Don't Blink

This week has been quiet as everybody hunkers down to write 50,000 words. 
Amazon quietly closed its brick and mortar stores for a week and made changes. Instead of the books being face out as they were displayed before many are now spine out... and they now sport nifty e-ink price signs showing price and star rating. What are they doing with all the space they’ve freed up? Book tech.

In the showdown between libraries and McMillan publishing Who will blink first?
McMillan’s first salvo was to limit E-book copies, ramp up the price, and delay availability.
Libraries see it as an attack on the vulnerable who can’t afford the huge prices to buy print or can’t read them. (E-books have an audio capability for those with sight problems.)
Libraries are now refusing to stock McMillan titles...

How many authors have thought to themselves about changing their name to Anonymous... Imagine all the books you could say you wrote.  Publishers Weekly reports that Hachette have been warned by the American Department of Justice about the publishing of A Warning by Anonymous.
They want copies of non disclosure agreements and work histories of the Anonymous author who is an official in the White House. But will Hachette give them up? Great publicity for the book due out soon.

Also in Publishers Weekly an opinion piece hads been shared around the virtual water cooler. We need diverse editors. This shines a spotlight on the problem of diverse books being ignored because the editors lack the understanding to champion the stories effectively. 

Tara Sparling has been writing a hilarious series on book blurb writing... Here she is with part three. Short fiction and self help.

As a writer for children I keep an eye on what is news in the wider children’s publishing world. 
An interesting article caught my eye about the lack of teen books. What do you give the good readers who are 11-14 and have read everything in their school library? They don’t want romance issues, love triangles or very bad language...They don’t identify with upper YA who are 16 plus. A gap in the market apparently. (I was this teen- I discovered Sci Fi and now I write it for this gap...)

Eric Carle at 90 has just signed away his whole lifes work to Penguin Random House. This article from Publishers Weekly was interesting as it talked about the IP (Intellectual Property) of the Carle estate. Why do you think PRH wanted it...think of the merchandising. Coming on the heels of another in depth post by Kristine Rusch on how writers have been conditioned not to expect a fair deal on IP and I just wonder who got the better of the deal, 90 year old Eric or PRH.

Jami Gold has another top notch post for writers looking for good resources to help them during the November salt mine tour of duty. 

In The Craft Section,

Mindmapping for the novelist- C S Lakin- Bookmark

Enhance your writing by layering- Jordan Dane - Bookmark

Introducing tastes in story- Zoe McCarthy

Writing the first chapter- Anne R Allen – Bookmark

Creating a mood scene using light and shadow- Angela Ackerman

Should you have exposition scenes- Go Into The Story

In The Marketing Section,

When you need a blog post idea fast- Edie Melson

Basics of an author platform- Rachel Thompson

7 vital website ingredients- Small Blue Dog- Bookmark

How to spot cover design issues- Amy Collins

How to use mailerlite for authors- Frances Caballo- Bookmark

Top twitter tips for authors- Bookworks- Bookmark

To Finish,

Craft Books Galore! Prolific works have put together 51 craft book resources for the NaNo WriMo author, and they are all free... but you need to hand over your email address and then find the time to study the books.
Have you thought of collecting your must have desk items into an exclusive store for your fans? Check out what one writer is doing with the Kit website. 

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; Gary Cooper in High Noon

Writing- Ready or Not

It is nearly the witching hour. The time when the clock ticks forward into a new month. The month where writers around the world glance feverishly at their word counts and cheer or despair as the count climbs closer to the goal of 50,000 words. NaNoWriMo has begun.

So for those of you about to launch into the month of writing madness you might like Quick and Dirty Writing Tips from Melissa Donovan. Janice Hardy also has updated her post about ten things to remember if you want to be published.
And if you need any productivity or craft book help don’t forget to check out the Storybundle of great craft books especially for NaNoWriMo.

Everyone else.... Normal Transmission Will Resume Shortly.

This week The New Publishing Standard (TNPS) highlighted a couple of interesting developments. First was the launch of a new subscription service for Harry Potter fans. How can this be a new development you ask. Well back in the day, J K Rowling didn’t sell her ebook rights. And then went on to create a whole website experience around them. It was groundbreaking at the time in terms of fan engagement but also a lesson in how to really market your IP. The subscription service takes it up another notch and TNPS thinks this may become the future for books... 
Second, from TNPS was the news that Publishers Weekly was getting into the paid review game. Regardless of what you think about the ethics of paid reviews, there are some high-end book review sites that do this. Kirkus charges steeply to have a review. TNPS has some interesting comments to make about value for money.

There are some big writing conferences coming up. Kris Rusch, this week, looked at the bane of the writer – Giving Speeches. How do you manage public speaking events? How do you know you are any good? When is the writer off stage in public... (hint: Never.)
Check out her good advice. 

Ruth Harris has a great post on backlist. Have you given a thought to your backlist? Have you shown it some love? This week I reprinted my first book in The Circus Quest Series and took the chance to update the series page in the back of the manuscript. I have been noticing that Traditional Publishers are combing backlists more. They are discovering there is money to be made by slapping them up as ebooks. If they can do this why don’t you? Time to check your contracts.

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a great blog you should drop into. Recently, John Doppler, their contract watchdog posted about the ten most common contractual pitfalls he has seen.  The title of the blog is a great rule of thumb to assess a contract- Who does your publishing contract protect?

In The Craft Section,

Elements of plot development- NowNovel- Bookmark

Creating an Interesting character

On The Nose Dialogue- K M Weiland- Bookmark
2 Great posts from Janice Hardy The science of pacing and Busting Outline Myths – Bookmark Both.

In The Marketing Section,

Content marketing for Fiction and Non Fiction- Alli Blog-Bookmark

Bookbub ads for design inspiration

Improve author website search engine optimisation – The Creative Penn

Free Book Marketing tools- WrittenWord Media

Book marketing tips-1976write

How to promote your book on a shoestring- Prowriting aid- Bookmark

To Finish,

It’s the last day of October and if you are wracking your brains on where to start with NaNoWriMo about to begin, check out Bang To Write’s comprehensive post with loads of graphics about all the ways you can structure your story. Pick one and get started. I’m cheering you on!

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: Flickr Creative Commons –  Erik Drost 

The Unexamined Life

This week there was lots of chat around the writing watercoolers about the surprise of a joint win at The Booker awards and then came a surprising tell-all complaint about the judges and the process from one of the publishers of a shortlisted book. The whole process seems to be murky and not what you would expect from a high-end literature prize.

Meanwhile, Writtenword Media released its author income survey, for everyone who hasn’t won The Booker. Yes, we aren’t making much money but they drill down into who is and how you can change things.

This week Jane Friedman looked at the current trends over 2019 in book publishing. Publishers have finally caught on to Backlist reprints for serious money. Audiobooks and graphic novels for children (reading by other means) and there are problems ahead for the midlist children’s authors. 

Roger Packer explains the backlist experiments that the Traditional Publishers are doing... but have they got it all wrong with the pricing? In an Alliance of Independent Authors piece, Eliza Green comments on a reader rebellion... over the pricing and breaking up of Patricia Cornwall’s latest book. Amazon may have thrown their prize catch under a bus.

It’s been a while since we heard from Chuck who has been facing some pretty hefty life changes recently. This week he looks at Writer Self Care and the delicate balancing act a writer has to do to produce Art while not falling apart. 

Anne R Allen has a very thought-provoking blog this week on unexamined beliefs in writing. Do you know someone who has sabotaged themselves over a belief that is untrue but seems hardwired into their brain? So it is with writing. Are you holding on to beliefs that are sabotaging your writing?

Kris Rusch is also looking at the writing business. How are you examining the choices you make in your business? Are you leaping from one thing to another or are you examining the way carefully? Does that mean you may miss out on opportunities?

Unleash your storytelling superpower! Gabriela Pereira of DIYMFA has a new series looking at how to identify the specific archetype that you are drawn back to again and again. 

In The Craft Section,

The 10 step checklist for writing a better than average novel- K M Weiland- Bookmark

5 misunderstandings that keep writers from Plotting- Mary Buckham

How To Develop Your Book Idea- Now Novel – Bookmark for NaNoWriMo

The Ins and Outs of Internal Dialogue- Writersinthestorm- Bookmark

Pre plotting a novel – Martha Aalderson

Tips for NaNoWriMo

In The Marketing Section,

10 best Book Trailer types- Adam Cushman 

The 30 scariest author website mistakes- Pauline Wiles- Bookmark

Building a fan base- Angela Ackerman

How To Write A Book Blurb- Tara Sparling- Bookmark

You can now add audiobook codes to your Universal Book Link – Yay!

To Finish,

With all the stress factors involved in writing why would you do it? Give it all up and leave it to Artificial Intelligence. Yes, AI’s are writing books and designing book covers. You can buy a print book today, untouched by a human hand. ( A quick examination shows they probably aren’t suitable for The Booker, yet.)

Maureen
@craicer

My monthly newsletter is due out this weekend. It's a long weekend here so there are no excuses... (kids, garden, market bookstalls... I will prevail...)When you subscribe to the newsletter you 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: Flickr Creative Commons – Thomas Galvez