Publishing News Roundup Series: How to Make Your Book Memorable
by Maureen Crisp • October 3, 2017 • Follow
Published in News • 12 comments
You can get a book published and it can have sale success. However many books, no matter how well they sell are forgotten after a year or two.
Selling well doesn’t mean that a book will be talked about or remembered a few seasons from now. An author should reach for not only good sales, but remembrance. You want your book to be remembered a long time from now. You want it to be talked about in schools, discussed for generations, a true reading classic. So how can you make your book a legend?
Writing To Conquer
This morning I read a nifty blog post by Hugh Howey entitled What Is A Book Worth. I have been mulling over it all day. A book can be a brief escape or a lifeline. It can mean the key to passing a grade or a library fine. Some stories resonate so deeply you must have them in every form available. Some stories only last in the memory a few hours. Hugh was exploring the moment when the book crosses over and it becomes something you must have as a high end artifact. Bring back personally bound books of beauty.
This week Kris Rusch has been exploring what I.P. means to her. She has a great post on this. Too often she sees writers squandering their IP as they don’t even know what they have until its gone. If you have no idea what I.P. is, Read The Blog Post!
Ricardo Fayet of Reedsy was Joanna Penn’s guest this week on her podcast. Joanna asked Ricardo about the top 5 mistakes he sees Indie Authors making all the time. This is a full and frank discussion about attitude and execution.
Barnes and Nobel have thrown in the towel over the Nook platform. Nate Hoffelder of The Digital Reader explains where they went wrong and what it means for Authors who sell on the Nook platform. (Again there is that scary thought… is the whole company going down the tubes.)
Bookfunnel have done a crazy thing that has some authors cheering… They have extended their service to hosting shops for authors. Book funnel is a great service that takes the hassle out of delivering ARC’s and Book Prizes.
The Independent Book Publishers Association have pulled out of Book Expo America- The biggest book fair. Among their reasons, they feel they get no value for money from it. They feel B.E.A is increasingly fixated on the Big 5 traditional publishers. (What big 5? Amazon, Random Penguin, Hachette, Harper Collins…) Will they start up their own fair?
(This week I have been watching NZ’s own Indie publishers doing an Expo style road trip to all our big cities just to gather booksellers together for wine, nibbles, goodie bags and the chance to view the latest catalogue offerings for Christmas.)
This week I was struck by two little articles dealing with imposter syndrome. I think every writer suffers from this. I definitely do. Usually when I’ve finished editing and doubt my own skills in telling a story. You are not alone- Neil Gaiman suffers from it… and so does Nathan Bransford.
Seven offensive mistakes that well intentioned writers do. Once you start reading these… the ghosts of past books rises up before your eyes… Note To Self: Be Better!
In The Craft Section,
How many words in a novel– Reedsy- Bookmark
10 Key scenes for framing your novel-C S Lakin- Bookmark Print out!
How to write a scene-and Writing scene transitions– Now Novel – Bookmark
Writing sad scenes– Ryan Casey
7 character non negotiables– Novel Rocket
Chris Fox has a great video on the one big mistake authors make when writing to the market.
In The Marketing Section,
How to become a best seller-Bookbub case study and How to get on the USA today Bestseller list– Writelife
Advanced marketing skills – Kevin Tumlinson- Bookmark
Sending cold emails– Copyhacker- Bookmark
To Finish,
Do you ever think about your writing process? How do you trick the muse into turning on just when you want it? Ruth Harris has written a fantastic blog post on writing process. This is where bite sized goals really work! Pat Olsen also has a great post on focus… especially when you are in a busy household. She has some tips to help. Between them you will feel that you can conquer anything!
Maureen
@craicer
About Maureen Crisp
Maureen Crisp has been writing her weekly publishing roundups for over seven years. She is a traditionally published children's author as well as indie-published. She lives in New Zealand and is heading the team organising the 4th National Conference of Children's Writers and Illustrators. She is currently trying her hand at writing a children’s book series if she can drag herself away from forever tweaking her Mars novel or obsessing over space.