UN - Natural

Autumn... and the summer weather goes on and on...and so do the list of provinces now officially drought stricken. As I write this half the North Island has been declared officially in drought. The flow on effects of a drought are not obvious now but will come back to haunt us later in the year, with a shortage of food as crops dependent on water won’t be sown. There is an extreme fire risk.

In the publishing blogosphere, this week, a similar disquiet is being felt with the news of class actions and shonkey contracts from reputable publishing houses.

For those authors in the lucky position to have a self published book picked up by a trad 6...5...4... publishing house. It is not all a bed of roses as this cautionary tale illustrates...Amazon contacted the readers who had bought the Indie published book and said they were withdrawing it and if the customer wanted a refund they could get it and a new copy of the book. But who is paying for this? The Author...who didn’t know anything about it. OUCH.

A New York Law firm is gathering data to bring a class action against Author Solutions and its owner Pearson for scamming authors... People check the contracts before you sign them!

Today the association on Science Fiction and Fantasy writers alerted everyone to the major problems with Random’s Hydra eBook imprint contract. John Scalzi, head of this association, publically stated that anyone publishing with Hydra will not be eligible for membership. He spells out all the problems in the contract. This is required reading! The hooks are large...and YOU NEED TO KNOW.

Kris Rusch looks at the Death Of Publishing...and after the last three posts you might well think it...however Kris is upbeat and there is HOPE....

Bob Mayer takes it another step with his Survival For Writers and Rachelle Gardner details what Agents are working on now in the Brave New World and why they are still relevant.

Joel Friedlander has a great article on the progression of writer, author, publisher, marketer....

Susan Kaye Quin takes a look at hiring your writing business team.

If you have a Kindle you may want to take notice of this backup technique just in case Amazon pulls another swifty.

In Craft,

A handy info graphic on scene construction.

The great Janice Hardy on five quick edits to strengthen your writing.

How to find your creative sweet spot.

In Marketing,

How to use Mail Chimp. (that’s for your email newsletters)

Perfect press releases.

Does advertising on Goodreads work?

To Finish,

Hugh Howey has a thoughtful post on the reality of publishing now. You would think Hugh has reached the top of the mountain but as he says it is only just beginning...his thoughts while shelving books in a bookstore...Yes, this is his day job.

maureen

pic from Koshyk Flickr Creative Commons....Imagine opening that pea pod.

It's All In The Story

This week one region in NZ was declared a drought zone and a few others are staring down the barrel. On the official last day of summer with the temperatures climbing again...anybody want to predict a wet autumn? What happens if the Rain Gods don’t come back? If we stay forever in a stuck weather zone...

Ok enough scary story starters.

In the publishing blogosphere...Everyone was talking about what they learned at Indie ReCon. If you didn’t check it out last week DO IT NOW. The advice...the posts...the how to’s...the why’s....

A writing conference that promised lots...and gave HEAPS...all free. Just scroll down the posts over three days (19-21 on the left.)

Publishing Perspectives had a guest post with NZ company Vangelizer. Three Epiphanies on Social Media Marketing of Books. They are offering some very cool products to writers out there...but one of their comments intrigued me. “Make it easy for people to buy your book once you generate interest.” As a bare minimum, you should have a link embedded in every tweet and post that takes people to a mobile-optimized site with a range of global buying options.

This reminded me of Gumroad...the outfit I told you about in January. They do just that for one off things from ‘content’ creators. I clicked on over to check out new offerings and there was a video with Gary Vaynerchuk about storytelling being the way to create empathy which you can convert to a sale...(and before you go aaaargh...You are in the business of selling your stories aren’t you?)

Author Media has ten tips for getting readers to your novel website...

Jane Friedman has interviewed C J Lyons who is a Hybrid star. This is one of those must read articles to see how to navigate the Hybrid world successfully.

Another big conversation this week on the blogosphere, besides Indie ReCon, was Joel Friedlander AKA The Book Designer. Joel has reached out to all the Indie/ Hybrid people out there and designed a collection of Book Templates you can buy to drop your novel into that saves you the hassle of converting from Word to POD format...People are raving! The guy is a genius! Joel talks about how astounded he was at the sheer number of downloads in the first few days along with FAQ’s on his new offering.

In England the talk is all about the Beanstalk Literacy Charter...with the Children’s Laureate getting behind the ‘fund a reading teacher in every school...as well as a library.’ I did not realise that in England a school library was optional! I got a shiver down my spine!

Hilary Mantel has been in the news lately...mainly for the inept reporting from tabloid journalists who did not check what she actually said. Here she gives her Ten Rules for Writing and Jolly Good They Are Too!

Chuck’s recent blog has been getting a lot of comment too. This is the bit where you gasp and say “he actually said that about editing a novel!”

If you remember when iTunes hit the music industry...Mixtus Media has a look at Five Things Book Publishers should be prepared for.

Writer Beware checks out scammers that tell you to register copyright...let them do it for you...

Biting your readers in the buttocks...The Forest Gump Guide To Writing.

How to create deadlines for yourself...Yes there is a guide.

In Craft,

K M Weiland hits Part 12 on Scene Structure.

Edittorrent puts ambiguity under the spotlight with examples...her pet hate as an agent and something everybody could sharpen up on.

The BookshelfMuse talks to the Plot Whisperer...One of those gotta read interviews, along with What and How to Revise by Darcy Pattison

The Query Letter...Chuck Sambuchino tells you how to craft it if your MS doesn’t fit the expected box...

In Marketing,

Google authorship and SEO...Did you know you may not be the author of those blog posts according to Google?

Susan Kaye Quin talks formatting for iTunes. (How to do it without buying a MAC)

Writersinthestorm take a look at setting timelines in your business plan.

Passive Guy looks at Indie Authors and gift cards...I have done this and it is quite a good idea.

Rachelle Gardner wants you to look good on a webcam and offers tips to help.

To finish, 

Sadly we must come to the end...with this thought provoking post from one of our top writers of Y A about what it means to write for children. 

maureen

pic.

Special thanks go to the Pulp-O-Mizer website...I had sooo much fun creating this on the neat website! (tho I'll stick to writing...)