The Craft and Business of Songwriting


Book Description

Music is a universal language, and John Braheny speaks it eloquently as he helps prepare us for our big musical break--by teaching us the craft of songwriting and revealing secrets of the music business. Includes anecdotes, exercises, and examples from dozens of songwriters, such as Harry Chapin, Paul McCartney, and many others.




The Craft Business Handbook


Book Description

Wish you could turn your talent for making lovely things into cash? Bored of the 9 to 5 and dreaming of starting your own crafty business, but not sure where to start? Then this is the book for you ! The Craft Business Handbook has ALL the information you need to get started making money from your crafts - NOW ! From setting up as a proper business, producing and pricing your goods for maximum sales and profit, to the various options for selling online, at craft fairs, trade shows and getting your products into retailers, right through to gaining magazine coverage, promoting your business online and managing your business as it grows, this is THE essential guide for any would-be crafty entrepreneur! Whether you're just considering getting started with a crafty business idea, or already selling your wares and looking for ways to grow your business ( think sales reps, fulfillment houses and more!), this handy book - written by craft business expert Alison McNicol - shares tons of insider tips, practical information, and shows how you too can achieve Craft Business success! PLUS - some of the most successful crafty business people around share their stories - how they started and grew their successful craft businesses - prepare to be inspired with in-depth interviews from some of your favorite crafty entrepreneurs around! About The Author Alison McNicol is a serial crafty entrepreneur who has launched several successful craft businesses, selling her products in stores worldwide. She is also the author of several successful craft and craft business books, and founder of The Craft Business Community.com, an online community that provides resources and networking opportunities for crafty entrepreneurs from all over the world. Alison is also author of Craft Business Heroes: How We Did It ( 30 Creative Entrepreneurs Share the Secrets of Their Success)- a companion book to the Craft Business Handbook, featuring 30 more interviews from leading craft entrrepreneurs - Amy Butler, Amy Karol, Sublime Stitching's Jenny Hart, Subversive Cross Stitch founder Julie Jackson and tons more !




Craft, Inc.


Book Description

Craft, Inc. is the hipster business primer for entrepreneurial crafters to turn what they do for fun into what they do for money. Pro crafter Meg Mateo Ilasco offers a step-by-step guide to everything from developing products and naming the company to writing a business plan, applying for licenses, and paying taxes. Chapters on sales, marketing, trade shows, and publicity round out the mix. Plus, in-depth interviews with such craft luminaries as Jonathan Adler, Lotta Jansdotter, Denyse Schmidt, and Jill Bliss provide inspiration and practical advice. Accessible, informative, and more than a little spunky, Craft, Inc. paves the way for today's creative minds to become tomorrow's trendsetters.




Techniques of the Selling Writer


Book Description

Techniques of the Selling Writer provides solid instruction for people who want to write and sell fiction, not just to talk and study about it. It gives the background, insights, and specific procedures needed by all beginning writers. Here one can learn how to group words into copy that moves, movement into scenes, and scenes into stories; how to develop characters, how to revise and polish, and finally, how to sell the product. No one can teach talent, but the practical skills of the professional writer's craft can certainly be taught. The correct and imaginative use of these kills can shorten any beginner's apprenticeship by years. This is the book for writers who want to turn rejection slips into cashable checks.




Planetside


Book Description

“Planetside is a smart and fast-paced blend of mystery and boots-in-the-dirt military SF that reads like a high-speed collision between Courage Under Fire and Heart of Darkness.” – Marko Kloos, bestselling author of the Frontline series A seasoned military officer uncovers a deadly conspiracy on a distant, war-torn planet… War heroes aren't usually called out of semi-retirement and sent to the far reaches of the galaxy for a routine investigation. So when Colonel Carl Butler answers the call from an old and powerful friend, he knows it's something big—and he's not being told the whole story. A high councilor's son has gone MIA out of Cappa Base, the space station orbiting a battle-ravaged planet. The young lieutenant had been wounded and evacuated—but there's no record of him having ever arrived at hospital command. The colonel quickly finds Cappa Base to be a labyrinth of dead ends and sabotage: the hospital commander stonewalls him, the Special Ops leader won't come off the planet, witnesses go missing, radar data disappears, and that’s before he encounters the alien enemy. Butler has no choice but to drop down onto a hostile planet—because someone is using the war zone as a cover. The answers are there—Butler just has to make it back alive… “Not just for military SF fans—although military SF fans will love it—Planetside is an amazing debut novel, and I’m looking forward to what Mammay writes next.” – Tanya Huff, author of the Confederation and Peacekeeper series




What Editors Do


Book Description

Essays from twenty-seven leading book editors: “Honest and unflinching accounts from publishing insiders . . . a valuable primer on the field.” —Publishers Weekly Editing is an invisible art in which the very best work goes undetected. Editors strive to create books that are enlightening, seamless, and pleasurable to read, all while giving credit to the author. This makes it all the more difficult to truly understand the range of roles they inhabit while shepherding a project from concept to publication. What Editors Do gathers essays from twenty-seven leading figures in book publishing about their work. Representing both large houses and small, and encompassing trade, textbook, academic, and children’s publishing, the contributors make the case for why editing remains a vital function to writers—and readers—everywhere. Ironically for an industry built on words, there has been a scarcity of written guidance on how to approach the work of editing. Serving as a compendium of professional advice and a portrait of what goes on behind the scenes, this book sheds light on how editors acquire books, what constitutes a strong author-editor relationship, and the editor’s vital role at each stage of the publishing process—a role that extends far beyond marking up the author’s text. This collection treats editing as both art and craft, and also as a career. It explores how editors balance passion against the economic realities of publishing—and shows why, in the face of a rapidly changing publishing landscape, editors are more important than ever. “Authoritative, entertaining, and informative.” —Copyediting




Crafting a Successful Small Business


Book Description

The UK handmade market is currently riding high as our attitudes to shopping and the products we want to buy are changing. With this change comes a new wave of manufacturers - small, local and talented. If you are a producer of handmade products, or you have a craft hobby and are thinking about taking the next step and wondering how to do it, then this book has the answers. In it you will find out: - How to turn your hobby into a small business - Where to sell your products, both on and offline - How to price your products - How to develop a unique and recognisable brand - Where to start with visual merchandising - How to use social media to market your business This book not only takes you through these points in no-nonsense plain English, but also has quirky craft activities to complete along the way. Jam-packed with top hints and tips from real-life crafty small business owners in the know, this book is essential reading for anyone looking to craft their way to success!




Craft Inc. Business Planner


Book Description

This action-oriented planner is packed with advice and worksheets that guide creative entrepreneurs in their hot pursuit of profit. From big picture goals (writing a mission statement, developing marketing campaigns, launching a new line) to immediate to-dos (getting a business license, pricing products, packing for trade shows), this essential guide brims with how-to tips from industry experts.




The Art and Craft of Feature Writing


Book Description

Storytelling—how to catch and hold a reader’s interest through artful narration of factual material William E. Blundell, one of the best writers on one of America's best-written papers—The Wall Street Journal—has put his famous Journal Feature-Writing Seminars into this step-by-step guide for turning out great articles. Filled with expert instruction on a complex art, it provides beginners with a systematic approach to feature writing and deftly teaches old pros some new tricks about: · How and where to get ideas · What readers like and don’t like · Adding energy and interest to tired topics · Getting from first ideas to finish article · The rules of organization · How—and whom—to quote and paraphrase · Wordcraft, leads, and narrative flow · Self-editing and notes on style … plus many sample feature articles.




A Writer's Craft


Book Description

This introductory creative writing text uses a unique, multi-genre approach to provide students with a broad-based knowledge of their craft, treating them as professional writers. Beginning by discussing elements common to all genres, this book underscores the importance of learning good writing habits before committing to a genre, encouraging writers to look beyond their genre expectations and learn from other forms. The book then devotes one chapter to each of the major literary genres: fiction, poetry, drama and creative nonfiction. These style-specific sections provide depth as they compare the different genres, furnishing students with a comprehensive understanding of creative writing as a discipline and fostering creativity. The discussion concludes with a chapter on digital media and an appendix on literary citizenship and publishing. With exercises at the end of each chapter, a glossary of literary terms, and a list of resources for further study, A Writer's Craft is the ideal companion to an introductory creative writing class. It has been listed as one of the 'Best Books for Writers' by Poets and Writers magazine.