10/08/2010 • 10:08 PM 0
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I retweet useful publishing links. A lot! Of all the people I promote on Twitter, I retweet Elizabeth Craig’s tweets most. Here’s the latest on finding time to write (posted by Skyraven.) Take a look and you’ll see why I pay so much attention to this blog.
Filed under: blogs & blogging, Twitter, Writers, writing tips, blog spotlight, favorite blog, The Muffin
10/01/2010 • 6:57 PM 0
Book Buzzr has great articles on book promotion.
Love this! How to Make a Living as a Writer
Filed under: Publicity & Promotion, publishing, web reviews, Writers, book promotion, Making a Living as a Writer, Ray Bradbury
09/29/2010 • 9:53 PM 0
I’m not much on preamble, but I’m really excited to share some really helpful stuff in tomorrow’s blog. We’re talking about the book business, yes, but we’re really working on improving the project that is you (and me!)
Tomorrow I’ve got a couple of stories for you about networking. The word has a bad spammy vibe. That’s unfortunate because the traits of an excellent networker serve anyone who wants to promote their book, their business and simply connect with people to enrich their lives. Good networkers are good at life. I’m going to introduce you to a guy who is excellent at connecting at people—a master, in fact. That’s the preview. Don’t sleep. Stay giddy. Tomorrow’s blog could really help you. It’s helping me.
Tonight I want to take a moment to discuss author websites. To get there, I’m going to tell you what a smart buddy of mine said a few years ago. We were talking about investments. I was worried about what to invest in. His reply was, “It’s less important what you invest in. It is essential that you invest.” Don’t suffer from paralysis by analysis.
I thought about that lesson earlier this year when I was talking to an aspiring author. I told her how I was working on this website. She said she knew it was important for her to establish a web presence and get a fan base going. However, she hadn’t started and it seemed she had no plans. What was holding her back? She was concerned that editors and agents would look at her site and find it lacking. Her theory was that they might like her manuscript, but if they didn’t care for her website, the deal would be sunk.
She was waiting for…actually, I’m not sure what she was waiting for. I guess she was waiting for the time to be right, or for the energy to be higher or to develop a ton of content that was perfect. Unfortunately, if you want a book deal some day, the best time to start your website would be years ago at the Internet’s inception. Second best time? Now.
There is no right time, the energy will never be high unless you concentrate on the task and realize perfection is an illusion. Strive for excellence. Reject perfection. Universal acceptance of all you write isn’t any more realistic than is expecting every editor and agent to clamor for your manuscript.
The only time to avoid working on your web presence is when it’s cutting into your writing time. Do not sacrifice your writing time for your website. That’s the caveat. Otherwise, ditch the excuses and start up. Start small if you like and you can choose to update weekly instead of daily. You can choose to upgrade later. Just begin. As with your manuscript, something is better than nothing.
It’s less important what you do. It’s more important that you do.
Tomorrow, in Part I of the networking story, I’ll also introduce you to an awesome author I met at Word on the Street in Toronto. Her name is Sue Kenney. You can check out her website at www.suekenney.ca. And yes, her website is great!
Filed under: Publicity & Promotion, publishing, web reviews, Writers, author websites, publishing, writer blogs, Writers Resources
09/23/2010 • 11:00 AM 0
The Blood-Red Pencil: Self-Publishing: The Numbers Game
Some interesting math on self-publishing.
From Conversation Agent:
Letter.ly, a simple way to sell email subscription newsletters.
Looking for a literary agent?
(Hint: Pay special attention to new agent listings. They aren’t full, too full of themselves or jaded yet!)
Keep an eye on Chuck Sambuchino’s blog:
He’s also the author of the very helpful Formatting and Submitting Your Manuscript.
Filed under: publishing, web reviews, Writers, writing tips, agents, Chuck Sambuchino, great writing links, Literary agent, Publish, self-publishing
09/17/2010 • 2:58 PM 0
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Write believable dialogue. We read good literature for joy and also with a writer’s eye to emulate good writing. Some reading is useful as a terrible warning.
For the worst dialogue in the world, read any fiction by Ayn Rand.
No one on earth ever spoke as her characters speak. She has a philosophy to push more than a story so there’s a whole lot of preaching going on. That’s why she’s better known as a philosopher today, not a fiction writer.
Filed under: Unintentionally hilarious, Writers, writing tips, AynRand, writing dialogue
09/15/2010 • 12:23 PM 3
A nice post on John Le Carre and the writing life. Writing from a refuge on a clifftop over the ocean sounds pretty awesome to me, too.
via Youngblood Blog
Filed under: Writers, John Le Carre, writers
09/14/2010 • 10:01 AM 0
Cover via Amazon
Yesterday I told you that, as a writer who hopes to be an author, you need to start a blog now.
Here’s a tool to get you started: Problogger.net and Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett’s excellent book Problogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income.
Rowse is a smart fellow from Australia who teaches people how to start up blogs, optimize them and eventually make money from them. I’m not an affiliate or anything. I just think that this is a very useful book for you to read because he discusses in detail how to make smart choices about developing your web presence. For instance, should you host it yourself? What are the pros and cons of paying someone else to host your blog? Then he guides you step by step on how to actually make it happen. He talks about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), content, and every other detail you’ll need to achieve lift off.
I’m listening to the audiobook now and I’m enjoying it very much. However, I don’t recommend that you buy the audiobook. There is excellent information available here, but you need to buy the paperback from Amazon because you’ll get lost in the technical aspects of his instruction. Listening to the reader slog through saying, “http://etc.,…“ is just too much to absorb. It’s not that the book isn’t interesting and engaging. It’s just that the nitty-gritty of the helpful bits is too nitty-gritty if you just listen to it.
As soon as I’m finished listening to the book, I’m going to buy the hard copy so I can better put his advice into action.
Filed under: blogs & blogging, book reviews, Books, Writers, Blog, problogger.net, ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
09/10/2010 • 7:14 PM 0
Filed under: getting it done, Writers, Motivation
09/09/2010 • 8:02 AM 0
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(Mr. Director! Cue the happy music!)
Also, at the bottom right of this screen is an email subscription box. Please take a moment to key in your email address. You’ll get my blog posts by email and never miss another scintillating post. I don’t share email lists with anyone and I won’t sell them to anyone. Thanks!
Now, to clear your palate of my lonely plea for human contact in the outside world, below you’ll find meaty links on the subject of the slush pile.
(Cue the ominous music.)
Filed under: Editors, Publicity & Promotion, publishing, Writers, writing tips, Business, email subscriptions, Novel, publishing, Slush pile, writing, writing question, writing questions and answers
09/06/2010 • 8:08 AM 0
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Last weekend we took the kids to the Ontario Science Centre to learn some science and, of course, see the Harry Potter exhibit. It was fun to see the artifacts from JK Rowling‘s world as imagined through the movies. There are a number of lessons to be learned from the Harry Potter phenomenon. Here’s what I take from it:
1. Write a great book and it will find its way to the marketplace, no matter the naysayers.
2. A book that’s categorized as Young Adult (YA) can be enjoyed by many age groups. People who read Harry Potter are of varying ages. Some people, like the agents and editors who turned down the opportunity to publish the series, thought that was a problem. (Ha! Ha! Ha!) The Twilight series is proving books don’t have to be so shelf-specific, too. It’s an obstacle by way of rule of thumb that all cross-genre books face. Scott Sigler had a hard time getting his books published until he provedthe publishing industry was acting in a way so narrow-minded they might have bowling alleys for brains.
3. A good book, or a good bunch of books, is only helped by controversy. Censors have never learned that the more they worry about young minds being corrupted–and complain about it in the media–the more books they will sell for the author.
4. When you have a great success, haters will emerge. Worse, someone may even come out from under a rock to try to sue you for copyright infringement. Wipe the tears away with fifty dollar bills.
5. JK Rowling’s success is an inspiration to all of us who toil alone at keyboards (as yet unheralded.) When the last Harry Potter book sold, I was at the midnight sale at my local Chapters. I didn’t come to buy that night, though it was fun to see all the wizard and witches dressing up for the event. I came to sit at a table at Starbucks, sip a coffee and watch and feel the genuine excitement over the release of a book.
We don’t often get excited about books and I know there are many distractions. But that–okay, I’ll say it–that magical night was a reminder that there are still plenty of us who love the written word. We love it so much. We really do.
Filed under: Books, publishing, Rejection, Writers, Harry Potter, Harry Potter exhibit, jk rowling, Literature
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