Nothing happens
quickly in publishing.... This used to be the mantra. Today the Department of
Justice released some of their documents from the Agency Pricing lawsuit
against Trad Publishers. An economics professor did some helpful charts. My Goodness the publishers
involved moved at the speed of light!
Across the blogosphere
and looking at another lawsuit...Porter Anderson takes a close look at the reporting around the Author Solutions lawsuit...or lack of it. In a case where
the number of authors who may have been burnt by the various imprints of this *helpful* publishing company run up
past 150,000 how is it that this case is not being widely reported in
mainstream media or even in some specialist publishing journals.
Interestingly the same
judge is presiding over both cases...wonder if she’ll write a book about her
experiences.
What saddens me is
how little research is done by potential authors to find out the state of play in
publishing right now.
1. It’s hard to get a traditional deal.
2. Agents are becoming
de facto publishers.
3. Authors are having some success in self publishing.
4.
Self publishing is a lot of work and you need to know what you are doing.
5.
You will not get rich as a writer.
This is reality.
In
all of the above a publishing firm that tells you that they can dissolve all
those barriers... just hand over your credit card...is one to run away from! So
many people go into this with their eyes shut...following the dream...which
can turn into an ugly nightmare.
Elisabeth Naughton has written about her publishing journey from Trad to Indie and it makes
interesting reading. It is a very honest and reflective piece, which mirrors
the journey that publishing itself has taken in the last five years.
In April, just before
the London Book Fair, the Guardian published an opinion piece on how the rise of self publishing has changed the book world and the implications for
traditional publishers.
Russel Blake (suspense
writer) has written the definitive post on How To Sell Loads Of Books.
In one post he sets out a career plan and an implementation schedule.
(must read post)
Aussie writer Scott Gardner talks about finding an international voice
if you live in far flung countries. Interesting comments on this guest piece
for Publishing Perspectives.
In Craft,
Elisabeth Spann Craig
on the What If method of generating ideas...(this is my preferred method)
Ava Jae on writing inmultiple POVs (Very good advice!)
Angela Ackerman talks
about Donald Maass (uber agent) and his ideas on cultivating the reader...its
all about emotional layering....
Layering information
in your story...Info with Attitude from the Killzone team.
In Marketing,
Livehacked has got The Marketing Plan...This is long, so set aside some time for this one. It is the guide
to marketing self published books.
13 Timeless Lessons On Marketing from
the father of advertising, David Ogilvy. You will never look at an ad the same
way again.
To Finish,
Neil Gaimen’s Make
Great Art, book of the sensational speech from last year, is out and I have
held one in my hands. It is a thing of beauty. Brainpickings has Neil's 8 Rules for Writing, which you can follow and have chart topping success like Neil.
To write...
you
have
to
put
one
word
after
another.
Pic fromFlickr/Jorel....so geeky.
(hehehehe... a pie chart)
