Getting Creative

 

This week in publishing news…

Publishing Perspectives reports on Penguin Random House India’s moves into the European market. Take one branch of a worldwide company… add a big distributor … Stir… and bake a new revenue stream.

 

This week I attended a virtual awards ceremony for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. It was an odd experience as groups of us gathered around the country to watch a semi-live streaming event and cheer on our colleagues and winners. There was a tremendous outpouring of love for our finalists online throughout the week. It was bittersweet to not be there in person. Kate Reed Perry wrote a recent article on how virtual book events need to change to bring in some magic. Let’s get creative with our events.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors (Alli) has pulled together a big post on Lockdown lessons for authors. With countries tentatively making a break from lockdown authors share what they learned and how they would do things differently. 

 

How much does the rest of the world know about the Asia Pacific publishing region? Mark Williams from TNPS has a roundup for Alli- Did you know that 50% of the people online in the world are in this region? What devices do they read on? Who caters to them? How do you reach 886 million online readers?

 

Have you been looking at your writing software and wondering whether you are missing something crucial? Author Media has a round-up of the writing software authors are using in 2020. Tech Crunch reports a new kid on the block aimed at creatives. Circle brings all your community engagement, courses, extra creator content into one space. Put together by the team behind Teachable.

 

How often have you seen a movie based on a book and wondered what happened?  There was a Twitter storm when the first pictures of BBC America’s The Watch, based on Terry Pratchett’s beloved books, were released this week. Not what the fans wanted at all.  Kris Rusch continues her look at licensing Intellectual Property and how they are working with a games company to take her books and characters into the gaming space. How much control should an author have over the product? Is it like films?

 

Rachel Thompson has an interesting article about self-publishing now and how authors have to understand all the ramifications of choosing this way of publishing. 

 

In The Craft Section,

How to write, and what not to write about the family, in your memoir- Sharon Harrigan- Bookmark

2 great posts from Angela and Becca- 6 tricks to layer on the stakes and Conflict thesaurus- Losing one’s temper- Bookmark Both

Begin at the beginning – or maybe not – Barbara Linn Probst

The trials and tribulations of DIY audiobooks- I popped this into craft because it has audio craft tips.- Andrene Low

 

In The Marketing Section,

Social media might not mean what you think it means-Sadie Hartmann- Bookmark

Book Cover redesigns- Alexander von Ness

A deep look at reader guides- P H Solomon- Bookmark

7 Book Marketing mistakes authors make- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

4 top book formatting mistakes to avoid- The Book Designer

 

To Finish,

We were doing so well… and then, as a friend said, Covid bit us on the butt again.  New Zealand goes back into lockdown. So to all those writers stuck back at home with the kids and the spouse and the pets and the mayhem… Here is the hacks guide to writing while the kids are at home.

 

Stay Safe. Be Kind. (Let’s rock those masks…)

 

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- Curran Kelleher Venice Mask

 

Using Other People's Words

In Publishing News this week…

Spare a thought for the Australian women who, with the best intentions, decided that picture books celebrating famous Rap artists and using their lyrics as examples was a good thing. The Guardian explains that Jay Z is not amused.

This week Keynotes from the Future Book conference have been talked about in Publishing Perspectives. Alex Fane explained how staging spoken word events with famous authors are now becoming big business. He is the guy behind all the advertising for Margaret Atwood’s series of talks here early next year. Is this the way of the future for author events? I’m wondering how the conference organisers feel.

Future Book also had a session on audio books. I found the statistics reported of how many and who listened to audio books startling. I never would have guessed 3 out of 4 young men listened to an audio book. Interesting news for publishers who have never looked at this brand demographic and thought that’s where the readers are…

Earlier this month Writer Beware had an interesting story about one of the richest short story prizes on the planet and the rights grab inside of it. I was shocked when I read it. I guess I thought The Times would have been above all that… 

Ruth Harris has a great blog post on the publishing rollercoaster. Are we prepared for failure because it will happen and what about all those good times. 

Kris Rusch has been busy speaking at conferences. She talked about the pursuit of perfection and how the road to finding your best work is long and slow. You are in it for the long haul aren’t you? Are you like Beyonce and constantly raising the bar?

Did you know that writers can lose their fingerprints…. The implications for thriller plots abound. Of course it was a thriller writer who discovered this. Sue Coletta talks about it on The Kilzone Blog.

What are the necessary evils to a novelists life? Writer Unboxed guest Jael McHenry came up with two that sparks fear in every heart. Hat tip if you guess them! 

In The Craft Section,

Weaving Story Threads together – Rosie- Danan- Bookmark

Crime writing tips- Books by Women

How to Ground and Hook your Readers- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

How to outline a non-fiction book that readers can’t put down- Joshua Lisec- Bookmark

How to tell if you are writing in deep point of view- Lisa Hall Wilson- Bookmark

4 steps for perfecting one page and long form synopsis-Writer Digest

In The Marketing Section,

5 ways to sell more books in 2020- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Survival Guide to Facebook for authors- Debbie Emmitt- Bookmark

How and Why to Market Yourself- DIYMFA

Book Promotion for the Holidays – Written Word Media - Bookmark

How to make and animated book cover- Positive Writer

To Finish

I think of Terry Pratchett every day and regret the fact that there will be no more great satire from his pen. It’s easy to do when you wander through my house and stumble over a Pratchett book in a pile or put down somewhere odd because the reader was interrupted. They never rest for long collected on a bookshelf. So reading this article on Terry’s writing advice felt like visiting again with a master storyteller.

The Librarian would be pleased. OOOK 

Maureen 

@craicer

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? Coming Soon to an inbox near you.

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.

Living Virtually

Last week I had to come to terms with the fact that writers are mortal, that the world you loved to visit in a new book by a favourite author would be forever frozen. There would be no more adventures in Discworld. I enjoy Fantasy and SciFi or as they are increasingly being called SPECulative FICtion.* When you have read every children’s book in your rural town library by the time you are 11 then the only thing left is adult books (boring) or wild imaginary stories set in far away places. I didn’t come to Discworld until my 30’s when I discovered he wrote Satire... and I was hooked. So I thank Sir Terry Pratchett for the immense pleasure and laugh out loud funny lines and his headology – the gentle wry take on the human condition. The Guardian has a wonderful tribute article on Terry’s legacy and there is a nice bit of news about the last Discworld book.

If writer’s for adults know that it is challenging to independently publish a book then children’s writers know the hoops that you jump through are ten times more challenging. We are always on the lookout to find outliers who have taken the plunge to find out what works and what doesn’t. Jane Friedman has an article that looks like the definitive 101 guide to self publishing achildren’s book.

Jane is also conducting the Author Say survey and Phillip Jones of The Bookseller takes a close look at the midway results on what authors are saying about traditional /indie support and attitudes. It is a great snapshot with some surprising twists.

Some projects will fit better in different forms of publishing. Janice Hardy examines the Pro’s and Con’s of Traditional vs Indie for a good project fit.

This week there was a rumpus on Twitter responding to an essay challenging people to read books by everybody other than straight white males for a year.

The trolls were out ready to march on Koom Valley again when Neil Gaiman pointed out the author had a valid point.

The enemy isn’t men, or women, it’s bloody stupid people and nobody has the right to be stupid. Monstrous Regiment - Terry Pratchett

In the Craft Section,

Angela Ackerman has two posts that are her usual nuggets of excellence, tips when writing multiple POV’s in your novel and using the excellent Emotion Thesaurus to help you find mirror midpoints in the middle of your novel.

3 questions to ask when you start cutting your manuscript.

The role of desire in your plot... You had better be having some or the reader will disengage. (bookmark)

One important thing writers forget to do...

Two great posts from the Killzone blog - Crafting subplots and How to write a Young Adult novel.

K M Weiland has wowed everybody again with a story structure database... Drop in and check out all the books and movies she has analysed for structure. You will learn so much. (bookmark)

It’s still magic even if you know how it’s done. A Hat Full of Sky- Terry Pratchett

In the Marketing Section,

How to build a website in one hour.

How to translate your book.

How to polish your writer brand.

How to use an email list.

8 ways writers can be more reader friendly.

Jane Friedman interviews a group of literary authors about how they put a box set together of their self published work.

There is a new kid on the block in terms of marketing and it looks really interesting. Thunderclap. If you harnessed all those people who would come to your book launch from all around the world in one place at one time...

Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual.  Jingo - Terry Pratchett

Website of the Week

Anne R Allen has a great blog of tips and advice. Here she has the definitive guide for writers on how NOT to sell books. Spend some time on her blog trawling around she has lots of great stuff.

Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than to curse the darkness. Men At Arms - Terry Pratchett

To Finish,

Our National Conference committee is tying down some great stuff for conference and around conference... yes we are going to make you work... but it will be amazing... promise.

In the mean time you can virtually attend Indie ReCon which is going to be bigger than before. The Indie Recon conference is a free online conference that is just packed full of awesomeness. This years program had me seriously thinking about running away from home to a motel for 3 days by myself so I could attend virtually every one of the sessions. (If the motel was in London I could also join the meet up day.) I am also pleased to find how many themes in Indie Recon are similar to what we have planned for Tinderbox in October.  We will be meeting in real time, (with wine) and having a great collaborative working time.

*Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one. - Terry Pratchett

Maureen

@craicer

PIC The Master Storyteller who will live on virtually… and isn't that just the best tribute….R.I.P.

Spring into Marketing

Ahhh Spring!

The moment when the sun breaks through the clouds and warms your back and then disappears behind rain clouds for another three weeks.

The optimistic scheduling of road works which rely on good weather...reality huge mud holes that last for two weeks causing a hazard before it is dry enough to resume work...

The gentle spring winds...gale force with a wind chill factor of 5.

Spring has great P R.

In the blogosphere there is a marketing focus this week as Amazon Kindle Serials get discussed by authors...is it worth it? Passive Guy takes a look and then the commenter’s weigh in.

Jane Friedman takes Stephen Kings popular rules on writing and changes them to marketing.

Jody Hedlund asks when should a writer stop promoting their book.

In the big picture look at the publishing world, Idealog previews what are going to be the hot topics at Frankfurt Publishers Launch conference. Among the innovators speaking will be Charlie Redmayne of Pottermore...They are keen to help any other world building author do a Pottermore....

J S McDougal is looking at publishers, their fear of piracy and DRM and how it is all tied up with disruptive technologies and the release of bright shiny hardware...MP3 and the iPod, eBook and the kindle...

Joanna Penn is using her Kindle to edit her book for print...a whole nother way to use this tech...Different formats highlight different line edits to be made...just when you thought it was all over after you published...

How much do you know about Foreign Rights? A foreign Rights agent talks about exactly what she does. It will open your eyes!

Writers Digest has 5 ways writers can get the most out of Goodreads ...one of them is to read...

Alexis Grant has a helpful post on how to master Twitter...be a power user....some interesting tips in there.

There is a collection of great craft links.

Kristen Lamb on exploring writing about a character’s inner and outer demons using Black Swan as the example.

Alan Rinzler explaining what it means when an editor or agents says it lacks emotional glue...and how to fix it.

Ava Jae on how to use brainstorming effectively when it is time to edit...(yes you did read that right.)

L B Gale has another interesting post up on what Romance Writers can teach Sci Fi Writers....actually what Romance Writers can teach anybody really.

Carol Riggs talks about feedback feeding into your story....a great guest blog on Janice Hardy’s brilliant writer’s craft blog.

The seven rules of picking character names...and I thought it was open baby name book, close eyes, stab with pin....

To finish, 

Alan Rinzlers post on Book Marketing with 3 experts has been getting another airing around the blogosphere this week. I blogged it in April but check it out again as we are on a marketing focus today.

Terry Pratchett has a new book coming out and it is a Young Adult book...Here is Sir Terry attempting to market it.... ( you will smile...)

maureen

pic from

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rumpleteaser/127509131/