It’s all about language...

This week in the publishing blogosphere... I was struck by how many times I was reading important articles about language. 

Language as a weapon against bias.

Language as a priviledge.

Language in education.

Which is better- Short capsules of meaning or long explanatory paragraphs? 

The ability to use language correctly is a touchstone for the writer.

This week Chuck Wendig was fired from his writing job with Marvel and Star Wars. The reason... they had finally discovered he uses colourful language on Twitter. It has nothing to do with the ongoing Twitter rage and abuse felt by a section of the community over Chuck introducing an LBGTQ character in his Star Wars books apparently.

At the Frankfurt Book Fair, Publishing Perspectives interviewed Pieter Swinkel from Kobo about the rise of book serialisation and subscription models in Europe. Are they creating readers? What about binge culture?

Kris Rusch always has an eye to the future and her lengthy time in all facets of publishing gives her the ability to clearly see and articulate what is happening and likely to happen. This week she looks at Barnes and Noble. Are we about to see the end of the chain bookstore model?

The New Publishing Standard is fast becoming a must read. They focus on the global publishing industry and are not UK/US centric. The rise in AI translators has been rapid. This week they report a Chinese language book has been translated by an AI with 95% accuracy. Stop and think of the implications to publishing. (Last weeks blog had a very interesting post on whether translators should be seen as original writers.)

Dave Kudler was thrilled to be referenced in a recent podcast with Dave Chesson and Joanna Penn. He has done some in depth study on keywords. If you are studying or working with keywords and ads for marketing books this article is a must read. It expands some ideas in the podcast which is a must listen/read. 

The fabuous Katie Weiland has a magical post about the power of language to expand and illuminate ideas. How to Cherish Language. This is a fantastic post.

Joanna Penn has a great interview with Bec Evans on how to be a prolific writer. There are some great ideas and tips in this interview.

In The Craft Section,

How can you tell if your idea is worth it?- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

4 Common copyediting issues to watch for- Julie Glover

11 tips on how to scare your readers- Litreactor

3 tricks to instantly increase your writing speed- Self Publishing Formula

Creating Villain Motivations- Now Novel- Bookmark

How to outline without killing the fun of writing- Roz Morris- Bookmark

Capturing Complex Emotion- Tamar Sloan- Bookmark

When abandoning your novel makes sense

Why does learning writing take so long?- Writers in the storm-Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Two interesting posts from the Ingram Spark blog- How to market your book with Author Speaking and What Authors can learn from Youtube stars.

Preorder Strategies- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

How to perform not just read your book- Writer Unboxed

A marketing exercise for critique groups- WomenOnWriting- Bookmark!

Do Bookbub members buy at full price?

What you are doing wrong on Twitter - Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

To Finish,

Shannon Hale is an award winning author of a popular series of books – Princess Academy. Here she writes in the Washington Post about the way books are presented to boys and how we unintentionally stop them from reading with the way we introduce books to them. Are we guilty of unconscious gender bias? Changing the language we use around boys and reading could be the magic trick that encourages life long readers. 

Maureen

@craicer

In my monthly newsletter I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. 

Pic Flicker Creative Commons- Yandle