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Writing Practices

Does technology change your writing process?

Published 7 days ago • 2 min read

Writing advice and a book give-away

Hi Reader,

Before we get to the book give-away and writing advice, we need to talk about the book ecosystem. Specifically, Amazon.

I have a mixed relationship with Amazon. As an indie author, a majority of my sales come from Amazon. I try to support the broader book ecosystem, distributing my books widely, but it's harder to make a dent with nonfiction books outside of Amazon, and getting into physical retailers is difficult.

So, I need to sell books on Amazon. But I can control where I spent my money, as a customer and an advertiser. Recently, I've been asking myself about how I feel about supporting Amazon. (The Melania documentary, software tracking delivery drivers, etc.) So, I'm cutting way back on my Amazon spending.

Shutting off Amazon advertising was the first step—which has led to a predictable drop in sales. (I might run a few ads around the launch of the Writer's Process update, because Amazon is still a great place to find readers.)

In good news, my ebooks are now available on Bookshop.Org, which supports indie bookstores. Yay! Try it out. I've used their ebook reading software and it's fine.

What this means for you: Winners of the book give-aways will now receive physical copies shipped from Bookshop.Org rather than Amazon. This change will cost me more (no free shipping), but it feels better. I should have done it ages ago.

But, Bookshop.org only ships to the U.S. and U.K. If you win a book drawing and live outside of the U.S. or U.K, I'll arrange to send you the ebook, either from Bookshop.Org's ebook reader or Amazon if that's easiest for you.

February Book Giveaway: Zen in the Art of Writing

This month, another book by a famous writer: Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. It's full of stories about his personal approach to writing. (I wouldn't say it was Zen-like, but whatever.)

One of my favorite stories: Bradbury rented a typewriter in a basement for ten cents an hour to write Fahrenheit 451. Hour by hour, dime by dime, typing away in the basement. He spent $9.80 over nine days to write the first draft. Even adjusted for inflation, that's pretty darned good.

If you're interested in reading this book (great for Bradbury fans), respond to this email by Sunday, February 22 and let me know you'd like to be in the drawing. (Winners outside the US or UK will receive an ebook.)

How technology changes our writing

Bradbury's typewriter story inspired this week's post on how technology affects our writing. As we face the transition to having AI on the writer's desk, let's look at what we learned from the last technology shift in writing, when the typewriter gave way to the computer.

The 10-year anniversary edition of The Writer's Process includes a chapter on AI, so I've been thinking about this quite a bit.

Field notes: Subtitles

In today’s installment of Field Notes from a Book in Progress, I bring you a rumination on subtitles. Specifically, I debated changing subtitle of The Writer’s Process for the new revision. I found myself unexpectedly dithering on this subject. [Spoiler alert, I've made a decision. You'll need to read the post to find out!]

If you're writing a book yourself, you might find this interesting.

Field Notes on Subtitles

If you know any nonfiction authors, ask them for the subtitle of their book. If they have multiple books, ask them for all of the subtitles.

Chances are, they’ll have to stop and think. They may even get it wrong.

Even their own authors can forget a book’s subtitle.

But that’s okay. The subtitle’s job isn’t being memorable. That’s what titles are for.

​Read the rest of this on my website​

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That's all for now. Keep writing, keep sharing your stories and amplifying truths.

Anne

Please share this email with any writers who might enjoy it!

PO Box 66285 Scotts Valley, CA 95067

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Writing Practices

by Anne Janzer

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