Genre Journeys

This week seemed to be genre week with interesting  articles from across the genre spectrum.

Children’s Publishing day at Digital Book World had some interesting takeaways. A few years ago it was widely speculated that with all these smart phones the early adopters would be teenagers. But they aren’t. They still want a physical book with printed pages.

But the genre could be slowly changing.

Over in the Romance field the HEA (happily ever after) ending is being questioned... do modern romances need this? It isn’t reflected in real life... is it? Some interesting thoughts in this blog post and comments.

James Patterson, who is his own genre, has been making waves this week with the revelation that there is a whole publishing arm devoted to just him... and he is employing them through his publishers, which would make him a Self Publisher with a traditional publishing house or a traditional publishing house with a self publishing imprint devoted to one person. No one can decide but it makes fascinating reading especially as he is publishing across age groups.

Leo Hartas, an illustrator, makes a plea for writers to understand how to commission an illustrator. If you are in the market for having illustrations for your project... read this first. I know illustrators who say these words often.

One of the most heart felt posts on Social Media came from Anne R Allen this week. This follows on from Jami Gold’s post last week. Anne talks about the increasing pressure on writers to be everywhere... You don’t need to be. She makes absolute sense and this is a must read for every author out there.

Catherine Ryan Howard who is a Go To Guru on how to self publish has an agent and a traditional publishing deal. This is an interesting journey... and one a lot of writers are taking as Hybrid is seen as a good career move.

This week publishing futurist Mike Shatzkin has been thinking about the need for publishers to use critical data research in the acquisitions process. These days research and data profiles are becoming easier to find and use so why aren’t publishers using them? As always read the comments for the robust discussion points.

Today while traveling on an errand a character, whom I had put on hold for a few years, popped into my mind demanding that now was the time to tell his story... never mind I’m in the middle of something big... somewhere else. Some characters are so rude! This got me thinking about Story Structure and this led me to one of Larry Brooks latest posts on structure versus pantsing. There is no opposition. There is subliminal understanding that every story should have a beginning and an end. This is a one of those A-HA posts that you will print out!

In The Craft Section,

18 tips to deconstruct novels to nail genre- C S Lakin Bookmark

7 steps to hook readers

How to write a love scene- Jane Friedman Bookmark

6 emotional motives for your characters- Mythcreants

2 Bookmark posts from  K M Weiland 5 ways to trim your word count and 11 killer chapter breaks.

The 4^th rule of storytelling from Pixar

Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have compiled a popular posts list.

The critical importance of crafting a strong opening- Jody Hedlund Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

6 ways you are ruining your book marketing- Bookmark

Social media guidelines for newbies

How authors can find readers- Jane Friedman- Bookmark

What to talk about in the marketing meeting.

A guide to what agents are looking for in the first five pages- Bookmark

6 straight forward ways to structure a blog post

To Finish,

Y A Highway is an interesting site where YA authors hang out. They have an interesting infographic (very Jasper Ffordish) with lots of clickable links on all sorts of interesting posts. This is well worth a trawl. Children’s writers cover all genres the good and the bad...

Maureen

@craicer

Colourful Easter pic from https://www.flickr.com/photos/praktyczny_przewodnik/7047496769

The Scattered Writer Brain

Last week I linked to a couple of posts on the first day of the Digital Book World Conference. This week Porter Anderson covers Day Two and Jane Friedman shares her takeaways from the whole conference - 4 lessons in publishing. This post has been passed around Social Media quite a few times and is a must read.

Selina Kitt shines a light on scammers on Amazon. This is a sobering read and goes to the heart of the Kindle Unlimited subscription service. It is also a lesson in eBook formatting. Even when you are doing it right for the reader, you may be doing it wrong.

Jessica West takes a look at the grey area of paying for reviews. No you shouldn’t pay for a review but there are technical services that take a fee and their reviewers are legit. Using one of these services can make you a best seller.

If you’re a children’s author you always have an eye on Bologna. Publishers Weekly interviewed seven agents about what’s hot and what they are looking for at Bologna.

Roz Morris always has something interesting to say. This week she looks at ways to blog about your book without blogging your book. This is always a tricky topic for authors... how do you entice readers to check out your work without giving it all away.

The UK Society of Authors is ramping up their Creator Campaign for Fair Contracts. Many international author societies are supporting this too. When you look at the writing festivals that aren’t paying their writers and add that to the unfair contracts it can get pretty depressing out there.

Jami Gold has a timely post this week on when you just have to admit you are not a super publishing hero. Sometimes you just can’t do it all. It is an excellent article. Jami asks pointed questions to help you identify if you are falling into this common writing trap.

Ben Zackheim gathered together his list of great podcasts. I have listened to about half of these teams and I must take some time to listen to a few more. Sometimes just listening to authors chew the fat about writing is enough to make you feel energised to get back into your writing.

Booklife pulled together some great people to talk about book reviews and discoverability. This is a must read.

In the Craft Section,

Getting inspired to write- James Scott Bell

The copyedit from Heck- Kristine Rusch – Must Read!

How to write a fantastic author newsletter

How to weave story elements and avoid info dumps- Jami Gold-Bookmark

Mastering Outer motivation- Bookmark

What to do when readers are skipping crucial parts of the story –Bookmark

Seven keys to unforgettable characters- Bob Mayer- Bookmark

Short Story Secrets-Anne R Allen

In the Marketing Section,

11 reasons why authors need Social Media-  Frances Caballo and The Book Designer - Bookmark!

Are audiobooks in your future?- Molly Greene

Should an author have their own podcast

Free tools that can help build buzz for your book

How a Fiction Anthology is made – Jane Friedman

Follow these steps for marketing your first book.

Connecting with readers- Elizabeth Spann Craig -Bookmark

Website of the Week

If you’ve got that book finished and you're thinking 'now the hard part begins,' you are right. However there are a few voices out there in the Blogosphere that can point you in the right direction -marketing wise. Penny Sansevieri has been a marketing Go To site for authors for a few years now. Here are just three posts that caught my eye this week. 50 ways to promote your book- Part One and Two and 5 minute marketing.

To Finish,

I came across this interesting article today on Creativity. What are five areas you would like to grow and develop in your writing? Take Five Fat Files... is a way of refining your goals and making them more achievable.

maureen

@craicer

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons /Kenny Louie