Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 11

Brave Old World

 

June 24 question:Terry here, with our question of the week: Looking into your crystal ball, what's the writing business going to look like 5 years from now? Do you think it's going to be more or less the same, or will AI and other technology trends transform it dramatically - if so, how? Given the dramatic changes in the past five years in publishing, I hesitate to make any predictions. Five years ago seems like eternity. During Covid, like so many other businesses, the publishing world too...

Predictions from a Cloudy Crystal Ball - By Matthew Greene

Looking into your crystal ball, what's the writing business going to look like 5 years from now? Do you think it's going to be more or less the same, or will AI and other technology trends transform it dramatically - if so, how?

Before the rise of AI, I think I would have been a little more confident about making predictions five years into the future. But things seem to be moving so quickly, changing so dramatically, that it's hard to imagine what may come next. Every day, it seems, I read anoth...

The Art of Living Well

Business - apart from print and ebooks,what other formats have you explored - such as audio books, foreigntranslations, film rights? Do you have advice for a newbie writer exploringadditional income streams from the same book?

I've traditionally published two books and they are both available in print, e-books, and as audio books. Myagent has fielded inquiries from film companies, but as is common, nothing cameout of it. I don't sincerely imagine I will ever make a lot of money out of writ...

Nothing useful, but everything else, by Catriona

Apartfrom print and e-books, what other formats have you explored—suchas audio books, foreign translations, film rights? Do you have advice for anewbie writer exploring additional income streams from the same book?

This is a great question for indie authors - they'll have useful stuff to say. "Explored" isn't really the word for traditionally published authors like me. It's more like I've sat here at my desk, writing, and some of these things have happened out there in the world of publishing....

Options by Eric Beetner

  Business - apart from print and ebooks, what other formats have you explored - such as audio books, foreign translations, film rights? Do you have advice for a newbie writer exploring additional income streams from the same book?

I certainly think having your work available in as many format options as possible is a good thing. I know readers who have abandoned print books entirely. I know people who prefer the audio version. I can’t say I have a whole of people in other countries clamoring for...

Publishing Makes No Sense

Apartfrom print and e-books, what other formats have you explored—suchas audio books, foreign translations, film rights? Do you have advice for anewbie writer exploring additional income streams from the same book?

 

I’m probably the wrong person to ask. To riff on SergeantSchultz from Hogan’s Heroes: “Iknow nothing. I see everything. And nothing about this business makes sense.”

E-books?Yes, of course. That’s a given these days.
Audiobooks? Not yet—NO COMMENT.
Foreign translations? Pfft. L...

Eeny Meeny Miney Moe!

 Apart from print and ebooks, what other formats have you explored - such as audio books, foreign translations, film rights? Do you have advice for a newbie writer exploring additional income streams from the same book?

This is a great question to think about it. Especially since we seem to be living in the time of the entrepreneur. Multi-million-dollar businesses have sprung up all over the internet turning bored housewives into a whole industry. Have you heard of #MOMTOK? Apparently, there is a...

Not 27, but 10 - the surprises of a writing life, by Harini Nagendra

Tell us one thing that you didn't anticipate about the writer's life, which surprised you once you became a writer. 

I loved all the responses to this week's question. Taking inspiration from my friend James Ziskin, who came up with 27 things that surprised him - but restricting myself to 10 - here's my list. 
The good 1. Getting The Bangalore Detectives Club on the New York Times Notable Books list. (I was so green, I didn't know there was such a thing - when I saw the excited email from my publi...

Twenty-Seven Writerly Surprises from James W. Ziskin

Tell us one thing that you didn't anticipate about the writer's life, which surprised you once you became a writer. 

I decided to be a bad boy this week and answer this question with twenty-seven things that surprised me instead of just one.

In no particular order, here they are:

I was surprised by…

How vicious some readers are when reviewing books.How hard it is to sell books.How generous and welcoming most writers are.How great it feels to find your book in the wild.How quickly I change the subjec...

Get under the skin

Tell us one thing that you didn't anticipate about the writer's life, which surprised you once you became a writer.

by Dietrich 

Some writers getting into storytelling might anticipate overnight success, only to find it’s more of  a slow burn—and that the myth of the “starving artist” isn’t necessarily a myth.

I heard all that too, but I did it anyway. Before I set out to write, I envisioned myself in my studio weaving tales of bank heists, coming up with gritty scenes filled cunning villains and i...