Craic-er

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Dirty words

Selling Selling Selling. The words that Authors hate.

But I just want to make up stuff and write.

I don’t know how to sell.

What if no one likes it?

This cuts right to the core of the writer secret fear. What if I can’t write and they finally find out I’m a fraud.

This week Roz Morris wrote an excellent article on building a readership as a quiet rebellion against selling. It is a must read.

K M Weiland has an excellent post - How to market when you hate marketing... It’s all about mindset. If you reframe the conversation to giving... This is a great post. Lots to think about.

If you are an Indie/Hybrid Author you will know that getting a Bookbub featured advert is the holy grail of Book Marketing. Many apply - few are chosen. Bookbub is introducing another new service... New Releases...

Bookbub was at The Romance Writers Association conference- Romance writers are some of the savvyest writers around. Bookbub has an RWA book marketing takeaway list.

Many writers use Gmail. Anne R Allen has a interesting guest blog from Nate Hoffelder on the changes that are coming to Gmail and how Authors can make use of them.

Two great posts from Jane Friedman’s website recently - Non Fiction writers who let their knowledge get in the way. We have all met that person who is full of facts and figures and can turn an interesting subject into a boring one really quickly. What can Non Fiction writers do differently?

Do you need a Trade Distributor? I am wrestling with this at the moment. Jane Friedman has an excellent post on what a trade distributor will do for you and what they won’t.

Kris Rusch has been thinking of writers who are pushing themselves hard in the Hamster Wheel of Doom. Are you writing to market too much without writing a book of the heart?

Do you have an author uniform? Do you need one? I hadn’t thought about it before until I realised that quite a few of my fellow children’s authors do have an author uniform... sometimes unconsciously. Then I wondered about the writers for adults...

In The Craft Section,

Beyond visuals how to show other senses- Jami Gold Bookmark

Emotional wounds- Angela Ackerman ( Buy the Book)

Creating unforgettable settings- Becca Puglisi

Crafting a body language voice- September Fawkes- Bookmark

Man vs Self- Now Novel -Bookmark

7 steps to create a flexible outline- K M Weiland

Building Characters layer by layer- James Scott Bell – Bookmark

The hero’s emotional midpoint

In The Marketing Section,

Adding a video to your Amazon Book Page- Bookmark

Questions about Writer Platform- Rachelle Gardner

Bad book design choices from The Book Designer-

Stop selling books Start selling benefits- Bookbaby- (Interesting flip)- Bookmark

Preventing Amazon book reviews from deletion- Iola Goulton

How to self publish and market a children’s book- Joanna Penn talked to Karen Inglis this week about this subject in another great podcast. Bookmark

To Finish,

Among the other dirty words whispered around writing and publishing are scams that target the newbies.

The Alliance Of Independent Authors has got a wary eye on something new. De Montfort – a hedge fund specialist has added a new venture... De Montfort Literature. A writer will be selected and paid a years salary to write a novel. Sounds too good to be true... Well If you think a hedge fund can flip the book publishing world on its head... pick winners and bestsellers... and leave the writer alone to write what they want... which is what they are promising then the successful writer had better read their contract very carefully. Take a look at what could go wrong under this model.

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. I promise… Newsletter out this weekend.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons- Marc Falardeau

Thursday, August 9, 2018

The Writing Life Game

In Publishing News this week...

The Guardian reported on the take down of a book piracy site that had the pirates claiming authors were elitist. Unfortunately The Guardian’s headline could have been more tactful.

"Entitled: Copyright thieves blame victims when illegal site is taken down." There, @guardian. Fixed that dodgy headline for you.https://t.co/pQ9MFTnbsY
— Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) August 8, 2018

Cory Doctorow talks about the changes that Audible have instigated that hit authors in the pocket. Word on the street says don’t take an exclusive audiobook deal...

The alliance of Independent Authors are now advising that authors should move from Createspace to Kindle Direct for print. (Having my own Kindle print headache at the moment so be prepared.) They also have a great post on research trip claims and expenses.

Last weekend was the annual Society of Children’s Book writers and Illustrators Summer conference in L.A . Over 1100 delegats, three days... fabulous panels etc etc. Check out the SCBWI blog which live blogs most of the conference. Scroll down the right hand side and read the gems from the conference.

Writing through life’s catastrophes. This is a pertinent blog post on what to do when life really falls apart. How do you write through the chaos?

Jess Lourey guest posted on Jane Friedman’s blog with the definitive post on how to republish your back list after getting your rights back. This is a must read post if you are in this position.

Kris Rusch takes a look at the Crazy Rich Asians author and how he gatherered together a team to negotiate his way through the Hollywood film scene. In advance publicity for the film he talks about turning down a huge deal from Netflix to take a smaller deal which gave him more say. Shrewd marketing or a huge risk... Great read.

Anne R Allen has a superb post on studying personality disorders to make more complex and interesting antagonists. There are some really good descriptions here of different types of disorders and how they manifest. A Bookmark post.

In The Craft Section,

Two great posts - Simple pacing techniques and 4 ways to choose a better theme for your book-from K M Weiland- Bookmark

Elmore Leonards advice to writers- Open Culture

The 5 most common editing mistakes- Writers Digest

Research ethics for Science Fiction

How to write a novel- Step by step with Jerry Jenkins

How an editor knows your novel isn’t ready after the first chapter- Meg Latorre- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

11 ways to simplify your book promotion life- Penny Sansevieri

Why are wannabe screenwriters getting scammed- Hollywood reporter (This is also useful info for writers doing pitch contests.)

Using Cafepress for Book Merchandise- Elisabeth Craig - Bookmark

5 ways to promote your book after the launch- Build Book Buzz

Spice up your Amazon Book Pages- The Creative Penn- Bookmark

How to use Vellum on a PC- Paul Teague

3 ways to avoid marketing hell- Nick Stephenson

To Finish,

Do you play games on your computer or phone? Do you feel guilty that you should be writing? Fear not Bold Hero! There is a quest just for you. How would you like to battle fearsome monsters and save the *fantasy* world through your word count. Game your writing. Take a look. It could be just what you need to bust that word count target.

I can breathe a sigh of relief after last night’s award ceremony for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults is over. It was a huge honour to be a judge and nerve wracking as well. The finalists were all amazing. The winners well deserved. The judges still have to write up their reports but now we can talk and attend social events again....

Maureen

@craicer

In my monthly newsletter ( coming soon) 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 want to shout me a coffee, feel free to hit the Kofi button. Thank you to my caffeine sponsors! Life has been a roller coaster lately. I couldn’t have done it without the magic brew.

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Collaboration or Not.

In publishing news this week,

The cockygate case has been resolved… by the withdrawal of the lawsuit. Some of the parties are said to be happy with the outcome.

Walmart and Kobo are set to rattle the ebook cage a little. A joint venture between the biggest chain store in America and Kobo e-readers could change the look of the ebook industry in the very very near future.

This week Publishing Perspectives had an article about the new publishing city one-stop-shop marketplace, palace in Sharjah that I found very interesting. If you have an eye to the Arabian market they are looking for good partnerships. However the main interview subject was with a rep from Austin Macauley, a firm that has been suspected of dubious practices. David Gaughran took them to task about giving this firm legitimacy.

Publishers Weekly had an interesting article this week. What editors wished authors knew and what authors wished editors knew. Some interesting takeaways here.

Maisie Williams has started a nifty app for creative people to come together and work with each other. Techcrunch has the in-depth interview.

Kris Rusch has taken a look at what happens when business over-capitalize and fail. What’s this got to do with writing? You are a small business. Are you being sucked into the Amazon easy money stream?

Ruth Harris has written a nifty article on what to do with your old manuscripts. No, don’t use them for fire starters… get in there and mine them.

Have you tried dictating? I keep thinking I will and then floundering and giving up. Joanna Penn interviews Christopher Downing on practical tips for dictating your manuscript. These tips make a lot of sense.

September Fawkes has an interesting article on genius. What does it mean to be gifted? How does that apply to writing you ask? Read and find out.