Publishing News Roundup Series: Indie Publishers Continue to Play a Big Role in the NZ Children’s Book Awards
by Maureen Crisp • August 16, 2016 • Follow
Published in News • No comments
This year’s NZ Children’s Book Awards involved a lot of the less appreciated indie authors being put into the spotlight. And we say thats a win for us!
What we want to focus on for this blog is a good shout out to all the writers who take unpaid time out of their schedules to take part in these awards. It really shows their passion for writing, and shows that no matter the costs you can’t stop a writer from doing what they love most. Their determination is what is keeping the indie culture alive and thriving. Sometimes you have to just stop and remind yourself that indie publishing isn’t always for the money; Sometimes its simply for the love of writing. So from Bibliocrunch: Thank you for keeping writing love alive!
Waiting For The Sun
Pic From Flickr/ Creative Commons/ John Taylor
This week I attended the NZ Children’s Book Awards. As in recent years Indie publishers were 25% of the finalists and winners. Some of the small publishers from a few years ago are growing, which is good news. This year’s winners came from a group of writers who have consistently produced great work but have never won big awards. We all celebrate their moment in the sun.
I have been thinking about stickability, especially from the writers that keep producing good work year after year. They barely make a living yet they still keep writing and contributing their time to the writing
community. All of the winners of the children’s book awards this year exemplify this. Finalists have to take unpaid time off work to visit schools and libraries as part of an awards roadshow. Kristen Lamb has a great article on embracing the grind. Ann Kroeker also has a wonderful article about writers seeing the 3D sound effects movie in their heads and the feelings when this translates as 2D flatness of their writing. We’ve all been there. We are there still. Someday we will crack it!
community. All of the winners of the children’s book awards this year exemplify this. Finalists have to take unpaid time off work to visit schools and libraries as part of an awards roadshow. Kristen Lamb has a great article on embracing the grind. Ann Kroeker also has a wonderful article about writers seeing the 3D sound effects movie in their heads and the feelings when this translates as 2D flatness of their writing. We’ve all been there. We are there still. Someday we will crack it!
Chuck Wendig wrote an interesting blog post this week, 25 reasons why I put down your book. This is a great list to remind authors that first and foremost you have to entertain the reader. (Warning it is Chuck so be prepared!)
From the writers point of view sometimes things can get a little dicey in your head. Stuart Nadler has written a moving tribute to all the characters he has killed off who haunt him still. Every writer has
struggled with their conscience as they killed off a character… but sometimes the ghosts live on….
struggled with their conscience as they killed off a character… but sometimes the ghosts live on….
Writer Unboxed had an interesting article from Jo Eberhardt that garnered over 290 comments. The problem of female protagonists. If you look at your bookshelves how many of your books have Female protagonists or are written by women? Jo highlights recent research into the myth that we are writing gender balanced books. A very interesting read.
Jane Friedman has an interview with two literary agents on hybrid authors and how they can navigate their way in the publishing world. David Gaughran reminds all authors to research who you are working with and go in eyes wide open.
In The Craft Section, (A fabulous list today)
13 ways to add depth to your novel– Victoria Mixon- Bookmark
How your characters failures are a recipe for self growth– Angela Ackerman- Bookmark
Choosing your antagonist– Blood Red Pencil- Bookmark
How to write a synopsis– Bookmark
How writers can stretch their creativity– CS Lakin- Bookmark
When Theme smothers premise– Larry Brooks- Bookmark
How to write stronger characters– SheNovel- Bookmark
Sequel scenes– K M Weiland – Bookmark
In The Marketing Section
Do Indies have to do print– Digital Reader
7 tips for blog traffic- Anne R Allen – Bookmark
Tips for branding your book series– Book marketing tools –Bookmark
How I launched my book and sold 20K copies– Daniel Arenson- Bookmark
2 Goodreads features – Frances Caballo
Indie publishing paths- Janice Hardy
To Finish
Angela Ackerman has written a fabulous article on influencers. How to find them, what they can do for you and more importantly what you can do for them. This is a must read! All authors need that helping
hand… and big mouth to spread the news about your latest book.
hand… and big mouth to spread the news about your latest book.
You can’t rely on winning an award right off the bat. It takes years of crafting relationships and being prepared for the long haul before the sun comes out. Then it will feel absolutely blinding if the reaction from one of my friends who won this week is anything to go by.
Maureen
@craicer
You thought I was going to post a picture of the sun…. hehehe. TA DA!
From Space.com
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.