What’s Hot: Various “Best” Lists

Here are a couple resources for keeping up with what’s hot in nonfiction series for kids and what’s selling at independent bookstores.

Series Nonfiction

Booklist Online has a wide variety of resources, including “best lists” of books.

For example:

Top 10 Graphic Novels for Youth: 2010 and several other up-to-date articles on graphic novels.

Yesterday, they did a Webinar on Series Nonfiction for kids and you can still see the “What’s New for 2010″ handout. If you write nonfiction, it’s a great resource to see what’s in and up-and-coming.

Independent Bookstores

IndieBound, the American Bookseller’s Association, also has weekly lists of what’s selling, Indie Bestsellers, in independent bookstores in different categories.

Revise with confidence.

Friday Tips

Sometimes small thing accumulate and there are small tips to pass along. Here are a couple.

Read the editor’s letter CAREFULLY:

Because I’m in between novels and not-yet-committed to the new one, I’ve been doing some freelance projects to fill the time, earn a bit, and look for new opportunities. I’ve had one editor interested in a piece, but wanted revisions. The editor is in charge of three publications and I had originally queried her about one, but she was interested in a piece for the sister publication. But I didn’t GET that at first. I was still thinking Publication A. When the article was off target and she asked for a revision, I re-read all her letter and was shocked to see that I had missed the switch to Publication B. Well, now I understood why she wanted that revision, I was thinking the wrong target audience.

Dear_Editor.com

My editor for Searching for Oliver K. Woodman retired to raise triplets. She’s always stayed in the business with two of her own novels published, Honk if You Hate Me and Big Mouth. When her husband was offered a year as an exchange teacher in England, they loaded up the trips and took off for a romp around Europe. She’s also done freelance editing and if you need that, she’d be a great option to consider. Take a look at her new site, ask questions and get to know her.

MailChimp.com

This year, I switched my “RSS by Email” service to MailChiimp.com, instead of using Feedburner’s service. If you signed up last year, you’re still on Feedburner’s service, though, I’ll probably switch people over soon — I’ll let you know when I do that.

I love MailChimp’s flexibility, its interface, its stats and its over-all friendliness. I looked at Constant Connect and tried it out a couple days, but found it less intuitive. I also tried AWeber and found it even less intuitive. Feedburner automatically had a nice look to its mailings. It was easy to duplicate that (almost) in MailChimp. AWeber and Constant Connect were HARD.

Disclosure: If you click on the MailChimp links (either here on at the bottom of the email post) AND you sign up for a paid account (I only have a free account), I will receive a $30 credit for mailings. Since I’m on a free account anyway, and you’ll likely just do a free account, it probably won’t make any difference; but I needed to tell you that.

By the way, you HAVE signed up for the RSS by Email feature, haven’t you? If not, why not? It make it easy to stay connected. Hey, follow me on Twitter, too: @FictionNotes

Revise with confidence.

Do you have copyright questions? Go straight to the horse’s mouth.

Copyright.gov has Resources to Answer Questions

The US Copyright office tries to make it easy for you to understand the sometimes-complicated issues of copyright in the US. Here are some of the circulars (free pdf downloads about a certain topic).

• Copyright Basics
• How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work
• Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Teachers or Librarians
• Pseudonyms or Pen Names
• 
  Contribution to a Collective Work

Questions about using lyrics from a song, can you use a song title, copyrighting comics, and on and on — go first to www.copyright.gov.

Revise with confidence.

I love my job, writing. That means holidays, while wonderful and full of family and friends and food and laughter, are stressful, because I’ve less time for writing.

I love holidays, don’t get me wrong. But why are Thanksgiving and Christmas so close together? Who planned that? And this year, we added on a winter vacation trip in January! Great trip, wonderful time. Glad we did it.

But, back to business: I’m glad to be back at work with no lingering distractions. So, I’m stretching out, looking around and planning and I have two issues I’d like to write about.

• Author websites: how to build it, what it should contain, why should you do it, etc. Probably a series of about 10 postings. Or maybe a bit more. Not techie stuff exactly, but the ideas and reasons behind your website; plus lists of resources for those techie things.
• Plot. I’d like to do a 30 Days to a Stronger Plot. Similar to the 30 Days to a Stronger Novel series, this would be short action-oriented tips on strengthening your novel’s plot.

It’s not that I know everything there is to know about either topic: but I do think I have some helpful things to say about both.
Which would you like to read the most? Plot or Author Websites?

Speak now or . . .

Revise with confidence.

After I wrote about the digital versions of my novel, The Wayfinder, Sherrie wrote with this information about the PC Kindle and the iPhone Kindle app.

PC and IPhone app. I thought I’d forward this to you in case you haven’t seen it. The free Kindle for PC download is another great option for readers who prefer digital versions of the Wayfinder. Readers who own iPhones can also download a free Kindle app. This is one of my favorite apps. I’ve read several entire books on my iPhone this way.


Everything is in-sync. The Kindle’s “whisper-sync technology” automatically saves a reader’s place when he/she finishes reading, and it synchronizes among all Kindle reading platforms. So, if a mother begins reading The Wayfinder on a PC, she can continue reading on her iPhone while she waits for her kids to finish soccer practice. She won’t even have to try to remember what page she read last; Kindle will keep track for her!

I like the fact that a reader doesn’t need to purchase a Kindle device in order to read books on a PC or iPhone. Hooray for more reading options!

I’ll have to load the Kindle PC on my netbook! Thanks for the tip, Sherrie

Revise with confidence.

Here, at the end of 2009, it’s time to look forward to events in early 2010. These are recent announcements I’ve received.

Help a New Fantasy Publisher Get a Start

From Stacy Whitman. As you all know, I’m a children’s book editor. Since I was laid off at Wizards of the Coast, where I edited fantasy and science fiction novels, I’ve been freelancing, and I’ve decided that the next step will be to start my own company. If you guys are on Facebook, you might have already seen me posting about the small press that I’m starting, Tu Publishing. If you’re not, I’m working on starting a small publishing company that will fill a gap in the market, to publish multicultural fantasy and science fiction for children and young adults. Our website is http://www.tupublishing.com, if you want to know more about our mission.

To get started, publishing books takes a lot of money, even on a “shoestring” budget. That’s why I’m doing a Kickstarter campaign—to raise enough money to get started and give a reward to everyone who donates. If enough people donate $5, or $15, or $20, we’ll be able to reach our goal. For every donation through Kickstarter, the donator gets a reward: bookmarks, early copies of books we publish, books donated to libraries, etc. For a really big, pie-in-the-sky donation, I’ve even promised an author visit. :) So they get something for their money, and with enough people banding together, the project can become a reality.

The project has had almost 3 months to run. So far, we’re up to $4031 of $10,000, with just under a week left. So we’ve got some ground to cover—no money exchanges hands if we don’t reach $10,000.

Here’s the link to the Kickstarter page. It’s completely secure—payments are handled through Amazon payments.

Note: Scholastic editor Cheryl Klein also used Kickstarter to fund her book of speeches about writing for kids. It seems to be a new way of getting grass-roots support for a publishing project.

Fearless Writing by Crescent Dragonwagon

A Fearless Writing weekend — the Valentine’s Day/President’s Weekend (Feb. 12-13-14, 2010), Fayetteville, AR. Folks can get full details and register here but I’ll spell out a little more below.

We’ll begin Friday night, work/play together all day Saturday, all day Sunday, with a departure on Monday morning: about 12 hours together, plus informal times at meals — intense, but not at all tense. The workshop costs $895, and THIS INCLUDES ALL MEALS AND ACCOMMODATIONS. (Thank you, Mt. Sequoyah Conference Center!) You can pay all at once, or put $250 and down to hold your place.

IF FOLKS BOOK BY DECEMBER 15, THERE’S A $100 DISCOUNT.

I offer a full money-back guarantee (words you almost never hear about writing workshops, right?

I say them because I’m certain everyone who attends all the sessions will get every minute and every dollar’s worth put into Fearless Writing back ten- or twenty-fold, and because I really want people to come — I’m passionate about it).

If you click on the link, you’ll see this guarantee in writing on the registration page.

Why is Fearless Writing Worth Taking?

As writers, and as human beings, we all periodically find ourselves stopped cold.

• By doubt in our own abilities. By uncertainties about the direction or style of particular piece of writing we’re working on.
• By unexpected change, demands on our time, illnesses (ours or that of someone we love), or unfamiliar economic, technological, or social conditions.

Fearless Writing offers a way to stop being stopped.

It’s an unfailing map: one I use myself, over and over, even after 48 published books in five different genres (I’ll be adding a sixth genre in 2011, when my book on the Fearless Writing method will be published by Ten Speed Press in 2011. 25+ pages of its core ideas are included as part of the workshop, by the way).

The workshop harnesses the anxiety generated by chaotic conditions as a powerful creative force. It’s practical, effective, creative, serious and playful. It turns what look like insurmountable obstacles into the material from which we write, and indeed, become more and more able build all-around thriving lives.

Fearless Writing’s practices and principles spill over, cornucopia-like: from writing, to creativity, to problem solving, to business and personal life.

It works for writers, and blocked or would-be writers. It works whether those writers write or aspire to write for children or adults, in fiction or non-fiction.

It even works for people who don’t identify themselves as writers. It works whether you perceive the obstacles stopping you as inner or outer barriers.

It works, period.

Note: I attended this last January and highly recommend it.

Revise with confidence.

Oliver News and Let Me Solve Your Writing Problems

• Oliver News. Since The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman has come out in paperback this year, it has been featured in many recommended book lists. For example, Hicklebees Independent Bookstore in San Jose, CA starts its review this way, “We can’t think of any book in which people smile as often and as widely as they do in The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman. . . ” For more updates on Oliver, see his website.
• Shrunken Manuscript Sighted. Elleen Booream reveals all in this photo of her novel in Shrunken Manuscript format. She says,
  “As I recall, dialogue was pink. Notice the decided pink tinge to the manuscript.”
• SCBWI Updates Website. Alice Pope summarizes changes to the New-and-Improved SCBWI website.
• Great blog. Well, I was going to link to some of Roz Morris’ posts on her Dirty White Candy blog. But really, I liked all of them. It’s my new favorite blog!
• Turning Negative into Positive. Rejection letters are a blessing? Yes!
• Solving Your Writing Problems One at at Time. Who Needs That Book? Get a sneak peek at the new Fiction Notes Store! We’ve added a section to Fiction Notes, a bookstore with annotations for each book, focusing on what book can help solve a particular problem that writer’s encounter.

Revise with confidence.

Ever feel like you’re climbing an impossible mountain?
That you’ll NEVER get that contract?
That you’ll NEVER get a better advance?
That you’ll NEVER win that literary prize?
That you’ll NEVER reach the top?

NEVER say Never

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Revise with confidence.

Have you heard the new craze about cell phone novels? They are spreading worldwide. Is the writing any different?

Cellphone Novels in Japan, Finland, Italy, Switzerland and China

Cell phone novels across the world:

• Japan:
• Switzerland
• Finland, where there is the highest per capita use of cell phones
• Italy
• China

Cell phone novels for special genres or demographics:

• Classics : “Surprisingly, people are using cell-phone books to catch up on classics they never finished reading.”
• Harlequin Romances
• Kids? Teens? Tweens? I haven’t seen any articles on this yet. If you have, please post a link!

Writing a cell phone novel:

So far, I haven’t seen/read one of these myself. So, this article, which has a partial translation of a Japanese cell phone novel was fascinating. The language is truncated, used emoticons and other abbreviations to the max. And (as we picturebook writers know) it’s hard to do characterization, emotions, plot, actions, etc. in fewer words!

Want to know more?

• Mobile Read Wiki
• More articles about Cell Phone Novels

Revise with confidence.

Planning for 2008

I’m planning to take off blogging until January 3. It’s family time and I hope a time for me to plan for next year.

I’ve been blogging now for about a year and in that time, I’ve had about 50,000 visits to the sites, first on livejournal and now on my own domain. That’s pretty incredible. But I hope that next year will be even more fun.

2008 Topics

• Series.
  January–30 Days to a Stronger Character.
  A series on writing with scenes
  A series on prewriting strategies
• When I asked people to vote, the second most requested thing was writing that first draft. Mostly what I talk about is revision; but I’m thinking about this request. As I’ve focused on revision, I’ve learned a lot about what goes wrong in a first draft and what that process looks like. You’re making me think and that’s good.

2008 Extras

• Plus, I’m planning at least two ways to bring more people into the site:
  More revision stories from you. I’m planning to post a list of questions about your revision process to help people write a guest posting. I learn so much by hearing how others revise and hope to feature more of this.
• Another great way to get people involved is______________. Well, I’m not ready to explain it yet. But it’s going to be fun.

2008 Books about Writing

• Novel Metamorphosis: Uncommon Ways to Revise (Mims House), by Darcy Pattison
  At last, the Novel Revision Retreat Workbook will be in a bookstore near you. Well, just a click away on Amazon, anyway. Scheduled for an April release, you’ll hear lots more about this in January.
• Paper Lightning: Prewriting Activities to Spark Creativity and Help Students Write Better (Cottonwood Press), by Darcy Pattison.
  For about 20 years, I’ve done teacher professional development and this book distills those sessions into easy, fun, simple activities to get students writing better. Also scheduled for an April release, you’ll hear lots more about this as the spring progresses.

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

As Always, It’s Easy to Stay Connected

• Click here to subscribe to my feed.
• Or, if you’re on LiveJournal, you can add my Feed to your Friends page with this URL: http://syndicated.livejournal.com/revisionnotes/
• Click here to sign up for my occasional newsletter.

Revise with confidence.