Showing posts with label ebooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ebooks. Show all posts

Thursday, June 27, 2013

When The Game Gets Broken



The big storm rolled on through the country. Everyone put on thermals, hunkered down and suffered through the storm. And now we are in clean up mode with rail links being repaired along with the sea walls around the harbour. Landslips are being cleared away so roads can be reopened through the South Island.

In the publishing blogosphere the talk has been around the examination of eBook royalty numbers and how the 25% net is a losing deal for authors. Passive Guy looks at the Futurebook article Get your Geiger counter out -It's Toxic. Here is an excerpt.
 So, in other words, at these average price points, every time a hardcover sale is replaced by an e-book sale, the publisher makes $2.20 more per copy and the author makes $1.58 less. If the author made the same $4.20 royalty on the e-book sale as he/she would have on a hardcover, the publisher would STILL be making an improved profit of $6.28.
The comments are coming thick and fast on this topic.

Mike Shatzkin, Publishing Futurist, has taken a look at this topic as well, with his long view on where publishers should be concentrating and that is out of the royalty percentages game and going to flat fee per copy. However he also shines a spotlight on how the BIG authors negotiate their contracts and it has nothing to do with royalties.

Porter Anderson writing on Writer Unboxed takes it further...The thought shift happens when you realise that Trad Publishing only favours the bestseller. The tier under is moving away from Trad. What are the consequences?

Last year it was felt within the self-publishing community that when some of the big bestsellers started looking at the numbers...they might not be so quick to sign to a Trad deal. Agent Orange who blogs anonymously is starting to wonder if the Trad publishers have woken up to the fact that with the new options available, a traditional publishing deal is now just another option for authors and not the only game in town. 

Laura Resnick has a great post on how Traditionally Published Authors can use SelfPublishing to their advantage.


The Guardian has interviewed Kristine Rusch about what happened when her Smokey Dalton series got picked up by a Trad publisher. Smokey Dalton is a black PI. Kris is white.... How racist is the publishing industry? I’ve always wondered this myself.

In Craft,
The fabulous K M Weiland strikes again- On Tightening Dialog.



Fast Writing...and how you can do it?

Novelicious has another post in their 5 tips for writing, series


In Marketing,

Back Cover Copy...how to make it sell your book.


Susan Kaye Quin revisits Setting up yourIndie Business



To Finish,
This could break your love affair with word games....

maureen 
Pic is from Stuff- The day after... not far from where I live...

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Going Into Battle



Last week the blog post you would have got didn’t happen because I was traveling unexpectedly for most of a day. Arriving back to where we were staying at 10:30 pm was not a great time to start writing it...so you got a week off.
I have finished traveling up and down the country and so there are no excuses this week.

January continues to be the month of setting writing goals for the coming year in publishing along with planning or attending conferences to beat the Winter blues in the Northern Hemiphere.

Here in the Southern Hemisphere the weather is changeable from wet to frying. The kids are still on holiday and for me getting stuck into writing, battles with, finding air conditioning or towels to mop up the sweat or the rain or the puddles from the kids tracking through the house and sorting out the fights from overheated kids or bored kids or manuscripts that won’t play nice!

The battle for predicting a clear direction for writers to follow in 2013 continues with commentator Brett Sandusky on how this is the year that publishing must address the elephants in the room. Brett names seven elephants. Among them Agents and Amazon.

Social Media Examiner has the Social Media predictions for 2013... the ongoing battle for your attention...

Victoria Mixon has decided to repost her last years rant because she still feels strongly about the non artistic people running publishing who over the last 30 years published work of low artistic quality (because it brings in money quickly) and what that means for the rest of us. This is an interesting read and you will find yourself saying ‘so that’s why....’

Jane Friedman touched a few sore spots as she examined self publishing and the rush for genre commodity over literary quality. This is a great essay which weighs up both sides and their future. Will epublishing help one over the other...118 people have an opinion so far. Jane also asks the question, How long should you (battle) keep trying to get published?

Once you are published it is only the start of the uphill slog to stay relevant and in the game. Melinda Szymanik tells the honest truth about being a children’s writer in New Zealand and how much it costs. Hats off to Melinda for telling everyone just what it takes to stay in the battle for hearts and minds and damn good writing!

Who are your writing stakeholders? Kate Gale suggests you won’t succeed unless you have some of these on your side.



Have you tried a stand up writing desk?...this could be the solution for all those niggling pains writers get...

In Craft,
Tami Cowden has the 16 Villain Archtypes....(after all you need someone to battle against)

In Marketing,

Unexpected battle moves in publishing ...
Variety reports that a film media company has moved to get an exclusive first look at all new titles from an epublishing only publishing house. This is a new move for acquisitions and film rights and something authors and agents should take note of.


Agent Mary Kole becomes one of the first children’s publishing agents to offer a few other extra services in addition to agenting. This is a move that some see as a logical response to the current state of publishing and others as the thin edge of the legitimate Agent wedge. Take sides now.

Finally,
The figures are out for 2012 and children reading ebooks. Passive Voice takes a look at what it all means as the numbers are higher than predicted...and Scholastic releases their own ebook reader numbers.

The battle for children’s electronic eyes is upon us.

maureen

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Against the crowd



Last weekend I travelled up to Auckland to take part in a workshop on eBooks.
My bit was to tell attendees what I discovered when I decided to make Craic an eBook.
In a nutshell - Know what you are getting into, (Publishing- Dean Wesley Smith has a great post on that.) 
Remember that you want to do the best work that you can, so pay attention to detail...because you are going to be putting your name on this product and you don’t want your name to stand for a crappy reading experience.

The workshop was a great success. The organisers made sure there was information available for everyone at all stages of the e publishing spectrum. I’m sure by the end of the day attendee’s were wishing that they had brought spare heads to help them process what was coming at them.

You may need to grab your spare head for help with understanding this week’s dramatic change in the world of epublishing. Microsoft are partnering with Barnes and Noble. 
Barnes and Noble are a book store chain with their own ereader, Nook, who are in competition with Amazon. Microsoft is...well who hasn’t heard of Microsoft?


While we are on the subject of ereaders, epublishing and the rise of the independent writer... Passive Guy takes issues with some of Mike Shatzkin’s comments on how no big writers have gone indie yet and why. This is a good read, giving you an overview on the current issues facing writers as they weigh up options. Especially interesting are the comments from some big authors....

 One of the biggest challenges in the decision to go Independent...is how to be noticed by your readers. Marketing is so important and so hard to do, if you are an introverted writer sitting in a closet somewhere. So here are a few links that may help you to open the closet door.


Mid Grade writer Shelli Johannes has taken a hard look at what worked and what didn’t in her Indie experiment...The numbers are interesting and so is what not to do....

Amazon has announced their next big move in their publishing portfolio...kids stuff....especially kids series on screen...Check out what they are looking for.


For those writers who love a challenge... Storyaday is the thing to do for May.



To finish
Those that have been following me for a while know that I am interested in author collectives and how they support each other and market their work.

Check out this delicious idea...love it!  (Hey FaBo Team are you watching?)

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Being In Charge




When you decide to independently publish your own work, you discover that there are many more things to think about than the simple ‘hey kids, let’s make a book’ model. You are in charge of everything...even things you never knew you needed to do....

Authors in charge of their own publishing efforts have been finding creative ways to get together and help each other cross promote or to think outside the box to find ways to publish new work.

Here are two examples which caught my eye in the last two days.

This group of writers are all self publishing their back list...so they have got together and branded themselves and put a logo on all their books...check out how they put the concept together.

Children’s writer Kate Milford is doing something different involving a bookshop, an espresso print machine, a tied in novella to her children’s book being launched soon by a big trad publisher...and kickstarter funding...very interesting idea!

Nathan Bransford takes a look at what the bookworld might look like after the big court case on publishers possible pricing collusion.

It has been said that it takes years to become an overnight success.... Amanda Hocking tells the story about making it onto THE LIST. The list is the New York Times Best Seller list. For some authors it completely changes their lives...and for others, like Amanda, it has another effect.



Liz Castro is one of those rare US based writers who understand that there is a whole world outside the US and actively seeks ways to connect and sell to countries that don’t have Amazon....yes there are quite a few...Check out her blog post on how to sell worldwide easily....

In the craft section
There are some great links for you this week. The editing blues have been hitting different friends lately so here are some great tips. 


The wonderful K M Weiland asks, do you really need that subplot? Answers vary...but don’t be so quick to junk them, there are reasons why you should have a well crafted subplot.




Bob Mayer has an interesting article for Digital Book World where he looks at Amazon and how they are bringing efficiencies (and military professionals) into the publishing model....before you choke on your coffee just stop and think... what are Amazon good at...What are military people good at...why is Amazon putting the two together...now choke and read the article.

I am flying to Auckland to speak about my independent publishing journey with eBooks...at a workshop this weekend. If you want learn a bit more about publishing eBooks and you are around Auckland this Saturday check out the programme. There are some great speakers!


maureen

Friday, January 13, 2012

Rain... Rain...(sing it with me...)


Yes, I am a day late. Summer holidays arrive and we begin the traveling around New Zealand catching up with family. Inevitably the traveling has happened on Blog day Thursday. I didn’t plan it. I know that I can write my blog in advance and post it when I want but I don’t. This is partly because I enjoy researching and I want to bring the latest comments and opinion to you and partly because I get lazy and then suddenly remember I should be putting the list together and so I had better research and so on.

Yesterday we started back down the country in search of reliable internet with no lightening strikes...and no rain. I can count on the fingers of one hand the rain free days I have had since we came north to the sub tropics for Summer. The whole country is wondering whether that week of fine weather in November was Summer only we didn’t realize it at the time.

Around the blogosphere Writers and Readers are looking at the impact of the Amazon behemoth as it becomes by default a big publisher and trying to set New Years Resolutions for themselves to support Independent Bookstores and small publishers. What to do when you want to buy that eBook... isn’t Amazon or B &N the only game in town? Well no ! Check out this article on the rise of eBooks being sold in Indie bookstores from Salon.

Chuck Wendig has a provocative post (aren’t they all...) urging self published writers to lift their game so it benefits readers and offering some points on how they might do this. (Warning it’s Chuck!)

 Writer Beware has a warning post about a book marketing company working under a variety of names to rip off writers.... Marketing is the hard part of publishing and writers and small publishers are getting burnt by some of these tactics.

Jane Friedman has an interesting blog post in answer to a question on eBook rights for out of print books. This had me thinking about some of our wonderful New Zealand children’s writers with a long publishing history here staring at the end of their career because of the publishing industry contraction.  Great books go out of print here quite quickly because the print runs are so small. If the writers own their eBook rights they may have a wonderful second chance. It is worth checking out!

The passive voice guy has an interesting post on publishers and book distributors and why they are rearranging the deck chairs.... The comments give great insight into current practice and pitfalls of eBook distribution.

Commenting is the name of the game, at the moment, with a new challenge up. Challenge yourself to leave five comments a day. Greg Pincus has the low down on how and why you should do this.

Over in the craft section,
Anne R Allen has a great post on hooks, loglines and pitches. Loglines are becoming more popular so get thee over there and learn to craft them properly.


Janice Hardy has a great blog where she puts the spotlight on submitted writing and shows how to fix it up. Today she looks at multiple first person main characters...(something I am writing which is probably why it is taking so long... all that head hopping...on Mars.)

To finish,
If you were wondering how the children’s publishing world was holding up, the 100 best sellers of 2011 has been announced Children’s books make up a quarter.

The Dynamic Duo of Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake have been celebrated...as stamps! Check out the new issue from the Royal Mail.

Getting this blog in ahead of the rain...


maureen

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Taking A Different Route


Just as we all got used to the thought of Summer....we get a blast of Winter to make us shiver and huddle together for warmth. 

Sometimes I think the publishing industry is like this as well. 

Just as you get used to travelling along the publishing road...along comes a new roadmap that offers a more thrilling/scary route to take you to your destination.

We are now used to the concept of eBooks. We know some important facts about them.

1. They are outselling print.

2. They are changing the landscape of publishing.

Joe Konrath has a guest post on his blog from popular ghost writer Lee Goldberg, that explains why he is not signing any multi book deals anymore...and Joe adds a breakdown of his own print versus eBook sales from the first half of the year...this makes sobering reading on the current state of the marketplace.

So we now have some hard numbers.

Ebook covers just got interesting. Take a look at this just released eBook cover for a debut Young Adult book...A twitter comment  described it thus...I spent so much time playing with the cover I forgot to look at the book!

My, that landscape up ahead looks interesting!

Mike Shatzkin and Bob Mayer have been trading views on an interview Mike did with Bob on the success an author can have going it alone. Mike says it is going tobecome rarer...and Bob says It can still happen if the writer does all the right things and has a back list. Go and take a look at the arguments!

Gosh are those mountains or hills up ahead....?

The author platform arguments have been getting another airing this week. Most pundits believe it’s critical for non fiction and optional for fiction. The drunkwritertalk group (yeah, interesting blog too...) have a useful article on what you should or should not do...great read.

Wow that’s pretty....Oh look over there!

Sibel from Writers Guide to eBook Publishing has A MUST READ post up on why she turned down a Hollywood/New York Agent....She posts up the main points of the contract and what The Passive Guy (Lawyer writer) told her about what each clause meant.....Read it!!!!!!!

Oh boy, that was scary! Pass the wipes...

I think I need a change On the journey you might like to check out virtual book tours. Check out this article, 5 Dumb Things Writers Do On Virtual Book Tours.  

Are We There Yet?

I’m busy with the WCBA Christmas Quiz tonight...so you are lucky this is a short post....See you next week!

maureen

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Links to Giveaway...


Last week there was a lot to read through...so I forgive you for not making it to the end and discovering the cool giveaway! (Maureen watches last week’s post stats jump....heheheh)

This week I have some interesting links for your delectation.

The awesome Cris Dukehart explains why she loves her job as an audiobook narrator and the little tricks you need to know if you want to do this yourself.... A brilliant interview with tips for authors to help make their work more audio friendly.

One of the Blue Rose Girls, editor Alvina Ling gives a detailed breakdown of what happens when she gets a manuscript to edit. This is a fascinating look at the editing process and there are lots of tips to think about for writers when you get to the editing process.

Joanna Pennhas an interesting post on series continuation hassles...when you discover that you have a series on your hands how do you go about retro planning for the future life of your characters. Lots of comments on this one with some great advice.

Lydia Sharp has taken a look at the difference between inciting incident and catalyst and breaks it down with examples. This is a great reference for writers out there looking to nail how their plot can move forward.

Nicola Morgan has taken a long look at the synopsis and defined what really should be in it. Don’t get hung up on your timeline...say what...? Go and read this valuable post.



Two marketing links that may be of interest...

Tony Eldridge looks at 10 Ideas for Non Traditional Book Marketing 


Hubspot has taken a close look at Facebook business pages and has highlighted the best ways to get them moving and sparkling...This has great relevance for websites so check out the article.

Over on Craicerplus (My Amplify page) I have links to articles on

Keeping Your Superpowers Current

7 Gadgets That Won’t Be Around In 2020

To finish, 

I’ll keep the ebook giveaway up for another week...just remember to comment with your Zombie name...
enjoy,
maureen



Thursday, October 27, 2011

And Now For Something Completely Different.


The week has been full of change.
I went away for three days writing...that was a change.
I am tweaking my website...warning change can be addictive.
I am reading about writers who are making big changes in the way they publish, market and portray themselves online.

6 prescriptions to cure the heartbreak ofbeing published....Yes, you read that right. Ruth Harris looks at the downside of the newly published...one of which is when you hate the cover the publishers gave you.

Shelftalker, an indie children’s booksellerhas a rant on book covers that are coming out. I must have missed the tween goth revolution...but all the covers for this age group look like YA covers and they all only use vampire palettes...

Mary Kole from Kidlit.com interviews Daniel Nayeri, kids lit author, on the off the wall marketing he does to promote his books...and the fact that his latest book is a collection of novellas. Even the book trailers...commercials break all the rules (were there any?)

The wonderful Catherine Ryan Howard has become my latest must read blog. Catherine has built a steady following self publishing while waiting for the big publishing deal and her blog details her journey. This week she examines why she might not ever print publish again.  

And then... 
Sarah Billington said ‘I want to give away a copy of my new midgrade eBook....’
A midgrade eBook?!That’s new...So I asked Sarah some questions and we cooked up a little competition for you.

Everybody is talking about eBooks. Writers are being encouraged to look at self publishing their work as the eBook phenomenon turns the print publishing industry upside down. When did you decide to dip your toe in the water and why?
I had been hearing about eBooks for a little while, since the start of the year really (2011), hearing the astounding success stories such as Amanda Hocking and J.A Konrath, how big name authors were turning their backs on 500k publishing deals in order to self-publish their work. The royalty rates offered by ebook distributors like Amazon and Smashwords are SO MUCH higher than traditional publishers are capable of offering due to the overhead costs involved in running such large businesses. Plus there are only so many slots available in any given publisher’s schedule. This means that there are SO MANY great books languishing in drawers and on hard drives, not because they aren’t brilliant and readers would love them, but because there just isn’t room for them in the print schedule.
And there are so many genres that don’t sell in big enough numbers to make it worth a publishing house’s investment, but certainly have an audience who want to read it. Now authors of niche topics can get their books straight to their readers. Like short story writers!
I am currently studying a Bachelor of Writing & Publishing and as part of my course this year, we had to do a major project on a form of digital publishing. I decided what the heck. It gave me the perfect opportunity to teach myself how to create an ebook. I planned to make one short story ebook for the assessment. Instead, I made 5.

How did you decide which of your stories would be best as an eBook? Did length play a part?
As initially it was just an experiment, length definitely played a part in my decision. Even as an indie author now, I dream of being traditionally published because I do still believe there is a future in it and they can reach a much broader readership than I can on my own, so I decided to first off only publish short stories. And they sell. I am amazed that I am earning income from 1,500 word short stories. I now too have an upper middle grade novel for sale, Life was cool until you got popular which you can win here today! (Details below).
What I choose to write for e-publication is definitely being influenced by the trends I am finding with my sales figures. For instance, my thriller The Runaway (which can be found under my pen name, Edwina Ray) outsells all of my other stories by 10-1 so I am keen to write more thrillers. I do love writing comedy, though. And though it sells well in print books, the IT genres in the ebook world are definitely thriller and paranormal romance. If you write those, then ebook publishing is a good fit for you!

What has been the most satisfying aspect to producing an eBook?
Seeing positive reviews of my work from book bloggers, friends and colleagues I admire and random happy readers! I always ask for an honest review, regardless of whether I know the reader or not and am thrilled that people are enjoying my work.

What has been the most difficult thing about preparing an eBook?
Finding the time to do everything – write, design a cover, format, come up with a blurb, promote, change tactics if something isn’t working. I haven’t received any income from my works as yet, partly because the international banking requirements sound like an absolute nightmare and I keep putting it off. J Yet something else I need to do!
There is definitely less writing time available, as an indie author.

You worked on your covers yourself, What was the most important thing that you learned about cover design for an eBook?
Cover design for ebooks require very different things to print books. At a bookshop, your book needs to stand out from the crowded shelves, and have an eye catching cover. For ebooks, yes these things are important, but the most important thing is that you use a large font for your title and author name. Why? Because readers see ebooks as thumbnails on their computer screens. If the title and author name are not legible when the cover image is so small, then you’re unlikely to have potential readers click through to view its blurb, reviews and buy it.

In the print world the print publisher may (if you are lucky) have a publishing campaign around the release of the book. What do you do when you have an eBook?
You do it all yourself! Getting book reviews are key to the success of an ebook. They don’t have to be glowing 5-star reviews, actually a couple of 2-3 star reviews add a bit of credibility to all reviews! Cold-emailing book bloggers, organizing book tours, blogging about the topic of your book (my blog post about the different types of zombie is my most popular blog post EVER – buy I, Zombie today! J) and getting people involved are key. Constantly tweeting or Facebooking how awesome your book is and that everyone should buy it is a complete turn-off to readers though. I am a reader, and I get annoyed by these overzealous authors so I simply don’t do it.
Also, run giveaways, as we’re doing here today! The point is not to make any income from the experience, but to reach new readers who might tell their friends, or pass it on to others. Like traditionally published books, exposure, letting readers know that you and your book even exist is essential.

You have a range of different genres that you play in...Zombies, Young Adult, MidGrade, Do you have eBooks in all of these genres?
I do. J I can’t help it, I love them all. I like variety and write every other project in a different genre lately, to keep me on my toes. However, so as not to end up with a twelve year old fan of Life was cool until you got popular reading I, Zombie (a rather gruesome black comedy told from the zombie’s perspective), and assuming it would be appropriate for them, I publish my darker works under my pen name, Edwina Ray.

Ebooks are rapidly gaining ground but mostly in the adult fiction market, Do you see a trickle down effect to the younger ages? How do you market a book to the younger reader?
I do believe there will be a trickle down effect to younger readers, as more and more receive ereading devices for Christmas and birthdays. Childrens and middle grade ebooks at the moment mind you, are definitely not the big sellers. I like to think that I’m getting in on the ground floor. Marketing ebooks to younger readers is a difficult one. Young adult fiction readers are different, as young adults and adults who read YA scour book blogs and book communities, but children – not so much. To be honest: I haven’t figured that part out yet. At present, I think it is much easier to get a traditionally published middle grade or children’s book in front of kids, through bookshops, libraries and book fairs.

Will you release print versions of your eBooks?
I do have plans to, yes. Definitely Life was cool until you got popular is in the works. I have hired a graphic designer to make a sparkly new cover for a print version. I won’t be publishing the short stories individually as print books, but once I have enough in the same genre (eg. thrillers, or comedy etc) I will think about creating themed anthologies.

Tell us a little bit about your midgrade eBook...

Sure! I have been told that my middle grade and young adult fiction writing style is very reminiscent of Louise Rennison, who writes the super-hilarious Georgia Nicolson series (though you won’t need a glossary in the back to understand my terminology). I am thrilled beyond belief to be compared to Louise.
This is what Life was cool until you got popular is about:

Thirteen year old Kaley’s best friend Jules is an alien clone. That has to be it. Because Jules wouldn’t dress like that or act like that…and she definitely wouldn’t be friends with Meg-a-bitch.

Kaley can't wait to start at her new school with her best friend Jules. Jules was away in Europe all summer (worst summer of Kaley's life!) But it's cool, now school is starting and everything is going to be awesome. However as the school bus pulls up on that first day, Kaley barely recognizes the silky hair and glossy lips as Jules gets off with the cool kids and with their arch-nemesis Meg, the popular girl (God only knows why) who made Kaley and Jules's lives miserable in elementary school. In Europe, Meg had somehow won over Kaley's best friend and Kaley finds herself frozen out.

Life was cool until you got popular is a first person novel told through Kaley’s eyes, chronicling the initial pain and incomprehension of what happened to destroy their friendship. But that doesn't last long. Kaley decides that underneath the bleached blond clone with the personality transplant, Jules is still in there. Somewhere. And she is going to get her best friend back!

Life was cool is available through:




And wherever else you might find it!


You can find Sarah at

The Sarah Billington Blog: sarahbillington.blogspot.com

How To Win

Halloween is happening in a few days so...Here is how you can win a copy of Sarah’s eBook Life was cool until you got popular
Add a great Zombie Name in the comments...and the best ones will win...simple.

Maureen
aka Brains R Fried.


Thursday, October 6, 2011

Accolades



This week I have been contemplating the future of the modern book launch. 

A book launch is a celebration and a promotional opportunity for the author, bookseller and publisher to highlight a creative achievement and to get the printed story into the hands of readers. Pre the book launch the reviewers would have been given advance copies to review, hopefully favourably, to generate interest. People would be awaiting the party...book launches are great affairs where the writing community gets out in support. A good book launch can propel a book onto the best seller list which then gets it noticed more....

I have attended many fabulous Book Launches at The Children’s Bookshop in Kilbirnie where John and Ruth McIntyre have been proud Godparents (and sometimes midwives) of some very special books... They were wonderful Godparents at my own book launch 3 years ago and have been encouraging and commiserating with me as my midgrade novel Craic repeatedly gets so close to the acceptance bar. Today it was announced that they have been awarded the Betty Gilderdale award for Services To New Zealand Children’s Literature and they are worthy recipients! As the current Convenor of the Wellington Children’s Book Association I am proud to announce our co hosting of the Award ceremony for them at Turnbull House on the 21st of November. (it’s nice that I can now blab this secret as well.)

With Amazon commenting last week that they were selling 2 eBooks for every 1 Print Book...the future of the book launch, the count down to the day you hold the book in your hands, has changed.
An eBook launch is a different beast altogether. You can still have the party but the signing table will be empty...the cash register won’t be ringing in the background.

Melinda Szymanik was telling me that the launch of her eBook, The Half Life Of Ryan Davis, was an email from her publisher with an Amazon gift certificate for the book attached and a celebratory glass of wine with the publisher. There will be a party when the print book comes out later in the year tho!

Three years ago the printed book would have been launched with a splash then later in the year, unheralded, the audio book and the eBook. Now the eBook comes first with the book trailer then the audio book and, if you want, you can have a print book...either P.O.D. or traditionally.

Reviewers slot in all along this process so the three months or so of new book publicity can be dragged out to a year if you are a canny marketer....A quick look at a new publisher on the New Zealand block, Pear Jam Books, shows that they understand this very well. (Great acronym use of the word PEAR! )

So here are some more great writers who are launching eBooks this week and how they are doing it.

Jane Friedman has a great guest blog from Roz Morris on her experiment of the serialisation of her novel on Kindle. Roz talks about what works and what didn’t. This model of publicity made Dickens famous...

Victoria Mixons second book on The Art and Craft Of Story is getting great reviews around the blogosphere. You can check out free samples of the practitioner’s manual here on a bookbuzzr widget or over on Storyfix where she has a chapter up on science and story in a great guest post.

Victoria also has a fantastic interview with Joanna Penn about her very successful ePublishing career and why she chose to publish this way.

The Huffington Post has spotlighted Self Publishing this week with an interesting guest post from Felicia Ricci entitled How to self publish (and seem like you’re not.) If you are looking for a step by step guide check this out!


In marketing the eBook you need to be just as careful in your planning as you were in formatting it. Tony Eldridge has a revisited a link to an article about how not to use Print On Demand (worth rereading for the tips on how to do it better.)

Tony also has a popular resource of the week series. Check out YouTube creators for help with that book trailer and Paypal tips for getting the money flowing into your account from your website.

Of course you will have a website to promote your book, eBook or trad...Bookmarketingmaven has a punchy post that reminds writers of what should be on their website...(hint; it begins with B)

Publisher’s Weekly has put the spotlight on Children’s publishing this week with an indepth article on YA publishing and where it is at. There are great quotes from agents and editors in here.
I received my copy of the 2012 Children’s Writers and Illustrators Market book this week and this article backed up all the agent interviews in the book.

Chuck Sambuchino, who edited this years CWIM, has a great interview on his blog where an agent pulls apart a successful query letter and shows why the novel got picked up which subsequently launched a successful career.

Another great interview to catch my eye was Johanna Knox’s interview with Mandy Hager on Tim Jones’ blog. Mandy is an accomplished writer and here she talks about how her Blood of the Lamb trilogy has unsettled Americans and how her scriptwriting skills came in useful...

Over in the Craft section,


Agent Mary Kole has some timely advice on how not to use Social Media when looking for agents and editors.

Over on Craicerplus (My Amplify Page) I have links to

Konraths E predictions in 2009...This was Joe talking about what he thought would happen in the future...check out the comments about where we might be heading to now!

Writer Beware – Bad Publishing Clause series...ouch!!!

Make Books Easily for the iPad

To finish,


As I have been writing this blogpost, news has come in of the passing of Steve Jobs, one month after he stepped down as Apple’s CEO. He was a visionary and an extraordinary man. He could polarize a room and inspire it the same time. His commencement speech for Stanford University, just after he was diagnosed with the cancer that killed him today, is one of the most viewed speeches on YouTube and a superb testament to the power of one man who changed the world.

maureen

P.S. From time to time I put up a video as a Thank You for someone who has sent quite a few Readers over to Craicer. Melinda the following video is for you... 

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