Jane Friedman's Blog: Jane Friedman, page 224
February 16, 2011
Excellent Online Learning Opportunities (Free + Paid)
[image error]
There are so many interesting opportunities coming up for online education that I
wanted to take a moment to round them up!
FREE: The Evolution of Self-Publishing webcast, brought to you by Digital Book
World and Publishers Weekly. Feb. 22. Go
register here.
Building Your Author
Platform, a new 8-week online course by publishing professional Dan Blank. It's
$799, so it may not be affordable for everyone. (Your next best affordable option
is Christina Katz's book, GET
KNOWN BEFORE THE BOOK DEAL.)
Do
Your E-Book Right, presented by yours truly, on Feb. 24 ($79). The best part is
that I take Q&A and any questions I can't answer during the session still get
a follow-up response via e-mail. You also get access to the recording of the session
for a full year.
Crafting
Fiction & Memoir That Sells, presented by agent Andrea Hurst, on March 3.
Includes critique of your first page.
FREE: Finally, you can live-stream
sessions from the Tools of Change conference today. TOC is on the cutting edge
of what's happening in the industry today. Even if you can't watch live, recorded
sessions are made available on YouTube and via podcast.
[image error]
February 15, 2011
How to Meaningfully Grow Traffic to Your Site/Blog
[image error]
It's a problem that every new blog or website faces in its early days—or every day
(!): How to get readers (also called traffic).
There are a few well-worn pieces of advice in this area, such as:
Comment on other people's blogs. Virtually all comment systems ask you to leave your
name and site URL. If you leave valuable comments, people may visit your site.
Link to other people's blogs frequently and meaningfully. If you link to someone,
and you send them significant traffic, they're going to notice! They might link to
you one day, or pay attention to your work if you're within the same community.
Add your URL to your e-mail signature, business card, book, etc.
Offer guest posts on sites/blogs with more traffic than your own.
Be active on relevant community sites, which can interest people in what you're doing,
which can lead to visits to your site/blog.
Ask for a link trade, where others agree to permanently link to your site/blog in
their blogroll, and you return the favor on your own site. (This is by far a less
popular method nowadays; it's pushy and can damage credibility if you don't believe
in the links you're sharing. Better for this to happen naturally, over time.)
Be active across social media and alert people when you have a new post. (And/or make
sure your URL is clearly listed on every social media profile.)
Your mileage will vary on No. 7 depending on your social media presence, how savvy
you are, and if you're reaching out in the right areas.
But I'm a strong believer in the breadcrumb method, where you have accounts on multiple
community sites. That's because you never know how people might find you, and the
more doorways you have leading to your site, the more traffic you will get over time.
Even if you're not active or devoted to a particular community site or social media
channel, you can still appear to be active if you adjust the settings in your favor.
To help explain, let me show you where my site or blog traffic comes from, then explain
how that traffic happens.
Here are 5 key, continuing sources of traffic for this blog
(No Rules) in the past year—aside from search engines and direct traffic.
1. TWITTER
[image error]
Both Writer's Digest and I have
active presences on Twitter (130K and 50K followers, respectively). When a link is
broadcast that a new post is up, it reaches thousands of people initially, and then
thousands more through retweets and mentions.
2. FACEBOOK
[image error]
New blog posts are automatically fed onto my Facebook personal page, as well as the
Writer's Digest fan page (without any help from me, because it works through NetworkedBlogs).
Other people also commonly post links to my blog content on their own Facebook walls.
3. WRITERSDIGEST.COM
There's a permanent link to all Writer's Digest blogs on the homepage,
and it's a consistent driver of traffic to No Rules.
4. BLOGGER MENTIONS (and permanent bloggers' links)
When taken individually, one person's blog or site may send just a handful of visits
per day or week. But when you multiply that effect by dozens or hundreds of bloggers,
that's a huge impact. But you only get to enjoy this dynamic if you're blogging for
the long haul. It rarely happens overnight.
5. STUMBLEUPON
To tell the truth, this is one site where I am not active, and only recently did
I even start an account. But over time, this site has started sending MORE traffic
my way as my most popular posts are tagged and catalogued. (Right now, this
controversial post that's tagged is sending me a few dozen visits a day from StumbleUpon.)
Some other important sources of traffic this past year have been Writer Unboxed (where
I offer guest posts) and Alltop, where this blog
is catalogued as part of the writing and publishing pages.
--
Here are the top 5 sources of traffic for my personal site
(JaneFriedman.com) in the past month. They constitute
about 80% of my traffic.
1. THERE ARE NO RULES (this blog)
This make sense since NO RULES is where I focus most of my time and energy in producing
new content. I rarely link to my personal site in my posts. Instead, it's a static
link on the lefthand sidebar if people want to know more about me.
2. GOOGLE (organic search)
[image error]
The No. 1 search term that brings people to my site is "Jane Friedman." I am probably
attracting a considerable number of visits from people looking for The Other Jane
Friedman.
3. TWITTER
[image error]
Traffic from Twitter comes from 3 areas:
from the static URL on my Twitter profile (see above)
from the tweets I send with links
from the retweets and mentions from my followers
4. DIRECT VISITS
These visits are from people who have bookmarked my page, click on direct links from
e-mail notifications, or otherwise type in "JaneFriedman.com."
5. FACEBOOK
Traffic from Facebook comes from
3 areas:
from the static URL on my profile page
from the links I post to my site
from the links other people post to my site
Some of my biggest traffic bumps happen when a major Facebook group posts a link to
my series, When Mom
Was My Age—which shows you the value of consistent series or features on your
site/blog.
--
If you look at the long tail of my site traffic—on this blog
as well as my personal site—I'm getting a significant number of visitors, over a year's
span, from:
Various Google referrals (from things like my Google
Profile, Google Reader
Shared Items, and so on)
LinkedIn
GoodReads
PublishersMarketplace
FriendFeed
YouTube
Disqus
Does it take me any effort to get this traffic?
No. I simply make sure that I use all settings and opportunities for auto-updating,
when applicable.
Take my LinkedIn profile as
an example. I don't spend time on this site. But I'm "active." See below; the top
red arrow points to my Twitter updates, which are automatically fed into my profile
and provide constantly refreshed information about what I'm doing. I don't lift a
finger.
The bottom arrow points to a mash-up of things I've told LinkedIn to report, based
on my other activity online.
[image error]
On LinkedIn, I also feed in my blogs, which appear under my profile summary.
[image error]
This keeps me active on the site without requiring my time. Look for these types of
feeds and settings on every site you use!
This is why I give the appearance of being everywhere at once, while really just
focusing my energy on a few things: my professional blog, Twitter, Facebook.
Why those 3?
Because those places give me the most return on my investment of time and energy.
Everyone's results will be different, though, which is why you absolutely must find
out where your site traffic comes from. (Use
Google Analytics to get started.)
People will find you in a hundred different ways, and it's more important than ever
to have your own site—so you can direct people to your "home," where readers and community
influencers have an opportunity to find out where you're most active, and choose their
preferred means of staying updated.
I can guarantee that after this post, I'll have a lot of people joining me on Facebook
or LinkedIn because they didn't realize I was there!
And that's a good thing.
[image error]
It's a problem that every new blog or website faces in its early days—or every day
(!): How to get readers (also called traffic).
There are a few well-worn pieces of advice in this area, such as:
Comment on other people's blogs. Virtually all comment systems ask you to leave your
name and site URL. If you leave valuable comments, people may visit your site.
Link to other people's blogs frequently and meaningfully. If you link to someone,
and you send them significant traffic, they're going to notice! They might link to
you one day, or pay attention to your work if you're within the same community.
Add your URL to your e-mail signature, business card, book, etc.
Offer guest posts on sites/blogs with more traffic than your own.
Be active on relevant community sites, which can interest people in what you're doing,
which can lead to visits to your site/blog.
Ask for a link trade, where others agree to permanently link to your site/blog in
their blogroll, and you return the favor on your own site. (This is by far a less
popular method nowadays; it's pushy and can damage credibility if you don't believe
in the links you're sharing. Better for this to happen naturally, over time.)
Be active across social media and alert people when you have a new post. (And/or make
sure your URL is clearly listed on every social media profile.)
Your mileage will vary on No. 7 depending on your social media presence, how savvy
you are, and if you're reaching out in the right areas.
But I'm a strong believer in the breadcrumb method, where you have accounts on multiple
community sites. That's because you never know how people might find you, and the
more doorways you have leading to your site, the more traffic you will get over time.
Even if you're not active or devoted to a particular community site or social media
channel, you can still appear to be active if you adjust the settings in your favor.
To help explain, let me show you where my site or blog traffic comes from, then explain
how that traffic happens.
Here are 5 key, continuing sources of traffic for this blog
(No Rules) in the past year—aside from search engines and direct traffic.
1. TWITTER
[image error]
Both Writer's Digest and I have
active presences on Twitter (130K and 50K followers, respectively). When a link is
broadcast that a new post is up, it reaches thousands of people initially, and then
thousands more through retweets and mentions.
2. FACEBOOK
[image error]
New blog posts are automatically fed onto my Facebook personal page, as well as the
Writer's Digest fan page (without any help from me, because it works through NetworkedBlogs).
Other people also commonly post links to my blog content on their own Facebook walls.
3. WRITERSDIGEST.COM
There's a permanent link to all Writer's Digest blogs on the homepage,
and it's a consistent driver of traffic to No Rules.
4. BLOGGER MENTIONS (and permanent bloggers' links)
When taken individually, one person's blog or site may send just a handful of visits
per day or week. But when you multiply that effect by dozens or hundreds of bloggers,
that's a huge impact. But you only get to enjoy this dynamic if you're blogging for
the long haul. It rarely happens overnight.
5. STUMBLEUPON
To tell the truth, this is one site where I am not active, and only recently did
I even start an account. But over time, this site has started sending MORE traffic
my way as my most popular posts are tagged and catalogued. (Right now, this
controversial post that's tagged is sending me a few dozen visits a day from StumbleUpon.)
Some other important sources of traffic this past year have been Writer Unboxed (where
I offer guest posts) and Alltop, where this blog
is catalogued as part of the writing and publishing pages.
--
Here are the top 5 sources of traffic for my personal site
(JaneFriedman.com) in the past month. They constitute
about 80% of my traffic.
1. THERE ARE NO RULES (this blog)
This make sense since NO RULES is where I focus most of my time and energy in producing
new content. I rarely link to my personal site in my posts. Instead, it's a static
link on the lefthand sidebar if people want to know more about me.
2. GOOGLE (organic search)
[image error]
The No. 1 search term that brings people to my site is "Jane Friedman." I am probably
attracting a considerable number of visits from people looking for The Other Jane
Friedman.
3. TWITTER
[image error]
Traffic from Twitter comes from 3 areas:
from the static URL on my Twitter profile (see above)
from the tweets I send with links
from the retweets and mentions from my followers
4. DIRECT VISITS
These visits are from people who have bookmarked my page, click on direct links from
e-mail notifications, or otherwise type in "JaneFriedman.com."
5. FACEBOOK
Traffic from Facebook comes from
3 areas:
from the static URL on my profile page
from the links I post to my site
from the links other people post to my site
Some of my biggest traffic bumps happen when a major Facebook group posts a link to
my series, When Mom
Was My Age—which shows you the value of consistent series or features on your
site/blog.
--
If you look at the long tail of my site traffic—on this blog
as well as my personal site—I'm getting a significant number of visitors, over a year's
span, from:
Various Google referrals (from things like my Google
Profile, Google Reader
Shared Items, and so on)
GoodReads
PublishersMarketplace
FriendFeed
YouTube
Disqus
Does it take me any effort to get this traffic?
No. I simply make sure that I use all settings and opportunities for auto-updating,
when applicable.
Take my LinkedIn profile as
an example. I don't spend time on this site. But I'm "active." See below; the top
red arrow points to my Twitter updates, which are automatically fed into my profile
and provide constantly refreshed information about what I'm doing. I don't lift a
finger.
The bottom arrow points to a mash-up of things I've told LinkedIn to report, based
on my other activity online.
[image error]
On LinkedIn, I also feed in my blogs, which appear under my profile summary.
[image error]
This keeps me active on the site without requiring my time. Look for these types of
feeds and settings on every site you use!
This is why I give the appearance of being everywhere at once, while really just
focusing my energy on a few things: my professional blog, Twitter, Facebook.
Why those 3?
Because those places give me the most return on my investment of time and energy.
Everyone's results will be different, though, which is why you absolutely must find
out where your site traffic comes from. (Use
Google Analytics to get started.)
People will find you in a hundred different ways, and it's more important than ever
to have your own site—so you can direct people to your "home," where readers and community
influencers have an opportunity to find out where you're most active, and choose their
preferred means of staying updated.
I can guarantee that after this post, I'll have a lot of people joining me on Facebook
or LinkedIn because they didn't realize I was there!
And that's a good thing.
[image error]
February 14, 2011
Worksheets for Writing a Novel in 30 Days
[image error]
If you think writing a book in a month is an irrational pursuit, you're kind of right.
Sometimes we have to do crazy things to get headed down the right path.
A 30-day challenge can motivate you to do what you've put off for far too long: dedicating
yourself to writing (no more excuses!).
In a special newsstand-only issue that I developed, Write Your Novel in 30 Days,
I selected the best content that Writer's Digest has to offer on novel writing.
This guide is helpful for any beginning-to-intermediate fiction writer. Even if you
don't want to write a book in 30 days, the guide offers milestones and worksheets
that can help you no matter what your time frame is like. Here are 3 possible ways
to use the guide:
off the newsstand (available through April 10, 2011). Eventually, it will be available
for sale through Writer's Digest Shop.
Worksheets included in the guide:
Story Tracker (Act I, II, III)
Story Idea Map
Scene Card
At-a-Glance Outline
Character Sketch
Character-Revealing Scenes
Climax
Closing & Denouement
Reversal Brainstorm
If you'd like to
preview or download the worksheets included in the guide, click here.
[image error]
If you think writing a book in a month is an irrational pursuit, you're kind of right.
Sometimes we have to do crazy things to get headed down the right path.
A 30-day challenge can motivate you to do what you've put off for far too long: dedicating
yourself to writing (no more excuses!).
In a special newsstand-only issue that I developed, Write Your Novel in 30 Days,
I selected the best content that Writer's Digest has to offer on novel writing.
This guide is helpful for any beginning-to-intermediate fiction writer. Even if you
don't want to write a book in 30 days, the guide offers milestones and worksheets
that can help you no matter what your time frame is like. Here are 3 possible ways
to use the guide:
1. Start a new project and finish in 30You can buy Write Your Novel in 30 Days at your nearest bookstore,
days
You don't have to prep if you don't want to—especially if you've been contemplating
a specific story idea for a while, and just need motivation to start. The 30-day calendar
inside this guide helps you begin outlining on Day 1, and integrates a few key steps
into your first week that builds a framework for a successful story line.
2. Prepare (a little) before you embark on the program
Before you mark Day 1 of your writing, you can use this guide to create realistic
goals and identify the kind of story you want to write. Several outlining methods
are also reviewed if you like to go into the writing process with an excellent road
map.
3. Revise an existing manuscript
You can still use the 30-day method, and complete all the worksheets in the guide
to help uncover potential problems in your story. James Scott Bell's Ultimate Revision
Checklist helps you create a comprehensive revision plan.
off the newsstand (available through April 10, 2011). Eventually, it will be available
for sale through Writer's Digest Shop.
Worksheets included in the guide:
Story Tracker (Act I, II, III)
Story Idea Map
Scene Card
At-a-Glance Outline
Character Sketch
Character-Revealing Scenes
Climax
Closing & Denouement
Reversal Brainstorm
If you'd like to
preview or download the worksheets included in the guide, click here.
[image error]
February 13, 2011
Best Tweets for Writers (week ending 2/11/11)
[image error]
I watch Twitter, so you don't have to. Visit each Sunday for the week's best Tweets.
If I missed a great Tweet, leave it in the Comments. Want to know about the best stuff
I read each week? Click
here to subscribe to my shared items.
Quick plug: check out these live, online classes from Writer's Digest:
Drive
Your Own Book Sales: Marketing Strategies for Authors, presented by Guy Gonzalez,
on Feb. 17
Do
Your E-Book Right, presented by yours truly, on Feb. 24.
Crafting
Fiction & Memoir That Sells, presented by agent Andrea Hurst, on March 3.
Includes critique of your first page.
How
to Write a Dynamite Mystery or Thriller That Sells, presented by Elizabeth Sims,
on April 14. Includes critique of your first page.
Best of the Best
"Is the future of physical book publishing
the same as the future of reading and writing?"
@danielnester
@DigiBookWorld
Things you can do if your book is not selling so well
[great discussion in the comments]
@GuidoHenkel
"I am leaning toward telling new writers to self-publish
rather than go to Big Publishing"
@kristinerusch
[Critical must-read]
Getting Published + Agents/Editors
How Much Editing Does a Contracted Book Need?Craft + Technique
@BubbleCow
Interesting, long discussion of whether the art of
editing has been lost
@twliterary
Why an agent can judge your book from your query letter
@dirtywhitecandy
This post by @ColleenLindsay is still the definitive
guide to fiction word counts. Bookmark it!
@RachelleGardner
How to Learn Story Structure in Two MinutesPublishing News + Trends
or Less
@elizabethscraig
The Scene Conflict Worksheet - Developing Tension in
Your Novel
@elizabethscraig
Plotting Made Easy - The Complications Worksheet
@elizabethscraig
Is there hope for small bookstores in
a digital age? - USATODAY.com
@inkyelbows
Will Authors Become The New Fiction Gate Keepers?
@jafurtado
Live Stream & Video: O'Reilly Tools of Change for
Publishing Conference
@thewritermama
Documenting the Fall of Borders Through Its E-Mail
Newsletters [funny & sad]
@thoughtcatalog
Neil Gaman (@neilhimself) talks about how piracy
helped sell his books
@eBookNewser
Q&A with @r_nash on the eve of his SXSW panel: "The
e-book is transitional, a slavish mirroring of the physical book"
@PublishersWkly
Social Media
Tips for Writers: How To Use Social
Media & More
@thewritermama
Websites + Blogs
Don't Go It Alone: Relationship-building
for Bloggers
@nickdaws
Starting Your First Blog? 29 Tips, Tutorials and Resources
for New Bloggers (a ProBlogger Classic)
@problogger
Self-Publishing + E-Publishing
Digital Book World, 'PW' Present FREE Self-Publishing
Webcast
@PublishersWkly
Best selling trade-pubbed author Alisa Valdes
explains why she's experimenting w/self-pubbing
@victoriastrauss
Amanda Hocking sold 450k+ of 9 YA paranormal books last month, virtually all electronic
@publisherswkly
Ebook Madness: Don't Confuse Ebook Conversion With Ebook
Formatting!
@indieauthor
Fair Value? 7 Tips on How to Price Your Digital Products
@AlistBlogging
Pricing digital content
@chrisbrogan
The Writing Life
Quick & easy recipes for writers
lost in a writing project--great new @HTMLGIANT feature
@GalleyCat
Reading in the Age of Screens
@pubperspectives
It's Time To Kill Multi-Tasking
@the99percent
@justinemusk
@EmilyMandel on authors dealing w bad reviews is the
best thing I've ever read on the subject.
@WeeGee
Looking for more?
Want to know about the best stuff I read each week?
Click here to subscribe
to my shared items.
Follow me on Twitter (@JaneFriedman)
List of Tweeps most
often included in weekly Best Tweets for Writers (always under development)
Follow Writer's Digest editors on Twitter: @writersdigest @brianklems @robertleebrewer @jessicastrawser @chucksambuchino @psexton1 @kellymesserly
Become a fan at the Writer's Digest Facebook
page (nearly 10K fans)
[image error]
February 11, 2011
The Evolution of Reading
[image error]
Today's guest post is from writer Susan Cushman, a monthly regular here at NO RULES.
You can also find Susan over at A Good
Blog Is Hard to Find and Pen
and Palette. (Pictured above: Herman King, Doug McLain, Sonny Brewer and
Susan Cushman on the square in Oxford, Mississippi.)
--
It all started over lunch
at Ajax on the square in Oxford, Mississippi, on December 3. Sonny
Brewer had just given a signing and reading from his anthology, Don't
Quit Your Day Job at Off Square Books. Herman King, Doug McLain and I were
thrilled when he agreed to join us for lunch.
The conversation quickly turned to the future of publishing, specifically to the e-book.
Sonny talked about this future in terms of the good news and the bad news:
a publishing CEO, and an independent bookseller for their take on the situation. Here's
what I rounded up:
Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson
Hyatt had a great post on his blog on January 11, in which he wrote about Six
eBook Trends to Watch in 2011, which include bundled books, social reading, e-book
clubs, e-first publishing, free e-readers, and monetization experiments.
He closed the post with these words: "Regardless of how it plays out, I am more optimistic
than ever about the future of reading. I can't imagine a time in history when I would
rather be in the publishing business."
Agent Jeff Kleinman, Folio Literary
Management
Here' what Jeff had to say:
Neil White, author of In the Sanctuary
of Outcasts
Neil runs a small publishing business in
Taylor, Mississippi. He's optimistic about the growing options readers have:
Jessica Handler, author of Invisible
Sisters
Jessica's memoir was a Kindle "Mover and Shaker" the summer it came out. Here's what
Jessica has to say:
John Evans, owner of Lemuria
Books
John, based in Jackson, Mississippi, also has a vision. I sat down with John (and
a cold beer) on January 26 to talk shop about the industry, the same night I met Jeanette
Walls, who
was at Lemuria for a book signing. John's take on the future?
And what if they don't?
Techno-madness, monetization experiments, digital innovations, mass chaos—all exciting
elements of the evolution of reading. Authors and readers: how are you preparing for
the future of publishing?
--
Susan Cushman was co-director of the 2010 Creative Nonfiction Conference (Oxford,
Mississippi) and a panelist at the 2009 Southern Women Writers Conference. She lives
in Memphis, where she is currently working on a novel and a nonfiction book. Follow
Susan on Twitter.
[image error]
Today's guest post is from writer Susan Cushman, a monthly regular here at NO RULES.
You can also find Susan over at A Good
Blog Is Hard to Find and Pen
and Palette. (Pictured above: Herman King, Doug McLain, Sonny Brewer and
Susan Cushman on the square in Oxford, Mississippi.)
--
It all started over lunch
at Ajax on the square in Oxford, Mississippi, on December 3. Sonny
Brewer had just given a signing and reading from his anthology, Don't
Quit Your Day Job at Off Square Books. Herman King, Doug McLain and I were
thrilled when he agreed to join us for lunch.
The conversation quickly turned to the future of publishing, specifically to the e-book.
Sonny talked about this future in terms of the good news and the bad news:
More and more, the dialog will go like this:
"Read any good books lately?"
"Sure."
"Text file, or real book?"
"Well, I read a text file on my Kindle on a trip to DC, and I read one-and-a-half
books at home. I'll finish the book I started as a text file on my stay at the beach
next week."
And that is as it is, and as it shallSonny's words prompted me to ask a few published authors, an agent,
be—more and more.
Remember car phones? They ain't ancient history, dear hearts.
Trying to stop this change to our business while trying to preserve what we grew up
on has the same chance of success as telling the white man not to go West. (I did
not say "this change to reading.")
The dust cloud of change is not on the horizon any more. We're breathing it, wiping
it from our glasses, brushing it from our shirts. Storefront booksellers, and fewer
of them, will sell hardcover first editions. Paperbacks will disappear.
Many authors will go straight to digital format; many will demand a split ticket;
advances against royalties will become extinct. Good news and bad news, for sure.
a publishing CEO, and an independent bookseller for their take on the situation. Here's
what I rounded up:
Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson
Hyatt had a great post on his blog on January 11, in which he wrote about Six
eBook Trends to Watch in 2011, which include bundled books, social reading, e-book
clubs, e-first publishing, free e-readers, and monetization experiments.
He closed the post with these words: "Regardless of how it plays out, I am more optimistic
than ever about the future of reading. I can't imagine a time in history when I would
rather be in the publishing business."
Agent Jeff Kleinman, Folio Literary
Management
Here' what Jeff had to say:
I think it's a little disingenuous when authors,
editors, and readers whine that all this new gadgetry is a huge mistake—that nobody
can read on one of those itsy-bitsy screens, that the printed book, with all of those
luscious paper pages, is the 'most perfect' form that ought to convey their golden
prose.
The reality is that writers,
like software designers, are simply providing information, and the new digital innovations
may be a way that the writers' words can reach a much wider audience—people who never
picked up a book in their life, or people who thought reading was somehow inferior
to video games and movies. The question now is not whether or not there will be books;
the question is, rather, what rights to what content should appear in what venue.
Should this writer's work be a print book? A multimedia app? An audio creation? All
three? Something new? It's a really extraordinary, exciting time to be in this
business!
Neil White, author of In the Sanctuary
of Outcasts
Neil runs a small publishing business in
Taylor, Mississippi. He's optimistic about the growing options readers have:
I came to love the fax machine, cable television,
CDs, the Internet, e-mail, on-demand movies, satellite radio and the like. I will,
at some point, embrace the e-book. But I don't think it will replace the printed book
in my lifetime.
I see e-books as hugely beneficial in replacing bulking, expensive textbooks (and
those heavy backpacks). Then, I see it coming in very handy when you need a book now.
And, when the price of e-books come down, I imagine readers buying up dozens of e-books
at a time (much like music) just in case he or she might want to read it later.
I believe publishers will continue
to print hardcover and paperback copies of well-crafted stories. The press runs might
be a bit lower (they already are, truth be known), but that makes them a bit more
valuable, too. Just like we watch film on the big screen, television, computers, tablets,
and even phones, we'll see our reading public having many options.
Jessica Handler, author of Invisible
Sisters
Jessica's memoir was a Kindle "Mover and Shaker" the summer it came out. Here's what
Jessica has to say:
I can't argue against anything that promotes reading.
I know plenty of people who swear by their e-readers. While e-readers boosted sales
for my book and many others, I worry that print books will become collectibles, which
returns them to their early, elite form, and can exclude readers across the digital
divide, or people like me, for whom books are as companionable as family dogs.
But the act of reading evolves. As readers and writers, we started with markings in
clay. We got moveable type. Reading became more accessible as the delivery method
got cheaper and more portable. (I admit that I'm partial to the gravitas of monks
carefully hand-rendering the written word.)
Paperback books came on the scene as "dime novels" at the end of the nineteenth century—cheap,
transportable reading for the average person.
So there's a circular argument here, which is that e-readers are certainly where popular
reading is going.
As for advice to emerging writers, make sure that any book contract includes royalties
for sales from new technologies. You want your work to reach as many readers as possible,
and you should be compensated for the hard work you've done in creating it, because
regardless of delivery format, that's ultimately what we do. We write.
John Evans, owner of Lemuria
Books
John, based in Jackson, Mississippi, also has a vision. I sat down with John (and
a cold beer) on January 26 to talk shop about the industry, the same night I met Jeanette
Walls, who
was at Lemuria for a book signing. John's take on the future?
Psychologically, as a country, we're becoming more
aware of our choices for pleasure—we're in an early actualized stage of the American
psyche—we know our pleasures, our values. But our lives have become so busy that reading
for pleasure has migrated out of people's lifestyles.
But in three or four years, those readers will migrate back—they'll start choosing
a print book over the gizmo.
And what if they don't?
You don't want steak every night. Readers will chooseIs John worried about the future for his bookstore?
which kinds of books to read in print form vs. the e-format.
It's an exciting change. I'm here for the physical
book. If other stores follow these new trends, it just leaves the print market wide
open for me. And not just me—it could open the door for re-birthing the indie bookstore.
It's mass chaos right now, but that's not bad.
Techno-madness, monetization experiments, digital innovations, mass chaos—all exciting
elements of the evolution of reading. Authors and readers: how are you preparing for
the future of publishing?
--
Susan Cushman was co-director of the 2010 Creative Nonfiction Conference (Oxford,
Mississippi) and a panelist at the 2009 Southern Women Writers Conference. She lives
in Memphis, where she is currently working on a novel and a nonfiction book. Follow
Susan on Twitter.
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February 10, 2011
What Digital Natives Can Teach Us About Publishing
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First, I don't really believe in the idea of "digital natives."
Digital natives are the students entering college right now who have never experienced
life without the Internet. (See
more about the history of the term at Wikipedia.)
At UC, I'm teaching roomfuls of these so-called digital natives, and while I'm learning
A LOT from my experience, it's not because they're "better" than me when it comes
to digital technology (or life lived online vs. offline).
Yet my interactions have clarified a few things about the digital native mindset that
might be instructive for the print-focused writers/authors who automatically say,
"I don't have time for that" in reference social media—or who automatically equate
online/tech with time-wasting, or some lower value activity, or whatever is deemed
not-as-good-as WRITING A BOOK.
The
comments in this post—where I said to stop using social media if you really hate it—didn't
mean that success is found by ignoring the "distraction" of social media. My larger
point was that, if you have any imagination at all, I'm sure you can find something you
love to do that brings you closer to readers.
culture are not dependent on book form. (Read
this post for one of the best commentaries EVER on this issue.)
So here is what writers/authors might like to know about so-called "digital native"
mindset. (Note: Everyone needs to learn digital literacy skills. We are not born with
such skills, and this is why I'm not fond of the "digital native" label.)
Connection is highly valued. There's acceptance that what we experience online
is all within a shifting, hybrid environment. There's an understanding of the risks
associated with online identities, but also an instinct about handling paradoxes inherent
in online identity and self-expression.
Media neutral. There are many ways to access entertainment or information,
and the most valuable content doesn't have to be physically produced/available to
be worthy or credible.
Focused on passion. Many of my students feel free to completely ignore topics/subjects/lectures
they're not personally interested in. What they care about is doing stuff they love.
I've read articles that point out the younger generations are afraid they will end
up doing things in life they hate. While there's an entire book on this single bullet-point
alone, the larger message I hope print-focused authors/writers can take away is: As
long as you're doing what you love, does it matter if the expression takes a digital
or physical form? Or that a publisher rubber-stamps it?
I guess you could argue your passion might be specifically for the physical/print
form, but people fool themselves about that all the time. Growing up in a print
culture, we're inclined to think of print first, but digging deeper, we usually have
concerns that aren't tied to PRINT BOOKS, but tied to READING AND WRITING. (Again,
see this post!)
It will sound a little crass/business-y for me to say it, but realize that if you're
a writer focused on getting into print, you might not be as competitive against other
writers without the print hang-up—who can express their creative potential in other
dynamic and powerful ways, and sometimes reach more people doing so.
Photo credit: cole007
[image error]
First, I don't really believe in the idea of "digital natives."
Digital natives are the students entering college right now who have never experienced
life without the Internet. (See
more about the history of the term at Wikipedia.)
At UC, I'm teaching roomfuls of these so-called digital natives, and while I'm learning
A LOT from my experience, it's not because they're "better" than me when it comes
to digital technology (or life lived online vs. offline).
Yet my interactions have clarified a few things about the digital native mindset that
might be instructive for the print-focused writers/authors who automatically say,
"I don't have time for that" in reference social media—or who automatically equate
online/tech with time-wasting, or some lower value activity, or whatever is deemed
not-as-good-as WRITING A BOOK.
The
comments in this post—where I said to stop using social media if you really hate it—didn't
mean that success is found by ignoring the "distraction" of social media. My larger
point was that, if you have any imagination at all, I'm sure you can find something you
love to do that brings you closer to readers.
I tend to cringe when writers gasp, "Oh, finally!Because writing, reading, and all the lovely things associated with literary
I can focus on WRITING A BOOK."
culture are not dependent on book form. (Read
this post for one of the best commentaries EVER on this issue.)
So here is what writers/authors might like to know about so-called "digital native"
mindset. (Note: Everyone needs to learn digital literacy skills. We are not born with
such skills, and this is why I'm not fond of the "digital native" label.)
Connection is highly valued. There's acceptance that what we experience online
is all within a shifting, hybrid environment. There's an understanding of the risks
associated with online identities, but also an instinct about handling paradoxes inherent
in online identity and self-expression.
Media neutral. There are many ways to access entertainment or information,
and the most valuable content doesn't have to be physically produced/available to
be worthy or credible.
Focused on passion. Many of my students feel free to completely ignore topics/subjects/lectures
they're not personally interested in. What they care about is doing stuff they love.
I've read articles that point out the younger generations are afraid they will end
up doing things in life they hate. While there's an entire book on this single bullet-point
alone, the larger message I hope print-focused authors/writers can take away is: As
long as you're doing what you love, does it matter if the expression takes a digital
or physical form? Or that a publisher rubber-stamps it?
I guess you could argue your passion might be specifically for the physical/print
form, but people fool themselves about that all the time. Growing up in a print
culture, we're inclined to think of print first, but digging deeper, we usually have
concerns that aren't tied to PRINT BOOKS, but tied to READING AND WRITING. (Again,
see this post!)
It will sound a little crass/business-y for me to say it, but realize that if you're
a writer focused on getting into print, you might not be as competitive against other
writers without the print hang-up—who can express their creative potential in other
dynamic and powerful ways, and sometimes reach more people doing so.
Photo credit: cole007
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February 9, 2011
I'm Speaking at SXSW on Self-Publishing
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For the first time, I'll be on a panel at SXSW. The panel is called "The
Self-Publishing Novelist: Report From the Trenches." Author John Sundman proposed
the panel (remember
the Q&A?), and I owe him my thanks for including me.
I'll have more to say—content-wise—about this panel in the coming weeks, but for now,
mark your calendar, and if you plan to attend SXSW,
I hope you'll attend my panel on March 12 at 11 a.m.
To see the full list of events where I'm
speaking this year, click here.
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February 8, 2011
You Don't Have to Blog, Tweet, or Be on Facebook
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I'm often giving many reasons for writers to start a blog, be on Twitter, or use Facebook.
But the truth is, you don't have to do any of these things to get published or to
sell books.
(Sidenote: You'll often hear stories of bestselling authors who don't use social media,
but that's not what I mean. Those stories are deceptive. Let's not compare aspiring
writers today to established, bestselling authors.)
To repeat:
You don't have to do these things. If you hate doing these things, stop. Stop now!
Do you feel better? Is the pressure off? Good.
Now envision what you would like to do.
Would you love sharing photos with the world, little pieces of artistic expression? See
author Jennifer Lee.
Would you love doing a mother-interview series? That's something I've done on my
personal blog.
Would you love creating your own line of greeting cards? See this author, Andrew
Shaffer.
Would you love creating inspirational newsletters? See Christina
Katz.
Would you love posing Big Deep Questions to people, because you believe there should
be no small questions? (See Al
Katkowsky!)
Would you love weekly conversations where you learn something critical to your craft
every week? (See #scriptchat founder, Jeanne
Bowerman.)
When you do interesting stuff—when you have something to say, a message to spread,
or a story to tell—then social media makes more sense. Because then, it becomes a
tool to share what you're doing and develop relationships with others who have similar
interests. Social media is like instant access to the most customized party, conference,
or classroom in the world—where everyone in the room shares your Ultimate Life Concern,
including those above you in stature, those below you, and those on the same rung.
If you see social media as that thing you have to do because now you have a book to
sell or promote, the game is over before it's started. You'll probably hate it, and
you won't last for the long haul.
See social media as a way to connect with people who matter to you.
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February 7, 2011
The Misleading "Research" By McSweeney's
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Let's be clear: I don't think print will die.
But that's no reason to concoct "research" about publishing that says "almost all
of the news is good, and most of it is very good."
That's what McSweeney's has done with their series on "The State of Publishing" or "Some
Good News From the World of Books."
Here are a few of their misleading statements, and why they are misleading.
1. Library membership and circulation is at an all-time high.
But do you know what people are doing with those library memberships? Multimedia is
the biggest growing segment of what libraries loan. Video
borrowing from public libraries actually grew faster than video rentals from commercial
providers from 1985 to 2004. Many libraries now report that AV
borrowing is in the 40 percent range.
The McSweeney's article seems to research only those libraries that prove their argument.
Did they call up the University of California Library System, which saw a 54% decline
in circulation between 1991 to 2001, of 8,377,000 print books to 3,832,000?
2. "Book sales are up."
They don't give figures for 2009-2010, only 2008. That aside, stagnating would
be a more accurate description of sales in terms of revenue. The figures McSweeney's
cites are also highly problematic—further detail below.
At the publishing company I just left, the biggest mantra I heard was: "Raise prices."
Why? Because we couldn't expect decent growth otherwise. So this also contributes
to the illusion of health.
3. Bookscan sales are up.
Bookscan unit sales may reflect a minor increase, but also more retail outlets have
been added to Bookscan, and the explosion of titles (self-published and POD titles)
are also misleading indicators of health. More accurate research would compare title
releases, unit sales, and revenue of the Big Six.
4. Title counts are healthy (and up).
It's telling that McSweeney's report only mentions title output through 2008, even
though 2009 numbers are available.
In 2009, traditional title output dropped by 3%, and in the fiction category by 15%.
See this article from Publishers Weekly that talks about growth
in nontraditional/unclassified segments that overshadow the growth of every other
segment.
Other figures that McSweeney's sites are too old to even argue with. (2005? Really,
why bother citing such old information considering the age we live in?)
McSweeney's report accidentally exemplifies the overall problems of capturing accurate
data on U.S. book sales.
In the January 18, 2011, Publishers Lunch,
Michael Cader reported that AAP and BISG hired Bowker as the data collection provider
for new industry stats. Why is this news? Because the stats are known to be a mess.
A year ago, Cader commented about Bowker's information on annual publication stats:
"So for now, these annual numbers are going to keep getting bigger and bigger and,
absent further changes in the statistics, they are going to keep meaning less and
less about the world trade publishers operate in."
And he also commented (even earlier than that!):
a look at this archived Lunch note from Cader that really sums it all up.
All that said, McSweeney's is right about one thing:
"The ratio of printed books to e-books changes drastically
with each venue."
If you look at bestsellers from Big Six companies, the industry now sees
some titles with 50% unit sales from electronic editions. If you look at sales from
companies like McSweeney's, or literary presses, the percentage is far lower, less
than 5% in many cases. Why? Either their audience demographics don't match the e-reading
demographics, or these publishers don't have the financial means or desire to offer
e-editions.
Keep in mind: McSweeney's print subscriptions/offerings are as much about physical
packaging as the content (their special newspapers, their unique box sets, their literary
offerings that have even been delivered in the guise of junk mail).
But their devotion and loyalty to the physical book form should not call for—or require—"research"
that informs us the rest of us that it's business as usual.
--
If you'd like to see some of the statistics I uncovered recently, go see this post
from December 2010 at Writer Unboxed: How
Bad Is It Really in the Publishing Industry?
[image error]
Let's be clear: I don't think print will die.
But that's no reason to concoct "research" about publishing that says "almost all
of the news is good, and most of it is very good."
That's what McSweeney's has done with their series on "The State of Publishing" or "Some
Good News From the World of Books."
Here are a few of their misleading statements, and why they are misleading.
1. Library membership and circulation is at an all-time high.
But do you know what people are doing with those library memberships? Multimedia is
the biggest growing segment of what libraries loan. Video
borrowing from public libraries actually grew faster than video rentals from commercial
providers from 1985 to 2004. Many libraries now report that AV
borrowing is in the 40 percent range.
The McSweeney's article seems to research only those libraries that prove their argument.
Did they call up the University of California Library System, which saw a 54% decline
in circulation between 1991 to 2001, of 8,377,000 print books to 3,832,000?
2. "Book sales are up."
They don't give figures for 2009-2010, only 2008. That aside, stagnating would
be a more accurate description of sales in terms of revenue. The figures McSweeney's
cites are also highly problematic—further detail below.
At the publishing company I just left, the biggest mantra I heard was: "Raise prices."
Why? Because we couldn't expect decent growth otherwise. So this also contributes
to the illusion of health.
3. Bookscan sales are up.
Bookscan unit sales may reflect a minor increase, but also more retail outlets have
been added to Bookscan, and the explosion of titles (self-published and POD titles)
are also misleading indicators of health. More accurate research would compare title
releases, unit sales, and revenue of the Big Six.
4. Title counts are healthy (and up).
It's telling that McSweeney's report only mentions title output through 2008, even
though 2009 numbers are available.
In 2009, traditional title output dropped by 3%, and in the fiction category by 15%.
See this article from Publishers Weekly that talks about growth
in nontraditional/unclassified segments that overshadow the growth of every other
segment.
Other figures that McSweeney's sites are too old to even argue with. (2005? Really,
why bother citing such old information considering the age we live in?)
McSweeney's report accidentally exemplifies the overall problems of capturing accurate
data on U.S. book sales.
In the January 18, 2011, Publishers Lunch,
Michael Cader reported that AAP and BISG hired Bowker as the data collection provider
for new industry stats. Why is this news? Because the stats are known to be a mess.
A year ago, Cader commented about Bowker's information on annual publication stats:
"So for now, these annual numbers are going to keep getting bigger and bigger and,
absent further changes in the statistics, they are going to keep meaning less and
less about the world trade publishers operate in."
And he also commented (even earlier than that!):
Discerning readers already know that on a standingIf you have a Publishers Marketplace subscription, then take
basis, we very consciously do not report periodic numbers from the AAP, Census Bureau,
and IDPF since they are so incomplete (and sometimes inconsistent) as to be more confusing
than illuminating. Nielsen Bookscan is great for what it covers, but is also incomplete
(and doesn't capture certain things, like ebook sales, at all).
a look at this archived Lunch note from Cader that really sums it all up.
All that said, McSweeney's is right about one thing:
"The ratio of printed books to e-books changes drastically
with each venue."
If you look at bestsellers from Big Six companies, the industry now sees
some titles with 50% unit sales from electronic editions. If you look at sales from
companies like McSweeney's, or literary presses, the percentage is far lower, less
than 5% in many cases. Why? Either their audience demographics don't match the e-reading
demographics, or these publishers don't have the financial means or desire to offer
e-editions.
Keep in mind: McSweeney's print subscriptions/offerings are as much about physical
packaging as the content (their special newspapers, their unique box sets, their literary
offerings that have even been delivered in the guise of junk mail).
But their devotion and loyalty to the physical book form should not call for—or require—"research"
that informs us the rest of us that it's business as usual.
--
If you'd like to see some of the statistics I uncovered recently, go see this post
from December 2010 at Writer Unboxed: How
Bad Is It Really in the Publishing Industry?
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Listen to Full Audio of AWP Social Media Panel
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As you can probably tell—due to lack of Best Tweets—I am still catching up from being
away at the Association
of Writers & Writing Programs conference.
BUT—I have some wonderful things to share with you related to the event. (My own insights
will come later in the week.)
[image error]
As you can probably tell—due to lack of Best Tweets—I am still catching up from being
away at the Association
of Writers & Writing Programs conference.
BUT—I have some wonderful things to share with you related to the event. (My own insights
will come later in the week.)
1.
Full audio of the social media panel I moderated
Thanks to Caleb J. Ross, you can listen in on ALL 75 minutes of the social media panel
with rock stars Dan Blank, Bethanne
Patrick, Christina Katz, Tanya
Egan Gibson—and Caleb. Click
here to go listen!
2.
Read a recap of my transmedia panel from Fiction Writers Review.
This is from the perspective of interns at the University of Michigan. Click
here to read. (The picture above shows me moderating the panel, taken by the Fiction
Writers Review.)
3. Panelist Christina Katz has 2 valuable follow-up posts that you must read. The
first one is How
to Get Beyond "Using Social Media" and Become a Social Artist Instead, and also
valuable: How
to Use Social Media (includes a critical slide I showed during the panel).
4. Another one of my panelists, Dan Blank, has just opened up an online class for
authors on building platform. If this is something you've been meaning to tackle
seriously in the coming year, I highly recommend Dan as your teacher. Check
out the course.
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Jane Friedman
The future of writing, publishing, and all media—as well as being human at electric speed.
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