Thursday, April 14, 2016

Fair Value


This week I have some links to articles about the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (as promised last week.)

The New York Times had a piece looking at the rise of children’s publishing and the large Chinese contingent at the fair. This augers well for the new fair being inaugurated this year in Singapore for the ASEAN nations.

The London Book Fair is underway right now. Publishing Perspectives has a quick look at what the major talking points will be.

Children’s author C Alexander London this week wrote a brave article about coming out as Gay to children... and their reactions. All they really wanted to know was when the next book was coming out.

Larry Brooks has a great article on story development. What is the key criteria to the story? It’s a compelling premise. Another must read article from Larry.

Molly Greene has been carefully examining her earnings and her book goals. She sets out her Marketing goals for 2016 and the reasons why she is doing all these changes to her book business.

Recently I was chatting to my husband about Scrivener as I thought it might be useful in his office for a project his team was working on. He downloaded a free version and became a convert. This seems to be what happens when someone tries Scrivener- instant writing software love. Here is a master tips article for all those Scrivener users.

What are the marks of a Professional Independent Author? The key word in that sentence is ‘professional.’ The Book Reviewers site has a breakdown of what you should be aiming for.

Elizabeth S Craig has a great article on valuing your time. Writers are often asked to do things for free and it’s hard to say No. How do we evaluate the events we participate in so that they add value to us as writers? This is a great article to get you thinking about your time price.

In the Craft Section,

Essential writing tools -Angela Ackerman Becca Puglisi Bookmark


In the Marketing Section,

Using images for marketing- Joanna Penn Bookmark!

An Instagram primer for authors- Frances Caballo Bookmark


To Finish,
This week marks the eighth year of Craicer. I have been thinking about all the things I have learned along the way.
1. Commitment to a deadline. There is nothing like the creeping hour hand of the clock to make me stop researching and get the blog published.
2. Chances to push out of my comfort zone. Researching and writing this blog every week has made me a Go To person for speaking to groups or planning programmes or podcasting. Somehow people think I know stuff.
3. When I’ve struggled with my health the fact that I had a regular appointment to research and write up for others what I have learned has kept me sane. Ok not as crazy as I could be.

I am grateful for the people who read the blog, ask questions or share the blog to new readers. It always makes me laugh when I’m with a bunch of authors and someone asks 'how do you...' and the response from the group is “Read Maureen’s blog!”
Thanks everyone for reading and sharing the blog over the last eight years!

Maureen
@craicer


6 comments:

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Thanks, Maureen, for sharing resources with writers! And thanks for sharing my posts, too. :) Warm wishes to you for a healthy, happy year!

Maureen said...

Thanks Elizabeth,
I'm sick of the surgeon and he's sick of seeing me... so I'm ready to have a healthy year!!
xx

Angela Ackerman said...

Happy blog birthday! I love your round up--I rely on it so much as you catch so many great articles each week. Thanks for all you do, and for including our articles sometimes, too! :)

Maureen said...

Thanks for all your great articles!! Angela! You and Becca are Amazing! I've watched you go from strength to strength over the last five years! IN AWE!

Angela Ackerman said...

You are so sweet for saying that. The last few years have been so good to me, and I feel very blessed to be able to do something that helps people in some small way--that is incredibly rewarding. *hugs all around*

TK Roxborogh said...

I have come to RELY on your blog - selfishly for making me appear knowledgeable to my students but also because of the injection your links give me in my own writing. You introduced me to Chuck and my life is the richer for that plus all the other great writers and bloggers out there who you found and shared with us.

I have also come to trust totally in your selection of good places to visit in the big world of writer advice/commentary land and am grateful for your incredible generosity of time and commitment to making sure each week we get our dose. Your strength of will is an inspiration.
Go you and, of course, EVERYONE should know you're the go-to person by now.
xx

Related Posts with Thumbnails