I missed my Wednesday post because I was down for the count with the regular-old flu.
Special Video Interview Series with Chris Anderson
Jeff Rivera got an exclusive video interview from Chris Anderson, proponent of the freemium model of book sales. He discusses marketing, sales, and the like.
- Part 1
- Part 2: Turning Exposure into Book Sales
- Part 3: What Does NOT Work in Book Marketing
- Part 4: How Novelists Can Sell More Books
Gender Matters
Novelist L.J. Sellers explores gender preferences among readers. Do you prefer male or female writers? Does genre affect your genre preferences?
Writer Inspiration: Jessa Slade
Do you have what it takes to make the transition from writer to author? As newly published urban fantasy author Jessa Slade tells us, it may not be as easy as we think. Turns out getting that first contract is only one hurdle you need to leap on your journey. Slade gives an inspirational and authentic look at her own journey.
This Week in Publishing
Agent Nathan Bransford does a nice job synthesizing all of the craziness with new e-readers, eviscerated book prices, and doom and gloom predictions. Do you think these are the end times for the novel? Or are we just transitioning into something new?
The Dreaded “R” Word
Over at Pop Culture Divas, Kelly Boyce shares her thoughts on rejection. She closes with some of the famous (and so, so wrong) rejections from literary history. Print this one out and keep it in your inspiration file.
Deadlines
Love them or hate them, deadlines are our reality. Agent Jessica Faust gives some good tips for ensuring that the deadlines you agree to will actually work for you.
In Defense of Print
J.A. Konrath looks at the arguments for and against e-books.
So Who Else Is Doing NaNo?
Are you participating in NaNoWriMo? (This abbreviation always reminds me of what I would note in my unicorn diary if I missed a day of writing: Sorry. ForgTWri. Yes, I was 8 at the time.) Moonrat has poll about what you think you will get from the NaNoWriMo process. I see the process as similar to what you get from following the Book in a Month process: great experience writing a lot of words in a short amount of time, but probably not a salable novel. You’ll probably end with a really nice first draft that you can polish into a potentially salable novel.
Write What You Can Make up Entirely?
Novelist Rachel Vincent discusses the perils of writing realistic emotions/experiences that you haven’t lived. Do you prefer to ground yourself in realism, even when it involves experiences you have never and will never have? Or do you prefer stuff that is so fantastical that you can just make it all up?
Ask Daphne! About My Query XXVIII
Agent Kate Schafer Testerman presents a sample query and her reactions and advice. What lesson did you learn from this post that you will use in your next query letter?
Avoiding On-the-Nose Writing
Author Mary Jo Rhodes discusses the perils of stereotypical characters and plots with specific examples of the cliched and the unexpected.
Free Webcast: How to Create a Freelance Writing Career
Mediabistro is offering a free webcast on freelancing. Sign up here.
20 Ways for Freelance Writers to Save Money
We writers are all lolling about eating bonbons and jetting off to Rome on a moment’s notice after we put in our half our of daily writing, right? Yeah. That is a nice dream. If you’re worried about making ends meet, Deb Ng has a roundup of money-saving tips for freelancers.
The Freelance Multiple Personality Disorder
Are freelancers just crazy people who have found a way to earn a living? Michelle Rafter looks at a typical work day and the myriad personalities she gos through.
Interview with Author Sara Morgan, “No Limits”
Have you read No Limits: How I Escaped the Clutches of Corporate America to Live the Self-Employed Life of My Dreams? If not, based on this interview, it sounds as if you should. Kristine Meldrum Denholm asks great questions, and Morgan gives great answers. Morgan serves as an example of what you can expect as a writer and what you should do to prepare yourself for the work involved in being an author.
Did You Write a Blog? The Times and Perils of Blogging
Rebecca Emrich discusses the issues you may encounter when blogging. So many bloggers start off great and then taper off. Did you have a blog? Did you keep it up? What did you struggle with? What would have made your blog seem successful and self-sustaining?
Death of the Book Review
Adam Penenberg discusses the ever-lessening role of book reviews in book sales. Do you read reviews? Do you have a plan for building buzz that doesn’t include book reviews?
Related Posts - Writing Roundup, September 4 Public Service Message: If you are affected by the Google Books settlement and you want to opt out, today is the deadline. Here is the link to opt out. The Business of Writing Books: The Big Story Is Consolidation This Financial Times article argues for further consolidation of book publishers......
- Writing Roundup, July 2 I decided to post early this week to avoid the holiday run-off. I wish you all a lovely holiday weekend. If, like me, you'll be spending a good portion of it writing, well then I wish you happy writing. The Business of Writing Could Changes in the Copyright Law Save......
- Writing Roundup, May 8 And, another work week for the 9-5 crowd comes to a close. I wonder if this song lyric would be true of me if I did not have a day job to do in addition to this crazy writing thing: "I wake up every evening, with a big smile on......
- Writing Roundup, February 5 The Business of Writing Craft Fiction Freelancing Platform The Business of Writing Perseverance Without the ability to stick to our goals and complete our writing projects, all of the talent and study in the world won't mean a thing. How do you keep your motivation up even when you......
- And It's Time, Time, Time That You Love I'm still feeling the Tori Amos after going to her show a few weekends ago, so I'm using one of the lyrics from her cover album Strange Little Girls as my title today. (As a side note, I'm also using the song "Rattlesnakes" from that album as character inspiration for......
Related Websites - The Elements of Boat Strength: For Builders, Designers, and Owners By Dave Gerr If you're looking for a semi-technical read on how boats are built and what makes them strong, this is the perfect fit. Its terminology is...
-
Get Into Bed With Lynsay Sands (Author Interview) I can't think of a better way to start the weekend off than with an author interview with romance writer Lynsay Sands. I got the... -
Get into Bed with Rhonda Leigh Jones (Author Interview) Today's intimate interview is with Rhonda Leigh Jones, the author of Maestro's Butterfly, which was reviewed the other day. I'm excited to share her with... -
Get into Bed with Jill Mansell (Author Interview) Keira: How did the ideas for An Offer You Can't Refuse and Miranda's Big Mistake come to you? Jill: With Offer, I was very keen... -
Get into Bed with Mary Margret Daughtridge (Author Interview) Hey there! Look who's here! Meet Mary Margret Daughtridge! Mary Margret is a romance author who's current SEALed Series about "Hard men...soft hearts" is making...






Sunday Wash-Up, 1st November « Shack's Comings and Goings // Oct 31, 2009 at 4:03 pm
[...] Writing Roundup, October 30: The Pre-Halloween, Post-Flu Edition Jennifer Roland always links to great posts in her round ups. Oh, do I see mention of Flu? I hope my blog didn’t pass it on to Jessica. Loads of really good links this week, it makes picking a best one difficult. [...]
uberVU - social comments // Nov 4, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by jenroland: New post: Writing Roundup, October 30: The Pre-Halloween, Post-Flu Edition (http://cli.gs/4Ev4u)…