Spring into Marketing

Ahhh Spring!

The moment when the sun breaks through the clouds and warms your back and then disappears behind rain clouds for another three weeks.

The optimistic scheduling of road works which rely on good weather...reality huge mud holes that last for two weeks causing a hazard before it is dry enough to resume work...

The gentle spring winds...gale force with a wind chill factor of 5.

Spring has great P R.

In the blogosphere there is a marketing focus this week as Amazon Kindle Serials get discussed by authors...is it worth it? Passive Guy takes a look and then the commenter’s weigh in.

Jane Friedman takes Stephen Kings popular rules on writing and changes them to marketing.

Jody Hedlund asks when should a writer stop promoting their book.

In the big picture look at the publishing world, Idealog previews what are going to be the hot topics at Frankfurt Publishers Launch conference. Among the innovators speaking will be Charlie Redmayne of Pottermore...They are keen to help any other world building author do a Pottermore....

J S McDougal is looking at publishers, their fear of piracy and DRM and how it is all tied up with disruptive technologies and the release of bright shiny hardware...MP3 and the iPod, eBook and the kindle...

Joanna Penn is using her Kindle to edit her book for print...a whole nother way to use this tech...Different formats highlight different line edits to be made...just when you thought it was all over after you published...

How much do you know about Foreign Rights? A foreign Rights agent talks about exactly what she does. It will open your eyes!

Writers Digest has 5 ways writers can get the most out of Goodreads ...one of them is to read...

Alexis Grant has a helpful post on how to master Twitter...be a power user....some interesting tips in there.

There is a collection of great craft links.

Kristen Lamb on exploring writing about a character’s inner and outer demons using Black Swan as the example.

Alan Rinzler explaining what it means when an editor or agents says it lacks emotional glue...and how to fix it.

Ava Jae on how to use brainstorming effectively when it is time to edit...(yes you did read that right.)

L B Gale has another interesting post up on what Romance Writers can teach Sci Fi Writers....actually what Romance Writers can teach anybody really.

Carol Riggs talks about feedback feeding into your story....a great guest blog on Janice Hardy’s brilliant writer’s craft blog.

The seven rules of picking character names...and I thought it was open baby name book, close eyes, stab with pin....

To finish, 

Alan Rinzlers post on Book Marketing with 3 experts has been getting another airing around the blogosphere this week. I blogged it in April but check it out again as we are on a marketing focus today.

Terry Pratchett has a new book coming out and it is a Young Adult book...Here is Sir Terry attempting to market it.... ( you will smile...)

maureen

pic from

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rumpleteaser/127509131/

The Craft Of Writing...

What do I have for you this week.

Looking over the links I have gathered for you, today’s blog is turning into the craft of writing post...with the bulk of this weeks links across the publishing blogsphere spotlighting craft issues.

It could be that writers are gearing up for NaNoWriMo...yes I know we are in September but you can’t prepare too early....

First tho some interesting articles that caught my eye.

Kristine Rusch writes about the scammers who are targeting authors...unfortunately some of them are reputable publishing houses. This is one of those writer-you-must-know-what-your-rights-are posts, especially when publishing houses try to change contracts after they are signed...and it is not an isolated incident.

The advent of Kindle Serials has got everyone talking. Back in the old days writers like Dickens published their work as a serial changing parts of the story to fit audience reaction. Check out Jane Friedman and Porter Anderson’s round up of the opinions now that Amazon are giving this model a spin...

Rachelle talks about learning to pitch your potential to agents and editors.

There are new agents on the block looking for kids lit stuff.

Harper Voyager is having a two week window to unagented submissions...

Jami Gold touches on a few head scratchers for authors...print vs ebook, long tail vs out of print, actual bookstores  vs backlist. How does this impact the author now?

K M Weiland has a thoughtful post on the excuses writers have for not writing and how to combat them....

Indelible Writers have a great post on marketing books...know your hook, line and sinker.

Joel Friedlander has a post on gatekeepers...There aren’t any now and also a  great post on the hub and outpost method of Social Media marketing.

Now on with the great caft list...something for everyone here.

13 ways to put urgency in your writing from Rachelle Gardner

Are you preaching in your PB and how to tell from Mary Kole

The seductive but deadly sin that wants to kill your story from Larry Brooks

How to get your readers to love your villians- from Writers in the Storm

When your characters cry –from Superheronation

Archetypes - Neville Longbottom, the perfect foil from Harry Potter for Writers

Revising to raise the stakes in your story from Aimee Salter based on Janice Hardy’s advice.

If you can’t afford an editor...advice from Nicola Morgan

A must bookmark now post on scene structure from Randy Ingermanson...(The snowflake guy) Truly if you only have time to check one of the craft links today check this one...

To finish,

Every now and then I put a link to Chuck Wendig...he has a striking way of getting his point across...Here is a link to Chuck’s personal rules of writing now...(warning its Chuck! You will laugh and you will wince!)

‘Write as much as you can, as fast as you can. Finish your shit. Hit your deadlines. Try very hard not to suck.’ –Chuck Wendig

pic from http://www.flickr.com/photos/donovan_beeson/6879567474