Showing posts with label scottish granny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scottish granny. Show all posts

Thursday, November 8, 2018

We all need a Scottish Granny



Around the publishing blogosphere this week...

In the U.S. getting an ISBN number means either accepting a free one from Amazon... where they are listed as the publisher on record or buying one from Bowker which costs a lot of money but at least you or your publishing company is the publisher on record. You need a separate  ISBN for every format of the book so this can really add up depending on how many formats you have. Bowker’s website was hacked this week and they almost shut down their whole operation....
(NB. Here in NZ we can get free ISBN’s by going to the National Library of New Zealand website.)

In a recent article on Publishers Weekly some literary agents listed their MS wish lists for Young Adult. Themes wanted are teens dealing with the real world. If you keep an eye on the publishing houses bottom line you soon learn that a year without a breakout YA bestseller really hits the revenue of the big publishing houses. Everybody is chasing the next big thing because the readership is almost 50% older than teens and in paperback and voracious. Ka- Ching!

The teen’s themselves find the whole genre problematical. In a recent post on her blog teen reader Vicky found many of her generation agreeing with her when she wrote about how YA isolates teens

Meanwhile Scholastic scored a hit when the viral video of a Scottish granny reading kiwi book Wonky Donkey started a craze. The scottish granny is on tour, reports Publishers Weekly, and is being seen as having a magic touch.... Some savvy marketing person saw an opportunity. 

Staying with the children’s book theme... Augmented Reality has become a talking point. What more can you do with it and is it really reading? Check out the new iterations of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.

Chris Syme has an interesting guest post on Joanna Penn’s blog about crisis management for authors. What do you do when your reviews go missing or you get pirated or doxxed. First, don’t panic. Read this excellent post.

Quartz has a fascinating article on the rise of the new Sci Fi genre’s. Over the last year I have seen more references to Utopia fiction and Solar Punk but missed the defined niche of Cli Fi. What determines a new niche/genre? And is Cli Fi really contemporary thriller or non fiction depending on where you live in the world right now?

Character names are always challenging. I don’t feel the story is started unless I have the right character name. Once I have the name I often have the voice sorted in my head. Reedsy has a nifty character naming generator for those moments when you are stumped for a character name.

In The Craft Section,

Character arcs- Reedsy- Bookmark

Plucking heart strings with word choice- Vivian Kirkfield- Bookmark

Will readers find your protagonist worthy- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

The value quotient of your core story-Writer Unboxed- Bookmark




Resources for NaNoWriMo





Don’t forget The Storybundle of craft books curated by Kevin Anderson and available all month.

In The Marketing Section,



Taking care of business for writers- Writer Unboxed- Bookmark

3 keys to blogging sucess- Joel Friedlander


To Finish

Spare a thought for the poor writer that must write a promo blurb for another writer. Sometimes it can be very hard to find something positive to say. Tara Sparling helps authors to break down a series of honest blurbs so that you can mine the promo gold in the paragraph. Warning do not have a beverage to hand as you will choke... with laughter.

If you are a Scottish Granny then I have some great books you might like to read….


Maureen
@craicer

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter where 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. If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee hit the Kofi button up top. 


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