The Revolving Door of Publishing

Writers & Illustrators: All the networking/promo in the world can’t help unless you get your book FINISHED first. pic.twitter.com/XeliPtgAHG

— Debbie Ridpath Ohi (@inkyelbows) August 25, 2015

This week the hot topic around Twitter was that self published sleep book for kids written by a sleep psychologist which raced to number one on Amazon and is now in a 7 figure publishing deal. Hugh Howey looks at all the changes in publishing in this story.

Germany announced this week that they are scrapping DRM on Ebooks. Predictions that the English language will be next could be far fetched. Mike Shatzkin looks at DRM free implications and reading books on phones. Surveys just out say the number is up to 1 in 7 people mainly reading on their phone but which apps are the best for this.

Writer Beware reports that the Author Solutions case has been dismissed as they settled out of court... that’s one class action down... (PRH has deep pockets...)

Can data dictate publishing decisions? That’s the topic for Futurechat this week. With data being mined by Kindle Unlimited who know exactly when a reader stops reading to phone companies who know where and when a reader is reading.... What are the implications for publishers?

Anne R Allen looks at author blogs. How can you do better?

Writer Unboxed revisits the ten things not to say to a writer in light of some dubious comments being said to writers very recently.

Larry Brooks is writing for the Killzone blog and he has a few wise words to say about authors letting rip on their manuscripts before they have learned some fundamentals of the craft... (for a less measured approach see Chucks rant.)

Christina Katz has a post looking at 10 things happy productive writers do that they don’t need to.

Author Chronicles takes issue with those annoying pop up adds.

In the Craft Section,

Perfect opening lines- from TOR

How believable themes build believable plots

How to describe people (Great post)

7 tips for proof reading your book

Chuck has a no holds barred post on rookie mistakes that new writers make. (You may never look at dialogue tags the same way again.)

Janice Hardy has two guest writers writing some great posts. 
Bonnie Randall on killing your darlings unless you can give them goals and Amy Christine Parker on writing outside of your comfort zone. (Bookmark)

In the Marketing Section,

11 ways to promote your book with images

Query Letters- What agents love and loathe

Four podcasts every self publisher should be listening to

Selling digital products and services - Jane Friedman

Building an author website – Joanna Penn

How and where to obtain book reviews – James Rose

How to use Twitter to find Book Reviewers- Ricardo Fayet (Bookmark)

To Finish,

The Queen’s bookstore in London has turned hand selling into a high end art and a global enterprise... so now they are mixing it up by having a bookseller in Asia. Yes... I mean A Bookseller NOT A Bookstore...

Just when you think you know what is coming next in publishing...

maureen
@craicer
Pic from Inkyelbows… Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Maintaining A Positive Face

This week I have been thinking about all sorts of eclectic things to do with the life of an author.

Headshots... This is an awful necessity when you write... at some point some one is going to ask for a headshot. Writer Unboxed has a great article on this. I have heard of conferences arranging photographers who specialise in this... (hmmm must explore this.)

Being a nicer person because I am a writer. Book Trib had an interesting article on this.

Jody Hedlund looks at the other side of niceness when you feel you are the worst writer in the world... How can you dig yourself out of the hole?

Keeping a positive attitude helps when you are visualising your goals. If you are Indie Publishing 5 tips on how you can measure success.

This week Publishers Weekly had a column from Kristan Higgins asking the literary world to grow up when it comes to Romance writing.They are among the savviest writers I know and Kristan has a point. Read the Genre before you criticise it.

The New York Times has changed the way they will be reporting Children’s Best Sellers... There was jubilation all over my Twitter Feed. Now finally we will find out the best selling junior fiction books... When the list jumped from Picture Book to Young Adult best sellers... something had to give.

Sticking with big companies making changes… HarperCollins is shutting down Authonomy, their website where aspiring authors could post stories. It was an interesting experiment.

Joanna Penn has answered a bunch of questions about her writing business. She is a postive force when it comes to finding out about marketing. Here she has lots of tips.

In the Craft Section,

Killing your darlings – 5 writers talk about the cutting room floor

Using beta readers to help you write- C S Lakin

6 easy ways to achieve a perfect ending

6 things writers should know about MB Thinking vs. Feeling

5 writing challenges all writers face

How to find an editor – Jane Friedman

Creativity tips for the stuck- Nathan Bransford

In the Marketing Section,

Mastering Radio Interviews - Anne R Allen (Bookmark)

What do you do when your Amazon reviews disappear?

Ebook formatting using MS Word- Molly Greene

How to make 3D cover generators

6 types of Copyright disclaimers – The Book Designer (Bookmark)

What makes your story unique –The Art of the Blurb – Jami Gold

Creating Author Business Plans- Janice Hardy

Easy ways to build an email list

Website of the Week

Writers in the Storm have a great website with all sorts of great craft and marketing tips. Here are two recent Bookmark posts, 5 easy SEO techniques and How actions determine character arc. There are four writers contributing and they manage to cover all facets of the business. A great Go To Website

To Finish,

Chuck Wendig has a new book out soon. It is his 13^th and by now he should be used to the feelings of gut wrenching fear, nervousness and excitement... It only gets worse… He tries to maintain a positive face… (Positive warnings on language apply.)

Maureen

@craicer

Pic is from Flickr/ Creative  Commons - Wonderlane