Jerry D. Simmons- contents of July 16, 2009 TIPS FOR WRITERS FROM THE PUBLISHING INSIDER July 16, 2009 -
Information is King -
Figuring out Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/DaveLieber Use Twitter as a real-time search engine. Use tweetbeep.com to get Twitter alerts on search terms the same way you use Google News Alerts. Twitter gives you your own Web site for free. Sending photos.
Are you one of many baffled by Twitter?
At the National Society of Newspaper Columnists (columnists.com) conference in Ventura, Ca.,
I announced to my columnist colleagues, who were mostly Twitterless, that they could read all my reporting and look at my photos of them at the conference by searching on search.twitter.com for the code — #NSNC.
@Pogue I proposed in my newspaper column:
Time involved: About two minutes to send him the answer and another minute to fill out the permission slip for his book. Handled by Twitter, of course.
DaveLieber (his Twitter name) is an investigative columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He is also leader of the Watchdog Nation
Two Parts to Being a Successful Writer -
An Editor’s Lament -
The Publishing Hybrid -
The French detection -
Author Cheryl Kaye Tardif interviews Vikram Narayan from BookBuzzr.com - Hello Vikram, and welcome to The Write Type ~ Multi-Author Musings. We are so happy to have you visit us. Since I’ve used BookBuzzr and fReado.com myself, I can say that you offer a terrific service for authors and their readers. And it’s free!
While editors strive to make an author look really good, once their book hits the public eye, there comes a point where the author needs to “let it go.”
Thanks. Janet’s website is http://www.janetelainesmith.com and if you e-mail her a word count at janetelainesmith@yahoo.com she will give you an exact price quote.
Lately, English-language publishers have developed an unfortunate habit with crime fiction in translation: Instead of starting at the very beginning of a series — as Pantheon did in bringing out the 10-book “Story of Crime” opus by Swedes Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo in the proper sequence — books appear out of order, in haphazard fashion.
Sarah Weinman blogs about crime and mystery fiction at www.sarahweinman.com., her article is excerpted.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Are you a writer? Reader?
What exactly is BookBuzzr and how does it work?
BookBuzzr is a free, online book-marketing technology that can be placed instead of your book-cover image on your author website, Facebook profile and blog. BookBuzzr is more than just a replacement for your book-cover image. It’s a portable author website that allows your book information and extract to be shared on Facebook, Blogs, MySpace and more. So every time a fan of yours decides to post your book-widget on his or her blog, your entire information (including where to buy and buzz about your book) becomes available there. It’s like your business card on the Internet!
To read the rest of this interview and to view a sample BookBuzzr, please visit The Write Type.
The INDI Publishing Group - William Faulkner’s first novel, Soldier’s Pay barely sold when it was released in 1926. Neither did Saul Bellow’s in 1944, Kurt Vonnegut’s in 1952, Cormac McCarthy’s in 1965, or David Foster Wallace’s in 1987. All of these books garnered tepid reviews and bare-minimum sales. Ever since Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1828 debut sold so poorly that the author burned the remaining copies out of embarrassment, flopped first novels have been an American tradition.
Publishers have typically taken the long view, expending great effort and bushels of money to keep struggling authors writing away for years, banking on the hope of eventual literary success. It is to this dedication that we owe America’s status as one of the great literary pillars of the world. Now, that dedication is faltering, and with it, the future of the great American novel. But it’s not too late to save the novel.
Random House or Harper Collins would never deliberately cut loose the next Faulkner, of course. But it’s not hard to imagine a poor and struggling but brilliant and promising young author living in, say, the lower Mississippi Delta, able neither to scrape by on bare-minimum advances nor to keep the attention of a publisher now desperate for quick successes. With publishers cutting back, there is a risk that we might lose the next Faulkner without even knowing we’ve lost him. And that risk is real.
Commentary - My Article in Writer’s Digest - Writing Society Holds Annual Conference - The Society of Southwestern Authors, one of the oldest and most respected writers’ groups in the nation, is holding its 36th annual Wrangling With Writing conference on September 26-27, 2009, in Tucson.
Workshops covering writing and marketing, and individual interviews with agents, editors, publishers and producers soliciting manuscripts and screenplays, are the main thrust of the conference, along with agent and editor panel discussions.
New to the conference this year is a playwriting contest. Members of the Society’s Readers Theater will present the top three finalists of the contest; audience vote will decide the winner. Three finalists will receive free admission, including hotel accommodations, and prize money.
Conference information can be found at www.wranglingwithwriting.com, or emailing ccstarlit@aol.com, or judejb@comcast.net.
Tips From Madison Avenue: The Selling Synopsis -
If you’ve ever had trouble writing a synopsis, here’s a hint: pretend you’re writing an ad. An advertising copywriter for 25 years, Laurie Schnebly Campbell found that the same skills which helped her sell bikes, bouquets and burgers to the public also helped her sell book ideas to her publisher.
Discover how to use those “Madison Avenue” techniques to interest editor and/or agent “buyers” in YOUR product!
For details, email SynopsisInc-owner@yahoogroups.com — that’s
SynopsisInc (hyphen) owner @ yahoogroups dot com
The Desert Sleuths Chapter of Sisters in Crime promises another fabulous summer conference on Saturday, August 15th, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Stonecreek Golf Club located at 4435 – E Paradise Village Parkway, just two blocks south of Paradise Valley Mall.
The 2009 faculty and topics include: noted local novelist, Fred Ramsay, Heroes and victims; Professor Jane Bock of Colorado, Diagnosing the Damage; retired FBI agent, private investigator and novelist, Ernie Patino, Vilest Villains and Shadiest Suspects; crime scene analysis expert, Tracie Fife, Deconstructing the Crime Scene; bestselling author and creative writing instructor, Connie Flynn, The Perfect Plot and Clever Conclusion; and publisher/owner of Poisoned Pen Press, Rob Rosenwald, Capturing Your Audience.
Come and experience the most informative writing and publishing event ever packed into a single day, plus breakfast pastries, coffee, an elegant served lunch, and an opportunity to mix and mingle with six of the finest authorities in the industry. Be sure to browse the books available for signing by our guest speakers.
The Sisters have a surprise for you this year! For more information: 480-614-5318 or DesertSleuths@gmail.com Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=44410301983
INDI Publishing Group Author of What Every Writer Needs to Know About Publishing Also available as an eBookPreparing Writers for Successwww.WritersReaders.com www.NothingBinding.com
Creating Opportunities for Writers
Introducing Emerging Writers to a Global Audience
Please accept the fact that this newsletter is not edited. There may on occasion be grammatical, syntax, and spelling errors. I acknowledge the fact and apologize. You may quote from or use any of the information, all or in part, under the conditions that: (1) The republication is not resold or used for any other commercial use, and (2) The author, Jerry D. Simmons and website WritersReaders.com are prominently referenced. All written material 2009ÓJerry D. Simmons & Writers Readers. If you find my newsletter helpful, please forward to a friend, colleague or family member who happens to be a writer. If they would like their own copy, send an email, jerry@writersreaders.com. With your sign-up I’ll send you my 18-page eBook titled
“What Writers Need to Know About Marketing.” WRITE NOW, 2009! Crafting the Perfect Crime…Novel August 3-28, $30 on yahoo groups http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SynopsisInc/In the July/August issue titled “Your Step-by-Step Guide to the Publishing Process,” only $5.99 at the newsstand. Or if you want the expanded version with plenty of background and added features, for only $14 more you can buy my book What Writers Need to Know About Publishing available only at WritersReaders.com Bookstore page. While this newsletter does not subscribe to the views of all articles posted here, I think it’s important to offer a variety of opinions. The decline of good fiction and failure of big publishers to take chances on possibly the next Faulkner is a problem. However I’m not sure tax incentives are the answer. My belief if that the biggest publishers must examine their business model and stop paying huge advances that take away resources from other areas of their business such as the launch of new author fiction.
Give Struggling Authors a Chance – by Max Fisher for The Atlantic We are searching for the very best manuscripts available–become a part of our new group, we are publishing the highest quality independent books on the market. Send an email for submission requirements to jerry@writersreaders.com.
By Sarah Weinman LA Times Book Section Combining the experience and personal guidance of someone who worked with hundreds of bestselling authors and thousands of bestselling titles; with the ownership, rights and control of publishing your own manuscript–and you have the newest model in publishing, the INDI Publishing Group. For more information about what we are doing, send me an email, jerry@writersreaders.com.
By Janet Elaine SmithWatchdogNation.com) which shows Americans how to stand up for themselves against corporate thievery and other frauds aimed at good people. If you sign up and follow him on Twitter (and direct message him your Jerry D. Simmons connection), he’ll follow you in return. Fun, eh?At the INDI Publishing Group we provide you with all the guidance you need. For more information send an email, Jerry@writersreaders.com. If you do decide to use your Twitter account, you can add photos to your 140-character feeds. Most people don’t know that. Twitpic, a free download, allows you to take photos and then upload to your Twitter feed, even with a cell phone camera. Mine is: http://www.twitter.com/DaveLieber. Even without a Twitter account, go to search.twitter.com and type in a search word or terms. By Dave Lieber
When I started this newsletter four years ago, I had no expectations other than to share information with writers. Since that time my list of readers has grown substantially and I’m proud to say I have a worldwide audience. My purpose is to share with you what I feel are important issues in the business of publishing. Regardless of how you publish or whether or not you are a published author, it is extremely important to understand the marketplace and issues of book publishing. I try my best to bring you important information on a variety of topics that may not impact you directly, but is having an profound impact on the industry at large. In the coming weeks you will see changes to this newsletter. In the meantime, please enjoy what I bring you every two weeks and I welcome your comments. Thank you. TIPS for WRITERS from the PUBLISHING INSIDER. This eNewsletter is published by Jerry D. Simmons and WritersReaders.com where we take pride in preparing writers for success.
