The Price Of Fame

This week is the one-year anniversary of the countrywide lockdown for Covid 19. As a country, we closed schools and worked from home, where we could. We learned the value of a daily walk in the neighborhood by putting teddy bears in the window for little children to count. (We had a skydiving bear off our carport.) We all learned Zoom and Skype. We discovered new ways to work and consume entertainment. In the publishing world, conferences were canceled and books were delayed. 

One year on and the lockdowns continue in the big cities which host big publishing conferences. This week the Paris Book Fair was canceled and the company behind the book fairs is in trouble. The new publishing world might just be digital. Are publishers ready for this? The New Publishing Standard asks. Wattpatt is forging ahead with plans for TV shows and streaming services. 

Meanwhile, Kris Rusch has an interesting story about what happens when Hollywood comes calling and you discover that you signed a contract for all rights. Tom Clancy’s estate legal fight could be yours. Just who does own Jack Ryan?

 

Facebook is launching a journalism platform. It is aimed at self-publishing journalists giving them the tools and place to publish multi-media stories. But who is going to consume the content and how are they going to pay for it? Your FB author pages might just be the next money stream for them.

 

Draft2Digital a publishing aggregator introduced payment splitting a few months ago. That has been a boon for co-authors and groups publishing digitally. D2D does all the heavy lifting. Recently Kevin Tumlinson of D2D shared how authors have been using this new feature. Take a shared universe….

Of course, you can’t use D2D unless you are publishing your own work so to help you out Jane Friedman recently had a blog post on 11 signs you are ready to self-publish.

 

It is nearly tax time here in New Zealand. After last year, the taxman may not get much of a haul. Sacha Black looks at personal finance for Indie Authors.

 

Di Ann Mills recently wrote a guest blog on the most valuable writing advice she had ever received. I absolutely agree with her… 

 

In the Craft Section,

How to show not tell- Janice Hardy – Bookmark

Finding your way to the end of your story- Sharon Warner- Bookmark

5 reasons why you need a professional editor- Jim Demp

10 questions to help you set the stage- C S Lakin- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Create Book Promo graphics- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark- Also Check out David Gaughran's latest video on FB ads- Making one in real time with Canva 

How to market Indie books - Ingram Spark

Free book promotions- Frances Caballo – Bookmark

 2 Great posts from Penny Sansevieri

5 essential book marketing strategies for mystery authors and

5 features of effective and engaging websites

 

To Finish,

Last weekend I attended a writing workshop for two days. We had a whiteboard where people could write questions that we answered in breakout sessions from writing. One of the questions which caught our attention was, what if you start to hate your story? 

James Scott Bell recently wrote an excellent blog on just this problem. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It is nearly time for my monthly newsletter with the best of my bookmarked links. 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 Right Mindset

 

 

In publishing news this week,

 

Mike Williams of The New Publishing Standard recently had an interesting opinion piece on audiobooks. As you know audiobooks have been the hot new thing in publishing and the audio wars are about to begin with Spotify aiming to be the one-stop-shop for audio subscription.

 

Another Mike has also been looking into subscription models. Mike Shatzkin takes a look at some of the innovative ways Amazon raised the subscription bar. 

Meanwhile The Washington Post takes Amazon to task about its lack of support for libraries. Just what is going on here. Do Amazon think the subscription model of Kindle Unlimited is better than putting books in libraries? This is an interesting story from the Washington Post given that Jeff Bezos owns the paper. 

 

Recently David Gaughran reposted the comprehensive article on Author Solutions he wrote a few years ago. The Author Solutions company is a predatory publishing entity with many different names and imprints, some of which are owned by big five publishing houses. Their “boutique” publishing arm demands huge sums of money to newbie authors for minimal publishing services. Just because you haven’t heard of them lately means they haven’t gone away. Some of their scams get a new twist every year. Recently there was an agent promising a bestseller list placement for $10,000 as part of a package deal. Forewarned.

 

Mindset plays a big part in the creative process. Being in the right headspace to create. Being in the right mindset to plan a project. Being open to criticism, rejection, and disappointment are all part and parcel of living the creative life. Recently I was reminded by a friend that imposter syndrome was insidious. I had let it take over my thinking. Instead of seeing the opportunity, I was seeing the failure before I had even tried. I didn’t trust myself. These two posts on mindset resonated with me today.  3 traps that subvert our ability to accept feedback by Lisa Cooper Ellison and The Book Promotion mindset by Penny Sansevieri. Penny takes a good look at the mindset that stops you from giving your book, good promotional love.

 

Co Authorship anyone? If you have been thinking about sitting down with someone to write a story check out this little series on how to do it from Story Empire. It could be the start of a beautiful friendship…

 

In The Craft Section,

How to write genre story- Karen Woodward

Archetypal character arcs – The Queen- K M Weiland – Bookmark

Two great posts on editing -25 editing tips – Alexis Grant and  Trimming your word count- K M Weiland- Bookmark Both

5 pieces of writing advice- Lauren Sapala

 

In The Marketing Section,

The Authors guide to ebook preorders- WrittenWord Media- Bookmark

Amazon algorithms for authors- Reedsy-Bookmark

Best day of the week to discount ebooks- Bookbub

5 ways to solidify your branding- Penny Sansevieri

Develop your book sales strategy and tactics- Brian Jud

 

To Finish,

How often do you find yourself scrolling down your social media feeds and feeling despair. You have to be seen to be engaging… because your fans want you or your publicist told you or the publishers said establish a media presence. Sometimes we can get wrapped up in the social media whirlwind and not see what it is doing to us. Judith Briles offers some very good advice in her Bashing the Myths of Social Media.

Colleen Story also examines the hit creativity takes when you fall into a doomscrolling loop.

Let’s be careful with ourselves and our mindsets. 

Look for all the kitten and puppy pictures to give us the right mood boosters. 

 

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 – Johnathan Kritz

 

Writing Tools That Stand The Test Of Time

 

 

This week in publishing…

Screams were heard around the news desks as over-excited journo’s read the press release that Dr Suess Enterprises would no longer be publishing his books due to racist content. Of course, if you stopped and thought a bit you would know that some of the reporting must be wrong and you would be right. They are only pulling 6 books from republication… and it’s not the words that are the problem it’s the stereotypes depicted in the pictures. Theodore was a cartoonist first and a stereotype was the fastest way to get across an idea. The world has moved on. Some books haven't made the cut 70 years later. It makes me wonder what books published now will still be beloved and relevant in the future.

 

A year on from the beginning of the Covid lockdowns and all the Covid books are coming out. Publishing Perspectives looks at the scientists who are bringing out books about the pandemic.

 

There have been rumblings for as long as I’ve been writing this blog about predatory tactics used by unscrupulous publishers preying on the vulnerable newbie writer. Every year you hear of a new shonky player, usually an old shonky player with a new name, ripping off writers. Now the Society of Authors and a few other writer organisations have banded together to target these publishing predators. The first stop should be the large publishing companies that have taken these predators under their wing giving them a smattering of publishing cred.

 

Ruth Harris has a great blog post on the power of the writer’s notebook. What do you choose to write notes on? I was interested to see that writers still go for paper and pens.

 

Steve Potash the CEO of Overdrive has written an interesting thought piece on searching for the perfect library access model. Overdrive distributes ebooks to libraries and they have been having great success with their bulk buys for schools and library districts. These models may be coming to a library near you.

 

Writing Guru Stephen Pressfield recently wrote about a problem he was having. Are you too scared to sell yourself? In these modern publishing times, you have to hustle for your book and your publisher. It is the opposite mindset of the writer.

 

Kris Rusch writes this week about the power of backlist and how the publishing model of velocity out of the gate has hurt some publishers. Will we go back to the way publishing worked before covid? The numbers suggest a very different publishing future.

 

This article popped up in my Twitter timeline. How to format ebooks in Google Docs. I’ve never really explored Google docs… they have some nifty features hiding there in their tools menu.

 

In The Craft Section,

Introducing unique story elements- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

The key to writing genre stories- Brian Hill

What things is your character hiding- K M Weiland- Bookmark

How to choose scenes for your novel- Mythcreants- Bookmark

Definitions of the anti-hero - Nofilmschool

 

In The Marketing Section,

How to market a book with smart planning- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

10 free ways to increase author website traffic- Sandra Beckwith

Infographic -6 ways to increase social media traffic- Barb Drozdowich

How to make eye-catching graphics- Sonja Yoerg- Bookmark

How to boost your backlist sales- SelfpublishingFormula- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

There are many tools that writers would consider essential in the modern-day writer toolbox. I consider that at the very least you need a good computer/word processing program, a great writing craft book to hone your skills, and a list of places that will help you sell your book when it's finished. So here are two great posts that you can stash away in the toolbox that address two out of the three. A collection of great character tools to boost your plot and David Gaughran’s updated best promo sites guide. David’s YouTube channel is essential viewing.

 

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 – MikeLao26

 

Changing Worlds

 

 

In the publishing world this week,

If you are on any social media as a writer you will come across the Masterclass ads. These are video classes that you can take with Masters's in any field, but writers get shown ads for classes with famous writers. Recently I saw a Masterclass being offered by Roxane Gay- Writing for Social Change. Bustle interviewed Roxane and found out the background which was the #publishingpaidme Twitter storm from last year.

 

The Audiblegate fight isn’t going away. Recently some canny authors who also hold accounting degrees started taking a hard look at Audible’s figures. Audible book earnings are supposed to fluctuate but Audible kindly smooths them out, so month in month out your books earns the same. Except their numbers are faulty and it looks like they are skimming a lot off the top.

Staying with Audio for a moment, Mark Williams from The New Publishing Standard reports that Spotify is rapidly expanding. Isn’t that music I hear you mutter? Spotify and the digital subscription model are moving into podcasts and audiobooks.

 

Have you seen a cozy mystery lately in the bookstores? I had heard that it was almost impossible to sell one to traditional publishers, but cozies are making a quiet killing in the Kindle store.

 

Writers who have been in a prolonged lockdown are struggling to find creativity, said The Guardian. If this is you – you are not alone, some of the UK’s most famous writers are struggling here. Kris Rusch has a 'grit your teeth and get through this' blog this week. We do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. She unpacks the famous JFK speech and applies it to writing.

 

Cory Doctorow keeps one eye on the tech world, but he is a fiction writer. Recently his local bookstore contacted him. They can no longer send out his books because of Brexit. It sounds odd until you read what is happening in the UK to booksellers. (I am old enough to remember the screams from the UK about the paperwork going into the EU-)

 

Recently I read two great craft articles that really got me thinking about plot. Susan De Freitas on how to integrate exposition and backstory and Katie Weiland’s hierarchy of character needs. This is an excellent article on how character goals and needs must drive the story.

 

In The Craft Section,

Sneaky ways to world build- William Hahn- Bookmark

Archetypical character arcs- The maiden arc-K M Weiland – Bookmark

On Pace- Janice Hardy -Bookmark

Using Indirect dialogue- Anne R Allen

10 surefire secrets of torturing fictional characters- Charlie Jane Anders

 

In The Marketing Section,

22 book marketing tips- Frances Caballo

3 book marketing tips you can ignore – Sandra Beckwith - Bookmark

7 expert tricks to improve your author newsletters-David Gaughran- Bookmark

How to tell if your author photo sends the right message- K M Weiland-  Bookmark

19 lessons to grow your email list

 

To Finish,

How often do you get to the last page of the book and you dread turning the page? Mastering the Happy Sad ending of a story is a powerful tool for the writer. Gilbert Bassey writes about this in a guest post on Writers Helping Writers. It is said that the first sentence sells the book and the last page sells the next book. A happy-sad ending stays with the reader a long time.  

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter, Get the best of my bookmarked links and other assorted tips when you subscribe. You also get a nifty mini book crammed 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 virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Perseverance drop to Mars- courtesy of NASA 

 

 

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