Publishing is a $26 billion industry, with self-publishing growing as a popular side hustle
financialpost.com – Saturday February 6, 2021
We have had a long time to think. It’s been almost a year since we’ve been asked to stay at home, take care of our health, and consider the well-being of others. During that period, our minds have been percolating, thoughts have been brewing. Shame to let those great ideas get cold and go to waste. Perhaps it’s time to put virtual pen to paper and turn your concepts into reality, or rather into a book.
Whether it’s a piece of fiction, a collection of poetry, a graphic novel, a self-help volume, a how-to instructional, a biography or other non-fiction genre, your book deserves to be read. Going through the steps of “traditional” publishing can be expensive and time-consuming, so why not consider becoming an authorpreneur?
Writing Your Life’s Story
evanstonroundtable.com – Wednesday February 3, 2021
Many years ago a colleague of mine mentioned that his mother had an interesting saying: You should always have more to look forward to than to look back on.
At the time I was in my 50s or even 60s, well past the midpoint of my life. The view out the rear-view mirror was growing ever larger and the road ahead ever diminishing. But there was work, children, volunteer projects – in other words, plenty to keep me busy looking ahead.
Now I’m halfway through my eighth decade and the rear-view mirror is the size of an Imax movie screen and ahead is a TV monitor shrinking by the week.
Yikes.
Still, until incapacitation sets in, I believe that no matter how old, there’s always plenty more to gainfully occupy one’s time.
At the top of the list should be writing a memoir. There are many reasons why it’s important.
Want to Write a Book This Year? These Tools Can Help
wired.com – Monday January 18, 2021
2020 WAS NOT the year I wrote my first book—but it was the year I started thinking about it. And in typical freelance writer fashion, I decided to take advantage of my position and get some advice on how to go about it from people much more accomplished than me under the guise of researching this article. Here’s what I managed to learn.
A Way to Take Notes
Apparently books don’t spring fully formed from the ether. You kind of have to work on them, brainstorming different ideas, doing research, and taking notes before you can really get started. News to me, but oh well.
Chris Bailey, author of The Productivity Project and Hyperfocus, and all-around productivity guru, is obsessive about taking notes for his books. He has legal pads stashed around his home, carries a small notepad when he walks around town, and even has a waterproof notepad in his shower. If he can’t commit his thoughts to paper, he uses Simplenote.
Epic fantasy writer Brian McClellan, author of The Powder Mage series, is a little less over-the-top about note-taking, but he also prefers the paper approach and carries a notepad with him—or at least tries to. Whenever he leaves it in his car, he “whips out” his smartphone and uses whatever notes app came preinstalled.
Both writers stressed that what tool you use for taking notes doesn’t matter as much as the act of doing it. Notes can be anything from a cool word or an idea for a magic system to transcribed conversations or annotated historical documents. But, whatever form they take, they’re likely to be the base of your book.
JK Rowling’s drama with the man who discovered her is one of many rows writers have had with their agents
inews.co.uk – Wednesday January 13, 2021
When authors become successful, they usually spend a good deal of their launch-party speech thanking their literary agent for believing in them when they were starting out and for finding them a publisher, and listing them high on their novel’s page of acknowledgments.
The agent’s role as a writer’s champion and negotiator can often result in close relationships that last years – but also intense disputes when an author moves on.
How to start writing in 2021 – tips from those who do it themselves
metro.co.uk – Thursday January 7, 2021
So, you want to start writing in 2021? Perhaps it’s always been your dream to write a novel and leave a permanent literary mark on the world? Or maybe you’re simply looking for a new hobby to try in 2021 and this January lockdown seems like an ideal time to start. You might have been putting it off for a while because you’re simply clueless on how to go about writing a novel, non-fiction or short stories – or it could be the idea of starting that you’re finding overwhelming. Whatever your situation, there are some simple tips to keep in mind to get you on your way. We’ve asked those who have written their own books – both fiction and non-fiction – to give shed light on how to get started and the important things to bear in mind. Here’s what three authors had to say…
The Writer’s Desk: Off-beat advice to improve your writing
myedmondsnews.com – Thursday January 7, 2021
Happy New Year. Hopefully you’ve adjusted to the new normal, found your rhythm, and are able to write again. Below are some uncommon tips I use when the words won’t flow.
Look for ideas on Post Secrets
In order for a story to captivate your audience the stakes must be high. Everyone has secrets, and you’ll find plenty of high-stake ideas from other people’s secrets. On PostSecret, people anonymously mail-in their written confessions on a postcard, and selected secrets are posted on the web page. Many of the secrets shared are heartbreaking, yet also demonstrate resilience. For example, “I am so poor that when I’m driving, I actually look for places that would be good to live in if I ever became homeless. I have chosen six different spots.” Other great sources for ideas are Humans of New York, Story Corps, and Subway Therapy. All of these projects have books associated with them.
How I write: Ben Sanders says mornings are a slog but by midday he finds some rhythm
stuff.co.nz – Wednesday January 6, 2021
Auckland-based Ben Sanders, author of American Blood and his latest The Devils You Know, shares his writing experiences.
What's your writing routine?
Writing time is nine to five, Wednesday to Friday. I always begin with a walk or some kind of exercise for about an hour. It’s like panning for gold in your brain: the stuff usable for fiction gets sifted out from the other leaden junk, and usually by the time I sit down to write I have a couple of little nuggets. Mornings are a slog: all backspace. But by midday I’ll find some rhythm.
And where do you write?
We have a home office, heavily fortified against procrastination.
Can you share a piece of good advice you've received about writing?
‘This is the year I’ll write my novel’: new year’s resolutions and the creative mind
irishtimes.com – Wednesday January 6, 2021
New years presents a fresh slate. The distractions of Christmas have passed, and the promise of longer days lies ahead. It won’t be long before we awake to sunlight creeping in under the curtains.
We set our New Year’s resolutions: we’ll write that novel, we’ll get numerous stories or poems submitted, or we’ll do that creative writing course. We make action lists. We set daily, weekly and monthly targets. We plan to give up each of our distractions, be they television, alcohol or social media. This year, we say to ourselves, writing will be the central focus of our lives.
The problem is, of course, that these promising goals become burdensome. Inevitably, life gets in the way and we get distracted. We miss the targets. Some months later, when we read over our beautiful list of resolutions, it no longer fills us with joy. Instead it has transformed into an emotional “stick” with which we hit ourselves.
Zoom Book Tours: 5 Authors on Publishing in a Pandemic
wired.com – Friday January 1, 2021
WRITING A BOOK is a lonely pursuit, one that can take years of solitary work. Selling a book is another story. Authors give talks in cramped storefronts, schmooze at luncheons, and learn to casually discuss their belabored creative project as commercial content. The publicity circuit can be dispiriting, sleazy, and exhausting. It can also be exhilarating, liberating, and fun—a chance for people who spend a lot of time alone with their thoughts to feel like someone’s heard them. This year, releasing a book into the world became another task largely undertaken solo, at home, staring at a screen. The Covid-19 pandemic forced the publishing industry to reimagine its process for convincing people to buy its latest offerings. Even the industry’s fanciest nights, like the National Book Awards gala, took place as digital events, with participants glammed up and sitting at home.
WIRED asked the writers behind five of our favorite 2020 tomes to tell us what it was like to release a book during quarantine. Here’s what they said.
Will the PRH–S&S Combination Be Too Big?
publishersweekly.com – Sunday December 13, 2020
It seemed impossible that the acquisition of Simon & Schuster by Penguin Random House the day before Thanksgiving could be overshadowed by a bigger industry event, but that is what happened when book publishing’s long-running trade show and convention, most recently known as BookExpo, was canceled. As the buzz about the end of BookExpo has cooled down, industry members continue to digest the news of PRH’s pending purchase of S&S, the nation’s largest and third-largest trade book publishers, respectively.
When the acquisition was announced, the Authors Guild, the American Booksellers Association, and the Association of American Literary Agents (formerly the AAR) all issued statements that were critical of the deal. While each organization had a particular take, all shared one thing in common: they were concerned about the increasing consolidation within trade publishing.
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