Brand seems to be the flavour of the month.
Everywhere I look I see a reference to author brand.... Some
writers think that branding is a dirty word. (A marketing term that they
shouldn’t sully themselves with.) But there are some astute writers who are
taking a second look at author branding.
Kris Rusch is dedicating a series of articles to it and the importance in a writers life of getting the branding right.
Anne R Allen has a great guest article from Carmen Amato on
3 mini strategies to jumpstart your career. Branding is at the top of the list.
This is a must read. Do you know your one true reader?
How do you know when you are getting the wrong advice? Jami
Gold has a great post on how to recognise advice you should ignore.
Susan Spann takes this a step further in her guest post
looking at publishing contracts. Do you know when to walk away from a publishing deal?
Recently Becca Puglisi (one half of The Emotion Thesaurus
Team) wrote a guest blog on a writers business plan. I found it really
interesting as I am trying to organise my thoughts around what I want for my
own writing. Take a look at this excellent article.
Chuck Wendig has the perfect brand of wise advice wrapped up
in irreverent and word vomit humor. Once you get used to his style of wordplay
you can focus on the message and see the gems at the core of the molten lava
facade. Here are his thoughts on the business of writing.
This week The Guardian decided to look at the rise of Indie writers and how they are starting to be noticed by the movie studios. The Indie
brand – cool... fresh... exciting... new...
Of course that is how all of us see ourselves. Or Not.
William Kenower talks about a writers worst fear.
Penny Sansevieri has a great post on Amazon keywords. How do
you find the right keywords for your metadata... and should you use keyword
strings?
This week I read an interesting article about reading being
something that now happens on phones. Surely not I thought. I didn’t make the
connection to myself until I realised that I had just read a podcast transcript
on my phone. Prerna Gupta, one of
the founders of Hooked, talks about how she got ten million teens to read on their phones. This is a fascinating look into a reading future near you.
In The Craft Section,
A cheats guide to writing a synopsis- Sarah Juckes- Bookmark
How to use cause and effect in stories- Martha Alderson- Bookmark
Fiction Critique checklist- C S Lakin- Bookmark
Pulling weeds from the writing garden- Laural Zimmerman
When to listen to your critique group-Roz Morris- Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
2 interesting posts from the Bookbug blog- Reasons books are rejected from Bookbub and Ideas for more Bookbub followers.
How to get endorsements for your book- Shelly Hitz
Marketing with your next book- Janice Hardy
A recipe for a non traditional marketing plan- Writer
Unboxed
Creating a box set bundle- Joanna Penn
Getting book reviews- Reedsy - Bookmark
To Finish,
Once in a while you come across someone who has such a
passion for life that you stand back in awe of their energy and drive. They
live a life of not compromising on what they love. Every meeting is a joy of
laughter, robust opinions and new ideas. When you think their name, scenes from
past meetings fill your mind and you find yourself grinning.
One of the champions of the New Zealand Children’s Writing
Community left us last night. We are all feeling a little lost today. Barbara
lived a life filled with story. She wrote, she reviewed, she assessed, she
collected children’s books. Her knowledge of books and writers careers was
second to none. A librarian, a mentor, a lover of children’s books, to the
very last month of a life, well lived.
R.I.P. Barbara Murison.
x
Maureen
@craicer
Pic: From Barbara's blog. A treasure trove of book reviews and events.
