Dining Out

This week Barnes and Noble announced that they were going to mix it up in the bookselling trade by introducing four concept stores with restaurants. So you can now go out to dinner at a bookshop. For some of us that would be perfectly fine. I am reminded of a wonderful bookseller, in Wellington, who  reminds us at every book launch that wine and books are a great mix but not wine on books. Mike Shatzkin takes a look at this new idea and points out the flaws in their planning. As a publishing futurist he predicts some interesting changes in the bookselling model.

Digital Book Worlds conference next year has morphed into a four track extravaganza. Each strand is being designed by a separate expert. That’s four mini conferences in one. It looks like an interesting line up. (Having programmed multi track conferences myself it looks like a lot of work!) The NZSA has a writers forum weekend coming up. The programme highlights look very familiar. (Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.)

Staying with Digital Book World... They have an interesting article on audiobooks. Authors can you afford to produce an audiobook? This goes into the nuts and bolts. As always I recommend you read the comments because then you get so much more information.

If you like filling your ears with interesting content then check out the SPA Girls podcast. These romance writers host a 30 minute podcast every week on Self Publishing. They recently attended NZRWA and talk about what it was like learning from screenwriting guru Michael Hauge.

In the recent Edinburgh Book Festival there was anger at the tone of a debate on YA Books with one author saying that 90% of YA is crap. The Guardian picked up on it and explored the arguments supporting and defendingYA.

Garry Rogers has an interesting blog for writers who want to get their crime details right. He recently decided to ask his best selling guests about the tipping point in their respective careers. This is a fascinating series of mini interviews.

Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are about to celebrate their first anniversary of One Stop For Writers. So of course they have some interesting new features to come. They have just introduced scene mapping and world building tools.

In The Craft Section,

Creating memorable characters- Anne R Allen- Bookmark

Character detail – James Scott Bell - Bookmark

A lesson in dialogue- Jennie Nash on The Book Designer-Bookmark

Adding depth to the story- Kassandra Lamb

1 mistake that writers make – Stephen Pressfield

Do you share your WIP- Jami Gold- Bookmark

Writing in Busy Times- Elizabeth S Craig

On Editing- Great article from Writer Unboxed

Revising Query letters- Query Shark-Bookmark

Moving beyond hair colour – Jody Hedlund

20 ideas for inspiration – C S Lakin

In The Marketing Section,

Social media marketing does work- Roz Morris

10 Social Media Applications for Writers

Two interesting articles from Joanna Penn. Breakdown of BookSales- an up close look at her last year of sales and Two million books - an interview with a best selling crime writer.

How to use ARC copies for promotion- Bookmark

ISBN’s everything you need to know – Bookwork – (NB if you are in NZ you can get free ISBN’s 

from National Library)

Using Pinterest for branding- Rachel Thompson-Bookmark

Pitching on Twitter- Bookmark

5 apps to boost Book Marketing- Frances Caballo-Bookmark

To Finish,

Jane Friedman has an interesting interview with Sage Cohen about her new book Fierce On The Page. Sage has some great thoughts on giving yourself permission to write and what a fierce writer really means.

It’s nearly time for sending out my next newsletter where I share the best of my links from the last month and other interesting thoughts. Why don’t you subscribe and catch up on some good reading.

Maureen Crisp

@craicer

Pic from Flickr/ Creative Commons/ Graham Maclean

Learning On The Job

I’ve been thinking lately about the way publishing works these days. 

Ten years ago it was find an agent or editor and pitch your work. Keep trying and learning and maybe they will like it and you will get published. 

Five years ago it was ditch that traditional route and self publish... just put it out there and find your audience. 

Now it feels like a convergence.

To succeed in this business you have to go in with an attitude of learning and improving your craft. This applies for both sides of the publishing coin. This excellent post by Jamie Raintree explores the ‘act as if’ mindset and planning your career first.

While you are digesting that, Jane Friedman has written about standing out to agents and editors.... This is good advice people.

As you are learning about the publishing business stop and look at Kris Ruschs deal breaker posts. This week she looks at agent contracts.You should be keeping one eye on the gold and both eyes on the scams and navigating your way around.

Publishing Perspectives has an interesting interview with Sarah McIntyre, the illustrator behind the campaign #PicturesMeansBusiness. This is a great campaign and a must read for every children’s book author and publisher out there!

Lindsay Buroker is a great writer and one of the hosts of SFF marketing podcast. She writes an informative blog as well. Recently she wrote about genre hopping and how to do it successfully as a writer.

This week Wattpad introduced inside the story advertising. This was predicted about three years ago as one of those ‘and then the world will have gone to hell’ scenarios. But Wattpad being digital and wanting to help the authors has said use the space between chapters. Is it a win/win?

In the ‘what will they think of next, Section,

Augmented Reality. (A.R.) Now think of bookstores. Now put the two together. It’s like playing Pokemon Go on the bookshelves. Especially designed for kids...

In The Craft Section,

Two great articles on writing dialogue- Bookmark Both

Fantastic dialogue tips – Now Novel and Editing dialogue- Jane Friedman

Writing sex scenes

5 crime fiction blunders to avoid

3 ways to build a better plot- Janice Hardy

Writing complex characters- K M Weiland – Bookmark

Writing from the opposite genders point of view

Building and keeping suspense

Character Arc development – Jami Gold Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

5 guerilla tactics for promoting your book

When you’ve finished your first novel, what do you do- Anne R Allen-Bookmark

Keyword use on Amazon- Penny Sansevieri - Bookmark

The importance of your author photo

Print is still important- Elizabeth S Craig- Bookmark (and read comments)

Marketing on a budget

Creating the author business plan- Janice Hardy - Bookmark

To Finish,

These days you can write from anywhere and many writers do. Give me wifi and a coffee is the writers cry. However to be a productive digital nomad takes a little more savvy. Here is a list of productivity tips for your next foray of writing in the wild... or your nearest coffee shop

Maureen

@craicer

Get a selection of the months best links and other on the job learning when you subscribe to my monthly newsletter.

Pic: Flickr/ Creative Commons/ Pedro Simoes