Publishing News Roundup Series: Why You Should Always Backup Your Work
by Maureen Crisp • July 19, 2017 • Follow
Published in News • No comments
The worst possible nightmare for a writer: write it, get it all done, and your computer freezes and you lose it all.
After all the hard work. Gone. What do you do now? It’s hard to recreate the same creative process. You can’t get back the same product, but you can set precautions for next time.
The Sabotage Backup
Today we suffered the first of the big winter storms where I live. Half the country seems to be digging themselves out of snow or suffering power cuts because of high winds and wind blown debris. I saw a comment today from an illustrator friend who was obsessively backing up her work every 30 seconds just in case. So….
Have you saved your work today? Do you have a plan for saving your work? Mary Moore has a list of ways that you can save your writing just in case…
This week CreateSpace rolled out a new barcode policy. Things get tricky when you have a barcode generated that doesn’t fit their guidelines. They are being very specific about where the barcode should be on the back cover. Being forewarned will save you time and money.
SCBWI summer conference just wrapped up. If you are a children’s writer and dream about attending from afar… (like me) Check out their conference blog. The next best thing to being there.
Audio books are this years hot topic with ACX finally getting competition from Draft2Digital. Kevin Tumlinson explains why writers should think audio as part of their publishing strategy. Anne R Allen talks with her Audio Book narrator about producing audio books and how to choose the right narrator.
Sophie Knowles has an interesting post on Digital Book World about resources for Indie Authors. She highlights a few great sites that are worth checking out.
Kris Rusch continues her branding series with an in depth look at brand loyalty with a strategic look at the also boughts on the Amazonpage. There is a wealth of information right out in plain sight!
Molly Greene has been doing other interesting things instead of writing and publishing this year. She takes a candid look at what happens when you step away from your production treadmill.
Suzanne Lakin has a great post on self sabotage. Writers can be excellent at this. She has a must read post on how to recognize the signs and ways to deal with it. It’s all tied up with your self esteem as a writer.
James Scott Bell is a master at the craft of writing and this post shows you why. How do you stand out from the crowd with your work?
How do you ride the edge of great writing. This is a must read!
In The Craft Section,
K M Weiland has got three great posts for you to Bookmark
Examining the first act in your sequel
and her Free Scrivener Template.
When is imagery description overkill– Mary Kole
In The Marketing Section,
Using Amazon’s preorder to boost sales Penny Sansevieri
2 great posts from Joanna Penn Instagram for authors and Mistakes with book promotion– Bookmark both and the link to Freebooksy
To Finish,
In the old days writers weren’t at the mercy of a power cut but they didn’t have the luxury of endless tinkering of a sentence before they printed it. The craft of writing has remained the same though. Take a look at Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 tips on how to write a good short story and ponder them deeply. And for extra homework, check out his ideas on shapes of stories which has now been backed up by a computer.
Maureen
@craicer
Backup data 😉
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.