Writing and Publishing News

Check out my article in the February 2009 edition of Publishing Basics. This one features “What You Need to Know About Publishing BEFORE Getting Involved.” http://www.publishingbasics.com

There are several additional articles that might be of interest to you, including: “Publishing Industry – Change or be Damned” by Mick Rooney; “8 Questions to Ask Yourself in a Recession” by Wendy Weiss; “Turning a Book Into a Movie” by Jeffrey Taylor; “How to Sell Your Own Self-Published Books” by C.F. Jackson and “What are the Realistic Chances of a Memoir Being Successful?” by Paul J. Krupin.

Do you take the time to seek out and read articles in your area of interest? You really should. Articles don’t take much time to read. They put information, stats, facts and ideas in a nutshell for you. They update you on what’s happening in your genre or topic or in publishing in general. They give you the opportunity to explore different perspectives related to your genre, theme or the whole writing, publishing and/or book marketing scene.

The question is, can you afford not to read those pertinent newsletters you subscribe to? Can you risk not seeking out and reading articles and other material in your area of interest? In this competitive world of publishing, I’d say you cannot. You must not.

You probably often hear of informative blogs in your area of interest—in your book’s topic and/or genre. But do you visit them? You are aware of and maybe even receive a variety of related newsletters. But do you take the time to read them?

Sure you’re busy. I’m busy. We’re all busy. But it doesn’t make sense to be too busy to take the steps necessary to realize your dream of publishing success. If you truly want to help or entertain the masses through your self-help book or your novel you must stay informed about your field and publishing in general. If you are not selling the number of books you had envisioned—if you are at a loss as to how to complete your book and become published, you can’t afford to remain uninformed.

So how does a busy author or hopeful author choose which articles and blogs are important to his or her success? That’s a sort of hit and miss, trial and error situation. I quickly check titles and authors and select those pieces I want to study based on the topic and the expertise of the author.

And where does one find time to read them? I print out those that I think (or know) I want to read, stack them up and read them in the evening in front of the TV while keeping one eye on the news. Or I might set aside time a few days a week in the quiet of the early morning and read them over coffee. Some authors I know carry articles and newsletters in their purses or briefcases and read them while on the bus, waiting for their kids at school, sitting in the doctor’s office, etc. Many frequent travelers, read these on the plane and in airports.

I often hear from authors who are at a real loss for how to improve their book sales. They feel stumped/blocked. Invariably, these authors are not taking time to study the opportunities within their fields or industries. They do not seek material that will give them the ideas and resources they need in order to better promote their books.

Here’s your assignment this weekend:

• Visit those blogs and sites you are aware of related to your book’s theme or genre or, if you are in the process of publishing, visit blogs and sites related to writing and publishing. Print out any material that might be useful in your situation. Subscribe to any available newsletters that address your needs. (You can always cancel later if the newsletter isn’t to your liking.)

• Seek out new blogs and sites related to the theme or genre of your book or the process of writing or publishing. Follow the same procedure as above.

• Take time to review all of the material you have printed out. Note or bookmark those sites and blogs you want to visit again, those newsletters you found useful and those authors you like. And then do so once a week, for example.

• Highlight those items, resources and ideas you found valuable and follow up on them.

• Comment here at this blog letting us know what you got out of this activity.

If you do a thorough and pointed search and study, I can almost guarantee you that you will locate some vital information you can use toward the promotion or publishing of your book, that you will find some good resources you were not aware of and that your effort will result in greater success, whatever success means to you.

Let me tell you about a resource that provides enormous opportunities for publishing or promoting your book, placing your screenplay or enhancing your freelance writing career, for example. The SPAWN Market Update is a newsletter for SPAWN members only. As a member of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network), you have access to the member only area where each month, you will be treated to a fresh edition of the SPAWN Market Update. This 9 to 12 pages newsletter is jam-packed, each month, with opportunities and resources for those seeking publication of a book, screenplay, art, photography or articles/stories, for example. We often provide lists of directories which offer hundreds of book review opportunities, agent listings, publishers, book festivals, writer’s conferences, etc. We give you the information and the tools so that you can conduct your own such searches.

We also provide years of SPAWN Market Update archives and a handy search feature so you can seek the exact information you desire.

Join SPAWN at http://www.spawn.org. It’s $45/year. If you want to know more about SPAWN, which is a 12-year-old networking organization, before you join, sign up for our FREE enewsletter, SPAWNews. Yes, we have two (2) newsletters. While SPAWNews is valuable on many levels, the one we keep secured in the member only area, the SPAWN Market Update, is the unlike any other out there when it comes to value to the author, artists, photographer, screenplay writer, poet or freelance writer.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009 at 7:39 am and is filed under Book Promotion, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.