Saturday, December 03, 2011

Writerly Talk - summary and links

Last Thursday night I was honoured to do the end of year talk at the Hawkesbury River Writers Group.  I promised those good folk I'd fling a quick summary up on the blog, and add links to various websites I'd mentioned.

So here it is...
  • With the changes in the traditional print industry (ie move to author self promotion), and the explosion of the e-industry the ‘unpublished’ stage of an authors career is now a vital part of their success – it is not a rite of passage, or something to be endured until ‘your ship comes in’.  It is a busy, active time where you can establish yourself.
  • Am talking about published and unpublished as if there is a line, or a hill, or everest in between the two. These days there is not.  If any one of you chose to, you could be published by tomorrow night.  I don’t recommend you jump in blind, but its there for the taking.
  • E-publishing or self publishing is huge.  With the massive popularity of kindle and other e-readers, millions have access to self-published e-books. There is cult-y following, and agents and editors alike are scouring sites like Smashwords to find new talent. 
  • Amazon’s new imprints are going to be massive and industry changing
  • The unpublished part of your career is absolutely vital –
    • establish yourself,
    • make connections,
    • get your voice out there, ie have a presence online, so that agents and editors can find you
    • learn, about marketing, advertising, self-promotion
      • what works - learn from other's mistakes
      • what you like, what you can handle -
        • I am passionate about... 
      • finding where and how you can promote your books once they are published
Any questions, email me... caitlyn . nicholas @ gmail . com
No spaces

Good luck to all :)

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Rachael Blair said...

Sounds like a great talk! Lots of good points :) Thanks for sharing.

Caitlyn Nicholas said...

Thanks Rach - I mentioned you in it :) Cos I think you're such a brilliant example of someone who's done things the 'right' way!  I was using my early attempts online as a contrast, or a what not to do guide!!

Coleen Kwan said...

Every week I seem to hear of someone hitting #1 with a self-published title. It's very tempting, but I hesitate to jump in!

Rachael Blair said...

Aw that's so sweet Cait. Although I don't know what bad things you've done!!!

Caitlyn Nicholas said...

Try telling a senior M&B editor she wouldn't be interested in my book (at my first conference when I was about as clueless as they come) - still makes me want to beat my head on a desk!!!

Caitlyn Nicholas said...

Yep, know that feeling.  Its a big deal.  But if you've got a great book and you're confident in what you're doing there's no reason you can't be the next No. 1!!

Kellie @ Three Li'l Princesses said...

Oh Caitlyn, So wish I lived in another state to listen to your talk. I'm in the process of working with the newspaper I worked for to put my Mum's the Word columns into an ebook. It's been such a learning curve for me. I have read the two Smashwords ebooks its released on self publishing and marketing, which were really helpful. Also I read Pat Flynn's ebook on the subject too. Although, his was more targetted at info ebooks. Mine is very much pure entertainment! Will check out all the links you have mentioned too. Thanks so much for sharing this. It's extremely helpful.  x

Caitlyn Nicholas said...

Glad it helped a little Kellie :)  Its so daunting to begin with!  Let me know about the ebook, I'd love to read it when it comes out.