This week I have been thinking about
children’s book illustration...on many levels. We are putting together a
workshop day in children’s book illustration which looks really good. I am learning about print for the print version of Craic and making changes...and I have been
studying websites and learning some new tricks.
Around the publishing blogosphere the pay
for review saga goes on with more unseemly author behaviour being exposed.
‘Sock Puppetry’ where authors make up an alter ego email and leave 5 star
reviews on their own work and 1 star reviews on their competitors...
The bookseller exposes who has been doing this...and Mediabistro has provided a good info graphic to show you what your review curve should look like...
Anne R Allen talks about these current practices and exposes what authors really need...independent book reviewers.
She tells you how to find them and how to treat them...
Forbes takes a look at how Amazon are subverting the bestseller lists...
Recently the Oxford Society of Young
Publishers asked Roz Morris to address them. Her speech - How I Self Published and How It Changed My Outlook As A Writer. Roz has posted this speech on her
blog and it is very interesting with some recommendations to the publishers on
what they should be looking at...partnership models like Discovery imprints...for
those books they love that Accounting rejects...
Anna DeStefano is finally able to blog
about her trials and tribulations with Dorchester Press. Publishing isn’t for Sissies. This is a really interesting article with Anna talking about her ultimate
goal for her writing and how this goal had her making the decisions she did as
Dorchester was going through the rocky shoals of print to digital to being
bought by Amazon...along the way not paying advances and pulling books after
contracts were signed. It is a timely piece for authors to consider their whole
career and how each publisher contract should be viewed as part of the whole
career plan.
Elle Strauss (mid grade /YA writer) has
written an interesting post on Why you can’t indie publish the same way as traditional and how to approach publishing after her year of discovery.
Susan Kaye Quin is doing a week of self publishing basics...These are
practical posts on where and how to do it...
Write practice asks is it possible to write and promote at the same time?
Dean Wesley Smith has been getting hot under the collar with writers who give away a % of their rights over a
manuscript in return for services...this is a growing problem with authors who
don’t understand what rights they do have....After all would you give your
gardener a share of your house? but authors are falling into some nasty traps.
Two agents this week have highlighted what
they are looking for.
Jill Corcoran (mega kidslit agent) has a list of what she is looking to represent.
Bridget Smith of Dunham Literary has detailed how and what she looks for in the first five pages of a submission.
Over in Craft
Dean43 talks about his list of SCI Fi rules...for the geeks among us.
Indiereader has 25 ways to chip away at writers block
Joel Friedlander talks about how to find out and give your readers what they want.
Roz Morris looks at 7 tips for keeping your motivation going
The great Larry Brooks has a post on the square one story killer. This is one of those bookmark posts of Larry’s... An
effective story is ultimately about
its concept. Just great advice and a new way of looking at your story.
To finish,
“It took
me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give
it up because by that time I was too famous.” Robert Benchley.
