Faith O’Grady: a day in the life of a literary agent
irishtimes.com – Wednesday December 2, 2015
In the first of a series on how publishing works, Sarah Bannan talks to a top Irish agent about what her job entails, what drives and what frustrates her.
Rowell shares writing tips with A.L. students
nonpareilonline.com – Wednesday December 2, 2015
Rainbow Rowell doesn’t wait for inspiration to strike before sitting down to write.
In fact, sometimes she has to force herself to start stringing together words, falling back on her background as a journalist from the time before she became one of the best-known contemporary young adult novelists.
The seven stages of writing a novel
theguardian.com – Wednesday December 2, 2015
Anna Caltabiano self-published her first novel at the age of 14. Now with three published novels under her belt, the 18-year-old author and student shares some marvellous writing tips for teenage writers and beyond.
7 Essential Ingredients to Writing a Successful Holiday Movie
huffingtonpost.com – Thursday November 26, 2015
The Holiday movie genre is one of the most consistent box office earners in the history of the film industry. Since 1960, Holiday movies have earned well over two billion dollars (not adjusted for inflation).
What's even more interesting is the phenomenon that we see each and every year. Television networks play those movies endlessly from Thanksgiving through the New Year. Classics like It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story often have 24-hour runs. The more contemporary classics continue to grow in stature with the likes Christmas Vacation, Elf, The Santa Clause movies, Home Alone, Scrooged, and many more.
The Hallmark and Lifetime Channels have made a successful ratings business out of producing original Christmas-themed telemovies.
Audiences, each and every year, and even for those that don't celebrate the Christmas holiday, sit down with their friends and family to watch movies they've seen over and over and over again.
So what is it about these movies that make people come back for more?
Melton Times reporter Nick Rennie shares the secrets of writing and self-publishing your own book
meltontimes.co.uk – Thursday November 26, 2015
Not so long ago, writing and publishing your own book was just a pipe dream for many of us.
It wasn’t so much getting the words down on paper which was putting us off.
It was more the expense of either finding an agent and a publisher or paying through the nose to print dozens of copies yourself which might have ended up unsold and gathering dust in the garage.
But that is resoundingly no longer the case. Digital publishing and online booksellers such as Amazon have been an absolute game-changer.
Want to Succeed in Self-Publishing? Have a Plan: Tips from an Indie Author
publishersweekly.com – Tuesday November 24, 2015
E.C. Murray considers her first book, the self-help titleLife Kind of Sucks, an experiment in self-publishing. So when it came time to release her second book, the memoir A Long Way from Paris, she decided to do things differently, leveraging her experience and embracing all aspect of the self-publishing process. Murray quickly realized how demanding the indie route could be: handling distribution and marketing is “time consuming…even with a publicist who arranges visits. I need to follow up with press releases, event calendars, and so forth.” An important part of Murray’s indie strategy was sending A Long Way from Paris out for review. Her efforts paid off: Kirkus named her memoir a best book of 2014 andPublishers Weekly called it “Rich with history…substance…[and] relatable.”
Author’s Advocate: Publishing options
suindependent.com – Sunday November 22, 2015
As a publisher and an author, I’ve been on both sides of the publishing industry. In my twenty-plus years of writing columns and books and producing DVDs, E-books, audio books, and more, I’ve found that the goal of most all authors is to have their books published. The problem is that most first-time authors don’t know their publishing options.
When the Sharing Economy Comes to Publishing
publishersweekly.com – Sunday November 22, 2015
The idealized vision of writers toiling away at their art in solitude may not be going anywhere, but it’s also not the sole vision of how writers will produce quality work in the near-distant future. Let’s face it: we are experiencing a cultural revolution brought on by the sharing generation, and sharing-economy practices will not ignore the publishing industry. After all, why do all stories need to be a one-way exchange of ideas from writer to reader? Why can’t stories be written collaboratively by multiple authors and shared as they are written?
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