Down The Rabbit Hole...

The Chinese Year Of The Rabbit is supposed to herald a period of tranquillity and calm. After the changes in the publishing world over the last two years we could all do with a bit of calm but I don’t think we are going to get it as the shaking up of the publishing industry continues.

It hasn’t been a year since the launch of the ipad and the explosion in the sales of ebooks. Publishers are very cagey about telling authors what their ebook sales are but just for your information, In the month of November 2010, the ebook sales, reported by the Association of American Publishers, were 14.5% higher than for the month of October and growth in ebook sales over the year (Nov09-Nov10) was 165% . This is a conservative estimate.

The implications of  readers moving to digital books have not been lost on Authors in the blogosphere. Getting an agent and getting a book deal is hard work, not for the faint hearted and with publishers insisting that authors must promote their books the Author is left looking hard at ebooks and self publishing. The books are cheaper to produce, there are no warehousing issues with POD and they are already promoting their work aren’t they?

The biggest hurdle to leap over is marketing. Who wants to spend all that precious writing time marketing? How can the reader find good books to read in the digital age, when a quick look on itunes shows more than 50,000 book apps available?( I’m probably missing a few zeros.)

Who will be the digital ebook reviewers we trust?

Who will help the new authors negotiate the quicksand of publishing in the now?

One person who has been doing a bit of thinking around this is Kristen Lamb. She has brainstormed a possible new publishing model that looks like a win/win from everyone’s perspective. Have a read and see what you think!

From the publishing marketing trenches to the how-do-I-just-get-on-the-ladder reality...Jody Hedlund posted an article on her blog last month about her agent receiving 10,000 queries in a year and accepting 0. Jody looks at what an author can do to change the numbers around.

If you are contemplating having a sales page on your website Victoria Mixon has got a great guest  post for you from Joanna Penn. These two blogging diva’s have swopped over and are guesting on each others blog.

For those looking for a bit of help before the hard grind of submitting your manuscript, here are three sites worth a good look.

Adventures in Children’s Publishing has a detailed presubmission checklist.

Writetodone with manuscript productivity tips

Bookendslitagency with an Agents perspective on revisions.

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

Extreme Book Design...blowtorches knives and spiders...

Is Speculative Fiction Poised To Break Into Literary Canon? (Guardian Article on the Man Booker.)

Rick Riorden’s experience with the effects of Ritalin on his family.

List of Most Commonly Used Cliches in YA (everyone’s checking their MS now)

6 Personality Types Who Will Fail As Writers. (laughing while you say ouch)

To finish, 

Alice Pope has a great list of SCBWI Winter conference roundups on her blog. Over 1100 people attended the winter conference in New York...that’s almost as many who attend the summer conference.

Justus Stone has written a detailed post about writing software and how they have changed his life.

Zoe Winters has the last word...(One of these characters could be a NZ Politician...)


enjoy,
maureen

Putting Your Best Foot Forward...

Don’t write to trends.

Midgrade needs humour

High Concept and Good Writing

Tell a Good ...Great...Amazing... Story.

These are only a few takeaways from the Editors and Agents at the SCBWI New York Conference held last weekend.Go on over to the official Team Blog and scroll back to the beginning...or dip in and out from the sidebar.

Publishers Weekly this week looked at What do Children’s Book Consumers Want...and How Digital Multimedia Is Changing Children’s Publishing.

After reading all the links above you will be a little shell shocked and wondering where you fit in the fast changing world of Children’s Publishing. Take Heart. Overall the feeling out there is one of cautious optimism. Children’s publishing hasn’t taken the hit that the rest of the publishing world did.

Everybody is still looking for a great story... You just have to write it.

There are more opportunities to share your writing than before. Self publishing, ebooks, blogs, podcasting...all these are becoming easier to use to reach an audience. Many writers are getting together to share experiences and pool their resources in group blogs, ebooks and publishing companies.... They are sharing their stories, leading the way and breaking new ground.

But the day of the author recluse is over. The word out there is that the author must engage with their audience.

To help you with this The Mixed Up Files group of Midgrade Authors have put together a great resource on tips for school visits-Thinking Outside The Box.

Andrew Pyper has listed  the Do’s and Don’ts Of Public Readings and Janice Hardy has written a thoughtful post on Blog Tours...That’s when you go on a tour to other author blogs to promote your book/work from the comfort of your own office.

Of course you will have a website....and here you need to be looking at the best use you can make of this resource...because it is a resource for you and your audience. Kids want to find out about you and your work and what your favourite cereal is. You want to tell them about the cool stuff you write and why you have an addiction to milk bottle lollies...Potential publishers are researching you too as they build a strong case to overcome the number crunchers into taking a chance on you.

Irene Watson has written a great article for authors on sellingbooks.com about using your website stats.

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

40 Creative Manipulations To Feast Your Eyes

Is Writing The Cause or the Cure For Anxiety-The New Yorker

Extreme Book Design...And You Thought They Used Photoshop.

Katie Weiland has guest posted on Victoria Mixons blog about 5 Writing Rules You Can Break. This could be useful information as you write that High Concept Amazing Story.

Spare a thought for those in the prolific author category. Rachelle Gardner has outlined how life can be difficult when you have too many finished projects.

And for an alternative view...Chuck Wendig has launched a mortar at badly self published books. Eye wateringly funny....but warning....it is full of ‘content.’ (I did warn you!)

enjoy,

maureen


pic is from clown ministry