Publishing News Roundup Series: The Addiction of Social Media for Writers
by Maureen Crisp • August 3, 2015 • Follow
Published in News • No comments
This week we are talking about the addition of social media for writers.
Social media can be a drug for writers. They go on for a few minutes before their work, and it takes up a whole day. This week we’ve even found some really great Twitter hashtags for writers:
Hashing Around
“I noticed a spelling mistake on P.205, paragraph 3. I felt I had to write to you to point that out” #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter
— Aisling McDermott (@aismcdermott) July 28, 2015
Have you written anything I’ve heard of? #ThingsNotToSayToAWriter
— Chad Grayson (@chadgrayson) July 28, 2015
You should do something like Twilight, that was really popular!! #ThingsNotToSayToAWriter
— SarahCadence (@elsagrabthesalt) July 28, 2015
Social Media can be an addicting drug to writers. You are trapped in your home office (or laundry) your MS is not doing what you want (constant daily struggle) and you go the writers water cooler for a few minutes on Social Media and down the hole of addiction you go.
But its fun! This week I have been giggling at the hashtags on Twitter. #tenthingsnottosatoawriter It got so much notice, newspapers were writing articles about it.
While writers are struggling with the things people say… they are also in business. This week Angie Hodapp of The Nelson Agency talked about royalty statements and how often they are chasing money that is owed contractually to the writers… its all in the percentages.
Kris Rusch has been musing on promotions… how she hates them and how they are necessary to a writers business and then she realised that there was another way to look at them.
Mike Shatzin (publishing futurist) has taken a long look at the tweaks Amazon are doing this week including adding notifications of new books for readers to Amazon author pages. He comments that publishers need to sharpen up their A game. As usual whenever he mentions Amazon the comments pile
up.
up.
The Bookseller reports on Ender’s Analysis of the future ofthe book trade. If you thought publishing had been disrupted enough with eBooks it is only the beginning of the change. The high street bookseller remains critical to discovery…
A great use of hashtags is #MSWL Porter Anderson interviewsthe team who maintain the MSWL website and run the very popular MS Wish Listdays. Agents and editors use this to let everyone know what they are looking for. Always interesting reading.
In the Craft Section,
How to write a likeable protagonist– K M Weiland
How you should be hacking your readers brain – C S Lakin
10 writing mistakes that kill your first chapter– Marcy Kennedy
Speech tags– (are evil) -James R Tuck
Query Tracker – Best writing advice
Shawn Coyne and The Story Grid- Joanna Penn
In the Marketing Section,
10 tweets you should never send.- Molly Greene
Why podcasting interviews are essential– Bookbaby
Negotiating contracts– Susan Spann
Website of the Week
Take a look at LitReactor They have interesting online writing magazine with columns on all sorts of topics. This weeks great articles, The Art of the Pitch and Synopsis and Writing Productivity Tips.
To Finish,
This hashtag conversation had me snorting my coffee. If you have ever read regency romances or researched the regency time period you will love these clickbait articles that might have been found in a lifestyle magazine for men.
Maureen
@craicer
How to Rescue a Fully-Dressed Woman from a River, Lake, or Pond: Just trust us, you’ll need this article. #regencymensfitness
— Tessa Dare (@TessaDare) July 30, 2015
The ABC Fitness Plan: Almack’s, Brandy, Courtesans #regencymensfitness
— Zoe Archer (@Zoe_Archer) July 30, 2015
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.