Crisis Mode

This week I put the above cartoon on my Facebook page. To me, it highlights the disconnect of the world that our children are facing and how we are trying to protect them from it. Sometimes I have muttered under my breath at the latest dire news bulletin ‘Stop the world I want to get off.’ But it is important to take a deep breath and continue to support the changemakers. This month UK children’s publishing house Greystones announced that all their non-fiction books coming out will be issues-driven. (I wish that we didn’t have to have preschool books explaining climate change. Gulp.)

Publishing Perspectives reports on the changes to Book Expo for next year. In the past, the changes have resulted in very dissatisfied publishers and agents so 2020 Book Expo is almost a return to normality except that its shorter. Why, when the book industry is supposed to be expanding?

The week has been filled with reaction to the Medium article by Heather Demetrios -How to lose a third of a million dollars without really trying. This sad little tale comes from an Author who got big advances for debut novels and then watched the dream descend into a nightmare. 

For two very interesting perspectives on this article, you need to read Dean Wesley Smith and learn about what you don’t know. Then read Chuck Wendig for a dose of reality.
This is a business. After the flowers and the Champaign of your first book launch, you need to understand the book world and you need to ask questions. There is no question too dumb as Chuck points out in his own style.

Chris Syme has an interesting guest post on Anne R Allen’s blog this week about crisis management. When an author needs crisis management… it’s not as bad as you think it is.

David Gaughran, the fearless knight defender of the little author, writes about a book exhibit scam that is wrapped up in a veneer of publishing respectability. The big Book Fair comes around and there are companies ready and willing to take your book and exhibit it to the international book-buying world. Yeah, about that….. 

This week Joanna Penn interviewed James Scott Bell on his latest craft book- The Last 50 Pages. If you haven’t come across James Scott Bell’s craft books check them out. He is a master at showing another way to look at craft!

In The Craft Section,

Character development tips - Now Novel- Bookmark

Creating memorable characters- David Griffin Brown

3 tips for writing children- Lucia Tang

5 types of character arc at a glance – K M Weiland – Bookmark

Beyond two-dimensional character-building- Therese Walsh- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section

Book Ad design tools- Bookbub

What the ideal writer website should look like- Laksmhi Padmanaban- Bookmark

Before marketing your book- Boni Wagner Stafford

How to improve your email newsletters- Barb Drozdowich- Bookmark

Cover design terms you should know- Mary Neighbour

Selling books to an international audience – Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

To Finish,

Killzoneblog is a great blog to drop into for all things writerly. Recently Jordan Dane wrote a fabulous post on rediscovering your writer mojo. I was reminded of this as I dropped into Alli’s 24-hour conference earlier this week and saw Dean Wesley Smith talking about the negative associations of calling writing ‘work.’ It got me thinking about mindset and negativity, which helped me over a hump in some scenes this week. Go out there and rediscover writing FUN!

Maureen
@craicer

The monthly newsletter is due this week. If you want the best of my bookmarked links, why don’t you subscribe? Then you can also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you.
I appreciate the virtual coffee love so if you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top.
Thanks.

The Plot Thickens

Digital Book World is on and straight after it is the 24-hour free online conference put on by ALLI – The Alliance of Independent Authors. Register NOW so you can have 3 days perusing all the info before it is gone! 

In Publishing Business News…
Canada Independent Booksellers report a rise in print revenue according to Publishing Perspectives. This is good news if you have just launched a bookshop. (see last week’s post)

Meanwhile, Publish Drive have changed their author fees. They had introduced a flat fee for handling all the distribution in exchange for 100% royalties. Now they have a four-tier model. It still might be worth considering if you have quite a few books.

The French Military, taking a leaf out of the US military playbook, has put out a call to Science Fiction writers to write scenarios for them. Who better than a bunch of authors to come up with plots that might actually happen. (Debt of Honour by Tom Clancy published in 1997, 4 years before 9/11)

This year the Frankfurt Bookfair has a pavilion dedicated to Romani Gypsy literature. I first read of ethnic minorities becoming nation-states without borders in a Science Fiction novel. This pavilion recognises an ethnic minority, without a nation-state, and their literature. Literature is above borders.

Kris Rusch has published the next installment in her rethinking the writing business series. It’s all about money and licensing. How do you know how much to charge for each license?
(BTW Dean, her husband, is speaking on this topic in the free Alli conference if you needed another reason to register.)

Dean Wesley Smith is annoyed with the misinformation out there about how much it costs to Indie Publish. In his dumbest new myth blog post he points out it is relatively cheap… so anyone charging you $2000 plus you need to give the side-eye to. As ever, read the comments!! Some of the commenters added new resources to Dean's list that make it even cheaper!

Agent Janet Reid sends out a warning of a scam that she recently came into contact with. People who offer to represent you to agents… her thoughts… BURN.

The Alliance of Independent Authors has updated their publishing business reviews. If you are thinking of working with anyone in the publishing world it worth checking out whether they have a good review from ALLI.

Kathy Steinemann has a nifty list of ways to record the fabulous plot ideas that arrive in the middle of the night.

Amanda Rawson Hill gets a rave review from September Fawkes and just reading this guest post on How Theme and False Theme affect your protagonist, you can see why. 
This is a knockout… print this out and pin it on the wall post!

In The Craft Section,

Setting the scene- NowNovel Bookmark

Emotional mastery for fiction writers – C S Lakin- Bookmark

How to approach writing a villain protagonist - Scott Myers- Bookmark

The inner struggle- Janice Hardy

How to tell if you have too much plot and not enough character- K M Weiland - Bookmark

How can we make our conflict stronger- Jami Gold- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Behind the scenes of an author newsletter- DIYMFA -Bookmark

Forget what you learned in Kindergarten, copy Madonna- Janet Reid

Promote your book hacks-Reedsy- BOOKMARK

2 great posts from Penny Sansevieri, Easy SEO for author marketing and 5 quick ways to ramp up 
your author central page-Bookmark Both.

On producing my own audiobook- James Scott Bell

To Finish

Do you call yourself a Bookworm or a Bookshark? Lit Reactor can tell you the difference. I was nodding my way down the list… so I know what I am.

Today is a day that haunts many people. Inevitably it has filled the internet with sad stories. So maybe we need to turn to Roald Dahl for the perfect quote (collection)
It doesn’t matter who you are or what you look like,
So long as somebody loves you.
Roald Dahl- The Witches

Maureen
@craicer

It’s nearly time for the monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links, why don’t you subscribe? Then you can also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you.
I appreciate the virtual coffee love so if you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top.
Thanks.

Pic : Flickr Creative Commons- Rab Driver-  Cat Plotting Revenge