Exploring The Future

In The Publishing Blogosphere this week...

October is nearly over... that means writers around the world are preparing for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month.) October is usually prep month for this. It also is filled with things that go bump in the night. Publishing Perspectives takes a look at Serial Box a micro subscription storytelling service that is rolling out Holloween stories in a tag system from writers. Take a look at the future of binge reading.

Last year I received a fancy award that meant I had to deliver a 40 minute speech. The topic of my speech was on storytelling not being dependent on the container it comes in. I mentioned the development of blockchain technology that is set to be a publishing disruptor. This week Sony announced they were getting into blockchain technology as a way to control DRM. The upcoming year will be interesting as other tech companies won’t be left behind.

PublishDrive, Europes fast growing digital distributor are also interested in blockchain. They announced a few exciting developments at Digital Book World. They have improved ebook file generation, along with metadata scraping by AI for keyword generation and they have introduced subscription for authors in royalty payments. Get all your royalties managed for you with a subscription payment. I wonder how many authors will take them up on it...

How well do you know copyright? This week Kris Rusch looks at how Intellectual Property and who has the rights to it, is the name of the publishing game this century. Have you ever stopped to wonder why the publishers want world wide and now universal rights to your stories?

Nathan Hoffelder, besides keeping an eye on all sorts of publishing news also has a nifty page where he lists all the free courses around for authors. Take a look at his big list. There is something there for everyone. He also has an interesting guest post on how readers choose their books... Do you match up?

Jane Friedman has rounded up a best marketing advice list. There are some great gems on it. Have a look and see what you might have missed from my bookmarked links.

Joel Friedlander has got a great collection of ornaments together. What does this actually mean for authors? Ornaments are the little flourishes that you see in books... between scenes or chapters or below headings. They are part of font families. If you format books, ornaments can make a page look snazzy. So a handy collection of where to find these is a bookmark worthy opportunity.

In The Craft Section,

Finding the right sentence to start the story- NowNovel- Bookmark

The usefulness of lists for your writing- Wordstrumpet

Writing office hours- Live write breathe

MS word styles for formatting- Joel Friedlander- Bookmark

7 steps for Beta testing a story- Joanna Penn- Bookmark

Should you write faster?- Ali Luke

The 7 deadly sins of Novelists according to Editors

The mirror moment- James Scott Bell/ Mark Tilbury- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

15 secrets to selling more books at events- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

How to use your facebook group to get email leads

How to get a good author photo- Bryn Donovan

Distribution – Should you go wide or narrow? Dave Chesson- Bookmark

Advance Reader Copy sharing- Bookworks- Bookmark

How to write a bestseller- Jeff Goins

To Finish,

Sometimes all you want to do is curl up with a great fantasy novel and forget the world for a while. Spare a thought for the fantasy writer who has to make the world. That’s where a handy map comes in. For some enthusiasts the map is everything. How to map a fantasy world might just help you to plan your escape.

Maureen

@craicer

In my monthly newsletter I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes.
 

Pic Flicker Creative Commons- Captain Nemo

It’s all about language...

This week in the publishing blogosphere... I was struck by how many times I was reading important articles about language. 

Language as a weapon against bias.

Language as a priviledge.

Language in education.

Which is better- Short capsules of meaning or long explanatory paragraphs? 

The ability to use language correctly is a touchstone for the writer.

This week Chuck Wendig was fired from his writing job with Marvel and Star Wars. The reason... they had finally discovered he uses colourful language on Twitter. It has nothing to do with the ongoing Twitter rage and abuse felt by a section of the community over Chuck introducing an LBGTQ character in his Star Wars books apparently.

At the Frankfurt Book Fair, Publishing Perspectives interviewed Pieter Swinkel from Kobo about the rise of book serialisation and subscription models in Europe. Are they creating readers? What about binge culture?

Kris Rusch always has an eye to the future and her lengthy time in all facets of publishing gives her the ability to clearly see and articulate what is happening and likely to happen. This week she looks at Barnes and Noble. Are we about to see the end of the chain bookstore model?

The New Publishing Standard is fast becoming a must read. They focus on the global publishing industry and are not UK/US centric. The rise in AI translators has been rapid. This week they report a Chinese language book has been translated by an AI with 95% accuracy. Stop and think of the implications to publishing. (Last weeks blog had a very interesting post on whether translators should be seen as original writers.)

Dave Kudler was thrilled to be referenced in a recent podcast with Dave Chesson and Joanna Penn. He has done some in depth study on keywords. If you are studying or working with keywords and ads for marketing books this article is a must read. It expands some ideas in the podcast which is a must listen/read. 

The fabuous Katie Weiland has a magical post about the power of language to expand and illuminate ideas. How to Cherish Language. This is a fantastic post.

Joanna Penn has a great interview with Bec Evans on how to be a prolific writer. There are some great ideas and tips in this interview.

In The Craft Section,

How can you tell if your idea is worth it?- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

4 Common copyediting issues to watch for- Julie Glover

11 tips on how to scare your readers- Litreactor

3 tricks to instantly increase your writing speed- Self Publishing Formula

Creating Villain Motivations- Now Novel- Bookmark

How to outline without killing the fun of writing- Roz Morris- Bookmark

Capturing Complex Emotion- Tamar Sloan- Bookmark

When abandoning your novel makes sense

Why does learning writing take so long?- Writers in the storm-Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Two interesting posts from the Ingram Spark blog- How to market your book with Author Speaking and What Authors can learn from Youtube stars.

Preorder Strategies- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

How to perform not just read your book- Writer Unboxed

A marketing exercise for critique groups- WomenOnWriting- Bookmark!

Do Bookbub members buy at full price?

What you are doing wrong on Twitter - Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

To Finish,

Shannon Hale is an award winning author of a popular series of books – Princess Academy. Here she writes in the Washington Post about the way books are presented to boys and how we unintentionally stop them from reading with the way we introduce books to them. Are we guilty of unconscious gender bias? Changing the language we use around boys and reading could be the magic trick that encourages life long readers. 

Maureen

@craicer

In my monthly newsletter I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. 

Pic Flicker Creative Commons- Yandle