Manhattan is always fascinating to visit, and this time was no exception. I came to attend the Mystery Writers of America national board meeting but arrived a day early to take in the sights. Since it was cold out and we were hungry, we began our sojourn at Hale & Hearty Soups. Thursday afternoon, … Read more
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 13,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 5 sold-out performances for that many … Read more
At a recent meeting of Florida Romance Writers, we heard Ana Ivies speak about Marketing, Blogs and Reader Events. She runs http://wickedbookevents.com and http://anasattic.com which cater to readers. For those who use affiliate links on their blogs, Ana says blog revenues have decreased since Kindle Unlimited got started. KU “has changed the landscape of reading.” … Read more
Final Advice for Writers from #Ninc14 Novelists, Inc. Conference St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014 To summarize the concluding talks from #Ninc14, here are the final points. If you have a lifeboat or collaborative team, specify your goals. Is it to increase sales or readership, or to reach bestseller status? Series or related books sell … Read more
Working with iBooks Novelists, Inc. Conference St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014 Representatives from iBooks spoke at the Ninc conference. They said their readers like free ebooks, so Apple offers the first free in series promotion. Their readers are also willing to pay more for a book so don’t be afraid to price higher. Pre-orders count … Read more
My husband and I have always enjoyed taking cooking classes together. This time, we brought our grown children along. They were visiting for Thanksgiving weekend and we thought it would be a fun experience. Here’s a recap of the weekend up until then: We enjoyed our traditional turkey dinner on Thanksgiving Day, followed by an … Read more
Author Collaborations Novelists, Inc. Conference St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014 A collaboration might consist of a single book containing a bundle of novels or novellas by different authors. The main benefit is that more experienced authors will draw attention to newer authors. It’s a cost-effective way to produce a print version of shorter works. Promotional … Read more
Literary Estate Planning Novelists, Inc. Conference St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014 Copyright is for life of the author plus 70 years. You have physical assets as well as digital assets. Be aware that it can be a violation of federal or criminal laws for friends or family members to take over your online accounts. Think … Read more
Empowering Authors with Amazon Independent Publishing Novelists, Inc. Conference Day 2, St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014 Several representatives from Amazon Independent Publishing spoke at the Novelists, Inc. Conference. They said they’ve seen consistent growth in print and Kindle books over the past few years. The Kindle growth curve exceeds print. This is a global trend … Read more
Hugh Howey: The Publishing World is Changing. How Can You Keep Up? Novelists, Inc. Conference Day 2, St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014 Hugh Howey began his presentation by showing slides on “A history of storytelling.” The order goes this way: Oral tradition Written tradition The first cubicle workers, i.e. monks transcribing by hand Movable type … Read more