Life Vs Fiction

 

Articles that caught my eye this week,

Mark Williams from The New Publishing Standard wrote a personal note to his readers this week. Mark lives in The Gambia and gathers up all the publishing news from the rest of the world. His internet has been down for a month and he shared where he works, a nursery school for the poorest children, and the importance of books. Amazing and inspirational. 

 

Why we need tragic stories now more than ever, an article by Vaughn Roycroft got me thinking about tragedy. I try to run from these stories and films but maybe I am doing myself a disservice. These could be an important release valve.

 

Publishing Perspectives has an article on a new and improved ordering system for booksellers that promises sparkles all around. Meanwhile, they also published an article detailing the ups and downs of The Hay on Wye Literary Festival. I wasn’t aware that the festival had pop-ups in other countries. This might not be so good when your brand gets tainted by bad actors, including the founder.

 

Kris Rusch has an interesting blog post on writing deadlines and how having them gives her life focus and energy and measurable productivity. Do you schedule your life around deadlines? How often? Yearly? Quarterly? By the project? 

 

David Gaughran is a fount of information. He has a great YouTube channel as well as great articles on publishing and marketing books. Recently he posted an article on 9 ways to unleash the power of free in 2021. He is well worth reading and keeping an eye on.

 

If you are nibbling away at book marketing trying to make sense of it (and who isn’t these days…) Bookbub published an article showcasing the best ads that came across their platform last year and how the authors used them.

 

Reedsy has a comprehensive article on how to be a better writer- 20 hacks and tips… 

 

In The Craft Section,

Avoiding Change -What’s stopping our characters- Jami Gold - Bookmark

Writing Sprints -  Joan Hall -Bookmark

Keeping it real when writing descriptively- Dave King- Bookmark

2 Great posts from Janice Hardy 5 minute fix to jumpstart your scene and 

4 mistakes that doom your first page Bookmark Both

 

In The Marketing Section.

Two interesting posts on Authors using Twitter- Writing Twitter Bio’s from Belinda Pollard and How I landed a book deal using Twitter- Pam Mandel

5 reasons you should speak for free- Sandra Beckwith - Bookmark

Why hiring a freelance publicist is a good idea- Patricia Smiley

Identifying your reader- Christina Delay- Bookmark

Amazon book promotion preorder infographic- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Valentine’s day was celebrated this week with interesting posts from Romance writers everywhere on the subject of… romance. And then there was this hilarious post from Tara Sparling on why you should never live with a fictional romantic hero during a pandemic.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Star Light will be reverting to its usual price soon, so pick up a copy while it's still cheap. A review would be awesome, thank you.

 

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 – Lore Sjoberg

 

To Do …

 

In this week’s roundup

If you have been keeping one eye on Audiblegate, Passive Guy has a roundup of the state of play so far. He also speculates that it would be nice if the print publishers also put limits on how long they would hold the print rights. Susan May, who is the force behind the movement to get owed money back from Audible responds in the replies to the post.

 

With audiobooks being the next big thing for streaming services, it was interesting to come across this article on podcasts that are being snapped up by subscription streaming services and the murky waters of their copyright. 

How many entertainment channels do you subscribe to? Who will buy out who in 2021?

 

Techcrunch reports that a Kids Bookclub company, Literati, has raised $40 million to expand their book clubs to Adults. For a monthly fee, you get sent a print book and the chance to join in book chat about the book with the celebrity curator. The idea is to get more people reading… 

 

Another year… another set of scammers. Anne R Allen has a roundup of the scams just appearing on the horizon of 2021. Cast your eyes over the list and warn others especially newbies. 

 

Ruth Harris has a great post on reviewing readers. What type of nutty reader replies have come across your desk? My mother in law, a romance writer, had a rabid fan who read every one of her books and always complained about the unrealistic weather. Eg. It doesn’t snow in August in America. The romances were clearly set in the southern hemisphere, down under, with maps….

 

David Gaughran has an interesting article on publishing short stories. Have you thought about writing shorts and publishing them? There might be a little bit of money to be made or you could give them to your fans.

 

In The Craft Section,

Writing lessons from Pride and Prejudice- Terena Bell - Bookmark

What good are sex scenes?- Litreactor

Idea testing stages in brainstorming- Janice Hardy

Short Video of master screenwriter Robert McKee on what to keep and what to cut.

Brainstorming the novel- Julie Duffy

Can you have more than one protagonist?- Abigail Perry- Bookmark

 

In the Marketing Section,

Outside the box marketing ideas- Bookmark

How to market an ebook- Reedsy

Endorsing books- who should you ask

33 tips to improve email marketing- Barb Drozdowich – Bookmark

Timing your book launch -Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

My To-Do Lists constantly change… probably because I promptly lose them meaning I have to write the list again from memory. How are your To-Do Lists? Have you ever thought of plotting this way? Elizabeth S Craig found it gave her a whole new perspective on plot momentum.

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: Flickr Creative Commons – Hey Paul Studios

 

Book Marketing

 

 

This week in Publishing…

In welcome news this week Amazon has introduced series pages and now you can run ads to them. General jubilation in the author community. 

 

Meanwhile, The London Bookfair dates for next year have been announced. Instead of a Spring fair, it’s in Summer…giving everyone that much more time to be vaccinated and be ready to spring back into the publishing calendar that we used to know. (Prediction – I don’t think we’ll see life as we used to know again.)  

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard reports of Storytel’s Interim report. Storytel is based in Sweden and is digital subscription model. With moves into India and acquisitions all over Europe, the  audiobook subscription market is getting bigger and bigger- But will it overtake print books? We could be watching the tipping point. 

 

Big Bad Wolf is set to unleash 20 million English Language books in a four day flash sale in Malaysia. (If you ever wondered where your ‘pulped’ books go on your royalty statement.)

 

A simple hack for when you want to make your literary criticism essay go viral… Attack the author.  The Nation looks at the ethics of this.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors have a great article up on Leveling up your author business. This is a must read. All authors are keen to learn. If we are learning we are growing our business.

 

Joanna Penn has an interesting interview this week on Networking for Authors. How often do you poke your head outside of the bubble and just chat with other authors. Lot’s of lovely things happen when authors get together. Check out the interview and pick up some tips.

 

Jami Gold has a great guest article on her site this week. What sort of marketing plan suits us? If you want to learn anything about marketing books talk to a Romance writer. Siera London shares lots of tips to be thinking about.

 

in the Craft Section,

5 components of the perfect scene- C S Lakin- Bookmark

Why you should side write your protagonists origin scene- Marissa Graff- Bookmark

6 questions to ask when editing scenes- Go Teen Writer

Use a character’s career to support your theme-Becca Puglisi

Emotional truth and storytelling- Robin Farmer - Bookmark

4 story weaknesses that lead to sagging middles- Tiffany Martin- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Maximising books sales with Facebook and Bookbub- Melissa Storm- Bookmark

3 tips for better author blogs- Sandra Beckwith

The fabulous David Gaughran latest book marketing video- MUST WATCH

5 basic rules of Social Media- Frances Caballo- Bookmark

How to announce a book launch to your mailing list- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

How to launch a book during a pandemic- Samuel Moore Sobel

 

To Finish,

Every now and then I drop into the Killzone blog because I am in awe of this collective of writers. They have a great roster of writers talking about all sorts of things. They were the first author collective to do swag and this is where I found writing craft guru James Scott Bell. This week James was writing about the terrible task faced by writers everywhere. How to weed out books. I confess I fail utterly at this. Do you have a non-negotiable criteria list for keeping books?

 

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: Flickr Creative Commons – Paul. I can’t decide if this is great or terrible book store marketing…

 

The Art of the Dare…

 

 

In The Publishing Blogosphere this week,

 

In rare book news today… The BBC reports on the find of year- The lost rare books that were stolen from an auction house. The heist was the stuff of spy movies.

 

How much do you know of the Romance Book Industry? If you asked the average reader, they might say not much. But do you know how big it is? Why don’t we hear about it? If it was on the stock exchange it would be as big as Apple…

 

Publishing Perspectives reported on an alliance between three nations, and opening up to anyone else, for a new green book consortium dedicated to the publishing industry supply chain. They intend to promote and publish books and events in the publishing industry to do with Climate Change. (Remember Climate Change?) This looks like an important stake in the ground for amplifying ethical practice and collaboration.

 

Mike Shatzkin took a deep dive into the interview BISG did with James Daunt on the plans he has for Barnes and Noble. Mike looks at what he did say but also what he didn’t and that should be more worrying. Has James missed a few important facts?

 

Recently Joanna Penn interviewed David Gaughran on her podcast. Any time these two get together is full of golden tips and ideas. Do yourself a favour and check out the interview. You can read the transcript here or listen to Dave’s Irish voice in the podcast.

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard (Happy 3^rd Birthday) has been writing a nifty series on global publishing for the Alliance of Independent Authors. Recently he wrote about the big global book distributors, Apple, Google Play, and Nook and their reach across the world. This week he turns his attention to the biggest global book player… Kobo. If you want to learn about publishing around the world, start with these articles.

 

Recently the talk was Amazon wanting to start a bookclub. It seems that these are becoming a virtual rage. A startup has launched a Bookclub which they are basing around the popular Masterclass model. Techcrunch took a look. 

 

Rachel Thompson has 5 strategies to help you squeeze more out of your writing time. 

 

In The Craft Section,

A hack for getting to the heart of your story- Sharon Bially

Writing the fight scene- David Farland

Inciting incidents and climactic moments – K M Weiland – Bookmark

Image tips- Angela Ackerman – Bookmark

Climax and tension- H R D'Costa

Writing Flash fiction with a twist- Charles Stross- Bookmark

How to write a plot twist- Reedsy video - Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Create content in less time- Sabrina Ricci

Updating your cover 101- Melinda Van Lone

Author branding Secrets and October content ideas- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark both

Plan for publishing success- Orna Ross- Bookmark

How to get reader reviews – Anne Meick

How to do honest and legal giveaways- Chrys Fey- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Dean Wesley Smith has been writing for years. He has done everything you can think of in publishing, so he has a wealth of experience. He is most known amongst writers for his writing in the dark, style of writing, which many find useful. Here he shares his secret to why he is so prolific- Dare To Be Bad.

 

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: Flickr Creative Commons – M01229

 

Publishing By The Numbers

This week in publishing there was a fluttering in the inboxes as Indie Publishing superstar and author educator guru, Mark Dawson, was accused of gaming the bestseller lists.

The Guardian reported the story and many authors on Twitter were quick to cry foul.

However, there are always two sides to the story. As Mark said today on Facebook- If I was gaming the system, I wouldn’t have announced it on one of the most listened to indie author podcasts. 

It was a marketing risk as he was wondering how he could get the book into the top ten when it came in at number thirteen. It was this discussion on the podcast that Mark had bought 400 copies of his Traditionally Published Hardback release of a seven-year-old thriller, so he could make them available to overseas fans who wanted a signed copy that started the whole drama.

 Nate Hoffelder talks about the drama and the Sunday Times bestseller list and the shock of how few sales you need to make the list.

Nielsen’s pulled the book from the list this week citing ‘they misunderstood the intentions of this sales transaction.’

What does it mean for authors? Mark will probably break it down on the self-publishing podcast as he is very open and transparent with his publishing business. As an Indie author who cleared over $1 million from his book sales last year- spending 3,600 pounds on 400 books has got him two Guardian feature articles – name recognition- appearances on bestseller lists. Discussions on social media… it could be a publicist’s win and money well spent.

Anyone can bulk buy a book in launch week for a variety of reasons. An epic book launch party can get you on the NZ bestseller lists. Mark went to his local children’s bookshop to order the books, so they got some love. 

Will this change the rules of making the bestseller lists? 

Are the rules different for publishers and authors who publish? Lit Hub has a breakdown on the myths of both types of publishing models. 

David Gaughran has an interesting article out about the elusive A9 algorithm. There have been many people who have been trying to convince authors to part with money to learn the secret of the Amazon search engine… David, fierce defender of the battling author, tells you the truth about the scam.

Publishing Perspectives has an interesting article about reading patterns in the pandemic. People are still wanting to get physical books. Is it the book smell they crave?

Publish Drive has been flirting with the subscription model of author services for a while now but now they are going all in. David Kudler talks about the advantages for the author with this model.

San Diego Comic-Con has been turned into a virtual event. The Comic-Con is one of the biggest events in the Entertainment world and is huge for Graphic Novels. With the Con circuit going virtual Graphic Novelists have to come up with other ways to get noticed.

While we are on graphic novels this comic appeared in my Twitter feed. This is a must-read for the way it educates about a psychological effect that unconsciously colours your whole world view. Powerful storytelling! It is nominated for the 2020 Eisner Award.

Kris Rusch writes a part two about Brandon Sanderson’s $5 million Kickstarter. If you didn’t read last week's post -check it out so you know the background. Brandon still has two weeks to go. Have you ever thought about a literary crowdsourcing community?

The latest Writers Thesaurus is out- The Occupation Thesaurus. Jami Gold has a great article on the story impact of your protagonist’s occupation. Are you using all the useful nuggets that you can? Congratulations Angela and Becca on another great addition to the Writers Thesaurus library.

In The Craft Section,

Two great articles from K M Weiland- How to put suspense in your story and a great primer on story structure. – Bookmark

6 things that get you stuck in writers' block- Sean Platt- Bookmark

Monitoring your progress as a writer- Rafal Reyzer

Writing influence characters- September Fawkes – Bookmark

Dinkus- 6 ways to use them.- (hands up if you know what a Dinkus is.)- Now Novel- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

How to make an online bookstore- Darcy Pattison- Bookmark

Is your book in the limp-a-long merry-go-round?- Judith Briles

Publishing Timelines – C S Lakin- Bookmark

How not to waste your valuable time guest blogging- Nate Hoffelder

Where to get free illustrations- Bookmark

To Finish

Have you ever thought about co-writing a book? How hard can it be? You get together with a writing buddy, plan out a story, book a beach house, and write like crazy. Recipe for success- Yes? Greta Boris writes a great article on how to co-write a novel and remain friends. It’s not easy but it can be fun if you put all the planning details in a document you both agree on first. 

Maureen

@craicer

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter to go out. If you want the best of the months bookmarked links and other assorted stuff go on and 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- Andy Maguire

Learning To Get Better…

It’s July… when did that happen?

Earlier in the year, there was some hope that the pandemic would be done and dusted by the Northern hemisphere summer and that things might be back to normal.

Ah well, it looks like this might be the new normal for a while.

The Frankfurt Bookfair has finally decided that it will have to be online this year and now they are asking everyone what they would like to have in a virtual book fair. If you have a bright idea for a seminar or webinar with a worldwide audience check out their call for proposals.

I was reading Publishers Weekly and came across this headline- Upcoming YA novel pulled by Author. Naturally, I clicked over to see who had pulled their novel and why and I found an interesting letter from Publishers Weekly saying why they weren’t going to tell us who it was and why. This is very responsible of them. Sadly, I wish they had thought of the implications sooner. 

While I was looking at the news on Publisher Weekly, I was interested to see this publishing company expanding its list. I wondered how their first book would go as there had to be buy in from all the rights holders to the hit music. Take a hit song… now pair it up with a great illustrator and launch it as a picture book for children. (Kiwi’s, imagine Welcome Home as a PB… sigh)

Has the world got you down? Are you struggling with your self-worth as a writer? Yes, it’s Imposter Syndrome time again but with a Covid spin. Elizabeth Hartl has a guest post over at Writers Helping Writers on how to beat this lurgy.

And for another bracing talk check out Ruth Harris and her latest post on 5 ways Authors stand between themselves and success. These are both great posts to shake you up and get you ready for the next 6 months.

This week Kris Rusch was musing about the writers who have come to her for advice about missing money. In this publishing environment, everyone is chasing down money to keep the lights on and the wolf from the door. Sometimes this means that money promised to the author doesn’t make it into the bank account. Check out what Kris has to say about how to track down missing payments.

Kris and Dean are also making their workshops half price for writers who are stuck inside. Check out all the great courses they have. 

Jami Gold has a great post on how to learn and improve writing skills. If you do a deep dive into self-editing then you can figure out what you need to learn. Read this outstanding post first to get some pointers on what to look for. You might want to check out Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi’s collection of writer tools as well.

In The Craft Section,

Identifying your characters fatal flaw- Becca Puglisi - Bookmark

Free Picture book templates from Inkygirl- Debbie RidpathOhi- Bookmark

10 ways to reach the end-Elspeth Futcher

Self-edit your novel- Kris Spisak- Bookmark

100’s of screenwriter interviews – Scott Myers

We Are Unsafe- Donald Maass- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

9 Tips on Writing Query letters- Robert Lee Brewer

Books to Film- Options vs Shopping agreements- Matt Knight- Bookmark

2 great posts from Penny Sansevieri-Timing your book launch and Promoting before the book is published- Bookmark

20 tips to rock social media- Frances Caballo

5 powerful principles on human behavior- Book marketing Bestsellers- Bookmark

To Finish,

In a little fishing village in Portugal lives a wild Irish Rover who lives online as a guru for writers. David Gaughran has been updating his great Writer Help books over the last 6 months or so. He has just made one of his best book marketing craft books FREE. Let’s get Digital was one of the first books I ever read on ebooks. David revised it three times always updating it. Now he has virtually rewritten it and made it available for Free. (and available from all the major ebook stores.) This is not just the primer on how to create an ebook but the whole encyclopedia- Let’s Get Digital 4^th Edition is a Must Get.

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: 

Surviving 2020

Sometimes I feel like every month lasts a year. It seems so long ago that we were brightly predicting what might happen in publishing in 2020. Boy, were we wrong…

In publishing news this week....

This week Bertrams, the second largest book distributors in the United Kingdom went into receivership. The Bookseller shared the news and its possible impact on the book industry for the UK going forward. Monopoly anyone?

Subscription services are getting a lot of love in this Covid 19 era. One monthly fee – Unlimited Entertainment but how can we find out how our books are doing in there? Bookbeat is a subscription service in the Nordic countries and they are offering publishers all sorts of data- like where do readers stop reading? What trends are the best-selling? Could be a watershed moment says TNPS

Publishers Weekly have been taking a look at the way publishers have been tackling their business throughout the pandemic. As was predicted some are ditching their New York offices, others are getting creative to get the word out about their books. It’s going to be an interesting next six months for the publishing industry.

The Alliance of Independent Authors has been looking at the facts and figures of self -publishing and the impact this has had on the overall book market. The last decade has completely changed the publishing landscape… and we are not finished yet with 2020. 

When you see all your writing friends succeed it can be pretty hard to feel positive about your writing life. Meg Dowell has written a great post on the 10 survival tips you need to cope with your friend’s success.

Anne R Allen has a bracing post on how to cope with a bad review. I am a member of a high powered writing group on Facebook and not a day goes by when someone isn’t celebrating a bad review. Yes, you read that right. Read Anne’s post to understand why.

Jami Gold has written a great post on choppy writing and how to fix it. I’ve been staring at my manuscript lately and wondering if the writing is bad because I’m going backward and forwards with dictating or whether it’s my unconscious mind picking up on the state of the world. ( or it could just be bad…) This is a must-read to get some craft perspective.

In The Craft Section,

Foreshadowing, Symbolism, and Payoff- Tyrean Martinson

Getting past Hard To Write Scenes- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

6 tips for avoiding repetitive conflict- Mythcreants- Bookmark

 2 great posts from Lucy Hay -What’s the difference between horror and thriller?

 And How to develop your structural toolbox- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

How to create 1-minute videos in 4 easy steps-Joseph Kunz- Bookmark

Fourteen ideas for what to put in an author newsletter – Nate Hoffelder- Bookmark

13 ways to increase your email open rate – David Gaughran- Bookmark

Amazon discounted my book – why this is a good thing (Brilliant ideas here)

July unique content ideas from Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

To Finish,

As I was looking over my selection of articles for you I was thinking about the theme of Survival. Who could predict 10 years ago which publishers, bookselling chains, or distributors would still be around in 2020? When the dust settles on the other side of Covid 19 how will the publishing landscape have changed? Is it survival of the fittest or the most nimble? How can writers be creative in the midst of unrelenting negative news? Kristine Rusch has a timely look at survival and forgiveness for writers. This is a great post to mull over and apply to your own writing life. 

Maureen

@craicer

I round up the best of my bookmarked links and other assorted tips in a monthly newsletter.

Go on and subscribe and 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 –  Virginia State Parks