When we get back to normal- will it be different?

This week there were interesting anecdotes from around the book publishing community on how the continuous lockdown has affected book sales. 

Audiobook sales and podcast listening has tanked. When I thought about my own life I realized why. There are no commutes. People’s consumption of podcasts and audiobooks during their work commute drove audiobook sales. I’m behind in so many episodes in my regular podcast listening I should just escape to the car for an hour and catch up on them in the driveway. 

Recently I managed to listen to The Six-Figure Author podcast and they were mentioning that Google Play had come back on stream again for author sign-ups.

One country that seems to be bucking this trend is Sweden- they aren’t in lockdown therefore audiobook sales are booming.

Mike Shatzkin has been looking at the cracks that have been exposed in the publishing industry because of the pandemic. How reliant is everybody on a functioning supply chain? With paper produced in China in short supply… alternative editions seem to be the way forward but for the price-conscious having an ebook priced the same as a paper book is not going to cut it. 

Kris Rusch has been looking into the past to see how publishing fared the last time there was a big disruption to the publishing industry. There wasn’t an indie book scene back then so what happened to writers. The title of her post is train wreck so that should give you some ideas. She explores the ways that writers could be much better off this time.

Penguin Random House, the biggest publisher, has been doing some experimenting according to The New Publishing Standard. They have opened an online branch in India’s Amazon platform… get ready rest of the world?

Litreactor has an interesting post on how to help writers through the pandemic and also how writers can help themselves.

Anne R Allen has a great post on successful writers and detectives. They have lots in common. Check out the post to see your alternative career.

In The Craft Section,

Know your genre- Scott Myers

How to create characters that come alive- Dana Bate

How to use sequels in scene structure- Jami Gold- Bookmark!

How to get your book written this year- Belinda Pollard

Writing fight scenes for female characters- Aiki Flinthart- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Tips for marketing children’s books- Karen Whiting

How to make an awesome book trailer- Victor Blasco

9 tips for creating Amazon ads that convert- Dave Chesson - Bookmark

8 ways to sell books locally- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

The art of condensing an entire novel into a sales pitch- Florence Osmund- Bookmark

To Finish,

The new normal is working from home surrounded by others who are also working from home. Trying to retain sanity and normality can be challenging. The virtual world is at your beck and call. Here are some ways you can keep in contact with your fans and peers. Just remember to have a great bookshelf behind you. The above picture would be just perfect!

Maureen

@craicer

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want to subscribe you 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- Susan - Library

Lockdown Blues

Here we are still in the middle of the pandemic and thoughts and discussions abound on-line as to how the world will be when we get out of this. Will life be the same as before? Will we be able to go back to our local bookstore or will it have disappeared? What will the book industry look like on the other side?

The New Publishing Standard posted an interesting article on what publishers need to understand about the new normal of publishing that is fast evolving. 

Meanwhile, Anne R Allen had a great wake up article on getting your social media affairs in order just in case…Do you have a social media executor? (This also is a time to contemplate literary estates.)

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a great article on how to run online conferences or workshops. Yes, this could be the new normal for the rest of the year with conferences and book fairs transitioning online.

The ever trusty David Gaughran has an extensive article on Author Platforms. They are now more important than ever. And no, it is not just your website. It is who you are!

This week Kris Rusch talks about keeping sane as a writer in this mad mad world… She is also running a Kickstarter for writing craft bundles… with some good giveaways so you should check it out. 

William Kenower has an interesting article on Writers Digest about the cold open. When you are staring at the blank page. How do you get into the story and engage your creative mindset. He shares some tricks of the trade…

In The Craft Section,

2 great posts from Janice Hardy- 5 ways repetition is hurting your novel and plotting in 3 simple steps- Bookmark Both

How to submit to magazines- Writers Digest

Evoke reader emotions with surprisingness- C S Lakin

Active vs Passive voice- Jami Gold Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

2 great posts from Rachel Thompson- Promoting your books right now and Get ready for 2020 NaNoProMo- Every May Rachel hosts and teaches book promotion- Bookmark both

18 questions to ask when refreshing your author website- Nate Hoffelder- Bookmark

Book Promotion during a pandemic- The Book Designer

To Finish,

Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have a great website for authors. It is chock full of great resources. I often link to interesting articles on their blog. Today Angela wrote a great article on goal setting for writers during a pandemic… Great advice

I have been thinking about how much this pandemic has been showing us what is important in life. The unsung heroes (usually the lowest paid,) that keep the food arriving in the supermarkets… that clean the hospitals and streets… that work long hours doing essential work but never getting the good recognition they deserve. While these people are out there, the rest of us are consuming creative content to keep entertained. Entertainment also created and delivered originally by unsung heroes (also usually the lowest paid.)

The Romans were right. Bread and circuses… Marcus Cicero 

Maureen

@craicer

(LD Day 22)

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

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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.

Book Love

Another week in the strange world of publishing in a global lockdown situation.

The European Union Publishers are mentioning dire consequences for their industry and cultural life in general if governments don’t recognize that books are as essential to people’s wellbeing as food. 

Meanwhile, Gardner's book distributors in the UK are closed or open or in between or… The New Publishing Standard is scathing about the risk to their employees.

On a happier note, TNPS reports that Storytel’s revenue is up 45% in the first quarter of 2020. What are they doing right?

A New Zealand story that got some global attention was The Booksellers campaign #BookshopsWillBeBack. As we go into our 3^rd week of lockdown we are looking forward to life on the other side. But what will the new normal look like? One thing is certain if we want to have our local shops in our communities we need to support them. Everybody needs to commit to buying local where ever possible and that includes your local bookshop.

What about writers… 

The problem with high-stress situations is that writing often goes out of the window. Anne R Allen has a great post of writing in a time of collective grief- yes that is probably what you are feeling and why you can’t string two sentences together.

Becca Puglisi has some great practical tips on how to get through this pandemic when your kids are locked in with you. This is a must-read.

Writer Unboxed looks at productivity vs chaos and offers some advice on how to strike a balance that will help you keep your sanity.

Kris Rusch has been filling her blog with great creativity posts which are must-reads but I find her long term perspectives on the book industry really interesting as well. This week she looks at what she is doing to remain calm and focused. This is all good advice and she has some great yoga links as well.

Jane Friedman has an interesting post from Lisa Cooper Ellison on how to sustain your creativity in the midst of the pandemic. One of her great tips is Keep Showing Up. You never know when the creativity could flow, by showing up you are ready when it happens.

In The Craft Section,

2 Bookmark posts from Jami Gold- Storytelling Verb Tenses and Asking Why

Michael Hauge’s 6 steps on structure

5 signs your book needs work- DIYMFA- Bookmark

The World Building Guide- Reedsy

In The Marketing Section,

8 Things to get your book noticed on Amazon- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

How To Plan Instagram Content

Authors and Book Promotion during Covid19- Bookbub- Bookmark

Building an author brand in a difficult time – Bookend Literary

New Facebook live tools – Frances Caballo

To Finish,

I was amused to see this Guardian article on the new lockdown game – Judging famous people by their bookshelves, then it occurred to me what was missing in my weekly skype check-in calls with other writers. I don’t have a bookcase behind me. I’m usually at the table with a messy kitchen bench behind me. I should be sitting in front of an erudite bookshelf. To do this properly I would need to rearrange 14 bookshelves. But then how do I make a decision? What books would you put into a show collection? The ones you think you should read or the ones you actually read? 

Maureen

@craicer
(Day 15 LD) P.S. Fabostory has started early... and this week I'm in the hot seat- details in the sidebar.

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 Plappen- Bookshelves- (Interesting mixture here)

Fighting On

As the world struggles to deal with the pandemic, the publishing world is also struggling to survive in rapidly changing times. Like the musicians of the Titanic who bravely played jaunty tunes as the ship was sinking underneath them, so the publishing world is putting on a brave face while the ground rocks under their feet. We can have book fairs online said Bologna.

Around the world, publishers and booksellers are fighting to keep going. In Italy, the first of the European countries to really grapple with the pandemic, the cultural industry federation has called on their government to see their industry as essential. Preserving and supporting Italian culture and heritage is vital in this time they say so that something remains on the other side of the pandemic.

Today, here in New Zealand, we learned that all of our major magazines have been terminated effective immediately because of the lack of advertising. That is nearly three hundred journalists out of work not to mention art editors, designers, photographers, printers, distributors etc. The flow-on effects are huge and also the potential loss of cultural and historical print institutions.

Meanwhile, Amazon, the everything store, has slowed down their delivery of what they see as non-essential. Books apparently fit in this category. If they aren’t supporting us surely they could waive their fees – the publishers cry.

There are many calls to shop indie to keep the independent booksellers alive. Many of them have ramped up their online web stores and have become creative in how they deliver locally. When you are stuck inside with the kids a dedicated book store can still get your reading books, puzzles and colouring books to you. Many bookstores are resorting to GoFundMe campaigns to stay viable. 

In times of crisis, people turn to comfort foods and occupations, binge-watching movies, TV, online gaming and reading books, all created by storytellers in different mediums. We are an essential industry. However, there seems to be a gap in the understanding of the average person that the storytellers need to be paid for their work. This is their livelihood. 
Recently, the Internet Archive in the U S made their collection of IN COPYRIGHT books freely available and downloadable. (Who needs pirates when institutions do this.) This directly tramples all over the writer's income. The Authors Guild have sent an open letter of protest. 

Many authors have been attacked online for NOT supporting the free downloads of their work. In the culture of free content, the creator gets nothing. This is not sustainable. 

The creator works for free only in certain circumstances- when they can afford it.  Hopefully, the W.H.O. call to creatives to help in the Covid 19 response will also generate some paying work.

While we are in lockdown and staring down the barrel of a great recession Nathan Bransford decided to interview Mike Shatzkin about how he sees the publishing world on the other side. The pandemic will cause an acceleration of consolidation and the rivals to Amazon will start to move. Fascinating ideas here.

Kris Rusch brings her calm good sense to the fore in her most recent blog. Many of us have been feeling creatively lost, struggling to get the words out and wondering how to be creative in the face of such uncertainty. Kris says this is a normal reaction and offers some great advice for getting through the tough times. Chuck Wendig also has thoughtful advice on how to cope with creativity in this time.

Sharon Bially writes that there is a silver lining in not being able to have your book launch in an article on Writer Unboxed. Here is a great opportunity to have two book launches… the online one now and when everything gets back to normal, the real-life one. Check out her ideas for making the most of the extended promotion of your book.

In The Craft Section,

Why great writers steal- Sean Platt

How to set tone and mood- Janice Hardy – Bookmark

How to rescue an endangered book- Ruth Harris- Bookmark

Character internalization- Jami Gold-Bookmark

500 writing prompts- Written Word Media

Write tight- James Scott Bell- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

7 expert tricks for author newsletters- David Gaughran- Bookmark

How to market a book when living a quarantined life- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Book marketing during Covid 19- Judith Briles- Bookmark

Book Promotion in the time of Coronavirus- Fauzia Burke- Bookmark

Book Marketing and Covid 19-Frances Caballo- Bookmark

To Finish,

For some people, this will be a time when they commit to writing down the book they have always wanted to write. Writer Guru Jerry Jenkins has pulled together a comprehensive post on how to write a book. 

For the rest of us…

 Chin up- We can get through this.

Maureen

@craicer

(Day 7 LD)

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: 

Being Kind

This week I sent out my monthly newsletter just before New Zealand began to prepare for a four-week lockdown. We are entering an uncertain time. I get to share my working space with my family for four weeks solid. This could be challenging. Here are some of the ideas I shared in my newsletter for writers coping in this brave new world.

Clean up all your computer files.

Back up all your documents.

Shelve your books alphabetically, or by colour… or practice book structure sculpture.

Write a book review and post it online every day for Book Karma.

Study a good film for plot points and emotional payoffs- Do it as a group activity (family time?)

Check-in with your loved ones and your colleagues. This is about physical distancing not social distancing. 

Be Kind To Yourself

The calm good sense of K M Weiland on the power of hopeful stories when the world seems a bit mad is a nice reminder that the world needs storytellers. 

Joanna Penn has a great article on productivity from guest writer, Tiffany Joy. If your productivity has gone out the window it is alright to regroup and try again.

Nate Hoffelder has a great post on how to look at your author business and move forward with a new plan for when we come out on the other side. Very sensible, also his 6 stages of grief are right on target.

Anne R Allen has been looking at Amazon’s review policy and yes, they have changed it again. Now you have to be careful of ARC team reviews. But as Anne says there are other places you can leave reviews.

New Zealand was going to be hosting the WorldCon this year and now the whole country is in lockdown. As a nice pivot Worldcon will be virtual. 

Meanwhile, BEA is still attempting to go ahead despite the withdrawals of 3 big publishers.

Kris Rusch has dug out an old post on setting priorities if you are new to working from home. This is absolutely the best advice as we figure out how to work in this brave new world of coronavirus lockdown. She then continued her current thinking about black swan events and what might be coming down the track for author business.

In The Craft Section,

5 ingredients for story subtext- K M Weiland- Bookmark

Peer critique versus Professional editing- Jane Friedman

Creative Writing Prompts and Writing Exercises from Reedsy- Bookmark Both

How to format dialogue – Jami Gold - Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Social Media Marketing

5 reasons to consider translating your work- Angela Ackerman

How to get publicity- Tom Corson Knowles- Bookmark

April - unique content ideas- Penny Sansevieri – Bookmark

Publish Drive expands its business to include print and audio- News!

To Finish,

Last week was I was writing about creativity. The Oatmeal blog came up with an awesome comic on creativity. 

Here in New Zealand we are lucky to have a brilliant microbiologist and a cartoonist join forces to write creative, entertaining and factual daily articles that are now being shared globally.

Be Kind. Stay strong.

Maureen

@craicer

Day One of New Zealand Lockdown

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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.

Getting Creative

Last week I was urging people to look for the silver lining. A lot can happen in a week. 

Sadly, I am seeing many people in the arts industry who have had their jobs disappear, launches canceled, speaking gigs (that pay the rent) postponed or stopped. Then I saw booksellers struggling and the layoffs of staff have begun.

Some great booksellers are keeping their staff on full pay and giving them vacation time. Others are coming up with innovative ways to stay relevant in the community. A friend who does a regular storytime in a children’s bookshop is now doing an online version for the store. (They also have a mobile EFTPOS machine so they can go out to cars with your phone in order.) Other bookshops have started a delivery service. 

Now is the time to get creative to weather the Covid 19 storm. 

With the canceling of so many festivals, some kid’s authors got together to hold an online book festival for kids. Check out how they are doing it and share the idea around.

Penguin Random House, Scholastic, and others are relaxing their licenses so teachers can use their books and crafts in videos for children who are unable to go to school. Authors who have their own licenses for this may be able to offer something similar. 

Librarians overseas, are arguing that now is the time to relax the fair use rules on copyright. This is tricky as authors should still be paid for their work. It is their livelihood.

Amazon is priority shipping- anything not a priority for Covid 19 is getting delayed. Unfortunately, books are not seen as a priority. However, that doesn’t apply to KDP print and ebooks. (silver lining)

In the middle of all this Macmillan ended its library embargo. Everyone told them you don’t mess with librarians, but they had to find out the hard way.

Kristine Rusch talks about Black Swan events and how the world and business change forever at these times. This is an interesting read and something to ponder on as we look at our author business. Dean and Kris are also offering big discounts on all their courses for authors who are stuck inside. 

Nate Hoffelder is noting that most of the Book Fairs are talking postponement. He has a blog post on what to take if you are planning to go to a fair as soon as everything gets back to the new normal.

Orna Ross of the Alliance of Independent Authors has a very useful article on how Indie Publishing might be able to weather the Covid 19 storm.

In The Craft Section,

4 tips for creating Villains- Sacha Black - Bookmark

5 tips for writing therapy scenes- Jennifer Lane

4 reasons why sprinting is the new writing- Sacha Black

Ways to add depth to settings- Jordan Dane- Bookmark

Taking the first step towards writing- Shanna Swendson- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

How to make your book marketing more effective- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

Packaging your book- Keywords, metadata, and selling points- Nicolas Erik- Bookmark!

New free epub creation tool- Yay.

Increasing discoverability- Facebook Goodreads Twitter- Ingram blog

Change your author blog into a website- Nate Hoffelder- Bookmark

To Finish

In this time of uncertainty with the news constantly changing around us it can be tempting to lock ourselves away and go back to comfort food, books, etc etc. If you know anyone contemplating plans to write that picture book, ‘because it’s easy to write a kids book’ send them over to read Melinda Szymanik’s blog- The picture book gospel. 

Now is the time to be kind and to think outside of the box, to get the word out about books and reading. Write reviews, talk on social media about favourite books, share your process, invent words games, social distancing doesn’t mean social isolation. Writers are already ahead of the rest of the world in these skills. It’s time to show them off.

Maureen

@craicer

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter of the best of the months' bookmarked links.

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 – Bill Smith- Girl Scout cookies 

Looking For The Silver Lining

This week the publishing industry was trying to catch up with all the cancellations as the Covid 19 virus is now a global pandemic. Publishing Perspectives announced a roundup today of what’s been canceled. 

Meanwhile over on Amazon, there have been scams taking advantage of people’s fear. Let’s rip off some scientific articles dress it up with a salad of opinion and badly formatted or just scanned pages of tips and sell it to frightened people. 

If you are thinking it’s all a big conspiracy theory and the virus isn’t that bad you need to read this detailed article on the statistics of the pandemic thus far. 

I was hoping to find some silver linings I could share with you this week. This became especially important for my mental health as I investigated the contents of our emergency bag and discovered expired food. Hmm. What would a writer need to get through some forced isolation time? A separate workroom from children and spouses for a start. (The laundry- I’m always in there.) Lay in a stock of pain killers, cough medicine, your favourite chicken soup, wine, chocolate, pens, and paper and get in a stack of books from your local bookshop.

When you are all settled in, channel Mary Shelley. She wrote Frankenstein during a pandemic. You too could write a novel that changes the literature landscape. 

(N.B. You might have to handwrite it just like Mary if the internet goes down because everyone is working from home.)

This could be a great time to do some computer spring cleaning says Litreactor- Have you ever spent twenty minutes going through the files of your manuscripts trying to find the latest version where you didn’t make that stupid change that resulted in the hero heading to Antarctica? Clean up your hard drive.

The Portalist caught up with some pandemic apocalypse writers and asked them why people were searching out their books. First of all, Chuck Wendig apologized for writing a book about a pandemic in an election year….

If you were planning on attending a book fair or conference that has just disappeared there is light on the horizon. The Alliance of Independent Authors online conference is still on. Attend virtually and soak up all the great information for free this weekend.

A ray of sunshine amid the gloom for UK writers. Their government is dropping the VAT on books.

Go Into The Story has a link to an interview with the screenwriter of Emma- Eleanor Catton

Kris Rusch examines the double-dealings of Hachette this week when their staff walked out to support Ronan Farrow’s protest over publishing Woody Allen’s memoir. It’s ok to enforce these clauses of non-compete to authors but not when the shoe is on the other foot.

In the Craft Section,

39 writing tips to take seriously- Zoe McCarthy- Bookmark

Test your story concept- Scott Myers- Bookmark

What’s the right pace for your story?- Jami Gold- Bookmark

Killer plot twists- Tom Corson Knowles

Children’s writer's biggest challenge- Sherryl Clark- Great Read!

In The Marketing Section,

Blogging consistently helps readers find you- Rachel Thompson

Bookbub reviews- an alternative to Goodreads – Anne R Allen- Bookmark

Book sales techniques- Sarah Bolme- Bookmark

7 expert tricks to improve author newsletters- David Gaughran -Bookmark

Grow your email list with a quiz- Author Media

Prepare for public speaking like a pro- Chrys Fey

Making an editorial calendar- Willow Woodford- Bookmark

To Finish,

One of my young friends suffered a concussion at work and she was at a loss as to what to do for the compulsory week off. She couldn’t look at screens or bright lights. Audiobooks I said. It’s a form of reading with your ears. It takes you right back to reading with Mum. The light switched on, and we went on to talk about Stephen Fry’s superlative reading of the Harry Potter series. There are reading snobs out there who say that reading anything outside of the printed page is wrong… however, science now backs up that audiobook listening is reading. 

Yay for Science! 

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 - Sean Freese