How to Write A Book – The Beginner’s Guide
yourmoneygeek.com – Tuesday February 9, 2021
So, you want to write a book…
Well, if you're here, I'm pleased to report you've won half the battle. When it comes to writing a book, or even getting it published, bad advice is everywhere. The same is true for completing a manuscript.
Yet while understanding writing and craft is essential, it won't be the focus of this guide because, in truth, being able to write doesn't guarantee you can finish a book. Neither will binging on those YouTube videos about what Stephen King advises. I can't tell you how many talented writers I've known who can't seem to type The End on a project—alternatively, writers who type those two words too soon.
To truly begin and complete the book the right way, whether you have the goal of self-publishing or getting your work picked up by a traditional publisher (as I was with HarperCollins), you don't need any special writing software or expensive writing tools. No, follow these five simple steps, and you will be on the path of finishing your story.
Exposing Audiblegate
thebookseller.com – Tuesday February 9, 2021
A few months ago, the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi)’s watchdog desk, which which monitors the self-publishing sector, rates the best and worst services, and offers a partner membership to approved services, downgraded Amazon ACX/Audible’s rating as a self-publishing service from "Recommended" to "Caution”.
This was done with a heavy heart. Unlike other publishers, indie authors have good reason to be grateful to Amazon for the tools and platforms that underwrite the author-publishing revolution. That gratitude remains but independent authors know, better than anyone, that Amazon’s publishing platforms are not perfect, and ALLi has always encouraged its members to publish widely through other distributors, aggregators and retailers, and their own websites, as well as Amazon. The ACX platform has been a cause of particular concern for some years, its payment percentages, exclusivity conditions, and licensing terms the worst in the self-publishing sector.
That concern started to intensify in the last quarter of last year, when a company glitch at ACX gave author-publishers a peek behind what had, until then, been a thick curtain of non-transparency.
When do you have enough material to start writing your book?
publishing.artshub.com.au – Monday February 8, 2021
The short answer to this is: you will not know until you try. We assume that writers are the ones who have a drive to write and will turn up at the desk no matter what.
This doesn’t mean that turning up is always easy. Procrastination can be self-doubt in sheep’s clothing. So can the sense that one does not yet have enough material to begin. But ultimately, the only way to know whether you do or don’t have enough material is to start writing.
The fascination with ideas and inspiration is understandable given that without these all-important seeds, a story cannot begin to grow and thrive on the page. Remember, though, the seeds themselves are not the full-grown tree or even the sapling; once you have an idea, you still have plenty of work to do.
Major UK publishers’ ebook sales up 15%
booksandpublishing.com.au – Monday February 8, 2021
In the UK, the top six trade publishers recorded a total 15.5% rise in ebook sales in 2020, the first double-digit percentage bump in seven years, reports the Bookseller.
Collectively, Hachette, Penguin Random House (PRH), HarperCollins, Pan Macmillan, Bloomsbury and Simon & Schuster sold 54.5 million consumer ebooks through UK retailers in 2020, up from the 47.2 million in 2019.
New Literary Agency Listing: The Two Piers Literary Agency
firstwriter.com – Monday February 8, 2021
Literary agency based in Brighton, which represents writers from all over the world and sells their work into the UK, US and international territories. An editorially focused agency that works closely with authors to produce manuscripts that are as strong as they can possibly be before submitting them to publishers.
How to Write a Novel, According to 10 Really Good Novelists
esquire.com – Saturday February 6, 2021
A long, long time ago, back in the first lockdown, you probably told yourself that now – right this moment, in the middle of a pandemic – was the perfect time to conceive, plot, write, revise, rewrite, complete and publish a novel which completely transformed what we thought it was possible to express in the English language.
It wasn't. Obviously it wasn't. You know that now. But even if it turned out a year-long period of isolation and anxiety actually wasn't much good for your inner David Foster Wallace, there's no bad time to start writing. It doesn't really matter if it goes anywhere. Just write something and see where you go.
To help you along, we asked 10 established and emerging writers for the rules of thumb they use to find ideas, to get words onto the page, and to turn an interesting first draft into something more substantial.
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?
Class-Action Lawsuit Alleges Amazon Colluded with Publishers to Fix Ebook Prices
tidbits.com – Saturday February 6, 2021
Remember 2013, when the US Department of Justice and 33 states prevailed in an antitrust suit against Apple and five major publishers? Back then, a common complaint from Apple fans was, “What about Amazon?” Our comprehensive coverage in “Explaining the Apple Ebook Price Fixing Suit” (10 July 2013) pointed out that the case was about Apple’s behavior, not Amazon’s, while also explaining Amazon’s instigating role and suggesting that the online bookseller might face its own antitrust charges.
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.
US magazine Poetry faces outcry for publishing work by sex offender
theguardian.com – Wednesday February 3, 2021
The US’s prestigious Poetry magazine has doubled down on its decision to publish a poem by a convicted sex offender as part of a special edition dedicated to incarcerated poets, telling critics that “it is not our role to further judge or punish [people] as a result of their criminal convictions”.
The magazine, which has been running since 1912 and is published by the Poetry Foundation, has just released its new issue focusing on work by “currently and formerly incarcerated people”, their families and prison workers. It includes a poem by Kirk Nesset, a former professor of English literature who was released from prison last year after serving time for possessing, receiving and distributing child sexual abuse images in 2014. The investigation found Nesset in possession of more than half a million images and films of child sexual abuse.
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