And We're Off...

 I’m Back…

Yes, this blog is one day late. It will not be a trend for the year. (Way to go, Maureen, starting 2021 with an apology… OTOH isn’t that how we feel about 2021? It is supposed to be better than 2020.)

 

Over the Southern Hemisphere Summer, I tried to take a complete media and screen break. It worked some of the time…

This week I’m back in the swing of things researching, writing, and twiddling with my current WIP. I was on a roll yesterday with Pomodoro sprint writing so didn’t stop to get the blog done.

The posts that caught my eye over summer were the usual, what will 2021 be like for writers, what can we learn from 2020, and wow, what a great idea. 

 

Written Word Media has a post on the top ten trends authors need to know about 2021.

If you have been keeping an eye on publishing news, the shrinking of the Big Publishers is on that list. Let’s buy up publishers screamed accountants. (Obviously, they know where the money is- authors backlist IP) Publishing Perspectives reports that Aussie Illustrator Robert Ingpen’s backlist of titles, owned by one publishing house has been on-sold to a new publishing house. 

In other acquisitions, over Christmas, a hedge fund bought Overdrive the Ebook library service and now there are rumours that Wattpad may be on the block. If you haven’t checked into how big Wattpad has become, Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard has all the info and the rumoured price tag. (Eye-popping.) And just in, Nate Hoffelder reports that The Book Designer site has been sold to a dubious operator…. 

 

Looking back at 2020, Writer Beware had a rundown of all the scammy behaviour that popped up over 2020. Some of these scams are still ongoing. Don’t forget to familiarise yourself with the bad actors out there. Fore Warned is Fore Armed. I have just seen a reference to a new scam this week, Negative reviews on your books, which will be taken down by the reviewer… for a price. (Don’t engage… coz then they know you are a soft touch.)

 

Paula Munier has a handy roundup of writing lessons learned over 2020. These are timely reminders. Also, no idea, however weird, is too weird. Just think over the real-life plotlines of 2020 for a moment. (Or even the first two weeks of 2021…)

Nothing is to ‘out there’ anymore. 

 

Colleen Story thinks writers should take more risks this year. She has five reasons why this is a good thing. 

If you are wanting a challenge for 2021, the 12x12 Picture Book Challenge is open for the next month. Every year I vow that one day I must do this challenge. I’m in awe of my fellow writers who can write picture books... It is a special skill.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a great roundup of Tech resources for authors for you to bookmark and investigate over the year ahead.

 

If you have been following the blog for many years. (12+) you will know I am a fan of author collectives. There is nothing like a group of authors to cheer you on. Recently Bookbub profiled a group of authors who got together to write a series set in a joint world. They are having a lot of fun. I know a couple of authors who are doing this with writer buddies- Cue writer envy- Such a cool thing to do. Check out how they make it work.

 

Alison Williams has a guest post on Jane Friedman’s blog. This is a must read for a great tip to get your manuscript from first draft to second draft to ready to publish. (Everybody cue your movie trailer voices.)

 

In The Craft Section,

Write yourself a bad review- K M Weiland- Bookmark

Editors share their top tips- Emma Lombard

The vital importance of your writing community- John Peregine

10 quick tips to make your writing craft better- Diane Glazman- Bookmark

Inner conflict- reflecting the inner struggle - Janice Hardy - Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

10 Smart book promotion services- Penny Sansevieri – Bookmark

How to price your self-published book

Book Promotion a marathon, not a sprint- Sharon Bially- Bookmark

How to declutter your book marketing- Pauline Wiles

How to market your Kindle book- Penny Sansevieri

Extra,

Video on marketing on YouTube- This is by musician Mary Spender- It deals with musician income, however, this could be a heads up for the future as the book industry is following the music industry- (Subscription streaming services anyone?)

 

To Finish,

The Fabulous Spa Girls are back with tips on how to set goals for your writing year. They have a series of Golden Questions to answer which then make setting goals for the coming year so much easier. Then you can drop into Michael Hyatt’s website to learn about SMARTER goals, to put them into place.

 

2021… Here we come.

 

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.

 

 

 

Being Conflicted...

This week the blogosphere is trying to digest the news that Google won the lawsuit taken against them for scanning books under copyright and uploading them to Google books. Feelings are mixed...it’s been an 8 year battle. Authors are annoyed but the tech geeks see it as a victory.

Will there be an appeal? As the Author’s Guild have taken this case... can their membership sustain this fight?

This week Rachel Gardner talked about the conflicted nature of needing Amazon while it also is your biggest rival.

Joanna Penn and her agent parted ways ... it was bittersweet and a business decision... and definitely shows how the business has changed.

Alison Cherry on the conflicted feelings she has after she published...

The news is out... The market you want to get into is the German one if you are self publishing... The Passive Guy checks out why and Publishing Perspectives examines how 50% of authors there are self published. How to feel conflicted about your own countries practice.

Young Adult (YA) has always been the subject of conflicting emotions (probably because it is about conflicting emotions.) However these two articles will probably push your writer buttons. What books to give YA(reading) virgins and New trends in YA literature from the agents perspective.

If YA is not your thing...authors and agents are participating in PiBoIdMo...got 30 ideas for a picture book?

Author Beware tips on how not to get scammed.

In the Craft section,

Publishing Perspectives on how to spot a good editor

Writer Unboxed on Creating a Masterpiece...lots of juicy comments here.

The Plot Whisperer on pre-plotting a series.

Victoria Mixon on 10 tips to make you a better writer in 10 days.

K M Weiland on the top 25 ways to write an awesome book

In Marketing,

A discussion on price promotions... and how they can backfire.

Jane Friedman on the difference between marketing and promotion.

How to sell more books... and what you should be doing with the back of your ebook.

The key to growing readership.

To Finish,

Charlie Redmayne (he of Pottermore and now poached back to HarperCollins) has laid out the warnings to the publishing industry. Take back content! Spend money on building the brand.  Author’s will be conflicted about the implications...especially in light of new contracts with nice phrases like...  universe rights and in perpetuity.

O what a tangled web we weave...

If you know the author of that line and can finish the quotation...you are PrDmBrll.

maureen

pic from Flickr /creative commons/lju 

Fire Up Your Imagination...

Once in a while you come across an article that sets your imagination on fire. 

This week that happened to me when I read Dean Wesley Smith’s article on selling ebooks. I have sent the link to indie bookstore owners that I know...small publishers that I know... and tertiary writing course instructors. 

Dean sets out, step by step, an innovative way to market ebooks. It is stunning in its simplicity and very very do-able. Even if you have no interest in ebooks, read this article it will change the way you think about ebooks and marketing. 

If you know any indie booksellers pass the link on to everyone...It might save some jobs!

This week BEA is happening. BEA is Book Expo America...one of the biggest book industry events in the world. 

Why am I interested? Generally what is talked about at BEA or unveiled at BEA changes the publishing industry in some way. Keeping an eye on BEA means you are keeping up with new publishing trends. 

Publishing Perspectives is posting a whole series of articles on what is happening at BEA while it is happening. Think of it as a Daily Newspaper with new editions coming out through the day...Here are two I have picked out for you but there are plenty more...

International rights in a changing world...This is a report from a panel of rights experts talking about what is selling around the world and why...For instance Japan wants self help books...don’t bother trying to sell crime and disaster books there.

Ten tips for producing videos...this link from Publishing Perspectives includes a great promotional video...You will learn stuff!!!

Janet Reid talks about the big news at BEA -  Barry Eisler cutting a print publishing deal with....Amazon.  Check out the advance and then stop and think about how Amazon is now moving into the print publishing business...first the e storefront then the ebook  and ereader and now PRINT...(traditional publishing anyone?)

Jane Friedman this week wrote about 3 publishing trends that writers must be aware of. If you read this blog often you will be able to pick some...Go on, have a bet with yourself and see if you are right.

Scott Young has written a great article on writing. Do you focus on your weakness and strive to master it or just keep writing and learn by osmosis?

The Blood Red Pencil is a source of great articles for writers. Here is a pertinent one for me which might help you as well, How To Earn Your Info Dump. Have you done heaps of research and are now trying to fit it into the book while trying to avoid having a character sound like a textbook....Read this article.

Over on Craicerplus( My Amplify Page) I have links to articles on

Agents As Publishers- Writer Beware. (this is an important post on an increasing trend)

Rethinking The Authors Career Path

Fiction Uncovered- Get Noticed By The Bookstore. (This is a great article on a UK Arts council initiative to expose readers to writers who are flying under the radar...)  On the same theme here is an extra link for you -Romancing the Bookstore.

Seek A Genre-The Path Ahead is Lit ( a very funny take on genre writing)

To Finish,

From time to time, people contact me and ask my advice about something to do with the publishing industry...or the main themes of my blog... or do I know where they can get information on.....

This week I had two different requests...one to do with social media and one to do with which publishing track would be the right fit for a particular project.

I am flattered to be asked...(you think I know something????) I then spend a few hours thinking my way around and through the question before I put together a response...I don’t tell anyone what they should do...but I will help, if I am able, with being a sounding board.

So two links pertaining to those questions which popped up today that readers might be interested in.

7 biggest fan page marketing mistakes and Heather McCorkle’s article explaining her tough publishing decision and why she chose the path she chose...

FaBo Story 2- Planet FaBo is nearly set for lift off. If you know any kids who want to be part of it feel free to direct them to the Fabo Story site...where once again Kiwi Kids Writers pit themselves against Kiwi Kids.... 

Oh the pressure!

enjoy,

maureen

pic is from Freedom's Lighthouse

Changing The Variables

March is New Zealand Book Month. Already I have attended a National Address, hosted a dinner, attended a book launch and organised an award party. Somehow I have managed to be out nearly every night since March began.

The National Address, The Janet Frame Memorial Lecture, was given by Joy Cowley. Joy is one our most beloved writers for children and as befits one of our own being chosen to give this prestigious address, the children’s writers were out in force. There was a huge crowd! Afterwards I hosted a dinner for members of the Wellington Children’s Book Association. It was a great night.

I missed one of our member’s book launches but managed to attend another. Mandy Hager has finished her Blood of the Lamb trilogy with Resurrection.  This whole series has been a tour de force.

Our Patron, Jack Lasenby, turned 80 this week and as he has been shortlisted for the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards (his 30th novel for children) we thought it might be a good idea to get all the other Wellington area finalists together. It was a bit of a mission but we managed to surprise them all with flowers and Jack with a large birthday card signed by quite a lot of people...(it helped that he couldn’t make the memorial lecture as I was running around like a mad thing getting signatures and the card would have been hard to hide.)

Today I was reflecting on Bob Mayer’s article on the three author variables and thinking about the quality of the writing here in New Zealand. Both Joy Cowley and Jack Lasenby are among the very best writers for Children we have produced. Joy is known internationally with her readers and picture books and the famous Mrs WishyWashy. Jack is not. He has been a huge influence on generations of children through his work as a School Journal editor and the fact that he has personally known and encouraged our best literary writers over the last 50 years to write some stories for children.

Bob talks about the mix of Platform, Product and Promotion. We have always had strong product but New Zealand is small and our publishers are small and the print runs are small and so the head offices of the big publishing companies pretty much ignore books printed here. With internet and the new global market place, New Zealand children’s books might just be ready to be discovered. All we need is a strong platform and great promotion.

Somebody who has been swinging all the variables of Platform, Product and Promotion is Seth Godin. David Meerman Scott interviewed him on his new project, Poke The Box.

Anne Mini has taken a look at how clichés can destroy your chance of being picked up with a series of funny examples of overridden cliché queries that are in need of editing or just search and destroy.

John Rember has written a guest post for Jane Friedman on the relationship between author, agent and publisher and the need to examine this carefully in the fast changing world of publishing.

March is also Small Press Month...and Elisabeth Spann Craig has taken a look at small press vs large press. Which is better?

Over on Craicerplus (My Amplify Page) I have links to articles on

9 Questions Editors Ask When Reading Your Submission

Authors Engage Or Die

Justine Musk On The Best Way To Blog

Harpers ebook Lending Policy Trashed.

To finish,

Mashable is looking at new digital trends...the way the news is being gathered is changing also how brands are becoming social media and how aggregation is changing bestselling statistics. This is a good article to read if you want to know how these trends will change the variables in publishing through the rest of this year. As New Zealand is about six months behind we have a little bit of lead in time...use it wisely.

The New Zealand Book Council’s video shows some 3D storytelling which is our associations next event in New Zealand Book Month. 


enjoy,
maureen

Game Changing and Piracy

On the side of my blog I have a list of must read blogs. One of those is Jane Friedman’s There Are No Rules. 

Jane is one of the touchstones in the blogosphere on publishing and change. She has been a keynote speaker at many big conferences on publishing and will be speaking at SXSW soon. Jane has a round up every week of what she thinks are among the best articles of the week (often I have already filed some of them for you) but I always pay attention to her list.  This week Jane highlighted a critical must read article by Kristine Rusch and yes I think that it deserves that status.

Kristine Rusch is a bestselling, award winning, romance, mystery and science fiction writer. She has been writing a series of articles on change in the publishing world. This week she has seen such a significant game change in self publishing that against all her previous advice she now believes that beginning writers should look seriously at self publishing...and not only them.

Bob Mayer was one of the first to comment (no surprise he agreed with what she said.) This week, on his own blog, Bob has an article about what he has learned in his writing life.  And it is a good read too. Bob breaks down the lessons he has learned since writing his first book...as he says... the more you consciously know about writing-the harder it gets!

However, to help you in this difficult creative endeavour is Mike Fleming and Elisabeth S Craig. Together they have sorted out a solution for storing all those links on writing... The Writers Knowledge Base.

This week Agent Mary Kole answered the tricky question...Would you turn down a book you loved but you knew you couldn’t sell? This is a good look at what agents are faced with...

Last week I asked the question, Who will be the digital ebook reviewers we trust?

I pointed you to Kristen Lambs blog post...this week also answering this question is Morris Rosenthal of Foner Books. Morris reckons that groups of writers will band together and become the new gate keepers...and then turn into writers guilds with too much power etcetcetc (check out the comments)

The Huffington Post has an interview with Annik LaFarge on effective author websites this is so full of information that you will probably need to set aside a long coffee break to take it in.

Over on Craicerplus (My Amplify Page) I have links to articles on

Writer Envy...The Rejectionist- Dear Superior Person

The Rules of Sci Fi...(don’t spare the red shirt guy)

The Best Writing Mistakes and How To Make Them

The Espresso Book Machine...This is a book printing robot in a NY book store which prints books 

immediately....Go and take a look at the video!...opens up a whole new world....

To Finish

Upstart Crow have a great archived article on Mid Grade and Y A differences and where you draw the line and 

The best article on story structure I have seen from the formidable Larry Brooks over on Storyfix, How to Learn Story Structure in Two Minutes or Less.

I leave you with Neil Gaimen talking on how Piracy helped him...

enjoy,

maureen

P.S The Jane Friedman that Kristine Rusch refers to is not the Jane Friedman of There Are No Rules. There are two Jane Friedman's in the publishing world.

Down The Rabbit Hole...

The Chinese Year Of The Rabbit is supposed to herald a period of tranquillity and calm. After the changes in the publishing world over the last two years we could all do with a bit of calm but I don’t think we are going to get it as the shaking up of the publishing industry continues.

It hasn’t been a year since the launch of the ipad and the explosion in the sales of ebooks. Publishers are very cagey about telling authors what their ebook sales are but just for your information, In the month of November 2010, the ebook sales, reported by the Association of American Publishers, were 14.5% higher than for the month of October and growth in ebook sales over the year (Nov09-Nov10) was 165% . This is a conservative estimate.

The implications of  readers moving to digital books have not been lost on Authors in the blogosphere. Getting an agent and getting a book deal is hard work, not for the faint hearted and with publishers insisting that authors must promote their books the Author is left looking hard at ebooks and self publishing. The books are cheaper to produce, there are no warehousing issues with POD and they are already promoting their work aren’t they?

The biggest hurdle to leap over is marketing. Who wants to spend all that precious writing time marketing? How can the reader find good books to read in the digital age, when a quick look on itunes shows more than 50,000 book apps available?( I’m probably missing a few zeros.)

Who will be the digital ebook reviewers we trust?

Who will help the new authors negotiate the quicksand of publishing in the now?

One person who has been doing a bit of thinking around this is Kristen Lamb. She has brainstormed a possible new publishing model that looks like a win/win from everyone’s perspective. Have a read and see what you think!

From the publishing marketing trenches to the how-do-I-just-get-on-the-ladder reality...Jody Hedlund posted an article on her blog last month about her agent receiving 10,000 queries in a year and accepting 0. Jody looks at what an author can do to change the numbers around.

If you are contemplating having a sales page on your website Victoria Mixon has got a great guest  post for you from Joanna Penn. These two blogging diva’s have swopped over and are guesting on each others blog.

For those looking for a bit of help before the hard grind of submitting your manuscript, here are three sites worth a good look.

Adventures in Children’s Publishing has a detailed presubmission checklist.

Writetodone with manuscript productivity tips

Bookendslitagency with an Agents perspective on revisions.

Over On Craicerplus (My Amplify Page) I have links to articles on,

Extreme Book Design...blowtorches knives and spiders...

Is Speculative Fiction Poised To Break Into Literary Canon? (Guardian Article on the Man Booker.)

Rick Riorden’s experience with the effects of Ritalin on his family.

List of Most Commonly Used Cliches in YA (everyone’s checking their MS now)

6 Personality Types Who Will Fail As Writers. (laughing while you say ouch)

To finish, 

Alice Pope has a great list of SCBWI Winter conference roundups on her blog. Over 1100 people attended the winter conference in New York...that’s almost as many who attend the summer conference.

Justus Stone has written a detailed post about writing software and how they have changed his life.

Zoe Winters has the last word...(One of these characters could be a NZ Politician...)


enjoy,
maureen

Classic Thoughts

At our Wellington Children’s Book Association club night this week we looked at classic books, specifically our favourite all time book. 

As we all have a passion for children’s books none of us could stop at one. The two I picked I couldn’t bring to the meeting because various small members of my family wouldn’t let me borrow them for the night.... So I grabbed some others. 

I was interested to find that, for most of us there, our classic book was the first book we read on our own that made an impact in our young lives...generally at age seven. It seemed to be a recurring theme. The classic book was the first book where we, as children reading, wanted to climb inside the book and totally live in that world.

Oh to write such inspiring words for young readers. (yup...maybe one day)

This thought has been encouraging me all week as I take myself back to Mars and think about character motivation...Getting inside some of my characters heads is hard work...it doesn’t help when it’s forty below and there is a solar flare about to fry everybody....

Today I read a great blog post tackling the question If Your Life Is Boring, Can Your Novel Be Great? This fits my mood of persevere...it will work out.

Greg Rucka has an interesting essay on how he researches his books. How to research a novel -Hardcore advice. Read a snippet here on Media Bistro. I use the internet and the library a lot! I’ve never thought about YouTube tho.

Mary from Kidlit.com was on a publishing trends panel recently and the talk quickly turned to the future of publishing. This is an informative blog post. One, because Mary (agent) was on it as well as Meg Cabot and Two because Lisa Holton of Fourth Story media (Amanda Project) was on it. Oh and publishing trends...if you could predict them you would be rich! (zombie fairies in a dystopian world?)

Richard Curtis, one of the leading agents in the world, has an extremely good article on his blog about timing. When is the right time to go to a bigger publisher...a bigger agent...and why sometimes the writer gets it wrong.

Jeff Sexton has written a compelling blog post about the Psychological Principles Behind A Marketing Success In A Networked World. Do not let the title put you off. This is a very good look at a sleeper hit...and how it happens...(this post has appeared on best of the week lists all over the place.)

Kristen Lamb of Warrior Writers has written a reassuring post to authors about Social Media and why you don’t have to slavishly be on everything. After all you want to write don’t you? She does point out what you should be concentrating on tho.

Over on Craicerplus (my Amplify Page) I have links to Articles on

To Smashwords or Not to Smashwords (this is interesting if you are thinking of POD)

15 Amazing Literary Tattoo’s

The Only ‘How To Write’ Lesson you Will Ever Need. (lots of interest in this one)

Writing Rules are Just Tools...(this is a timely post for those of us staring at the edit!)

Nathan Bransford introduced a new client of his this week by having a guest post from him. This was a really good idea for lots of reasons. Nathan has a huge readership, so instant success there. Jim Duncan talked about all the crap queries he did before he got picked up. And in honour of this and his new blog, he has a contest to write a rejection letter response to the query rejection.

I missed out on the deadline for subbing mine but if you want to read some side splitting responses check it out.

My response is below...

Dear (insert name here)

Thankyou for your query response on (insert date).

We are currently oversubscribed with offers on our (select appropriate or all... romance, crime, urban fantasy, science fiction, hero quest, paranormal, horror, erotica, western) manuscript.

Please keep us in mind with any further offers you may make. Don’t forget to read our website blog for updates about what we like...our fascination for the colour orange for example is always a  good start in understanding why we might be (select one, unwilling, unable, unnerved)  about accepting your submitted response.

All good wishes for the future,

(insert current pseudonym)

enjoy,

maureen

pic is my classic book...