The Last Few Weeks in Books 3/21/13

Springtime in Brooklyn

First up: In case you missed it on Wednesday, Maggie Mason and I are kicking off a project where we’re writing thank you notes to our favorite writers. Join us in the #ThankAWriter project! Details are here.

Meanwhile: Lots and lots of links, so let’s do this quick hit style:

Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, has passed away.

Smashwords maven Mark Coker has six tips for reading the tea leaves and figuring out the right remedy when your e-book sales are languishing.

I have competition! Yes, I’m not the only one working on a guide to writing (more info about my project here). Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James will soon release In The Fifty Shades of Grey: Inner Goddess (A Journal), which will include writing tips.

An author submitted her unfinished novel to some contests and then noticed similarities in a later published work. She sued. She lost. (The lesson always: Execution is more important than your ideas)

The story of the first novel written on a word processor is fascinating.

I am interviewed by Jeff Rivera (thanks, Jeff!)

Random House digital imprint Hydra was the subject of quite a bit of criticism due to its onerous contract. They eventually caved.

In the wake of Amazon and Apple trying to patent plans to sell used digital content, the New York Times took a look at the history of used books and how “first sale” rules were established.

David Pogue thought a lot about used e-books and arrived at the same place I did: Concerned about whether anyone would ever want to buy a new copy.

David Haglund would like people to stop hating on acknowledgements.

Matthew MacNish asks how you know when you’re ready to start telling your story.

My former colleague Tracy Marchini has advice for people thinking of writing a picture book.

A rather awesome 11-year-old took to Kickstarter to raise money for a book project.

Agent Rachelle Gardner looks at the reasons an agent might give up on a project.

The past few week in the Forums: a place to spread the word about your public events, how accurate do you need to be about ancient cultures?, talking third person omniscient, when to use stars and when to use white space, and an oldie but goodie: How many characters do you have?

And finally, a little blast from the past for your Friday. Remember the Secret City drawing show??

Have a great weekend!

Photo by me. I’m on Instagram here.