This week the NZ children and Young Adult Book Awards finalists were announced and in a new move The Children’s Choice finalists,
voted on by NZ kids, were added. The kids choice and the official judges
marched in step for about half the time and then diverged so altogether there
is a much wider sampling of books. This is great because it shows the depth and
the breadth of the amazing writers and illustrators in our country. They are
still looking for sponsors. So if you know of anyone....
Publishers Weekly have taken a close look at the figures from AAP and sales were ... up. Leading the charge, Kids books at a wopping 20%.
Yes they could be said to be saving the publishers bacon.
This year there have been several campaigns about publishing
diverse books. Leading Agent Sarah Davis talks about what books are crossing
her desk and how the publishers are now calling for diverse books.
Porter Anderson follows along on this theme with a look at
gender in publishing. What’s fairness got to do with it. There seems to be a
lot of women in publishing until you get to the board room.
Still in business... How European VAT is affecting selfpublishers.
Kristen Nelson talks about whether subscription services are good for authors ... and the rise of the author space in offices. (Fantasy...
the New York office loft with some writing buddies.)
Which brings me to... Author collaboration. How to go about
it. Triskele books has a tool kit you need to Bookmark! I’ve said it for years,
Authors need to look at this model to make an impact!
Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are going from strength to
strength. Here they announce their new venture to go with all those cool writing thesauri ... Software. They are such cool and savvy writers!
Kris Rusch has a new project- Women in Sci Fi especially the
forgotten women. I fell in love with Sci Fi when I was a teen and discovered
Andre Norton. And it blew my mind to find out she was a woman. Kris looks at her legacy and the history of how these writers became forgotten. This is an
amazing post!
In the Craft Section,
Breaking the 10,000 words a day barrier.- Lyndsay Buroker
7 mistakes to avoid when writing about the military.-2 Navy
guys (Military mistakes always causes the book to be thrown out in my family.)
Theme and Intent- getting these right. –Bob Mayer
Fun literary devices- Janice Hardy
In the Marketing Section,
Are you using pinned tweets- (this opened up a whole new
world for me.)
Molly Greene has two great posts- collaboration with authors on boxed sets and
How to make an author video. (Bookmark both)
The Creative Penn interviews Mark Dawson- On writing fast.
This is a great interview.
My book is being pirated what do I do- (Bookmark)
How to find the right critique group-Jane Friedman
(Bookmark)
Website of the Week
Chuck Wendig has made the occasional appearance on my blog
for a few years now. He is a best selling children’s and adult Sci Fi writer.
He is NSFW and some of his metaphors will stay with you all day. He is
entertaining but also tells important truths on writing. Here are his most frequently asked writing questions and his very truthful answers-Be Warned.
To Finish,
Planning conferences is hard work. I’m happy to say we have finally reached the important programme day a week after we wanted to. It’s
tricky juggling the right speakers who will inspire, challenge, teach, and up-skill
writers and illustrators across all stages of the profession. I think our team
have done a fantastic job. I wish I could split myself into three because I
want to attend everything.
Maureen
@craicer
Pic: The Grand Dame of Sci Fi- Andre Norton 1912-2005
