Many authors leap into the blogosphere with enthusiasm, build their blog for a couple of months, then lose momentum. But nothing ever disappears from cyberspace — your blog's still out there, and if it's neglected it sends a message to readers that maybe your writing is growing stale as well. What's the solution? Author Lisa Dale offers these 6 Tips to Resuscitate a Dying Blog. She's got some fun ideas for how to involve your readers and get your blog back on its feet. Then you'll be in a good place to promote your next book as soon as it's published.

For most of our 22 years in business, our advice to aspiring authors has pretty much been the same:

Write  a  great  manuscript,  research  publishers,  assemble  a  submissions package, send it off….and wait.

If you’re one of the lucky ones,  your wait will end with a contract offer.  If you’re like  most  writers,  the  cycle will  be completed by another  rejection letter.  Not the most fulfilling process, but it was the only process that worked. But things have changed.  We've entered a new era of publishing,  one that  offers  a fundamental  shift  in  power.   Writers  can,  if  they are so inclined, completely sidestep the traditional  publishing structure and take on a more entrepreneurial role.  The means to produce, distribute, sell and promote one's writing are now within the reach – and budget – of almost every writer. No era of fundamental change arrives without uncertainty, confusion and fear, and today's publishing environment is  no exception.  For writers who have gone about their business the same way for years, talk of eBooks, apps and the like may strike a discordant, even unsettling note.

That's all perfectly understandable – the dust kicked up by the rapid pace of change makes it hard to see a clear path to a promising future.  But here's the good news: the dust is settling, and the road ahead is finally becoming clearer. And, we believe, it's a road that can take writers to some very exciting places.

We see the future of children's writing as having three key components:

1. In the New Media Environment, Craft Is King

More now than ever, the ability to write well and tell a compelling story reigns supreme.  The days when a publisher could turn a subpar work into a hit by sheer force of marketing dollars is over.  Today’s big sellers are the result of one thing:  word of mouth.  Parents talking to other parents.  Kids talking to other kids.  Bloggers championing their favorite authors and titles. The impact of this is simple to see:  Bad books don’t get recommended by word of mouth. Good books do.

The new model for a hit book is a slow build, a rising tide of organic buzz about a great read. It’s all about the quality of the writing and the story.  

2. The Author Has The Power to Choose His or Her Path to Publication

Choice = power.  And you now have choices.

You  can  still  go  the  traditional  route,  submitting  your  manuscripts  to publishers.  It’s as valid a way of reaching the market as it ever was.  But now you can choose to opt out of that model.  Self-publish, create eBooks for the Nook and Kindle, build an App for the iPhone or Android.   It’s all possible, it’s all  eminently doable and it’s all  now a completely legitimate means of publishing your work and reaching millions.

No more  waiting  around  for  someone  else’s  arbitrary  decision.  You  have control.

 
3. Authors Need to Think Like Marketers

Whether you self-publish or get a contract from a big publisher, the reality is the same:  you must learn how to market and promote yourself and your work. With the barriers to publication gone, you’ll have lots of competition for the attention and dollars of your audience.  That’s the bad news. The good news? Almost  no one really  understands  how to  effectively  promote their  books. Once you learn a few key concepts, you’ll have a huge edge.

I know what  you’re thinking: “Arrggghhh!  I’m a writer,  not a salesman! I don’t want to spend my time promoting myself!”

So listen up:

  Marketing is just a fancy name for communication.  And, as a writer, communicating is your strong suit!

We aren’t talking about going door-to-door to hawk your wares.  Promoting in the  modern  media  environment  is  actually  a  whole  lot  of  fun.  Imagine blogging in the guise of one of your characters (perhaps your antagonist stops in from time to time to torment the hero in the comments section!), creating a story to send out on Twitter — 140 characters at a time, creating a fun online game for your Facebook page, visiting with a classroom full of giggling young fans…..

Meeting  your  readers,  connecting  with  parents,  sharing  yourself  with  the world: these aren’t acts of drudgery.  They’re endless opportunities for joy and fulfillment.

We believe that we have entered into a new golden age of publishing, one in which the pathway to success is clear and open to one and all.  Things are hardly perfect — revolutions take take to settle into normalcy — but the outlook is bright.  So work your craft, exert your power and get out there and tell the world about what you're doing.  The future is yours.

The publishing world's latest snub-fest raised the stakes this month with two developments:

* Barnes & Noble announced that it will not carry any Amazon-published titles in its stores. This includes Amazon books published and distributed by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt under the publisher's New Harvest imprint. Originally, B&N had vowed to only exclude Amazon eBooks from its stores, but now it's included hardcopy books as well from the online retailer's publishing programs. Some independent bookstores have taken the same position. (A similar reaction happened when Amazon announced its purchase of Marshall Cavendish Children's Books in 2011).

* As of February 10, Penguin has yanked all its eBooks from OverDrive, the public library digital lending system. Penguin had only offered backlist titles digitally to libraries, but now even those won't be available. My guess is this is in part prompted by OverDrive partnering with Amazon to allow library patrons to borrow eBooks via wireless download to their Kindle devices. The article did go on to say that "Penguin is in talks with other vendors in hopes of restoring eBook lending." (By the way, Penguin is not the only big publisher to restrict eBook lending.)

Okay, I get it. Everyone hates Amazon. And I understand that the retail giant's strong-armed pricing policies have raised the hackles of competitors. But can we step back for a moment and look at the irony of this situation? Since Barnes & Noble purchased Sterling Publishing in 2003, it hasn't made any of its eBooks available in Kindle format, though Amazon does carry the hardcovers. I've always been able to read OverDrive books on my Nook, a Barnes & Noble device. And when did B&N cease to become the bully that put hundreds of independent bookstores out of business?

Publishers are continuing to side with B&N (a huge purchaser of their books, at a discount publishers can control), and against Amazon (a huge seller of their books, though at its own terms). Amazon and B&N are pitted against each other, as you'd expect from direct competitors. And independent stores are fighting for their lives, trying to side with no one.

Who's left out of this equation? Authors, illustrators and consumers. The people who create the products, and those who buy them. The very lifeblood of the industry.

Authors who happen to be published by Marshall Cavendish or New Harvest now can't find their books in many stores. Readers who are cash-strapped, have trouble seeing the small print in physical books, or who physically can't get to the library are now having some publishers dictate which books they'll be granted access to. And consumers who desperately want to buy the next book by their favorite author are being told they don't truly love books if they only purchase them at the best price they can find.

Capitalism is messy, and doesn't always play nice. But it's the system we've got. It's time for big publishers and retailers to figure out how to co-exist. Maybe it will come down to Amazon and Barnes & Noble having exclusives on the books they carry, so consumers know which retailer they'll go to for each title (like going to Sears if you want a Lands' End jacket because JC Penney doesn't carry that brand). Maybe all will agree on price points that everyone can live with. Perhaps authors and readers will put enough pressure on publishers that more eBooks will be available at the library. And certainly publishers should list on their websites where their books are available, so authors can know if the sales outlets are extensive enough to even warrant a manuscript submission.

But ultimately publishers and retailers have to figure this out. Because in capitalism, the creator and consumer are king, and the middleman can always be replaced.

It's impossible these days to read any posts having to do with publishing without the obligatory "the book is dead" comments. And yet with another click you'll find articles about how reading is up 20% from a decade ago among middle schoolers and teenagers, how more time is spent now reading for pleasure than in the past, and how the number of titles available is growing faster than ever. Clearly the book is alive and well.

So really, what we should be discussing is how we now define "book." What people are bemoaning is that fewer hardcopy, paper books are being published, and this is affecting the health of brick and mortar bookstores and libraries. And that's a legitimate concern, but it's very different from the demise of books and reading altogether.

For years, publishing and bookselling functioned on a business model that involved small profit margins, reliance on high-volume sales of some books to cover losses taken on others, and full credit for returns. This model is no longer viable, especially when eBooks have a much higher profit and the internet makes it possible for authors to reach readers directly and bypass the middlemen. What's needed is a new model, one that includes both hardcopy and electronic books. And, I believe, a new definition for "book" that encompasses the written word in all its formats.

I'm confident that print books aren't going anywhere. Some people just prefer to hold a book in their hands and turn the pages (and that includes a lot of teenagers I know). But there's a place for eBooks as well. Not only do some books benefit from multimedia available via apps and other platforms (think of what your high school science textbooks could have looked like with a little audio and video), but the price of eBooks means you can buy three novels for your Kindle for the cost of one hardcover. Customers deserve to have that choice.

Another point that's absolutely worth discussing is that the form of storytelling consisting of written words alone should be preserved. Novels — black words on a white page, with the reader filling in the gaps with his or her imagination — are just as important as apps that move and speak and sing when you touch the screen. Both are valuable experiences, both are ways the author (and in some cases the illustrator) can communicate with the reader. But if you're reading The Catcher in the Rye on a Nook, Salinger's words will be exactly the same as when you read them on paper.

Yes, the process by which we buy and read books is changing. And traditional publishers, bookstores and libraries need to adapt, just as the music industry, video rental and phone companies have had to adapt. But for readers and writers, we now have more options when we think "book". If you like to read only paper books and you despise Amazon, shop at your local bookstore. If you don't want your kids getting hooked on apps, don't give them an iPad. If you need a new book immediately (for research, because it's 2:00 AM and you can't sleep, or because you forgot to pack that vacation novel), download it in seconds to your Nook. And if you're an author, you can now reach readers in several formats, all over the world, and at numerous price points.

The book isn't dead, it's evolving. And whatever form it takes, it's still, at its core, a book.