There ain't no muse?

Music I'm listening to: Neighbors (Razormaid Mix) by Camouflage

Are you waiting for Inspiration to drop by for some tea and conversation?

First, partake of this food for thought by one of the most prolific authors out there: There Ain't No Muse: A Conversation with Nora Roberts

- Katey
Women-Ink.com

Fun with Publishing (Not)

Music I'm listening to: The ticking of my new wall clock. A little boring, but hey.

Publisher Hell stories, anyone? A couple of my clients, both debut authors, have new contributions for the pot.

One received an advance copy of her printed memoir last week. An exciting time for a debut author, yes? Sure, until she realized that her publisher had left out all the photographs. In a memoir. A horrifying deletion, not to mention that the photos were referenced in the text. My client was understandably shocked.

Things did not bode well. The publisher admitted the error was their fault, but said it couldn't be helped now. The book would go out to the stores completely photoless.

OH REALLY, said my client's agent. THINK AGAIN.

And wonder of wonders, the publisher finally caved and agreed to reprint the book. Quite an expense at their end, but now they're doing what's right. I hope all's well that ends well, and that the release date won't be shifted much.

Speaking of release dates, imagine being just weeks away from your first book's debut. You've sweated and slaved over that book for several years and told all your friends and excited colleagues when it's coming out. There's a page for it at Amazon with your name and a pre-order button and everything--it's real! It's the work of your heart and it's nearly here... Then imagine learning that your book has been rescheduled. Oh, and not just for a few weeks or months after the original release date, but for a year and a half after it. Um, unfun, right? Ah, but this client's story gets even better.

Her editor, the fantastic person responsible for loving, buying and committing to her wonderful book, is retiring before the new release date. Oh, yes. That editor will no longer be there to shepherd the book through the publishing jungle. My client is being "orphaned"--not uncommon in publishing, and something that introduces stress and uncertainty for the author and some risk for the book. I have my fingers crossed that everything will go smoothly with this transition, and that her new editor will love her book and be willing to push it just as much as the previous one did. She deserves that, and so does this book.

Oh, and there are far worse stories out there. Check out the Editor from Hell story, for starters. If you're feeling masochistic. :-)

A win for ebooks: Kindle 2 available for pre-order!

Music I'm listening to: my own whoops of joy

My kindle 2 will be here on Feb. 25. Squeeee!

The brand-spankin' kindle 2 will be $359 (same price as the kindle 1, which they're no longer selling) and available for sale on Feb. 24.

The k2:
- is the same width as k1, is half an inch longer, but only a third of an inch think
- has seven times the original amount of storage space and 25% more battery life
- features 16 shades of gray instead of the original 4 (though external rumor has it that within a year or so, color e-ink screens will be possible)
- has better annotations (you no longer have to select an entire line to highlight one word)
- will offer location syncing between devices (in other words, it hold your place even if you're reading the same book on more than one device--wish I had two kindles to enjoy that feature!)
- and will even read a book to you (text-to-speech).

They've done away with SD card storage and a user-replaceable battery, though. I guess they couldn't squeeze those into the super-thin shape. The SD card storage isn't an issue for me, since every book bought through Amazon is on a "permanent bookshelf" for you. You can always download it to your kindle again for free.

Also, Amazon has been hinting that they'll allow users of other devices, such as mobile phones, to make e-book purchases through Amazon. No word yet on whether they'll allow it for other dedicated e-readers (competitors of the kindle)--I hope they do--and there's no expected date for this yet.

I'm also sad, though not surprised, that Amazon's kindles aren't supporting the ePub format (which, with luck, will become the standard e-book format--one format capable of being read on many devices). Unfortunately, Amazon has an interest in NOT supporting ePub, since Am owns the competing Mobipocket format.

Also no word about whether the new kindle will have *folders* in which to organize all your books. The lack of folders was one of my peeves with the k1, as the only way to see all you had on the kindle was to look through a long list of every book on it--no organizing by genre, etc. I do hope they'll have this fixed on the k2, since it was one of the biggest user complaints. We shall see!

Anyway, go drool. It's what I've been doing this morning.

- Katey, eagerly awaiting Feb. 25

Happy February (mostly). And the E-book revolution?

Music I'm listening to: my hubby watching TV downstairs and snow melting from the roof. Which means snow is sticking to the mountains high above us. YAAAAAY! *Katey smiles at her skis*

Today, however, I'm battling a cold (ugh) and spending my Saturday working out how to make my latest manuscript bigger in both length and plot. I love Donald Maass's Writing the Breakout Novel (and the workbook he wrote for it) and always find good ideas in there.

My break time is often spent trying to catch up with blogs in Google Reader, especially since I'm eager for the announcement of the new Amazon Kindle on Monday. Here's a juicy new post about ebooks and the future of publishing. I don't agree with all of it, but much of it seems spot-on. Change is on the way! Elgan: Here comes the e-book revolution

One of my fabulous clients, Jan Elvin, has written a terrific guest post for me about our work toward the sale of her debut book. The Box from Braunau: In Search of My Father's War will be published in hardcover this May. (Check it out!) I'll have her post up this week, providing I don't get buried under a pile of antihistamines and tissues.

And speaking of my fabulous clients, Leigh Brill sold her memoir about cerebral palsy and how her wonderful service dog, Slugger, forever changed her life. Leigh's book was originally scheduled to appear in stores just weeks from now (B&N still lists it that way), but the publisher elected to postpone until the fall of 2010 due to the overabundance of dog books on the market. Naturally, this was heart-wrenching for both of us, as no author wants such a delay. Meanwhile, we're hoping for more good news about Leigh's book down the road, and she's working on a fantastic series of children's books. (More to come as developments warrant.)

Readers, I hope you're healthy and happy--and writing!

Katey
Women-Ink.com

About publishing's failures...and the future

Music I'm listening to: "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by Loreena McKennitt

Some of you may have seen this already, but this article on the publishing industry by agent Richard Curtis is certainly food for thought:

E-Reads: Behind Publishing's Wednesday of the Long Knives

The future's nearly here, folks. I myself bought a Kindle last spring and loved it. I recently sold it, but only to prepare for the Kindle 2 (or another e-book device that will catch my fancy). Honestly, paper books now feel awkward to me. It's frustrating to have to hold them open (particularly since I'm often multitasking when I read--eating, brushing my teeth, etc.), and I hate breaking the spines of my books! Feels like a wee murder. I love the ease and practicality (no storage space needed!) of my e-books. They never yellow or get brittle, and I can lose myself in the story, instead of the format.

But DRM (digital rights management) is one thing holding me back from building a big e-library. I hope publishers and online retailers (ahem, Amazon) move to DRM-free books, or at least to ePub or another format that can be moved among the purchaser's devices of choice. I think Amazon will go that way eventually, based on its DRM-free .mp3 library and a strong hope that it smells the coffee, but we'll see.

Anyway, I do think big changes are ahead for the industry, for good or for ill. Let's hope for the good.

By the way, do you want to zoom forward with your writing? Could you use a support system for your publishing goals and a caring, personal guide to help you write and sell? Good, because now's the time. I'm running a half-off sale on book coaching for writers for the month of January! It's the first sale I've ever offered, and I may not ever do it again, but the new year is just around the corner and I'm inspired to help you succeed in 2009.

Go to Women-Ink.com/half.htm to read all about the sale, but remember--you must get in touch with me by December 31, 2008 and let me know you want the discount. Time's ticking. Go!  :-)

Dear readers, one and all, may you have the happiest of holidays and a truly magnificent year ahead.

Katey

How to help the books we love

Hello, writers one and all. Yes, I know, long time no see. (grin) I hope you've been having a creative and productive few months.

The economy is looming large and scary for many of us these days, so here's something to keep in mind as we approach the holiday gifting season:

Editorial Ass: C[r]ash Flow (Or What Went Wrong in October in Book Publishing)

Permission of sorts, yes?  :-)  My Amazon habit is delighted.

Katey
Women-Ink.com
Get free, motivational quotations for writers!

Mourning the loss of two spaces. (& blog pause)

That's it, I'm switching over. I've been fond of using two spaces between sentences since I was a four-eyed kid in elementary school. (And if you've paid attention to my previous musical tastes, you can identify that decade.) I prefer the look of two spaces in manuscripts, and since I often read my clients' work before they submit it, I find two spaces marginally easier on my eyes when critiquing.

But for my own writing, it's become too annoying to switch back and forth from two (manuscripts, emails) to one (web work, e-newsletter). So I give up.

I will now be training myself to use one, lonely space after terminal punctuation. It's the end of an era for me. (sniff)

Although I'm switching so I can lessen my own writing frustration, whether you should do the same is up to you. I've judged many writing contests and never penalize entrants for spacing choices, as long as they're consistent about them. My agent uses two spaces, and a quick check of recent correspondence with editors shows that seven of those eleven New York editors also use two--so while there may be a trend toward using one space in publishing, it's hardly universal.

Bottom line: if a publisher specifies a preference about spaces between sentences, follow it when you submit there. Otherwise, no one much cares. Honest.

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Now that Write Now Quotes is rolling (10 issues so far and going strong), I doubt I'll be posting here much. (Not, LOL, that this will be much of a change.) So if you'd like to hear consistent suggestions and advice from me, please join the free WNQ newsletter. I look forward to seeing you there!

Katey
Women-Ink.com