Publishing News Roundup Series: The Importance of Planning Ahead and Being Prepared in Publishing
by Maureen Crisp • November 28, 2016 • Follow
Published in News • 3 comments
Sometimes the best way to be a successful author is to be organized and prepared.
Having all your ducks in a row can really make a difference when being an author. Making sure you keep track of all your contracts, reviewers, publishing costs, and most importantly making sure you meet deadlines, are all essential for a successful author. Planning ahead and making sure you are prepared for anything is the best way to keep your books prepared for readers.
Planning for Chocolate
Last week my theme was contingency planning… and knowing where the chocolate is. This week planning is still a hot topic.
Jane Friedman has a great article on checklists for authors… it’s comprehensive and covers everything you can think of and a few things you may not have thought of. Jane also has a great article on editorial control. Who has it (at what stage) and How to keep it.
Kristen Lamb has also been thinking about planning but in a different way. Do you protect yourself as a writer? She has an excellent post on ways to protect your muse and it starts by getting rid of toxic time wasters…(sometimes known as relations.)
Porter Anderson exhorts writers to think of the pain readers are in and to commit to telling great stories for them. In times of great trouble and upheaval writers can touch others by their words and ideas.
Jan O’Hara talks about exploiting your own vulnerabilities to complete your book by viewing your strengths and weakness’ in a different way. It is a shift in perception that opens up a new way of working. A very interesting article.
Joanna Penn has a fabulous interview with Gabriela Pereira of DIYMA. This is a MUST watch/ Listen/ Read on creating your own course of study to up-skill your writing. (Your own M.A. in writing.) Gabriela has a huge library of articles and ideas as well as a very involved community.
Continuing our education up-skilling, Lindsay Buroker and the chaps at SFF Marketing podcast were talking to Tom Corson-Knowles about Amazon Ad marketing, email campaigns and effective social media. This is a masters level course in targeted marketing. Absolutely riveting stuff and a Must Watch also.
The Alliance of Independent Authors has some great resources and recently they had two standout posts. A Kiwi author talks about marketing using Instafreebie and the other post is on the right combination of CreateSpace and Ingram for Print On Demand books.
About five years ago I talked about Book Espresso machines. This is a book printer machine that sits inside a bookshop. Publishers Weekly recently took a look at what bookshops are doing with them. From becoming publishers to vital links in the community.
Forming communities of like minded writing buddies and doing something wonderful has long been a hobbyhorse of mine. Whether it’s to exploit Instafreebie or growing your email list or group marketing your books or producing an Annual. There is power in harnessing collective creative brains.
In The Craft Section,
30 Minutes 30 Days- The WriteLife- Bookmark
Middle of NANO pep talk from Maggie Stiefvater
Stupid Writing Rules– Anne R Allen- Bookmark
3rd person omniscient and deep POV- Reedsy- Bookmark
How to write Story Descriptions- Karen Woodward- Bookmark
How to write backstory– NowNovel- Bookmark
Tension – Make it worse– Zoe McCarthy
In The Marketing Section,
Master your Amazon Keywords– Bibliocrunch
5 Bookbinding styles– The Book Designer
Do This Not That- Book Promotion (November Edition)- The Book Designer
9 ways to help you find readers– Sacha Black
Blogging got you down? Try this– Frances Caballo – Bookmark
12 Book Discovery tools – Bookmark
To Finish,
Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Rusch are a powerhouse couple for clear eyed advice in publishing. There is nothing that they have not done in their publishing lives. This week Dean talks about writing what you want to write and how to look at the long game in publishing. Kris talks about running a writing business in a time of uncertainty and how to plan for this.
We are still getting after shocks from last weeks earthquake. Every day brings news of another building being evacuated. We sat down and did some planning and now our Go Bag is packed by the door. I know where I’ve stashed a supply of chocolate….
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.