Is it Possible to Write More than one Book at a Time?

Check out this post from Jem’s Books Blog that asks the question: Is it Possible to Write More than one Book at a Time?

Jemsbooks

This author is doing just that – writing two books at the same time. This isn’t my idea. I have been forced into writing more than one book at a time by my characters. They are taking over once again! Yikes!

This strange thing happened previously when I was in the middle of writing another book which has yet to be published. It is a historical fiction. While I was writing this novel another idea came to me and characters ventured forth compelling me to write down their story in a YA fantasy which is not yet published either. Hopefully next year I will attempt to publish one of them.

Now I am in the middle of Book 2 of Abby & Holly Series and who stops by to interrupt my train of thought but their buddies, Davey & Derek Donato, twin detectives from their series Books 1-5. Sigh! They…

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Why You Shouldn’t ‘Go All In’ When Starting a New Writing Project

Check out this post from the Novelty Revisions blog on Why You Shouldn’t ‘Go All In’ When Starting a New Writing Project

Novelty Revisions

The excitement you feel when you’re first starting to work on a new book, blog, or series of articles is addicting. But if you’re the kind of person who starts things but abandons them within a few months of hard work, not all hope is lost.

Here’s an unpopular slice of advice: When you’re starting a new writing project, put the least amount of effort into it as possible for the first month or so.

Seriously.

I know, I know. This goes against everything every productivity guru and writing expert has told you about rising, grinding, and keeping your head down until you make something good.

Yes, you need to be consistent — especially in the beginning.

True, you need to build a backlog of content, get a significant start on the rising action of your story, give prospective readers something to grab onto.

But even though it might seem…

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Give Me One Quick Glance*

Check out this post from the Confessions of a Mystery Novelist blog on the topic of referring to a pivotal incident without actually detailing it in crime fiction

Confessions of a Mystery Novelist...

Authors build suspense in many different ways, depending on the story, the (sub)genre, and a lot more. One way that some authors do this is by referring to a pivotal incident without actually detailing it, at least at first. When it’s done well, this strategy can invite the reader to engage in the story to find out more about the incident. But it’s not easy to do well. And when it’s done poorly, it simply annoys readers, many of whom don’t want to be strung along like that. That said, though, we do see this strategy in crime fiction.

For instance, in Claire McGowan’s The Lost, forensic psychologist Dr. Paula Maguire returns from London to her native Northern Ireland. She’s been persuaded to help set up a cold case review team in her home town of Ballyterrin. She’s reluctant to return, but her father has recently broken a leg…

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Cooking, Writing, Scribbling–It’s all good

This gallery contains 4 photos.

Originally posted on Story Empire:
Hi, SEers! Mae here to talk about cooking and writing. At first glance these two things may seem to have little in common, but after applying some thought, I began to recognize a pattern. The…

Jazz Age Wednesdays ― Hullaba Lulu the End Begins

Check out this post from Teagan’s Books blog with Jazz Age Wednesdays ― Hullaba Lulu the End Begins

Teagan's Books

Wednesday, August 15, 2018 

Angel-bot with Tesla in his electric car.  Art by Rob Goldstein

Hi there, Shieks and Shebas!  You’ve come to the train station for Jazz Age Wednesdays.  This is where I share stories set in the Roaring Twenties.

The fabulous images for this #DieselPunk story are created by artist, Rob Goldstein.  He also makes pos-i-lutely swell videos that are parallel to the story. Plus, Rob sent random “things” that I used as prompts as I envisioned and authored Hullaba Lulu.

If you need reminders of past chapters, I did a Real World Tech Review post that has links through episode 11.1. 

Tesla Coil, Public Domain Image at Wiki Media Commons

That said, I’m nearing the end of this adventure for Lulu and the crew.  So I’m posting a longer chapter today.  I’m still pantsering, writing in an unplanned spontaneous way, so I’m not sure whether the…

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This Week in Indie Publishing

Amazon self-published authors: Our books were banned for no reason

In recent weeks, Amazon (AMZN) has taken down e-books written by at least six self-published novelists who say they did nothing wrong and depend on the platform to make their living, those six novelists told Yahoo Finance.

The six authors published many of their books through Amazon’s online self-publishing platform Kindle Direct Publishing Select, and they expressed shock and frustration over losing their livelihoods without understanding why.

Amazon, for its part, has been cracking down on KDP Select authors who supposedly game the system in order to get paid more. But the authors Yahoo Finance spoke to insist they haven’t engaged in this kind of fraud, and that Amazon banned them without sufficient explanation of wrongdoing.

Read the rest of this story HERE.

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Why Authors Are Earning Less Even As Book Sales Rise

A June 2018 report out from the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society found author earnings have dipped by 42% over the last ten years.PEXELS.COM

HarperCollins reported $490 million in sales for the last quarter on Thursday, up $83 million from the same quarter in 2017, partially due to rising digital audiobook and ebook sales. It’s just the latest confirmation that traditional book publishers are doing well for themselves: The Publishers Association recently found the UK publishing industry’s £5.7 billion in book sales income to be up 5% over the year prior.

That’s in contrast to a June 2018 report out from the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society that holds author earnings have dipped by 42% over the last ten years, and that median annual income for professional authors is now below £10,500. How can author earnings slip so far even as book publishers’ incomes continue to rise? There’s no simple answer, but plenty of factors contribute to the seeming disparity.

Read the rest of this story HERE.

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Ebooks: How digital publishers are ‘shaking up’ the industry

Jody recreated a crime scene from her novel for the launch in London Fields

JK Rowling notoriously received numerous rejections before meeting her literary agent, and later, publisher. Having stacked up at least 60 rejections in my writing career, I know exactly how that feels.

And while being a novelist recently came out on top in a survey as one of the most desirable jobs to have, it is definitely not for the faint hearted.

I now have an agent and an award, but it wasn’t always that way.

As a writer, the first step to securing a publishing deal is to acquire an agent, a middle-man, basically your number one fan who will shout about how good you are to publishers and hopefully persuade them to read your carefully-crafted novel.

Read the rest of this story HERE.

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Amazon offers a peek at its softer side as it lifts the cover on literary donation program

Neal Thompson, an author and the chief of Amazon’s Literary Partnership, which gives cash to literary nonprofits. He’s in the Amazon Doppler building library. (Greg Gilbert/The Seattle Times)

Amazon’s long-running literary donations have become a major source of financial support for several literary-arts organizations. It is opening up about the 10-year-old program as the company’s philanthropic efforts mature.

Amazon, arch-nemesis of the bookstore, the behemoth that battled with New York’s publishing houses and transformed the publishing industry, has a softer side.

Its face is Neal Thompson, a 53-year-old author of five books who spends much of his time cutting checks that help underwrite stalls at the Brooklyn Book Festival, cottages at the Hedgebrook writing retreat on Whidbey Island, and a range of authors’ groups, small presses and journals.

Read the rest of this story HERE.

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Are Tiny Books Going to Be the Next Big Thing in Publishing?

John Green is one of the biggest young-adult authors in the world.

Now he wants to get small.

Four of his best-selling novels — including The Fault in Our Stars — will be released this October in a radically new miniature format. All the original words will be there, but the pages will be squeezed down to something about the size of a cellphone.

But that’s just the start of this real-life episode of Honey, I Shrunk the Books. These Penguin Minis from Penguin Young Readers are not only smaller than you’re used to, they’re also horizontal. You read these little books by flipping the pages up rather than turning them across. It’s meant to be a one-handed maneuver, like swiping a screen.

Read the rest of this story HERE.

 

15 Things That Probably Won’t Actually Improve Your Writing

Check out this great post from the Novelty Revisions blog with 15 Things That Probably Won’t Actually Improve Your Writing

Novelty Revisions

1. Researching how to get a book published when you haven’t actually started writing a book yet.

2. Obsessively perfecting your book’s outline without actually working on the book.

3. Getting up early to write even though you never actually get any writing done during that time.

4. Joining 20+ Facebook groups.

5. Asking other writers for feedback without offering to give feedback in return.

6. Always writing in a coffee shop.

7. Making sure every single one of your bios and social media accounts specify you’re an “aspiring writer.”

8. Following every writer possible on every social media platform you can remember your password to.

9. Purchasing the best writing software/apps/gadgets.

10. Always writing about the exact same thing because it’s “comfortable.”

11. Writing about writing but never actually working on your own projects.

12. Talking to anyone who will listen about every new idea that comes to you.

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