Maintaining A Positive Face

This week I have been thinking about all sorts of eclectic things to do with the life of an author.

Headshots... This is an awful necessity when you write... at some point some one is going to ask for a headshot. Writer Unboxed has a great article on this. I have heard of conferences arranging photographers who specialise in this... (hmmm must explore this.)

Being a nicer person because I am a writer. Book Trib had an interesting article on this.

Jody Hedlund looks at the other side of niceness when you feel you are the worst writer in the world... How can you dig yourself out of the hole?

Keeping a positive attitude helps when you are visualising your goals. If you are Indie Publishing 5 tips on how you can measure success.

This week Publishers Weekly had a column from Kristan Higgins asking the literary world to grow up when it comes to Romance writing.They are among the savviest writers I know and Kristan has a point. Read the Genre before you criticise it.

The New York Times has changed the way they will be reporting Children’s Best Sellers... There was jubilation all over my Twitter Feed. Now finally we will find out the best selling junior fiction books... When the list jumped from Picture Book to Young Adult best sellers... something had to give.

Sticking with big companies making changes… HarperCollins is shutting down Authonomy, their website where aspiring authors could post stories. It was an interesting experiment.

Joanna Penn has answered a bunch of questions about her writing business. She is a postive force when it comes to finding out about marketing. Here she has lots of tips.

In the Craft Section,

Killing your darlings – 5 writers talk about the cutting room floor

Using beta readers to help you write- C S Lakin

6 easy ways to achieve a perfect ending

6 things writers should know about MB Thinking vs. Feeling

5 writing challenges all writers face

How to find an editor – Jane Friedman

Creativity tips for the stuck- Nathan Bransford

In the Marketing Section,

Mastering Radio Interviews - Anne R Allen (Bookmark)

What do you do when your Amazon reviews disappear?

Ebook formatting using MS Word- Molly Greene

How to make 3D cover generators

6 types of Copyright disclaimers – The Book Designer (Bookmark)

What makes your story unique –The Art of the Blurb – Jami Gold

Creating Author Business Plans- Janice Hardy

Easy ways to build an email list

Website of the Week

Writers in the Storm have a great website with all sorts of great craft and marketing tips. Here are two recent Bookmark posts, 5 easy SEO techniques and How actions determine character arc. There are four writers contributing and they manage to cover all facets of the business. A great Go To Website

To Finish,

Chuck Wendig has a new book out soon. It is his 13^th and by now he should be used to the feelings of gut wrenching fear, nervousness and excitement... It only gets worse… He tries to maintain a positive face… (Positive warnings on language apply.)

Maureen

@craicer

Pic is from Flickr/ Creative  Commons - Wonderlane

Flagging Down Karma

This week the power of group/mob behaviour was in full view around the blogosphere.

And it wasn’t pretty!

E L James had a torrid time on an ‘Ask E L James’ Twitter chat that her PR people should never have enabled. Mob behaviour was in evidence when she was publically vilified at a live event. You can hate the stories... just don’t read them, but don’t attack the author. They are a human being. Porter reports on the fallout and how Chuck Wendig coped with it.

For the anonymous haters who hide behind computer screens and avatars to say hate speech- there will be KARMA.

This week Apple’s appeal against their sentence of collusion with the big publishers got thrown out. (See Karma...) Fortune magazine details just our cozy the deals Apple and the publishers made. It is not pretty reading.

Scribd, the ebook subscription company, has come up against the voracious romance reader and decided that limiting their subscription is the way to go. There are howls of protest from readers who are instantly penalised for reading too much and from writers who find their books have just disappeared. The Bookseller looks at the issue and what might be a solution.

Writers trying to get their head around the new Amazon subscription service pay per page read would do well to check out Susan Kaye Quinn’s comparison breakdown. Susan’s straight forward analysis clearly shows the writer just what a pay per page means as opposed to a borrow. Math wins and so do some writers.

Fake online reviews are still happening and some authors are being burned by negative review campaigns. Amazon is rolling out some new algorithms to clean this up. Porter talks about what can be done, should be done, is being done about sock puppetry.

In the Craft Section,

3 small changes that will transform your writing

Revising without tears (Bookmark)

Don’t trim words- Chop them out.

The writers skill- Stephen Pressfield

The secret behind making me care about your characters- Chuck Wendig (usual warnings)

Why starting with action messes up so many beginnings- Jami Gold

6 writing techniques

How fiction writers can ramp up tension and pacing- CS Lakin (Bookmark)

Truth and Fiction- Girl Cliques- Becca Puglisi (Bookmark)

In the Marketing Section,

Behind the scenes making a cover- Dane Low

Podcasting tools

Book marketing checklist –Tim Grahl (Comprehensive)

3 questions for indie authors

Social media for authors

Book marketing plans – (Bookmark)

Special forces tools that help writers-Bob Mayer

Book Market results- Nicholas Rossis (Fascinating! Bookmark)

Website of the Week

Grammar – You can’t ignore it. There are some great websites out there to help you write more better (spot the deliberate grammar mangling.) Check out the Grammarly blog for nifty tips and great articles.

To Finish,

Jane Friedman has an interview with Nathan Bransford on her blog. Nathan has been it all... an agent, a writer, a reviewer.... He is in a unique position to comment on today’s publishing industry.

maureen

@craicer

Pic: From Grammarly blog on writing retreats.

Virtual Visiting

This is a skinny post... because I’ve been dropping into WriteOnCon which finished this afternoon our time. This year WriteOnCon had live Twitter pitch events with agents and a very active forum for attendees with great discussions.

Some of the topics under discussion...that whole age range thing in Mid Grade and Young Adult... Where is the cut off?

Writing now... the perils of getting it right in the 21st Century... The agents were calling for more contemporary MG and YA.

The classic show don’t tell advice... actually you need some tell.

And agents pet hate... starting in the middle of the scene without giving us time to be emotionally invested. Nathan Bransford gives an example and asks how do you name your characters.

Voice... Voice... Voice... It makes your writing standout... and should be in your queries.

So what else has caught my eye this week.

A heartfelt plea for authors to stop dissing each other.

Turning your website into an online store

Joanna Penn’s interview with Bootstrapper guru Tucker on marketing books.

Jane Friedman has a great post on social media advice.

Janice Hardy has a timely diagnostic post on weak middles.

Moran Chaim wonders whether outlining is a good way to start.

Battling self doubt as a writer (the writer’s curse)

8 things to think about before you publish and

5 things you should not do.

To Finish.

What is the one thing your main character can’t live without? This is an interesting post which also resonates with writers. Social contact with people who understand your weird fascination with invented characters... even if it is only through the computer screen and you are visiting virtually... sometimes that is all you need to get your brain zinging. 

maureen

A short word...

This is the Skinny Blog Post because I have to travel urgently up country again...so

In the news here in NZ, the closure of Learning Media which deserves a long broadside blog post on its own.

Overseas the Goodreads Bullying debacle goes on and on. Nathan Bransford had some thoughts on this. Reviewers behaving badly.... IMHO if you don’t like the book, don’t review it. Life is too short.

Roz Morris has a great blog post on how to deal with Critiques and Editorial Feedback.

Writers Guide To Publishing has a comprehensive post onbacking up your work...how many ways should you ... could you do it...

In Craft,

K M Weiland has two stunning posts on building writing confidence and Crafting Opening Scenes with input from Roz Morris.

Artists Road is also looking at Beginnings and Endings...one reflecting the other.

Write Practice has a close look at the crafting of series books...what do you need to nail down.

Even the Huffington Post has a look at writing tips.

In Marketing,

The Bookshelf Muse team on hand selling your book.

Dear Author has a guest post on cover design for digitalbooks...you won’t look at your book cover the same way again...

Website to check out...

This week I posted on Facebook an article by KristineKathryn Rusch on one book vs career publishing which struck a nerve... Kris and her husband Dean Wesley Smith have covered all aspects of the book publishing trade between them and their Business Of Publishing posts are to the point master classes in being a professional writer.

I promise a longer post next week after I’ve calmed down* over the NZ Governments breaking of an internationally recognized, award winning, educational publishing company dedicated to giving NZ children the best of our writers and artists for 105 years...because education should make a profit for the government shouldn’t it?

maureen

* pigs will fly first...

 pic 1964 School Journal...Four levels covering 5year olds to 12 year olds. Four issues a level...16 journals a year sent to schools (free) in class sets of 30. Each journal comprising of 3 Fiction short stories, 3 Articles, one play, one craft activity, 8 poems all graded at the reading ability of children in each level and cross indexed according to subject and reading level in a comprehensive index issued every year covering 5 years...which was my teaching bible. All schools considered their journal room holding up to 20 years worth of class sets to be their prime reading resource for teaching reading literacy and keeping NZ in the top 5 for reading literacy in the world over many decades.

 B*^%$&D's 

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.

Joel has some good things to say and do to help authors  use Goodreads effectively in a guest interview with Publicity Hound Joan Stewart. Joel has plenty of good things to say about Joan and her webinars on publicity as well.

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. 

Rachelle Gardner has a great post on how to eliminate thousands of words relatively painlessly.

Mary Kole talks about how to spot a lack of emotional punch when a character has a change of heart.

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.

Film director, Billy Wilder’s, ten tips for screenwriters...wraps up stories pretty well too.

Jane Friedman has three exercises you can do to sharpen your first page.

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!

Checkout this delicious twist on an idea.

maureen

Banging The Drum...

This week there has been a lot of interest and discussion around the internet on author self promotion.

Writers always struggle with self promotion. If your typical writer is an introvert type then your typical marketer is an extrovert type. As writers we are encouraged to have an online presence and be Google searchable. We must be actively promoting our books as publishing companies are not going to do this unless you are a 6 figure income author.

Increasingly the word around the web is that the big names get promoted, the midlist has to do their own promotion and debut authors have only the one book to make an impact. Bob Mayer had an excellent post which I linked to last week on what to do about this.

Children’s writers have a harder struggle with self promotion. Who do they promote to? Their readers are not the buyers of the books. If you have an online presence who is it being aimed at? Most children’s writers stick to a static web page with biographical information for children’s book reports and information about their books. Some writers develop teacher pages with teaching notes to support their books. This is a sort of ‘build-it-and-they-will-come’ mentality. However many writers are finding this is not enough and they have to engage with the community...and we’re back to who is the community the children’s writer has to engage with?

Janice Hardy has an excellent article addressing this for mid grade writers. If you are a children’s writer this is a must read. Janice has identified the ‘Influencers’ that a children’s writer must be aware of and cater to.

Nathan Bransford has been struggling with the self promotion part of being a children’s writer now that he has crossed over to the other side of the desk. Nathan has a very popular blog and his community (his readers) is made up of writers from all over the writing spectrum. 

Nathan tried to promote his book on his blog and found that it was not the success he had hoped for. This led Laura Pauling to write a wonderful article on Nathan’s problem and what he could do better. The comments are especially good as the top children’s writer bloggers have all weighed in to discuss the tricky art of self promotion.

Jody Hedlund has a great article on author marketing and who it is for...not the author.

CopyBlogger takes a hard hitting approach to online marketing...some tips in there for writers and Tony Eldridge has gathered a list of his top ten marketing posts for authors.

The wonderful Writer Unboxed has a list of the 5 Must Do Book Publicity tips...starting from 6 months out...

In the craft section,

Julie Musil takes a look at why Jodi Piccoult is a best seller (news today from Publishers Weekly Jodi is writing a YA with her daughter.)

Taleist takes a look at mind mapping and how Authors can use this tool and Passwordincorrect has a nifty new way to make ebook covers. 

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

Supporting Indie Bookstores WinWin...( this is a great article, go here if the button is broken)

26 Tips for Using Images To Engage...tips for websites and fan pages

12 Easy Tips for Making A Viral Video Trailer (takes the hard work out of researching)

Google ebooks Lands Pottermore

To finish,

Self publishing coach has a top ten list of blogs to follow for authors...these are all related to marketing in some way...whether it is Joe Konrath talking about why to do it to Bookbuzzr telling you how to do it...

If you are wondering whether all the above relates to the principles of marketing... David Meerman Scott has taken a close look at the 4 P’s of marketing and discovered that in this new digital age...they are broken.

The FaBo team are still going strong and letting the current genre (Horror) have a few weeks more because of the holidays...In the sidebar there is a nifty little note to the kids about new books from the team that they might be interested in...a subtle kind of marketing...

I’d love to be able to scream buy my new book (long story)...but I’ll have to settle for Buy The FaBo Teams New Books -  they will be very good and Christmas is coming up... 

maureen

Writing Life On The Edge...

It’s been a funny old week in the writing blogosphere. 

The Wall Street Journal piece on the darkness of YA Fiction spurred a huge twitter backlash (#YAsaves) that had it in the top three trending topics inside of an hour. Among the authors singled out in the WSJ article was Judy Blume who was surprised to find that her books were considered too dark to read. Judy linked to a Blog post by a young writer about why she reads YA Fiction. 

Today Maureen Johnson wrote an article for the Guardian looking at the response and how YA Authors feel about the WSJ reviewers comments.

If you write or read YA Fiction have a look at each side. I think there are valid points for each argument. 

Yes there is a lot of violence, gore, death and illegal behaviour in some YA Books. 

Writing about it and the consequences of it can give a safe mirror for a teen that may have to deal with some of these issues in real life. 

Reading these books does not automatically send a teen out to commit mayhem. 

The increasingly younger age group who are picking up Young Adult books, because they want to appear older, are the real problem I feel. I had a serious freak out moment when I heard an 8 year old was reading Twilight at my daughters school. As a teacher, a parent and a children’s writer that made my hair stand on end. (that’s my 50c worth)

Young Adult writing will always be controversial and edgy and the writers and readers wouldn’t have it any other way. (Banning a book is great for sales.)

Writers for Younger children are much safer? Not so. The seventh UK Children’s Laureate was announced yesterday and immediately there were negative comments about the author.

Julia Donaldson has written more than 150 books for children. She is a standout writer and an awesome campaigner for the continuing existence of public and school libraries. However judging by the comments following the Guardian article announcing her appointment...there are a few people out there who think her classic The Gruffalo teaches children that it is ok to lie and they argue she plagiarized Maurice Sendak. Some days you wonder about the parents of your readers...

Also in the news this week how small chain bookshops are repurposing themselves in the current climate...What experiences can they bring to the customer that Amazon can’t...and how Pop Up book stores are working in the US....(Pop Up means short term in an empty space.)

Over in the Craft section there are three excellent links for you on Editing.

Grub Daily has a great post on line editing...with some great examples from old pulp fiction. I have a serious collection of old pulp fiction myself, this is an excellent way to sharpen your editing skills while reading it.

Beth Hill of The Editors Blog has a great (and comprehensive) checklist for editors and writers on big picture editing. This is one to bookmark!

The editors at Edittorrent have a great blog post on openings that annoy...If you are wondering about your killer opening go on over and check out what they have to say.

On Craicerplus (my Amplify Page) I have a link to an article on

Author Agent Speed Dating Service...(one author who wants to make things easier for all of us....)

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you will have seen a lot of interesting articles, just for those communities, that I have passed on this week.

To Finish,

Writer Unboxed interviewed Nathan Bransford about why he left Agenting, his new midgrade book coming out and other interesting stuff. Nathan has one of the most popular blogs out in the writing blogosphere and he is always an insightful commentator. 

P J Hoover has a thoughtful post on her experience epublishing Solstice with her agent one month on.

And I’ll leave you with a video from Cory Doctorow –Every Pirate Wants To Be An Admiral...Why he lives life on the edge...

Enjoy,

maureen

And the winner is....

Congratulations Dear Reader, You have become the 2000th visitor to my Blog this year. 

I hope that you have enjoyed popping in and checking out the links. I have been thinking of you as I research the web each week looking for tidbits you may like....

In your honour I have compiled a funny set of writing related links for you as we need a pick me up before the silly season gets sillier and for the Kiwis we need a dose of good cheer after the last week of tragedy.

So First Up.

Nathan Bransford posted an article about the Nine Circles of Hell for writers. This is a laugh and wince because it is a true look at the writer and their attempts to write a novel....(This is especially for all those writers struggling with relationship issues to their current WIP)

Next Up.

For all those writers who having finished NaNoWrMo have now entered NaNoEdMo (December being editing that novel you wrote in November....)

Yes even multitalented award winning writers get sent the Editorial Letter.

John Gilstrap shares his letter with comments about improvements that could be made to his current WIP. This is a great look at professionalism from the editor and a timely reminder to the writer that there is always something to work on.

For those of you who pop in to Craicer looking for information on websites, blogging and marketing tips.... 

Joanna Penn has an excellent interview with Justine Musk (Tribal Writer) on Blogging and authenticity. Joanna has the podcast, the video and the notes of this great interview on her site. Take the time to have a good look at what Joanna is doing....This is the future.

A timely reminder to those of you who are regular users of Social Media as part of your business.(That's all of us, writing being a business.) Do not fall into the trap of lifting articles from the web and publishing them in your magazine. Here is the latest morality tale for you about an arrogant editor and the writers revenge...

Now that you are feeling good and are patting yourself on the back, you may find that it is time to give yourself a challenge. 

Writeitsideways has the writing makeover challenge for you. 31 days to change your writing habits...take it only if your habits need changing.....Goodness knows mine do.

There is a brand new publisher coming Down Under. They specialise in Children’s Books and Apps...with a name like Nosy Crow who wouldn’t love them already...Check out Beatties Blog for more info on this opportunity.

Over on Craicerplus (My Amplify Page) there are links to Articles on  

How To Nurture Your Creativity...this is The Blogging 101 article.

20 Obsolete English Words That Should Make A Comeback...especially good if you are writing an historical 

masterpiece.

Also for those people who love historical novels check out this funny video link at Smart Bitches Trashy Books  Friday Video...(No it is not what it seems...Go and check out the site and have a laugh.)

J K Rowling Shouldn’t Write Any More Harry Potter Books (Harry and the Midlife Crisis...)

The Art Of Pitching.....This is chock full of tips!

And So Back we come to The Craicer Blog where I leave you with my most up to date link and the funniest video I have seen in a while...

Kristin of Warrior Writer has become one of ‘those must stop by’ links. Today she has a great article on being professional....Go read it because everyone reading this blog is professional and committed to their passions...(ok we’re not rich in pocket but we are rich in soul...)

Thanks for popping in over the year,

Enjoy the video,

maureen

Don't Forget The WCBA Annual Christmas Quiz is on December 9th

Classic Thoughts

At our Wellington Children’s Book Association club night this week we looked at classic books, specifically our favourite all time book. 

As we all have a passion for children’s books none of us could stop at one. The two I picked I couldn’t bring to the meeting because various small members of my family wouldn’t let me borrow them for the night.... So I grabbed some others. 

I was interested to find that, for most of us there, our classic book was the first book we read on our own that made an impact in our young lives...generally at age seven. It seemed to be a recurring theme. The classic book was the first book where we, as children reading, wanted to climb inside the book and totally live in that world.

Oh to write such inspiring words for young readers. (yup...maybe one day)

This thought has been encouraging me all week as I take myself back to Mars and think about character motivation...Getting inside some of my characters heads is hard work...it doesn’t help when it’s forty below and there is a solar flare about to fry everybody....

Today I read a great blog post tackling the question If Your Life Is Boring, Can Your Novel Be Great? This fits my mood of persevere...it will work out.

Greg Rucka has an interesting essay on how he researches his books. How to research a novel -Hardcore advice. Read a snippet here on Media Bistro. I use the internet and the library a lot! I’ve never thought about YouTube tho.

Mary from Kidlit.com was on a publishing trends panel recently and the talk quickly turned to the future of publishing. This is an informative blog post. One, because Mary (agent) was on it as well as Meg Cabot and Two because Lisa Holton of Fourth Story media (Amanda Project) was on it. Oh and publishing trends...if you could predict them you would be rich! (zombie fairies in a dystopian world?)

Richard Curtis, one of the leading agents in the world, has an extremely good article on his blog about timing. When is the right time to go to a bigger publisher...a bigger agent...and why sometimes the writer gets it wrong.

Jeff Sexton has written a compelling blog post about the Psychological Principles Behind A Marketing Success In A Networked World. Do not let the title put you off. This is a very good look at a sleeper hit...and how it happens...(this post has appeared on best of the week lists all over the place.)

Kristen Lamb of Warrior Writers has written a reassuring post to authors about Social Media and why you don’t have to slavishly be on everything. After all you want to write don’t you? She does point out what you should be concentrating on tho.

Over on Craicerplus (my Amplify Page) I have links to Articles on

To Smashwords or Not to Smashwords (this is interesting if you are thinking of POD)

15 Amazing Literary Tattoo’s

The Only ‘How To Write’ Lesson you Will Ever Need. (lots of interest in this one)

Writing Rules are Just Tools...(this is a timely post for those of us staring at the edit!)

Nathan Bransford introduced a new client of his this week by having a guest post from him. This was a really good idea for lots of reasons. Nathan has a huge readership, so instant success there. Jim Duncan talked about all the crap queries he did before he got picked up. And in honour of this and his new blog, he has a contest to write a rejection letter response to the query rejection.

I missed out on the deadline for subbing mine but if you want to read some side splitting responses check it out.

My response is below...

Dear (insert name here)

Thankyou for your query response on (insert date).

We are currently oversubscribed with offers on our (select appropriate or all... romance, crime, urban fantasy, science fiction, hero quest, paranormal, horror, erotica, western) manuscript.

Please keep us in mind with any further offers you may make. Don’t forget to read our website blog for updates about what we like...our fascination for the colour orange for example is always a  good start in understanding why we might be (select one, unwilling, unable, unnerved)  about accepting your submitted response.

All good wishes for the future,

(insert current pseudonym)

enjoy,

maureen

pic is my classic book...

Socially Speaking....

Social Media...say what? You don’t waste time on that stuff do you?

Sometimes there is a fine line between wasting time and working on growing your brand, marketing in other words.

There have been lots of posts by respected industry professionals recently that highlight the fact that authors need to be google searchable. They must have a web presence and be active in the web community even before you have a book out. This shows potential editors and agents that the author understands that the web is a vital part of the marketing arsenal. If you are an established author it is a given that you will have a web presence for you and the book.Social Media sites makes you web searchable, this can help with branding and contribute to making you a better bet to publish. 

If you are going to be active in Social Media you need to set goals and limits for yourself. (What is best for you? How much time should you put into it...)

What is your core business, networking or writing? If you are networking all the time, chances are you aren’t writing. And if you are always intending to get around to Social Media or are unsure whether it is even relevant for you, chances are you are not networking or growing your brand.

So what is Social Media and where do you start?

Social Media is Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ping, Digg....Yup it is seemingly endless.

T K Richardson has an interesting series on her blog looking at marketing, social media and time. She has a quick roundup of ways authors can use Social Media.

Nathan Bransford asked the question, Social Networking- Does it really work in selling books? His forum community waded in on the topic and there is a great for and against debate going on. In the end as one commentator said ‘It is the strength of the story which sells the book.’ Using Social Media with only the intention to sell books and not participate in the community is just spamming.

Jody Hedlund has the most comprehensive round up of pros and cons on using Social Media. Jody’s blog is always worth the read and her debut book is racing up the charts. She has a loyal and savvy group of followers so that hasn’t hurt either.

Jane Friedman has been picked up by Cincinnati University to teach Digital Media. She was interviewed this week by Dan Blank about How Digital Media Can Empower Writers. This is a thirty minute skype interview so grab a coffee and sit back. Jane does know of what she speaks being an extremely popular blogger and editor with Writers Digest.

Justine Musk this week talked about technology and how it is changing the way people will see books in the future and the writers brand.

Bob Mayer has taken his Who Dares Wins philosophy a bit further and established his own publishing company. Go and have a look at his rules for engagement and why he decided to take his brand of writing and popular workshops into another sphere. (Hint Digital Media played a huge part in all the possibilities.)

Rachel Gardner has given everyone a wakeup call about what happens around the acquisitions table. Are You Brave Enough To Find Out? Some of her regular readers were not....

On Craicerplus (My Amplify Page) I have links to articles on

Victoria Moxon - Interview. (This is a fabulous article. All Victoria’s advice is worth its weight in gold!)

John Steinbeck’s Advice For Beginning Writers.

The Fifty Best Author Vs Author Put Downs Of All Time. (ouch)

What Star Trek Can Teach Us About Writing...(very very good grasshopper...yes I know I mixed my genres.)

Marketing Tips For Author-Niche Marketing...(echo’s of a recent blog)

As you can tell I use Social Media. You are already reading this blog. I use Twitter primarily as a resource tool to get great links for you to read. I retweet some and Amplify others. My Amplify links get directed to Facebook and Twitter. Each of these Social Media groups have their own followers. I try not to spend more than four hours a week on research, networking and being social...The benefits tho are The FaBo Project put together with Facebook writers. Up to date knowledge of cutting edge news (UK Penguin and open submissions) some fine reading and great friends met over the blogosphere (waves to friends...my there are a lot of you...)

Questions and comments about using Social Media are welcomed...dip your toe in and comment....

enjoy

maureen