Publishing News Roundup Series: The Pros and Cons of NaNoWriMo
by Maureen Crisp • November 20, 2017 • Follow
Published in News • One comment
Many authors swear by NaNoWriMo. It is how they get a good portion of their work done.
A lot of books you have read have been partially developed during NaNoWriMo. Without it, many authors wouldn’t be able to get started in their work. It provides tools and community support that helps even the biggest procrastinators get their work done. But can it be harmful for some authors?
Catching Our Breath
November Halfway… I told myself this year I would do it… and I started with good intentions… and I have over 10,000 words done… but it has been a struggle. Anne R Allen’s blog post on Why NaNoWriMo is liberating for some writers and dangerous for others was a welcome breath of sanity this week.
The Traditional Publishing Industry is also breathing a sigh of relief. They have had an increase in sales over the last quarter and there is still Christmas gift giving to come.
Nate Hoffelder mentioned on Twitter today that to combat scammers Google went to manually up loading books. This shut out new authors from selling their books through Google Play but there is a small light shining amongst the angst of Pronoun shutting down…
Joanna Penn has had an amazing run of great content on her podcast this month. But her latest podcast demands serious attention… She detailed the discussion topics at the Oregon Coast Business for Authorsworkshop. Indie publishing has stabilised but the next disruption is coming down the track…
Belinda Griffin has a guest post on Joanna’s Blog that takes an in depth look at Author Brand. If you have ever wondered exactly what it is and why authors need to understand it … this is the post for you.
Agent Kristin Nelson wrote this week about the perils of the Hollywood buy in on your book… because Hollywood wants to own the novelisation rights… um
Kris Ruch has written a knockout post on letting other voices into your head to screw with your writing… namely fame and fans. This is a must read post for every writer but especially for those writing series.
The 7 Secrets of Power Persuasion Writing for writers. Are you using the right emotional hooks in your writing?
In The Craft Section,
Make characters distinct– Michael Hauge – Bookmark
15 questions to send Beta readers– Bookmark
Story Structure in 5 minutes and How to complete a series– Write To Done
How to write characters unlike you– Now Novel
How to pick the right editor– Lisa Polisso- Bookmark
Giving your character inner conflict– M J Bush- Bookmark
In The Marketing Section
Gumroad for authors– Joanna Penn- Bookmark
Ways authors can cross promote– Bookbub- Bookmark
Designing covers in 5 minutes– Nate Hoffelder
Authentic Personal Brands for Authors- Writelife
Content Marketing- Bookmark
SFF Marketing Podcast- Newsletters– A Serious Must Watch!
How to talk about your book – Paul Geiger- Bookmark
To Finish,
In my list of One-day-I-want-to-own-these-books… is a book on Writing Imaginative Fiction – Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer. I was excited to see the lecture notes of a workshop by Jeff on the Electric Literature site. This is one of those Read, think about, read again posts… and the illustrations are just wonderful! A nice pick me up in the middle of November.
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.