Trip Report: Emerging Writers’ Festival, Digital Writing Conference, Brisbane

by

I spent this weekend in Brisbane at the Emerging Writers’ Festival Digital Writing Conference and it was a top weekend of excellent information and quality company.

The event started on the Friday evening, with a meet and greet of attending writers, editors, artists and organisers at Greystones Bar. It was great to put 3D fleshforms to Twitter personas, some of whom I’ve known online for a long time, as well as making new friends right off the bat.

The Conference itself started the following day at the Queensland State Library. Lisa Dempster (@lisadempster) opened proceedings and we were then supposed to cut to a video presentation from Christy Dena (@christydena). However, library technofail meant there were problems with the wifi. For me, a certain degree of technofail at a digital writing conference seemed somehow fitting. So we had a presentation from Morgan Jaffit (@morganjaffit) on writing for videogames.

This presentation was excellent, especially as I’m involved with some game writing now. One of the simple yet very important things Morgan said in reference to game writing was that, whereas with prose writing we’re told to “Show, not tell”, with games it’s “Do, don’t show”. In other words, let players actively participate in the story rather than showing them all the story in elegant cutscenes. Gamers remember the stuff they do in a game more than the stuff they watch. This is a Very True Thing.

 

Then we kicked into the first panel.

Sophie Black (@sophblack), Andrew McMillen (@niteshok), Jason Nelson and Sarah Werkmeister (@fourThousand) discussed the nature of writing online, hosted by the wonderful Alex Adsett (@alexadsett). It was interesting and varied stuff. Andrew McMillen told a tale of caution when it comes to the organic nature of online journalism and how important it is to fact-check and maintain your integrity and ethics as a writer. Jason Nelson blew us away with a variety of interactive online poetry and games that has to be seen to be believed. He’s also on the board offering grants to digital writers, and it’s worth your time investigating that as it seems very few people are applying and there’s money to be had. Real spending cash. A rare treat for any kind of writer. Sophie Black, editor of Crikey, talked about how online journalism is different to the print journalism of old, and how they source material from all over the world. Sarah Werkmeister drew interesting comparisons as well. And this is, of course, only a fraction of the stuff covered.

Following that panel was another moment of technofail (which, I should point out, was again the fault of the venue, not the conference or organisers!) and so we had an early break. Then we came back to the next panel, which included myself, Simon Groth (@simongroth), Charlotte Harper (@ebookish), and Festival director, Lisa Dempster. It was hosted by the inimitable Karen Pickering (@jevoislafemme). We were talking about using the online environment to promote your work, to get work and to work for you. I used my own website as an example of how to manage a central online hub, where people can find you and your work and contact you if they want to. Of course, it was also a moment of shameless self-promotion, with my site projected behemoth-like behind me. Here’s a photo from Amanda Greenslade (@greensladecreat):

presentation Emerging Writers Festival, Digital Writing Conference, Brisbane

From L to R – Karen Pickering, Lisa Dempster, Simon Groth, Charlotte Haper, and me at the lectern

The other panelists presented very interesting stuff, important to all writers – concepts like “Know your niche”, “be an expert”, “define your audience”, “don’t be a dick”, “don’t spam people”, “engage with people online, don’t preach to them” and so on. The panel and subsequent Q&A wandered all over the place and covered a lot of ground, which I won’t try to replicate here.

Suffice to say that these two 75 minute panels were jam-packed with juicy tidbits of writerly wisdom and, judging by the feedback when I was chatting with people afterwards, most attendees got a lot out of it. I certainly learned some new stuff and had some old stuff reaffirmed. The truth is, no matter how emerging or emerged you may be as a writer, these things are invaluable.

After that panel we recovered somewhat from earlier technofail and had Christy Dena’s video speech – “7 things I wish I had known at the beginning of my digital writing career”. I’ve embedded that video here as it’s fucking brilliant. Absolutely solid advice, well worth your 15 mintes:

See, how good was that?

Then we mingled and drank, often the best part of any writers’ event as people are the engine of this industry and socialising with them is invariably fascinating and entertaining.

The following day there was a talk at Avid Reader bookshop (@avidreader4101), where Karen Pickering and Chris Currie (@furioushorses) talked to writers about writing about writing. Yes, all very meta. Here they are, in the sunny courtyard out the back of the bookshop/cafe. There were periodic pigeon attacks to keep them on their toes:

writingonwriting Emerging Writers Festival, Digital Writing Conference, Brisbane

It was a fascinating chat, but sadly I had to leave early to catch my flight. However, due to the frenzied tweeting throughout the entire conference, I was still able to keep a bit of an ear to what was happening. And I got to follow the excitement of the spelling bee that evening, which rounded out the Festival.

A truly spectacular event that I was proud to be a part of. Given that most of my conference activity is quite genre-focused, I always enjoy these wide open writers’ events, with everyone from journalists to fiction writers and beyond all mixing together, all styles, all media, all slightly crazy. It’s inspiring and motivating in so many ways, I can’t recommend it highly enough. If you want to be a writer or you already are one, get out there and mix with these overlapping tribes. We’ve all got our love of writing and reading in common, after all.

You’ve hopefully noticed that throughout this post I’ve been linking Twitter handles. Go and follow them all – they’re very interesting people.

If I got one over-riding thing from this conference it was that right now is an exciting and invigorating time to be a writer. I couldn’t agree more with that perception. Vive le Worditude!

 

This is a reprint from Alan Baxter‘s The Word.

There’s Something Odd About Self-Publishing Books

by

Here’s something that’s mystified me for a long time:

Most books about self-publishing look a lot worse than they ought to.

I’ve often said that it doesn’t cost any more to produce a good-looking book than it does to produce a bad-looking one, but people aren’t listening.

When I first started blogging a couple of years ago I thought one good service for readers would be to review books about self-publishing.

Like lots of things, I set out with good intentions, and had barely gotten started before I tripped up on those same intentions, and had to abandon the effort.

The first book I reviewed was such a shambles from a book design point of view, I couldn’t hold back from criticizing the author/publisher.

Afterwards, I felt stupid. What was the point of the criticism? I unpublished the article, one of only 2 I’ve ever taken down, and stopped reviewing the design of the books I was covering.

Lately though, with the onrush of more and more self-publishers, the flood of books about self-publishing has also reached a flood.

Michael N. Marcus Weighs In

A frequent commenter here on the blog, Michael N. Marcus has his own selection of bad books, although his aren’t just about self-publishing. He recently published a book of these under the title Stinkers! America’s Worst Self-Published Books. And boy, he’s found some doozies.

self-publishingThe book is basically posts from Marcus’ BookMaking blog, where he often skewers self-publishers and self-publishing companies for their bad practices, oversights and other errors and omissions. He’s added a number of sections in a Appendix including a glossary and various tips for new self-publishers.

Here’s the kicker: six of the nine books profiled in “Stinkers!” are about self-publishing. Isn’t that sad? And Marcus, who has tried to improve the look of his books, delivers this news in a book that is competent but very obviously the work of an amateur, if an enthusiastic one. Although he is strict about correcting errors in his text, graphically “Stinkers!” is nothing to write home about.

Like a lot of self-publishers, having control of lots of neat things like tinted boxes, type run-arounds, drop caps and automatic bullets apparently makes people think you need to use them all. On almost every page.

Perhaps they think that an unadorned page of type would, by itself, be so boring no one would read the book.

But it seems to me that all the books I remember most brilliantly, the ones I can never forget, are made up of unadorned pages of type. That’s because it’s the words and the story and the ideas that remain, when they are allowed to, not the fancy rules and type ornaments and drop shadows. That stuff just gets in the way.

Cluttering your book pages with stuff is pretty much the opposite of my idea of book design. I think self-publishers would do themselves a favor by creating very simple pages instead of fancy ones. Their readers will thank them.

Not Alone, No Sir

Books sold for the value of the information in them have often looked like they just came off a typewriter or were dashed off in Microsoft Word without any formatting at all.

The best of these books are clean and competent, done by a professional, although typographically uninteresting and generally uninspired. They deliver the information, and that’s about it. The only good looking self-publishing book I’ve seen recently is The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Sue Collier and Marilyn Ross, and that’s because it was not self-published, but issued by Writer’s Digest Books.

Left With a Question

So I suppose it’s the rule that books about self-publishing that are self-published themselves look bad because the authors are attempting to follow the DIY (do-it-yourself) route to show just how easy it is to publish a book.

And maybe that’s the problem: it’s dead easy to publish a book, it’s just a bit harder to publish one that looks decent, or one that looks just as good as a book from a traditional publisher.

But does that mean all these books have to use bad clip art, pedestrian typefaces, awkward layouts, three or four fonts per page, and covers that look like they came straight out of the template cover generator?

When I look at a book cover with 6 lines of type on it, and every line is a different font or weight, with type that’s been digitally distorted, with big chunky drop shadows, I have to take a few deep breaths.

And that leaves me with a question: Why are the self-published authors of books about self-publishing so unconcerned with how their books look? Why are they convinced they don’t need a book designer? Why don’t they want to create a book that looks great?

 

This is a reprint from Joel Friedlander‘s The Book Designer.

6 Tips and Tricks to Use Kindle for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch

by

Kindle for iOS has just been updated to version 2.8 (iTunes link), which complies with Apple’s new in-app purchase rules.

Kindle Store button was removed from the home page – it was obvious. I’ve also checked endings of free samples to see what Amazon did with their Buy Now link, which in older versions was switching to book’s Kindle Store page in Safari. Buy Now button is still there (as well as See details for this book in the Kindle Store). However, both links show an alert: “We’re sorry. This operation is not currently supported.”

Apple and Amazon are playing games, which are more and more annoying. Status for today: Apple won’t earn money, Amazon won’t lose money. The only losing part is the reader.

Below you’ll find tips on how to make the most of Kindle on your device – especially after making our lives harder by removing any option to buy a book from within the app. A good thing to do is to change attitude: Kindle on iPad or iPhone is not only about using a Kindle application. 

 

1. Browse Kindle Store in Safari

After 2.8 update it will be reasonable more than ever to browse and buy books right away from Safari browser (without bothering to open Kindle app). Never tried it? Don’t worry. Amazon mobile site looks really well on iPhone/iPod Touch. On the iPad a regular site is displayed, works well, I haven’t noticed any flaws.

2. Add Kindle Store to your Home Screen

Add Kindle Store to your Home Screen

It’s good to add Kindle Store either to a list of bookmarks in Safari or to a Home Screen. On the iPad just go to Amazon site and select Kindle Store from a drop list.

If you’re on the iPhone/iPod Touch, go in Safari directly to this address http://amzn.to/fW2ffk. It’s Kindle Store’s site optimized for small screens – not the same as regular one. You can add it as a bookmark to Home Screen (see picture on the right) and a nice icon will show up.

Find more information about it here.

3. Browse free Kindle books in Safari

In fact, you can use the browser to add books from other sources than Kindle Store. What’s very important, you can add them directly to Kindle for iOS. This is possible since 2.5 update.

What you have to look for is books in mobi format, without DRM. To add a book to Kindle app, tap on a link to a book file, ending with .mobi.

Best sites with free Kindle books, optimized for mobile reading, are: Feedbooks, Project Gutenberg, Smashwords and ManyBooks.

Read more about this topic here.

4. Add books to your Kindle for iOS – not only via iTunes

 

iTunes is a default way to add content to applications, but happily it’s not the only one. As I’ve written above, you can add books from Safari.

There are two more options available: via e-mail (just send a file to yourself and open it with a native Mail app) and via cloud storage apps like Dropbox.

Find out more about the topic here.

5. Discover books on Twitter and add them instantly to Kindle app

It’s my favorite topic. If you spend a lot of time on Twitter, using Twitter iOS applications, why don’t you try to find Kindle books there? It’s actually pretty easy. Just look for a keyword Kindle or a tag #kindle and you’ll find out a lot of tweets with amzn.to links.

Or if one of Twitter friends is recommending a Kindle book, just tap on a link and you’ll be redirected to mobile Safari (either within Twitter app or outside it) and you’ll decide whether to download a free sample or buy a book.

For more information read this post.

6. Use Kindle application as a free dictionary

Finally, Kindle for iOS can also work as a great dictionary application, so there is no need to buy another one. This is possible thanks to the The New Oxford American Dictionary installed.

You’ll find more information about it here.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed the tips. Please share in the comments what’s missing. If you want to keep up with what’s going on with Kindle on iOS devices, get free updates of Ebook Friendly Tips (via RSS or e-mail) where I focus on sharing simple Kindle tips.

If you liked this article, please share it with your friends. Get free updates by e-mail or RSS, powered by FeedBurner. Let’s meet on Twitter and Facebook. Check also my geek fiction stories: Password Incorrect and Failure Confirmed.


This is a reprint from Piotr Kowalczyk‘s Password Incorrect.

Getting A Big Name To Write Your Book’s Foreword: An Introduction For Self-Publishers

by

Getting a notable VIP, industry guru, or media celebrity to write the foreword for your book is a great way to jump-start bigger sales and get positive publicity for your book. If you are an unknown author, getting a notable leader in your field to write your foreword is essential if you want to get readers to take a chance on you and buy your book. Having your name associated with an industry leader will greatly enhance your credibility within your industry and with your readers. 

Forewords give the endorser another place to discuss and show-off their skills and knowledge. It also gives them and an opportunity to connect with your reading audience in a deeper, more meaningful way. This is a great selling point to consider when requesting this service from someone. You get a foreword for your book that will help improve your sales, and the foreword author gets additional exposure and credibility for their own name and business. It’s a win-win situation for the book’s author and the foreword’s author.

The process of getting a foreword written is the same as with endorsements. But instead of simply writing a few sentences endorsing your book, the endorser writes what amounts to being a glorified recommendation letter to the reader. It can be as short as several paragraphs or as long as a few pages, and gives, in greater detail, the reasons why the industry guru recommends your book.

One thing you should remember – that when you ask a VIP to write your book’s foreword, that you should not be selling your prospect on your book’s good points. You need to sell them on their own value as a potential endorser of your book. In other words, don’t start off by telling them how great your book is. Start by saying why you admire their opinion and why it’s important for you to have their opinion included in your book. Also, make sure that you share your reasons for writing the book. Discuss the subject of your book in detail.  Finally, discuss who the market is that your book is addressing so that the endorser can readily see that you are marketing your book to the same audience that they serve. Doing this allows them to see the advantage in having their name visible to your network of readers. They are looking to connect with their own audience as much as you are.

This article was written by Joseph C. Kunz, Jr. and originally posted on KunzOnPublishing.com

Publetariat Scheduled Downtime

by

Due to some scheduled maintenance requirements, no new content will be posted to Publetariat this evening. The site will remain online and members can still post to the Forum and their member blogs, and comments can still be posted, but no new content will be posted until 6pm PST on Sunday, 10/16/11, when we will resume our usual editorial schedule. Thanks for your patience and support. 

(No need to click through – this is the end of the announcement) 

The Art of Critiquing

by

It’s come to my attention that there are a lot of us who don’t have a clue how to honestly critique. We can tell you we like your story (or hate it), but we leave out the most important part — the why. 

Critiquing isn’t just about misspellings and bad punctuation. It’s about understandability, what makes a story something you just can’t put down. Or, as Kelly Hart put it in her post Critiquing, “[I]t is about trying to help the story creator reach the full potential for that story.” She goes on to remind us that each story is the writer’s “baby” and “[f]or this reason you should try to be as diplomatic as possible, nobody likes to be told bad things about their baby.” (And I can say that’s true from both the mother’s and writer’s POV)

One way to bone up on the hows of critiquing is to just do it. Receiving critiques and critiquing others’ works makes a writer a better writer because  it “improves your own editing eye,” according to blogger Penny in her post The Art of Critiquing, Pt. 1. I have to agree with that. As I’ve read and edited others’ works, I’ve noticed problems in my own writing.

Of course, getting critiques (honest ones, especially) can be difficult. I’ve mentioned Critters as a place to find other authors willing to give good criticism, but I recently read about another called Absolute Write. After reading the Newbie section I think it sounds like a great place, so long as you can handle a little heat. Apparently there have been some, as the moderator put it, knock-down-drag-out arguments on things as silly as the appropriate use of serial commas.

My suggestion before putting your work out there for criticism is to edit it at least once yourself. Track down as many of those niggly little misspellings and punctuation errors as you can. And don’t forget about grammar. While in some cases grammar rules can be bent, it’s best not to break them without at least knowing them. For that I would recommend a fantastic little book called Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.

Regardless of where you find your critics (or where they find you ;) ) try to keep in mind what you need to improve your writing, then reach out to your fellow writer to give the same in return.

In what areas do you find yourself needing some extra help? What tips and tricks do you have for giving (or receiving) critiques?

 

This is a reprint from Virginia Ripple‘s blog.

Amazon Kindle The Fire. Ebooks Go Mainstream.

by

This has got to be the moment.

Ebook sales have been steadily growing over the last 2 years and those of us readers who converted early are almost entirely ebook consumers now.

For authors, the global ebook sales market has meant we can sell direct to customers and every month receive a cheque from Amazon. We can log on and see our sales by the hour. It has been life changing for me and so many others.

But ebooks have been far from mainstream. Until now.

 

These new Kindle devices change everything.

 Amazon has unveiled a new family of Kindles including one at the magic price of $79. This is what happened with the iPod when the price came down low enough that it was a no-brainer purchase. Those people who had been on the fence about new-fangled digital music went out and got one, just to see what the fuss was about. I was one of those people (with the ipod) and it hasn’t left my side since.When did you switch to digital music?

Kindle sales growth almost vertical (Image source: Business Insider)

I was one of the first people in Australia to buy the Kindle when it (finally) become available. I converted to 90% ebook reading within weeks and the number of books I bought at least trebled. I am unashamedly an Amazon fan but this is a massively exciting development for any author who can see what’s round the corner.

These new Kindles will ship in October and November. There will be many of them in Christmas stockings and ebook sales go up over Christmas because people have time to read, and of course, play with their new gadgets.

So what does this mean for you?

  • If you don’t have a Kindle yet and you are a writer or want to be. Get off the fence and buy one of these (affiliate). Experience for yourself what the digital revolution means. Even if you still love the smell of a new book, there are millions of people converting to ebooks and you want to sell to them. You are not your market. You have to see this to believe it.
  • If you are a traditionally published author and your publisher has not put your book on the Kindle with global rights, then go see an IP lawyer and see what you can do to get the rights back or ask the publisher to get your books up there. It’s not rocket science.

Trust the market

People want to read. They want to find books that will inspire them, entertain them, educate them, take them out of their world for just a few minutes. These book lovers are people like me. I devour Kindle books. I download samples several times a day. My biggest entertainment expense is ebooks. I love reading. Chances are, so do you, and so do millions of readers. Maybe they will like your book. But they won’t find it unless it’s on the Kindle platform.

I’m sure there will be the usual lamentation that this attitude will flood the market with more self-published books of bad quality, but I trust the market. I am a heavy Kindle user. I am the market. I always download a sample unless I trust the author. I always delete the sample and don’t buy if the formatting is bad or if the book is not enjoyable or useful. I only buy books that pass this sample test. I go by reader recommendations and how many stars there are. I buy based on recommendations from my friends on twitter. Crap books with crap covers do not sell. They don’t rank on the bestseller list. They do not get recommendations.

Stop with the excuses about why you think ebooks will fail, or how they are destroying publishing. Enough already.

This is no longer the future. This is right now. You need to act.

 

This is a reprint from Joanna Penn‘s The Creative Penn.

What Is Niche Publishing?

by

Niche Publishing Is For a Tightly Defined Market
Niche publishing means publishing to a very specific, tightly defined, focused audience. If, for example, you have been living in New York City’s Manhattan for many years, and have become an expert in ‘roof-top gardening in the city’, this would be your niche.  Your niche would not be ‘gardening in North America’. It also would not be ‘gardening in the North East’.

With Niche Publishing You Need to Become an Expert
To promote your books, and give yourself credibility with your readers, you would need to write articles, and a blog, and a website, etc., devoted to ‘roof-top gardening in New York City’. You might expand on this to cover all gardening within New York City. You would become well known as an expert in this subject. Therefore, your readers, which are your potential customers for your books, would believe that you have a very extensive knowledge about this subject, and happily buy your books that you write.

Niche Publishing Is Publishing With a Mission
After you successfully publish your book on your niche, you might decide to grow your self-publishing business into a niche publishing company. To do this you might go out and find other authors that you would like to publish.  These authors would most likely be experts in city gardening in each of the other big cities in the U.S. Your niche publishing company would become known as the publishing company that specializes in helping city-dwellers have a successful garden. This would be your company’s mission.

Niche Publishing Is the Best Way to Grow Your Company
This expertise, or focus, is what will drive readers to purchase books from your company. Your expertise and reputation will help you command a premium price for your publications. Your company’s niche and brand, and your reputation and authority on this subject, will give your company the ability to grow.

With Niche Publishing You Must Know Your Intended Audience
This is an essential part of your success. Since you have been ‘roof-top gardening in New York City’ for many years, and friends and neighbors already look to you for advice on this topic, and you read every book and article on this subject, you already have an intimate knowledge of your audience’s needs. You know what questions they have, and what problems they have. You have already developed your own tips and tricks, and do’s and don’ts, to having a successful roof-top garden. Now your mission is to share this knowledge with your readers.

This article was written by Joseph C. Kunz, Jr. and originally posted on KunzOnPublishing.com

My Guide to Surviving NaNoWriMo

by

Tonight, with NaNoWriMo just a three short weeks away, we offer those of you who intend to participate some tips and motivation. This post, by Cameron Chapman, originally appeared on her site on 10/11/11 and is reprinted here in its entirety with her permission.

NaNoWriMo officially starts in less than three weeks! I’ll be participating again, this time hopefully finishing up the third and fourth books of The Steam and Steel Chronicles. I feel like I’ve finally got some plot issues tied up in my head, so I can move forward with it. The thing is, when I wrote the first two books last year (for NaNoWriMo), I didn’t really have an overall story arc in mind. I just sort of threw everything in there and waited to see what stuck.

So now I’ve got all these potential plot threads that need to be tied up in the third and fourth books (I’m thinking those will finish the story, though I’m also planning a short story or two that will take place between books one and two). I’m not one to just let things go unanswered, and I want to make sure that things people liked in the first two books are featured again in the third and fourth books, without being shoehorned in. I’ve got them all figured out now, though, so I’m eager to get writing again!

But I wanted to put together a guide for surviving (and even winning) NaNoWriMo. I’m hoping it will be useful whether you’re a NaNo veteran or a first-timer.

1. Make sure you’re passionate about your story

This is key. If you’re not really, really into your story, you will very quickly get sick of it. Trust me. I’ve been there. I’ve done that. And I’ve lost because of it. So the first thing to make sure of is that you’re absolutely, positively in LOVE with your story.

2. Use the forums

The NaNoWriMo website has great forums. They are insanely active during October and November, so be sure to use them. If you get stuck, head on over to the Plot Doctoring section. If you’re tearing your hair out, visit NaNoWriMo Ate My Soul. And be sure to check out the tips in Reaching 50,000!

3. Don’t be afraid to suck

First drafts often suck, but NaNoWriMo first drafts have the potential to suck a lot more, because of the insane time constraints. So give yourself permission to suck. You can fix it in December.

4. Turn OFF your internal editor

This can be one of the hardest things to do, but it’s vital. Turn off your internal editor. In fact, don’t just turn it off, banish it to the basement for the duration of November. Tell it you’ll give it lots to do in December and January as a trade-off.

5. Use Write or Die

Write or Die is probably the most useful tool you can use during the month of November. Set yourself a time limit (tight, but not insanely tight). Then write. Your computer will start giving you nasty looks if you stop typing, and if you set it to kamikaze mode, it will even delete your words if you don’t reach your goal. This was my secret weapon last year, and I’m eternally grateful to it. Without Write or Die, I can almost guarantee I would not have made my word count goals. In fact, I think this year I’ll purchase the desktop version (it’s only $10) to show my appreciation.

6. Play dirty

There are a few times in life when playing dirty should be applauded. NaNoWriMo is one of those times. Forget about contractions. In fact, do a search for apostrophes in your document and eliminate contractions (instead of “don’t” it should be “do not”, etc.). Make yourself a list of the contractions you’ve replaced, so that way you can easily go back and re-contractionate (yep, totally just made that word up) them when you’re done. Other ways of playing dirty include having your characters tell completely mundane stories just to eat up word count, adding tons of adverbs you can eliminate later, quoting poems, song lyrics or other written works, and creating characters who are naturally verbose. If you’re worried about creating a draft that’s going to be a huge pain to edit because of all this crap, just set off anything you think you’ll want to eliminate at a later date in [brackets].

The goal here is to keep up your momentum. Dirty tricks like this can work wonders to keep your morale high and keep you on track. That’s the important thing to do here. You need to stay motivated to finish, and if you see yourself falling behind, you’re going to get discouraged. It’s better to complete your 50,000 words and win and feel motivated even though in actuality you only have 30,000 usable words than to get discouraged at 25,000 words and give up entirely. If nothing else, you’ll have a novella in the end.

7. Write often

I work more than full time. I’m often putting in well over 40 hours a week, and my “day job” is writing. That means I can be left with little creativity at the end of the day. So rather than leaving all of my writing to the end of the day, I write in bits and pieces throughout the day. I’ll head on over to Write or Die whenever I need a break, set myself a word count goal of 400-500 words, and a 10-15 minute time limit, and write. If I do that just 3-4 times a day, I’ve met my word count goal. Other days, if my schedule was a bit more relaxed, I’d spend an hour writing first thing in the morning, before starting any of my other work. By switching back and forth between those two schedules, I was able to reach my goal without too much struggle.

8. Write more when you can

If you’re in the U.S., there’s one major holiday during the month of November: Thanksgiving. There are also a number of weekends. And sometimes, life pops up and requires you to take a day off. NaNoWriMo requires you to write an average of 1,667 words per day, every day, for 30 days. It can seem like a huge hurdle if you miss a day, as it means you have to write even more every day after that. So instead, I try to write more from day one. I aim for 2,000 words a day, and on that schedule I would reach the goal by the 25th of November, giving me 5 days off. Some days, I might even hit 3-4k words. The first year I did NaNo, I reached the 50k goal by about the 15th of November, and had 95k words in 33 days. Now that I’m working more than full time, though, that kind of pace is less realistic for me.

So, do you have any other tips for surviving NaNoWriMo? Questions I can answer? Please feel free to comment!

 

Cameron Chapman writes regularly for Mashable, Smashing Magazine and Noupe. Her published works include the Steam and Steel Chronicles (Aboard the Unstoppable Aerostat Fenris and The Great Healion Race) and Hold My Hand. 

Cheri Lasota on NaNoWriMO

by

This post, consisting of an introduction from Hannah Warren followed by a guest blog post from Cheri Lasota (aka StirlingEditor) originally appeared on Hannah Warren’s site on 10/11/11.

A bunch of us writer folk are extra-extra sharpening our pens, giving our butts long dress rehearsals in our office chairs, scratching our heads for luminous ideas, pumping the creative fluid through our veins or doing much weirder stuff, because… because … it’s almost 1 November. No, not because All Hallows is on the calendar but because of NaNoWriMo, acronym for National Novel Writing Month.

 

Wiki: “National Novel Writing Month is an annual internet-based creative writing project which challenges participants to write 50,000 words of a new novel in one month. The project started in July 1999 with just 21 participants, but by the 2010 event over 200,000 people took part – writing a total of over 2.8 billion words. Writers wishing to participate first register on the project’s website, where they can post profiles and information about their novels, including synopsis and excerpts. Word counts are validated on the site, with writers submitting a copy of their novel for automatic counting. Municipal leaders and regional forums help connect local writers with one another for holding writing events and to provide encouragement.”

Ok. Gulp.

I’m taking part for the first time this year *scratches head again* because I’ve heard many great stories of friends who participated and went on to publish their novels. I need to dive more deeply into my second book Prior to You and get over a severe form of procrastination. Hope it will give me the necessary kick up the bum.

A laurelled NNWM veteran is my American friend Cheri Lasota, editor, published author, filmmaker, composer and ski patroller (among others) and she kindly offered a repost of the blog she wrote last year on this phenomenon of pouring 50,000 words on paper in the course of 30 days.

Apart from information on the pros and cons of NanoWriMo, this is also a call-up to post your Nano name in the comment section below so we can make a buddy list and cheer each other through the month of November.

National Novel Writing Month: A Rebuttal

by StirlingEditor on December 8, 2010

On Nov. 2, 2010, Salon​.com Co-​​Founder Laura Miller wrote a scathing review of National Novel Writing Month. I came across this arti­cle, iron­i­cally, in one of the forums on the NaNoWriMo web­site. The Salon arti­cle touched off a firestorm of contro­versy, and I must say, it def­i­nitely helped me define my own thoughts on the matter.

I’ve long cred­ited National Novel Writing Month with sav­ing my writ­ing career from dying a slow, painful death. I still hold to that now that I’ve won for the first time in five years of participation. Why did it take so long? I am a long-​​time fic­tion edi­tor, and frankly, it’s damned hard to shut up my crit­i­cal editor’s brain so that my shy cre­ative side can finally whis­per its ideas to me. NaNoWriMo’s insane goal of 50,000 words in one month made it impos­si­ble for me to stop and edit myself. I’m a deadline-​​oriented writer. And it is the same for many oth­ers. NaNoWriMo helps us to focus. That was cer­tainly the case for me, and I applaud any­one who even attempts this colos­sal feat.

 

Read the rest of the post on Hannah Warren’s site. If you’ll be participating in NaNoWriMo this year, be sure to list your NaNoWriMo username in the comments section of the post on Hannah Warren’s site.

Book Marketing: The Foreword, Preface, And Introduction As Powerful Marketing Tools

by

The Self-Publisher’s Mantra
Yes, a book’s foreword, preface, and introduction are different. And each has a different purpose. But each has the same goal: To . . .
1. Make an emotional connection with the reader, which will . . .
2. Build credibility for the book’s author and the book, which will . . .
3. Sell more books. Period.
This is the mantra that we self-publishers must always keep in mind for everything we create. Everything, without exception.

Powerful Marketing Tools
It is imperative that the self-publisher always remember that these three book sections are a very powerful marketing tool for the author and the book. These three sections must make an emotional connection with the reader. They must help the reader develop an affinity, and intellectual attraction, to the writer. They must build a desire within the reader a need to hear what the author wants to say.  All three sections will be a major factor in helping the reader to decide whether they should buy the book or not. Therefore, a lot of time, effort, planning, and designing must be applied to the foreword, preface, and introduction.

When Should Each Section Be Written?
The preface and introduction of a book should be written before the book is written. The foreword should be written when the book is almost complete. Creating the preface and introduction beforehand will help the author establish in her own mind what she is trying to accomplish in the book. Therefore, when writing the book, the preface and introduction will help the author stay on course with the book’s mission. Of course, they can be edited and adjusted as the book develops or if the mission changes. But by writing them before writing the main part of the book, they will act as a basic guideline for the author as the book develops.

Help And Guidance For The Foreword’s Author
And don’t forget, the person that writes the book’s foreword will certainly be using and relying on both the preface and introduction to guide them when writing the foreword. Therefore, you will need the preface and introduction to make an emotional and intellectual connection with the foreword’s author, as well as showing and telling them about your credentials. You are trying to convince the foreword’s author that you are the right person to be writing this book. In the preface and introduction you are basically telling them how you want the book to be viewed.

Conclusion
Do not underestimate the power of the foreword, preface, and introduction to help make your book get noticed, purchased, and read. Making money from selling books is a simple numbers game. Sell more books, make more money. But as self-publishers, we want more than money. We want to create an amazing book, and build our credibility in our expertise, and have many readers benefit from our book. Creating an amazing foreword, preface, and introduction will help us achieve all of this.

This article was written by Joseph C. Kunz, Jr. and originally posted on KunzOnPublishing.com

Amazon to Book Publishers: Welcome to the Jungle, Baby

by

This article, by Mathew Ingram, originally appeared on gigaom on 10/10/11.

Amazon isn’t happy just disrupting the book-publishing world by promoting self-publishing via the Kindle platform or launching a rumored “Netflix for books,”  it seems. The giant online retailer — which recently unveiled its iPad competitor, the Kindle Fire, and also dropped the price of its lowest-priced Kindle, bringing it even closer to being free — is also busy signing up popular authors for its own Amazon publishing imprint. And those it’s signing up are becoming evangelists for the company as an alternative to the “legacy publishing” industry, including the latest addition: thriller writer Barry Eisler. Publishers are now in direct competition not just with the Kindle, but with Amazon itself.

 

Eisler, a former CIA operative turned author, has been one of the most prominent examples of self-publishing, along with fellow writers J.A. Konrath and young-adult author Amanda Hocking — who made more than two million dollars by publishing her own books via the Kindle marketplace (often charging as little as 99 cents for them) before signing a $2-million deal with a traditional publisher earlier this year. Eisler also got the publishing industry’s attention in a big way when he turned down a $500,000 advance for two books with St. Martin’s Press in March, and said that he was going to self-publish his new novel instead.

Amazon deal offered “best of both worlds”

Instead of doing that, however, Eisler has signed a deal with Amazon’s in-house Thomas and Mercer imprint. In an interview with National Public Radio, the author said that after he announced his intention to turn down the St. Martin’s deal and self-publish – a decision he discussed at the time in a conversation with fellow writer J.A. Konrath — Amazon approached him with an offer of what he calls a “hybrid deal, the best of both worlds.” The online giant agreed to publish an e-book version of the novel as soon as it was completed, and then follow that up with a paperback edition.

In the NPR interview, Eisler — several of whose books have become New York Times  bestsellers after being marketed and published by traditional agencies — says he has come to the conclusion that mainstream publishers simply aren’t as efficient or as useful to authors as they used to be, now that there are other options:

To say that publishers really care passionately about books as though they are concerned about what’s better for the world … I’m sure when they look in the mirror they feel that way. But in fact, what they care about is preserving their own position, perks and profit — that’s just what establishment players come to do over time.

 

Read the rest of the article on gigaom.

The 10 Types of Writers’ Block (and How to Overcome Them)

by

This article, by Charlie Jane Anders, originally appeared on io9 on 10/6/11.

Writer’s Block. It sounds like a fearsome condition, a creative blockage. The end of invention. But what is it, really?

Part of why Writer’s Block sounds so dreadful and insurmountable is the fact that nobody ever takes it apart. People lump several different types of creative problems into one broad category. In fact, there’s no such thing as "Writer’s Block," and treating a broad range of creative slowdowns as a single ailment just creates something monolithic and huge. Each type of creative slowdown has a different cause — and thus, a different solution.

 

Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the terrifying mystique of Writer’s Block, it’s better to take it apart and understand it — and then conquer it. Here are 10 types of Writer’s Block and how to overcome each type.

1. You can’t come up with an idea.
This is the kind where you literally have a blank page and you keep typing and erasing, or just staring at the screen until Angry Birds calls to you. You literally can’t even get started because you have no clue what to write about, or what story you want to tell. You’re stopped before you even start.

There are two pieces of good news for anyone in this situation: 1) Ideas are dime a dozen, and it’s not that hard to get the idea pump primed. Execution is harder — of which more in a minute. 2) This is the kind of creative stoppage where all of the typical "do a writing exercise"-type stuff actually works. Do a ton of exercises, in fact. Try imagining what it would be like if a major incident in your life had turned out way differently. Try writing some fanfic, just to use existing characters as "training wheels." Try writing a scene where someone dies and someone else falls in love, even if it doesn’t turn into a story. Think of something or someone that pisses you off, and write a totally mean satire or character assassination. (You’ll revise it later, so don’t worry about writing something libelous at this stage.) Etc. etc. This is the easiest problem to solve.

2. You have a ton of ideas but can’t commit to any of them, and they all peter out.
Now this is slightly harder. Even this problem can take a few different forms — there’s the ideas that you lose interest in after a few paragraphs, and then there’s the idea that you thought was a novel, but it’s actually a short story. (More about that here.) The thing is, ideas are dime a dozen — but ideas that get your creative juices flowing are a lot rarer. Oftentimes, the coolest or most interesting ideas are the ones that peter out fastest, and the dumbest ideas are the ones that just get your motor revving like crazy. It’s annoying, but can you do?

My own experience is that usually, you end up having to throw all those ideas out. If they’re not getting any traction, they’re not getting any traction. Save them in a file, come back to them a year or ten later, and maybe you’ll suddenly know how to tackle them. You’ll have more experience and a different mindset then. It’s possible someone with more stubbornness could make one of those idea work right away, but probably not — the reason you can’t get anywhere with any of them is because they’re just not letting you tell the story you really want to tell, down in the murky subconscious.

The good news? Usually when I’m faced with the "too many ideas, none of them works" problem, I’m a few days away from coming up with the idea that does work, like gangbusters. Your mind is working in overdrive, and it’s close to hitting the jackpot.
 

Read the rest of the post, which includes 8 more ideas for tackling writer’s block, on io9.

The Fallacy of Yog’s Law in the Self-Publishing World

by

This post, by John Hartness, originally appeared on his site on 8/18/11 and is reprinted here in its entirety with his permission.

Blame Kris Rusch and her excellent blog for this post. Kris writes one of the best business of writing blogs out there, and if you desire a career in this business and aren’t reading her stuff, you’re probably missing opportunities. But anyway, that’s irrelevant here, except that she mentioned Yog’s Law in a recent post, and it inspired this rant. So…sorry about that

 

Yog’s Law, simply put, states that “money flows to the writer.” Traditional publishing companies and writers use this anthem to decry shady business practices by vanity presses and unethical agents, and in those cases it is very valid. If an agent charges a “reading fee” to look at your manuscript, they’re not a real agent, they’re a scam artist getting paid to read books. Agents get paid to sell books. When you make money, your agent makes money. Same as a sports agent or an actor’s agent. None of these people get a thin dime if their client isn’t working. That’s one reason agents have more than one client — so they don’t starve!

And the statement used to be just as valid in the publishing world. Unscrupulous vanity presses trying to pass themselves off as legitimate publishers would come up with fees for all sorts of things that publishers typically do for their authors for free, like editing, layout, formatting, cover art, etc. These are red flags when dealing with a publisher – if they want you to pay for these things, and you’re an author, then you’re not dealing with a publisher, you’re dealing with a crook.

But the world is different now. I say that a lot, because we’re living in the flippin’ future, people! Seriously, my cell phone has more computing power than the machines that put men on the moon! So the world is different, and the usual laws don’t always apply in the same ways.

Or do they?

Does Yog’s Law still apply just as firmly as it used to?

Yes. But in the case of a self-published author it’s important to understand that sometimes the PUBLISHER has to spend money so that the WRITER can make money.

And those people often inhabit the same body. That’s where the wicket gets all sticky. As a self-published author, or even someone just reading about and paying attention to self-publishing, you need to understand that there are times when you wear the writer hat, and times when you wear the publisher hat. When I’m ripping apart Return to Eden: Genesis next month, I’ll be wearing my writer hat. When I just paid a guy to redo all the covers for my Black Knight Chronicles books, I was wearing my publisher hat.

Yes, money should flow towards the writer. But sometimes the publisher has to pay for things. And those two roles may be fulfilled by the same person. So whenever you hear someone toss around “money flows towards the writer” just understand that they haven’t thought through the fact that sometimes you’re the writer, collecting the coins, and sometimes you’re the publisher, spending them.

 

 

The Death of Bookstores?

by

This post, by L. Anne Carrington, originally appeared on her The Book Shelf blog on 10/9/11, and is reprinted here in its entirety with her permission.

With Borders closing its doors after 40 years in business in addition to other major bookstore chains either downsizing locations and/or closing altogether, many can’t help but wonder if the era of brick-and-mortar bookstores are joining the Walkman, Windows 95 and vinyl records in becoming things of the past.

It was bound to happen once books – from classic to present-day titles – became available on devices such as Kindle, iPhones, and others made for downloading electronic reader versions of various books. Colleges are now offering online textbooks for their students; hence, there won’t be many physical textbooks being ‘bought back’ by college bookstores once the terms end as it was in my day.

Ereaders can’t take all the blame, though. Sites such as Amazon make book browsing and purchasing a lot more convenient, and many times, favorite books can be bought for a cheaper price than the neighborhood bookstore.

While Kindles and Nooks are wonderful gadgets, they don’t have the feel and smell that a good hardcover (or even paperback) offers. Ereaders are lightweight, but there’s something about turning pages of a chilling mystery novel while cuddled under a large down comforter by the fire on a stormy night. I also wouldn’t recommend using a Nook to read in the bathtub, and Kindles are hard to dog-ear pages.

There is some good news, however. Half Price Books continues to do well, as are some smaller, independent bookstores. For those who really enjoy nostalgia with their reading, nothing beats a weekend afternoon in the local vintage bookstore – the best place to find out-of-print favorites.

A fellow book aficionado told me about an independent book store in Houston that’s perfect for crime buffs: Murder by the Book.

Bookstores also offer a social aspect that all the web sites and ereaders in the world will never compensate. When was the last time you discussed a great new book with a total stranger standing side by side a Nook? Does an aroma of exotic house blend of coffee come from an iPad? There’s also nothing like chatting up the sales staff while they ring your purchases, especially if it’s something they too have read. Kind of difficult to do the latter making an Amazon purchase, isn’t it?

What would happen if every bookstore in the world closed and actual books stopped being printed? Not only would there be a lot of devastated printed book buffs, but also publishers taking a large hit (and some already have). Many say there’s nothing more delightful than sitting and getting lost in a book, and I have to agree. Ereaders just don’t offer the same effect, no matter what anyone says.

Kind of like video killed the radio star, ereaders and other technology may kill the traditional bookstore…