Voting with Your Feet

  

In Publishing News this week,

Harper Collins employees go out on strike. They are asking for writers to support them by not submitting anything unless it's contractual. Will other publishing firms follow suit? Publishers Weekly breaks down the issues and how HC is also facing a financial downturn.

 

Spotify is having a stoush with Apple over not making their audiobooks available to buy on the IOS app. Did Spotify really think Apple would sell their competitor's books?

 

Publishers Weekly has a long-form article on publishing houses started by women and why they are different and successful.

 

Richard Charkin of Publishing Perspectives has updated his A-Z of publishing terms. Some of it is tongue in cheek and some is biting commentary on the state of the publishing world in the UK.

 

Kristine Rusch writes about the blame game in her How Writers Fail series. She also has some pithy commentary on the revelations from the S&S /PRH court case.

 

While you are wondering about the real sales numbers being admitted to by publishing execs… Jordan Pruett has a deep dive article into the workings of The New York Times Bestseller list.

 

Joanna Penn has a great interview on using tropes to strengthen your fiction with Jennifer Hilt, the author of The Trope Thesaurus-(My copy got snaffled by my daughter- I must get it back!) Read the transcript or listen to the podcast for some great ideas.

 

A M Cal from The Writing Cooperative has an interesting post on Embracing your bad ideas.

No idea you have spent time writing on is bad… maybe it’s time is not now.

 

In The Craft Section,

8 easy writing goals to accomplish before the end of the year.- Colleen Story- Bookmark

How to handle critique feedback- Suzanna Henshon

Making background characters pop out- September Fawkes- Bookmark

The craft of award winning microfiction- Amber Byers

How to free yourself from endless revision- Audrey Kalman- Bookmark

Conflict and Choices give agency to your characters- Becca Puglisi

 

In The Marketing Section,

Build an author website- Reedsy- Bookmark

5 tips to balance Book Marketing with writing- Colleen Story

Improve your publishing and marketing plan- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Choosing author targets in Bookbub- Bookbub Insights

How to use social media effectively- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Many writers and publishing professionals hang out on Twitter. There is something about the quick-fire pithy quote that appeals to us all. From MSWL’s from agents and editors to Pomodoro writing sprints or just writing gossip. 

At the moment there is a big exodus happening from Twitter due to a billionaire takeover which has rapidly changed the website. Many authors are heading over to Mastodon which is a decentralized site.  Anna Featherstone has a great rundown on what is going on, advice about how to navigate the two sites, and why you shouldn’t delete your Twitter account. 

Mastodon has servers dedicated to the writing community. You can still follow all your old friends and make some new ones.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Apologies if you are waiting for my monthly newsletter. The website is not playing nicely with me. I hope to sort out the problem this week. You can still subscribe or shout me a coffee as I go into newsletter battle.

I appreciate all virtual coffee love. 

Thanks.

 

Pic: Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

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

The Revolving Door of Publishing

Writers & Illustrators: All the networking/promo in the world can’t help unless you get your book FINISHED first. pic.twitter.com/XeliPtgAHG

— Debbie Ridpath Ohi (@inkyelbows) August 25, 2015

This week the hot topic around Twitter was that self published sleep book for kids written by a sleep psychologist which raced to number one on Amazon and is now in a 7 figure publishing deal. Hugh Howey looks at all the changes in publishing in this story.

Germany announced this week that they are scrapping DRM on Ebooks. Predictions that the English language will be next could be far fetched. Mike Shatzkin looks at DRM free implications and reading books on phones. Surveys just out say the number is up to 1 in 7 people mainly reading on their phone but which apps are the best for this.

Writer Beware reports that the Author Solutions case has been dismissed as they settled out of court... that’s one class action down... (PRH has deep pockets...)

Can data dictate publishing decisions? That’s the topic for Futurechat this week. With data being mined by Kindle Unlimited who know exactly when a reader stops reading to phone companies who know where and when a reader is reading.... What are the implications for publishers?

Anne R Allen looks at author blogs. How can you do better?

Writer Unboxed revisits the ten things not to say to a writer in light of some dubious comments being said to writers very recently.

Larry Brooks is writing for the Killzone blog and he has a few wise words to say about authors letting rip on their manuscripts before they have learned some fundamentals of the craft... (for a less measured approach see Chucks rant.)

Christina Katz has a post looking at 10 things happy productive writers do that they don’t need to.

Author Chronicles takes issue with those annoying pop up adds.

In the Craft Section,

Perfect opening lines- from TOR

How believable themes build believable plots

How to describe people (Great post)

7 tips for proof reading your book

Chuck has a no holds barred post on rookie mistakes that new writers make. (You may never look at dialogue tags the same way again.)

Janice Hardy has two guest writers writing some great posts. 
Bonnie Randall on killing your darlings unless you can give them goals and Amy Christine Parker on writing outside of your comfort zone. (Bookmark)

In the Marketing Section,

11 ways to promote your book with images

Query Letters- What agents love and loathe

Four podcasts every self publisher should be listening to

Selling digital products and services - Jane Friedman

Building an author website – Joanna Penn

How and where to obtain book reviews – James Rose

How to use Twitter to find Book Reviewers- Ricardo Fayet (Bookmark)

To Finish,

The Queen’s bookstore in London has turned hand selling into a high end art and a global enterprise... so now they are mixing it up by having a bookseller in Asia. Yes... I mean A Bookseller NOT A Bookstore...

Just when you think you know what is coming next in publishing...

maureen
@craicer
Pic from Inkyelbows… Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Hashing Around

"I noticed a spelling mistake on P.205, paragraph 3. I felt I had to write to you to point that out" #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter

— Aisling McDermott (@aismcdermott) July 28, 2015

Have you written anything I've heard of? #ThingsNotToSayToAWriter

— Chad Grayson (@chadgrayson) July 28, 2015

You should do something like Twilight, that was really popular!! #ThingsNotToSayToAWriter

— SarahCadence (@elsagrabthesalt) July 28, 2015

Social Media can be an addicting drug to writers. You are trapped in your home office (or laundry) your MS is not doing what you want (constant daily struggle) and you go the writers water cooler for a few minutes on Social Media and down the hole of addiction you go.

But its fun! This week I have been giggling at the hashtags on Twitter.  #tenthingsnottosatoawriter 
It got so much notice, newspapers were writing articles about it.

While writers are struggling with the things people say... they are also in business. This week Angie Hodapp of The Nelson Agency talked about royalty statements and how often they are chasing money that is owed contractually to the writers... its all in the percentages.

Kris Rusch has been musing on promotions... how she hates them and how they are necessary to a writers business  and then she realised that there was another way to look at them.

Mike Shatzin (publishing futurist) has taken a long look at the tweaks Amazon are doing this week including adding notifications of new books for readers to Amazon author pages. He comments that publishers need to sharpen up their A game. As usual whenever he mentions Amazon the comments pile up.

The Bookseller reports on Ender’s Analysis of the future ofthe book trade. If you thought publishing had been disrupted enough with eBooks it is only the beginning of the change. The high street bookseller remains critical to discovery...

A great use of hashtags is #MSWL Porter Anderson interviewsthe team who maintain the MSWL website and run the very popular MS Wish Listdays. Agents and editors use this to let everyone know what they are looking for. Always interesting reading.

In the Craft Section,

How to write a likeable protagonist- K M Weiland

How you should be hacking your readers brain – C S Lakin

Inciting incidents - how to start with a bang

How not to get sued when writing about real people-LitReactor

10 writing mistakes that kill your first chapter- Marcy Kennedy

Speech tags- (are evil) -James R Tuck

Query Tracker – Best writing advice

Shawn Coyne and The Story Grid- Joanna Penn

In the Marketing Section,

10 tweets you should never send.- Molly Greene

Direct sales venues for authors

Why podcasting interviews are essential- Bookbaby

11 must haves on your author website

Print and broadcast media case study for book promotion.

Negotiating contracts- Susan Spann

Website of the Week

Take a look at LitReactor They have interesting online writing magazine with columns on all sorts of topics.  This weeks great articles, The Art of the Pitch and Synopsis and Writing Productivity Tips.

To Finish,

This hashtag conversation had me snorting my coffee. If you have ever read regency romances or researched the regency time period you will love these clickbait articles that might have been found in a lifestyle magazine for men.

Maureen
@craicer

How to Rescue a Fully-Dressed Woman from a River, Lake, or Pond: Just trust us, you'll need this article. #regencymensfitness

— Tessa Dare (@TessaDare) July 30, 2015

The ABC Fitness Plan: Almack's, Brandy, Courtesans #regencymensfitness

— Zoe Archer (@Zoe_Archer) July 30, 2015

Deals and Demigods

This week around the publishing blogosphere the news was all Simon and Schuster. While Hachette and Amazon are still embroiled in their contract war, Simon and Schuster quietly went about negotiating new contract terms with Amazon. And everyone wants to know just what those contract terms are.... Hugh Howey has a pretty good idea... it is probably very close to what the Indie authors are getting.

Hugh has been busy this week. His latest quarterly report Author Earnings is out. And it is the first one that looks at the impact of Kindle Unlimited on author income. Porter Anderson has a very detailed look at what Hugh found out. Subscription models look here to stay and authors need to keep a weather eye on their impact.

Australian Author Patty Jansen has been looking at her Indie income with a fine toothcomb. A very interesting analysis.

Articles about the Frankfurt Book Fair are still coming out. Reedsy has one looking at a panel discussion on when publishers get it right... with sales and content. Great read!

In our neck of the woods Walker seems to be going through a tough time. A long time popular editor has been let go and some Picture Book contracts have been cancelled. This is devastating news to the authors concerned as the illustrations were nearly finished. Picture Books can be anywhere from 18 months to four years in production and to pull them at such a late stage in the process sends alarm bells. Time to pore over those contracts... with a lawyer.

The huge success of the Percy Jackson series has the New Yorker looking hard at the quality of the books children choose to read. They draw on Neil Gaiman’s famous address which was in the “Just–so-long-as-they-are–reading” camp and contrast it with Tim Parks essay on reading habits where he suggests there is little evidence of reading upwards from Pulp to Proust. Having a Percy Jackson fan in my house I was treated to a diatribe this week about the important characters in the Greek demigod world. I don’t have a problem with that at all. Where else is the average Kiwi kid going to find out about thirty centuries old myth and legends?

In the news this week Disney has turned its sights on the South Pacific and their newest ‘Princess’ movie is in the works. Moana... ably supported by the demigod Maui. (Please Disney, don’t make it a white bread yawn!) Taika Waititi has written the original screenplay.

In the Craft Section,

Janice Hardy on finding the right rhythm and voice to nail your beginning.

Now Novel on Unreliable vs Omniscient narrators

How to get around using Trademark in novels from a Trademark lawyer. This is a Must Read post!

K M Weiland on the difference between Story Concept and Story Premise.

Quality not quantity in your writing.

In the Marketing Section,

Elisabeth S Craig looks at making your content work hard

Julie Muesil has a list of podcasts that are required viewing/listening. In the list are two people whom I have referred to before, Joanna Penn and Sean Platt. This week Joanna interviewed Sean so it’s a two for one deal in excellence!

Book Marketing tips for eBooks.

K M Wieland has a guest post on Book Cover design.

Matt Wallace has a comprehensive post on selling books from your own website.

The best ways to use Twitter lists

Tips on monetizing websites.

Using Book Trailers to promote your work.

To Finish,

NaNoWriMo is almost upon us... so Janice Hardy revisits her prep list for this event.

Every year Scrivener writing software do a free trial for the month… Go here to find out about it.

The Book Designer has a wonderful bundle discount on book interior designs. Well worth a visit and to grab an absolute bargain!

Huge Congratulations to Jack Lasenby who is receiving a Prime Ministers Award for literature tonight. Jack is one of New Zealand's finest writers for children. I am lucky to be attending this event… where we celebrate NZ demigods of literature.

Unleash your Demigod!

Maureen

Pic from The Disney press release

Sharing The News

Today my Twitter and Facebook feeds went a little nuts with the announcement from Amazon that they have a cool new publishing tool for kids writers.

The first comment I saw on Twitter was from Laura Hazard Owen. 

KDP Kids = Get ready to see some really, really bad art
— Laura Hazard Owen (@laurahazardowen) September 3, 2014

I took a look at what they were offering and thought hmm 650MB not a big file and what about the illustrators? Amazon does not do Royalty splits. Yet.

Recently Hugh Howey wrote a list of Stuff I Want To Know where he calls out to Amazon for answers.  Bundling and royalty splits were on the list.

Also getting comments on Twitter, Mike Shatskin's article on Author Branding and Marketing, are the authors responsible or the publishers?

Book Apps seem to be a hot topic with a comprehensive How To Use Authorly at The BookDesigner site.

HarperCollins UK has put a stake in the ground and is selling ebooks from its own website. This has raised eyebrows for ‘why has it taken them so long...’ and is a direct nose thumb to the ZON. Among the comments is this little gem where HC state that their authors will get a much higher royalty from them than Amazon.

Jim Hines is a funny writer for kids but his two articles this week deal with serious topics. The first, Writer Despair, had a host of writers nodding their heads. The second on the outrage he feels for the justifications used by idiots that viewed hacked pictures this week. This rant is one of the most succinct call outs I have read. Brilliant.

On the subject of call outs... A serial plagiarist has been caught out. This is a sobering read and a timely one. It was so easy for her to do this... Be Warned!

And on that subject Porter Anderson has been examining Author Ethics. Jane Steen has proposed 8 ethics for self published writers... but may be they need to be taken further.

In the Craft Section,

Joanna Penn interviews that Snowflake guy

6 vital questions to ask your first readers

21 writing tips from the greats

Using  method acting to increase drama

Janice Hardy on fixing episodic fiction

Larry Brooks on the 6 epiphanies that great writers have

James Scott Bell on avoiding the tar pits of fiction

Becca Puglisi on writing the page turning novel

The Plot Whisperer has a tip for that sagging middle

In the Marketing Section,

Joanna Penn has gathered all her translations advice into ahandy list

Scott Carter has a great post on Using Free Effectively

Writer Collaborations… a few tips.

Susan Kaye Quinn on using the new Amazon preorder buttons effectively. Great post!

To Finish,

I use Twitter for research... it is a very good tool. Editors occasionally play the #MSWL game where they post on Twitter what they would like to see. Today was one of those days. It is always interesting (just put #MSWL in the Twitter search bar) and now there is a nifty website to go with it. 

Chuck has a note of caution to writers who blindly try to follow the trends - don’t write what they want, Chuck exhorts, Write What You Love!

maureen