Publishing News Roundup Series: Macmillan’s Pronoun Says Goodbye
by Maureen Crisp • November 14, 2017 • Follow
Published in News • 9 comments
As self-publishing hits an all time high, it comes as a shock to authors when programs for it shut down for good.
This past week Macmillan’s Pronoun closed its doors for good. It’s closing has sparked some fear in self-published authors who have used it as an eBook guideline in the past. Their worries expand to what other tools will be taken from them? The best way around this is to have a game plan and a sense of independency in your self-publishing. Be prepared for changes in the market, which will always be occurring.
The Greatest Author Fears
Pic: Flickr Creative Commons- Newtown Grafitti- Purple prose
Authors on the Pronoun distributor website were left scrambling this week. A notice appeared on the Pronoun website saying Goodbye. There was a flurry of comment around the publishing blogosphere. The sages were out in force. Macmillan’s eBook distribution model of gave a great deal to authors but they were not making any money. If it looks too good to be true it’s about to go belly up!
Meanwhile Draft2Digital (A rival distributor of eBooks) stepped into the breach announcing a deal with Amazon. Sighs of relief all round.
Did/Do you read pulp writers? They were the prolific writers of the early part of the Twentieth Century. Zane Grey, Doc Savage, Leslie Charteris, Louis L’Amour. They were machines for story and they were paid by the word. James Scott Bell takes a look at what made the pulp writers so good.
Chris Syme has a great post on Anne R Allen’s blog TamingThe Social Media Beast. If you are looking at your social media engagement and saying too hard… drop in and read this excellent article. Don’t forget to read the comments too.
Last week I linked to a post from Maggie Stiefvater on how book piracy was threatening her. This week The Guardian talked to some other authors about their experiences… sobering stuff.
Susan Spann has a post about bad contracts… as she is a publishing lawyer as well as a published author she knows whereof she speaks, Don’t be afraid to walk away from a publishing deal.
I came across this great post today on what you should do if you fail NaNoWriMo. It is one of those sensible posts that put things into perspective and is a nice little island among the treacherous weeds of NaNo uncertainty.
Backlinko has an amazingly in depth post on SEO. Now before you immediately dismiss this article as being in the too hard basket… Take a look. They explain how Google are using new search algorithms and what that means for content… key words… Titles… etc etc.
LitHub talked to 150 writers and asked their advice. And then they compiled that advice into one comprehensive article of 8 important pieces of author knowhow.
In The Craft Section,
Character turning points– Mary Kole- Bookmark
Hinting at emotional wounds– Angela Ackerman- Bookmark
What is a high concept– Danielle Burby
Movie Scene by Scene breakdown– Go In To The Story- Scriptwriter Bookmark
The most important rule of backstory– Andrea Lungren- Bookmark
Masterful Character description– CS Lakin- Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
Facebook ads in 2018– CK Syme- Bookmark
Book marketing content ideas for November and Know your fans– Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark
How to write a Query Letter– Reedsy- Bookmark
Using Twitter to grow your email list- Jesper Schmidt
To Finish,
The 7 greatest fears of Horror Writers explores not just fears of Horror writers but the fears of all writers who have faced these situations.
Are you guilty of writing purple prose? Is there a place for purple prose in your writing? Do you need a purple prose self help group? K MWeiland has all the answers.
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.