I’m sending out this post a day early. Tomorrow,  our focus won’t be on the publishing industry but on  the people, pets, and things that comfort and uplift us.  Write all you want tomorrow, and save the angst over agents and editors,  book sales, marketing, and what have you until Monday.

 GalleyCat, quoting figures supplied by the Association of American Publishers, reports that adult paperback sales dropped nearly 64 percent in June of this year compared to June, 2010.  Read more at http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/adult-paperback-sales-declined-nearly-64-in-june_b37865 For the same period, the AAP found ebook sales climbed 167 percent, an increase that sounds phenomenal but apparently didn’t make up for the dip in paperback sales. See the results at http://www.mediabistro.com/ebooknewser/ebook-sales-up-167-in-june_b15465

Does easy access to the digitized written word threaten writers’ livelihood? Do strict copyright laws hinder the dissemination of information? In Canada, where an effort to update copyright law is expected this fall, controversy dogs publishers’ desire to lock digital content and educators’ push to allow copying for students’ use. Author Cory Doctorow, who opposes tighter copyright laws, weighs in. Read the article at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/its-writers-v-professors-in-the-latest-war-of-words/article2152358/  This debate isn’t strictly made-in-Canada. Earlier this year, for example, publisher Harper Collins decreed its ebooks could be lent out only 26 times before they expire, and U.S. librarians vowed to boycott the publishers’ list.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/business/media/15libraries.html  (Thanks to Kim Samsin for the heads up and the link to the Globe and Mail article.)

Cory Doctorow, who likes to stay busy, warns self-published authors that marketing their books will take time and money at http://www.locusmag.com/Perspectives/2011/09/cory-doctorow-why-should-anyone-care/

Book marketing is easier if one knows a maven, a connector, and a salesman. Kristen Lamb, author of We Are Not Alone—The Writer’s Guide to Social Media explains why at http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/maximizing-our-social-media-impact-having-the-right-friends/

Agent Jason Ashlock comes out against the agent-as-publisher trend. Read his opinion at http://publishingperspectives.com/2011/09/argument-against-agent-publishers/

Agents-as-publishers, small publishers, and indie-pubbed or self-pubbed authors don’t have the luxury of IT and marketing departments as large as those at the Big Six and have to hurry up and educate themselves on the best ways to produce, distribute, and market digital books says Mike Shatzkin at The Shatzkin Files’  http://www.idealog.com/blog/what-smaller-publishers-agents-and-authors-need-to-know-about-ebook-publishing

At her Market News blog, Cindi Myers continues her report from the RWA National Conference in NYC with an overview of the Spotlight on Sourcebooks. http://cindimyersmarketnews.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/spotlight-on-sourcebooks/

As if there weren’t enough competition out there, Kim Wright at The Millions finds that literary writers are turning out genre fiction. Why? It sells better, and genre writers now get some respect. Read all about it at http://www.themillions.com/2011/09/why-are-so-many-literary-writers-shifting-into-genre.html

Before you write your next synopsis or query, check out Chuck Wendig’s irreverent but relevant tips at http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/09/07/25-things-you-should-know-about-queries-synopses-treatments/

Writers who gravitate toward readers’ groups on social media often find themselves connecting with other writers. “We cannot mistake our professional network for our reader demographic,” says author-marketing expert Kristin Lamb. She advises writers to push out of their comfort zones to reach their real demographic, which she defines as  “Anyone in need of informing or entertaining.” Read Lamb’s blog entry at http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/marketing-fiction-branching-out-to-fresh-blood-bringing-new-readers-into-the-family/

President Obama’s vacation plans on Martha’s Vineyard included time to read several works of fiction. One critic wondered if the president’s interest in fiction over nonfiction sent a signal that he was “out of touch with reality.”  See http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/275264/what-s-obama-reading-tevi-troy#   Robert Gray, a contributing editor at Shelf Awareness, responds with, “Fiction is not all make-believe; nonfiction is not the same as truth. But we can learn from all of these variations what it means to be human.” Read Gray’s essay at http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1544#m13120

On the Five Scribes blog, Donnell Bell interviewed WF-RWA’s own Edie Ramer, who has tips for indie-published authors who want to ramp up sales. http://fivescribes.blogspot.com/2011/08/indy-authors-getting-word-out-about.html

Curtis Brown Ltd, agent Sarah LaPolla offers a five-step alternative to an MFA in creative writing at
http://bigglasscases.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-to-get-mfa-in-five-steps.html

Cindi Myers continues her overview of the Publisher Spotlights held at RWA 2011. Go to http://cindimyersmarketnews.wordpress.com   The August 24 entry looks at Kensington, while the August 17 blog is about Bantam, Doubleday, and Dell. Scroll down to August 10 for a Spotlight on Pocket.

Jane Friedman, e-media and writing professor at the University of Cincinnati and a contributing editor to Writer’s Digest offers practical blogging tips of use to writers new to blogging at http://janefriedman.com/2011/08/24/blogging-for-writers/

What’s a writer to do when a manuscript doesn’t sell and self-publishing isn’t an option? Edan Lepucki, a writer of fiction and a staff writer for The Millions, moves from grief to acceptance at http://www.themillions.com/2011/08/shutting-the-drawer-what-happens-when-a-book-doesnt-sell.html

At Huffington Post Books, Anis Shivani interviews Richard Nash, formerly of Soft Skull Books, about his new venture, Red Lemonade/Cursor. In the digital age, Nash envisions multiple publishing communities, each of which operates in a way that reminds me of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest. Read about Nash’s view of the future  at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anis-shivani/richard-nash-publishing-_b_913378.html

In the bad news/good news department, Writer’s Digest contributing editor Jane Friedman won’t add new content to There Are No Rules, the writing blog she launched in 2008 on WD’s website. (The blog’s contents will be archived at WD and at JaneFriedman.com.) Happily, Friedman has unveiled Being Human at Electric Speed, her new writer-centric blog.  There, she advises writers to use more than one social-media route—and explains why.  See http://janefriedman.com/2011/07/27/build-diversity-online-presence/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JaneFriedman+%28Jane+Friedman%29

At Romance University, editor Theresa Stevens offers ten tips to help with final edits before you submit a full manuscript.  Find them at http://romanceuniversity.org/2011/07/22/ask-an-editor-by-theresa-stevens/

I’d never read WF-RWA member Amy Sue Nathan’s women’s fiction blog until she introduced herself and it to the chapter. Now I’m hooked on Amy’s posts and those of her guest authors. You’ll find them at http://womensfictionwriters.wordpress.com/

Cindi Myers continues her reports on the RWA 2011 Publisher Spotlights with an overview of the Spotlight on Bethany House at http://cindimyersmarketnews.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/spotlight-on-bethany-books-and-more/  WF-RWA members who write inspirationals will be happy to learn Bethany publishes women’s fiction.

At The Shatzin Files, Mike Shatzin opines on Apple’s decision to sell ebooks for the iPhone and iPad through its own bookstore rather than via apps for Kobo, Nook, and, presumably, for other ereaders.  Go to http://www.idealog.com/blog/publishing-is-living-in-a-world-not-of-its-own-making

Publishing-industry blogs had quieted due to the midsummer heatwave and Borders’ demise, and then, on July 25, agent Jessica Faust of Bookends LLC blogged about her agency’s plan to set up a separate epublishing arm. See http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2011/07/bookends-strategy-for-self-epublishing.html  Last I checked, Faust’s post had triggered 161 comments and a number of blog posts from writers and others. Why did Faust’s blog entry generate heat when other agents, Scott Waxman, for example, had already ventured into epubbing? Waxman, after all, launched Diversion Books, see http://www.diversionbooks.com/ back in 2009. In addition, while Dystel Goderich Literary Management didn’t launch an epubbing arm, it announced in June at http://www.dystel.com/2011/06/announcement/  that it would “facilitate” epubbing for clients who decide they want to go that route. My take is that Faust’s long-time blog and agent-next-door persona gave aspiring writers a high comfort level. While she meant to be transparent in her July 25th post, readers, some of whom who may not have known of other agents-turned-publishers, didn’t hesitate to scold their agent-next-door for a perceived conflict of interest. Now, Bookends is revisiting some of its policies. In the meantime, reactions to the Bookends announcement came from historical romance writer Courtney Milan at http://www.courtneymilan.com/ramblings/2011/07/26/an-open-letter-to-agents/ and from The Passive Voice at  http://www.thepassivevoice.com/07/2011/agents-in-conflict-with-clients-issues-and-responses/ Both Milan and the writer of The Passive Voice are lawyers by training, and it’s worthwhile to scroll through their subsequent entries on the subject. Back in May, Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware noted that the trend of literary agencies morphing into publishers was accelerating and emphasized that those agencies must put policies in place that “build a wall” to address confict-of-interest issues. Find her post at http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2011/05/literary-agencies-as-publishers.html

I hope you have no conflicts of interest this coming week. Happy writing!

This Sunday’s post is brought to you by numbers three, four and five—along with other,  random integers.

Excuse the clunky URL’s in the post.  No number was to blame. A certain human, ahem, had issues with WordPress this week.

Mystery and young-adult writer Randy Russell touts the “Rule of Three” for pitching a novel and staying on track while writing it. Find the rules in Russell’s guest post on Chuck Sambuchino’s Guide to Literary Agents blog at http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/How+The+Rule+Of+Three+Can+Help+You+Pitch.aspx

Want to rock your first or next book signing? At Pimp My Novel, guest blogger Corrie Garret offers four how-to’s picked up at a recent book signing for John Scalzi. Find them at http://pimpmynovel.blogspot.com/2011/07/guest-post-four-elements-of-great-book.html

Before you can rock that book signing, you must lure people to it. At Writer Unboxed, publicist Crystal Patriarche  serves up five MUST-DO tips for book publicity in today’s market at http://writerunboxed.com/2011/07/11/five-must-do-book-publicity-tips/

At Boxing the Octopus, romantic suspense writer Colleen Thompson lists five “anti-angsting” tips to help authors survive the waiting period that follows a submission. Here they are: http://www.boxocto.com/2011/07/what-to-do-while-waiting.html

Whew! The number five is busy this week. At Courage 2 Create, Writer’s Digest contributing editor Jane Friedman discusses five factors that give individuals, groups, and organizations authority online. Go to http://ollinmorales.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/janefriedman/

Texting, e-mailing, and updating Twitter and Facebook may stifle creativity warns marketer and entrepreneur Jonathan Fields. Read what he says about intermittent reinforcement and wince in recognition. http://www.jonathanfields.com/blog/creative-kryptonite-and-the-death-of-productivity/

In her Market News Blog, Cindi Myers says RWA 2011′s buzzwords were “digital first” and “discoverability.” She also offers details from the conference’s Spotlights on Avon http://cindimyersmarketnews.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/spotlight-on-avon-new-speculative-fiction-publisher-and-more/  and on Bell Bridge Books and Samhain Publishing. http://cindimyersmarketnews.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/bell-bridge-books-and-samhain-publishing/

If you’re planning to go digital, how will you price your book? Mike Shatzin discusses “dynamic pricing” at The Shatzin Files http://www.idealog.com/blog/dynamic-pricing-what-it-is-and-what-it-isnt

Kecia and I wish you a happy and productive week of writing.

Industry News- June 5

At Writer Unboxed, WF-RWA’s own Jan O’Hara interviews former literary agent Nathan Bransford and asks the questions we’ve wanted answers to since Bransford left Curtis Brown Ltd.  The interview’s a two-parter, so look for the second half soon.

Chuck Sambuchino’s Guide to Literary Agents features  a Q & A with Katie Shea of Caren Johnson Literary. Shea’s looking for “beautifully written literary fiction, commercial adult fiction, and women’s fiction.”

At Pimp My Novel, guest poster Phoenix Sullivan reveals how she nudged her novel onto ten of Amazon’s bestselling lists. Hint: she used keywords and tagged to the max.

Literary agent Kristin Nelson supported client Courtney Milan’s decision to turn down an offer from Harlequin in favor of self-publishing UNLOCKED.  Within four days of the book’s debut, Nelson says she learned two things.

Cindi Myers, in her Market News Blog of June 1  reports that Samhain Publishing is looking for 25,000 to 30,000 word submissions for a new anthology of stories centered around the Summer Olympics of 2012. All stories should have romantic elements and a happy ending. Each will be published as an individual ebook in June 2012 and in an anthology collection the following summer. For details, go here .

What’s the editing process like for a debut author? Romantic suspense author Donnell Ann Bell wanted to know how her experience at Bell Bridge Books compared to that of first-timers at other houses, so she asked around. Find the results at the Five Scribes blog.

E-pubs are in the news again. Agent Nat Sobel challenges publishers to hold back e-reprints for six months. He compares e-books to DVDs and hardcover books to newly released movies. He feels that “the future of hardcover publishing is at stake.”

Random House is claiming e-rights on backlist books. I hope no one reading this will have to fight for their rights.

Agent Holly Root talks to Romance University about negotiating publishing contracts.

Agent Jessica Faust at Bookends talks about negotiating your advance.

If you’re looking for a publisher instead of an agent and you weren’t at the Spotlight on Kensington at National in July, you can read an excellent summary at Cindi Myers Market News Blog.

Hurrah for the Chicago Tribune! They posted their favorite fiction list of 2009, and 9 out of the 15 authors are women. Love to see numbers like that.

In Jennifer Crusie’s 10 Tips for writers, tip Number One is Get a support group. The RWA-WF group agrees.