Thursday, February 21, 2019

Running To A Standstill




This week around the blogosphere there was consternation as
a plagiarism scandal erupted and grew bigger by the hour.

As events unfolded the writer in question blamed the ghost writers that she hired to write books
with her name on it… and therein lies the problem. If you have your name on it then it must have
come from you and been approved by you. As the plagiarised writer,  an ex-supreme court lawyer,
said on Twitter… you picked the wrong person here.
Unfortunately she was not the only writer targeted... at last count 27 writers had been picked up.
Kris Rusch outlines the very reasons why this mess happened and why you should be very
clear in writing cooperatively, however you do it.  


If you have been on social media lately you will have seen all the hype around the new Masterclass
with Neil Gaiman. Actually Neil is everywhere… Good Omens is coming out, American Gods is in
a second season...  Masterclass must be rubbing hands all the way to the bank. So if you have been
on the fence about shelling out for this…you might like this article about
whether it is worth doing a class with Mr Gaiman...or Ms Attwood.


Are you a company of one?
Joanna Penn interviewed Paul Jarvis on how to approach your writer business if it’s just you.


It’s Book Fair season around the world.  The New Publishing Standard keeps an eye on
the international book fairs with India having record attendances lately but they aren’t the only ones.
Belgium has just racked up record attendances too Is print back?
Meanwhile London is expanding their offering and opening up to podcasts.
(It’s all about audio you know….)


Nate Hoffelder pointed out in his blog this week that there is a new wordpress plugin that gets
Alexa to read your blog for you as a podcast and if that isn’t enough to be going on with...
in Joanna Penn’s latest podcast interview with Will Dages of Findaway voices the discussion touched on
a future copyright IP- for your author voice.


Are you worried about finding your ideal reader- The Superfan who will
buy all your books, shout your name to the heavens, and leap to do your every bidding?  
Anne R Allen has the blog post for you... Should writers despair if they don’t have superfans?
It must have struck a chord… there are a pile of comments.


Penny Sansevieri has an interesting post on 4 common book marketing complaints.
Check them out just in case you are doing something wrong and don’t know it.


Reedsy is getting into the book review business… which surprised me.
They have trusted book reviewers for a price… but then you are just marketing to other authors…
Maybe I’m missing something.


Scott Meyers has a great post on his screenwriting blog about writing sprints…
Yes you can achieve much when you write against the clock especially with others
but don’t forget that a writing walk is just as good… you’ll need your running shoes tho.


In The Craft Section,

2 great posts from Angela Ackerman- When character flaws go too far and Exploring the dark side of your hero - Bookmark Both.






10 steps guide to the likable hero - Captain America -K M Weiland- Bookmark


In The Marketing Section,







Using Twitter for your author platform- No wasted ink- Bookmark


To Finish,

If you are really in a hurry for that book… check out the Book Espresso machine.
They are becoming more common in book stores in the U.S. Walk in… order the book…
it gets printed while you wait…
Print can be almost as fast as buying an ebook.

Maureen

@craicer


It's nearly time for 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 like the blog and want to shout me a coffee- hit the coffee button up top. Thanks.



Thursday, February 14, 2019

How Do You Count Success?



Around the publishing blogosphere this week...


Ah Bologna! The biggest children’s book fair in the world. (Secretly every children’s writer wants to go…)
Bologna is about to get bigger! This years themes African American culture, women, and handwriting.
Check out Porter Anderson’s run down on what’s new to the fair.

It’s writing convention season in the Northern hemisphere… so you need to know what to pack.
Check out this list of must haves from Gail Carriger- (don’t forget foot lotion!)


Bustle decided we needed to be reminded of the book scandals so far this year… We are in the seventh week
and we have had five scandals in publishing… Are we in a depraved industry or finally at the point where we are
calling out BS?


A scandal that wasn’t mentioned was The Authors Guild report on author incomes and their downward trend
that came out in January. This caught some people by surprise. (Who knew there wasn’t any
money in publishing?) However there were plenty of people who disputed the figures. Orna Ross,
Director of Alliance of Independent Authors made some interesting comments about using money to
figure out if you were successful. (Some genres had a problem with that…)


A friend told me about an email last month from a company offering to write her autobiography as she was a
busy scientist. She must be famous. We laughed, but it is a serious matter. These scams target the clueless
about publishing. Be a great friend, alert people to scams. (If you want to laugh, check out their emails along
with their spell checker and understanding of science papers… ;)


I was interested to read Agent Janet Reid’s answers to a question about what to do when your
publisher looks like they’re going belly up… This reminded me of Kris Rush’s blog on IP a few weeks ago
and if you haven’t read it… YOU MUST! (- and the comments).  Kris is back with an interesting view of
the Consumer Electronics Show and new media. Remember, once upon a time eBooks were NEW.
(And look how they changed publishing.) Kris points out some new ideas
to be aware of. (Check your contracts… beware of rights grabs for media not invented yet.)


Last month I mentioned that Mike Shatzkin, publishing futurist and commentator, had been down under
and visited our fair shores. Mike took the time to speak to people in the book industry here about
what the big problems are.Here is what he found out and what publishers can do about it.


Jami Gold has been looking at Social Media platforms… which do you use and why?
Jami has some good advice for which ones would best suit you.


If you are an Indie publisher you will have come up against this important question… Go wide or Select?
Here are the pros and cons. Meanwhile Richard Charkin charts his Indie publisher journey so far
who knew it would start with 1000 emails...


The WriteLife blog has compiled their best sites for authors 2019… There are the tried and trusted ones…
and some new kids in the mix.

In The Craft Section,

How to write a Macguffin- The Maltese Tiger- Bookmark

Creating authentic villains- Kyla Bagnall- Bookmark

The 6 figure master fiction plot-Janice Hardy - Bookmark


In The Marketing Section,


How to use Goodreads for authors- Dave Chesson- Bookmark

10 reasons why people leave your website- infographic- Barb Dozdowich


To Finish,

It’s great to check in with Catherine Ryan Howard every now and then.
It shows how far a life can change in a decade in publishing. Catherine has just
published her 72 easy steps to get an Edgar nomination. If you are a thriller/ crime writer,
these are big genre awards! Practically an overnight success story!



Maureen
@craicer


In my monthly newsletter, coming soon, 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. If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee- hit the coffee button up top. Thanks.


R.I.P Opportunity... The last message... My battery is low. It is getting dark.

15 years of exploration on another planet... originally designed for 90 days.  

An OUTSTANDING achievement for the Rover Robot Team!

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