Publishing This Way or That

July has stumbled in stomping its feet about the weather and cursing about never getting a clear run at being jolly cold. (Why are my jonquils out? Its not Spring yet!)

In the roundup this week,

 Porter Anderson chats with Jon Fine on the perceived curatorial mark that Traditional Publishers bring. Jon has interesting points to raise because he has worked on both sides of the fence. He points out that Indie publishers can rise above the herd if they pay attention to all the details.

Why is Dystopian Fiction popular? Are we living in a dystopian future now? This is an interesting article from European publishers about why Dystopian fiction sells to their teen audience but at the cost of their own countries voices.

For the Typography buffs out there, some good news. Google has reorganised its Font Library for the web.  You can find fonts easily and they have a nifty comparison widget. Why is that interesting... because they have a whole lot of free fonts and you can use them on websites and other places where people might read interesting stuff online written by you.

Kris Rusch has another Deal Breakers post. This looks at Contract termination language. In these days of ebook perpetuity how can you negotiate a termination clause and what should you ask for. This is really interesting, as the term out of print in the digital age now has no meaning.

James Scott Bell has a great post on writing advice you should ignore. That doesn’t mean ignore the post. James has written quite a few excellent writing craft books and is one of my go to craft book gurus. Here he takes issue with some of that tired old writing advice and explains how you can break the rules

Joanna Penn has an interesting interview with 3D designer about how writers can utilise 3D design. No they aren’t completely opposite. Children and Young Adult writers will be able to see the value straight away. 

In The Craft Section,

Subtext- How to write what’s not written- Bookmark

Combining genres- Stephen Pressfield

Multi-dimensional lead characters

15 tips to increase your productivity- Molly Greene

Choosing the right story setting- KM Weiland Bookmark

151 Plot resources- Now Novel

The 5 key turning points- C S Lakin- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

4 ways to respond when someone bugs you online

Book promotion – Do this, not that – The Book Designer- Bookmark

10 ways to build your author mailing list

How to prep for author events- Janice Hardy

How Goodreads can grow your readers- Frances Caballo

Create a box set bundle- Joanna Penn-Bookmark

To Finish,

If you are looking into a publishing future that is starting to have overtones of a dystopian landscape and you aren’t quite sure about self publishing, an Australian print company has a step by step overview of what you need to know. Google has a lot of answers to questions. Read widely about how others are doing it before you you leap in.

Maureen

@craicer

Pic from the AMAZING Debbie Ridpath Ohi/ Comics for Writers

The Classic Blunder

It has been an historical week. There was the vote that caused political turmoil in Europe and then yesterday the tragedy in Turkey.

Along with record temperatures around the globe we are facing change of epic proportions.  Porter wrote an article for Publishing Perspectives on what Brexit might mean for publishing in the United Kingdom. Already people are seeing royalty rates drop.

Writer Beware has an update to a story about a publishing company in denial over the mind boggling law suits that are being brought against it. Reading through the list you get the impression they were taking a lot of lessons from Author Solutions.

Agent Janet Reid has written an interesting Blog post on Agents as Publishers. You should be very careful as these agents break the A.A.R. (Association of Author Representatives) rules. (If they ever belonged in the first place.)

Rachel Thompson has been working with authors for a while now and recently she sat down and figured out the secret to success. Authors already know it. But do they DO it?

A few months ago I linked to Agent Jonny Gellers Ted Talk on what makes a best seller. Jonny Geller has expanded his ideas in this article.(If you know the secret, please share.)

Ruth Harris has written a great article on First Chapter Blues. It is a must read. Just when you think of the old maxim of throw out your first chapter... Ruth comes along and offers some great advice.

The movie Me Before You generated lots of protests around the world about the portrayal of disabilities in books and films. I never commented because I feel there are far better writers living this reality that would say why they object far better than me. And so here is an excellent guest post from Steven Spohn on Chucks Blog. I do urge all writers to read it.

Over the years I have shared some amazing articles on the craft of writing. Today I read an article on rejections that turned everything upside down in my head. Just WOW.  Take some time to read this from LitHub.

In The Craft Section,

Writing Action Scenes- K M Weiland

Dialogue- getting rid of adverbs- Bookmark

Tips for self editing- Bloodredpencil- Bookmark

What makes a great blurb-

How soon do we show genre in writing- Janice Hardy

The trope police- Agent Sarah La Polla on what she often see’s

The 5 must read craft books of 2016 – Kayla Dean

In The Marketing Section,

Boosting Sales

Book marketing tips from industry experts- Frances Caballo-Bookmark

Checklist for cover redesigns- Roz Morris

Marketing to influencers- The Bookseller-Bookmark

4 easy things to do if you don’t want to market your book.- Penny Sansevieri

Email Newsletter content- Jane Friedman- Bookmark

To Finish

There are classic tropes and classic lines and classic blunders. Every writer hopes that they can come up with a classic line rather than a classic blunder.  If you love the classic movie The Princess Bride here are 15 quotes that explain the writers life.

If you haven’t seen the movie.... That is a classic blunder... like starting a land war in Asia.

Maureen

@craicer