Craic-er: sean platt

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Thursday, April 2, 2020

Fighting On

As the world struggles to deal with the pandemic, the publishing world is also struggling to survive in rapidly changing times. Like the musicians of the Titanic who bravely played jaunty tunes as the ship was sinking underneath them, so the publishing world is putting on a brave face while the ground rocks under their feet. We can have book fairs online said Bologna.

Around the world, publishers and booksellers are fighting to keep going. In Italy, the first of the European countries to really grapple with the pandemic, the cultural industry federation has called on their government to see their industry as essential. Preserving and supporting Italian culture and heritage is vital in this time they say so that something remains on the other side of the pandemic.

Today, here in New Zealand, we learned that all of our major magazines have been terminated effective immediately because of the lack of advertising. That is nearly three hundred journalists out of work not to mention art editors, designers, photographers, printers, distributors etc. The flow-on effects are huge and also the potential loss of cultural and historical print institutions.

Meanwhile, Amazon, the everything store, has slowed down their delivery of what they see as non-essential. Books apparently fit in this category. If they aren’t supporting us surely they could waive their fees – the publishers cry.

There are many calls to shop indie to keep the independent booksellers alive. Many of them have ramped up their online web stores and have become creative in how they deliver locally. When you are stuck inside with the kids a dedicated book store can still get your reading books, puzzles and colouring books to you. Many bookstores are resorting to GoFundMe campaigns to stay viable.

In times of crisis, people turn to comfort foods and occupations, binge-watching movies, TV, online gaming and reading books, all created by storytellers in different mediums. We are an essential industry. However, there seems to be a gap in the understanding of the average person that the storytellers need to be paid for their work. This is their livelihood.
Recently, the Internet Archive in the U S made their collection of IN COPYRIGHT books freely available and downloadable. (Who needs pirates when institutions do this.) This directly tramples all over the writer's income. The Authors Guild have sent an open letter of protest.

Many authors have been attacked online for NOT supporting the free downloads of their work. In the culture of free content, the creator gets nothing. This is not sustainable.

The creator works for free only in certain circumstances- when they can afford it. Hopefully, the W.H.O. call to creatives to help in the Covid 19 response will also generate some paying work.

While we are in lockdown and staring down the barrel of a great recession Nathan Bransford decided to interview Mike Shatzkin about how he sees the publishing world on the other side. The pandemic will cause an acceleration of consolidation and the rivals to Amazon will start to move. Fascinating ideas here.

Kris Rusch brings her calm good sense to the fore in her most recent blog. Many of us have been feeling creatively lost, struggling to get the words out and wondering how to be creative in the face of such uncertainty. Kris says this is a normal reaction and offers some great advice for getting through the tough times. Chuck Wendig also has thoughtful advice on how to cope with creativity in this time.

Sharon Bially writes that there is a silver lining in not being able to have your book launch in an article on Writer Unboxed. Here is a great opportunity to have two book launches… the online one now and when everything gets back to normal, the real-life one. Check out her ideas for making the most of the extended promotion of your book.

In The Craft Section,

Why great writers steal- Sean Platt

How to set tone and mood- Janice Hardy – Bookmark

How to rescue an endangered book- Ruth Harris- Bookmark

Character internalization- Jami Gold-Bookmark

500 writing prompts- Written Word Media

Write tight- James Scott Bell- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

7 expert tricks for author newsletters- David Gaughran- Bookmark

How to market a book when living a quarantined life- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Book marketing during Covid 19- Judith Briles- Bookmark

Book Promotion in the time of Coronavirus- Fauzia Burke- Bookmark

Book Marketing and Covid 19-Frances Caballo- Bookmark

To Finish,

For some people, this will be a time when they commit to writing down the book they have always wanted to write. Writer Guru Jerry Jenkins has pulled together a comprehensive post on how to write a book.

For the rest of us…

Chin up- We can get through this.

Maureen

@craicer

(Day 7 LD)

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Thursday, February 13, 2020

How To Take Care Of Your Writer

This week the fallout continued with The Romance Writers Association of America. Things have gone from bad to worse in just a week with the current board resigning yesterday and calling for elections for an interim board. Many writers have resigned their memberships and many chapters have also tried to distance themselves from the ongoing mess.

With the high level of angst, anger and frustration around Romance land it’s time to look at writer self-care. Do you make time for yourself and incorporate it in your writing routine?

Shelley Wilson has a great article on understanding what writer self-care looks like and building it into your writing day.

Yesterday I saw a plea from an experienced writer who was asked to comment on a contract. The writer ended up spelling out what the contract was asking for.

The term of the contract was the term of the copyright of the book, which (in NZ) is the life of the author plus fifty years. Don’t do that. Give the publisher first printing rights in English in North America, or limit the terms to something reasonable like five years not the rest of your life plus fifty years.

The contract gave the publisher first option on any future books by the author. Seriously. Do you want to go back to that publishing company every time you write or are thinking of writing another book to see if they want to publish it?

The contract was not just for first printing rights, but for all derivative rights. Everything. Not just ebook. All languages, all countries, all formats including print, ebook, audiobook, film rights, everything. Another paragraph said that he basically didn’t get any say in what other editions were prepared- additional printing, book club edition, library edition, abridgements, adaptations, etc.

The author was expected to provide contact info for famous people who would give blurbs, provide cover images, have the manuscript professionally proved before submission, etc.

Contracts are negotiable. Many writers are so happy to get one they never think about what they are signing. Kris Rusch pointed out in this week’s business post the problem of an IP holder going back over their assets and making an anthology audio book, twenty years later, without looking at the contracts of the anthology contributors.- Would writers even know that they were owed money?

This week Jami Gold wrote about reading recently published books in your genre. Are you doing this as part of your research? It sparked a lively discussion on her FB page. How recent is recent asked one person… I have seen agents say (this week) comp books must be under two years old. You should keep an eye on what is getting published in your genre just so you know what is being overdone.

Jonny B Truant and Sean Platt are the mouths of Sterling and Stone an indie powerhouse story studio. Recently they were interviewed by Forbes Magazine about their writing model. Take 15 writers and 150 books… This is another twist on the collaboration model.

Have you come across the ten commandments of writing? This is a nice mantra to share around your writing groups.