Resources and tips for the self-published author.

With the change in weather comes a change in publishing.

The biggest question right now is are less ebooks are being published? If so, how is that changing the market? With writers going on strike to push the market other ways, we think where can we go now? What is next for publishing?

Barmy Weather

Pic : Flickr Creative Commons/ Chenelle J- When the weather
can’t make up its mind…

 

There are two words that describe the weather at the moment in my home town. Balmy and Barmy. You never know what you are going to get when you step outside the door.

 

The news around the publishing world is similar.

 

Are the screenwriters going on strike? (You would think the studios learned from the last time.)

 

Are there less eBooks being published? (Is everybody copying fake news?)

 

What’s happening with the bestseller lists? Penny Sansevieri has some hard truths about them.

 

Who had the bright idea of adding eBooks into the PLR in Britain… (I can hear the cheers from down here –yippee.)

 

Who knew that everyone would be listening to podcasts on their phones… which has fueled the podcast market and now audio books are going gangbusters. Joanna talks to J Daniel Sawyer about all the changes in audio. (balmy)

 

Written Word surveyed 1000 Kindle readers and found out some startling facts that authors need to be aware of. This is a must read!

 

Some things stay the same. You need author friends. Joanna Penn talks about how to find these valuable guides on the writing path. (balmy)

 

You need to keep learning the craft. Michael Hauge has a fantastic post on how to change your critique group so everyone is learning and growing in the craft.

 

The Rocking Self Publishing podcast had an exceptional episode with Kevin Tumlinson who talked about the ways to use a UBL – Unique Book Link available from Draft2Digital– free

 

Robin Bennis has a great post on productivity and exploding dogs.- (barmy)

 

Darcy Pattison has a must read post on Amazon ads... (go on… dip your toe in…)

 

Ruth Harris has a stand out post on rejection and failure and how to put them into perspective. (We must be barmy to do this writing thing…)

In The Craft Section,

How to format a book. Bookmark

 

When good characters go bad– Writer Unboxed

 

The character inventory

 

Why novellas are making a comeback– Ali Luke- Bookmark

 

Two great posts from K M Weiland Don’t write expository dialogue and  Overly complex plots -Bookmark Both!

 

5 unrealistic character traits– Mythcreants

 

Making your characters jump off the page– Angela Ackerman and James Scott Bell. (I have this book and it is awesome!)

 

How not to start a novel!– Anne R Allen- Bookmark

 

7 tips to deal with back story-Pat Verducci

In The Marketing Section,

Get better at pitching- Write Life

 

Writing a series as a marketing strategy– Peter Mulraney

 

4 steps to generate sales with keywords– Beth Bacon- Bookmark!

 

Creating author business plans– Marcy Kennedy

 

3 ways you are wasting social media time– Jonathan Chan

 

8 ways to grow your Facebook author page– Frances Caballo

 

Promoting series books– Daniel Arenson- Bookmark

 

Self publishing mistakes

To Finish,

Sometimes you just can’t find the right title no matter how hard you try. Tara Sparling has the answer. She has a collection of nifty title generators for the struggling author. You would have to be barmy not to check it out….

 

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.