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Not that YA author John Green (Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska) is a cool online personality only because he's trying to sell his books ... but look at what he got from his social network on his birthday -
And here was John's response: If you can't be arsed to view the entire video, here's the most important thing John said:
People didn't make those songs or artwork or pictures and video clips in order to become famous or rich. They did it, to quote William Faulkner, "not for glory and least of all for profit but to create out of the materials of the human spirit something which did not exist before."
Every single day I get emails from aspiring writers asking my advice about how to become a writer. And here is the only advice I can give: Don't make stuff because you want to make money; it will never make you enough money. And don't make stuff because you wanna feel famous because you will never feel famous enough. Make GIFTS for people. And work hard on making those gifts so that people will notice the gift and like the gift. Maybe they will notice how hard you worked and maybe they won't. And if they don't, I know it's frustrating. But ultimately that doesn't matter because your responsibility is not to the people who notice but to the gift itself.
0 Comments on What happens when authors become cool online personalities as of 8/30/2009 6:19:00 AM
Yes you can! Make your own promotional video that is - and you don't need a camera or video skills or sound equipment. All you need is a computer, wit and the text-to-movie website Xtranormal ... as Nicola Morgan (Deathwatch ) demonstrates on her blog, Need2bPublished:
I admit it. I'm becoming increasingly dependent on YouTube videos to keep my blog updated regularly.
But seriously, you guys, I am interested in your FURTHER EDUCATION. Especially you PUBLISHED writer guys, the ones who are no longer on the slushpile, the ones who have a book out, or a book about to come out, the ones who are still asking yourselves everyday, 'should I have a website?' 'should I blog?' 'should I do a video?' 'is it worth the time?'
My answer is ... AAAARGH. Some people don't deserve their success.
Anyway, here is John Green (again!) showing you guys how to keep faith with your young audience:
Moral of the blog post: if you're about to be published, be seen by your audience and your book will be sold. You can't procrastinate over marketing your book (unlike when you're writing it).
0 Comments on Further Education: be published, be seen and be sold. as of 5/24/2009 8:01:00 AM
My friend Fiona Dunbar's new book Tiger-Lily Gold has just come out and to celebrate she made this video (I helped!)
Meanwhile, Nicola Morgan (Deathwatch) is aiming for a world record in school visits.
Anthony Horowitz (The Power of Five: Necropolis) is appearing in a virtual event targetting nine thousand children in 216 schools.
And big name authors are guaranteed roles at a proliferation of children's book festivals to draw the crowds.
The Book Brunch children's column wonders "how much the life of a children’s author has become about personal contact with children as well as contact through books ..."
Have we lost anything since the days when we only knew writers and illustrators through their books? When we weren’t necessarily sure what sex E B White, E Nesbitt, P L Travers, and L M Montgomery were, let alone what they looked like? (Though A A Milne and C S Lewis and J R R Tolkien had got famous enough for us to know.) Was there something to be said for imagining an author through his or her work? P L Travers looked liked Mary Poppins in my head.
Is the standard of performance getting too high for authors who are "merely" good at writing? So it is not enough to write a gripping tale: you also have to be Eoin Colfer in front of an audience. Or do these showmen do the whole profession the favour of giving it glamour, and making kids want to be in it, as they want to be other kinds of celebrities? Read more
Should we resist the demands of our ever-more-swiftly spinning world? Should we insist that writers be allowed to do only that, write?
So today, I had the choice of blogging about something really serious, heavy and mind blowing about the publishing industry or just chilling and sharing two really random but nice things I read online. Guess which one I chose.
First really nice thing: Nathan Bransford, the uber-blogging agent in New York (I think. You think Nathan's in NY?) - one of the 1376 commenters on his blog the other day pointed out that the world of publishing is turning into mush was no reason to be negative. So he's been positive all week. Which made me feel really positive too. Let me share the last two very positive itemsfrom his positive blog post Ten Commandments for the Happy Writer:
9. Be thankful for what you have. If you have the time to write you're doing pretty well. There are millions of starving people around the world, and they're not writing because they're starving. If you're writing: you're doing just fine. Appreciate it.
10. Keep writing. Didn't find an agent? Keep writing. Book didn't sell? Keep writing. Book sold? Keep writing. OMG an asteroid is going to crash into Earth and enshroud the planet in ten feet of ash? Keep writing. People will need something to read in the resulting permanent winter
Second really nice thing: I was just browsing through the vlog (VIDEO blog - how many times do I have to explain this?)of the brothers Hank and John Green - John being the award winning YA author - when I came upon a 2007 item called "How Nerdfighters Drop Insults". What's so cool about John is in most of his posts he manages to (A) Tell kids it's okay to be nerdy (B)Make literary references that might get kids interested in reading. In this video, he quotes Shakespeare:
6 Comments on Happy Random Things, last added: 4/6/2009
oh kudos (again) to Nathan - I was thinking just this the other day - so the world's going to hell in a handbasket, "what are you going to do - erm, keep writing, what the hell else am I going to do!" scribble, scribble, scribble...
john green is the author of An Abundance of Katherines, Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns, all brilliant YA books. In fact in 2006 he won the Michael Printz award (the equivalent of the Oscar for Young Adult books) for Looking for Alaska.
Love this too--and for more positivity and happyness, you may like to know that you have been nominated for a blogging Sisterhood Award at http://www.scribblecitycentral.blogspot.com so hop on over there and have a look. That's what imaginary friends are for btw! xL
So, if you are an author/soon-to-be author worried about the fact that authors now have to be not only writers but speakers, entertainers, web designers, educators, video editors, voice talents, marketers, etc etc etc and etc ... look away now because this is John Green's latest vlog (as in video blog) and it's relevant, funny, intelligent, touching (and he even manages to quote some ee cummings) and oh how are we to measure up?
I've gotten away with it so far but now, technology is catching up with me.
I got the following email from YouTube today:
Dear Candy Gourlay,
Your video, Why Writers Need Agents, may have content that is owned or licensed by WMG.
No action is required on your part; however, if you're interested in learning how this affects your video, please visit the Content ID Matches section of your account for more information.
Sincerely,
- The YouTube Team
Readers of Notes from the Slushpile will have seen this film I made with the kids on my street, to a soundtrack that included some blues guitar from Ry Cooder. I was rather spooked by the statement 'no action is required on your part' so I went straight to the video and had a look.
YouTube had solved the copyright violation problem by turning off the sound of my video. Next to the video a button appeared, offering to "Swap Audio". Thinking that some audio was better than none, I clicked the button and followed the wizards. Now the video now boasts a totally mismatched bit royalty- free blues soundtrack.
I was totally guilty as accused of course. I knew what I was doing. I'd even read the YouTube notices.
It doesn't matter how long or short the clip is, or exactly how it got to YouTube. If you taped it off cable, videotaped your TV screen, or downloaded it from another website, it is still copyrighted, and requires the copyright owner's permission to distribute.
It doesn't matter whether or not you give credit to the owner/author/songwriter—it is still copyrighted.
It doesn't matter that you are not selling the video for money—it is still copyrighted.
It doesn't matter whether or not the video contains a copyright notice—it is still copyrighted.
It doesn't matter whether other similar videos appear on our site—it is still copyrighted.
It doesn't matter if you created a video made of short clips of copyrighted content—even though you edited it together, the content is still copyrighted.
But of course I thought to myself, surely, in the vast scheme of YouTube video-dom, my itty bitty film was not going to attract any attention?
Not that I was unwilling to pay some kind of license to use lovely music for my little videos. But how?
Apparently using music is not just a matter of one payment. You have to pay the writer of the song (composer's rights are handled by ASCAP, BMI and SESAC), the performer (record labels), and the owner of the master recording (or mechanical rights handled by the Harry Fox Agency). That's a lot of people to pay for a bit of fun.
The podcast book says:
Your best bet is to find music anywhere else but in your CD collection, unless of course your CD collection is made up only of independent artists who would be willing to grant you all rights to use their music ...
YouTube has not quite taken things to the level of the fingerprinting technology that MySpace uses to police its pages. But it's getting there. And giant media owners like Viacom spend zillions paying people to scour YouTube 24/7 for violations of their copyright.
I once was involved in the making of a radio programme for Radio 4. We were discussing adding some background music. I wanted to use some obscure Filipino pop music and asked my producer if there would be any copyright problem doing so. "Oh no," she said. "The BBC pays some kind of license that covers all that."
How I wish YouTube would charge us users "some kind of license that would cover all that". I would gladly pay.
The point really of talking about videos in this blog about children's books is that we are in the midst of a massive digital revolution in which conventional notions of copyright and royalty demand redefinition. The music and film industry have been struggling to define the terms of this new relationship that people (like me) have with media.
We are no longer just consumers, we want to become creators too.
What lies ahead for the book industry, late as usual, inching its way into the digital world?
0 Comments on YouTube Bit Me! (But I Deserved It) as of 1/1/1900
Oh, no - it's so easy to forget about the copyright issue. You're right - totally mismatched music now on your video. Can't your boys record some original guitar music for it. They're brilliant!
I was going to post a youtube video of a 1950's tv programme the other day and I got twitchy about the copyright situation. Now I think I'd better remove the one I've added to my blog today!
Isn't youtube made up of countless copyright violations?
I want to add some music to my website and really like Les Baxtor's exotica stuff. Luckily my boyfriend is a musician so I've asked him to 'compose' a pirate' piece of music for me. susan
Best you get yourself a guitar, a piano and a drumset and start creating your own music.
I used to work for a coporate producing and directing training and marketing videos - we had to buy rights to "muzak" to use in our programmes, fill in mountains of paperwork annually, log all the tracks we used - it's a real pain, but I guess, as writers we'd also hate the idea of people filching our words. As you say, there has to be a way round it - a pay as you go library system - some sites do offer something like that, I think.
I've been giving book trailers some thought recently. I've just realised that I have two rather talented brothers in the film-making business (one does animation the other is a corporate film maker) ... I wonder if they would do a skills exchange and make me some videos?
While thinking, I was scanning the web of course and discovered that someone has already put up a book trailer website! BookScreening.com goes by the catchline 'Know what to read next'. Check out this rather fabulous video for Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, voiced by the author:
He's on to a good thing, using his own voice - he's no.3 now in my list of appealing speaking voices - ones I'll never get bored of. No. 2 is Stephen Fry and No.1 is my number one and radio broadcaster, Max Reinhardt! Know of any good female voices?
yes, stephen fry is fab. and then there's martin jarvis who read all the 'just william' books. i also love the voicing style of stephen tompkinson who read 'cliffhanger' by jacqueline wilson. and adrian dunbar's fabulous accents in his reading of the artemis fowl books.
as for female voices, i love zoe wanamaker's distinctive voice but i don't know if she's ever voiced an audio book. i also love judy bennett who does the karate princess series by jeremy strong.
I still think it's unfair that nobody told me she was coming.
Moving on, Meg is now in South Africa.
Meg Cabot at Exclusive Books Capetown. Photo by Nicky Schmidt
Lucky for you, Notes from the Slushpile had spies carefully embedded at Exclusive Books in Capetown where Meg made an appearance.
Nicky Schmidt — aka Atyllah (a chicken from outer space ... but that's another loooong story)— packs her report with some cogent thoughts about authors and marketing.
I’m amazed at how much of the marketing is electronic – almost the whole customer relationship management side of her marketing is done via the internet – aside from the book tours and books signings. But the key marketing focus, it strikes me, aside from having a decent product, is customer relationship management. It’s interesting that in an increasingly competitive market authors are having to focus less on their product and far more on customer relationships in order to up and sustain sales figures. It’s no longer solely about how good the book is, but it’s also about how accessible you are to your market and how you woo them. That gives authors two full time jobs rolled into one – writer/entertainer and marketer.
Read Nicky's full report here - it's mandatory reading for anyone who is working on their strategy to dominate the world ... er, market their books.
4 Comments on Meg Cabot's World Tour, last added: 10/1/2008
Cor bugger la, and now I'm part of the Gourlay International Spy Network. Move over, Alex Rider!
Thanks for the links, Candy - and all I can say is thank god I was a marketer in my previous life! The thing about the web is that it makes that key customer relationship management feature, one-to-one marketing, so much easier. And it's that one-to-one marketing that is so effective in helping to build word of mouth - and word of mouth, as we all know, is the very best kind of marketing.
Okay, I'm trying to be a good author and ignore all distractions.
However Shoo Rayner is evil and has started a drawing school over on his website. I can't resist watching illustrators draw so now Shoo's new page has seriously set back my plans for world domination.
Here's Shoo teaching us how to draw his archetypal character, the Ginger Ninja.
3 Comments on Shoo Rayner's Drawing School, last added: 9/29/2008
i suppose we writers could do the same thing. set up a camera and film ourselves working. but then we'd kill all our readers with boredom. we need them alive to buy our books.
So you see, though I've got a page on MySpace and a page on Facebook and a page on Bebo and a page on YouTube, and a page on Ning (bet you haven't heard of Ning) I was only doing the social networking lark as RESEARCH.
Honest!
My main photo-sharing thingy is Multiply, which a lot of people haven't heard of and that's because it mainly populated by my family and friends in the Philippines and frankly, I was happy to keep it that way.
The main thing I've learned from social networking is that the "social" is just as important as the "network". You can network meaninglessly with as many people you don't know as you want on MySpace, on the off chance that someday you will need to tell all these strangers that you've published your book. But there's nothing like a network that actually interacts with you - it takes years of blogging to get more than four comments (unless you join the Nude Blogging Movement, and then you get an instant fan base).
Or not.
I find Multiply the most rewarding because I only have to put one silly photo up of my husband and within seconds I have 27 pithy comments from my best friend in Washington and 27 comments from my brothers and sisters in Manila (there are many of us), discussing in detail every aspect of my husband's nose, ears, hair, etc.
It's very rewarding (unless you're my husband).
Anyway, my Facebook contacts may have noticed my increased activity on Facebook. This is because my Multiply friends are slowly getting sucked into Facebook. So now I have to go on Facebook to leave insults on their albums. Boo!
AND here's an image that I took off the facebook page of Maureen Johnson (Suite Scarlet, 13 Little Blue Envelopes). It really focuses the mind on the coming US elections.
Suddenly all that wasted time seems worthwhile.
1 Comments on My Friends Are Dragging Me Kicking and Screaming Into Facebook, last added: 9/10/2008
a quick note: friends, please visit my Volcano Child blog (yes, yes, I know, obsessive compulsive me etc etc) - help me make a good impression with ahem! The Powers That Be ...
There is a bit of a discussion at the British SCBWI message board about author websites.
Do you need one?
Where do you start?
Can you cope?
When I first started trying to get published, I set up my homepage CandyGourlay.com. It was 2001, and I was only just beginning to get to grips with code. Blogs were not yet in flavour nor were connection speeds terribly good and Web 2.0 was a twinkle in someone's eye. So my website was really, just a leaflet about me, an online CV.
I started up this blog in 2004 after emerging from SCBWI's conference in Madrid with piles of notes and nowhere to publish them. At the time, I thought I would use my journalistic skills and dash off feature length reports on the writing events I attended.
Well, the blog evolved and developed a voice of its own, it's funnier now, more personal, more frequently updated. It probably helps that I've also acquired the skills and tools to work faster online.
Then the world started to spin a little bit faster. Publishing was changing before our very eyes. Technology was changing. Children were changing.
I heard Scott Westerfeld (Uglies) give the keynote at the SCBWI conference in Bologna in 2005 and I was struck at how with-it he was about technology, about his fans and visiting his website, I realised that his blog had engendered a kind of connectedness with his readership that other authors would do well to emulate.
Instead of building a website from scratch, I used Blogger, changed the template using my Photoshop and coding skills, and used Blogger's powerful tagging tool which put posts of a similar theme together on one page.
The ultimate objective of a blog is to create a conversation between the writer and the reader. However, I also saw the website as an easy way to build a website of substance to support my book - if ever and whenever it gets taken on by a publisher ... a bit like the online production diary that director Peter Jackson kept while making King Kong. The website gets noticed now and then, but ultimately, I am building up a strong archive for the IF and WHEN.
I have started another blog on a theme that I intend to explore in a future novel about climate change, I haven't been blogging extensively because I don't want to fill it with off-the-cuff stuff but with pieces that will someday be the beef to my future novel's bone.
Blogs are not just diaries - they are conversations with the outside world, extended essays, online magazines on themes that you would never find on a newstand!
We have at our fingertips these powerful tools to support our craft - and they're FREE.
Here are three bits of unsolicited advice to those who still resist the onward march of the internet:
1) Computers don't explode when you get something wrong.
2) Any mistakes can be undone by pressing Control-Z (for PCs) . You can restore the deletion by pressing Control-Y
3) If your blog looks like crap, delete it and try again.
5 Comments on What's In a Website?, last added: 9/4/2008
'The ultimate objective of a blog is to create a conversation between the writer and the reader'
When I started writing my blog, I didn't think anyone would comment on it - some bloggers get hundreds of replies - they court comment! I'm happy if I can understand what I've written!
Thanks for all the great tips. Who knows, one day I may even have a website!
So are you telling me that I should stop blogging more or less anonymously as Absolute Vanilla and start blogging as the real me??? *shudder* :-)
Actually, I've always thought of blogging as my learning platform, my place to get to grips with being connected and then, when the time is right, a website (with a blog of course) will be the natural progression.
But yes, I totally agree it's online presence or perpetual darkness!
Blogging is certainly a time-bear, but it's been wonderful to connect with other kidlit lovers! It really is out-of-the darkness, just like Nicky said! Congrats on your blogging expansion!
re blogging anonymously - it's a good way to go if you're just starting out and haven't got a book in the wild yet. i decided early on to use my real name mostly because i thought if i was successful in building a network and raising my profile (IF) then i would have saved time.
sometimes, i wish i did blog anonymously ... but mostly, my journalist background comes to the fore - i feel i have to own up to what i've written. it makes me more careful.
the blog as essay is one experiment i'm working on - what's great is it's a finite essay. you don't blog indefinitely but basically finish a thought. at the end you have a website richly stocked with thought-through content.
it takes a long, long time to get the conversation going ... especially if your readership tends to be passive, resistant to engaging with the internet, fearful of the privacy implications.
most of the conversations on my blog are with folks who are engaged with the internet. but i know a lot of my readers are non-engagers. which is cool. on the occasion that one of the non-commenters actually leave a comment, they make me very happy!
Sweating profusely in the tube the other day, I reached for a copy of the Metro freesheet to use as a fan. An interview with poet Bernardine Evaristo caught my eye. Her debut prose novel Blonde Roots has only just come out. Bernardine uses reversal similar to that employed by my hero Malorie Blackman in Noughts and Crosses. Says Bernardine:
I wanted people to look at the slave trade differently and the reversal was the vehicle for me to do that ... I wondered whether if I turned the slave/master roles around, people would have a different response to the issues ... Read the interview here
The white heroine is a farm girl taken away to be a slave in 'Aphrika'. The cover is very striking and it would be interesting to see how Evaristo builds her world. The Noughts and Crosses franchise is on its fourth book - Double Cross is out in November.
My fascination is partly out of self-interest - last year I started a novel based around some reporting I'd done on children left behind by the migration phenomenon in the Philippines.
The writing was bogged down by the weight and complexity of the reality I was trying to paint and I found myself turning to fantasy. The result was Ugly City, a 9+ novel about a city where parents have to leave and children stay behind.
If you had asked me a year ago if I would ever write a fantasy, I would have said of course not (I haven't even read Lord of the Rings, shock, horror!). But fantasy lends itself to turning unpalatable truths into roaring drama and with the layers pared away, I gained a lot of insight into the immigration situation I was trying to reflect on.
***
My friend Elizabeth emailed me this Rant-Not-To-Be-Missed by Mark Hurst over at the Good Experience blog. Here are the first two bullet points about "how most - not all - publishers work":
• They're not doing it for the love of books. Publishers want something that sells. Similarly, bookstores want something that sells. Publishers and bookstores want a book that sells early, sells often, and sells for a long, long time. If they don't think your book will sell, they won't pay much attention.
• Conversely, if your book will sell, it doesn't matter what you're writing about. You could write something boring, or irrelevant, or nothing at all - just a blank set of pages with a coffee stain on them will work fine, if the book sells. Do you get the picture? It's not about any high-minded ideals of literature, or craft, or changing the world - publishers and bookstores want something that sells. Drop any illusions about spending time with book lovers; this is business.
For the record, I am told that it is not really that bad ... but not far off.
***
Being a rabid member of SCBWI, I'd just like to take this opportunity to point out to members that SCBWI's annual summer conference is now ongoing in Los Angeles. If you want to follow events, Alice Pope, editor of the Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market, is blogging extensively about it. Thanks, Alice!
***
I met Mark Robson, uber prolific author of YA fantasy series like Imperial Spy and Dragon Orb, when I appeared before the Scattered Authors Society to tell them the Internet doesn't bite.
Mark was one of the authors who didn't really need my advice, since he already had an excellent website, blogged regularly and spent a lot of time meeting readers at bookstore events. He emailed me today to let me know he'd invested in a game on his website and do I know any youngsters who would like to check it out.
That's why I love fantasy, because you can take really hard, emotionally laden issues and treat them in a way that doesn't get bogged down. I've worked on two mss now where I've picked tough issues, without the fantasy genre I think they'd have ended up hard, dry and far too intense. Fantasy allows you to soften reality, but without losing the essence of the issue.
As for publishing - well, let's face it, it is about profit ultimately - no profit, no business for publisher to be in. It's a simple bottom line reality - for all of us - and it applies as much to writers as it does to publishers. No sale of book, no bread on the table for anyone - neither writer nor publisher.
I agree, it's one of the reasons why I like fantasy - parallels can be drawn with reality. The novel I'm rewriting at the moment is an historical fantasy yet I'm also using certain aspects as an analogy for some events of modern times. I think it's a good way of bringing important issues to the attention of readers with a subtle approach, even if it does include demons, alternate worlds, dragons etc.
Re publishing. I've never been under any illusion about a book needing to sell. I've worked in the film industry for many years and ultimately its the money men with the power. The film needs to make money, artistic integrity isn't very often of any importance - hence the churning out of sequels and prequels and jumping on bandwagons.
Someone in the industry who shall remain nameless told me the other day that editors are keen on historical rather than fantasy at the moment. having said that, things seem to swing from one thing or the other. fantasy was so hot last year. and now it's so last year. but trends seem to go in round and round ... hopefully it will come round to whatever one has written eventually!
Eoin Colfer, everyone's favourite massively successful bestselling children's author with a way on the stage, is on this huge US road trip. This is the virtual Artemis Fowl bus:
He's doing DAILY vlogs (video blogs, you ninnies!) on the snazzy Artemis Fowl websitewhich reveals more budget than the usual happy-hands-at-home author vlog. Check it out by clicking on this picture:
2 Comments on Eoin Colfer's US Tour, last added: 7/23/2008
This really interests me - the previous time I blogged about the connect between comic books/graphic novels and traditional children's publishing, I had a spike - from my daily readership of 300-500 a day, almost FOUR THOUSAND people read Comic Books Are Not Just For Klingon Speakers - about the rising interest in comic books for kids in the US! What does that mean? Should UK publishers (notoriously resistant to comics) pay attention?
Here's a sample page from Diary of a Wimpy Kid (blurb: "a novel in cartoons":
Lindsey was right! My nine-year-old devoured it like a bag of sweets! And slushpilers should note that Jeff Kinney himself has had an interesting journey to publishing - working on the book for six years before publishing it in daily instalments at Pearson's educational website FunBrain.com (bite-sized blogs targeted at various ages and differentiated between boys and girls are another interesting feature). Thanks for that, Lindsey!
***
Speaking of Puffin - Puffin is one of the few children's publishers who actually maintain a readable blog (in the UK, in the US they all blog). Visit the Puffin Blog here ... but do try to avoid any stalker, publish-me-now-or-else behaviour.
***
People who've attended one of my talks on authors online may have heard me talk about the potential ofgroup blogs for overworked authors - this way, authors can share the burden, expand their audiences ... you get what I mean. Well, my author pal Fiona Dunbar (Pink Chameleon, The Truth Cookie) kindly forwarded this link over the weekend to the Awfully Big Adventure blog recently started by a group of children's authors.
Do visit, leave comments etc etc. I think it's an awfully terrific thing to do! Way to go!
Fiona also pointed out Sally Nichols' (Ways to Live Forever) post featuring this cartoon from Tales from the Slush Pile over at the Children's Boookshelf at Publisher's Weekly. (Thanks, Fiona).
***
And speaking of Fiona, she's just rather hilariously blogged (on her brand spanking new blog) that some big powerful telly people are thinking of basing a sitcom on her Truth Cookie series!
These things usually take tiiiiiiiiiiime. So let's all cross our legs and fingers and wish upon stars that it will happen. Soon!
0 Comments on Notes from Slushpile Readers as of 7/21/2008 5:51:00 AM
Jane Friedman is editorial director of the publishing company that produces Writer's Digest publications so she should know what she's talking about. She is pictured on the left (not on the right).
Her blog is called There are No Rules - and if you're trying to get published, it's a useful blog to track.
Jane is now up to tip number five on How to Sabotage Your Writing Career.
Here's what she says so far:
Sabotage #1: Attempt to get published too soon. Read more.
Sabotage #2: Look out for yourself too much. Read more.
Sabotage #3: Expect your publisher to market your work. Read more.
Sabotage #4: Treat online and multimedia activities as optional. Read more.
Speaking from experience, sabotaging one's writing career is fairly easy. I think I was a great success at Sabotage #1 in my early days of trying to get published!
In the spirit of this post, I offer one handy sabotage tip (inspired by Jane's Sabotage #4):
If you're really, really determined to crash your career before it's begun, create an online presence that portrays you as amateur, annoying, boring, terrifying (there are those out there who think networking is equivalent to stalking publishers and agents online!) or ___________ (fill in blank with obnoxious or unattractive trait).
By all means, get online - but make sure there is method to your web presence.
I don't think the series is over so be sure to check (or even subscribe!) Jane's blog in the next few days.
Thanks to the Harriet Austin Writers Conference website from which I lifted the above lovely photo of Jane Friedman. The conference is on July 18-19 in Athens, Georgia.
4 Comments on Jane Friedman on How to Sabotage Your Writing Career, last added: 7/1/2008
John Green (An Abundance of Katherines, Looking for Alaska) is a broadcaster as well as a YA author. Which really helps. You can see how much it helps on his Amazon video. **Yes, authors, this is a good time to reflect on what you'd put on your Amazon video**
I particularly like the way he addresses the readers as Amazonians.
Naturally, Amazon doesn't provide embed information that allows me to put the video on my blog (why should they encourage you to leave the site when the longer you stay, the more likely you are to buy?). So you will have to click on this screen grab to view it. It's really good - so you lazy people who can't be bothered, go on, CLICK.
6 Comments on John Green's Fictive Versions of Himself on Amazon, last added: 6/27/2008
Excellent! Much giggling. Also funny when my four year old climbed on my knee to watch and after a few minutes with confused expression said 'mummy what is that man TRYING to talk about?' I will now check out his books to see if they are as witty.
A few months ago I found your blog and loved it. You were my intro to the blogging world and the reason I started a blog a couple of months ago. Thanks! Your blog is excellent and your posts inspirational. Now I've got the hang of it, I'll stop by more often to say hi!
Clever way to avoid the (annoying) lack of embedding. And Candy, if your daughter likes videos by writers, I have 156 more where that one came from at youtube.com/vlogbrothers.
Thanks for sharing the video, Candy!
Best wishes, John
fiona dunbar said, on 6/27/2008 5:53:00 AM
What a breath of fresh air! I have watched a number of author vids on Amazon, and so far every single one has reinforced my belief that if I were to do it, I would inevitably wind up looking a total prat. It's REALLY HARD to do well; most writers are not at home in front of the camera. This guy is the exception. And his video proves you need not talk about your book; his random musings – much of which I can relate to! – are just as likely to make me want to buy his books!
OMG john green, you left a comment on my blog! (i interrupt my own gushing to say that's almost like being visited by brad pitt) - yup, loved your video and in fact, my daughter (not old enough to read your books btw) does already watch vlogbrothers!
fiona - i'm sure you can do a good job. in fact i've got an idea for a video for you. we must meet.
I'm always harping on about how we do teenagers down about their use of technology and I really do believe they deserve our respect and that we writers should rise to the challenge of their world.
But this is ridiculous.
With thanks to my cousin Cornelio, who forwarded the picture.
4 Comments on Technology: where I draw the line, last added: 6/27/2008
That's like when you're trying to read in bed, but you're too tired to prop up your head on your arm. SO then you read it with your face on the pillow but you can only really read the page facing you, and you try resting the book on the floor so you can sort of hang the top part of your head over the side of the mattress to see both pages. But then that doesn't really work either so you pack it in and go to sleep. (Or get up and leave long rambling comments on blogs.)
To be fair ... I've done this with a laptop. I suppose one can't help owning a desk top and it's a credit to the young person for not letting the massive monitor get in the way.
It was half term last week. We didn't manage to go away because the teenagers had exams coming. Bored children took root in my shed. Here is the result.
26 Comments on Why Writers Need Agents, last added: 6/11/2008
Do you need a producer? No? Er... how about an Editor? Assistant Director? No, okay... Best Boy, I'll be the Best Boy, can I? Please? Okay, I'll make the sandwiches, anything to be part of you next movie!
Candy, FANTASTIC! Love the soundtrack - who would have thought it was a versatile as that. My congratulations to the cast and crew - bound to be this summer's blockbuster... Let's do lunch.
Oh my goodness, that's HILARIOUS! Like, the kind that has me shrieking with laughter and worrying the downstairs neighbour. Love the stamping agent, everyone's brilliant. Really nice editing, too.
Really enjoyed this Candy. I thought you said you didn't know anything about editing...this is great and shows otherwise. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Thanks! Anne-Marie
But then I sat in on a film-makers' convention in Manila (ages ago) and noticed that you had to wear a lot of make up and dress like an ice cream dessert.
So I became a writer.
Comes the internet, digital cameras, YouTube and the advent of book trailers and I decided I'd still love to have a go at film.
I mean, you only have to watch a few videos on YouTube to realise that the bar can't be that high. I took the advice of Edgar Wright, director of Hot Fuzz:
People always ask me how to become a director, and I always reply: Get camera. Start shooting. it's not great English but it's good advice. No matter what your background or experience, just get out there.
The Guardian Guide to Making Video (Jan 2008)
I went through my list of writerly friends, looking for gullible, willing and attractive talent to exploit and decided Elizabeth (whose sex-drugs-and-AIDS book The Wisdom of Whores is coming out next week! Buy it! You know you need to!) would be an ideal victim er, subject. She is pictured above preparing to throw a spear.
My equipment was rather thrown together - but hey, Edgar Wright, also says:
Don't let a low budget stop you. Having no money means you have no real limits. Just go for it. No excuses.
So what equipment does one need to create a book trailer?
1. Camcorder - my old hi-8 camcorder was last used filming my daughter falling out of her cot (she's nine now). The battery no longer charges so we had to keep it plugged into the wall. No problem.
2. Tripod - I had my late father-in-law's old tripod but it didn't have the right connection to my camcorder. So I decided to handcarry the camcorder. I brought up three kids, surely that means I've got steady hands.
3. Light - we had no lights but hey, there was a lot of sunshine around.
4. Sound - thankfully my old hi-8 camcorder had a socket for plugging in a microphone. And I had only recently blagged a proper microphone from a BBC friend (I was thinking of experimenting with podcasting) . In fact the microphone was the last piece of BBC equipment out of a news hotspot during one of the Beeb's quick escape routines - but that's another story ...
5. Red lipstick - presentation is key.
So Elizabeth came with a rather bedraggled sheet of paper listing the points she had to make. Lipstick was duly applied, camera plugged in. We could only shoot a certain distance from the open door because the power cable was rather short. No problem, no problem.
We shot a few lines and it was good. Then it began to rain. So we moved inside. Setting up inside involved moving all the furniture away from the door (we needed the natural light from the doorway).
We needed Elizabeth to sit because if she stood, the background would include some unattractive grey window frames. Also without the chair, the camcorder's power cable unhelpfully kept making cameo appearances.
Because we had no tripod, I had to stand rather painfully with bended knees. At one point the knees gave way - you will notice in the intro that in one shot the picture appears to turn over. That wasn't intentional fancy schmancy video work. That was me falling over. Having physio now.
Elizabeth had to hold the microphone, a rather tumescent presence in our video which happened to be about s-e-x. Without the mic you could hear the pitter-patter of the rain, the occasional rumble of thunder, and the neighbour's stereo blaring from an open window.
We tried to recruit some small people from the next room to act as microphone stands but they demanded compensation and Equity membership. So keeping faith with the traditions of indie cinema, we coped.
Here's the finished product -
The video was edited using Roxio Easy Media Creator - which pretty much does everything from capturing and editing music to cutting videos. I suppose next time I experiment with book trailers, it would be more appropriate for this blog if I sought a subject who's actually writing a book for children.
And in the spirit of committed geekery, I've started up my own channel on YouTube:
oooh. yes ... what a great idea. but first i have to win the cooperation of the microphone stands.
Wilf said, on 5/4/2008 10:23:00 AM
I LOVE this idea and did indeed waste quite a bit of my post-uni days trying to break into film-making. Well done! A
Absolute Vanilla (& Atyllah) said, on 5/4/2008 10:56:00 AM
Oh well done, you! I was a scriptwriter and video director in a former life and I know well that hankering to be a film maker - I just want to know this - where on earth do you find the time?!
Candy Gourlay said, on 5/4/2008 1:11:00 PM
it's easy to find time when you don't have time. it took two hours to shoot and three and a bit hours to edit. it took a long time to pipe it up to youtube though.
Candy Gourlay said, on 5/4/2008 1:18:00 PM
>I LOVE this idea and did indeed waste quite a bit of my post-uni days trying to break into film-making
addy, you should start another kind of blog so that you could tell us about it. would love to know what you got up to.
nicky, i'm not surprised you were in film-making. i should have been able to guess from the chicken feathers.
JaneyV said, on 5/4/2008 3:57:00 PM
Bloody marvellous and I've been educated as well! You are now my 2nd Youtube subscription. I normally only tune in to the Vlogbros. Keep it up. Spielberg started with a small 8mm and I've heard he did quite well.
I am constantly bashing on about how children's authors have to engage with the internet, technology - with the default world that their readers are growing up with. A few days ago, I received this birthday greeting from my nephew in the Philippines - which absolutely made my day. Although it's made by his parents of course, this is a kid who doesn't see anything unusual in video-taping a message or chatting to me on webcam. He's cute, too.
1 Comments on Another reason why we should all engage with technology, last added: 4/30/2008
Oh Gosh - that's the cutest little vid I've ever seen! I love his little Megabloks candle!
Paul Romeo said, on 4/30/2008 2:27:00 PM
Can I copy the above comment? I so agree: this is the cutest video ever! And I love your nephew. Must bring him to LEGO land when he can handle the smaller blocks ;)
Sue Eves said, on 5/1/2008 1:20:00 PM
and his reaction at the end is so funny! Love the birthday greeting.
Candy Gourlay said, on 5/2/2008 3:41:00 AM
The thing with the megabloks in the end makes the whole video. so funny! it makes me so homesick though.
This is a world away from the vividly imagined worlds of Michael Morpurgo and Jacqueline Wilson. This is not a literary book in any way. But it isn’t terrible. As a factual book, it is crisp, girly, practical and full of good advice about owning ponies ... Indeed, it is so nuts and bolts it doesn’t matter so much that she didn’t write it all.
But wait a minute, the news is just out that the book has now been shortlisted for WH Smith Children's Book of the Year. (Kids vote from a list put up by publishers)
Naturally, there is a lot of upset from anyone who has spent years in garrets typing up manuscripts as opposed to reclining on magazine covers and centrefolds, displaying their assets.
This from Joanne Harris (Chocolat):
If this is an award for people who write books then it should be open only to people who write books, not to somebody who lends their name to a book, or who would have written a book if they had time but didn’t.
You can read all the arguments in the Times Online article — but I was rather interested that the response of Katie Price's publishers was to point out that Katie Price is a very strong "brand" — indeed, Random House has made Katie Price a bestselling author with not one but three memoirs and her third novel due out in July.
When I give my talks about authors and the internet, I always point out that one of the reasons publishers tend to have such crap websites is they are trying to push not just one brand but as many brands as they have authors.
Look at any publisher's website. They are all effectively lists. Lists and lists and lists of books and authors. Kassia Krozser at the Booksquare blog had a little rant about the crapness of publisher sites the other day:
It is no secret that I hate publisher websites. The vast majority of them can be best described as “suffers from multiple personality disorder”. And I’m not just talking about the fact that publishers can’t figure out who the target audience of their site is. Visiting a publisher site means being subjected to bad design, bad search, and — yes — bad content. Not a single one of these is forgivable.
Which is why websites and online promotion are a no-choice thing for authors.
Authors can't rely on a publisher to do their brand-building for them. Publishers already have their hands full trying to make brands out of the thousands of authors on their list, a task so mind-boggling that it's sometimes easier to buy a proven brand that's already out there.
Like Katie Price.
7 Comments on Katie Price Furore: Are Pneumatic Models Allowed to Win Book Prizes?, last added: 3/26/2008
btw i thought the comment of Jordan's publishing director Mark Booth was hilarious! "I don't see what the fuss is about. It's no different to the way the recordings of The Monkees were done."
Absolute Vanilla (& Atyllah) said, on 3/25/2008 9:30:00 AM
I thank goodness I was a marketing and communications and brand manager in my previous life. Now I just have to get past the aversion to marketing myself as a hot hot authorial brand! Hmm, maybe I should go back into marketing - helping authors who don't yet have a brand profile brand themselves. Whatchafink? :-)
"The argument is that celeb books attract 'reluctant readers' who (hopefully) go off and explore the beautiful wide world of literature thereafter (though I'm not convinced someone reading, say, David Beckham's autobiography will then pick up War and Peace)...I like to believe, no matter what, talent will out. Let's just hope someone worthy (or at the very least, has actually written the book)wins, and the prize helps boost THEIR sales rather than the already inflated Jordan."
that's a really good point.
if the book wins, will the true author be recognised?
makes me wonder about authors who write-for-hire on series like the ones spearheaded by working partners. if ever there was a one that won - will they get acknowledgement? or is that kind of book really such a communal work?
Jon M said, on 3/25/2008 2:01:00 PM
As an SEN specialist of some years, my feeling is that reluctant readers will go off and look at the pictures, tell you that they're reading Harry Potter and then go and play a video game or surf the net. Is it this nation in microcosm? The uber-rich, celeb class primp and reward themselves whilst the rest of us pedal a bit faster just to stand still never mind make progress! Cor! That was a bit glum wasn't it? Maybe it doesn't matter! Maybe Sarwat is right and talent will out! I hope so.
Jon M said, on 3/25/2008 2:02:00 PM
Play truth or dare...would you write for a celeb if it got you published?
Candy Gourlay said, on 3/26/2008 4:31:00 AM
ooh that is hard.
i wrote a few scripts (as in lines to say when people asked you questions) for airhead celebs in my starving writer days. but novels?
btw Scott Westerfeld (Uglies, Midnighters) is in London - signing books in ILFORD of all places. I've just rearranged my childcare to try to make the trek. But a helpful neighbour uses the word 'devastating' to describe the journey to Ilford from North London.
Brian Lux said, on 3/26/2008 4:36:00 AM
Like most bonafide writers, I am incensed that pneumatic Jordan, using a ghost writer, should have even been considered for an award.
My recent self-published children's book, with positive comments from fellow published authors, cannot even enter these competitions.
Having learned my craft over the years, and been taken off the slush pile three times by major publishers, sadly to fail at the final hurdle- a contract, I despair. However, I have won the Wales Region for another children's book and will be published this summer.
Sadly, not being a celeb, I shall have to work damn hard to get publicity and success.
Brian Lux
Amanda said, on 3/26/2008 7:57:00 AM
>The arguement is that celeb books attract 'reluctant readers' who(hopefully) go off and explore the beautiful wide world of literature thereafter (though I'm not convinced someone reading, say, David Beckham's autobiography will then pick up War and Peace).
If it is any reassurance to all of you my boyfriend reads many sports biographies (including football) he also reads novels and law journals and anything else he can lay his hands on – he is a partner in a law firm. I'm no sports fan but, out of curiosity, have read some of these books myself.
They can be an interesting insight into what drives a top flight sportsperson or they can be dry as dust and full of stats (yawn).
There are reluctant reader ranges of books specifically designed for people who struggle to read.
Some of these books are simplified versions of sports biographies. Reluctant readers may not go onto other books because of their special needs – War and Peace may be out of reach for many reasons. Reading is fundamental to living an independent life – reluctant reader books serve a purpose by helping people build up the skills necessary to be able to read, say, a letter from a doctor or from a child's school.
I must declare an interest in this. My five year old daughter has communication difficulties which make following storylines difficult. She has been helped by specially designed books (none of which were written by Wayne Rooney!).
She may still struggle as an adult – I would be delighted to see her reading anything at all provided it doesn't promote anything harmful to her or to others.
Sometimes a recognisable face from a TV programme or the world of celebrity provides a hook for someone who will have to work extremely hard to understand written text.
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) is appearing in a virtual event targetting nine thousand children in 216 schools.
(I like reading manuals). The chapter on using music in podcasts opens thus:
. Says Bernardine:
This is just brilliant - I've just watched three of these on Lane's blog - and I'm going to have to give it a go! What fun!