Flying Past The Trolls

This week in the publishing blogosphere, there was lots of discussion around the article published in The Guardian about author Kathleen Hale (gleefully) stalking a reader/book reviewer because her book didn’t rate a 5* review. The ethics around this and the fact that The Guardian published this and effectively implied that book reviewers/bloggers could be called out for giving a less than brilliant review has riled a lot of people. The Dear Author site and The Passive Guy have got very strong opinions on this. Yes, book reviews are subjective. Yes, you might get a lukewarm review... but you don’t engage in troll behaviour. You suck it up and move on.

Published to Death has a list of online reviewers who will look at your book. Obviously they won’t want any troll behaviour.

We want book reviewers. They benefit the whole industry. Do we want to have a reading public who won’t read anything new because they can’t be sure the review was paid for?(sock puppetry)

Hugh Howey is on a roll with some more examination of publishers and book stores.... should we really feel sorry for them? Possibly not when you see what earnings the big 5 (4) racked up in the last few years.

At a recent conference in the US... a comment was made about authors having all their eggs in the Amazon basket.  Porter looks at the use and abuse Amazon may be wielding with Kindle Unlimited.

Audible (the audio book publishing outlet) is owned by Amazon. Recently Jane Friedman had a guest post on her site comparing what CD Baby has to offer... and it’s all good! (starting with 90% royalties vs 30%)

Julie Musil has a great post on how to find your book narrator.

The Plot Whisperer takes a look at NaNoWriMo. What is your goal and how are you going to achieve it. November is always quiet in the publishing blogosphere. Authors are writing and editors are quaking awaiting the December onslaught.

Publishing Hub reckons they have found the secret to writingfor children... hiking up the emotional intensity.

Brain Pickings has the article that explains that Einstein quote that reading Fairy Tales is the best way to improve children’s intelligence.

The 50th Anniversary of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has arrived this week... The only children’s book written by Ian Fleming.  It is being re-released with new covers etc and the original illustrations by a much loved illustrator now. (Chitty was his second book.)

Also in the news this week a Slovakian company has made the flying car a reality. This is a seriously up market Chitty!

In the Craft Section,

Using layers to pre write your scenes – Janice Hardy

20 Common Fiction issues

How to pick a killer opening for your science fiction

Whose point of view should you use? – Jami Gold

Writing tips from 5 Aussie authors

Is worrying about genre holding you back

Do you have sympathy for your villain? –James Scott Bell

Effective story description – K M Weiland

Finding your writing voice

In the Marketing Section,

10 point website check

Social Media for authors

Finding your books ideal audience – Angela Ackerman

Writing for money and love

5 Tips for writing your author bio

Blogging ideas for writers

To Finish,

Joanna Penn has joined together with Dave Gaughran, Sean Platt and Johnny B Truant to bring you a deal that I urge you to get. They have combined their 3 magnificent writing and marketing craft books into an Indie Ebook bundle for 99c (no that is not a typo) I already have one of these books (eye poppingly good) and had put the other two on my Christmas list... but I snapped up this deal and you should too. Fly Fly Fly to Joanna’s site and learn more (and get your preorder in on your favourite reading platform.)

The deal is for a limited time. Release date is 3^rd November.

(secret news: Joanna will be in Auckland over summer... )

maureen

Deals and Demigods

This week around the publishing blogosphere the news was all Simon and Schuster. While Hachette and Amazon are still embroiled in their contract war, Simon and Schuster quietly went about negotiating new contract terms with Amazon. And everyone wants to know just what those contract terms are.... Hugh Howey has a pretty good idea... it is probably very close to what the Indie authors are getting.

Hugh has been busy this week. His latest quarterly report Author Earnings is out. And it is the first one that looks at the impact of Kindle Unlimited on author income. Porter Anderson has a very detailed look at what Hugh found out. Subscription models look here to stay and authors need to keep a weather eye on their impact.

Australian Author Patty Jansen has been looking at her Indie income with a fine toothcomb. A very interesting analysis.

Articles about the Frankfurt Book Fair are still coming out. Reedsy has one looking at a panel discussion on when publishers get it right... with sales and content. Great read!

In our neck of the woods Walker seems to be going through a tough time. A long time popular editor has been let go and some Picture Book contracts have been cancelled. This is devastating news to the authors concerned as the illustrations were nearly finished. Picture Books can be anywhere from 18 months to four years in production and to pull them at such a late stage in the process sends alarm bells. Time to pore over those contracts... with a lawyer.

The huge success of the Percy Jackson series has the New Yorker looking hard at the quality of the books children choose to read. They draw on Neil Gaiman’s famous address which was in the “Just–so-long-as-they-are–reading” camp and contrast it with Tim Parks essay on reading habits where he suggests there is little evidence of reading upwards from Pulp to Proust. Having a Percy Jackson fan in my house I was treated to a diatribe this week about the important characters in the Greek demigod world. I don’t have a problem with that at all. Where else is the average Kiwi kid going to find out about thirty centuries old myth and legends?

In the news this week Disney has turned its sights on the South Pacific and their newest ‘Princess’ movie is in the works. Moana... ably supported by the demigod Maui. (Please Disney, don’t make it a white bread yawn!) Taika Waititi has written the original screenplay.

In the Craft Section,

Janice Hardy on finding the right rhythm and voice to nail your beginning.

Now Novel on Unreliable vs Omniscient narrators

How to get around using Trademark in novels from a Trademark lawyer. This is a Must Read post!

K M Weiland on the difference between Story Concept and Story Premise.

Quality not quantity in your writing.

In the Marketing Section,

Elisabeth S Craig looks at making your content work hard

Julie Muesil has a list of podcasts that are required viewing/listening. In the list are two people whom I have referred to before, Joanna Penn and Sean Platt. This week Joanna interviewed Sean so it’s a two for one deal in excellence!

Book Marketing tips for eBooks.

K M Wieland has a guest post on Book Cover design.

Matt Wallace has a comprehensive post on selling books from your own website.

The best ways to use Twitter lists

Tips on monetizing websites.

Using Book Trailers to promote your work.

To Finish,

NaNoWriMo is almost upon us... so Janice Hardy revisits her prep list for this event.

Every year Scrivener writing software do a free trial for the month… Go here to find out about it.

The Book Designer has a wonderful bundle discount on book interior designs. Well worth a visit and to grab an absolute bargain!

Huge Congratulations to Jack Lasenby who is receiving a Prime Ministers Award for literature tonight. Jack is one of New Zealand's finest writers for children. I am lucky to be attending this event… where we celebrate NZ demigods of literature.

Unleash your Demigod!

Maureen

Pic from The Disney press release