Raise A Glass

In publishing news this week,

Porter Anderson has the rundown on what happened at the Futurebook conference. The big talking points- audio and the changing face of publishing.

 

Techcrunch reports that Spotify has launched audiobooks into more English speaking markets. They are apparently moving away from the all-you-can-eat model. Is this the beginning of the end of unlimited subscriptions? Mark Williams adds his own take on this new development in Audio.

 

If you want to understand book marketing – talk to romance writers they are amongst the savviest book marketers on the planet. Jane Friedman did just this and has an interesting interview with Kitty Thomas

 

Kris Rusch has part two of the year in review. This is a romp through that court case again. However, Kris has some very pertinent things to say about how this could be the last best year for Traditional publishers based on what the court case revealed about publishing.

 

Ruth Harris has a list of clueless things that drive writers crazy. I can see this morphing into writers drinking game.

 

Joanna Penn has a great interview with John Truby about his new book, The Anatomy of Genres. John is an in-demand writing craft teacher. He has several best-selling books which are on my bookshelf. I watched a webinar about the new book today and it is top notch so it’s now on my must-buy Christmas list.

 

In The Craft Section,

The plotting grid- Kobo- Bookmark

Getting to know your characters- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

When to use flashbacks and backstory- Donna Jo Stone

Plot bitches and how to slay them- Marissa Graff

Good endings- Roz Morris- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

2 great posts from Penny Sansevieri- Celebrate read a new book month and Clever book promos for 2023- Bookmark

How does a top book publicist think- Interview – Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Why does my book need interior formatting- Bookbaby

5 concrete steps for building a mailing list- Laurel Osterkamp

 

To Finish,

The last month of the year is here. As we totter towards Christmas, the lists of Christmas gifts for writers start doing the rounds. I started with two lists last week- Check out Angela and Becca’s Christmas gift list for writers this week. I often buy myself a writer textbook in print for Christmas. It’s a gift to myself for achieving another writing year. What gift would you get for yourself? 

 

R.I.P. The Original Songbird. Christine McVie

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. Get the best of my bookmarked links when you subscribe.

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

 

Pic: Photo by Kelsey Knight on Unsplash

Writing Challenges

 

 

It’s been a challenging week on the home front so apologies for no roundup last week. 

 

In Publishing News this week,

Tiktok is selling books- Yes, this is old news I can hear you say… but No, TikTok has partnered with Bookshop.org to create a Bookselling platform right in the app. It was only a matter of time.

Another company spreading its wings is Written Word Media- home of the Book Marketing email lists. They have partnered with Yonder, a serialized fiction app. They see it as curated a list of previously published fiction that is serialized. Didn’t Dicken’s do this? This could be an interesting way to mine your backlist.

 

And is Amazon price fixing again? Publishers Weekly reports that a new lawsuit is on the books involving Amazon and the big 5 and the pricing of ebooks. 

Maybe they saw something of interest in the recent lawsuit judgment against PRH and Simon And Schuster which you can read here.

 

This week a theme emerged. Every time I opened my laptop there was another post on writing and mental health. So dip into these.

5 strategies to prevent perfectionism with writer self-care by Lisa Towles

Small changes that can make big differences in your writing life by Beth Barany

9 things writers need to know about Trauma and Mental Health by Lisa Hall Wilson

 

As the country gets hit with lightning strikes and wild weather, this post popped up as a timely reminder of what writers can do to prepare for the worst mother nature can throw at us. There are some good tips in here to keep you from losing all your work. If you are congratulating yourself on storing everything in the cloud – just hope your server isn’t hit by lightning.

 

Indie thought leaders Orna Ross, Joanna Penn, Jane Friedman, and Becca Syme recently shared their thoughts on publishing trends and how to predict and profit from them. 

 

James Scott Bell, one of the best writing teachers around has an interesting article over on  The Killzone Blog about the writer quadruple threat. Do you qualify? If you are weak in any of the main areas it might be time to upskill yourself.

 

In The Craft Section

How to describe a location you have never visited?- Angela Ackerman

Surprising your reader in every scene.- September Fawkes- Bookmark

On Story Death and Life- Writer Unboxed

Clarity in the writing- Patrick McNulty - Bookmark

Emotion amplifiers- Angela Ackerman

Killing your darlings- Ruthanne Reid- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Using the right Font- Jessica Bell - Bookmark

Best practice for marketing on Kindle- The Fussy Librarian- Bookmark

You don’t need a platform if you can find an audience- Catherine Baab-Muguira- Bookmark

Why you should care about Library distribution.- Draft2Digital

5 steps to author success - Joanna Penn interviewing Rachel McLean  Bookmark

 

To Finish,

As we near the end of the year, and what a year it has been, thoughts turn to writer gifts.

If you need to hand your family some gift inspiration, get them to check out these two sites. Sandra Beckwith has pulled together 30 great gifts for writers, and Shayla Raquel adds to this with some wonderful extra ideas. 

Of course, one of the best things you can give your writer is time… so don’t forget to mention mini writing retreats – where the family goes away or you go away, or time banking where the usual chores are looked after by someone else so the writer can get more time in front of the keyboard.

 

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 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 or here. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash