Craic-er

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Gifts and Predictions

This will be my last post for 2017.

As the politics of the USA played out throughout the year... everyone in the publishing blogosphere became effectively punch drunk. Predictions went out the window and future planning in the industry had an undercurrent message of unless-we-haven’t-all-perished-in- an-apocalyptic-event.

Jane Friedman has a good roundup of 2017 and the trends and events that happened in publishing.

Predictions for 2018 are already starting.

Publishing Perspectives looks at 5 trends Scholastic editors think will be popular in 2018 for children’s books.

Neil Hughes looks at the how digital storytelling is shaping what stock images are going to popular in 2018. This is an interesting look at what is being requested across the visual platforms.

Goodereader has an in depth look at where audiobooks is heading in 2018 based on statistics. There a quite a few interesting trends being highlighted including a global library card.

Alice Lutyens of the Curtis Brown Agency warns about a trend she is seeing from Traditional Publishers. Contracts are arriving with the assumption that audio rights will be included in the print/ebook deal. It seems that Audio books are a thing now... (who knew?) and publishers want a piece of this rapidly growing market.

If you have spent 2017 trying to make sense of Amazon’s constantly changing rules you are not alone. John Doppler from Alli has a good round up of what myths or misunderstandings you might have about publishing with them.

Facebook has been changing the way it is dealing with authors. Alex Newton has a look at what they are cracking down on and what might be changing in the near future.

If you are an Indie publisher and are thinking about translations... Porter Anderson has an interview with an agent that specialises in matching up indie stories to translation publishing houses.

Kris Rusch looks at quitting.... No, not her career... just the reasons that authors quit the publishing business. This is a follow up to her burnout post. Food for thought over Christmas and for 2018 planning.

Anne R Allen talks about the secret rules of writing... you know... the really secret ones... and when to break them. A stellar writing craft post to end the year with.

In The Craft Section,

Short Story ideas- Reedsy- Bookmark!!!!

7 deadly sins of world building

Deadliest first page sin-Peter Selgin

Six tips for sequels- Mythcreants

20 step plan for writing a book- Bookbaby

Dumb little writing tricks that work- Go Into the Story-Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Book Promotion- The Book Designer- Bookmark

Book Marketing vs Book Publicity- Bookmark

How to tell a story on Social Media

What you are doing wrong on Twitter- Rachel Thompson

Two events that authors need to be aware of- C K Syme

Marketing as an author group

Self publishing software roundup - Dave Chesson- Bookmark!!!

To Finish,

Last minute Christmas presents for writers... besides the journals, pens, chocolate, bookcases, alcohol... which are essentials!

Bill Ferris has the Passive Aggressive Christmas gift list for writers....

and Angela Ackerman has the Writers Holiday Gift List... where you can’t go wrong... and

Reedsy has 28 gifts for writers... which you could have year round... Jane Austen socks...mmm

Have a peaceful Christmas break filled with all good things.

I will see you half way through January...

Maureen

(about to load two huge boxes of books to read over Christmas into the car...)

@craicer

I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces every month. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. Thanks for all the messages and coffees over the year...

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Present and Future Plans

We are rapidly coming to the end of the year. Thoughts turn to finishing up projects before Christmas, the ideal Christmas presents and what projects to start 2018 with.

In the publishing blogosphere Patreon decided this week that increasing charges to people who were only paying a small sum to artists was the way to position themselves for the coming year. They could not have got it more wrong. Artists value their Patrons. Most creative’s have a lot of small donor patrons. These people often support many artists by sharing a couple of dollars a month around a lot of people. It all adds up. The backlash was swift. Patreon realised its blunder today. However the whole experience has left a sour taste in many peoples mouths.

Mark Coker of Smashwords has begun a podcast. He has launched with a few episodes that everyone is talking favorably about. If you listen to podcasts about the writing business you should check it out.

Rachel Thompson has a post about the end of year clean up of your Social Media. Just what does this kind of clean up entail? Rachel lists all the things you should be thinking about with the different social media accounts.

Publishers Weekly reported on the Global Kids Connect panelheld in New York last week. What is selling globally at the moment? Trends were discussed and predictions made...

Orna Ross examines the role of the entrepreneur and discovers that being an author ticks all the boxes. However there are some mindset adjustments for authors. Do you believe in yourself?

Kris Rusch has a great blog post on Sustainability. Are you prepared for it? Do you know what it looks like to sustain a career over the long haul? This is a must read post.

Joanna Penn has a great interview with Andy Bromley on selling print books through Ingram and why what they do is so interesting. (P.S. You can always find a discount code to use so it won’t cost you anything.)

The wonderful Tara Sparling has a great post on the 12 days of Christmas for writers except that hers deals with the 12 writing cliches. This is a read and must share with your writing buddies.

Christmas presents for authors... I go into my local stationery shop and spend ages in the journal and pens section... filing boxes are so pretty... Can I justify a new desk... Dream about an office... Build Book Buzz has a list of gifts for readers and writers... and check out thisgift guide from the Millions website... of course you need book wallpaper.

Some bright spark has compiled all of J K Rowling’s writing advice. It's good advice too