This week! Books!
We have some mighty fine links for you, let’s get started.
Your latest publishers vs. Amazon dustup is brought to you by the buy button, which Amazon has opened up to third party sellers. Agent Rachelle Gardner has a good overview of what’s at stake, and over at the HuffPost, Brooke Warner argues it’s going to drive down the value of books.
There are a lot of writing services out there, and they’re not all created equal. Two posts this week as a reminder, one from Tara Sparling (via Anne R. Allen) and one from Kristen Lamb. I’m going to blog more about this soon. Amazon told Publishers Lunch (subscription link) that they’re dedicated to removing potential bad actors.
Time Magazine took a look at six books to read before they become movies.
You need an elevator pitch for conferences so you can pitch your book at a moment’s notice, right??? Not so fast.
But you do need a good synopsis.
James Patterson and Bill Clinton are teaming up to write a novel so… yeah. That is happening.
And speaking of politics, this is a pretty interesting interview with a Berkeley professor who has a lot to say about the use of political language.
This week in the Forums:
Got any good music recommendations?
Is it okay to use a recently sold but unpublished book as a comp title?
What’s the best way to meet agents at a conference?
Nominate Your Query for a Critique on the Blog
Nominate Your First Page for a Critique on the Blog
Comment! of! the! week! goes to Jenn, whose Fitbit-for-writing idea is pretty solid, from the post about publishing inventions:
something like a fitbit only for writing. so when you’ve not written however many words in a certain period of time, the thing alerts you, in a kind but notable fashion, that you need to get off your ass.
And finally, real-life DuckTales money bin!
Have a great weekend!
I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and consultations! And if you like this post, check out my guide to writing a novel.
Art: Photo by me. Follow me on Instagram! @nathanbransford
The Berkeleyside article made a lot of good points. I agree that emotion and irrationality play a far bigger role in decision making than people like to think.
But there is one glaring hole in Lakoff's approach. If he he has really discovered a general principle for crafting persuasive messages, then why has he been unable to craft his own message to progressives in a language that will allow them to hear him? Or is he falling into the same trap that most of us fall into–speaking our own language instead of the audience's?
Interesting point, anon.
Re: 6 Books to read before you seen them films. Man, I gotta say, It (the book) is one of the craziest novels I have ever read. I was curious to see how it was adapted and made it through about 2 hours of the 1980s miniseries before giving up (it was really bad). There are some scenes in that book that I just cannot imagine anyone touching. I suspect the filmmakers will not. Giant turtles at the end of space?
Too many interesting links again, Nathan! I can't read much faster than I can type, so there goes the Friday night.
And note to self. If in elevator with Jessica Faust, talk about religion, politics, and the weather, but NOT my WIP!
And congratulations to Jenn!