculative fiction is needed now more than ever. The ability to tell a story for people and show them what bad choices can cause to the world may be the only way we get through to humanity. The Handmaids Tale is a case in point.

In The Craft Section,
Emotional writing- Joslyn Chase

How to write effective action scenes- Writepractice-Bookmark

Sensory detail and emotional depth- Lisa Hall Wilson

Story Structure in a flash- September Fawkes- Bookmark

Fight, Flight or Freeze- Psyche 101 for writers – Becca Puglisi- Bookmark 


In The Marketing Section,
Growing newsletters from zero- Christina McDonald- Bookmark

9 reasons authors need newsletters- Nate Hoffelder -new series on The Book Designer- Bookmark

3d photo’s for Book cover ads- John Doppler

Small business marketing best practice

4 effective book marketing strategies- Badredhead media

Make your book marketing plan a success- MJ Connolly- Bookmark

To Finish,
I’m a sucker for learning. I love learning and new ideas and ways of doing things. So Reedsy publishing a list of podcasts about books and writing was especially welcome. I already listen to a few podcasts on the list regularly. TCK Publishing put together this super list of TED talks for writers. That’s my viewing sorted for the week.

Maureen
@craicer

It’s nearly time for 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 mini book crammed full with marketing notes. 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 –  Alan Levine

What is your goal?

Around the publishing blogosphere this week...
What is the biggest threat to the print industry at the moment? Ho hum you think... another article about digital or audiobooks... NO. The lack of paper for printing is starting to make itself felt.  Publisher's Weekly reports that at the recent BISG conference, it was the number one topic.

Somebody hasn’t told Wattpad that there is a shortage of paper... They are steaming ahead with their print publishing arm. Their first offerings are off to a great start after being chosen by an AI.

Amazon this week trumpeted that you could contact them and talk to a human... They meant Alexa... who isn’t human. However, this raised an interesting point. What happens to copyright if an AI writes the book? Passive Guy took a look at what’s happening in the music world with AI scores.

If you have parted ways with your agent, how much should you disclose about the relationship to another agent? Bookends Literary talks about agent baggage.

Meanwhile, in the print distribution business... the only US competitor for Ingram has just thrown in the towel with their retail wholesale division. The industry pushed back when Ingram wanted to buy Barker &Taylor last year, because of the power one distributor would have in the marketplace. Who is laughing now? Not the publishers.

If you are wondering how Bookstores are doing this year check out this comprehensive article by Nancy Herther for Against The Grain- a blog site for bookstores, libraries, and publishers. If indie bookstores are struggling why is Amazon opening up more bricks and mortar stores? Are Indie bookstores really taking a hit? 

Every time I turn around Streelib seems to be doing something interesting... (Hmmm their  goal could be world domination outside the US/ UK.) They are getting into Apps. Their press release this week announced they had partnered with Stary which has over one million users in the 10 months it’s been operating. Stary is just like Wattpad and we know what happened there... 

Jami Gold has a great article on The Power of Character Arcs. If you were one of the many who saw Endgame this week. This discussion on drive and focus is the article for you. (There are no spoilers.)

In The Craft Section,

Making a big revision- Jami Gold- Bookmark

How to treat your setting like a character- Kyle Massa- Bookmark

7 tips to make your monsters meaty

Stay on target - Janice Hardy

7 thoughts about collaboration- Dan Brotzel- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

How to reduce marketing anxiety- Booklife

Author publicity for the camera shy- Bookworks- Bookmark


Ten reasons to run your writing like a business- Leigh Shulman- Bookmark

An informal guide to understanding facebook ad jargon- Digitalgal

No one is born famous- Penny Sansevieri

How to write effective facebook sponsored posts- Social Media Examiner- Bookmark 

To Finish,

Kristine Rusch has a very interesting post on goal setting this week. How often do you set little goals? This is a mindset shift which may end up changing your work life completely. My To Do list has To Do Lists on it... I’m off to break it all up.

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 - Jesper Sehested and PlusLexia.com The PlusLexia team inspire Dyslexics by finding stories of success from people with Dyslexia. Way To Go Jesper!

Writer Rage

It has been a challenge keeping calm this week with the political news dominating the media. Many writers are stuck. Do they try to steer a middle path or ignore what is happening or make a comment. I have seen writers being attacked on Social Media for daring to have a political opinion and voicing it. They are being told that their work is entertainment and to stick to that and not point out anything different, because as one fan said 'I want a small corner of sanity where political views don't intrude.'

So to put your mind at rest I will not be commenting... I will leave it in Chuck's capable hands to tell you what writers should be doing

Anne R Allen has been seeing red lately over people not respecting Book Bloggers or any bloggers in the publishing blogosphere. I understand how she feels. I don't have the readership that Anne has but I get at least two appeals a week to write guest posts or highlight someone or update a post with new information. It is annoying because it clearly shows they don't read my blog. I ignore them including all the 'follow up' emails. Anne has great points to make if you are suffering the Troll Blues.

This week Geraldine McCaughrean won the Carnegie Medal for her novel Where The World Ends, a mid grade- early secondary book. She used her winner's speech to highlight the problems of publishers dumbing down language for children. She has direct recent experience of publishers asking her not to write long words. What happens if we don't stretch our reader's minds? Read the Guardian article on Geraldine's speech and find out.

With the biggest publishers of content in the world (*FAANG) taking over the interface between the creators and the consumers what is next for the poor content creator. Alli director Orna Ross published an article on the Alli blog looking at Self Publishing 3.0 -direct sales between authors and readers. We have the means. We have the technology. What is stopping us?

Last week I highlighted Kris Rusch's blog post on author learned helplessness. The Passive Guy - contracts lawyer in real life- added some learned commentary on Kris' article backed up with some recent discoveries of his own. (If you haven't read Kris' blog post, you are missing out on a valuable learning opportunity.) This leads on to an excellent article about the growth mindset of authors by Jennie Nash. Do you have a growth mindset? It may make all the difference to your career.

In industry news... a wrinkle. Audible (owned by Amazon) has started making audio first deals with writers. This has some major implications to rights sales and contracts.  Melville House Publishers saw it as a tricksy problem for publishers. Read their blog from a writer's perspective before you make up your mind. 

Should you start an author newsletter before you have a book contract? The writer chicken and egg problem. Tamela Hancock Murray suggests that you should and moreover she details just what you should put in one too.

Rebecca Monterusso has written an intensive breakdown of what a scene actually is, on Jane Friedman's blog. "They should do the same thing your global story does: upset the life value of the character and put them on a path to try and restore it."

This is a great article on the basic building blocks of story. A Bookmark Post.

In The Craft Section,

8 common pacing problems  and How to dump info - September Fawkes- Bookmark Both

Writing riveting inciting action and What is a plot point- Now Novel- Bookmark Both

5 tips for writing good prose- Roz Morris

What should your characters talk about - KM Weiland

In The Marketing Section,

Spice up your Amazon Book Pages- Joanna Penn - Bookmark

How to update without losing your reviews- Kate Tilton

Combating release day stress- Elizabeth S Craig

Self publishing marketing strategies- Indiereader

8 cover design secrets- Derek Murphy- Bookmark

Agents Tips to use on Social Media- Bookbub- Bookmark

To Finish,

In our house we have extroverts and introverts and people who sit squarely in the middle. This can make for challenging conversations when it comes to attending Book Launches. The introverts would rather have a quiet celebration dinner. The extroverts a full on party! So what happens when an introvert has to launch a book with a splash? L L Barkat  has the introverts guide to launching a book. 

Happy Solstice Day -

Congratulations Prime Minister on the birth of your baby girl- I'm sure children's writers all over the country are wrapping books for you.

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 also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. If you want to shout me a Solstice coffee to say thanks for the blog you can hit the coffee button up top... Thanks.

*FAANG- Facebook Amazon Apple Netflix Google (finance speak for media stocks)

Pic: The Scream - Edvard Munch

Taking Turns

It’s February already???

Where did the time go?

The kids went back to school this week. I tried to find all my writing projects. They are scattered around the house in folders of scribbled notes... because the kids kept taking my computer.

This week there was a semi quiet announcement, which was pounced on by industry commentators. Walmart announced a deal with Rakuten Kobo. Walmart is a very big chain of stores selling all kinds of products including grocery. Kobo started as a Canadian eBook distributor with its own hardware reader. They operate ebook stores all over the world but not in the US. This is going to make 2018 very interesting with increased competition for Amazon.

While Kobo have been making moves so has Apple. They have rebranded their ebook store. The Digital Reader has some ideas on what Apple can do next to really ramp up the competition in the ebook market place.

Next it was Google Play’s turn. They started to sell audiobooks this week. If you have been looking at the audio format and wondering whether to do a deal with Audible with a 7 year contract lock in.... Maybe it’s time to take a look at all the other players who have audio book storefronts.

Here in NZ we are lucky to get free ISBN’s for our work. It would be nice if we got free I.S.N.I. -International Standard Name Identifier. This means that the code attached to your name identifies you as the owner of a public work. If there are 500 Jane Smiths all saying they wrote a book... which one are you? YouTube has just become a registration agency for ISNI. What does it mean for creators? Publishing Perspectives takes a look

Kris Rusch has an interesting blog post on things that can be learned about the Indie Publishing business from the publishing train wrecks of 2017. A little bit of distance to think calmly is always a good thing.

Karen Meyers has an interesting opinion piece on the ALLi blog. Why do you need to learn to market? Her answer; Do you want to be in business? It all comes back to what you want from your writing career. A very interesting and thoughtful post.

Ann Kroeker has a solution to the ‘where to start’ problem of writing. Reverse engineer your editorial calendar. Start right from the end... publishing it. This post turns writing on its head... but it just might work.

Janet Reid answered a readers question about how hard it was to restart a writing career from an Agents perspective. It is not impossible but...

Jane Friedman has a guest post from Jennifer Probst on creating amazing secondary characters. I have been guilty of letting a secondary character have too much limelight. How can you manage these characters properly?

In The Craft Section,

7 steps to for plotting novel and personal goals- Martha Aalderson- Bookmark

How to use dictation for healthier writing- Passive Guy- Read the comments for great advice.

How Authors become better readers- K M Weiland

Script analysis – Coco  Scene break down- Go Into The Story- Bookmark

5 types of surprises- SeptemberFawkes- Bookmark

9 secrets to supercharge your fiction- Anne R Allen – Bookmark

Characterisation- Fear – Ruthanne Reid

In The Marketing Section,

What to put in your Author Newsletter- Glen Miller- Bookmark

Have you got a catalogue page- Darcy Pattison- Bookmark

Sales theory for authors and How to promote your book on the cheap- Book Marketing Tools

Why you need an author profile and where to put it- Erica Verrillo

Media friendly website content- Bookworks

18 Book Marketing predictions for 2018- Penny Sansevieri

How to Give Away an eBook from an author website-Digital Reader- Bookmark

To Finish,

It’s time for a bit of inspiration... Jerry Jenkins asked 41 Authors what they wished they knew when they were starting out...

For me... it’s amazing how much you can get done in sprint writing. AND get a computer the kids can’t borrow...

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. A coffee is always nice so if you want to shout me one, just hit the coffee button. Thanks.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons / Elliott Brown - Merry Go Round at London Zoo

Ch Ch Change

Changes are afoot.

Those three words can encourage anticipation or dread depending on your past experience with change.

The publishing industry has been on a roller coaster ride since 2007 and the introduction of the Kindle, the marker for huge change in the industry.

Among the changes being rolled out this week are changes to the Kindle Unlimited page read payout. Check out the new version 3.0 rules.

Facebook is turning their attention to Groups. If you are still annoyed by the changes to Author pages... be prepared. This doesn’t bode well. Groups are popular among authors for fan communities and networking groups. Boosted posts in groups will not be welcomed.

An interesting piece of news caught my eye from Harper Collins. They are actively seeking out young writers on Wattpad and offering them print deals.

This week I’ve read two publishing commentators on the death of the Traditional or Legacy midlist publishing career. Publishers are throwing money at the big writers or the debut writers. The pressure is on debut writers to have a hit right out of the box and they have no say in their contract terms. I’m hoping that the HC/Wattpad deal protects these young authors.

Passive Guy takes a look at a recent Mike Shatzkin post on the future of Barnes and Nobel, the largest book retail chain in USA. It is looking shaky with shareholders calling for it to be sold. What does it have to do to survive? Is the future bookstore Amazon showrooms?

U K Society of Authors president, Phillip Pullman called this week for a return to fixed prices for books. This took publishing people by surprise. Can you really turn back the clock?

Kris Rusch has another fantastic blog post on Branding. Expanding your audience with slow growth. After you read her very wise words jump on over to Joanna Penn’s interview with Dean Wesley Smith on understanding copyright, intellectual property and how to license it. Dean and Kris are mentors to a whole lot of high flying authors. They are the best teachers of the business of writing around.

Ruth Harris has a brilliant post on the writers discomfort zone and how to survive and thrive in it. How do you turn anxiety into creativity?

Jane Friedman has a great post on using Amazon Ads and Joanna Penn has another standout chapter from her new Marketing Book. If you are thinking about publishing these are must read articles!

In The Craft Section,

3 ways to show not tell- Darcy Pattison

What is the theme of the book- Reedsy

Story Tropes – Lazy or helpful- Jami Gold- Bookmark

Rules for Self Editing- Bookmark

Writing cliff hangers- Now Novel - Bookmark

Character motivation- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Two rules to write by- Print Posse

The Blueprint for writing a novel- Martina Boone- Bookmark!!! (print out)

In The Marketing Section,

Building relationships with readers- Rachel Thompson - Bookmark

Choose the right stock image

Email marketing for Authors

Book Cover Design fundamentals- Joanna Penn- Bookmark

7 Book Expo marketing takeaways

How to make a perennial bestseller

What your local librarian can do for authors- Mythic Scribes

The importance of categories and keywords- Indies Unlimited- Bookmark

10 tips on working with illustrators- Kelly Mc Morris-Bookmark

To Finish,

If you are a long time reader of the blog you will know that I believe that authors need to work together collaboratively. It’s good for moral. It’s good for marketing. It’s good for accountability. It’s just good. Angela Ackerman has another six ways that working collaboratively eases the load and helps you weather the publishing changes.

Maureen

@craicer

It’s nearly time for 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. This blog runs on coffee fumes. If you want to shout me a coffee, hit the green Kofi button in the sidebar. Thanks.

Pic; Flickr/Creative Commons- Pearly 85