Running To A Standstill

This week around the blogosphere there was consternation as
a plagiarism scandal erupted and grew bigger by the hour.

As events unfolded the writer in question blamed the ghost writers that she hired to write books
with her name on it… and therein lies the problem. If you have your name on it then it must have
come from you and been approved by you. As the plagiarised writer,  an ex-supreme court lawyer,
said on Twitter… you picked the wrong person here.
Unfortunately she was not the only writer targeted... at last count 27 writers had been picked up.

Kris Rusch outlines the very reasons why this mess happened and why you should be very
clear in writing cooperatively, however you do it.  

If you have been on social media lately you will have seen all the hype around the new Masterclass
with Neil Gaiman. Actually Neil is everywhere… Good Omens is coming out, American Gods is in
a second season...  Masterclass must be rubbing hands all the way to the bank. So if you have been
on the fence about shelling out for this…you might like this article about
whether it is worth doing a class with Mr Gaiman...or Ms Attwood.

Are you a company of one?
Joanna Penn interviewed Paul Jarvis on how to approach your writer business if it’s just you.

It’s Book Fair season around the world.  The New Publishing Standard keeps an eye on
the international book fairs with India having record attendances lately but they aren’t the only ones.
Belgium has just racked up record attendances too Is print back?
Meanwhile London is expanding their offering and opening up to podcasts.
(It’s all about audio you know….)

Nate Hoffelder pointed out in his blog this week that there is a new wordpress plugin that gets
Alexa to read your blog for you as a podcast and if that isn’t enough to be going on with...
in Joanna Penn’s latest podcast interview with Will Dages of Findaway voices the discussion touched on
a future copyright IP- for your author voice.

Are you worried about finding your ideal reader- The Superfan who will
buy all your books, shout your name to the heavens, and leap to do your every bidding?  
Anne R Allen has the blog post for you... Should writers despair if they don’t have superfans?
It must have struck a chord… there are a pile of comments.

Penny Sansevieri has an interesting post on 4 common book marketing complaints.
Check them out just in case you are doing something wrong and don’t know it.

Reedsy is getting into the book review business… which surprised me.
They have trusted book reviewers for a price… but then you are just marketing to other authors…
Maybe I’m missing something.

Scott Meyers has a great post on his screenwriting blog about writing sprints…
Yes you can achieve much when you write against the clock especially with others…
but don’t forget that a writing walk is just as good… you’ll need your running shoes tho.

In The Craft Section,

2 great posts from Angela Ackerman- When character flaws go too far and Exploring the dark side of your hero - Bookmark Both.

Creating an easy habit of writing- Write to Done

Kill your darlings - editing- Write for Kids

How to write authentic injuries- Scriptmedic

What the 'Friends' pilot can teach writers- Bang2Write- Bookmark

Should you join a writing group?- Leigh Shulman

10 steps guide to the likable hero - Captain America -K M Weiland- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

5 tips to spice up your Amazon Profile- Chrys Fey- Bookmark

5 powerful ways to market your book using Pinterest- Bookbuzzr

How your reader profiles informs your book marketing- Bookworks- Bookmark

Is distribution of your print worth it- LM Preston

How to cut down on your business expenses- Creatifwriting

What’s in your signature- Judith Briles

Using Twitter for your author platform- No wasted ink- Bookmark

To Finish,

If you are really in a hurry for that book… check out the Book Espresso machine.
They are becoming more common in book stores in the U.S. Walk in… order the book…
it gets printed while you wait…
Print can be almost as fast as buying an ebook.

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 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.

Pic; Flickr Creative Commons - Victor Navarro

Doing The Right Thing...

Over the last few days one of my friends has been having an interesting time with a National television programme. 

My friend is a Wild Foods blogger. She writes about and is interviewed for her expertise in harvesting and preparing wild food. The television programme in question was using her recipe in a cooking demonstration on the show and attributing them to their guest celebrities on the programmes website. Unfortunately they weren’t acknowledging her in any way or the other chefs whose recipes were taken and appropriated by the show.

If you post things on the internet you take the risk of having someone like it so much they use it and claim it as their own. This is plagiarism. For some scummy people it is fair game and the amount of website content that is stolen and repackaged as eBooks is frightening.  Be careful about the eBooks you buy. The best thing you can do on your websites is to say copyright on your content somewhere on the front page or to use a creative commons licence. A Creative Commons license means people can use your work (but not make money off it) so long as they attribute it to you. There are various licenses that you can use. Check out this cool video that tells you all about it.

My friend received a sort of an apology this morning from the TV show. What her friends were wondering on Face Book was How come the TV Network can have teams of lawyers looking out for any breach of copyright on their own behalf but can allow their programmes to not offer the same courtesy back. 

Acknowledgement takes only a moment and shows that you are a fair person and a responsible internet user.

Cory Doctorow has a great post on donations to creative people as a direct interface between reader and writer. He is documenting his self pubbed ebook, ‘With A Little Help,’ experiment through his blog and Publishers Weekly column. ‘Pay The Creator You Love’ is the catch phrase and Cory is all for it.

Bubblecow have a great post on Seven Publishing Companies who have embraced ebook and ebook marketing in creative ways. They are respecting their authors and the creative content.

Google have been rolling out their Google plus site. This is direct competition to Facebook. Greg Pincus checks out what Google has to offer for authors with Google plus. Lets be careful out there.

In the Craft Corner

I read a lot. It is called research. (hehehe) At tax time I get to count up all the books I have bought for research purposes and wince a little. I try to be careful in what I buy, after all I might be called upon to explain to the taxman why I claimed it on my tax return. Yesterday a package of books arrived for me from the wonderful Book Depository (they have free delivery and to NZ that is a Godsend.) In the pack was a book (which I can’t get here easily) by my favourite midgrade author Gordon Korman. Last night I devoured it and started it all over again today. Why am I telling you this? Gordon has a great handle on voice and first lines and I just happen to have links to great posts on these.

I was thirteen the first time I saw a police officer up close. He was arresting me for driving without a license. At the time, I didn't even know what a license was. I wasn't too clear on what being arrested meant either. Schooled by Gordon Korman

Check out First lines by The Writers Alley and Tips on Discovering Your Characters Voice from the wonderful Bookshelf Muse Team.

Cheryl Reif has a good post on Ten Ways To Craft A Sense Of Place

Over on Craicerplus (My Amplify Page) I have links to articles on

The Art Of Being Different- Justine Musk is an inspiration.

6 Ways To Improve Face Book Fan Pages

The 7 Ways To Improve Viral Videos

To Finish,

Tony Eldridge has posted a few gems on his blog this week. First he talks about the impact Dean Wesley Smiths Brilliant idea (which I have blogged about and if you haven’t read it Do So Now) has been on the marketing of his book and second he has a link to great freebies for authors to check out...

enjoy,

maureen

pic from here