The Grapes Of Wrath

Another week in publishing… another meltdown in publishing. Hopefully this is not a sign of a new normal for 2020.

So what is it this time? 

The novel American Dirt got rave reviews pre-publication. The book was compared to a modern Grapes Of Wrath and so it has come to pass that wrath has been visited upon the author for writing a story of Latin immigration - without being Latin.

The furore has been public and vitriolic. The author has disappeared. The publisher has tried to calm the waters, not sure if he just poured petrol on the fire with this press release.

Publishers Weekly is reporting the cancellation of the book tour in favour of Town Hall style meetings about the book. Is all publicity really good? (Can’t help thinking this would be the classic author nightmare.)

* Just edited to add in this great post from Jami Gold -What Do the Calls For Diversity Mean For Our Writing

Meanwhile in other publishing threats, The White House is trying to pull a book because of revealed national secrets that may be in it. Anybody who is close to National government has to have their manuscripts approved for release. Apparently this one was… weeks ago…

Also in a banning frame of mind is Digital Book World. They have banned Macmillan from attending the Digital Book World conference because of the way they are treating libraries. Is this a publicity stunt, a highlighting of the Macmillan/ Library issue or the building of barricades for the revolution…

This week Lee and Low published their annual baseline survey on diversity in publishing. Is the publishing world hiring a more representative band of people?

Writer Beware has a new collection of scams hitting the newbies and its Pay To Play or in this case pay to get profiles on magazines… sadly Publishers Weekly may also be in this camp.

Jane Friedman has updated her guide to Writers Conferences so if you are thinking about attending one this year – take a look.

I came across two great posts on plotting this week. An oldie but a goodie from Chuck Wendig and Story Arcs from Write Practice.

In The Craft Section,

Creating believable characters

Story Structure – Heroes Journey- Karen Woodward- Bookmark

15 keys to writing dialogue – Ruth Harris – Bookmark 

7 rules to cliffhangers- Anne R Allen- Bookmark

How to write a mystery novel- Huge collection of links- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Unique content ideas for February- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Nates big list of promotion websites- Nate Hoffelder- Bookmark lots!!

Jacketed case printing – Ingram Spark’s new shiny 2020 goodie!!

To Finish,

As I come across interesting publishing links during the week I pass them on to people who are working at the coalface of any issue currently of concern. Our NZ Society of Authors is having a battle over what copyright means with government advisors. This week Joanna Penn had an interview with Rebecca Giblin on the importance of contracts and what to watch out for in publishing clauses. The interview is well worth a listen for the breaking news that an AI has been granted copyright. 

2020 is going to be an interesting year.

Maureen

@craicer

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter?

When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

Pic: Henry Fonda

2020, Ready or Not

It’s 2020… another year in the always fascinating world of publishing and writing beckons. So what happened over the Christmas break while everyone was supposed to be drinking eggnog and contemplating the end of one decade and the beginning of the next?

This time, just as the offices are shutting, is beloved by governments and organisations who want to get something controversial or sneaky out in the open, secure in the knowledge that when people find out it will be a done deal. Enter the Romance Writers Association of America with an edict censuring one its most prominent members just before Christmas. Unfortunately for them members were still active on Twitter on Christmas Eve. There was nowhere to hide as the biggest romance association publicly crumbled. The last month has been a public relations nightmare of epic proportions. For a comprehensive rundown on events as they unfolded read Jezebel and then read Jami Gold for her ideas on how to fix the mess. (Today RWA has appointed a new executive director so hopefully they will be looking at the other suggestions as well.)

Of course being the beginning of a new year the predictions are out for what might be coming down the track for authors and publishers.

Written Word Media have ten publishing trends for authors which makes interesting reading.

Joanna Penn and Orna Ross got together to look out into the next decade and see what is coming down the train track towards us. Forewarned means being prepared to surf the change instead of drowning in it.

Kris Rusch writes a careful post of what happens in an election year to sales of books. Like it or not, American news has a ripple effect on entertainment sales. (That’s us, BTW)

Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware looked back over 2019 and the scams and shonky deals that proliferated. She warns that the old scam artists are up to their tricks again… so do yourself a favour and glance over the list of what to be aware of going into 2020.

What happens when the publisher and the fans don’t want you to stop writing a character? Lee Child has been trying to get rid of Reacher for a while… and this time he may have made it stick by handing it all over to his brother….

Last year Audible got taken to court by the big publishers over publishing captions for their audio books which was seen as ebook publishing by another way… So what happened in court… They settled.

Meanwhile the ongoing stoush between libraries and Macmillan is continuing. Macmillan stopped new releases to libraries as they claimed it hurt their sales. (Libraries have to pay very top dollar for the books.) Libraries responded. Who is hurting the most? 

Meanwhile in your New Year planning you should be looking at business plans says Jane Friedman. Janice Hardy cautions about making the same old self-publishing mistakes.

The 100 best writing websites have been rounded up again...

In The Craft Section,

Tips for writing multi POV distinct voices- Kathleen Barber

How to write a killer villain-Christina Kaye- Bookmark

Authentic dialogue – Chris Fox

Two different types of lie that your characters believe- KM Weiland - Bookmark

The lies you tell yourself when you should be writing- Leigh Shulman – Bookmark

In the Marketing Section,

How much copy should you write on your homepage- Infographic- Barb Drozdowich- Bookmark

Content Marketing - David Gaughran – Bookmark

Sales techniques to help you sell more books- Joel Friedlander

Build a street team- Angela Ackerman

How to choose an agent among competing offers- Barbara Poelle

To Finish,

Anne R Allen takes a look at Bookbub and discovers it can be just like Goodreads only much nicer! Remember the days of writing a review and recommending books?

Get your 2020 off to a great start and write a review for someone’s book. Good karma awaits.

Maureen

@craicer

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter?

When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

Crowd Success

Today I received the writing craft book I ordered (see my blog two weeks ago) and it was a bittersweet moment. The book looks fabulous, Writing Deep Scenes by Martha Alderson and Jordan Rosenfeld, but the bittersweet moment was the realisation that it was published by F&W Media. This week F&W Media filed for bankruptcy. Their most recognisable brand is Writers Digest which they have been publishing for nearly 100 years. They publish writing craft books, magazines, and Writers Market yearbooks. They hold popular conferences and run courses in writing. Hopefully, they can work through this.

Crowdfunding seems to be the answer to lots of publishing questions. There is crowdfunding when you directly fuel a creative project and there is crowdfunding... where it’s a little bit murkier. Writer Beware shines a spotlight on a crowdfunding option for pitching manuscripts... authors enter their MS into the crowdfunding site. If they get over 250 pledges the MS gets looked at by lower-tier agents and publishers. Over 500 and a higher tier of agents and publishers look at it, except that the agents and publishers all have open submission anyway and the publishers have red flags often against their names. Sounds Legit?

In crowdfunding of a different sort... publishers are getting together at the London Book Fair and one of the initiatives is the Book Aid charity. This year they are helping to get Mosul University Library back on its feet after they were largely destroyed by ISIS. 

Slightly digressing I was pleased to see that a local group of authors had got together and started a little venture called The Underground Bookshop. They have committed to having a stall at a local market every week. Good things happen when writers get together. 

The Digital Reader always has his digit on the pulse of what is happening in publishing. This week he reported that Amazon has set up a new ebook quality control feature in author dashboards. While Amazon is tweaking their digital store... they are pulling out of all their pop up stores.

Have you ever spent a long time hunting for a writing file you know you put somewhere in your computer? Editor Lisa Poisso has the article just for you (and me) how to name your files correctly so you don’t lose them.

How to survive rejection. Even the great writers struggled with this bane of the writer life. Lit Hub details how poet W B Yeats coped with rejection. It is a great essay. If you have been struggling lately John Kerr has a great practical piece on ways to survive the rejection blues.

Joel Friedlander has written a great post on tips for the work at home writer. This is a must-read. By the way, Joel has just launched a new book template – Gourmet. This is especially for all those people who have dreamed of writing a cookbook. 

In The Craft Section,

Six subplots that add style to your story-Writers write- Bookmark

Why lack of structure is killing your characters-Bang 2 Write- Bookmark

Beginnings and Backstory- James Scott Bell- Bookmark

Stuck in the middle- Margot Kinberg

Writing Backstory through Dialogue- Becca Puglisi

Imagery description overkill- Mary Kole

In The Marketing Section,

Spotify now has ads... John Kremer

5 great ways to get readers engaged- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

7 ways to use Instagram- Frances Caballo- Bookmark

Getting your rights back- Elizabeth Spann Craig- Bookmark

Set up local book links for ebooks- Alli Blog- BOOKMARK

To Finish,

I have been wrestling with carpal tunnel effects all week and it is annoying. Aside from the tingling in my left hand, I have been keeping reasonably good health. However, that is not the case for other writers. I am in admiration of those writers who have a severe chronic illness and still manage to write new words.  Kris Rusch has a short excerpt from her upcoming book – writing with chronic illness. Kris talks about celebrating achievements even if they are small. This week I have been thinking about that and a day with new words is a good day.

Maureen 
@craicer

In my monthly newsletter, I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, just hit the coffee button up top.  I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

Pic Flickr Creative Commons - James Cridland

Are You Chasing Literary Glory?

As we head into the last few days of NaNoWriMo… remember that December is 

Na No Edit Mo. Don’t forget to pat yourself on the back for getting to the end with something written! Take a break and check out some other stories… These are the ten best podcast fiction websites.

Writers Beware is a fantastic website that doubles as a consumer watchdog for writers. Worried about an agent? Think your contract maybe shonky? Check out Writer Beware. This week they have an interesting article about what happens when your agent or publisher files for bankruptcy. And yes this is very important. If you think you get your rights back....

While that is in your mind check out Kris Rusch’s latest blog where she talks about the Sears company. They have filed for bankruptcy. If you think it is not relevant to writers... read Kris and her examination of the Sears business model and how it has been the blueprint of other successful bookselling behemoths in the business world. What happens if Amazon fails? 

If you are wondering about whether a potential publisher or service is scammy... You can check them out on the Alliance of Independent Authors (Alli) review. They have recently updated their A-Z list of publishing providers.

Mike Shatzkin always has his eye on what is happening or about to happen in publishing. In his latest blog he looks at the success of Lightning Source and the mind shift publishers need to make about just in time printing. Readers will be aware that the recent success of Wonky Donkey on the global stage 7 years after it was published illustrates perfectly what Mike is talking about. (Mike will be in NZ in January if anyone wants to catch up with him.)

Penny Sansevieri has leapt off the block with the first of the what to do in 2019 regarding book marketing. What is really interesting is how book marketing is changing and what worked in in the first half of 2018 isn’t working now. This is a must check out list of great ideas.

Dave Chesson has been busy doing guest blogs around the blogosphere. This week he popped up on Jane Friedman’s blog and wrote an interesting article on the SWOT analysis for writers. Have you ever looked at your writing this way? Strengths. Weaknesses. Opportunities. Threats...

Recently Joanna Penn interviewed Michael Brent Collings and it got writers talking about mental health and writing. Today I came across Michael’s ten steps to overnight success. This is one of those posts that is a must read (all the way to the end).

In The Craft Section,

Avoiding he said she said dialogue

Radical revision- Ruth Harris- Bookmark

How do we create realistic villains- Kassandra Lamb- Bookmark

The delicate art of character folding- Aerogramme Studio- Bookmark

Screenwriting and the need for original hooks- GoIntoTheStory

When your NaNo project is a hot mess-10 minute novelist- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Your book needs a presale period- Steven Spatz

How to make pretty facebook pages- David Gaughran- Bookmark

How improving your website sells more books- Book Designer- Bookmark

5 tips to rock your next open mic reading- Sarah Letourneau- Bookmark

How to write better marketing copy- Jane Friedman

5 Book Marketing myths- Rachel Thompson

To Finish,

The New York Review published this interesting article today. Is Literary Glory worth chasing? As you read it, you are struck with so many parallels about life today and the pressures of being a writer in the modern age. Which is pretty neat considering it was written in 1824.

Maureen

@craicer

In my monthly newsletter, I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee hit the Kofi button up top. 

Pic- couldn't resist when I saw it...

Was it something I said?

It has been a horrible week for some kidlit writers and agents in the blogosphere.
Danielle Smith, a ’respected’ agent who having worked for high flying agencies struck out on her own
was shown to be a fraud. This has stunned her colleagues, her clients and her staff. The kidlit
community is a tight knit community and are rallying round as they do with offers of help coming
from all over.
The bottom line in all of this is - Once you get an agent... the work begins. Follow up regularly.
They work for you. If they can’t or won’t communicate at least quarterly… ask who they have subbed to?
Ask publishers to split the check at source. They can pay agents fees separately… if your agent is
upset about this, ask why.

There are a whole lot of writers and illustrators taken on by Danielle Smith, who have no idea what
properties have been taken on or off or subbed or not...  and not only that... it goes back years through other
clients for other agencies where she was an agent on staff.
A hashtag search in Twitter #Daniellesmith pulls up some sad stories.

Forbes has covered the latest scams in the publishing world this week just as
this was breaking… Be Aware that there are some awful predators out there.

In the continuing serial decline of  CreateSpace, Nate Hoffelder reports that Amazon has hammered
another nail in the coffin. This week they pulled the plug on publishing CD’s and DVD’s. Will the Kindle
Print arm pick these up too? Everyone still in CreateSpace are hanging on grimly…

While Amazon is putting the screws into CreateSpace, Publish Drive has been wooing China. Publish Drive
are doing some interesting things in the global publishing marketplace… If you want world wide sales take a look...

Data Guy was asked to present at the Sci Fi & Fantasy conference just held and he posted up his
slides looking at the last years sales of SFF across the board.  The SFF Marketing Podcast crew
took a look at the trends - Even if you don’t write SFF this is a good podcast to follow.

Every year about this time Joanna Penn takes a yearly snapshot of her working life…
It is really interesting… I always learn something from this indie powerhouse.

In The Craft Section,

Killing off an important character -Live Write Breathe- Bookmark

5 things psychology can teach writers- Angela Ackerman

How to show emotion on the page - cheat sheets - Jessica Grace Kelley

9 character types to include in your story- Writers Cookbook- Bookmark

Different Types of movie stories- Go into the Story

In The Marketing Section,

Why authors should be speaking about their books- Joel Friedlander

5 terrible ways to launch your book- Kevin Tumlinson

How to create pre-launch buzz for your book- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

Are you paying too much attention to Amazon reviews?- Barry Faulkner

2 Bookmark posts from Frances Caballo Publishing your first book - follow these steps and
Selling more books- tips from experts.

To Finish,

As you may have noticed this is short and a day late. I had an unexpected hospital stay this last week.
This screwed up quite a few things publishing wise for me. The first two circus books were nearly live online
but the print ones are not. Pro tip from me… build in plenty of time for life's hiccups and rest where you can…
I wonder if the wicked witch of the west cursed me last week for using her picture on my blog.

Maureen

@craicer

I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. I appreciate all the virtual coffee love from people who hit the Kofi button as a thank you for the blog.

Future Proof

It’s my eleven year blogoversary. The publishing world is very different now than when I started. I am very different... I have more grey in my hair. Writing remains the same but the way we publish has changed. The way we will publish in the future will be different again. As everyone in publishing likes to say... we live in interesting times.

This week Porter Anderson reported on a panel discussion held on the eve of the London Book Fair where publishers discussed how well the industry was able to face the competition in storytelling coming from TV, Netflix et al. The panel represented some of the biggest names in communication and the comments are really interesting. Read it and have a glimpse into the future.

Netflix is everywhere.... No seriously, they are everywhere. I was surprised when I found out they were in every country but four. Their global business is 70% of their revenue. Now think about the implications from a publishing perspective. Remember you are in the entertainment industry... Read this article for an insight into how you should be viewing your work....

Last week Google unveiled a little feature that could change book buying habits for ever.

'Talk to Books' takes the search into the realm of conversational AI. Ask the AI to search by sentence... and it will tell you all the matches. Take it further and ask the AI to buy it for you and then read it to you. Digital Book World looks at where this technology might take us.

Last month I highlighted a money laundering problem that used authors details without their knowledge. If you publish with CreateSpace you may need to go and change your passwords because hackers have started to target it.

This week Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware highlighted a problem with Publishers Weekly. PW is a respected industry magazine style resource that everybody in publishing refers to, so what are you to think when PW advertise two vanity publishers with questionable practices?

Amazon have been pulling reviews lately. This has disconcerted a lot of writers in the industry. After all reviews ensure how books get seen by potential readers... which means sales... which beget reviews.... Penny Sansevieri posted an article recently about what you need to watch for to ensure that the Zon doesn’t pull reviews on your book.

The European Union are implementing some changes that will hit everyone who gathers data from people visiting their websites. Before you think that doesn’t apply to me... it may do. Do you have newsletters or freebies on your site? If so the EU laws apply. Check out this handy FAQ about what you need to know.

This week I was talking about comparisonitis in my monthly newsletter. It is a creeping disease that overtakes you when you look at your work in progress and almost any other book that comes into your orbit. Joanna Penn has a great article on the subject. If you suffer from this or recognise the symptoms, this is the article for you.

In The Craft Section,

Subplot ideas- Now Novel- Bookmark

Learn about the colour of a page of type – The Book Designer

How should a character say nothing?- James Scott Bell- Bookmark

10 things about sequels- Janice Hardy

How to use commas in your writing- Grammarly

Elements of a great first chapter- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

How to get book reviews without begging- Dave Chesson

Reviews and what to do with them- Draft2Digital

Beyond a refresh- Changing our brand- Jami Gold- Bookmark

Print On Demand - cost comparisons- Bookworks

How to come up with good comp. titles for your book- Nathan Bransford- Bookmark

How to write a sizzling author resource box- Joan Stewart

To Finish,

James Scott Bell is one of my Go To writing craft gurus. When I’m in the middle of a tricky scene or taking a break or... I reach for a writing craft book. This week James talked about competence, which can sabotage a writer. Are you satisfied with getting by in your writing craft or are you willing to try to be better.

Over the last eleven years I have written a blog post nearly every week, a monthly newsletter for nearly two years, ten short novels, four full length and I don’t know how many short fragments of stories that sit in a folder on my hard drive. The more I learn the more I feel I need to know. I like to think I have improved as a writer. If you were around in the beginning and are still with me now... I must be doing something right.

Thank you for sticking with me every week.

Maureen

@craicer

I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces in a monthly newsletter. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes.Don’t forget to share the blog around your writing friends and if you want to fuel a celebratory coffee you can hit the coffee tab. Thanks

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons / Romerito Pontes

What’s In A Name...

I was listening today to the Spa Girls podcast on pen names and it got me thinking about how much a name identifies the author brand. In my blog posts I use the names of the content creators I reference as my label tags. This is probably against all the blogging rules. I have a list of experts whom I see as essential to check in with on a regular basis to provide overview of the industry or smart tips or new ideas. They are among the best in the business so I know that I am passing on quality advice.

Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware is someone that you should check in with if you are ever offered a ‘too good to be true,’ deal or for peace of mind. This week Writer Beware had a post about all the clones that Author Solutions spawned. It makes sobering reading. There are so many hydras in the forest of publishing.

Joanna Penn and Orna Ross get together once a month to talk about issues for experienced authors in a Q and A for Alli. This week they were talking about personal branding, the latest Author Earnings report and the controversy it has caused, and rebranding the Indie Author Fringe conferences

Along with this good advice Alli have put together a quick overview of author business models. What systems should you be thinking of putting in place for your author business?

Kris Rusch continues her look at 2017 and turns it around for 2018. Self publishing is not the new kid on the block. Indie publishers are now a force with almost 1 in 5 books sold coming out of the Indie community. Kris and her husband Dean have more than 30 years in the publishing industry doing everything you can think of. They are the Go To people for the Gurus of the Indie world.

Jane Friedman has a guest blog on her website about rocking a free promotion day. If you are trying to get the word out about your book, here are some places and tips you can try.

Last week I highlighted all the big changes that have happened in the last two weeks in publishing. It’s not over yet. Barnes and Noble, America’s biggest bricks and mortar bookstore, want you to tell them what you like about the book you just read. The Digital Reader is trying out their beta version... Competition for Goodreads anyone?

Write On Con starts tomorrow... Online free conference for children’s writers... Jump on over and check out the fun.

Bookbub have a list of suggestions if you want to sell your books overseas... and it doesn’t cost much!

Kimberly Rempel has written a guest post on perfectionism and how it can derail the author. This is a timely post as I find that reading some very fine books over the Christmas period has left me a little flat when I look at my own writing. I must follow Kimberley’s advice.

In The Craft Section,

Using indirect dialogue- Anne R Allen – Bookmark

25 mistakes that send your screenplay to the trash- Bang2Write- Bookmark

Using exclamation points- Editors blog

Writing characters clothing- Now Novel-Bookmark

How Google Docs improves writing

3 paradoxes of slow writing- Roz Morris

All you need to know about story structure in 5 minutes-writetodone- Bookmark

Pattern and Repetition- Gabriela Pereira- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Capture readers with better book description- Kevin Tumlinson-Bookmark

Using giveaways to find more readers

Boost your chances to get a Bookbub deal- Bookbub – Bookmark

27 author website resources

25 content ideas for newsletters

Mistakes made in book promotion- Joanna Penn- Bookmark

Bookstagram (Instagram tips)- Bookriot

To Finish, 

Among other groups rebranding their identities are the Self Publishing Guys who kicked down the doors of publishing and said follow us into the promised land. Jonny, Sean and Dave are pivoting... into something new.... Check out their new venture in their own typical style...

Maureen

@craicer

(It’s really me...)

In my monthly newsletter I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. This blog runs on goodwill and coffee. If you want to shout me one, just hit the coffee button on the top right. Thanks.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons / Bodo