Independent Unique Individuals

How often this week have you wondered about the motivations of people?

Shannon Hale is a top notch children’s author. She recently wrote a post on her experiences with school visits where she was introduced as a girls writer. She has some interesting strategies to challenge this opening but she raises an interesting question- Are we unconsciously limiting boys reading due to gender bias?

This week The NY Times launched a new best seller list.Audio. This will be interesting as Audible (owned by Amazon) has 90% of the market and they never share data...

Draft2Digital, ebook aggregator, has introduced a new nifty feature, book formatting for print books. You can use this feature for free.

Nick Stephenson has an interesting blog for Indie publishers. This week he profiled an author who amassed 3000 rabid fans before the book was out by creating the world the book is set in. It is a fascinating story... if you are into world building check it out.

When was the last time you walked into a bookstore? Was it an Indie bookstore? Did you feel the difference? Julie Rosenberg on Writer Unboxed has a post on how important Indie bookstores are becoming.

Penny Sansevieri has written a great post on Amazon ads. If you have wondered about how they work this is the post to read and Bookmark.

Roz Morris has a great post on the five stages of book production and why Indie publishers should follow them in strict order. Not only will it save you heartache it will also save you money!

Anne R Allen has a great post on choosing character names. For me the story doesn’t start until I have the character name sorted. It is so important. If you have ever struggled with getting the right name check this out.

In The Craft Section,

The myth of all you can eat sensory details- Lisa Cron- Bookmark

Creating editorial maps- Marcy Kennedy

Dumb little writing tricks that work

Writing a perfect first chapter- Writer Unboxed Bookmark

Is your novel premise and no plot?- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

What are your catnip tropes?

What is a Mary Sue? This is a must read post! TCK publishing- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Amazon book promotion techniques- Bookworks

Author website basics

How to find a reputable agent- Bookmark

9 types of pitches for promoting- Joan Stewart - Bookmark

5 unique strategies to market on Goodreads- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

To Finish,

What’s the opposite of a dystopian world... If you said utopian you would be nearly right. There is a new Sci Fi kid on the block... Solar Punk and its mission is to promote an alternative future within reach... oooh Shiny!

Hands up if you’ve stretched today while sitting at your computer.  Here are 5 tips to get that author body moving so you can invent more independent and unique characters.

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 enjoyed this blog you can shout me a coffee by hitting the coffee button up top or share the blog with your writing friends. Thanks
 

Pic Flickr Creative Commons/ Dave Catchpole

Losing The Plot

Last week when it was February and I was still thinking it was early February... (which caused me to miss an important birthday and completely screw up my calendar,) I mentioned a scandal that was just beginning to be noticed about Scammers stealing writer credentials and money laundering through Amazon. So now that this is becoming more widely known is anyone going to do anything about it....

Romance authors are spitting tacks about the pathetic royalties being offered by Amazon Audible Romance Subscription- think Kindle Unlimited but for Audio. They promised only good times ahead for authors who wanted to offer Audio books. The first Royalty payment is in... and it is shocking! Not only that but it is split with the Narrator and tied up for seven years. There is gold in them thar audiobooks...

I love my Book Cover Designer... They are truly important in the visibility of your book, regardless of which way you publish. So Terry Goodkind (famous SFF writer) really caused shock when he came out to diss his latest novel cover. Things got out of hand... Unless you are Indie publishing then you have little to no say over what the publisher chooses for the cover. If you have a problem take it up with the publisher.... Lets play Good and Kind out there people!

It has been two years since Harper Lee’s death and the feelings of disquiet felt amongst the author community at how her estate was being handled. So this week when a court ordered that the will be made public there was considerable interest. As one commenter noted... the person who drew up the will benefits from the will... is that legal? Warnings to all writers out there... Know what you want to do with your literary estate!

From time to time I post articles about what is happening in the educational publishing landscape. They are the last bastions of the $150 cheap print textbook. McGraw Hill has plans... big plans... and it just might be that the last barricade will be over run by cheering students.

Teachers in Canada are not cheering... They are taking the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency to court in a bitter battle about what isfair use... demanding repayment of tariffs. This is a case to keep an eye on.

The lovely Ursula K Le Guin died last month and many people have been digging into her work and mourning the loss. Karen Fowler wrote about the ten writing lessons she learned from Ursula...

In The Writing Craft Section,

2 great posts from Bridget. Villain motivations- make it real- and Foreshadowing examples- Now Novel- Bookmark Both!

2 Bookmark worthy posts from Anne R Allen 9 secrets to supercharge your fiction- and Plot holes and pot holes- Bookmark BOTH!

Using the Comic Relief Character for more than Comedy- Joanna Penn

Ten tips on how to clean up your MS before sending itanywhere- Must Read!

What can you do about limiting your bad writing days...Robin Lovett has the answer.

Showing vs Telling from the fabulous Jami Gold- Bookmark

In The Book Marketing Section,

Are you ready for video? Help for the author.

Formatting using MS Word Styles- Joel Friedlander- Bookmark

3 ways to blogging success

Critical cover rules

5 author tools for authors who hate marketing- Bookmark

Sell more books overseas- Bookbub

4 affordable ways to master Book Marketing- Jane Friedman- Bookmark

To Finish,

Who writes to music? Film scores are the go to for lots of writers but have you ever consciously listened to pop songs about writing... hmmm

Lit Hub dug up a list of 11 and I was surprised... among the list was Devo’s Whip It...

March Madness starts now!

Maureen

@craicer

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons/ Kate Ausburn

I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links from the last month. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. Come and join our happy band.

Is This The Real You?

Facebook is changing its algorithms. So marketing on Social Media needs a rethink. Penny Sansevieri lists the bare minimum interactions andmindset that authors should be doing.  Writers Digest also has some good advice on how not to panic but take advantage of the changes... It’s all about being your authentic real self...

Hands up if anyone knows who Arnaud Nourry is? Hmmm, not many. He is the Chief Executive of Hachette Livre which is why his comments this week, on eBooks being stupid, raised eyebrows. His company makes loads of money from them.... However he thinks the future is in 3D and digital...

Another week... another scandal... Amazon started sending out Tax notices this week and one author got a nasty surprise. His account had been used as a money laundering service and he's not the only author being targeted.  Brian Krebs takes a look at what happened and how easy it is to do....

Anne R Allen always has great advice and here she looks at blogging for authors. Do you really need to do it? 8 reasons to start an author blog. It has generated a lot of comment so if you are on the fence or need to rethink your strategy go and read what she has to say.

Kris Rusch was surprised to see an editors name on the front cover of a fiction novel. Apparently this is becoming a thing... and not for the better. Kris breaks down why this is ethically and morally dubious... let alone a sales nightmare.

If you are a visual learner you will love this neat little video on Storytelling by George Saunders. ‘Get out there and do something beautiful...’

In The Writing Craft Section,

21 fun writing prompts- TED ED- Bookmark

Wrestling with tense and point of view -Writer Unboxed- Bookmark

Writing Craft master list- Jami Gold- Bookmark

Plotting- Big Picture vs Small picture- Janice Hardy – Bookmark

5 ways to deepen emotional layering- Lakota Grace- Bookmark

Getting set pieces down

Character voice writing prompts

In The Book Marketing Section,

Using box sets and bundling- Joanna Penn- Bookmark

Tips for the new Goodreads giveaways-Chris McMullen- Bookmark

5 Book Contract terms to understand- Bookmark-

How to give away ebooks on your website- Digital Reader

Promote your books with online groups- Non Fiction writers Assoc.

5 Terrible ways to launch your book- Draft2Digital- Bookmark

Boost your print sales by discounting ebooks

To Finish,

The Digital Reader site run by Nate Hoffelder has an interesting collection of news, comment and resources. This infographic is lots of fun. How to determine your character by the fonts you use...

Maureen

@craicer

It is nearly time for my monthly newsletter. I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links from the last month. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons- April Killingsworth