Do you subscribe to Publishers Weekly Daily Reports? If not, you should. It’s informative and it’s FREE. Go to http://www.publishersweekly.com, scroll down to where you see “Newsletters†on the right. Check the “PW Daily†box.
I promised you resources and that’s resource number one.
In a recent PW Daily Report came this story by Mike Shatzkin called 15 Trends to Watch in 2008. In case you want to backtrack, it arrived in my email box January 8, 2008. He says he’s been in the “biz†for 15 years and these are some of his predictions:
1. The popularity of ebooks will increase. (I think we hear that every year. Can it be true? Are you choosing ebooks over print books, yet?)
2. By Christmas 2008, sales of customized (make your own) books will be substantial.
3. The iPhone and iPod will become ebook readers.
4. Barnes and Noble will become the largest most powerful bookstore around.
5. Publishers will do more Internet marketing of their titles.
6. 2008 will be the year of the author.
Are there any surprises here? Do any of you agree? Disagree?
Resource #2: How many of you are using Google Alerts to stay in the loop with regard to your topic/genre? It’s easy, interesting and FREE. Go to http://www.google.com/alerts and choose your keywords. I use “publishing,†“writing†and “book marketing.†I also have another Google Alert with my name and publishing company name. So when someone blogs about me, quotes me in an article, interviews me, etc., Google alerts me.
Here are some additional resources that you might find useful:
The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. Order through Amazon or http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html Also order The Author’s Workbook. The combo is $28.00.
Sign up for some of my online, on-demand courses at http://www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm My newest course, on book marketing, hasn’t been listed at my site, yet—watch for it.
Okay, enough about me and my contributions to your success.
Join SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) at http://www.spawn.org
Check out other writing/publishing-related sites: Wow-Women on Writing http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com
Publishing Basics http://www.publishingbasics.com
Write for Kids http://www.write4kids.com
Society of American Travel Writers http://www.satw.org
Fiction Factor http://www.fictionfactor.com
Fiction Fix http://www.coffeehouseforwriters.com
Science Fiction Writers of America http://www.sfwa.org
Here are some good newsletters:
SPAWNews (FREE) http://www.spawn.org Click on “Free Newsletter.â€
Book Promotion Newsletter (Annual subscription fee, $7.50) http://www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com
Writers Weekly (Free) http://www.writersweekly.com.
Writing World http://www.writing-world.com
Writing For Dollars http://www.writingfordollars.com
Wooden Horse Publishing Newsletter http://www.woodenhorsepub.com
We all need to check in with a grammar site occasionally. Here are a few:
Bartleby.com http://www.bartleby.com
Daily Grammar http://www.dailygrammar.com
Sharp Writer http://www.sharpwriter.com
Whew, that’s about all my blog site can handle in one fell swoop. Oops, I just looked up the term, “fell swoop†and found another great site. Be sure to visit World Wide Words at http://www.worldwidewords.org
Is there no end to useful and fascinating sites? Actually, no. Yet, I know, from working with clients and responding to authors’ questions that not everyone has the mindset, experience or confidence to do their own research. It’s easy, folks, it’s fun and you will learn so much.
The next time you wonder what constitutes an active sentence, whether your editor is correct in saying to use one space after all punctuation, what’s the definition of self-publishing or how to define the genre of your book, of course, look it up in my book The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. But if your order for this amazing book hasn’t arrived yet, you can always use a search engine such as Google.