Thursday, June 3, 2021

Playing Catch Up

 


In interesting news for writers from The Guardian, a couple of second-hand book merchants have been working on a scheme where writers can get a small payment if their books get on sold. Hopefully, the idea gains traction and goes worldwide. 

 

Mike Williams of The New Publishing Standard takes a look at the German acquisition of Print On Demand business Bok2. Lessons learned from the pandemic – The Backlist keeps your publishing business afloat and this means Print On Demand is important. 

 

When you read Kris Rusch’s latest post on fear in publishing and how, even with credible data on backlist, it's hard to believe that publishers are still hoping a magic reset button will be pushed and everything will go back to the way it was before. The pandemic is changing entertainment. Now it is all about subscription- How many subscription services do you pay for? 


Diana Urban of Bookbub has just published the key Marketing and Sales takeaways from the virtual U S Book show hosted last week by Publishers Weekly. It’s all about the power of the backlist. – There’s gold in there and some savvy publishers are now putting dedicated teams on to mining it. 


Writer’s Digest has an excerpt from a new book, Book Wars by John Thompson, on 3 crucial changes that have impacted the book industry. John sees a publisher move to a reader-centric model as being the next big change in publishing-but have the publishers left it too late? 

 

Publishing Perspectives has an interesting article on how the Arab world is changing its book buying. Most books are sold in big book fairs but with the pandemic Arab booksellers have had to develop online stores.

 

Dave Chesson has been working hard on an interesting and comprehensive article on How To Format A Book. It is chock full of information (A mini book's worth!) This is the go-to article for anyone who wants a little bit more information before dipping their toe in. Dave’s site is full of other great resources so take some time to check it out.

 

Briefing a beta reader- Brenda Pollard has an interesting blog post on how to educate your beta readers to get the most out of them. Beta readers are the readers who get the book before it’s published when you still have time to fix any errors.

 

In The Craft Section,

A beginners guide to structure- writing cooperative


Archetypes- The King Arc- KM Weiland – Bookmark


When to break the rules – Karel Segers


Rewriting your novel - Linda Clare- Bookmark


Tips on writing the boring stuff- Jenna Harte-Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

Ten ways for authors to waste money- Nate Hoffelder


The ultimate guide to selling children’s books- Karen Inglis – Bookmark


What is a soft book launch- Sandra Beckwith – Bookmark


Book marketing- 14 tips- Bewrit


5 types of video for social media marketing-Joe Forte


100 Facebook promotion groups for writers – Kathy Steinemann- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Sandra Beckwith has reviewed Ricardo Fayet’s book - How to market a book. Ricardo is one of the founders of Reedsy and has had a ringside seat to the changes in the book industry over the last five years. Reedsy has a lot of free courses and resources and this book is Free as well. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Steven Pisano

 

Friday, May 28, 2021

Selling Your Wares



This week in publishing,

Last week’s hot news of Storytel partnering with Spotify has been rippling through the publishing community. It’s been a rollercoaster lately with publishers buying publishers and audio publishing subscription services getting bigger. This week Amazon laid down $8 Billion and bought MGM. Not everyone in the entertainment business is pleased about this. Mark Williams looks at the IP treasure trove that Amazon has just acquired.

Meanwhile, Amazon inks its first library deal.

 

Jane Friedman wrote a salutary article How Much Do Authors Earn which has us all wincing but agreeing. Many authors earn more from side hustles than from straight writing. But all is not lost says Jane.

 

Being an Author is all about…Networking. Did your soul just shrivel a little when you read that? The Alliance of Independent Authors has a comprehensive post on the art of networking for authors. How and why it is important and full of great tips. If you are really struggling as an introverted author for marketing advice check out this week’s 6 figure author podcast especially on marketing for introverts.

 

Today is the last day to pick up the Storybundle of writing business books. Don’t miss out.

 

SEO Sherpa recently contacted me to let me know of a comprehensive post on metadata that they have prepared. Before you scroll past- Stop. Do you have a website? Do you want your website to show up in searches? Do you know that a few simple tweaks of your description metadata will boost your website in a google search? If you know all the tricks scroll past- if not, take a look.

 

Kris Rusch is continuing her interesting blog series on fear based decision making. She is making some strong points in this series about how this affects what projects get greenlit. If you know how to frame a project so it sounds familiar, you have a much better chance of getting it picked up.

 

Jordan at Now Novel has a comprehensive post on how to write critiques and evaluations. This is something that every author should have in their toolbox of tricks- you never know when you will be asked to give critical feedback. (Like today’s request from my nephew…)

 

In The Craft Section,

How to submit to Literary Journals- Meredith Allard


5 ways to write realistic dialogue- Courtney Walsh


Balancing your cast of characters- September Fawkes- Bookmark


Organising research and notes in Scrivener - Gwen Hernandez


Setting as character- Jami Gold - Bookmark


What to include in your first draft- J D Edwin- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Planning a Book Launch- Bookbaby- Bookmark!


How to write a query letter- Nathan Bransford


Are you ready for book marketing? -Frances Caballo


Help others, help yourself- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark


Unique Marketing ideas for June- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Writers Digest has been in the business of writing inspiring articles for writers for many decades. Recently they asked a bunch of authors, what is the one piece of advice you would give to writers. Here is a comprehensive collection of advice with links to interviews. Go forth and be inspired. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links, come and subscribe. You will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. Thanks for the coffee love this week. I really appreciate it. 

Thanks.

 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Chas B

 

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