Learning to Play With New Toys

This week has been one of huge technological change in our house. My camera failed during my column assignment and I had to get a new one, learn how to use it and reshoot the subjects in a very short space of time.

In this disposable age the shelf life of some technology is over before you take it out of the box so it pays to do as much research as you can and buy the best you can for the long haul. Our old camera had done a great job and was pretty nifty when we bought it six years ago…and we borrowed money to buy it. The camera’s available today almost make you a coffee as well…and all manuals are online…this is tricky if you are also learning to use a new computer. Talk about a steep learning curve with a three hour deadline.

The new computer was essential as the old one had the screen constantly failing and the keyboard wearing out. (Oh joy…) Researching for big buys are essential and also giving yourself time to learn to navigate the new toys...it really saves on stress.

This week there has been stress bouncing around the blogosphere as authors get a good look at the Amazon lending programme and don’t like what they see.

We all like to support libraries but Amazon may have taken this a bit far with their one buy, lend 1000 times, no due back date, model…the authors miss out on revenue and it is their livelihood.

Independent authors have been called names and traditional path authors have been pointing fingers, sometimes in rude ways.

This diatribe, which I won’t link to, caused a lot of anger in the indie author community. It follows on from a conversation I linked to last week about when to successfully go it alone as a self pubbed author. Bob Mayer has an excellent response to the diatribe and I urge you to read the comments to get the fuller picture.   

The Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators have taken issue with the publishing industry in an open letter addressing the response length of time. This issue is dear to my heart as I have been caught by publishers hanging on to my manuscript for up to a year and then sending it back with a positive rejection. Unfortunately with one particular manuscript it has happened five times…It’s a great story, we nearly published it…Ah well I’ll publish it myself and move on!

The Book Designer recently addressed a conference about how to take the self publishing route and has posted some of his slides up in a helpful bite sized way.

Jane Friedman has a new feature on her popular blog…Ask Jane. First up a brilliant article on how to spend money wisely on book promotion. Frankly following Jane is the best move you could make!

Jody Hedlund takes it a step further with her great article on how to prolong your books exposure and if you are really getting into book promo mode check out Hubspots  3 characteristics of successful press releases.

The wonderful Elisabeth Spann Craig has a great article on talking to readers. She has a huge list of questions readers ask which you can build talks around. This is really helpful when you are put on the spot to do a presentation.

It is half way through NaNoWriMo and there are heaps of tips out there on writing for those who are hitting the keyboards. Media Bistro has a link to a cliché calculator. 
Victoria Mixon is guest blogging on Jami Golds blog with a killer post on story climax. This is a wonderful two for one deal with two great guru’s in the one place.

For a change of pace check out Christopher Hitchens advice to an 8 year old…(hmmm) and for a creative jolt in the arm Lateral Action’s video’s and website.  

To finish,

I was roaming around the library the other day and saw a pile of books in the YA section that had adult authors by lines on them…yes writing YA is the new trend for those established authors looking to jump on the YA sales bandwagon. The Boston Globe has just confirmed my suspicion.

maureen
On steep learning curve with new computer.... 

       

Taking A Different Route

Just as we all got used to the thought of Summer....we get a blast of Winter to make us shiver and huddle together for warmth. 

Sometimes I think the publishing industry is like this as well. 

Just as you get used to travelling along the publishing road...along comes a new roadmap that offers a more thrilling/scary route to take you to your destination.

We are now used to the concept of eBooks. We know some important facts about them.

1. They are outselling print.

2. They are changing the landscape of publishing.

Joe Konrath has a guest post on his blog from popular ghost writer Lee Goldberg, that explains why he is not signing any multi book deals anymore...and Joe adds a breakdown of his own print versus eBook sales from the first half of the year...this makes sobering reading on the current state of the marketplace.

So we now have some hard numbers.

Ebook covers just got interesting. Take a look at this just released eBook cover for a debut Young Adult book...A twitter comment  described it thus...I spent so much time playing with the cover I forgot to look at the book!

My, that landscape up ahead looks interesting!

Mike Shatzkin and Bob Mayer have been trading views on an interview Mike did with Bob on the success an author can have going it alone. Mike says it is going tobecome rarer...and Bob says It can still happen if the writer does all the right things and has a back list. Go and take a look at the arguments!

Gosh are those mountains or hills up ahead....?

The author platform arguments have been getting another airing this week. Most pundits believe it’s critical for non fiction and optional for fiction. The drunkwritertalk group (yeah, interesting blog too...) have a useful article on what you should or should not do...great read.

Hazel Edwards (the author of the wonderful cake eating hippo) is profiled in a piece about how her savvy use of the internet has made her money...this is maximum use of your platform!

Wow that’s pretty....Oh look over there!

Sibel from Writers Guide to eBook Publishing has A MUST READ post up on why she turned down a Hollywood/New York Agent....She posts up the main points of the contract and what The Passive Guy (Lawyer writer) told her about what each clause meant.....Read it!!!!!!!

Oh boy, that was scary! Pass the wipes...

I think I need a change On the journey you might like to check out virtual book tours. Check out this article, 5 Dumb Things Writers Do On Virtual Book Tours.  

Are We There Yet?

I’m busy with the WCBA Christmas Quiz tonight...so you are lucky this is a short post....See you next week!

maureen