The Thursday Vibe...

Today I was stopped twice by people who said to me ‘My friend has written a book and wants to know what they should do next....’

Is it because it is Thursday and subconsciously I am sending out vibes that say I need a topic for my blog today?

I don’t think I am, as I often have 8 - 10 links already to talk about when I sit down to put it all together.

Maybe I’m sending out a vibe on super busy Thursday that says ‘stop me rushing off to the next appointment and ask me a question about writing.’  

My answer both times was ‘Tell your friend that now you must research!’ The internet is full of great sites that can point you in the right direction and the library is full of great books on the craft of writing, so you can make sense of what you have created.

So in that spirit, here are a few places to look.

Jenn an Intern at the Elaine English Literary agency this week posted a great little article on synopsis which outlines what a good synopsis should have.

A synopsis can make or break your chances. After your query has been accepted, it is your first chance to make a good (or bad) first impression. You have to find a good balance between saying enough and not saying too much.

Mary Kole of Kidlit.com has a good article about knowing your category. This is good advice from an agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

For example, and this is from my own imagination, not a recent submission: what do I do with a 5,000 word fiction picture book about world politics? Or a 5,000 word middle grade about a baby puppy who goes on a naptime adventure? Or a 300,000 word YA starring a talking salmon? Maybe a 10,000 word YA about a character’s messy divorce?

If all of those examples weren’t immediately funny to you, you need this post. When I speak at conferences, I tell people all the time that booksellers will not build you your own shelf at their stores just because you want to do something different.

Tony Eldridge has a great article this week on his Marketing Tips for Authors Blog about off line marketing specifically teaming up with a fellow author to present workshops.

 I want to suggest a different approach. Why not team up with another local author and do a free "workshop" for writers and aspiring writers? Think of the benefits of presenting a joint presentation:

He outlines some useful ideas to help you think about how to structure the workshop and make it be of use to you. (As I am in the middle of planning some workshops for later in the year, this is very timely.)

Last week I linked to Jane Friedman’s article on Writer Unboxed which discussed blog content and how much unpublished work you should put on your blog. There has been lots of talk in the writers blogosphere about Jane Friedman and Chuck Sambuchino’s different points of view on this topic.

Jeannie Ruesch looks at both arguments, boils them down to their essential points, then she offers her opinion on the topic and some good ideas to mull over.

Their posts seem to have a slightly different focus on what “your work” qualifies as, in regards to this topic.  Sambuchino focuses on your fiction summary, your high concepts as most important to keep off the web.  But ultimately, the point that both make is to establish WHY you are putting your work–whatever it is– out there for the world to see.  What is your objective?

Jeannie is right - for your blog or your website you must have a plan.  The Illinois chapter of SCBWI has a great newsletter called Prairie Wind and their contributor Margo Dill looks at three very popular blogging writers and talks to them about their blogs and their styles.

In the big wide world this week.

The Wall St Journal reported Google’s announcement of its new e-book  service  which will be ready to roll in the next few months. And so it has begun, the dividing up of the digital publishing world, which I mentioned a couple of weeks ago.

Google says users will be able to buy digital copies of books they discover through its book-search service. It will also allow book retailers—even independent shops—to sell Google Editions on their own sites, giving partners the bulk of the revenue.

The company would have copies on its servers for works it strikes agreements to sell. 

Personanondata a publishing industry blog has taken a look at the e-publishing world of the Now and what may become the industry norm in The Future with it’s article entitled Content Farms....yes think of all the connotations... then read this article.

Demand Media’s approach is a “combination of science and art”, in the words of Steven Kydd, who is in charge of the firm’s content production. Clever software works out what internet users are interested in and how much advertising revenue a given topic can pull in. The results are sent to an army of 7,000 freelancers, each of whom must have a college degree, writing experience and a speciality. They artfully pen articles or produce video clips to fit headlines such as “How do I paint ceramic mugs?” and “Why am I so tired in winter?”

Over on Craicerplus (Just click the amplify button on the right) 

there are links to articles on...

The cost of quoting lyrics in your book

A great article on loading first impressions of characters

Twitter – a book addicts paradise

Parent problems in Young Adult Literature

What writers really mean...

7 Reasons Why Writers Need To Start Using Video For Book Promotion

Jodi Picoult - All she wants is respect!

I feel bed vibes...

maureen

Courage and the Writer....

How does a writer find the courage to keep going? 

That is the theme for this weeks post. Over the last week I have been thinking about the highs and lows of writing.

The lows. 

You look at some books that have been published and wonder how they got picked up and then you hear that the writer thinks ‘the work is wonderful and writing is easy and they’re going to publish another one of my stories.’ Meanwhile you struggle away researching, crafting strong plots and sentences, working hard on dialogue, submitting carefully, waiting for nine months... only to get a rejection.

The highs.

When the writing is flowing, the characters are real inside your head and you are just the medium to make them live. Your enthusiasm is high. Ideas are being bounced around your brain. Your writing buddies are just as inspired and the world is a sunny place.

Alan Rinzler has posted a superb article on How a writer can build up courage to keep going.

The most successful authors I know summon up enormous courage and fortitude when they begin to plow through the long process of writing and promoting a new book. It amazes me how they do it but as a developmental editor working closely with writers for more than 40 years, I’ve learned what helps sustain such a Herculean effort.

Alan shares 11 tips to sustain the writer.

Tania Roxborogh shared a fabulous video with Elizabeth Gilbert the author of Eat Pray Love talking about the courage to write another book after Eat Pray Love was such a run away success. She talks about genius and how in ancient times it was seen as an external force but in recent times genius has become internalised and so we suffer.

Over On the Other Side of the manuscript, Agent Nathan Bransford has a series on his popular blog about being an agent for a day. He is stretching the day out to a week.

On Thursday we discussed the query process and whether or not queries adequately reflect a underlying work's quality. Can someone really make an assessment of a book project based on a query? Really really? Let's test it out.

Nathan solicited one days worth of queries from his readers. 150 responses. He used a random aggregator and selected five query letters which he put up on his blog. The next day he posted the pages that went with the queries. Each day the readers are asked to vote which one they would select. This is an interesting exercise and gives you a feel for what makes a query stand out. (its still going so check in to see what makes the cut.)

Continuing on the other side. James Bridle of Publishing Perspectives has a thought provoking post on Publishers and How they can learn fearlessness.

In the Penguincubator we see several desires converge: affordable books, non-traditional distribution, awareness of context, and a quiet radicalism. And it’s not a huge leap of the imagination to see how these apply now. I see the same bored gaze on the bus and tube today, as people reflexively flip open their phones and start poking at email or casual games, as Allen Lane saw on the platform at Exeter in 1933. And slowly — oh, so slowly — publishers are seeing that what we are presented with is not the death of everything we trust, value and hold dear, but a similar widening vista of opportunity to that which arrived with the mass-market paperback.

And back we go to the writer and the writing life.

As I was researching something else I came across the teaching author site. This is a group of six authors who teach writing in schools and workshops to children. As a large part of being a writer for children includes school visits, this is a great resource. These writers have put together a great blog which markets themselves and have extended it into the classroom to market their writing workshops.

I think in the future we will see more groups of writers banding together to market themselves collectively. As I am finding out in our collective author writing project - get a group of authors together and the energy ideas and enthusiasm of a shared project gives you wings.

This kind of networking among authors can only lead to a more positive environment for the writing community. I have noticed in my short time on Facebook that writers are using it very much like office people use their coffee break. Jumping in through the day to contribute jokes, advice and encouragement or shared anguish...the highs and lows of being a writer.

I have also noticed the blog comments have dried up because they are all commenting on Facebook...ah well.

Now in a link back to last weeks post...

Pubrants a very popular agent blogger has a perspective on self publishing to do with ISBN numbers and The Great Jane has a great post on blogging your work- should you do it...

Over On My Amplify Page

I have a link to,

An article about John Grisham’s first book for children.

Cory Doctorow on e-rights on your work.

An article about YA authors tweeting advice to their younger selves (what would you say to your 15yr old self?)

Do aliens exist-if so will they kill us? - advice from Stephen Hawking.

A very costly typo in a Penguin cookbook.

And a link to a mind meld cap the Pentagon want to use...

Finally a little video with some Pitching advice...because I was asked by an august writers association to give them advice on running a workshop on it...because of my involvement in the Spinning Gold conference last year...funny how doing such things spark ideas for other people... 

maureen