Becoming A Super Hero

In the publishing blogosphere this week...

The Digital Reader reports on the news that the audio market was bigger than anyone thought... how big? Pick a number and put a lot of zeroes after it. This really has implications for contracts, rights and as I posted last week... audio only deals.

Influential authors in the English publishing world are speaking out about the poor payments to writers in a recent Guardian article. The news continues to be really bad with most authors working below minimum wage. What does this mean for the future of Literature... nothing good says Philip Pullman.

This week Joanna Penn had a podcast on writing with depression. Her guest Michaelbrent Collings talked about how to manage a writing life if you are also trying to manage a severe mental illness. This was a fascinating podcast and one well worth checking out and referring others to.

Ruth Harris wrote this week about writers and the F word. Failure. Failure is part of the writing landscape. How do we cope with it? Do we let it derail us? This is a great post on redefining the word and learning to deal with ‘Failure.’

Sometimes our ‘Failure’ come from the lies we tell ourselves as writers. Katie Weiland has a great post on the 5 big lies that writers believe and what we can do about them.

This week Kris Rusch talks about opportunities and how writers need to be open to learning more about the business so they can make informed decisions. This touches on Writer Fear... fear of learning because you don’t think you can... But are you open to try?

Writers residencies... sometimes seen as the Holy Grail... a chance to work uninterrupted in a spectacular place and get paid for it... How about a Swiss Tree house...

The eight stages to writing a book by Leigh Shulman details a step by step process for the beginning writer. This is one of those posts you direct people to... when they ask How do you do it...?

Jane Friedman is always a source of well thought out great content. She has a new university textbook out, The Business Of Being A Writer. Jane has updated her post on How to evaluate small publishers. If you are wondering whether small press publishing is for you check out this article. Jane hosts Dave Chesson this week on her blog. He has written a meaty article on the psychology of Author Marketing. Dave has a popular podcast on the subject so check out the article.

The first million words are practice says Kevin Tumlinson of Draft2Digital. This is an interesting article on targets and goal setting and the theory of writer apprenticeship.

In The Craft Section,

Description and setting in deep POV- Lisa Hall Wilson- Bookmark

Creating Stunning Character Arc’s- K M Weiland _ Bookmark

The 12 stages of physical intimacy to build tension in your fiction-Jenny Hansen- Bookmark-Read inside a brown paper bag...

How Structure affects pacing- September Fawkes- Bookmark

Main Character life changes – Mary Kole

Literary Devices- Repetition- Peter Rey

Good Character flaws create complex antagonists- Now Novel- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Grow your mailing list with these  7 tools- Digital Reader

7 avoidable rookie errors- Debbie Young- Bookmark

Author Brand 101 turn readers into fans- Bookmark

YouTube creators monetization- This news is important reading if you have a YouTube channel

Important author website metrics to monitor- IngramSpark- Bookmark

3D cover mockups- Derek Murphy- Bookmark Bookmark !!! Check it out... you will see why...

To Finish,

In this unsettled landscape we need to find ways to be calm and achieve a Zen mindset so we can productively put words on the page. With the right mindset and a few tools you can overcome anything so boost your creativity with these helpful oils, fragrances and crystals... and become a super hero.

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 also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. If you just want to say thanks for the blog you can hit the coffee button up top... Thanks.

Pic: Because you are a super hero to someone!

Writer Rage

It has been a challenge keeping calm this week with the political news dominating the media. Many writers are stuck. Do they try to steer a middle path or ignore what is happening or make a comment. I have seen writers being attacked on Social Media for daring to have a political opinion and voicing it. They are being told that their work is entertainment and to stick to that and not point out anything different, because as one fan said 'I want a small corner of sanity where political views don't intrude.'

So to put your mind at rest I will not be commenting... I will leave it in Chuck's capable hands to tell you what writers should be doing

Anne R Allen has been seeing red lately over people not respecting Book Bloggers or any bloggers in the publishing blogosphere. I understand how she feels. I don't have the readership that Anne has but I get at least two appeals a week to write guest posts or highlight someone or update a post with new information. It is annoying because it clearly shows they don't read my blog. I ignore them including all the 'follow up' emails. Anne has great points to make if you are suffering the Troll Blues.

This week Geraldine McCaughrean won the Carnegie Medal for her novel Where The World Ends, a mid grade- early secondary book. She used her winner's speech to highlight the problems of publishers dumbing down language for children. She has direct recent experience of publishers asking her not to write long words. What happens if we don't stretch our reader's minds? Read the Guardian article on Geraldine's speech and find out.

With the biggest publishers of content in the world (*FAANG) taking over the interface between the creators and the consumers what is next for the poor content creator. Alli director Orna Ross published an article on the Alli blog looking at Self Publishing 3.0 -direct sales between authors and readers. We have the means. We have the technology. What is stopping us?

Last week I highlighted Kris Rusch's blog post on author learned helplessness. The Passive Guy - contracts lawyer in real life- added some learned commentary on Kris' article backed up with some recent discoveries of his own. (If you haven't read Kris' blog post, you are missing out on a valuable learning opportunity.) This leads on to an excellent article about the growth mindset of authors by Jennie Nash. Do you have a growth mindset? It may make all the difference to your career.

In industry news... a wrinkle. Audible (owned by Amazon) has started making audio first deals with writers. This has some major implications to rights sales and contracts.  Melville House Publishers saw it as a tricksy problem for publishers. Read their blog from a writer's perspective before you make up your mind. 

Should you start an author newsletter before you have a book contract? The writer chicken and egg problem. Tamela Hancock Murray suggests that you should and moreover she details just what you should put in one too.

Rebecca Monterusso has written an intensive breakdown of what a scene actually is, on Jane Friedman's blog. "They should do the same thing your global story does: upset the life value of the character and put them on a path to try and restore it."

This is a great article on the basic building blocks of story. A Bookmark Post.

In The Craft Section,

8 common pacing problems  and How to dump info - September Fawkes- Bookmark Both

Writing riveting inciting action and What is a plot point- Now Novel- Bookmark Both

5 tips for writing good prose- Roz Morris

What should your characters talk about - KM Weiland

In The Marketing Section,

Spice up your Amazon Book Pages- Joanna Penn - Bookmark

How to update without losing your reviews- Kate Tilton

Combating release day stress- Elizabeth S Craig

Self publishing marketing strategies- Indiereader

8 cover design secrets- Derek Murphy- Bookmark

Agents Tips to use on Social Media- Bookbub- Bookmark

To Finish,

In our house we have extroverts and introverts and people who sit squarely in the middle. This can make for challenging conversations when it comes to attending Book Launches. The introverts would rather have a quiet celebration dinner. The extroverts a full on party! So what happens when an introvert has to launch a book with a splash? L L Barkat  has the introverts guide to launching a book. 

Happy Solstice Day -

Congratulations Prime Minister on the birth of your baby girl- I'm sure children's writers all over the country are wrapping books for you.

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 also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. If you want to shout me a Solstice coffee to say thanks for the blog you can hit the coffee button up top... Thanks.

*FAANG- Facebook Amazon Apple Netflix Google (finance speak for media stocks)

Pic: The Scream - Edvard Munch