In Search Of

One way to find more time to write/illustrate: training others to respect your creative time. pic.twitter.com/G0t25bftyw
— Debbie Ridpath Ohi (@inkyelbows) June 16, 2014

What has been happening in the publishing blogosphere this week...

The last few weeks have seen those tired old chestnuts aired of 'lets slag off... genre/literary writing or trad/self publishing or Y A/Adult reading' and now have (hopefully) been dropped in the fire. Ava Jae has the best article on how YA has made her a better writer and she doesn't have to put anyone down to make her point.

FutureBook hosted a hackathon for publishers and computer hackers to come together over a weekend and hack code to change the publishing industry… Some big names joined in and learned a few things.

This week the Guardian looks at self publishing... It’s up by 79%. Could become legit – you never know.

Publishers Weekly takes a look at three Self Publishing success stories. 

Publishing Perspectives examines why Writers in English should be looking at German Translations.

Joanna Penn interviews Stephen Pressfield.. Great interview on Writer Resistance- for those of you struggling with self doubt. (If you drop below the video you can read the transcript.)

For those who  are following the ongoing Hachette /Amazon affair... FutureBook has an interesting article with some new developments. It could be a sign of things to come as Big Digital companies change focus. There are rumblings over at YouTube over Indie music.

A couple of times a year the subject of Writing Craft books comes up. Which are the best...most helpful...mind blowing etcetc. Susan Kaye Quinn takes a look at what books are helpful for Self Publishing.

KillZone have a great blog where the different contributing writers talk about issues around writing and publishing. Here they take issue with an insidious little clause that is appearing in writer contracts...The ‘No Compete’ clause and the ramifications of this. Must Read!

Children’s book editors were asked where they had been pitched books...and it makes for horrifying reading.... I know none of you would do this...would you?

Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have developed a great series of helpful Thesauri for writers... so imagine their surprise when they saw their cover on something that was not their own work. Timely look at branding, covers and copyright.

Every now and again Chuck hands over to a guest to do a 25 things list. This brilliant post comes from Angry Robots marketer and writer Mark Underwood. Inside the Bookish Shatterdome - or Publishing Revealed.

If you need a dose of Chuck then check out his ramble on writing... a response to a fan when asked how he does this writing stuff. (usual warnings apply)

Jane Friedman has a great guest post on taxes for Self Publishers… If you are doing this…It is a must read!

Say you have an offer of representation/publication... but now you have to let other agents/editors know... How do you do it professionally?

Susan Spann also has a good article on How to find the perfect agent match.

A nice little article on author credibility with today’s technology.

In the Craft Section,

K M Weiland - First Person Narration.

15 questions you should always ask your editor before hiringthem.

Writing mistakes and how to fix them.

A quick guide to writing short fiction.

15 questions for your Beta Readers – this is a print it out post!

How to tell if your story is on target- check the log line! Great post from Kirsten Lamb!

Jami Gold- 6 steps to balance plot and character

Build your writing career... step by step.

In the Marketing Section,

Differentiate- a book marketing must for authors.

Media kits -Are you catering for your 7 main audiences.

Two timely reminders from Dean Wesley Smith’s series on Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing. Put the book up and leave it and I have to sell books quickly. Dean is always a great read and voice of calm reason!

To Finish,

Seth Godin has changed and challenged marketing thinking in the last decade. He has a timely article on whether your work is meaningful.This is aimed at media companies... but then writing is a form of media and so his three questions are rolling around in my head as I write this weeks blog post. They may even apply to the novel I’m in the middle of editing....They may even apply to LIFE.

maureen
Cartoon from the fabulous INKYELBOWS!

Being Diverse.

This week I have been reflecting on the rise of self publishing and small press in our small pool of children’s books published in New Zealand. I popped into The (Award Winning and Independent) Children’s Bookshop in Kilbirnie and had a chat with co-owner Ruth about how many books were now being author published. We then had a look at the finalists of the New Zealand Children’s Book Awards...bet you can’t pick the self published books on this list. The strength and depth of the stories from the finalists*, the production values and attention to detail of all the books and that half of them are from small press.’ shows a very good snapshot of what is happening in our publishing industry.

(*and boy was that hard to pick as several phenomenal books I thought would be automatically on the list were left off.)

Last week I highlighted the hot button issues exercising the minds of the publishing industry. These issues are still being talked about. Porter has a roundup over the boys and books debate and Jonathan Emmett which was the subject of last weeks Ether Issue chat.

The Diversity button continues to be pushed as the panelists for BookCon for the KidsLit were announced, (4 white dudes) and then this was followed up by John Green (white dude) being named as a Y. A. prophet in The Times 100 most influential people (much to John’s discomfit) and this caused howls about how JG should be using his influence to highlight...Diversity.  Book Riot have started a campaign asking people to highlight #WeNeedDiverseBooks in various ways. Librarians and authors across the spectrum have jumped into highlighting this issue, including Chuck Wendig (the no holds barred version.)

In the Grab A Big Cup of your favourite beverage and hunker down to read...

Bob Mayer looks at the harsh truths of making a living as a writer.

Chip McGregor answers author’s questions on his Lit Agent blog... a good resource here.

Jane Friedman asks questions about issues I covered last week, including Mike Shatzkins big change of tack.

Joanna Penn on productivity for authors and fighting overwhelm. (Great article)

In the Craft Section,

How to use emotional growth to propel the character

Free resources for writing and editing

Pros and cons of writing a novel in the present tense

The Capt. Jack Sparrow method of first drafts.

Developing your writing voice

5 common problems I see in your stories...(great post by Chuck!)

What killed it for me...#8 in this list of when the reader stops reading.

How to enjoy editing

Seven core competencies for writing success- K M Weiland

How to do location research.

Using macros to show vs tell...amazing post from Jami Gold

In the Marketing Section,

What is a cover reveal?

How to make people read your business card

Author website checklist from Darcy Pattison

ACX tips for authors and producers of audiobooks

15 places to promote your book for free

Running a business as an author – excellent article from Joanna Penn

11 ways to quote and promote your book using images

To Finish,

Elisabeth Spann Craig is one of my favourite Go To writers for practical help around all things publishing. She is one of the duo behind Writers Knowledge Base but also she is not afraid to show how she is coping with the Hybrid publishing journey. In this excellent post she looks at her mistakes and procrastinations and so of course you can’t help loving her more as she reveals the very human side of being a writer.

maureen

Pic from Oakland Library for the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign.

Not A Bear Market

This week the news in the publishing blogosphere is... FRANKFURT.

This German Book Fair is amongst the biggest in the world and it was a big deal when New Zealand went as Guest Of Honour last year. This is where foreign rights deals are made so it is big business and fueling this big business is ebooks.

Every year the continuing growth of self publishing gets talked about at the big book fairs...which are required attendance for agents and publishers. This year, in a Frankfurt debut, CONTEC an industry forum to specifically discuss Digital Publishing was launched and started making waves. The news right off the bat... 60% of Self Published authors would not take a Trad deal if it was offered to them. Publishing professionals were asked how this would impact the industry...

Jane Friedman takes a close look at all that was said and unsaid on this panel that has everyone talking.

In an off the wall moment a respected agent demanded that all publishers pull their books from Amazon...annoying Penguin Random House in the process. The Passive Guy looks at the fall out.

Discussions about Author Collectives are everywhere I look as more writers find this is a model that makes sense to help them cope with the fast changing world of Publishing Now. From small press collectives to nationwide collectives for small countries... Catherine Stine looks at starting an Indie Collective.

The wonderful Anne R Allen has a brilliant blog and this week she lays out the rules of the Amazon Jungle...This is all about the changing nature of reviewing...a must read.

In the Craft Section,

Online tools to boost your creativity

How to nail NaNoWriMo

Editing long sentences

Paying attention to the characters life journey with Kristen Lamb

Janice Hardy doing a diagnostic on opening sentences with back story.

In Marketing,

Formatting tips.

Jane’s Friedman’s best business advice wrap up

Book Trailers...Do’s and Don’ts

The Jungle Red Writers collective look at what makes them stop reading.

Ebooks - Think Globally... another must read.

Writers and Artists interview with Karen Inglis a children’sbook author self publishing with POD illustrated books...

Website to check out,

K M Weiland has a new website and it is beautiful...check it out and her latest post on when characters lack solid story goals.

To Finish,

Over the last few years there have been rumblings of discontent in the text book world. First from the students...the high prices...then from the professors who have to pay for their work to be published in journals...as the text book publishers have a cash cow... but check out this latest from Harvard Business School....and read the comments!

Enough to make me reach for a ....

Maureen

* High Five to anyone who gets the reference in the title...

pic from Flickr /Creative Commons/Tim Pearce

R.I.P Rights, Readers and Elmore

Today the news came through that writing legend Elmore Leonard died. He was a popular crime and thriller writer getting his start in pulp fiction. He had 10 rules for writing that have become a popular meme around the blogosphere but Leonard often broke his own rules. Here is a link to the interview where Elmore Leonard explains when to break the rules.

If you are looking for a cheat sheet in the game of life...Lifehacker has 10 infographics and cheat sheets to help you.

Last week I was immersed in WriteOnCon...and this week it’s Romance (a family member is staying here to attend the Romance Writers conference.)  Romance Writers are a savvy bunch often way ahead of other genres in marketing and trends. Here is a collection of great writing articles for Romance writers but they could easily apply right across all the genres.

However if mid grade is your specialty (and it’s mine) here is Peter Lerangis on writing for this age group.

Read this through carefully.

By posting your content on the Sites, you expressly grant Random House a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, fully paid-up worldwide, fully sub-licensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, transmit, perform and display such content and your name, voice, and/or likeness as contained in your User Submission, in whole or in part, and in any form throughout the world in any media or technology, whether now known or hereafter discovered, including all promotion, advertising, marketing, merchandising, publicity and any other ancillary uses thereof, and including the unfettered right to sublicense such rights, in perpetuity throughout the universe.

Are you shaking your head and wondering why anyone would sign a contract with this in?

Well lots of writers have....it could be in .4 in your latest contract. However this little excerpt comes from a Random House contract where they invite writers to contribute blog posts to their online blogging universe. FOR FREE.

Read all about this latest devious way to screw the content creator from the world’s largest publisher.

In the blogosphere this week...Barnes and Nobel and Simon and Schuster have made up. Great news for the writers left out in the cold... However Barnes and Nobel are not having a good week with reaction to their quarterly earnings out yesterday bringing out the doom sayers. Mike Shatzkin takes a look at the bookstore that wants to compete on all fronts. 

Another bookstore getting a mention is our local proudly independent Children’s Book Shop...check out this article on what a bookstore should be doing by British author Mal Peet who graced our city with his presence in the first part of the year.

Passive Guy asks Do You know What Your Rights Are Worth? This is a good run down on different rights in your contract.

Galleycat has a list of what agents have on their wishlists.

In Craft,

There is a swag of very good articles today.

Elisabeth S Craig on Outlining...This is very good.

Bookshelfmuse on sagging middles...Excellent

Justine Larbalesteir on rewriting...Just Brilliant!

Kristen Lamb on Editing...Excellent

Jim Mercurio on beating exposition...very good

Jami Gold is calling all pantser’s and if you are not sure what type of writer that is you need to check out the article from the very clever Ms Gold.

In Marketing,

The Indie 50 best sites...this is a mix of craft and marketing...

Should you do your own Audiobooks?

Twitter lists and how to use them...a great how to guide.

Website to check out,

The Oatmeal....comics on grammar...

To Finish,

Publishers Weekly has been looking at where our audience has gone...The latest YouTube meetup had nearly 7000 vloggers...with teens to the forefront. Some of these teens have over 2 million subscribers to their channels....Where are the publishers? Can authors tap into this underground movement... or are we a dying artform...

Maureen

pic: Flickr Creative Commons /Eddie

Shaking The Publishing Tree

It is Book Expo America time in the US and Golden Yarns time in NZ.

BEA is the biggest trade fair conference expo for the American publishing industry. This year in a bold move a group of Indie Authors are representing themselves and have a stand at BEA. 
The comments and takeaways have been coming thick and fast all over Twitter today from BEA so the wonderful Jane Friedman has helpfully collated her day’s tweets.

There is definitely movement in digital publishing, distribution and sales. Publishers are finally getting to grips with what they should be doing...

Mobile is really shaking up publishing and here is a slideshow showing this, which was presented at BEA earlier today. Food For Thought!

Here in NZ the mergers of the big publishers are beginning to bite.

Harper Collins announced yesterday that they were moving a lot of their operations out of NZ. This coming on top of the news that Pearson Education was also downsizing meant that it has been a bad week for New Zealand authors. As we are still waiting on news of what the Random Penguin merger will mean to NZ, which will be announced in July, it just adds to the depression about lean times for writers here in NZ.

Hybrid... Indie... Self Publishing the words are on everyone’s lips now.

Martin Taylor of Digital Publishing has a look at what it may mean to NZ.

The rise of the small Indie Press movement with a niche focus happening in the northern hemisphere is beginning to gain momentum here in NZ.

Dean Wesley Smith has a great take on Indie Print Runs...yes Indies are getting into Print!

However the key to all of this is distribution. Kristine Rusch has an excellent post on how the distribution models have shifted without anyone noticing and the change is really profound!

In general discussion Tobias Buckell and his post on survivorship bias and why 90% of the writing advice out there is bullshit...struck a chord everywhere. Chuck takes a look at what Tobias said and put his own views...(usual warnings apply)

Last week I posted a link to John Green's Radio NZ interview. John has posted a nice article on writing YA for those of you interested in his work...and why he thinks he got so much success. Maureen Johnson is the next to be interviewed by Radio NZ sometime this week. I had to laugh when she tweeted that she had to record the whole interview under a blanket to muffle noise....

*UPDATE Maureen Johnson’s interview on the coverflip project, which I covered in an earlier post, will be on National Radio after 11am, Queen’s Birthday Monday.

Jane Friedman has 2 excellent posts to mull over. 2 Strategic Reasons To Keep Blogging and Why Google+ is Better Than Facebook for Authors. Kristen Lamb takes it a step further looking at Facebook for Authors and what many are doing wrong.

In Craft,

5 Ways To Turn Up Suspense

K M Weiland on WhyYour Protagonist May Not Be Your Main Character

Ava Jae on When Not ToSubmit

Chuck Wendig on Killing Your Darlings...(warning it’s Chuck...it will be witty and profane)

In Marketing,

How To Get Reviews

The Best Way To Use Goodreads

Pubslush...the Kickstarter site for Books

Why Pick Up a DebutWriters Book?- nice article by Jody Hedlund on how to make readers care.

How To Get That Interview

To Finish,

Short fiction...there is gold in them thar stories...

Two articles to get you thinking. Short Is The New Long- The superb Anne R Allen

and How To Sell Your Short Fiction.

Lots of NZ children’s writers will be heading to Christchurch for the Golden Yarns conference this weekend. It will be a great time to look at our industry, what is moving and shaking it and where the opportunities may lie for the nimble writer in the fast changing publishing future.

maureen


Pic from Flickr/sammydavisdog

Finding The Plot

Paulo Coelho is credited with saying,

'There are only 4 stories...a love story between 2 people, a love story between 3 people, the struggle for power and the voyage.'

I am reflecting on this statement, which really pares back plot, and thinking about where the story swirling around in my head fits.

Several of my friends have finished big creative projects and they are in that flat space between ideas. (hey guys, how about combining all of those...)

Recently I heard a well established fiction writer say that he gets all his ideas from non fiction and that is all he reads between his novels.

On Facebook we are joking with Brian Falkner, a friend of ours who writes excellent YA Science Fiction thrillers, about new discoveries last year in Science, Brian had already invented them as plot devices in his books. If he dreams it up suddenly it becomes reality.

Ideas, plots, conspiracy theories and character motivation all swirling around in the blogosphere this week.

Truth is Stranger than Fiction.

Susan Kaye Quinn is interviewed on her new series...which began when she had one of those high concept ideas while traveling and she had to interview her own muse to find out what happens next.

K M Weiland talks about why you should steal from other writers.

Hugh Howey is being referenced all over the blogosphere again...this week it’s his three rules for writing...

Orna Ross looks at the Vanity Publishing vs Self Publishing. Are they the same? It is all about value.

The brilliant Joel Friedlander has added three new non fiction style templates to his fiction book design templates. If you are looking at POD check out what Joel is doing...very brilliant stuff.

M J Rose is looking at the book launch that happens when your books are not in the book store because of a dispute....Perfect is the Enemy of Good. Great post.

  

In the Craft section,

7 types of Narrative conflict

How to plot wrong in 3 easy steps

7 steps to writing a story readers won’t be able to put down

POV –whose head should I be in

Great fiction goes for the guts- Kristen Lamb with a straight to the point  blog post.

In Marketing,

Pinterest for authors...Jane Friedman takes a look at how you can use this social media site.

Getting it up and keeping it up-The conundrum for Indie authors

Bibliocrunch has a how to submit your book to various ebook sites post.

To Finish,

Neil Gaiman has addressed publishers directly at the London Book Fair to tell them what he thinks they should be doing...making mistakes.

The publishers will probably think he has lost the plot.

maureen

Pic from DH Wright

Raise A Glass to 2013

Predictions for 2013 have been circulating the publishing blogosphere over the last week.

Will we be down to 3 mega publishers by years end?

Will Amazon drop free?

Tablets over e-readers over print?

What kind of gatekeepers will be around for the new new new publishing order?

With the publishing business going through a revolution every other week...most predictors have thrown up their hands saying we can’t predict anything!

One person who has stuck his neck out is Mark Coker of Smashwords. Mark has a unique position to comment from. As an author and Bright Guy behind Smashwords he straddles not only the publishing distribution side but also the trenches of the content providers bearing the flag for small publishers and indie authors. He has 21 predictions and an in depth analysis of why he thinks each one will happen. (grab a big coffee)

Kristen Lamb has also stuck her sword into the ground and put together some interesting comments on what is coming in 2013. She has some great ideas on how you can use different ratings on different editions too. Great food for thought in 2013. Kristen had a huge 2012 establishing the international WANA Tribe community along with a busy writing and speaking schedule...(Raise a glass to her)

What will happen to literary agents in 2013...their role is changing as rapidly as publishing.

For other writers...the emphasis is not on what they think will happen outside the walls of their study but what they should be focusing on inside.

Dean Wesley Smith is always a quality read...he has his list of what writers should be thinking about going into 2013. This is GOOD ADVICE. (take with a nice boutique beer)

For those that want Chucks take on 2013 and writing....take a deep breath and plunge in. (warning it’s Chuck! You could need a stiff drink!)

The NY Times has even started their year with a look at publishing...but of a different sort. A book designer fed up crappy covers on classic books has taken books he loves but can’t find new editions of and is redesigning them and publishing them himself under the Whisky Priest label. (cool label!)

e Singles burst onto the publishing scene last year. PaidContent looks at why and what this year may hold for eSingle writers.

Passive Guy has an IP lawyer talk about legal issues in publishing...how much can you quote? (share out the rest of the Christmas cake)

Rachelle Gardner looks at working in 90 minute increments...break for a drink.

Catherine Ryan Howard has written a great article on ebook pricing and why she is moving all over the place with it...(too much espresso? LOL)

Catherine uses Gumroad on her website to sell her books and this intrigued me so I investigated. Pretty nifty outfit similar to PayPal but it means buyers don’t need to belong to PayPal to use it and sellers can get shortened links to embed directly into websites.

In Craft,

The brilliant K M Weiland has been continuing her examination of scene structure. Take a look at story scene structure part three and four and it will be completely obvious why a major publisher has asked her to take some classics and apply her magnifying glass to their construction this year.

Editor Lyn Price has a close look at the multifunctional life of dialog tags used right.

Three ultra fast ways to self edit your work.

Should you slam on your story’s brakes..?

In Marketing,

It’s time to look at author websites...Have you cleaned up your website?

Do you give a good reader first impression?

How about your audio book platform?

Have you got a good book marketing plan?

To finish,

Joanna Penn also had a huge 2012...She looks back at her achievements and how she is working on a refined plan for this year. Plan A: indie career, working with her agent, continuing her series, starting another one, audio books, podcasts, her online courses, speaking schedule...

(Pass out in envy overload.)

maureen

photo from Flicker/ Dinner series. (Mojitos...yum!)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinnerseries/6005326941/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Spring into Marketing

Ahhh Spring!

The moment when the sun breaks through the clouds and warms your back and then disappears behind rain clouds for another three weeks.

The optimistic scheduling of road works which rely on good weather...reality huge mud holes that last for two weeks causing a hazard before it is dry enough to resume work...

The gentle spring winds...gale force with a wind chill factor of 5.

Spring has great P R.

In the blogosphere there is a marketing focus this week as Amazon Kindle Serials get discussed by authors...is it worth it? Passive Guy takes a look and then the commenter’s weigh in.

Jane Friedman takes Stephen Kings popular rules on writing and changes them to marketing.

Jody Hedlund asks when should a writer stop promoting their book.

In the big picture look at the publishing world, Idealog previews what are going to be the hot topics at Frankfurt Publishers Launch conference. Among the innovators speaking will be Charlie Redmayne of Pottermore...They are keen to help any other world building author do a Pottermore....

J S McDougal is looking at publishers, their fear of piracy and DRM and how it is all tied up with disruptive technologies and the release of bright shiny hardware...MP3 and the iPod, eBook and the kindle...

Joanna Penn is using her Kindle to edit her book for print...a whole nother way to use this tech...Different formats highlight different line edits to be made...just when you thought it was all over after you published...

How much do you know about Foreign Rights? A foreign Rights agent talks about exactly what she does. It will open your eyes!

Writers Digest has 5 ways writers can get the most out of Goodreads ...one of them is to read...

Alexis Grant has a helpful post on how to master Twitter...be a power user....some interesting tips in there.

There is a collection of great craft links.

Kristen Lamb on exploring writing about a character’s inner and outer demons using Black Swan as the example.

Alan Rinzler explaining what it means when an editor or agents says it lacks emotional glue...and how to fix it.

Ava Jae on how to use brainstorming effectively when it is time to edit...(yes you did read that right.)

L B Gale has another interesting post up on what Romance Writers can teach Sci Fi Writers....actually what Romance Writers can teach anybody really.

Carol Riggs talks about feedback feeding into your story....a great guest blog on Janice Hardy’s brilliant writer’s craft blog.

The seven rules of picking character names...and I thought it was open baby name book, close eyes, stab with pin....

To finish, 

Alan Rinzlers post on Book Marketing with 3 experts has been getting another airing around the blogosphere this week. I blogged it in April but check it out again as we are on a marketing focus today.

Terry Pratchett has a new book coming out and it is a Young Adult book...Here is Sir Terry attempting to market it.... ( you will smile...)

maureen

pic from

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rumpleteaser/127509131/