It’s February already???
Where did the time go?
The kids went back to school this week. I tried to find all
my writing projects. They are scattered around the house in folders of
scribbled notes... because the kids kept taking my computer.
This week there was a semi quiet announcement, which was
pounced on by industry commentators. Walmart announced a deal with Rakuten Kobo. Walmart is a very big chain of stores selling all kinds of products
including grocery. Kobo started as a Canadian eBook distributor with its own
hardware reader. They operate ebook stores all over the world but not in the
US. This is going to make 2018 very interesting with increased competition for Amazon.
While Kobo have been making moves so has Apple. They have
rebranded their ebook store. The Digital Reader has some ideas on what Apple can do next to really ramp up the competition in the ebook market place.
Next it was Google Play’s turn. They started to sell audiobooks this week. If you have been looking at the audio format and wondering
whether to do a deal with Audible with a 7 year contract lock in.... Maybe it’s
time to take a look at all the other players who have audio book storefronts.
Here in NZ we are lucky to get free ISBN’s for our work. It
would be nice if we got free I.S.N.I. -International Standard Name Identifier.
This means that the code attached to your name identifies you as the owner of a
public work. If there are 500 Jane Smiths all saying they wrote a book... which
one are you? YouTube has just become a registration agency for ISNI. What does it mean for creators? Publishing Perspectives takes a look
Kris Rusch has an interesting blog post on things that can be learned about the Indie Publishing business from the publishing train wrecks of 2017. A little bit of distance to think calmly is always a good thing.
Karen Meyers has an interesting opinion piece on the ALLi
blog. Why do you need to learn to market? Her answer; Do you want to be in
business? It all comes back to what you want from your writing career. A very
interesting and thoughtful post.
Ann Kroeker has a solution to the ‘where to start’ problem
of writing. Reverse engineer your editorial calendar. Start right from the
end... publishing it. This post turns writing on its head... but it just might
work.
Janet Reid answered a readers question about how hard it was to restart a writing career from an Agents perspective. It is not impossible
but...
Jane Friedman has a guest post from Jennifer Probst on
creating amazing secondary characters. I have been guilty of letting a
secondary character have too much limelight. How can you manage these
characters properly?
In The Craft Section,
7 steps to for plotting novel and personal goals- Martha
Aalderson- Bookmark
How to use dictation for healthier writing- Passive Guy-
Read the comments for great advice.
How Authors become better readers- K M Weiland
Script analysis – Coco
Scene break down- Go Into The Story- Bookmark
5 types of surprises- SeptemberFawkes- Bookmark
9 secrets to supercharge your fiction- Anne R Allen –
Bookmark
Characterisation- Fear – Ruthanne Reid
In The Marketing Section,
What to put in your Author Newsletter- Glen Miller- Bookmark
Have you got a catalogue page- Darcy Pattison- Bookmark
Sales theory for authors and How to promote your book on the cheap- Book Marketing Tools
Why you need an author profile and where to put it- Erica
Verrillo
Media friendly website content- Bookworks
18 Book Marketing predictions for 2018- Penny Sansevieri
How to Give Away an eBook from an author website-Digital
Reader- Bookmark
To Finish,
It’s time for a bit of inspiration... Jerry Jenkins asked 41
Authors what they wished they knew when they were starting out...
For me... it’s amazing how much you can get done in sprint
writing. AND get a computer the kids can’t borrow...
Maureen
@craicer
In my monthly newsletter I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. A coffee is always nice so if you want to shout me one, just hit the coffee button. Thanks.
Pic: Flickr Creative Commons / Elliott Brown - Merry Go Round at London Zoo
