Looking Back To Move Forward

 This week in Publishing news…

Most of the chatter this week seemed to center on a New York Times article about Publishers paying huge amounts to current celebrities and getting burned when their books don’t sell. That publishers were relying on the celebrity's social media following for sales seems to be shortsighted. Jane Friedman has a measured article in response to this craziness.

 

The Association of American Publishers released their last quarter snapshot. What do the numbers tell us? Publishing Perspectives takes the view that everything is in good heart and future sales look rosy. 

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard looked at the same snapshot and took issue with the eBook sales numbers being down. He breaks down the millions being made on untracked eBooks and suggests that AAP haven’t factored in subscription… a whole ‘nother beast.

 

Joanna Penn interviewed MichaelBrent Collings this week on writing book descriptions. It was interesting and informative. Do yourself a favour and listen or read the transcript.

 

Roz Morris has a great post on how to cope after getting a hefty developmental edit report.

This is not the time to run away and hide or drown your sorrows. Lots of good advice here.

 

Downunder- the end of the year is in sight. School finishes for Summer. It’s Christmas so there is a mad rush to clear the desk and prepare for the end of year review while in the midst of Christmas events. Kris Rusch is looking at her year in review. How was 2021 for you? We are in year two of the pandemic and instead of thinking the world will go back to how it was, maybe we need to look at a new normal.

 

Penny Sansevieri has an interesting post on the 10 keys to successful publishing. If you are putting ideas together for next year this might be a useful starting point.

 

Sometimes the end of the year brings pressure to complete all your writing tasks. It might not be good for your mental health. Writing and Wellness blog has a great article on when it is time to break the writing rules to boost your productivity.

 

Anne R Allen has a great post on the rule of three. Yes, every story no matter how small needs the rule of three.

 

 

In The Craft Section,

Editing – Redundancy quiz (12)- Kathy Steineman

Guide to Flash Fiction – Reedsy

2 great posts from Angela Ackerman- Bookmark Both- How to draw in the reader through character choices and How symbolism adds depth to the story

How to write great endings- Staci Troilo- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Best Apps and tools for writers- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Using magnets to attract readers- Terry Odell- Bookmark

2 interesting posts from Bookbub- Advertising Design Elements and Boosting revenue with audiobooks

How to launch your book and still have a life- Penny Sansevieri

 

To Finish

It’s the season of gift-giving or wracking your brains trying to figure out what to give others.

Here are two lists for you to study for gift-giving ideas for the writer.

13 unique gifts for writers, and Gifts for the work from home worker.

 

 

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: 

 

Giving Thanks

 

 

This week in publishing news,

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard took a close look at this week’s report from the UK Publishers Association on the rise and rise of audiobook revenue. Mark looks at the bounce in publishing revenue from the pandemic. The numbers are truly startling. I never suspected that Children’s digital publishing had risen by 26%. 

 

Several days later and it was Nielsen’s turn to deliver their report on audio publishing. Publishing Perspectives compares both reports and the strong indications of subscription being the way of the future for our ears.

 

Recently two posts caught my eye on data protection and online privacy. 

How many times have you just skated around the edge of disaster, nearly losing all your work files. Lindsay Syhakhom on how to keep track of multiple copies of your work. You are filing multiple copies away, aren’t you?

 

How secure are you from hackers? Jacqui Murray has a great article for writers on protecting their online identities. If you ever wanted to scare someone about how easy it is to hack someone, check out the little embedded video of a hacker at work. Let’s be careful out there.

 

It’s interesting to look from the other side of the world at the North American holiday of Thanksgiving. On the surface, it seems to be all about the food, insane travel stories, family feuds, and getting ready for Black Friday sales. But underneath there is a simple message - stop what you are doing and be thankful for being. 

Ruth Harris listed her reasons to be thankful and they made me stop and think about the little things in my writing life that I am thankful for.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors have published a useful glossary of terms for writing contracts. Know the meaning of the language.

 

Today I saw a comment about December being the Friday of the year. For some writers that piles extra pressure on to produce or finish a big project. Dave Chesson has an interesting article on coping with writer burnout.

 

Recently Joanna Penn interviewed Chrissy Metge on pitching to film studios. It was an information packed interview. If you think your writing project has potential you should listen/read the interview. Chrissy mentioned that studios need content all the time now with streaming services. 

Joshua Robinson follows this up with a post on Writing for Video Games on Insecure Writers Support Group. He writes for Video games. Yes, they need writers to do plot development and narration and dialogue. Writing is not only printed words on the page. 

 

Nina Amir has an interesting article on bringing writing ideas to life by creative visualization.

 

Now Novel has an excellent article on Story Planning. There are many ways to do this. Whether you write a bullet point list to begin with or a detailed plan- Jordan has broken down the main points of how to start from the first idea.

 

In The Craft Section,

Editing- The redundancy quiz- Kathy Steinemann- Bookmark

10 mistakes to avoid writing fantasy- Lucy Hay

Populating your story with background characters- Jan Drexler

Writing from the end- Mary Moore- Bookmark

The static hiss of description- Donald Maass- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Common Author questions- Draft2Digital team

How To format a book- Dave Chesson - Bookmark

Start marketing your book now- Stevan Spatz

Ultimate guide to getting reviews- Alliance of Independent Authors

22 must have resources in 2022- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish

It’s December and thoughts turn to getting ready for Christmas and the end of the year wind down. Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are back with another Advent calendar for writers. Check out the daily offerings and send Thanks to the Dream Team.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

My monthly newsletter of the best of my bookmarked links is due out soon. 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 to the lovely person who donated coffee this week.

 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons –  Mike Gnuckz