Gazing Into The Crystal Ball

Over the last week I have been watching agents trying to figure out on Twitter what kinds of books might be popular in the upcoming few years based on the political upheavals in the U.S.

If you type in #MSWL in the Twitter search bar you can get a snapshot of what they are looking for. It got me thinking about what people read in times of political upheaval. Do they read safe stories or stories about how to cope when a society is disintegrating?

Kris Rusch has a great blog post on writing in difficult times. I think it’s a must read for every author.

Tara Sparling takes a different tack and screams for Book Heroin from Publishers who are playing it safe.

Slate has an interesting post on using sensitivity readers. These are readers representing the various communities you may be writing about to give your MS a beta read. But can their wishes change the story too much.

Litreactor has decided that we all need to take a deep breath and not post on Social Media about certain things. The list is not long but it is very pointed.

Getting a book distributed is a tricky thing if you are a self publisher. Jane Friedman has written a quick guide to get you started. New distributor on the block, Pronoun, has one upped Createspace. Looks like interesting times ahead.

Jeff Goins has a few words to say about book launches and he should know... He is one of the fastest selling non fiction authors around.

Simon Owens talks about using Patreon to support various writing projects. This is an interesting alternative to crowdfunding. Build your own paying tribe... which may be what's needed as The Guardian reports that Award winning writers are forced out of full time writing.

In The Craft Section,

Effective ways to make memorable characters- Dean Elphick

How to use schedules to write- Scott Myers- Bookmark

Formatting interiority- Mary Kole

What does an agent look for- Chip McGregor

Does your character description work?- Michael Hauge- Bookmark

Conflict between protagonists- Chris Winkle - Bookmark

Story hooks- K M Weiland- Bookmark

How long should your series be- Rachel Aaron- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

7 essentials for your book launch-Keely Keith- Bookmark

Content marketing and Selling Non Fiction Books Two great posts from Joanna Penn Bookmark

DIY Marketing tools – IngramSpark

But I don’t want to blog- Indies Unlimited

Online education as book marketing- Publishers Weekly

What’s new on your marketing list – Molly Greene

Are indie authors following the music script- Interesting article from Bookbaby

Going from launch to 1000 sales in 3 weeks- Kboards- Bookmark

Social Media Marketing myths- Bookmark

To Finish

A few years ago Anne R Allen published this great blog post which is still relevant. 12 signs your novel isn’t ready to publish. This checklist is always a good wakeup call. If you can tick all the boxes you might have the next book answer to that difficult question, what to read to escape from real life.

Maureen

@craicer

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Pic: Flickr Creative Commons Mr Muggles 

Contingency Planning

This week New Zealand was rocked by a 7.8 earthquake. As luck would have it, it struck two minutes after midnight on Monday morning. After we picked ourselves up we spent the night on a hill waiting for the Tsunami.

New Zealand is known as the shaky isles and we have had our fair share of big earthquakes recently. In the back of our mind we think we are prepared for just such an emergency. But when you are sitting on the side of a hill in the middle of the night waiting for the all clear it occurs to you that better planning would have meant you ate chocolate instead of the cough drops from the bottom of your coat pocket.

In publishing this week Roz Morris has been on a panel lately looking at the convergence of Self Publishing and Traditional Publishing. Roz wrote a great article looking at the spectrum of publishing.

(Read the comments.)

Publishers Weekly has an article on Horror Writers and the growing rise of Self Publishing in that genre.

This week Amazon allowed paid advertising on Amazon.com for ebooks. Previously you had to jump through several hoops and make sacrifices but now it seems straight forward.

Publishing Perspectives has an interesting article on the Danish Book Fair. They like to mix it up and this year had some interesting new things. They must be on to a good thing as they break records for attendence.

Lawyer and Author Susan Spann does a great Wednesday Pub Law tweet stream. This week she has been looking at spreadsheets and author finances. While we are on things legal take a look at copyright rules for settings

Keeping one eye on children’s publishing trends. Reedsy talked with an illustrator from Finland who had an idea... and went looking for a writer... and then Kickstarted a business.

If you are hankering to write your own children’s book, Writer Unboxed has a good article on the midgrade voice.

In The Craft Section,

3 tips to strengthen our voice- Libby Heily

Writing vivid descriptions- Mythicscribes

Using archetypes to develop novel concepts- C S Lakin- Bookmark

Ten steps to developing the practice novel- Writer Unboxed- Bookmark

What is the theme?- Writingforward

What is head hopping?- Bryn Donovan

10 keys to plot structure-Michael Hauge- Bookmark

What English to use. American... British...- Roz Morris

Using multiple Points Of View- Jane Friedman- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Does paid marketing work? -Alli Chat

Fiction email lists- Joanna Penn- Bookmark

4 step plan to sell more in less time on Social Media- Chris Syme

Respectful Book Reviews

11 ways to quote from your book- and 7 signs your book is professionally published - Book Designer

Using Facebook groups to build Book Buzz- Bookbub- Bookmark

Book Layout basics- Bookmark

KDP – The rules roundup now-

To Finish

Is your plan for success I just want to write my books? Judith Briles wrote a kick in the pants article for The Book Designer today. In this modern time of publishing it is not enough to just write your books. You need to plan before, during and after the book.

And this is true for Earthquakes and other natural disasters....

Always know where the chocolate is!

Maureen

@craicer

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Pic from  Kaikoura Coast near the epicentre of the earthquake. - TVNZ