New #Publishing Periodical for #Writers & #Authors ~ The Hot Sheet

If you’re a writer (author) looking to be published or striving to understand the publishing-world, you may want to spend around $US 2.27, biweekly, for an email periodical from two industry powerhouses—Jane Friedman and Porter Anderson.

Here’s a bit about Jane:

 “Writer and professor Jane Friedman has more than 15 years of experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in digital media strategy for authors and publishers. From 2001–2010 she worked at Writer’s Digest, where she ultimately became publisher and editorial director; more recently, she served as the digital editor for the Virginia Quarterly Review. Jane specializes in educating authors about the publishing industry, and is known for thought-provoking talks on the future of authorship. She currently teaches digital media and publishing at the University of Virginia and is a columnist for Publishers Weekly.”

And, a bit about Porter:

“Journalist, speaker, and consultant Porter Anderson is Associate Editor for The Bookseller’s The FutureBook in London. A former news anchor, correspondent, editor, and producer, he now focuses his coverage on publishing. His analysis is read at New York’s Thought Catalog, and he programs conference events for IDPF, Frankfurt Book Fair, The Bookseller, and Novelists Inc. He has worked with CNN International, CNN.com, The Village Voice, Dallas Times Herald, Publishing Perspectives, Rome’s UN World Food Programme, and Copenhagen’s INDEX. He is a Fellow with the National Critics Institute.”

Here are the basics about the periodical from their site:

Why did you start The Hot Sheet?

“We wanted to create a way to help authors understand issues that affect them, but without drama and hype. With a biweekly schedule, we’re not interested in delivering breaking news, but perspective on stories that are likely to retain importance or meaning for your long-term decision making. Thus, we hope to provide distance and nuance on complex issues.

“We hear frequently from authors that they’re confused about what’s happening in publishing, or they wonder who’s ‘right’ about controversial issues. The Hot Sheet helps you sort through the noise. You’ll understand reactions and opinions from across the publishing spectrum, and you can decide for yourself where you stand. We think this helps reduce anxiety, increases the knowledge and power of authors, and helps us all work better together.

“Without fear of missing out, you can stop looking through comment threads or social media channels in which everyone is shouting at each other, and focus on your author career.”

Is it for traditionally published authors or self-published authors?

“Both. Changes in publishing affect everyone. We take a neutral perspective on how authors publish, and deliver information about stories, developments, publishers, retailers, and services without any specific agenda or bias.”

Is it for unpublished writers?

“If you’re interested in keeping up with changes in the publishing industry, sure. You’ll be able to understand it. But this newsletter isn’t about how to get published.”

So that $US 2.27/biweekly ends up costing $US 59.00/year and they call that an “Introductory Rate”…

They offer a “30-day free trial” but it ends up that you need to pay for a year; but, they don’t charge your credit card during the first month and you can cancel anytime for a prorated refund…

You can use PayPal to subscribe but they don’t spell out how the first-month-free works for that…

I’m recommending this periodical purely on the reputation of Jane and Porter—I can’t imagine them doing something that’s just hype or producing something that isn’t of great value…

So, if you’re interested, go grab The Hot Sheet :-)

Here are a few more reasons, from Jane & Porter, to try it:

• Do you worry that you’re not keeping up with marketing strategies other authors use? When it comes to PR, are you on thin ice?

• Do you get exhausted trying to find information about something “somebody said on some blog the other day”—and you don’t even know if it’s important?

• Have you ever tried to figure out how changes in the publishing industry affect your next book? For that matter, do you know what most impacted your last book?

• Can you tell if the latest overnight success story is an outlying case, or if it represents something you need to add to your long-term goals?

• Are you so focused on your writing that you don’t have the industry context to assess issues? When you look for answers, do you find only gossip?

• Are you looking for a competitive business edge—to be a smart and informed author in today’s shifting business environment?

So…

Perhaps I’ve given you enough to encourage you to, at least, go visit The Hot Sheet site?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read Some Strange Fantasies
Grab A Free Novel…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Leave A Comment, Use The Link At The Top-Right of The Post :-)
For Private Comments or Questions, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com

How To Find The Right Editor and Other Exciting Adventures

The other exciting adventures in the title refer mostly to my experiences with typos, in my books and others’.

If you can’t conceive of that being exciting, you probably haven’t slaved away on a piece of writing, looked for typos, had others look for typos, published the piece, then found typos…

I’ve related some of my experience with typos here before and, in case you haven’t noticed, even the highest quality books from most prestigious publishers can have a typo or two.

Of course, editors come in different flavors and some only report typos for fun, paying attention to other things like story structure, voice, and continuity.

And, you can read other posts on this blog about adventures with editors.

Before I share some tips on finding the right editor, I want to give a shout-out to the editor who worked with me on Notes from An Alien and will be there for my next two books—along with a woman who will also be editing those next two books who just happens to be an author and my best friend :-)

My first editor, Laura Linneman, is willing to be contacted for work; and, a friend of mine from virtual world experiences is also someone worth contacting, Carole Cudnik.

But, just because an editor worked for me or interacted with me or is my best friend is no reason for you to consider them for your own work.

Do you have a method of judging whether any particular editor is right for you? [and, if you haven’t even considered writing a book, you may someday write an article for work or a newspaper; or even, want an editor for a blog…]

If you’re a regular reader of this blog you probably seen a number of posts featuring Jane Friedman.

She “has spent more than 15 years in the publishing industry as an editor, publisher, and professor. Currently she serves as the web editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review (VQR), based at the University of Virginia, where she also teaches digital publishing and online writing. Her newest digital media initiative is Scratch Magazine, a quarterly magazine all about the intersection of writing and money.”

Jane recently had a guest post by Stacy Ennis, “a book and magazine editor, writer, book coach, and speaker…”

That post, 5 Ways to Find the Right Freelance Book Editor, might be information that could help you in searching for the right editor.

I’ll list the titles of those 5 ways to find the right freelance editor but encourage you to go to the article and read it for what Stacy has to say about them:

1. Look for someone with experience.

2. Find a qualified editor that brings good energy to the process.

3. Look in the right places.

4. Interview the editor’s past clients.

5. Interview the editor and work on a sample chapter together.

If you have tips or experiences to share about finding the right editor, please share in the Comments!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Leave A Comment, Use The Link At The Top-Right of The Post :-)
For Private Comments, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com
* Google Author Page
GRAB A FREE COPY of Notes from An Alien

Select as many as you like:

This post was valuable.

This post was fun.

This post was a disappointment.

This post was interesting.

This post bothered me.

I did not understand this post.

This post made me think.

Submit

Δ

How “Should” Writers Find Readers

I’ve written 12 previous posts here that I tagged with “author platform”.

It’s just a current buzz-phrase for how writers attract readers.

Like most other things about writing and publishing these days, there are herds of “experts” sprouting up—more every day—shouting their “10 Most Important” or “20 Absolute Musts” or even 71 Ways to Promote and Market Your Book.

Some of those ways might be good for certain writers at certain times.

But…

One thing is for sure. There are more ways to attract readers than ever before and there could well be yet many more to come…

So, rather then trying to read all the articles being churned out and then (horrid thought) attempting to do everything all the “experts” say, let me offer a video by Jane Friedman.

First a bit about the woman from her Google Plus profile:

“Jane Friedman is the web editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, a literary journal that has won more National Magazine Awards than any quarterly magazine in the nation.

“Jane is a frequent speaker at publishing industry and writing conferences, and has appeared at more than 200 events since 2001, including LitFlow Berlin, South by Southwest, the Whidbey MFA residency, BookExpo America, and the Association of Writers and Writing Programs.

“Her expertise has been featured widely, by sources such as NPR’s Morning Edition, Publishers Weekly, GalleyCat, PBS, The Huffington Post, and Mr. Media. She maintains a blog at JaneFriedman.com, which enjoys 35,000+ unique visitors every month, and her presence on Twitter (160,000+ followers) is often cited as a model for those seeking to use social media effectively.

“Jane consults with a range of nonprofits, businesses, and creative professionals, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the Creative Work Fund, and the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati.”

The things I like best about the video below is Jane’s totally relaxed manner, her extremely candid exposure of her “mistakes”, and her grounded and rational advice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Leave A Comment, Use The Link At The Top-Right of The Post :-)
For Private Comments, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com
* Google Author Page
GRAB A FREE COPY of Notes from An Alien

Select as many as you like:

This post was valuable.

This post was fun.

This post was a disappointment.

This post was interesting.

This post bothered me.

I did not understand this post.

Submit

Δ

Business Advice for Writers ~ Reader Beware !

Last November, I shared the post The “Right” Way To Write ~ Writing Advice for The Brave . . .

In that post, I said: “These days, writing advice is cheap—even free on the Web—cheap, also, in the sense ‘of little worth because achieved in a discreditable way requiring little effort’.”

I also shared a quote in that post:

“For every complex problem there is a simple solution, and it’s wrong.”
Henry Louis Menkin

While that post and its links focused on advice about the actual writing that writers do, I’m going to warn you to be on your guard when reading business advice for writers, too.

And, these days, with writers self-publishing, the business side of writing is more important than ever…

Regular readers of this blog have seen me link out to information from Jane Friedman many times.

Well, two months ago, Jane began a monthly feature of Best Business Advice for Writers.

In the November edition of Best Business Advice for Writers, she said:

“For a couple years, I curated a weekly round-up of links called Best Tweets for Writers. I had fun doing it, but ultimately abandoned it in 2011 when I could no longer sustain the time commitment.

“Nowadays, there’s no shortage of link round-ups for writers, of varying quality. While I hesitate to add another one to the mix, I’m going to enter the fray again, but on a monthly basis, strictly focusing on the business of being a writer. No craft & technique, no inspirational stuff. Just the absolute best advice I’ve found, online, about being smarter about your career—and why I think it’s the best.”

Now, why should someone trust that Jane knows what she’s talking about?

How about this from her Google+ Profile:

“Jane Friedman is the web editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, a literary journal that has won more National Magazine Awards than any quarterly magazine in the nation.

“Jane is a frequent speaker at publishing industry and writing conferences, and has appeared at more than 200 events since 2001, including LitFlow Berlin, South by Southwest, the Whidbey MFA residency, BookExpo America, and the Association of Writers and Writing Programs.

“Her expertise has been featured widely, by sources such as NPR’s Morning Edition, Publishers Weekly, GalleyCat, PBS, The Huffington Post, and Mr. Media. She maintains a blog at JaneFriedman.com, which enjoys 35,000+ unique visitors every month, and her presence on Twitter (160,000+ followers) is often cited as a model for those seeking to use social media effectively.

“Jane consults with a range of nonprofits, businesses, and creative professionals, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the Creative Work Fund, and the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati.”

Yet, even with all those credentials, and even though I’ve only had one instance where I didn’t like a bit of her advice, one would, hopefully, naturally, use caution and circumspection in accepting any advice…

With that said, here’s her December edition of Best Business Advice for Writers.

With all due caution, I’m looking forward to her January edition :-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)
For Private Comments, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com
* Google Author Page

Future Opportunities for Authors ~ Closer Than You Might Think . . .

“Is the Internet (and digital gadgetry) killing the novel, literary life and deep thinking? Do we live in an era of information abundance and opportunity—or an era of information overload and distraction?”

That quote is from an article by Jane Friedman in the Virginia Quarterly Review—Being a Creative Person in an Ever-Changing Digital Age.

Jane interviews David Houle, Futurist, Speaker, and Thinker, about his book, Entering The Shift Age, which is published in a Futuristic way since you can by the complete book or 8 mini-versions to sample the contents…

The full article is important reading for any writer interested in stretching their perception of what is, and soon will be, available as options for their career; but, for those already busy with getting on with the Future, here’s an excerpt :-)

Jane: So let’s talk more specifically about book publishing. In your predictions, you mention that e-books will increase to 60% of market share by the end of 2014, and I would expect that, too. But lately, in industry circles, the common talking point is how much the growth has slowed down or leveled off. What do you think?

David: The first obvious answer is that when something goes from a half percent to 10 percent in three years, it’s almost impossible to replicate that rate of growth. So anyone who says, “The rate of growth is slowing,” well, yeah, obviously. It’s also a pattern with something new: E-books are cheaper, I probably have 30 books on my iPhone, and I’ve read 10, because they’re so easy to buy. Now I think that we’re in that phase of “I bought too much and I have to consume it.” And then I think it’s going to launch off again.

Jane: Your book was published as part of Sourcebooks’ new agile publishing model. Describe what that entailed.

David: There were three parts to the process.

1. Put up the content and let people give me input, like choreographed crowdsourcing.

2. Publish the book before it’s finished. So, in other words, I was writing on Part 4 of that book while Parts 1 & 2 were sold as e-books. Tied to that is the publishing of 12 mini-ebooks before the book is published.

3. An enhanced e-book with video.

The following video of David focuses a lot on how CEOs need to think about the new world of creativity but, considering that authors are becoming the “CEOs” of their own careers, any writer can find much to ponder…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-)
For Private Comments, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com
* Google Author Page