Sunday, October 6, 2013

This Week on Books Direct - 6 October 2013

This Week on Books Direct -
6 October 2013

Here's a list of the articles you may have missed this week:


"Kids in the Kitchen" - Brought to you by Bundle of the Week.
Get your kids in the kitchen with this great collection of cookbooks for kids. With easy-to-follow recipes, guidelines and schedules for teaching kitchen skills, and encouragement that your investment will pay off, this bundle will help you discover the fun of cooking with kids while teaching them important skills that will serve them for a lifetime. This week only, get all five ebooks for more than 85% off!




The more we expose young readers to the wide variety of reading possibilities, the wide variety of how books look and feel and grow in our hands and minds, the more positive steps we take in combating gendered reading.




"Writing Advice From Acclaimed Author Marcus Sedgwick" - Article by Marcus Sedgwick for This Craft Called Writing.
Marcus is a great believer in less-is-more. It's his belief that many books are simply too long, and that if you're working well, you can actually achieve a more powerful overall effect by keeping your writing on the sparer side.




"Bookshelf Boombox" - Article by Steve Hoefer for Make.
Don't judge these books by their covers! They hide an amplifier, a speaker, and a plush compartment for your portable audio player.




"Why Social Media isn't the Magic Bullet for Self-epublished Authors" - Article by Ewan Morrison for The Guardian.
Ewan shares what he has discovered about self-promotion in the digital utopia of social media marketing.




"Myths of Self-Publishing"- Article by Tony Kappes
Tanya talks about her decision to self-publish.




"Tom Clancy Dead: Celebrated Thriller Author Dies At Age 66" - Article by Aly Weisman for @Business Insider Australia.
American author Tom Clancy died Tuesday night in a Baltimore hospital at age 66, Publishers Weekly first reported via Twitter.
"He was a thrill to work with," Ivan Held, the president of Putnam, told The New York Times. A cause of death has not yet been revealed.




"Sex, Violence and Devils: Ten Books That Shocked the World" - Article by Sara Nelson for HuffPost Books.
Sara presents her list of the 10 most shocking books of all time, or at least the last century or so.




How do novels become not just sellers, but best sellers – and hyper-sellers?




How important is word-count to you?




"Guest Post by Joan Rylen" on A Newbie's Guide to Publishing.
It doesn't matter if you're self-publishing or going traditional, one thing is for sure - marketing yourself is a must. Many cringe at the thought, but there are some ways to make it less painful and more productive.




"Is Goodreads' New Review Policy Censorship?" - Article by Aja Romano for Mashable.
Authors who've complained about being bullied by "trolls" on Goodreads are happy to hear that Goodreads has changed its user-generated review policies. Other users are outraged, seeing this move as an act of platform-wide censorship.
Read the Goodreads Review Policy here.




This infographic will answer your most burning questions about blogging and even give you eight quick tips to help you up your blogging game.




It doesn't matter whether you plan on working with an agency, submitting straight to a publisher, or self-publishing; in the initial stages of authorship, the same rules apply.




If you enjoyed this blog post, please visit the This Week page for links to more great articles.