WPNews, September 2021
The Helping Hand, Don’t Take It Too Seriously, Go Global Issue
|
|
|
|
|
From Kathleen Kaiser, WPN President
I want to welcome a new WPN board of directors member, Jay A.
Hartman, editor-in-chief at Untreed Reads Publishing, who founded Untreed Reads
to promote eBooks, emphasizing independent authors and publishers. He’s written
about the eBook industry for fifteen years and previously served as a content
editor for KnowBetter.com, one of the internet’s oldest sites reporting on eBooks
and ePublishing. If you are looking to get The Publisher Perspective, send your
questions to jhartman@untreedreads.com with TPP in your subject line. If your
question is used, Jay will send you a free eBook from Untreed Reads.
We do have two positions open on the WPN board and if you are
interested in stepping up to help us run the all-volunteer group, please email
me. I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
We are moving forward with the 805 Writers Conference and Book Expo as a live event, November 6&7 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Ventura Beach. There will be a vaccination mandate in place for all attendees, speakers, and book exhibitors. Additionally, we require the QR codes from the State of California as verification. They are pretty easy to get, takes less than two minutes, but are proof of vaccination. We have to require this because of the many fake cards being used in our area and because we want a safe event where people can relax and learn—full details on 805WritersConference.com.
One session many writers may like is a panel of small publishers who accept direct submissions of manuscripts. Of course, many writers want an agent and a big, traditional publisher for good reasons. But, if you've been rejected or want to get your book out faster, consider the many small presses that put out from 25 to over 100 books a year.
Kathleen, kathleen@kathleenkaiser.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
From Sandra Murphy, Editor
Zoom and other virtual meeting hosts are busier than ever. Some users like the convenience and will likely continue to meet online, saving travel and lodging costs. Of course, the user isn’t the only one who has to learn virtual manners. Everyone—spouse, kids, and pets—must know when to be quiet and not cause distractions.
Organizations and businesses that rely on in-person visitors have gotten creative. Animal sanctuaries now offer a visit with a goat or other farm animal as a stress-relieving break in the workday. Zoos noticed the animals miss the crowds of people. As a form of enrichment, zookeepers take the animals for walks around the zoo to see other animals, and the zookeepers record the animals’ reactions for YouTube. They’re able to educate and entertain viewers as well as stir interest in penguins, alpacas, red pandas, goats, and more. Museums allow people to study their artwork from the comfort of home, while orchestras and singers make beautiful music together when thousands of miles apart.
Even when it seems the whole world is arguing, worried about money, hearing about or fearing illness, those in the arts manage to rise above, to shine, to create.
It’s who we are. Be thankful to be among them.
Sandy, Editor, editor@writersandpublishersnetwork.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ask the Book Doctor: Inside and Outside of Books by Bobbie Christmas |
|
Q: Are author photos and biographies essential to have on your books? Would I be making a mistake if my back cover had only my blurb?
A: The back cover is the strongest sales piece for a book. Everything on the back cover should make people want to buy the
|
|
|
|
|
|
book. The back cover should contain a powerful, interesting blurb
regarding the content of the book or novel. Your bio, however, is
important only if your book is nonfiction and you are an expert in your
subject.
A snapshot, however, may have significance in a few cases… Learn More...
_____
Bobbie Christmas, book editor, author of Write In Style: Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing, and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com or BZebra@aol.com. Read Bobbie’s Zebra Communications blog at https://www.zebraeditor.com/blog/.
|
|
|
|
5 Creative Blog Post Ideas for Savvy Author Marketing by Penny Sansevieri |
|
You may be a savvy blogger, or maybe you’re still digging in your heels about starting a blog, but no matter where you fall on that spectrum, I have to tell you that
|
|
|
|
|
|
blogging is a critical piece of your author marketing.
If you want to sell more books, I urge you to get on the blog train. Why?
Because blogging is a great way to connect with current fans, and
it’s also a smart way to put a piece of yourself out there to draw in
new fans and buyers. Learn More...
_____
Penny C. Sansevieri, founder and CEO of Author Marketing Experts,
Inc., is a bestselling author and internationally recognized
book-marketing and media-relations expert. She is an adjunct professor
teaching self-publishing for NYU. She was named one of the top
influencers of 2019 by New York Metropolitan Magazine.
|
|
|
|
September 1
Nailing It On The Head With Free Internet Advertising
The Publisher Perspective by Jay Hartman
Q: I’ve got my titles enrolled in Kindle Select, but I don’t seem to be getting much in the way of interest from other countries. How do I grow my international reader market? -M.R., Houston, Texas
A: To be honest, you have a few things working against you here, but all are a result of one key factor: you put all your eggs in one basket and went with Amazon as your sole retailer.
The first issue is looking at the ebook market globally, Kindle is not the primary ebook format. Learn more…
|
|
|
|
|
Pay It Forward by Michael Bracken
Originally published at www.sleuthsayers.org on 10 August 2021
I owe the existence of one of my recurring characters to the kindness of a famous mystery writer.
Dennis Lynds, writing as Michael Collins, received his last Edgar Award nomination for The Horrible, Senseless Murders of Two Elderly Women, which I published in my first anthology, Fedora: Private Eyes and Tough Guys (Wildside Press, 2001). Learn More...
Michael Bracken, an award-winning writer of fiction, non-fiction,
and advertising copy, has received multiple awards for copywriting, two
Derringer Awards for short fiction, and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial
Golden Derringer Award for lifetime achievement in short mystery
fiction. The author of several books and more than 1,300 short stories,
he has edited nine published or forthcoming crime fiction anthologies
and provides editorial services to book and periodical publishers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shameless v. Apologetic by Ellen Byron (and her alias, Maria DiRico)
Originally published on “The Chicks on the Case” blog, August 9, 2021
The following statement may make people who know me snort a beverage out their nose, but I’m really uncomfortable promoting my work. The reason for the disbelief on the part of my friends is the blaring, may I say ballsy, “Shameless Shilling Campaign” I create for each of my book releases. Ironically, my discomfort with promotion is the whole reason I created this tongue-in cheek campaign. When I realized that a lot of the book-arketing heavy lifting would fall on me, I felt like I had two choices: apologize for incessant promotion, or own it. I took a deep breath and went with owning it… Learn More...
_____
Agatha Award winner and USA Today bestselling author Ellen Byron is a television writer, playwright, and freelance journalist. Her TV credits include Wings, Still Standing, and Just Shoot Me, and her written work has appeared in Glamour, Redbook, and Seventeen, among others. She lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, their daughter, and the family's very spoiled rescue dog. A native New Yorker, Ellen still misses her hometown and still drives like a New York cabbie. Writing as Maria DiRico, she pens the Catering Hall mysteries, set in, where else? Noo Yawk. Her character, known to drive like Ellen, Ubers for the safety of others.
|
|
|
|
Bits and Pieces—News You Might Have Missed |
|
|
|
|
Sad news
Award-winning children’s-book author and poet Eloise Greenfield, known for her positive depictions of Black family life, her biographies spotlighting notable Black figures in U.S. history, and her efforts to fight racism, died on August 5. She was 92.
Jack Covert, founder of Porchlight Book Company, died August 13. He was 77. Porchlight is mostly known as a retailer for business books. Under his guidance, Porchlight grew into a highly influential B2B company for business books. He is the author of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, and his monthly review series, “Jack Covert Selects,” was published in newspapers and business journals until his retirement in 2014.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alexis Clark, Enemies in Love, sold a history of the country’s four Black sororities, Sisters, The Untold Story of America’s Black Sororities and Their Fight for Racial and Gender Equality, to Random House. The book, RH said, details “the groundbreaking women who founded [the sororities] a little over a century ago and those who followed in their footsteps”—from Zora Neale Hurston to Vice President Kamala Harris.
|
|
|
|
|
|
William Morrow, in a ten-house auction, won North American rights to Emiko Jean’s adult debut, Mika in Real Life, for seven figures. Mika in Real Life
follows a Japanese American woman who “reconnects with the daughter she
placed for adoption 17 years ago and suddenly gets a second chance at
motherhood, love, and the career she always wanted.” It explores “larger
issues of overcoming personal trauma and the model minority myth.”
Foreign rights deals for the book have closed in the United Kingdom,
Denmark, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PRH and Amanda Gorman Launch Creative Writing Award for Poetry
By Gilcy Aquino | Aug 12, 2021for PW https://tinyurl.com/7brtjpwb
****
How to Write a Science Fiction Novel Series: 6 Tips
https://tinyurl.com/ye4shsky
****
Sourcebooks Net Revenue Jumped 48% in First Half of 2021
Partnership with Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James gave the fiction program a lift, which led to the creation of Bloom Books, an imprint looking to work with entrepreneurial authors.
https://tinyurl.com/5cf29e64
****
Publishing Industry Supply-Chain Challenges and Opportunities Zoom Meeting/Free
Tuesday, October 5, 2021, Noon EDT https://tinyurl.com/474vmwhx
How can publishers and the companies that work with them navigate persistent supply-chain challenges, maximize opportunities during the crucial fourth quarter of 2021, and prepare their businesses for optimal success in the year ahead? You can send questions ahead for the panelists.
****
Report: Disney Is Only Paying Comics Creators $5,000 for Work It's Adapted for Billions
https://tinyurl.com/pt3bh9vr
****
Publishers Blast Internet Archive’s Extraordinary Demand for Sales Data
By Andrew Albanese | Aug 13, 2021 Internet Archives is being sued by four publishers for copyright infringement based on IA’s program of scanning and lending books without compensation for authors. IA’s lawyers have demanded sales records for each book they distributed going back to 2011, to prove there was no drop in sales due to the books being offered free.
Attorneys for the publishers say providing such information would involve “more than 500,000 titles” and an "enormous reservoir of highly proprietary data," would be costly, time-consuming, "burdensome in the extreme" and legally "irrelevant" and is a preposterous request as there is no precedent. Gathering data would take months and prove nothing. https://tinyurl.com/nn662fuv
****
New independent bookstore opening in a familiar Ann Arbor location https://tinyurl.com/b7b4j6w6
****
Bookish, an independent book boutique opens in the KOP Mallhttps://tinyurl.com/x949vvhz
****
Greenlight Bookstores in Brooklyn Unionize https://tinyurl.com/hamxj9c
By Ed Nawotka | Aug 17, 2021
****
Penguin Publishing Group Realigns Marketing, Publicity
https://tinyurl.com/2pw9he43
****
Australia-based Hardie Grant Publishing has appointed Jenny Wapner publisher of its North American operations to expand Hardie Grant’s reach into the United States and Canada.
They currently publish 200 book and gift items annually in the U.S. with the content originating in Australia and the United Kingdom offices. With Wapner’s appointment, they expect to publish an additional ten to twelve titles per season by the end of next year.
****
King Features Rethinks Classic Comics for YA, Middle Grade Readers
By Karen Raugust | Aug 19, 2021 Classics like The Phantom, Flash Gordon, Prince Valiant, Mandrake the Magician, and Popeye will get upgrades plus there will be new, younger characters.
https://tinyurl.com/kpwyeew3
****
Mindless activities can often help the mind work out plot problems or create new ideas. Check out these five coloring books designed for writers.
https://www.writermag.com/writing-inspiration/products-for-writers/5-coloring-books-for-writers/
For days when you don’t/can’t write, lose the guilt! Here are tips:
https://www.writermag.com/writing-inspiration/creativity-inspiration/the-art-of-not-writing/
****
Hachette Book Group Will Acquire Workman Publishing for $240 Million
By Jim Milliot | Aug 16, 2021 The big publishers continue to get bigger. The deal should be finalized by the end of September, making Workman Hachette’s eighth publishing group, made up of imprints Workman, Algonquin, Algonquin Young Readers, Artisan, Storey Publishing, and Timber Press. https://tinyurl.com/2ahc34ae
****
Serialized Books Are a Burgeoning Business at Substack
By John Maher | Aug 19, 2021 https://tinyurl.com/7nfc7enm
****
Veteran editors take on new imprints https://tinyurl.com/ays8rm2u
****
The music of the 90s come to life in Hell of a Hat by
Kenneth Partridge as he talks about ska and swing, with interviews from
the likes of The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Less
Than Jake, Royal Crown Revu, and many more!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Where the www stands for wretched writers welcome! Send the most overwritten sentence you can manage. See the site for examples of the worst of the worst.
The rules for the Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest are childishly simple:
Each entry must consist of a single sentence, but you may submit as many entries as you wish.
Sentences may be of any length but we strongly recommend that entries not go beyond 50 or 60 words. Entries must be “original” (as it were) and previously unpublished.
Due to the volume of submissions, if your entry is missing a name or location it won't be considered.
The contest accepts submissions every day of the livelong year, but the deadline for each year's contest is June 30.
Winners are announced in late July or early August each year. The 2021 winners were announced on August 13.
In keeping with the gravitas, high seriousness, and general bignitude of the contest, the grand prize winner will receive…a pittance (and bragging rights).
https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/submit
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(check often, buy travel insurance, stay safe)
805 Writers Conference, November 6 & 7, Ventura, CA
Produced by WPN, this year’s conference will feature top industry
pros speaking on topics for writers getting ready to publish. Five small
publishers looking to sign writers will be one panel. Publishing expert
Jane Friedman will keynote, along with other marketers, authors, and
poets. And the Book Expo will feature over 50 authors with their books.
NOTE: This indoor event is only for fully vaccinated people. The 805 is produced by WPN.
Learn more at https://805writersconference.com/
****
North Carolina Writers Conference, November 19-21 in Durham
Includes panels, readings, keynote speakers, workshops, open mic sessions, and manuscript critiques from agents and editors.
Approximate cost, $300. Contact Ed Southern, mail@ncwriters.org www.ncwriters.org.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|