The Clock Is Ticking

 

 

This week in publishing news...

Publishing Perspectives has highlighted the call from International Pen calling for protection of writers and journalists in Afghanistan. With the situation changing hourly on the ground over there, writers and journalists are being targeted. The first casualty is always truth and an incoming regime is quick to get control of the message to the people. If you want to help, get in touch with your countries author societies who can direct you to your nearest PEN branch.

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard takes a look at Hachette’s purchase of Workman this week. Hachette wasn’t interested in the frontlist but in the gold of the backlist. Publishers are taking note that their digital sales kept them afloat when the bricks and mortar stores were closed. Now they are on the hunt for vaults of backlist to make money from. 

 

Meanwhile, Kris Rusch has been looking at Omnichannel marketing. What does that mean to the author? It is the seamless experience of drawing a reader into your lair  book world and giving them the same experience wherever they encounter you. It is an interesting read and the way of future marketing.

 

Publishing Perspectives reports on moves to introduce gamification serial writing apps. Write the serial and unlock a whole lot of enhanced content around it with in-app purchases. Take a look at what may be speeding down the track towards you.

 

Bookfunnel has just announced an exciting new feature- They are getting into author newsletter swaps. They are making it easy to find other authors to swap freebies with. 

 

Time has discovered Goodreads, or really the mess of review bombing that has been escalating over on Goodreads. Amazon owns Goodreads and the experience for authors is not a good one. Time for a clean-up of the review trolls. 

 

New Zealand’s publishers were planning their conference this weekend. Publishing In A Disrupted World. A very prescient conference theme as it happens. Their guests are live streaming in so they may be able to move the whole thing online.

 

Jane Friedman published a guest article from Sangeeta Mehta on two agents' advice on publishing with a small press. Is it was worth it? Some interesting ideas were put forward. Writer, E J Wenstrom published an article this week on what she had learned in 6 years being with a small press.

 

Anne R Allen has a great article on cliche story beginnings and how they have evolved. It is especially good if you aren’t sure if your beginning is a cliché.

 

In The Craft Section,

Story Obstacles- or when you have to take two steps back- Jami Gold- Bookmark

3 things to know about endings- K M Weiland - Bookmark

Describing character emotions, problems, and solutions- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

10 self-editing tips- Maryann Miller- Bookmark

3 useful tips for getting your book written- Lucy V Hay- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

Building an ARC Review team- Dave Chesson- Bookmark

How to use pre-order strategies on Amazon- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

How to market to local media- Penny Sansevieri

What is a soft book launch?- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Working with Google Docs- TheWriteLife- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Yesterday New Zealand went into a snap Lockdown as we had one case of the Delta variant of Covid 19 in the community. Our countries strategy has been to Go Hard. Go Early. This has enabled us to quickly get on top of the pandemic and then life goes back to the way it was. It has been 16 months since our last tight lockdown so we know the strategy works. As we are a gateway to the Pacific Islands we are protecting them as well until we all can be vaccinated. One case quickly turned into 10 and then into 21, but we have traced everybody with genome sequencing so we know where and how it got here. This kind of fast turnaround science was unheard of a few years ago. So what should we do in a tight lockdown? Some writers might think 'I should write that novel', but not everyone has the ideal writing environment if the house is full. Writer Unboxed recently posted an article on the 6 excuses you can use for not finishing your novel in a pandemic.

Or you could be Catherine Ryan Howard – one of our Indie touchstones, who has gone on to have a big thriller career. Catherine wrote a thriller in lockdown about lockdown called 56 days. She writes a small rant in the Irish Times about how it came about. Take one lockdown…

 

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 – David Lofink

 

Legally Spotted

What a week in the publishing blogosphere.

Cockygate and the GDPR have filled my news feeds. They both have some important takeaways to consider.

Cockygate is the term writers and industry pundits have applied to a situation involving a romance writer who has trademarked the word ‘cocky’ in relation to her romances. Yes, a word can be trademarked. Will it stand up in a court... that’s the big question? The can of worms has got bigger because in addition to the trademark the author has been sending cease and desist notices to other authors who have the word cocky in their titles. It all gets very emotional with authors and lawyers and lawyers and authors and RWA and lawyers etc. Jami Gold boils it down to branding- The right way and the wrong way - This is a must read.

G.D.P.R. is the new regulations from Europe, which take effect on the 25^thMay and affect anyone who has or operates a mailing list. That includes authors who have newsletters and mailing list sign ups on their websites. 

Seth Godin has written about the GDPR and the marketer’s dilemma very neatly and succinctly. This gives you an overview. Nick Stephenson engaged a lawyer to talk him through what changes he had to make on his website. 

Another excellent resource is Mark Dawson and James Blatch’s latest podcast which goes in depth on the topic.

Sharp eyed readers will notice a small privacy policy notice on my websites. I’m still working through all the ramifications so this policy may change in future.

Now armed with all your knowledge of GDPR you can read Nicholas Erik’s huge post on everything to do with mailing lists.

Joanna Penn is talking about critical mindsets this week. Do you have the right mindset for your author business. And yes, if you are writing it is a business.

Kris Rusch takes it one step further looking at growing the author business too fast and not having the right people in place to help you when you need it.

And have you ever thought about copywriting... In the Alli blog this week was an interesting post about fiction writers making money on the side with their writing skills.

Natasha Bajema talks about creating 1000 reader superfans from zero. In the article she references David Gaughran’s new book. (I think it’s 5 star)

Anne R Allen features a lot in this week’s blog... mainly because she consistently puts out great stuff. Check out this post on 10 tips for getting your novel off to a good start.

In The Craft Section,

The eternal question- what should I write- Chuck Wendig

100 scripts to download and study- Go into the story- screenwriting - Bookmark

3 writer guide sites examined- Writers Digest

How to measure your success as a writer- Bibliocrunch

9 ways to keep your writing safe- Alexa Bigwharfe- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Write an Author bio for any occasion And Publishing business tips- Anne R Allen- Bookmark Both

Seven new books for writers- WrittenWord Media

Platform building and related terrors- Draft2Digital

Bookbub ads readers want to click- Bookbub- Bookmark

Not sold in stores- ways to excite readers- Bookfunnel- Bookmark

To Finish,

Chris Fox is an Indie Publisher guru and so I was interested in his short video about shortcuts... and how sometimes they are a massive mistake for the writer.  This is an excellent motivation video. Let’s be careful that we are dotting i’s and crossing t’s.

Maureen

@craicer

My monthly newsletter is due out soon. I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. If you appreciate the blog, hit the coffee button up top and feed my addiction  LOL. 

Pic: Flicker Creative Commons- USFWS Mountain Prairie