Learning via an Online Conference...

Haven't we all at some time wanted to go to a major book related event but distance or personal circumstances mean you can't?

Recently the London Book Fair (LBF) took place and it was good to see pictures from writers who were attending.

It also means that the Alliance of Independent Authors will be holding their spring online conference.

This past weekend it was #SelfPubCon2019 and I spent much of Saturday at my computer with my earphones on and my notebook and pen to hand.
(Having previously signed up to the conference (free), but it could be signed up to that day.)

Online learning...

There were links to the various sessions (24 of them) some were panels recorded live at the LBF earlier this month, others were audio presentations or with video on YouTube.

You'll find links to the various sessions on the ALLi Facebook page and Twitter account, but they'll only be available publicly for a short time.

There were some valuable insights into marketing, being more productive and especially interesting were the Going Wide sessions- there's value in the global market. Lots of opportunities for the self-published writers.

I spent Sunday morning catching up on the sessions that were released overnight in the UK.

For anyone who is or intends to self-publish it is worth looking at membership of ALLi.

It's on my to do list before I publish my novel.

Meanwhile there's just one more session to catch up on; spreadsheets...author data...

Have you taken part in an online conference before? If you have, what were the high points for you? If you haven't, what discourages you?

Are Hardback Books On the Way Out?

Reading an article by Alison Flood in the Books section of the Guardian online (Friday evening) I saw this headline 'Hardback sales plummeting in age of the ebook'.

"Sales of adult hardback fiction have fallen by over 10% this year alone, with e-books now accounting for 13.6% of US market."

The US has had e-book sales a little longer than we have in the UK, so this may explain some of the figures, but it could also be an indicator of the future in the UK too.

Already there have been rises in the recommended retail price of hardback fiction - 0.9%, so year on year 15p, according to this article on the Bookseller website (5.8.11).

The 'celebrity autobiographies' that appear in the run-up to Christmas are always hardback and when you see the prices they're starting at, it's not surprising the booksellers quickly put their eye-catching discount stickers on the covers and heavily promote their availability.

I wouldn't pay £20-£25 for them and I'm sure a lot of readers agree...

I do have a lot of hardback non-fiction but even I baulk at the prices being asked, so favoured books tend to be bought for me as a birthday or Christmas present by my family.

Even when I've seen the latest novel by one of my favourite romance authors available in hardback, I will wait for the paperback version to be released.

Though I know that in some genres die-hard fans will buy every new novel (by their favourite author) in hardback when it's released, and if they can get it personally signed, even better...

I've always thought that going straight to paperback was possibly better than having a hardback that sold poorly and never got the chance to go to paperback-because the HB sales weren't positive enough.
But perhaps it would be harder to get a paperback deal in the first place in that scenario...

When it was a choice between a book in HB or PB (assuming both formats were available) then it was only dependant on the personal preferences of the reader.

Now that same reader has the added choice of an e-book and perhaps even an audio book too. Personal choice still comes into play, but sales are now more diluted.

We all know publishers need to make money; without it there wouldn't be any writers taken on.
But with costs rising will it get to the point where only best selling authors get their latest novel published in hardback, or will hardbacks become the domain of non-fiction only?

So what's your view on hardbacks? Love them or hate them? Non-fiction only in hardback format?

A Little Light Reading and Listening...

All writers need to read, but as I've said before I do sometimes worry that I don't read enough, but today's prize winner I can honestly say I know the story.

Congratulations go to the winner of the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction, Téa Obreht.  A first-time novelist and apparently the youngest winner of the prize, which will hopefully encourage more writers.

I heard her winning book 'The Tiger's Wife' serialised on BBC Radio4 a few months ago and it was worth listening to. I'm not sure that I would have continued reading it if I'd tried it in print form, but give me a 'prize' book in an audio format and I'm fine.

I've actually started reading an Agatha Raisin e-book- Agatha, a Cotswold amateur detective, is the creation of M C Beaton. In the last few years I've heard other people say they've enjoyed the books, but never got round to picking one up myself.

That was until a few weeks ago when I happened to tune into Radio4 Extra (used to be BBC7) and heard one of the books being serialised. (Agatha is voiced by actress Penelope Keith.)

I may eventually read the first book and work through the series, but I've started with the 'Fairies of Fryfam'- this story follows on from the book being serialised on the radio this week. So far I'm enjoying both...

(I did not know, until I was looking the books up, that M C Beaton is also Marion Chesney- I've read her historical romances over the years.)

Audio books seem to have become popular recently. When I've been looking for possible e-book purchases there will frequently be an audio version also available. You can buy and download them to your computer, your IPod or an mp3 player, it's no longer just cassette tapes or Cds -but if you intend to buy one do check whether it's an abridged (shorter) or an unabridged version (full length) of the book.

The best thing about the audio format is you can do the housework, shopping or even travel on crowded public transport while you listen to a good book...