Showing posts with label writer unboxed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writer unboxed. Show all posts

Thursday, April 20, 2023

Who would have thought...



 It’s my Blog Birthday.

Fifteen years ago the word on the publishing street was ‘life is good in the trade.’ People in publishing were excited by the new 13 digit ISBN number. Publishing companies were looking sideways at the new Hachette conglomerate, made up of several big publishing houses and a host of smaller ones. Mergers were still scary stories told over drinks at publishing conferences. Amazon was a small outfit selling second hand books, odd digital stories and a new device called the Kindle. 

Into this gentle pool I waded… not able to see the drop off or the funny fish with the lights.

The Global Financial Crisis happened. Publishers began merging or disappearing and the Kindle blew open the publishing world. 

Fifteen years later, publishing conferences are just coming back again after the Covid years. 


In Publishing News this week...


London Book Fair launched this week with all kinds of fanfare and a shocking arrest as Publishers Weekly details.

Meanwhile, publishing pundit Brian O’Leary thinks it’s time to shake up the publishing supply chain (there must be a better way after 15 years of the same old thing.) 

 

Fifteen years ago Publisher’s Weekly would have never published an article on how a traditionally published children’s writer dumped by his publisher went Independent and made money.

And they wouldn’t have given the time of day to Manga and how the format has gone global changing the way graphic novels are being read everywhere.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors crunched the numbers on their writers income survey which makes interesting reading. I guessed that the Romance Authors were printing money but it surprised me how high the children’s writers were on the survey.

 

While every writer wonders if anyone is reading, Nielsen took a look at who was buying translated fiction- it turns out everyone is. Men making up nearly half of the readers…along with women under the age of 24. 

 

Joanna Penn has an interview with a small press publisher about the challenges of niche publishing. It’s full of advice and best practice.

 

Have you challenged yourself to write a multi point of view story? Barbara Linn Probst on Writer Unboxed has an article of how writers have tackled telling a story with many different voices.

 

In The Craft Section,

9 hidden problems in your Scene writing- Tim Grahl


Finding the beginning – John Gilstrap- Bookmark


Prologues vs Flasbacks- K M Weiland- Bookmark


Before beginning the first novel-Luke Lovelady


Short stories can have character arcs- Jami Gold-Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Trade Book Reviews- Behind The Scenes- Sandra Beckwith


Updated how to publish a book on Amazon- Dave Chesson- 

Bookmark


8 book marketing strategies to master- Penny Sansevieri


How to get the best cover design- Vasalysa Zaturets- Bookmark 


Tiktok for Authors video workshop- Shayla Raquel- Bookmark

 


App Sumo have a fantastic deal for the Depositphotos website. 100 photos for $39. Every time this deal comes along designers, publishers, marketers jump on it. Everything is royalty free and you have unlimited time to use the pics/videos/animations/ vectors/ illustrations.

 

To Finish,

I have been in and out of a now spare room trying to figure out how I would organise my writing office. After 15 years I might finally get one that is not the kitchen table or the armchair or a friends spare room. It’s a big step. First, I have to get rid of all the accumulated stuff in there. Then, I might have to get rid of some books. When I ventured this thought, my family thought I had a fever. Articles like sprucing up your writing nook offer lots of incentive…. 

 

If you have been reading from the beginning THANK YOU  for sharing the journey with me. It has been a rollercoaster ride. Every now and then someone shouts me a coffee and makes me feel particularly special. This week I’ll be eating cake with the coffee. 

 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

If you want to get the best of my bookmarked links and other extras you can subscribe to my monthly newsletter. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top or here. 

I appreciate virtual coffee love. 

Thanks.

 

Pic:

Photo by Ilya Chunin on Unsplash

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Bookshops and Booksales



 

This week Audible finally let creators know the changes they have decided on to address the concerns of Audiblegate. (Audible’s practice of promoting read and return audiobooks with no compensation to creators last year.) They are promising to create a new dashboard for authors to see which books have been returned and they are changing their terms of exclusivity. Publishing Perspectives asked Author groups what they thought. Not good enough was the answer. This is where the value of belonging to a strong writer’s union comes into play.

 

The Guardian recently published an article entitled Bookshops defy pandemic to record highest sales in eight years. After they published this they had to go and change the title to accurately reflect the article which was on Book Sales. Yes, bookshops were selling books but a lot of the print book sales were happening online. However, as the Society of Authors points out that’s cold comfort to a lot of writers who relied on appearances to pay the bills.

 

Publishing Perspectives interviewed the CEO of Wattpad on their merger with Korean digital publisher Naver. If you have been keeping an eye on Wattpad and how they have grown from a fanfic forum to a movie and television production powerhouse, their merger with Naver, who operates a similar model in Asia, is a good thing. The numbers are interesting. Together they will almost be as big as Netflix.

 

Big Five publishers are back in court for price fixing. Again. They are named as co- conspirators with Amazon. Publishing Perspectives looks at the case and whether it will hurt Amazon at all.

 

Kris Rusch writes this week about the rise of e-reading due to Covid-19 lockdowns and how Bertelsmann danced with the numbers trying to prove that there was a huge number of Indie publishers, so that they wouldn’t be slapped by regulators for controlling too much of the market by buying Simon and Schuster. As it is, they may have over 50% of the Trad publishers market.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has an interesting blog post on whether having your book in book shops is worth it for Indie Authors. With Trad Publishers used to getting books published in China for little cost they can use the sale or return option as a carrot for bookshops to stock their books. Indies using POD have higher costs per book which impacts on discounts to bookstores. This article breaks down the numbers and the cost benefit for Indies to use bookstores.

 

Anne R Allen has a great guest post from Joseph Perry, a literary attorney, on important clauses to take note of in a publishing contract. One thing to remember, Joseph says, is that the publishing contract is always written in favour of the publisher.

 

How often do you stare at your just completed hot mess of a manuscript and wonder how to tackle the revision aspect. Jean Grant has an interesting blog post where she breaks down the way she revises. Having a checklist of things to look out for is a good starting point.

 

In The Craft Section,

5 mistakes writers make with relationships- Bang2Write


Understanding third person omniscient POV- Tiffany Martin


Using Twin Relationships in Writing- Becca Puglisi


5 point plan on how to kill a character- WritersWrite- Bookmark


Good Storytelling- Internal and external stakes- Karen Woodward- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Heart centered Book Marketing- Beth Barany- Bookmark


Amazon Keywords 101- Penny Sansevieri


February Content ideas- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark


How to get publicity for your book- Kaelyn Barron- Bookmark


What’s the deal with Amazon verified reviews- Sandra Beckwith


How to use Book Awards for publicity- Sandra Beckwith

 

To Finish,

Are you aware of time racing differently due to how engaged you are with a book? Have you struggled with narrative time? What about reader time? How does the reader experience the forward motion of your story? Writer Unboxed has a great article on Character Time and Reader Time and how you can make the most use of time in your manuscript.

 

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.

 

Pic: The Tannery Bookshop- Christchurch

 

Thursday, April 9, 2020

Book Love


Another week in the strange world of publishing in a global lockdown situation.
The European Union Publishers are mentioning dire consequences for their industry and cultural life in general if governments don’t recognize that books are as essential to people’s wellbeing as food. 

Meanwhile, Gardner's book distributors in the UK are closed or open or in between or… The New Publishing Standard is scathing about the risk to their employees.

A New Zealand story that got some global attention was The Booksellers campaign #BookshopsWillBeBack. As we go into our 3rd week of lockdown we are looking forward to life on the other side. But what will the new normal look like? One thing is certain if we want to have our local shops in our communities we need to support them. Everybody needs to commit to buying local where ever possible and that includes your local bookshop.

What about writers… 
The problem with high-stress situations is that writing often goes out of the window. Anne R Allen has a great post of writing in a time of collective grief- yes that is probably what you are feeling and why you can’t string two sentences together.

Becca Puglisi has some great practical tips on how to get through this pandemic when your kids are locked in with you. This is a must-read.

Writer Unboxed looks at productivity vs chaos and offers some advice on how to strike a balance that will help you keep your sanity.

Kris Rusch has been filling her blog with great creativity posts which are must-reads but I find her long term perspectives on the book industry really interesting as well. This week she looks at what she is doing to remain calm and focused. This is all good advice and she has some great yoga links as well.

Jane Friedman has an interesting post from Lisa Cooper Ellison on how to sustain your creativity in the midst of the pandemic. One of her great tips is Keep Showing Up. You never know when the creativity could flow, by showing up you are ready when it happens.

In The Craft Section,

2 Bookmark posts from Jami Gold- Storytelling Verb Tenses and Asking Why

Michael Hauge’s 6 steps on structure

5 signs your book needs work- DIYMFA- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

8 Things to get your book noticed on Amazon- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

New Facebook live tools – Frances Caballo

To Finish,

I was amused to see this Guardian article on the new lockdown game – Judging famous people by their bookshelves, then it occurred to me what was missing in my weekly skype check-in calls with other writers. I don’t have a bookcase behind me. I’m usually at the table with a messy kitchen bench behind me. I should be sitting in front of an erudite bookshelf. To do this properly I would need to rearrange 14 bookshelves. But then how do I make a decision? What books would you put into a show collection? The ones you think you should read or the ones you actually read? 

Maureen
@craicer
(Day 15 LD) P.S. Fabostory has started early... and this week I'm in the hot seat- details in the sidebar.

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.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons Plappen- Bookshelves- (Interesting mixture here)


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. 


Thursday, October 18, 2018

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,





Creating Villain Motivations- Now Novel- Bookmark


Capturing Complex Emotion- Tamar Sloan- Bookmark


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


In The Marketing Section,


Preorder Strategies- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark


A marketing exercise for critique groups- WomenOnWriting- Bookmark!


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. 


Thursday, September 6, 2018

Opportunity Knocks


In Publishing News...
Anybody want to buy a bookstore? How about a chain of bookstores? The continuing saga of the struggling Barnes and Noble bookselling chain has many in the publishing industry worried. 

How open are you to opportunities? Will you say yes to everything? Or do you lock yourself away in your writing garret? Wendy Jones talks about the power of saying yes to everything and what that has done for her writing career.

Nick Stephenson has an article on whether authors should still blog. Blogging goes in and out of favour all the time. If you are a fiction writer it can be problematical thinking up what to blog about. Nick has some great ideas on this.  Check out the top 50 writing craft blogs .

Tara Sparling asks an interesting question this week.Is your book good looking enough for  the internet? Is viewing books in thumbnail sizes changing the way cover designers approach the book cover?

Jane Friedman has an interesting guest post from Betsy Fasbinder about public speaking for authors. For many writers this is a side of the business that is the least liked. Betsy has some great tips.
Staying with the business side of writing, Joe Solari has an interesting article on managing cash flow in your writer business.
How to legally use quotations in your book. This question comes up again and again. Helen Sedwick gives you the legal lowdown.

I came across this article- Microtargeting with Facebook ads- and had to think carefully about the Brave New World we are living in. On one hand, as authors, wouldn’t it be great to have our dream reader profiled and targeted so that they always saw our books. On the other hand...  

In The Craft Section,


Protagonist vs Nemesis Key to conflict- Go into the story-Bookmark

Should you outline backwards- K M Weiland- Bookmark



2 fantastic posts from Jami Gold Showing vs telling in context and

In The Marketing Section,

(In NZ you can get free ISBN’s from National Library)

Self publishing 101- Nick Stephenson

Amazon Author Central – book discovery- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark



Updating your author bio- Alli blog- Bookmark


3 Book Promotion myths- Build Book Buzz

The easy opt in gift- Writetodone- Bookmark

To Finish,

Being a writer is so much more than just being the typer of words. It is to be a marketer, a cheer leader, a critic, a business owner, an editor, a muse wrangler...
Greer Macallister has put togther 25 truths about writing over on Writer Unboxed. You will smile and agree with most of them.

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. Thanks everyone who hit the coffee button this week. I appreciate the virtual coffee love.


Thursday, January 11, 2018

Predicting 2018





Down Under the turn of the numbers to a New Year is clouded by the fact that we are all on our Summer holidays and we don’t want to think about work... let alone make goals for the year. However Back To School sales in stationery stores get the writer brain ticking. How can I justify getting that shiny new journal? 2018 Goals... that’s how!

So now you have the shiny journal, the cool pen and you’ve eaten all your Christmas chocolate. Time to make some goals. Jo Eberhardt over at Writer Unboxed has a great article on making SMART goals. This is the advice you need for making goals that are achievable. A must read.

My Twitter feed has been filling up with crystal ball gazing for the coming publishing year. Along with pleas for submissions to stop as Agents and Editors get the NaNoWriMo onslaught of manuscripts that January always brings.
To start planning for 2018 it is wise to look back at 2017 and see what worked and make plans for more of the same. Kris Rusch has a great wrap up article on what the big five publishers did last year and how this will impact publishing going forward. This is well worth a read and a think about especially if you are or have been Traditionally published.

Mark Coker has compiled his list of what he thinks will happen in 2018... more of 2017. However he does make a few points that seem to be echoed everywhere. Audio still hasn’t hit its limit.... It is the fastest growing format and now there are some real competitors in this market. Audible, who did a lot to grow the market by hooking listeners into hearing free audio books, may need to change their T.O.S to remain top of the heap. (If you think that last sentence sounded familiar think Kindle and free eBooks and that Amazon owns Audible.) Mark has plenty of other nuggets to get you thinking.I’ve finally checked out his new podcast- Smart Author- and its chock full of great information.

Written Word Media have written a very full article on what they see coming in 2018 and how writers should be positioning themselves to take advantage of it.

Orna Ross from the Alliance of Independent Authors has been crystal ball gazing as well. Orna has turned her focus on how technically savvy authors are going to have to be to take advantage of new technologies and trends if they want a career that sustains them in the long haul.

These are the best of the roundups that I have seen in the last two weeks so grab a cool drink and think about new things to learn or new goals to make.

Joanna Penn has a great blog on productivity tips that can give you a few new tools to try in 2018. These are all common sense goals but maybe they can help you stop procrastinating and get those words down.

Anne R Allen has started the new year with a great post on 8 things more important than writing talent. This started a great conversation in her blog comments. It is not enough to want to be a writer... you have to do the work!

In The Craft Section,


Best free resources roundup for writing-Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi- Bookmark





Secrets of good storytelling- K M Weiland- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,




Selling truckloads of books - Penny Sansevieri-Bookmark


Embedding social media in your posts- The Book Designer- Bookmark

Street teams and how to use them- Draft2Digital-Bookmark


To Finish,

Setting goals can sometimes create stress. There is the immediate self doubt stress... along with the-big-obstacle-course-that- life-likes-to-throw-at-you-when-you-thought-it-was-going-to-be-a-smooth-path stress.

As you start into the New Year you need some inspiration along with all the goal setting. Orna Ross talks about creativity with Joanna Penn. Are you filling yourself up on creative projects that don’t feel like work?

Here’s to a fabulous start to the writing year...

Maureen
@craicer

In my monthly newsletter, coming soon, 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 want to shout me a coffee just hit the hit the coffee button. Thanks.
 

Pic: 


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