Go Forth And Seek

It has been a busy week in the publishing blogosphere. Following on from the emphatic statement (in last weeks blog post) by the Science Fiction and Fantasy writers association over the shonky nature of the new eBook imprints from Random House. Random House protested, got laughed at and backed down.

Writer Beware broke the news with the new changes to the imprint contracts and John Scalzi of SFWA details how those changes should work in practice...and what he personally thinks about them.

*Late addition. Dave Gaughran has put the new contracts under the microscope...and it still is not pretty. If the ebook is selected for print...the author will bear all the costs. Check out his very comprehensive post on this and other Big 4 vanity press ideas being slid past unsuspecting authors.

Futurebook blogger Phil Jones looks at the wider issues for publishers over what Random House attempted to do.

In other news here in NZ the registrations are open for Golden Yarns- The Children’s Writers and Illustrators hui to be held in Christchurch on Queens Birthday Weekend.

Melinda Szymanik had an interesting blog post this week on how we as writers have changed. Along with our interest in publishing digitally we have become adept at finding our writing friendships online. 

How far we have come from the writer in the garret struggling over a typewriter. Today information on writing and publishing is at the end of the modem cable. The writer needs to go out and hunt it down like a stray comma. I do my bit by providing a weekly roundup of good things I’ve come across but sometimes attending a writing conference fills in the gaps and reminds you that you are not alone.

Hugh Howey has written a tell all article that has been bouncing around the blogosphere all week on how he got that publishing deal for Wool. In a surprise move his print publishers are releasing AT THE SAME TIME hardcover and softcover editions of Wool.

Paidcontent reports that there is some disquiet over rumors that Amazon are tying up the new domain suffixes like .author and .book.

Joel Friedlander has an excellent article on 5 top legal issues for writers.

Dean Wesley Smith has made an excerpt of his book free entitled thinking like a publisher... and yes it is a must read.

The issue of writing for free got a workout in the blogosphere last week after a journalist had his material for a publisher repurposed and wasn't paid for it...here is Ernie Smith from the Future of Publishing blog on owning your work.

Agent Rachelle Gardner has a post on writer’s rights and responsibilities.

If you are mulling over translation of your work.... read this post so you understand all that it entails.

Larry Brooks from Storyfix has a great post on how to move your concept from good to great.

In Craft,

Writersinthestorm have a must read post on how to use your logline tag and pitch before you start writing! (I’m just in the process of figuring this out for my next book.)

James Scott Bell on how to work on more than one project at a time.

Jami Gold on 5 tips to writing that sexy scene.

YA Hiway on tips for researching your next project.

Clarity in Writing and the Curse of the Reader.

In Marketing,

Five Shades of Book Discovery.

How to handsell your own books.

Mathew Turner (AKA Turndog Millionaire) on five things he learned in 2012 about self publishing.

Bookriot on how to sell like Charles Dickens...this is an interesting article on serials.

To Finish,

Last year I linked to the video of Neil Gaimens commencement speech on freelancing which became a viral hit. Media Bistro have announced that HarperCollins is about to launch the book of the speech. Check out the details here along with a link to the speech if you missed it. The secret knowledge is out there...

maureen

pic from flickr/digitalrob

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.