Business Choices

It is cold and wet. June blasts from Antarctica have ensured that we know Winter has arrived. I spent a hopeful five minutes today looking at this publishing mini conference on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. It is in the northern hemisphere winter... and as I turn up the heating and work on the Tinderbox conference I’m wishing I could just transfer the whole thing onto a cruise ship.

This week Book Expo America (BEA) has been on. Online discussions have been on the business of publishing and reaction to Scalzi's $3.4m publishing deal. There are a whole lot of green eyed authors out there who have let their vitriol get away on them. Then there are the calm reasoned authors who talk about the business and what Scalzi’s deal might mean to authors going forward. Kris Rusch has an excellent analysis and I urge you to read the comments for the great discussion on contracts. Then there is John Scalzi himself who lays out what the deal means to him for the next decade.  This is a very generous set of posts for an author to do. Read and Learn and raise a glass to him. By the way he is a fantastic author!

The Nielson figures came out this week on e-book sales last year and Futurebook has a handy analytical break down of the figures. Overall the sales were down 6% but as Nielson was doing a five year comparison, in 2010 the number of e-books sold were 68 million and last year it was 240 million, I don’t think anyone is too worried. Among lots of interesting data was this nugget, juvenile fiction is on the rise.

Publishing Perspectives reported on BEA and the global rise of... adult colouring books. Invest now in Faber Castell.  Porter Anderson reported on the digital conference held at BEA. With the huge amount of books now we need curators more than ever... and that is where the reader has to step up. Interesting article.

Jane Friedman is one of the Go To people for a perspective on the publishing industry and here in her latest interview I think she nails how the publishing industry is now and where it might be going in the future. This is a bookmark post.

In the Craft Section,

Attention Grabbing Story Structure

Inside an edit on Non Fiction

Putting your best work out there- Jody Hedlund

5 big tips to write well

10 steps to editing with focus- (Bookmark)

How to write a brief synopsis- Janet Reid- (Bookmark)

Character portraits

How to organise your writing life, tracking characters- Julia Kelly (Bookmark)

In the Marketing Section,

5 lessons learned between books 5and 6 - Molly Greene

A quick lesson on creating imprints- Joel Friedlander (Bookmark)

How to get books top rated at Amazon

Formatting to print from MS Word – Jami Gold (Bookmark)

How to repurpose your blog posts -Nina Amir

5 top apps for writers – Wendy Jones

To Finish,

Who can resist an Infographic? Here is a great one looking at the publishing process. Two years to a print book.

Choices abound in publishing 2015 but you can’t get away from this pithy piece of advice.

Writing is an Art and Publishing is a Business – Chuck Wendig

Maureen

@craicer

Pic: Flickr/Creative Commons/ Mauro Parra - Miranda

Disruptors

Comparing yourself to others can suck joy out of creating. Find your own pace, savor the journey. pic.twitter.com/Xvxoq9autp
— Debbie Ridpath Ohi (@inkyelbows) April 29, 2015

Digesting the London Book Fair and Indie ReCon generally takes a good month. So much information about writing and publishing  in big bites means you can quickly get full of rich information. Sometimes that means putting nice links aside to digest later.

Createspace has a quick overview on what were some good takeaways from London Book Fair and Young Adult author, SK Holder also has a list of great info learned at the Author HQ Hub. (This is a new venture for London, actually encouraging Authors to the Fair.)

Indie ReCon has posted the panel video How Self Publishing Is Changing Traditional Publishing, held on the last day of their conference. This is a fascinating look at the industry in the middle of change. Well worth grabbing a coffee and taking time to watch.

Publishing Perspectives has a model they suggest publishers should be looking at. Louis CK.

But he’s a comedian I hear you say. Yes but he has taken control of his own content and is using it in new ways. Now if Publishing Perspectives is urging publishers to look at this model...what about writers?

This leads in to the wonderful Roz Morris and some very important words of wisdom for the Author publishing in 2015. (BOOKMARK)

Dario Cirello opens a little can of wriggly things when he did a guest post about crowd funding and patronage. Do you agree or disagree with using crowd funding for your writing project or are you skeptical? The conversation is in the comments so make sure you read them.

Mike Shatzkin takes a look at the next Amazon contract negotiation with the last of the big 5 publishers. It will be the meeting of the behemoths of publishing. Who will blink first? How will it change the industry as a whole? A lot of jobs will be on the line when RandomPenguin and Amazon sit down to parley.

In breaking news, Booktrack (that little Kiwi startup from a few years ago) has some nice big news for authors. (Yes, someone wants to pay us.)

In the Craft Section,

Janice Hardy talks about creating depth with mini arcs. (great post)

Elizabeth Spann Craig’s handy checklist - Is your book ready for publishing.

Bob Mayer has a no holds barred post on traits you must cultivate to be a successful writer.

Chuck Wendig also has THE post on stupid writer tricks. (BOOKMARK)

Jody Hedlund has a great post on using your setting effectively. (BOOKMARK)

5 mistakes to avoid with personal pronouns.

Here is a little challenge for you. Describe your current MS in 10 syllables. Make it a DEKAAZ poem. Circus Mystery: Clowning around with codes. (Yes I cheated. It’s all in the pronunciation.)

In the Marketing Section,

Molly Greene has 5 Self Publishing lessons (and a great comment stream.)

Publishers Weekly has the Google Ads 101 guide.

Joanna Penn has a huge post on why she has just changed book titles and covers. (BOOKMARK)

Creative Indie has 7 Design Tips for Book Covers.

The Book Designer has 7 tips for effective Metadata (BOOKMARK)

Tim Grahl has THE Book Marketing Check List.

Social Media Dashboards for Authors.

Marketing tips using Pinterest.

3 secrets to school visit success.

How to partner with your local bookstore- Do you know what it is like on the other side of the counter. (Interesting Read)

Website Of The Week

David Gaughran, besides being a digital publishing guru, has made it his mission to educate writers about the horrible traps out there for newbie writers. Especially those publishing packaging companies that promise you everything... just sign over your first born child. His article, this week, on the many faces of Author Solutions makes sobering reading and is a must read. (Even if you know about them, you will still be surprised at how far their tentacles spread in the publishing world.)

To Finish,

We all love a good infographic and Jane Friedman has put together  a great one on the various ways we can publish now.

After 100 years of business as usual we are now living in a constant state of disruption in the publishing landscape. We must be making up for lost time.

maureen
@craicer

Living Virtually

Last week I had to come to terms with the fact that writers are mortal, that the world you loved to visit in a new book by a favourite author would be forever frozen. There would be no more adventures in Discworld. I enjoy Fantasy and SciFi or as they are increasingly being called SPECulative FICtion.* When you have read every children’s book in your rural town library by the time you are 11 then the only thing left is adult books (boring) or wild imaginary stories set in far away places. I didn’t come to Discworld until my 30’s when I discovered he wrote Satire... and I was hooked. So I thank Sir Terry Pratchett for the immense pleasure and laugh out loud funny lines and his headology – the gentle wry take on the human condition. The Guardian has a wonderful tribute article on Terry’s legacy and there is a nice bit of news about the last Discworld book.

If writer’s for adults know that it is challenging to independently publish a book then children’s writers know the hoops that you jump through are ten times more challenging. We are always on the lookout to find outliers who have taken the plunge to find out what works and what doesn’t. Jane Friedman has an article that looks like the definitive 101 guide to self publishing achildren’s book.

Jane is also conducting the Author Say survey and Phillip Jones of The Bookseller takes a close look at the midway results on what authors are saying about traditional /indie support and attitudes. It is a great snapshot with some surprising twists.

Some projects will fit better in different forms of publishing. Janice Hardy examines the Pro’s and Con’s of Traditional vs Indie for a good project fit.

This week there was a rumpus on Twitter responding to an essay challenging people to read books by everybody other than straight white males for a year.

The trolls were out ready to march on Koom Valley again when Neil Gaiman pointed out the author had a valid point.

The enemy isn’t men, or women, it’s bloody stupid people and nobody has the right to be stupid. Monstrous Regiment - Terry Pratchett

In the Craft Section,

Angela Ackerman has two posts that are her usual nuggets of excellence, tips when writing multiple POV’s in your novel and using the excellent Emotion Thesaurus to help you find mirror midpoints in the middle of your novel.

3 questions to ask when you start cutting your manuscript.

The role of desire in your plot... You had better be having some or the reader will disengage. (bookmark)

One important thing writers forget to do...

Two great posts from the Killzone blog - Crafting subplots and How to write a Young Adult novel.

K M Weiland has wowed everybody again with a story structure database... Drop in and check out all the books and movies she has analysed for structure. You will learn so much. (bookmark)

It’s still magic even if you know how it’s done. A Hat Full of Sky- Terry Pratchett

In the Marketing Section,

How to build a website in one hour.

How to translate your book.

How to polish your writer brand.

How to use an email list.

8 ways writers can be more reader friendly.

Jane Friedman interviews a group of literary authors about how they put a box set together of their self published work.

There is a new kid on the block in terms of marketing and it looks really interesting. Thunderclap. If you harnessed all those people who would come to your book launch from all around the world in one place at one time...

Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual.  Jingo - Terry Pratchett

Website of the Week

Anne R Allen has a great blog of tips and advice. Here she has the definitive guide for writers on how NOT to sell books. Spend some time on her blog trawling around she has lots of great stuff.

Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than to curse the darkness. Men At Arms - Terry Pratchett

To Finish,

Our National Conference committee is tying down some great stuff for conference and around conference... yes we are going to make you work... but it will be amazing... promise.

In the mean time you can virtually attend Indie ReCon which is going to be bigger than before. The Indie Recon conference is a free online conference that is just packed full of awesomeness. This years program had me seriously thinking about running away from home to a motel for 3 days by myself so I could attend virtually every one of the sessions. (If the motel was in London I could also join the meet up day.) I am also pleased to find how many themes in Indie Recon are similar to what we have planned for Tinderbox in October.  We will be meeting in real time, (with wine) and having a great collaborative working time.

*Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one. - Terry Pratchett

Maureen

@craicer

PIC The Master Storyteller who will live on virtually… and isn't that just the best tribute….R.I.P.

Educating Ourselves

This morning I read an interesting article about the Princess Author Syndrome. As I was reflecting on it I was thinking about the need for all authors to educate themselves on the industry. Especially if you are thinking about traditional publishing as these tweets from Writer Beware blogger Victoria Strauss this morning illustrate.

Grrr! Email today from writer who signed with schmagency, got referred to "independent" editor who's actually boyfriend of schmagent. 1/6
— Victoria Strauss (@victoriastrauss) February 25, 2015

Editor charged insane 5-figure fee, schmagent offered contract for edited ms, then turned around & demanded more editing. 2/6
— Victoria Strauss (@victoriastrauss) February 25, 2015

(read the rest in my Twitter feed)

Scott Berkun takes an unsentimental approach with 28 things no one tells you about publishing.

If you are into experimenting with Indie publishing you will know that learning never stops in this game. Kathryn Rusch has a great blog post on this and how she is weighing up which of her many projects will go down the traditional route. (Along with a fascinating story about a rejected YA series because of main characters race.)

Elisabeth S Craig talks about the pro and cons of being a Hybrid author and that ties nicely into Porter Anderson’s big thought piece on publishing terms that get confused. Porter also profiles a company that wants to partner with authors... but be wary. (see above)

Ryan Hanley looks at the 7 harsh realities of self-publishing as a side hustle from your day job.

Kiwi author D C Grant has a great opinion piece on the ALLi (Alliance of Independent Authors) blog about collaborating with publishers on projects. Here in NZ we face the real prospect of having celebrity rugby players biographies or chef’s cook books as the only NZ themed content on the shelves in the next decade. Which brings me to another excellent Alli post on collaboration with other authors in marketing and publishing. (Take the time to have a look at the Triskele Trail e-book,)

Charlie Redmayne CEO of HarperCollins addressed the Scottish Book Trade conference this week with a warning that Amazon could be disrupted this year. The Bookseller reports on Charlie’s candid state of the publishing nation speech which includes why they bought Harlequin, what kind of celebrity book they are looking for and yes he is related to....

In the Craft Section,

10 reasons the hero needs flaws.

Script mag on writing log lines – Great post.

5 really good reasons to outline your novel first.

When you need a pep talk – reach for these inspirations.

How to crack the first line.

Moving from Scene to Scene.

6 must have elements of a WOW story. (Bookmark it!)

Finding the right writing group – start your own

In the Marketing Section,

Book covers- forget Fabio d-i-y covers. (Bookmark this!)

Goodreads giveaways – don’t do what you are told.

50 questions to ask yourself about your author platform. (Your marketing 101 course)

5 ways to fall in love with marketing your work.

Jody Hedlund shares how she creates great launch buzz.

Simple promo tips - call your book by its name and put your author bio on the front and back covers.

Book Marketing truths few experts will admit- a stellar post by Angela Ackerman.

Website of The Week

It’s not really a website...more of a web guru. Jane Friedman is a great resource for writers. This week she talks with Laura Backes on picture e-books for children and shares her round up of 5 great digital resources for writers.

To Finish,

Roz Morris asks whether you can teach writing to anyone. This is always the dilemma faced by creative writing tutors everywhere.

Chuck Wendig explains why adults read so much Young Adult fiction. (This is the argument you use when someone questions your book choice.)

Educating ourselves about the publishing industry is just good sense, don’t you think?

Maureen

@craicer

Pic: Flickr/Creative Commons – Cindy Shultz

It’s All Subjective

.@ardit_haliti You think I should write something where nobody dies? Hmm... it wouldn't be easy. I'm all about the death.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 18, 2015

This week I have been mulling over the perfect conference program. This is highly subjective. Why do you go to conferences? Some people say networking. Some say up-skilling in your craft. Some say to learn new approaches to old ideas. That’s my ideal, learning. I’m not into great big crowded rooms where everybody is glad handing and I know no one. So planning the perfect writers conference for me has to have plenty of learning opportunities and meet and greet without being overpowering. We are in the middle of refining our program for Tinderbox2015 and I have a big problem. I want to go to everything!

As I look through this week’s links for you it is amazing how many of them link into something in our conference program.

Passive Guy has linked to two posts this week that have people talking. Do publishers really understand SEO (do you?) and Authorpreneurs. from The Economist which has weighed in saying what authors should be doing regarding their business which is finding influencers and publishers should be publishing celebrity authors to stay afloat. Reading the comments on both those articles is entertaining. And in breaking news Pharrell is writing a series of children’s books... about being HAPPY.

Porter Anderson takes a good long look at publishing terms everyone gets wrong and the implications for planning your writing business. Do you really get royalties if you self publish? And why you need to know the differences.

Publishing Perspectives has an interesting opinion piece about whether agents and publishers want authors that know about the publishing business. Do MFA programs want clued up authors?

Darcy Pattison talks about her last 18 months. This is chock full of information about the decision to Indie Publish and what she has learned. (this is a bookmark post!)

Today was a #MSWL day on Twitter. Agents and Editors write on Twitter what Manuscripts they wish would come across their desks. Type #MSWL in the search bar. If you do query an agent or editor from this, mention the tweet. Another cool search on Twitter is #tenqueries. Agents and Editors going through their slush pile will comment on ten queries live on Twitter and their immediate response. This is a great heads up about what grabs and what doesn’t.

In the Craft section,

The great James Scott Bell has a new post on story and structure and how they must love each other.

Author Biz has a great interview with Editor Shawn Coyne who is working on a story grid book for editors. This is a bookmark post! (and a print out the Storygrid and stick it on your wall post.)

Jeff Goins on overcoming writers block.

Jody Hedlund on the 5 point character checklist (great revamp of her website)

When do you rewrite an old manuscript and when do you let it die...

Ava Jae on what she’s learning as a publishing intern

How to make the most of a writing retreat

In the Marketing section,

55 digital branding tips for Authors

Lindsay Buroker has been sourcing covers from fiverr for short stories - she explains how to do this.

7 must do tactics for promotional tweets. (please don’t spam... the 90/10 rule should apply- thats 90 pieces of interesting stuff for every 10 promotional tweets)

7 things you learn when your book is published.

Moderating panels – How to be rude in the nicest possible way

Writelife interviews four authors about the real cost of self publishing

Website of the Week

Bibliocrunch is an interesting hangout. Not only do they host chats on Twitter but they have lots of resources for the Indie Authors.

Here are two of their recent articles- Using Skype to organize a virtual writing groups and

Tshirts with memorable book quotes on them...

To Finish,

John Green is known for a lot of things that he does well. However today he found out something he doesn’t know well - The quotes from his books. This made for a great confessional post to his brother about how he always assumed that the quote memes were from his books...oops 

If you are interested in finding out more about Tinderbox 2015 - The National Children’s Writers and Illustrators Conference in Wellington, NZ, October 2-5^th  send us an Email to 2015tinderbox AT gmail DOT com and we’ll put you on our dedicated mailing list for updates and news.

maureen

John Green's confession below.

Tweet from a conversation thread with J K Rowling.

The Cost Of Writing

What are the odds that a reclusive writer who wrote one book that has topped best seller lists for nearly 60 years would suddenly decide that the time is right at age 88 with severe medical issues (deaf and nearly blind) to bring out the first book she ever wrote.  (insert dead fish smell here.) 

This has been the main topic of conversation this week in the publishing blogosphere.

Once the usual literary crowd finished celebrating that Harper Lee was releasing a sequel to To Kill A Mockingbird then saner heads started asking why and the story becomes increasingly unlikely. Is it a rights grab by a lawyer who took over Harper’s sister, Alice's, law firm after her death a few months ago. Is HarperCollins behaving ethically in this whole affair? Is the lawyer to be trusted or have they played a very long game? There are lots of questions around this. Where is Atticus Finch when his creator needs him?

Staying with things legal... Tess Gerritson talks about what is happening with her landmark legal battle with Warner Brothers who bought out New Line who had the option on her book Gravity 15 years ago... and it makes for some nervous reading for writers selling film options.

So the first two items this week are after the book has been written, Chuck Wendig looks at the emotional rollercoaster of writing the book with his handy guide.

Susan Kaye Quinn talks about the need to create... and how that jumbly mixed up feeling is telling you something important.

That something important could be the startling finding from last weeks author earnings report about that 30% of books being published without ISBN’s. Here in NZ we are in a relatively fortunate position of getting free ISBN’s. But in the rest of the world it is a different story. It is a real cost. Porter looks at the issues raised by the author earnings report and then discussion over ISBN’s and their value get a hammering in the comments.

If you have a toe in the academic publishing world these five predictions for 2015 are for you.

Seth Godin amplifies his call to publishers that if you aren’t selling direct to consumer you are....

In the Craft Section,

Kristen Nelson on what is uneven writing

21 fast hacks on fueling the suspense

K M Weiland on writing backstory

Susan Kaye Quinn on not rushing to publish

3 most effective types of inner torture for your characters

Writing exercises - changing the tail.

In the Marketing Section,

The big story this week is Bookbaby beginning Print On Demand. This is big news for those who don’t want all their stuff in the Amazon basket. Canny marketers have also discovered how you can play both sides...

Jody Hedlund on whether you really need social media

Jami Gold on branding 101

Self promotion for horrible people

Odd Stuff

Buzzfeeds collection of coffee mugs for book nerds

Jeff Sanders on why you need to track every little accomplishment.

To Finish

It is possible that Harper Lee stared at each of the 5 reasons why writers avoid writing in the face and took them on board or she didn’t know how to follow up the first book (first book syndrome) or, as everybody suspects, the phenomenal success frightened her to reclusiveness. But if this is a rights grab... it will be a landmark in publishing... as the day when some publishers lost all moral credibility.

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

What goes in...

This week I sat down with a bunch of committed writing friends to start to pull together four months of creative ideas of what to include in our National Conference of Children’s Writers and Illustrators 2015. Planning a good conference takes time and much thought. My guiding principal is IT IS A WORKING CONFERENCE. Attendees must get knowledge out of it for their money. It is a big chunk of cash and writing time that poorly paid writers and illustrators have to give up so every dollar needs to really be worth it.

Kameron Hurley has a guest post on Terribleminds which is the must read post of the week. (year) Kameron outlines the need for writers to think business. These are some of the issues I would like to explore at the conference.

Hugh Howey takes a hard look at Barnes and Nobel booksellers. What they are doing wrong and will it destroy them. This was echoed yesterday in a comment from one of my writing friends about New Zealand’s biggest book seller chain.

Passive Guy takes a look at agency clauses in contracts. This is an interesting post about tricky legalese in contracts.

The Futurebook team have a twitter chat every week and this last week they were looking at Metadata. How can you find out what you need to find out... and why is it so important. 

Jon Bard takes a look at the KDP Kids Books app that Amazon released last week.

Lauren Sapala has the two most important things writersneed.

  

In the Craft Section,

How to plot a character driven story or why Harry Potter didn’t end up a nutcase.

How to make sure readers don’t close the book

How to draw fantasy maps

How to write for the 21^st century (pet peeves from an agent)

How to use a developmental editor

How to edit first drafts (great post)

How to set the stage (great post)

In the Marketing Section,

How to use the Manuscript Wish List site effectively.

How to boost book sales passively

How to use Noisetrade book marketing effectively

To Finish,

Six years on from the first conference we organized and issues we never thought of then are now on the table. Storytelling has different wrappers now.

Gaming companies need story content too. This week one of my writing friends was asking for some help with a project her company was working on. They had the idea, they had the graphics, they just needed the story to go with them. Kevin Spacey looks at how storytelling has changed in the shows he has been in.

maureen

Sorry late again… Recovery one step forward two steps back...

Pic: Flickr/Creative Commons Inger Maaike

Wouldn’t this be a cool conference bag?

Spinning the Truth

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

The open letter signed by over 900 American authors to Amazon about the ongoing dispute with Hachette has now got an international flavour with a German version springing up. Amazon is in dispute with German publishers about eBook prices... and over 1300 German language authors have signed an open letter. Porter Anderson takes a look at the two sides of this ongoing story. Which truth should we subscribe to?

Meanwhile... The Passive Guy is commenting on a Wall St Journal opinion piece about backing Amazon as they change the way publishing will be done...

Porter comments on a two-day workshop where publishing professionals gathered together to come up with a viable alternative to Amazon... interesting reading.

Mike Shatskin takes this further by looking specifically who could combine and give the Zon a fright.

Maggie Stiefvater delivered a keynote address at SCBWI that wowed people... She has published an excerpt... about writing being thievery... Excellent reading.

WriteOnCon is nearly set for takeoff... They have posted their list of agents dropping in. It promises to be a huge weekend. Take some time to check out what is on offer in this free online children’s writers’ conference.

In the Craft Section,

Organising your writing project using spreadsheets.

Using moral conflict to deepen your main character.

Can character arcs be subplots

Blurbs that bore and how to change them.

Titles and how to make them sing

Mining your dreams for story gold

Jody Hedlund on putting your best work out there.

Janice Hardy on myths about writing novelettes

Taking your character deeper with... anger

In the Marketing Section,

Joanna Penn continues to break new translation ground. She details how she has approached the German edition... and gets her translator to talk about the process. Fascinating reading.

Joel Friedlander has a guest post on planning your blog posts around your book.

Elisabeth S Craig has updated her database collection of editors, designers and illustrators for free lance projects.

Kris Rusch has added a new post to her discoverability series, which will shortly be turned into a book.

Author photos – what kind for what genre...

Self Publishing - three links

Shelli Johannes (YA writer) on things to think about before you jump in...

Jan Ruth (romance) on how to make the most of it.

Trevor Richardson on his journey which involved getting his rights back and starting a literary magazine.

To Finish,

The lovely Melinda Szymanik has packed a lot into her six month writing residency... if you can’t get away to another city maybe you could try organising a writing retreat when you can’t afford to go on one.  This could be handy if you want to combine it with the excellent WriteOnCon free children’s online writing conference... Or maybe you could dream about the most excellent writing studio... where you can contemplate writing your own truth.

maureen (late again…sorry. I am getting better….)

Pic from Flickr/Creative Commons/ RCabanilla