Buying the Bestsellers

This is the week of the Buy.

Amazon bought Souk. Why should the average writer care? Souk is to the Middle East what Amazon is to the West. Digital books are only 1% of the market. They only have to go into China to get total world domination...

Kobo, the Canadian digital device and bookseller has bought Shelfi. Why? For the tech developers apparently, ( or is it because they have a perfect understanding of buyer’s reading habits.)

Microsoft unveils a digital bookstore. Why? Because everybody else has one... (I wanna bookstore... Google and Apple have one and Amazon has a big one....) Meanwhile a savvy bibliophile wandered into an Amazon bookstore and saw that they don’t sell books like other booksellers. They group them differently.

How is your reading this year? Elizabeth S Craig decided to put a reading plan into action this meant having another identity on Goodreads.

The Writers Guild Association home of script and screenwriters looks like it is gearing up for another strike. Negotiations have broken down between the studios again on what they pay the writers. Why are the content creators the last in line to get paid?

There are rumblings in the universities. Should academics publish their own textbooks? There was an interesting panel debate at London Book Fair on this.  Is the traditional academic publishing world finally getting the shake up of self publishing. The days of the $400 text book may be numbered.

Bologna is on! Bologna is the world’s biggest children’s book fair. At this time all the children’s writers get a case of travel and book envy. Publishers Weekly has a quick run down on what everyone is looking for.

James Scott Bell has a great article in Writer Unboxed asking is your writing big enough? You know those sweeping sentences that go on for half a page and your eyes and attention remain riveted to the page, even while you subconsciously know that no editor these days would let a writer ramble on but the writing is soo good and you just can’t help reading on. I have shelves full of writers that were sparing with a full stop but they could sure tell a story. They were prolific and belonged to the pulp school of writing. Anne R Allen wonders if the constant pressure to write and repeat is a good idea. What about those writers who write slowly?

In The Craft Section,

5 underused settings in Spec Fic

Story structure purpose for readers- Jami Gold - Bookmark

Let’s talk verbs

How to edit your story

Creating a strong moral premise- Jeff Lyons- Bookmark

Theme examples from literature- Now Novel

3 steps to engaging readers

10 things to remember about sequels- Janice Hardy

Red flags in editing why your MS gets rejected- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

3 Book marketing skills -C K Syme

9 things authors need on their landing pages- Bookthority-Bookmark

50 ways to market your book without going crazy

Author bio’s a help or hindrance- Anne R Allen - Bookmark

Amazon keywords to double your readers- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Book description A/B tests Bookmark

An old world concept made new

To Finish,

This week Marie Force wrote a fantastic article on chasing the best seller lists and how she realised that she needed to change her focus. Kris Rusch talked about the bestseller lists and who you are writing for. It is a fabulous article and a must read.

Maureen

@craicer

My monthly newsletter is going out soon. If you want to get a collection of the best of my bookmarked links plus other goodies in your inbox you can subscribe here.If you want to shout me a cup of coffee hit the Kofi button. Thanks to all those who have fed my caffeine habit.

Pic Flickr Creative Commons / Moyan Brenn /Tuscany Market

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

If you want a handy collection of the best of my bookmarked links and other interesting items click here to subscribe!

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

Who Do You Write For?

As I look over my Twitter feed this week I have the distinct impression that many writers will be hitting NaNoWriMo with relief to get away from the media storms over the US Presidential elections. Vote Early and switch off all media to write the novel.

Kris Rusch has a nice comment on the value of writing fiction when the world is in turmoil.

This week Amazon changed a few rules on publishing ebooks. The Digital Reader has a link with all the new hoops you have to jump through.

Joanna Penn has an interview with Chris Fox on using data science to sell books. This is a fascinating interview because once you identify your ideal reader, data science can help you market your book without you doing any work.

Looking after your international audience is the subject of Elizabeth S Craig’s blog post and it is full of ideas for marketing across all the different countries Amazon has presence. She also goes into great detail on Print distribution.

Chris Syme has a guest post on Jane Friedman’s blog about running short Social Media campaigns to market your book. This comprehensive article is an excerpt from Chris Syme’s new book.

Shannon Gibney has penned a thoughtful article - 7 things I have learned so far as a writer. This is a great roundup of advice... always say yes if you can... be prepared and deadlines are your friend. Shannon also explains why.

What happens when you get Book Apathy? How do you overcome it? Is something wrong with you or the book? Ginny Carter has an interesting article on remedies for this malaise that strikes every author.

The Three Pillars of The Author Platform and how to build them is the subject of The Verbs latest thought piece. Every writer should take time to read this and think about it.

Who are you? and Who are you writing for? are questions we all need to answer if we want a successful writing career.

In The Craft Section,

How to find Plot holes when outlining- K M Weiland- Bookmark

The best advice on plotting- Janice Hardy-Bookmark

3 reasons your manuscript gets rejected

3 tips to increase writing output- Jody Hedlund- Bookmark

Writing sad scenes- Ryan Casey

Finding plot holes – Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Finding your way into the story – Becca Puglisi-Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

9 tips for building your book cover- Jane Friedman- Bookmark

7 Book marketing trends that no longer work

Visual marketing for authors- Frances Caballo- Bookmark

How to launch a book on a budget

5 things to remember in cover design

Book promotions for holidays- Bookmark

Making a living – Elizabeth S Craig- Bookmark!

To Finish

Orna Ross is the director of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi )They have run three very successful online free one day conferences coinciding with the three major Book Fairs in the Northern Hemisphere. With the Frankfurt Book Fair just wrapping up the theme of their last conference was Writers and Business. 24 hours of amazing content for writers at all stages of the writing profession. Check out what’s on offer and enjoy a feast of quality content.

Orna also has an excellent vlog on setting good creative writing habits. Just in time for NaNoWriMo

Good Luck To Everyone attempting NaNoWriMo (It’s not too late to sign up.)

Maureen

@craicer

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Jupiter Firelyte

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Thoughts in Translation

This week Amazon announced they were cracking down on fake reviewers. GULP went all the authors. Authors always think the worst. So what does it mean? Passive Guy takes a look at why Amazon has tweaked the review system. It’s all about trust.

The Frankfurt Book Fair has been happening and suddenly everyone is talking about translations. Germany just happens to be a huge market for translations. The Bookseller talks about the move to global authorship.

Amazon is in the translation business (of course) and Publishing Perspectives this week talked about the huge injection of cash into Amazon Crossing and sounded a note of caution to the translators who make it all happen.

Joanne Harris delivered a speech this week at the Manchester Literary Festival which is getting shared all around the internet. Why do people expect authors to work for free? Do readers ever ask what does the author wants from them? This is a fabulous read!

Jami Gold asks authors - What is your long term plan? This is one of those posts that have you thinking for a long time after you read it. Every author should read this.

This author life has its ups and downs, Lance Rubin wrote a great post on blocking out the noise and just creating.

Sometimes you come across a piece of writing that turns you on your ear and that you just have to share with someone. That happened to me this week when I heard a podcast interview with Paul Bishop on Authorbiz. I listened to it in the car and then couldn’t wait to share the ideas with my writing partner. Just WOW.

In the Craft Section,

Now Novel has two great articles- What is good writing and Guide to Writing a Romance novel

The secret power of Voice – James Scott Bell

Tips for Queriers- query, synopsis, first page

Brainstorming the hero – Angela Ackerman

Book critique ABC’s for authors – Kate Tilton

Secrets of bestselling authors

Letting go of the practice novel- Writer Unboxed- Bookmark!

Turning a unique phrase - Joanna Penn

In the Marketing Section,

The secret to a powerful author brand- Kristen Lamb

Help - My Amazon reviews have disappeared

5 tools to double your eBook sales

Get books into global markets- Molly Greene

5 basic elements of an Author website – The Book Designer - Bookmark

How to write the best author bio

Building an Author platform

How to deal with the stress of self publishing

Website of the Week.

Larry Brooks has an excellent website full to bursting with great content on writing. Here are just two recent stand out posts. The unspoken pinch point – climax and How to plan your novel in 6 weeks. Both are bookmark posts!

To Finish,

Infographics... Translating lots of information into handy charts.

The 8 infographics every author needs and The infographic for how to organise your writing desk.

And now you know everything.

 Maureen

@craicer

Pic From Flickr Creative Commons- Dan McKay

Thoughtful Words

A comic for anyone who thinks writing picture books is easy: pic.twitter.com/3pnl4EqsSo
— Debbie Ridpath Ohi (@inkyelbows) November 17, 2014

This week in publishing Twitter went wild over the Amazon/ Hachette settlement. The New Yorker gave it thumbs up for getting back to the new normal. 

Hugh Howey warned that things won’t change so fast... because of publishers shipping delays to Amazon warehouses. At least they have settled before the Christmas buying rush.

Mike Shatzkin had a few words to say about the behemoth that is Randy Penguin and what he thinks they should do... run their ownsubscription model. Hmmm they already publish half the books in the world... maybe they just need their own bookstores. Either way when it is their turn to negotiate with Amazon it will be watched with interest.

Authors have been asking for years why can’t publishers bundle print and eBooks together

Publishing Perspectives reports on a pre Christmas trial of bundling by HarperCollins in Australia. So if you are lucky enough to live in Australia.... I wonder if it extends to NZ as well?

Porter Anderson took a look at the journey to nearly superstardom by traditionally published author Emily St John Mandel. (Who missed out on the NB Award announced as I write this.) Emily did her own marketing being published by small presses until her 4^th (breakout) novel and then the story changed when a big publisher put marketing muscle in. If you read that report I featured last month on blockbusters vs award winners you will see some familiar themes.

Janet Reid has a tell all post about what you should do whenyou get an agent...

The cartoon up top is from the wonderful Inky Elbows AKA Debbie Ridpath Ohi

I know people who would love that as framed merch!!!

In the Craft Section,

Planning your setting

The art of making your characters frustrated

The stages of revision.

Tips on what to focus on when you are revising

Janice Hardy tells you what to do when you have to kill a major part of your novel.

Becca Puglisi has an excerpt from the new Talents and Skills thesaurus... Strategic Thinking. This is a great writer resource.

In the Marketing Section,

BookBaby has ideas for Author Merchandise

The Book Designer has a guest post on using video effectively

Sterling and Stone (better known as Sean, Johnny and Dave) have a guest post on getting 50 reviews a month

Joanna Penn talks about public speaking for introverted authors.

When you feel invisible in the marketplace

To Finish,

K M Weiland, author of some very good craft novels has responded to requests to produce a workbook for her excellent Structuring Your Novel book.

This is a great book on structure so her workbook will be the bee’s knees if you are looking for Christmas presents for yourself...  

The National Book Awards in the US were announced overnight and everyone is talking about Ursula Le Guin’s speech. It is not long but it is as masterful and inspiring as she is herself.

maureen

Twists and Turns

Ahh the twisty world of publishing...

This week Barnes and Noble, the biggest bookstore chain in the US (owner of Nook and a model for other chains to follow) introduced a Print On Demand service.

Yes you can upload your MS and they will print it.

They won’t sell it or make it available in their store but they will print it. If you want it sold in Barnes and Noble stores you need to get your MS printed by CreateSpace. (owned by Amazon.) Just reflect for a minute on that last sentence….

Dave Gaughran wonders if the fell hand of Author Solutions may be behind this especially given the “charges” for basic editing etc that you may need.

St Martin’s press an imprint of Macmillan have decided that they will not be shopping for successful Indie authors. This is interesting as they took on Amanda Hocking and sold truck loads of her print books. Are the negotiations too difficult with savvy Indie authors? Digital Reader takes a look at implications.

Publishing Perspectives reports on a children’s book subscription model being trialed in France. This is aimed at libraries and schools first. If it works it will roll on to the English-speaking world next.

Joanna Penn has been attending the Screenwriters festival in London... She is all fired up with what she learned there. This is an interesting read. If you are at all interested in what Joanna is doing she is coming to Auckland in December and wants to meet up with kiwi writers.

Sir Quentin Blake has been thinking about accessibility in his work lately. He talked with the BBC on what he would like to see more of. (We need more of these voices advocating for children!)

Jane Friedman wrote an interesting article looking at the benefit (or not) of creative writing degrees. Some very thoughtful words of wisdom here.

Amazon just bought the .book domain name and a few others…hmm I wonder what their future plans may be.

Claude Nougat has taken a close look at free promotions and finds some surprising information and some great tips. (A must read)

In the Craft Section,

4 ways to write a killer plot twist

Excel at developing characters

Story questions to keep your novel on track (a print it out post!)

Writing humour - K M Weiland

How to make your scenes play out like the movies

6 steps to researching

How to finish projects.

In the Marketing Section,

4 mistakes authors make soliciting reviews

Making a catalogue of your work

Email tactics for writers

Business plan basics for authors

How to do a boxed set

How to do a powerhouse about page

Extra ways to make money as an author

To Finish,

Rolling Stone interviewed Stephen King about writing recently. Writers can take heart, Stephen King still has fears about his manuscripts failing….

***Breaking News*** Amazon and Hachette have resoved their differences and made up…. sort of. Wait until they hear what the Authors Guild wants.

maureen

Pic from Flickr/creativecommons/ Jenn Durfey

Have I got a deal for you!

This week the Seattle Weekly took a close look at the world of Bezos. Is Amazon publishing over?

Hugh Howey is trying to understand digital disruption. Could the author become obsolete?

Script Mag has a post on author’s estates if the worst happens… 

BUT REALLY…

November is all about NaNoWriMo. (National Novel Writing Month) This is where the writer commits to writing a 50,000-word novel in a month. Just to let you know 50,000 words is on the light side for a novel unless it’s a children’s one. Agent Janet Reid has the genre word count lists... so you might want to rethink your 50,000-word picture book.

If you are diving into NaNoWriMo there are always lots of cool deals around for writers...

Scrivener (MS software) always has a free download trial and there are various writing craft book deals around.

Last week I urged you to pick up Joanna Penn, David Gaughran, Sean Platt and Johnny B Truent’s book bundle for 99c. Each day Joanna, Dave, Sean and Johnny are writing great articles and linking to their 99c deal, which is available for the rest of this week!

Kevin J Anderson has chosen 12 books to go into a mega NaNoWriMo bundle for the month of November. You pay $15 or more and you get all 12 including the writer craft books from Kris Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, Chuck Wendig... whom regular readers will recognize as often being referenced in this blog. (Christmas came early...Yeah!)

Live Write Thrive has a list of inspiring books that aspiring writers should read. Have you read them all? (4...)

Helen Sedwick recently got the chance to hear someone from Author Solutions speak -  Welcome to the Hotel California...

Author Solutions has some dodgy clauses in their contracts... and they are the behind the scenes company for many SP options being run by the big 4...(this is a Writer Beware situation.)

Murderby4 is a group blog of Thriller writers. They have a nice post about helping budding authors without killing their spirits.

Long time readers of this blog will know that I am a fan of group blogs... Romance University has a great post on how to set one up.

James Scott Bell has a post on Killzone about writing what you love and earning money from it.

BooksellersNZ have an interview with Julia Marshall of Gecko Press. (She’s looking for junior novels at the moment...)

In the Craft Section,

Creativity on demand... The BICHOK solution.

Chuck Wendig on NaNoWriMo writing tips...

Stephen Pressfield on the most important minutes of the day

Teaching yourself to write better

How do we describe characters –Jami Gold

In the Marketing Section,

How to use Rafflecopter

Storyboarding a book for marketing – Bob Mayer

How to help your books sell themselves – Sean Platt (Don’t forget the 99c bargain)

How to kick start your sales – Dave Gaughran (Don’t forget the 99c bargain)

Marketing - how to use your early readers

To Finish,

Last week I hinted that Joanna Penn was coming to Auckland. 

IT’S TRUE and she wants a meet up with any Kiwi Authors who would like to meet her. 16/18^th December.

Go here and fill out a form for her... so she can figure out how best to cater for everyone!

Sadly I won’t be there... but you guys can party with Joanna on my behalf!

maureen

Pic from Flicr/creativecommons Eastlake Times

Branded

Real talk about author branding: concentrate on your voice and your craft, not your "brand." Let your voice be what's consistent.
— Chuck Wendig (@ChuckWendig) September 23, 2014

Amazon love/hate fuels a lot of debate in the publishing blogosphere. Each side of the argument has its passionate adherents. What you can’t do in publishing is ignore Amazon. If they are not bringing out a new device (described as a game changer by a kids lit agent this week) then they are changing the game in publishing with a new publishing innovation.

Rumours abound as Digital Book World reported chat from authors who are part of an Amazon focus group. Are crowd-sourcing manuscripts and covers the next move?

This week Mike Shatzkin looked at the use of Amazon exclusives in the battle to get market share at book launch time. His article specifically looked at Hugh Howey’s public worry about whether to take a hit in sales for publicity over the 90 day Amazon exclusive. Just how powerful is the Amazon exclusive brand?

Hugh Howey has focused his laser eye on the worst kept secret of rigged best selling lists. The big brands NYT bestseller and WSJ bestseller on a book guarantee branding for the authors life... but are they being gamed by their own brand?

Dave Gaughrin has written a searing post on Big Name publishers and their use of Author Solutions. Publishing Is Rotten To The Core.This is a must read post. When the brand becomes rotten...

Michelle Huneven has written an essay about Writing and thetrouble with it... one of those bookmark posts that you just have to share!

In the Craft Section,

Ava Jae on playlists while you are writing

Brainstorming the hero before you start writing

Is killing your darlings murdering your book... great article

K M Weiland Are you writing your sentences wrong?

The 8 characters of comedy

John Scalzi on writing books for Hollywood.

In the Marketing Section,

Jane Friedman on Authors Social Media

Generating income by diversifying... great post from Writer Unboxed

Joanna Penn on author entrepreneurship

Agent wisdom

5 keys to pain free book promotion

Don’t sell a book – build a brand.

Self-Publishing

Molly Greene on how Self-Publishers can improve the industry.

Joanna Penn on The Self-Publishing Revolution

To Finish,

Writers are often asked what their brand is to distinguish them.

Chuck takes a look at Author Branding...in Chuck style! (Warning Chuck is not for the faint of heart... and you will need to put down your drink!)

Acquisitions Arguments and Awards

This week around the publishing blogosphere...The news that Hachette has acquired the Perseus group is filtering through. Hachette is taking the publishing arm and on-selling the distribution arm to Ingram. Why should you care? Remember the predictions last year about publishers having to get bigger to survive? Hachette gets bigger. Ingram’s gets bigger and knocks out their major competitor along the way. This move has many implications for Indie publishers as Perseus was a main publisher of niche imprints and the main distributor of Indie Publishers. The move has fueled some speculation of what might be coming down the pipeline.... However it is a Sign That The Predictions Are Coming True.

Also in the wider news Amazon is flexing its muscles in the UK and Europe. Amazon is pressing for new terms with publishers some of which include that publishers cannot undersell Amazon even on their own websites and that Amazon is to provide a POD book for every print title currently out of print. There is a nice little phrase, (Most Favoured Nation) being bandied about.

The Carnegie Medal has been awarded. It is one of the top prizes in Children’s Literature... and not everyone is pleased. The book is a Young Adult novel for starters...and it just goes down from there. Kiwi Kids Lit authors will be familiar with this scenario as we watched it unfold last year after our own National Awards.

This years New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards was another celebration of the depth and breadth of children’s writing in this country. The winners were hard to pick from the stellar finalists in each category. Children’s Literature won on the night...with New Zealand Post finishing its 18 year sponsorship in style. Everyone hopes we find another sponsor just as dedicated to celebrating our Children’s Literature awards as NZ Post. (crossed fingers)

In the Craft Section,

Why Backstory is the Spine of your Story... (great article)

What Writers can learn from Jane Eyre

The real meaning of Show, Don’t Tell

When Smart Characters Do Dumb Things.

Get Back To Basics –Janice Hardy

Story Midpoint mirror moment –Angela Ackerman

9 common exposition mistakes

In the Marketing Section,

The best TED talks on Marketing...This is a great collection and worth bookmarking.

Query letter pet peeves from Agents

Public speaking for introverts.(video from Joanna Penn)

Who is your distributor?

Creating a Business Philosophy -Elisabeth S Craig

To Finish,

Writers are bibliophiles. Huffington Post has a collection of things YA Readers say about reading… but really these could all come out of writers mouths.

maureen

pic: The Margaret Mahy Book Of The Year 2014 awarded this week to Vasant Unka. (Penguin NZ)