.@ardit_haliti You think I should write something where nobody dies? Hmm... it wouldn't be easy. I'm all about the death.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 18, 2015
This week I have been mulling over the perfect conference
program. This is highly subjective. Why do you go to conferences? Some
people say networking. Some say up-skilling in your craft. Some say to learn new
approaches to old ideas. That’s my ideal, learning. I’m not into great big
crowded rooms where everybody is glad handing and I know no one. So planning
the perfect writers conference for me has to have plenty of learning
opportunities and meet and greet without being overpowering. We are in the middle of refining our program for
Tinderbox2015 and I have a big problem. I want to go to everything!
As I look through this week’s links for you it is amazing
how many of them link into something in our conference program.
Passive Guy has linked to two posts this week that have
people talking. Do publishers really understand SEO (do you?) and Authorpreneurs. from The Economist which has weighed in saying what authors should be doing regarding
their business which is finding influencers and publishers should be publishing
celebrity authors to stay afloat. Reading the comments on both those articles
is entertaining. And in breaking news Pharrell is writing a series of children’s books... about being HAPPY.
Porter Anderson takes a good long look at publishing terms everyone gets wrong and the implications for planning your writing business. Do you really get royalties if you self publish? And why you need to know the differences.
Publishing Perspectives has an interesting opinion piece about whether agents and publishers want authors that know about the publishing business. Do MFA programs want clued up authors?
Darcy Pattison talks about her last 18 months. This is chock full of information about the decision to Indie Publish and what she has learned. (this is a bookmark post!)
Today was a #MSWL day on Twitter. Agents and Editors write on Twitter what Manuscripts they wish would come across their desks. Type #MSWL in the search bar. If you do query an agent or editor from this, mention the tweet. Another cool search on Twitter is #tenqueries. Agents and Editors going through their slush pile will comment on ten queries live on Twitter and their immediate response. This is a great heads up about what grabs and what doesn’t.
In the Craft section,
The great James Scott Bell has a new post on story and structure and how they must love each other.
Author Biz has a great interview with Editor Shawn Coyne who is working on a story grid book for editors. This is a bookmark post! (and a print out the Storygrid and stick it on your wall post.)
Jody Hedlund on the 5 point character checklist (great revamp of her website)
In the Marketing section,
Lindsay Buroker has been sourcing covers from fiverr for short stories - she explains how to do this.
7 must do tactics for promotional tweets. (please don’t spam... the 90/10 rule should apply- thats 90 pieces of interesting stuff for every 10 promotional tweets)
Moderating panels – How to be rude in the nicest possible way
Website of the Week
Bibliocrunch is an interesting hangout. Not only do they
host chats on Twitter but they have lots of resources for the Indie Authors.
Here are two of their recent articles- Using Skype to organize a virtual writing groups and
Tshirts with memorable book quotes on them...
To Finish,
John Green is known for a lot of things that he does well.
However today he found out something he doesn’t know well - The quotes from his
books. This made for a great confessional post to his brother about how he
always assumed that the quote memes were from his books...oops
If you are interested in finding out more about Tinderbox
2015 - The National Children’s Writers and Illustrators Conference in
Wellington, NZ, October 2-5th
send us an Email to
2015tinderbox AT gmail DOT com and we’ll put you on our dedicated mailing list
for updates and news.
maureen
John Green's confession below.
maureen
John Green's confession below.
Tweet from a conversation thread with J K Rowling.
