Questioning Karma

This week I have been thinking about Karma. (As we sow, so shall we reap.)

Jami Gold has an excellent post which generated lots of comments on Writer Sanity and Recognising Takers. This follows on from last weeks excellent post on what do you do for others in the writing community. 

Jami always has really interesting articles about all things writing. Her name comes up a lot in my blog along with Anne R Allen, K M Weiland, Janice Hardy, Jane Friedman, E S Craig, Angela Ackerman and Kris Rusch. Along with many others they GIVE an enormous amount to the writing community. But some people don't understand that this takes time away from their own writing. Takers expect answers to their specific questions and feel entitled to get an answer right away- They can be pushy, and demanding of your time. They usually don’t bother with thanks either. I have experienced many of the situations Jami’s commenter’s have. I shrug it off and wish Karma back on that person in such a way that they learn. My Karma is to teach and remain positive, (tho in this game it is sometimes harrrrrd- pours wine.)

All of us Paying It Forward to the writing community would just like to say... before you ask your question...

1. Can you Google your question and then read at least the top two pages of links first. (We all did- that is how we learned!)

2. Find an expert in the field and then read everything they write on the subject. (Again, it’s a learning thing.) A lot of blogs have search functions. Read the comments as well. There is usually a ton more information in the discussions

3. Check out a curated blog (like this one) for links to lots of experts. Read them for a while, chances are your question will be answered somewhere.

I always have to laugh when someone asks me a question- about 90% of the time the answer was in one of my roundups within the previous month.

David Gaughran (an all round stellar person) has had his Karma moments on Twitter.

David has a great book, Let’s Get Visible, on author digital visibility. He posted a chapter quite a while back as a promo on the Alli blog. This was ripped off along with other peoples work and posted in an elaborate software scam. As David and Writer Bewares’ Victoria Strauss work through the implications... it gets murkier and murkier. Other writers have been taken in. There are arrest warrants out there.

Julie Hyzy has an interesting tale to tell about a work forhire situation. This is a glimpse into the world of book packaging, which can be lucrative for writers but perils await when the editors move on.

Roz Morris has taken a good hard look at what it means for Ingram Spark to own Aer.io. And it means that she is about to change her marketing strategy. This is Ingram expanding their book distribution service into storefronts for authors. (In the battle for P.O.D. Ingram may have scored a coup over Createspace.)

In the Craft Section,

How to write Fabulous Dialogue

Writing conflict to ruin characters lives- Bookmark!

Mastering the art of the cliffhanger ending- Becca Puglisi- 
Boomark!

Dictating a Book – tips for editing- The Book Designer

Janet Reid on using italics for thoughts-

How to write loglines- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark!

10 habits of successful authors- KM Weiland

Joanna Penn on her creative process.

In the Marketing Section, (Bookmark All of Them)

Molly Greene has a great post on low cost ebook givaway hosting.

Jane Friedman has two excellent posts - Optimizing Amazon descriptions and an interview with Patrick Walsh, a book publicist.

Lindsay Buroker – How to increase sales at Apple ibooks

Elisabeth S Craig on Timing Book Releases and her take on Ingram Spark

Carolyn Howard Johnson has a post on altering a published book – Do you need a new ISBN

Website of The Week,

Anne R Allen has a very informative blog. There are great articles on writing and publishing and guest posts from industry insiders. This week she has a great guest post, looking into the future, from Laurie McLean, a Fuse Literary Agent.  Recently she had a post on what to do with social media accounts in the event of your death. Very interesting stuff and a must read.

To Finish,

Often signing up for webinars is problematic because of our Time Zone but I try to attend various ones that have content available after the event. Joel Friedman and Joanna Penn have put together a great one on Self Publishing in 2016 this week and added some cool extras. Find a quiet space to meditate on Karma and thank these two for a great 90 min video.

Maureen

@craicer

Publishing Mobility and Catfish

I have been reading a lot of publishing industry 2015 reviews and 2016 predictions with Mobile, Global, Audio, and Change, the most common themes being discussed.

Jane Friedman has an excellent eye for these trends, her article is well worth a read.

In the self publishing world Bookworks has an excellent roundup of predictions from industry leaders.

Porter Anderson has been looking at the changing relationships between editors and authors. This is an excellent piece to share with your editor over a drink.

The call for realistic publishing contracts is gathering momentum with take up from Writers Guilds around the world.

The Bookseller examines this campaign and proposes a new one- how to get more readers in 2016.

While Authors are globally mobilising forces for change in contracts, the news that PRH has dropped Author Solutions was welcomed by authors. BUT as David Gaughran points out All Is Not What It Seems. Please read and share around to all those Newbie Authors out there. This is Vanity Publishing with Shark Bites taken out of Clueless Authors.

However even savvy authors can get burned. This week the publishing blogosphere was catfished. (When someone pretends to be someone they are not.) This elaborate scheme targeted writer reviewers and was pretty audacious.

This week news that GRR Martin will not be publishing the next book anytime soon had the blogosphere hopping with agitation. Bookriot published an excellent article about leaving authors to get on with writing in their own time.

Chuck Wendig took this a step further and delivered his first 2016 thought piece on writing. It is timely advice especially for 2016 writing resolutions....

Kris Rusch has also started 2016 with an excellent post on the publishing industry. If you ever wondered why publishers seem to publish the same sort of book... this explains it!

On the same theme Stephen Pressfield looks back in time to how Random House came to give all their employees a $5000 bonus.

You have made your writer resolutions for 2016 and you have vowed to commit to writing x amount of words every day (oooh look shiny distraction...) You are going to be faster, better, stronger... (Olympic theme tune.) You are going to rule this writing gig!

So below is the reason you drop in to my blog every week.... (Thanks for coming over!)

In the Craft Section,

R L Stedman has a great post on negotiating your contract if you don’t have an agent.

Roz Morris on how much you should talk about your novel.

The Pro’s and Con’s of writing in 2^nd person.

Helena Helme on 5 ways to learn your craft! (Ahhh Casablanca!) Bookmark!

Janice Hardy- Those Red Flag Telling words!

Jane Friedman on Query letters for Non Fiction.

In the Marketing Section,

Getting your website ready for 2016

Secrets to Self publishing success in 2016 – Lindsay Buroker- Bookmark!

How to nail your Author SEO- Miral Satter- Bookmark!

Molly Greene’s best posts about blogging

Digital Book World – Ingredients of a successful marketingplan – Bookmark!

To Finish,

Smart readers will realise that my first blog of 2016 is a day late. Excuses: I’m still in holiday mode... I’ve got lots of books still to be read on the holiday reading pile... I should be plotting Book Four in my series... I’m recovering from Christmas/ New Year... still... I’ve got to master all these Book Nerd resolutions!

Onwards to a successful 2016!

Maureen

@craicer

Pic from Flickr/Creative Commons- Missouri State Archives

Raise A Glass To

This is my last blog post of the year and it’s already a day late. I have lots to share with you so grab a Christmas beverage and we’ll start.

This could be the drown your sorrows part of the blog...

Writer Beware has a look at some insidious new clauses making their way into publishing contracts under the guise of being nice.

Anne R Allen’s post on 5 scams targeting writers is being shared all over the web. Read and Beware.

Heather Alexander writes about the frustration of friends referring friends to you because they have book ideas. (We have all experienced this!!)

Adam Dreece talks about his first lesson as a full time writer- Burnout.

Melinda Szymanik has an excellent post on Writers Block - and The Write Life has a way you can beat it.

This is the Raise your Glass - Cheers part of the blog!

Kristen Lamb has 7 ways to get the true grit you need as an author- Great Post!

Joanna Penn has an excellent post on Productivity For Authors. If you are looking for other productivity tips check out these productivity hacks.

China wants to see more English language children’s books. – That’s the takeaway from the  Global Kids Connect conference held this week in New York.

Digital Book World has an excellent post on Amazon and ways that Publishers can use some Amazon tactics.

This is the fill-‘er-up-what-will-they-think-of-next, toast to innovation part of the blog...

Check out the story of this App, where a traditional publisher is harnessing indie authors to deliver novels in serial form, weekly... (you may need another drink to get your head around it.)

The writer and the market should be friends - James Scott Bell

Self Publishing and Indie Author Imprints- This is a must read post if you are an indie author.

Refill Your Glass!

In the Craft Section,

11 top articles on Writing Characters- Bookmark! Some of these I’ve linked to before but this is a craft books worth of great writing.

Janice Hardy has 2 excellent posts – Bookmark!  Why we should do bad things to our Character and What you really want to know about self publishing.

Tips for writing acknowledgements by Julie Musil Bookmark!

Paul Short Has 6 writing tips from bestselling authors.

Agent Janet Reid – Don’t write your query like your dust jacket.

Reedsy has an excellent post (and infographic) on Editing (which is what NaNo people should be doing in December.) Bookmark it!

Men with Pens has a great post on how to recognise Passive Voice and get rid of it.

In the Marketing Section,

Jane Friedman on managing Twitter- Excellent post!

Sue Coletta – Pinterest for authors- This is an amazing post! I never thought of this way for authors to use Pinterest.  Bookmark!

23 Pinterest tips for authors. (makes more sense after the above post.)

How to protect your website from Hackers

In a Toast to Christmas...

I recently recorded my second podcast with Writers Island where I talked about great gifts for writers. (see sidebar) As Christmas is nearly upon us you might like to check out these amazing gift lists.

Jami Golds Ultimate Gift list for writers.

Gifts that matter for writers

Literary action hero dolls

22 gifts for writers

Imogen Wilson’s Ex Libris jewelry for writers

The Literary Gift Company 

To Finish,

Raise a toast to Kristine Rusch ...

In November Kris was on fire with her great business for writers blog posts which I linked to in several blog posts. She has been receiving some push back for her comments about writing what YOU want to write as the key to your career.  This week she replies to the criticism and explores the nature of writer as artist. I think this is an amazing post and one for authors to reflect on as they take their post prandial beverage and contemplate the coming year.

My gift to you – the 12 cocktails of Christmas and the annual Christmas video!

See you in January!

Maureen
@craicer

Pic from Flickr Creative Commons/John Morgan

Talking Across The Room

This week ahead of the Futurebook conference, a day was organised in London where authors and publishers got together and talked to each other. This is unusual in the book business as generally the dialogue is one sided. If you do a Twitter search on #authorday it will bring up some pithy quotes that were said throughout the day to authors and publishers by authors and publishers. The first report of #authorday is up on The Bookseller – Can we trust each other? It is a must read.

Among the discussions at Author Day was the continued lack of illustrator credit in the book business. Sarah McIntyre has made this a special campaign and after Author Day updated her website to reflect this. Pictures Do Mean Business For Illustrators. Authors need to read this!

Also discussed at Author Day – Assisted Publishing and Agents as Publishers. Jane Friedman has an interview with an agent that does this... Is it ethical?

The Author Earnings team of Hugh Howey and Data Guy have turned their sights on Amazon UK. Are the results the same as the US? Some interesting takeaways here... especially for global bestsellers.

Roz Morris has been taking a close look at pseudonyms especially in this digital world where a Google search can haul up stuff you may not want associated with your pseudonym.

21 ways to turn your book into a business - this is great advice for Non Fiction writers.

If you are juggling a writing life with full time work you need to read Darcy Pattison’s excellent blog post on ways to make your life a little easier along with the 10 must have qualities for the Indie author.

In the Craft Section,

5 important ways to use symbolism- Angela Ackerman

How to bring characters back into the action- James Scott Bell

7 easy ways to research – K M Weiland

Is there enough Death in your stories?- Devlin Blake

How to write good beginnings

The biggest problem in beginnings - Agent Sarah Davies

In the Marketing Section,

Two great posts from Molly Greene- How to upload and sell on Google Play and Using Contests and Giveaways

The risks of offering a freebie- Jami Gold

How to launch a thriller series- James Scott Bell

How to launch a book for new authors - Susan Kaye Quinn

Querying a new novel while the old one is still doing the rounds - Agent Janet Reid

To Finish,

I will wrap up the year next week... in the mean time if you have a project ready to go Pit Mad will be taking over Twitter on December 4^th (US time.) Have fun!

Maureen

@craicer

Pic from Flickr Creative Commons/ Ray Bouknight

Premature Babbling

This morning my Twitter feed filled up with reaction to a new kid on the YA publishing block and his attitude. Normally a new kid on the block would be welcomed and included but when the new kid talks down about the very genre they are writing in and then writes some dubious blog posts, the YA community will not ignore you. Chuck explains it best with his witty no-holds-barred post on not spitting on the legacy of the writers that have gone before you.

The Guardian also has a pertinent article on literature writers who deny that their work is actually genre... they wouldn’t lower themselves. SIGH! Read it and cheer.

This week there have been a few posts celebrating pre orders and warnings about pre orders.

Publishers Weekly has an interesting article by Mark Coker of Smashwords on using pre orders to ramp up your first day sales. You need to have preorders across the bookselling sites to get on the bestseller lists.

Then Mindy Klasky detailed how a preorder went horribly wrong for an anthology on Amazon.

If you are contemplating using pre orders in your marketing strategy, Carefully reading both these articles will give you the full picture.

November looks like the month I mention Asia every week. Mark Williams has a very detailed post looking at the global publishing industry using mobile phones. If you are looking into the future of publishing, check out what he has to say... grab a beverage of your choice, as it will take a while but it is worth it. Time to think GLOBAL!

Anne R Allen has a blog post that is being mentioned a lot around Twitter. If you are still trying to get your head around the changes in Amazon’s review policy, Anne has carefully laid all the do’s and don’t out for you.

Joann Penn has a very interesting interview up with LiteraryEstate lawyer, Kathryn Goldman. There are lots of things to think about in this interview. If you haven’t given a thought to what might happen to your Intellectual Property in the future... you need to read or listen to this interview.

Future Book has a section on Future Book Tech.  As we are in the middle of exam season here this post caught my eye. Here is a profile of a young man who saw a need to provide mobile exam preparation courses. He is now partnering with some of the worlds biggest educational publishers.

In the Craft Section,

How to learn fiction writing techniques- Jody Hedlund- Bookmark!

How to write multiple antagonists – K M Weiland

What is bad writing and how can we fix it - and Adding Conflict to Your Scenes-Janice Hardy Bookmark Both!

When back story kills your plot- C S Lakin

Expand deepen and create – September Fawkes Bookmark!

What is narrative thrust?- Jane Friedman

In the Marketing Section,

Making picture quotes easy

Rachel Thompsons book marketing tips part two (Part one was in last weeks blog)

How to create a book that sells - Penny Sansevieri – there is also a video of Penny with some great 

marketing tips.

How to keep your fans raving for your books- Author Basics

Marketing plans- Jessica West

To Finish,

Last week I had Kristine Rusch as my website of the week. This week she wrote a great post on the journey of one writer, Marie Force. Often we hear we should write to the market... or we shouldn’t write to the market or we should write contemporary or we should write genre.... Read Kris- (take it to heart) and Write what you love!

Maureen

@craicer

Pic from Flick Creative Commons / Werwin 15

Speaking Our Fears

The week the world has been shaken up and now everybody is thinking about mortality. 

We are not invulnerable. 

In the writing world Tech Crunch analysed the publishing industry and came to the conclusion that there is a new parallel publishing universe happening. Welcome To The Dark Side.

Catherine Ryan Hyde has written an amazing post onrejection. This tells the story of Pay It Forward. Catherine has some great advice for writers struggling with the lows of the publishing world.

Dean Wesley Smith talks about the times that the writer becomes overwhelmed by the critical voice in their head saying ‘What’s the point?’ This is a great post about reconnecting with the joy of writing.

Jane Friedman recently wrote about the myths of writing and then linked to an interesting article on writers and addictions by Douglas Millikin.

Jody Hedlund has a post on How To Drive Yourself Crazy As AWriter. Jody gives great advice so make sure you drop in and read what not to do.

By now you may be reaching for a stiff drink!

On the good news front. China needs more books. Publishers Weekly has just covered the Shanghai Children’s Book Fair and the news is allpositive... and great opportunities are opening up.

Rick Riordan has managed to get his foreign publishers to stop white washing his characters on the cover of his books. This is great news. I wondered if it was a language translation problem but sometimes that is not the case... Marketing can make the wrong decisions! I was thinking about my own characters this week and realised that all the characters in my head were biracial... but I don’t describe them by skin tone. Something to work on maybe...

In the Craft Section,

Molly Greene has a great novel outlining method

How to write violence like it’s real. Bookmark!

Joanna Penn on writing the first draft.

How to decide how many POV characters to have.- Angela Ackerman/ Marcy Kennedy

3 mistakes that stop us reading.

How to create a memorable setting- Pat Verducci-Bookmark

Actions speak louder than dialogue- C S Lakin-Bookmark

Sabotaging your chance with an agent- Jane Friedman

How to write cliff hanger chapter breaks- K M Weiland Bookmark!

In the Marketing Section,

Critical edits to Book Description Copy- Diana Urban - Bookmark

4 easy things to do if you don’t want to market your book- Penny Sansevieri-Bookmark

12 critical elements for home pages

How to get the right non fiction title- The Book Designer/Derek Doepker

How to lose fans when selling your book

21 ways a reader might find your website- Bookmark

Book Marketing tips- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

Website of the Week

Kristine Kathryn Rusch has been on fire this week with some excellent posts on the publishing industry. She is a multi talented writer/ editor across many genres and is much respected. She doesn’t pull any punches or suffer fools. She will give it to you straight... Read Her!

Getting in Touch with Writers and Talking to Writers

To Finish

This week I’ve been thinking about talking.  I’m comfortable with chatting to people one on one, small groups etc. Then at our recent National Conference I had to Skype interview in front of 100 people, the lectern was shaking I clutched it so hard. A couple of weeks ago I was interviewed on radio for a new magazine style programme being developed. That microphone looked like an interrogation spotlight! 

Talking in public is important for writers to master. Elizabeth S Craig has a great post on public speaking for writers.

The Podcast for Writers Island is in the sidebar if you want to listen to some cool Indie Music and Writer Tidbits and me. I guess I should probably tell you that a version of this blog is up on Bibliocrunch every week. Talking isn't so bad… when you are writing.

Maureen

@craicer

Celebrity Writing

Many writers cringe when they read reports of celebrities writing a book,* children’s writers especially. We all know that writing a children’s book is hard. Every word has to be chosen with care. They may look easy because there are fewer words but they aren’t! The ‘celebrity’ who thinks their brand needs a book, an instant best seller with publisher or ghost writer doing all the work, just makes us all grit our teeth.

Gwyneth Paltrow has decided to launch a publishing company... an extension of her website where she will memorialise her thoughts for the world.

Gary Oldman is about to publish his debut novel about Vampire Cowboys which he hopes will become a series.

What can authors to do in the face of these wonderful additions to the publishing oeuvre?  Mike Shatzkin looks at brand and merch and vertical publishing with publishers selling author experiences in seminars and events.

Poetry is becoming the new hot thing on Instagram and Tumblr. Three of the top ten poetry books have all come from poets posting their work online. It’s an accidental form of celebrity and an interesting twist on publishing and promotion. Become a poetry phenomenon on Instagram and the deals will follow.

James Scott Bell has a Bookmark post on how to be a prolific writer. James talks about the structure of your day and the goals you need to set yourself.

Neil Gaiman was asked about writers block recently. He doesn’t believe in it but he does have some advice to get through a creative block.

Last week I linked to Anne R Allen’s excellent post on 5 delusions that block writers from succeeding. This week Anne followed up that viral post 5 more delusions blocking writers.

Robin Black has a great post on 21 things she wished she had known before she started this writing journey.

In the Craft Section,

Words you should cut from your writing

Character development interaction chart

Tips to tighten up writing- Sue Coletta – Bookmark

NaNoWriMo Triage center - Angela Ackerman

How to balance Showing vs Telling and How to get readers to read your entire series –Jody Hedlund

7 ways your characters can screw up their decisions to make a better plot.- Janice Hardy - Bookmark

What you need to know if you write in multiple genres - Joel Friedlander

In The Marketing Section,

Demystifying Amazon categories and keywords - Penny Sansevieri - Bookmark

How to write the best Author Bio

Using keywords on Pinterest for authors - Bibliocrunch

17 tips for publishing Non fiction successfully

How to set up a pre order for your book

Book marketing tips for sequels

Author newsletters

How to promote a book without making yourself miserable - Jane Friedman – Bookmark

What NOT to share on Social Media - Bookmark!

Website of the Week

Three nifty little ideas for you this week.

Karen Marston had a website malfunction which prompted her to write a post on backing up. Here she talks about all the ways to back up your website.

Did you know Google has added a record feature to Google Docs? You can dictate your manuscript now.

After you have twisted yourself into a pretzel getting your NaNoWriMo word count up You may need this handy Infographic Yoga for Writers chart.

To Finish,

A few years ago the FABO team wrote a story collaboratively and had great fun doing it- but it was hard work. Joanna Penn has been writing a horror thriller with J Thorn, who has worked collaboratively with many writers. This is a great interview if you are thinking about how to do it without killing your writing partner.

Or you could always work with a celebrity….

*I'm sorry about that link - it is vile isn't it?  How the publishers could keep straight faces when faced with this prose….

Maureen

@craicer

Genre Bashing

Why did @JustinTrudeau choose a gender balanced cabinet? "Because it's 2015." https://t.co/oZhL8422pU

— George Darroch (@georgedarroch) November 4, 2015

This week I have been reflecting on the idiocy still perpetuated that somehow literary genres read by a majority of women are inferior to other literary genres.

Romance novelists were taken aback by a snarky article on plagiarism at the Washington Post this week. Instead of talking about the plagiarism that had been discovered the journalist went for the who-can- tell-because-it’s-not-real-writing angle.

Jenny Trout writes an excellent rebuttal and if you want to further enjoy the smack down read the comments following her post about Shakespeare.

Amazon has changed its Kindle Unlimited payouts again. At the same time as doing this it has finally (after twenty years of business) taken the plunge and opened a bookstore in Seattle. Just one... with 6000 books, a lot of them face out on the shelf....

If you are diving into NaNoWriMo and have popped your head up for air, check out Chuck Wendig’s post on surviving it...

November besides being the month of insane novel writing is also Non Fiction month. Nicola Morgan had a passionate post on the lack of recognition to our Non Fiction children’s writers.

Anne R Allen has written a post that has been passed around the blogosphere - 5 delusions that block writers from succeeding. The speed of the sharing showed that many writers found some truths in this excellent post.

Jane Friedman takes a look at literary journals... the struggles of writers to get published echo the struggles of these journals to publish.

The rules of storytelling… from Pixar.

In the Craft Section,

Two great posts on dialogue tags- Actions speak louder from C S Lakin and 10 dialogue mistakes from Marcy Kennedy - Bookmark both!

5 ways to build a flimsy villain

The single best way to finish a novel- Kristen Lamb

5 smart tips to write a draft at speed- Roz Morris – Bookmark

Planning a Character Arc – Angela Ackerman

Building a Great First Chapter- Beth Revis

Planning your Novel Ending- Janice Hardy

NaNoWriMo -planning

In the Marketing Section,

Promoting Pre Orders- Bookmark

How to get readers to lust after your book- James Scott Bell

Trying new things for visibility- Elisabeth S Craig

How to sell without being sleazy- Kate Tilton

How much does it cost to self publish- Bookmark

How to get your book reviewed – Molly Greene

Author marketing –ways to support your writer friends without compromising your own platform.

To Finish,

Stephen Pressfield and Black Irish books have a great series of videos on The Story Grid which you should check out for NaNoWriMo. Darcy Pattison has some tips to help you carve out a writing life.

If you are a fan of popular podcast serial Night Vale... Then look out for the book. It is 2015 and publishing has changed. Now we can take podcasts and get big publishing deals.

The new Canadian Prime Minister was sworn in today. Three words have echoed around Twitter following the swearing in ceremony. It’s a reflection on long it has taken and that we still have a way to go.

Maureen
@craicer