Conquering The Mountain

A couple of news items caught my eye this week in publishing. 
First, a shot across the Audible bows from the big four publishers over Audibles new speech to text captions on its audiobooks. Audible is claiming it's an AI message service. The publishers are saying it is equivalent to ebook publishing. So how does Amazon, who owns Audible see this? They tried something similar in 2009 and backed down from the publisher's wrath back then... but ten years on and who is the biggest player in town?

Last weekend I hosted a day-long mini-conference on publishing and one of the sessions I programmed was collaboration. This is becoming more of a thing in the Indie world and anything that encourages groups of people to work together must be a good thing... Publish Drive has just launched a new service that helps collaborators. Abacus. It splits the money at source and so one person doesn’t get lumbered with all the tricky maths on royalty payments to a group. 

Mike Shatzkin took a look at the last ten years of the book publishing industry and notes the major turning points on the way. Ipads... Borders... and the growth of Amazon from 5th in book sales to over 50% of the book sales.

While the publishing eyes focussed on the West it is wise to keep an eye out on the East. This is where The New Publishing Standard is so valuable. Who knew there was such a book hungry market out there... not the regular publishers. The latest figures out say that Nigeria has eclipsed Japan to be the 6th largest online nation. Paper books have always been the standard in Nigeria, I wonder what will happen when they find out they can read on their phones. TNPS is launching a new newsletter just looking at the rise of African readers. While they are doing that they are also examining the subscription model. They only see good things ahead for subscription. It’s all about discovery.

Jane Friedman has a guest post from David Woghan on why self-publishers should consider their own imprint. I like to use the term Indie publishers. If you are contracting editors, cover designers, proofreaders, etc then you are acting like a traditional publisher. You are managing the production process. Traditional Publishers outsource much of their editing and design work so you can find the exact same people that traditional publishers use.  Maybe you should be thinking about imprints a lot earlier on. David talks a lot about Bowker rules. 
(If you are in NZ you can get free ISBN’s and you should.)

Anne R Allen has a great post this week on the 8 reasons why your manuscripts are getting rejected. It is not personal. You may be guilty of presenting a manuscript with a few of these errors. 

In The Craft Section,

Why editing matters- WriterUnboxed

Letting your antagonist drive the plot- Writers Digest- Bookmark

Layering characters for believable fiction- Victoria Mixon- Bookmark

On Core Story- Donna Macmeans- Bookmark

3 reasons to use timestamps in your novel

5 popular tropes writers struggle with – Mythcreants- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

3 secrets to effective landing pages- Nate Hoffelder- Bookmark

2 great posts from Penny Sansevieri 10 Bookcover rules- and Securing Amazon Reviews- Bookmark

Custom books cards- Bookbrush- Bookmark

Booklaunch for maximum sales- Bookbub- Bookmark

To Finish

Elizabeth Spann Craig always brings a note of sanity to the publishing process. It must be because she is a cozy mystery writer. This week she has a great post on author overwhelm. What can you do when your To-Do List looks and feels like a mountain. How do you tackle the writing life then? Break it down. A mountain is only climbed one step at a time. 

Maureen
@craicer

Hmm, I thought I would get the newsletter out this week… This weekend for sure! So if you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter Go on and Subscribe. You will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you.
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Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Paxson Woelber

Saving Money

This week seems to be all about saving money. It started with the fantastic article by Anne R Allen on Self Publishing money wasters. This is a great article and a real heads up on what not to spend your money on. As always with articles like this read the comments because there are a few more tips in the conversations.

Saving money seems to be the theme with the publishers. This week The Guardian reported that Pearson is switching to a Netflix style rental option for its academic textbooks. Is this a good idea? I saw one horror story, this week where a parent copped a $3000 fine for a student's overdue textbook.

Every week I try to drop in on the Twitter chat that Rachel Thompson hosts around Book Marketing. Often her fellow co-host is an Author Virtual Assistant- The Rural VA.  This is not an AI but a real human person whom authors can employ to do tedious work for you. Here is a guest article about working with an author assistant.

Last month I mentioned that libraries were being stung by the new policies around library copies of ebooks that the publishers were imposing. Libraries pay for very expensive digital copies that have kill codes embedded in them, which activate after so many borrows. Some publishers are now changing the terms and it’s biting libraries and their wallets. Publishers Weekly explores that brick wall that libraries are up against. This week a librarian about to retire decided to vent her feeling about the disenfranchisement that these lending policies are causing communities.

The DIYMFA ( Do it Yourself Master of Fine Arts) site has loads of great articles. Have a trawl around the site. There is an article for every writer there. One recent article from Helen Darling was on Indie publishing budgets. How to think about them and prepare yourself for business. 

This week Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware rounded up the seven publishers that she has the most complaints about. It’s a sad list as their ads are everywhere and they make themselves look so legit. Please take the time to look at the list so you can advise newbies to stay away from their fishing hooks. 

Kris Rusch is on week four of her licensing journey. This week she talks about inventory. Do you have a comprehensive master sheet of your inventory anywhere? Most of us don’t. A few files in various hard drives or filing cabinets. This is an important and overlooked document. There is money in knowing what you own, what rights you haven’t signed away.

In the Craft Section,

In search of a moral compass- Writer Unboxed- READ THIS! Bookmark

Character descriptions, avoid boring stuff- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

4 tips to get unstuck with hard emotion- Lisa Hall Wilson

Story Climax- The Write Practice

Exploring nonlinear narrative- Art of Narrative

In The Marketing Section,

4 dirty secrets about author social media marketing- Frances Caballo

Ten business models for Indie Authors – Orna Ross

Mailchimp or Mailerlite -which one for budget-conscious authors- Rachel McCollin

10 reasons you aren’t getting book reviews and how to fix this- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

How to write good jacket copy – Nathan Bransford- Bookmark

12 SEO tips to drive traffic and sell books – The Book Designer- Bookmark

To Finish

Saving money is what the lean Indie Publisher is all about, so with that in mind, Nate Hoffelder has a list of ten free online graphic and image manipulation tools. This is a BOOKMARK resource. Take a look at all that is possible for ... ZERO dollars. 

Maureen
@craicer

My newsletter is due out soon so if you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter Why not subscribe and you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you.
If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Got Credit

Decluttering Ownership

This week Microsoft readers woke up to discover that Microsoft was shutting its e-library down. Unfortunately, that meant that all their books disappeared. After nearly twenty years of ebooks, there are still people out there who think that once they have bought an ebook it is theirs. No, it isn’t. You have bought a license to read the book on a proprietary software. That is what DRM (Digital Rights Management) means. If you have a DRM free copy you can put it on other devices and so keep the copy. 
This is why Kris Rusch is so interested in potentials available for authors in the licensing business. Do you really know what you have created and what it is worth?

While Microsoft was decluttering their library... Anne R Allen was looking at decluttering novels. This is a great post on how to streamline your work.

Streamlining. Become an author. What every teen overachiever has on their bucket list of things to do before they turn 20.  Jane Friedman has an interesting post on the rise of Teen Authors hiring ghostwriters. 

Reedsy has a post on free book cover makers which is chock full of tools. BUT YOU MUST OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE IMAGES YOU USE. I put that important sentence in caps because Book Riot reported this week on the plagiarism of the image that was used to make the iconic book cover for Elizabeth Acevedo’s multi-award-winning book, The Poet X. So is this a case of Steal Like An Artist?

Reedsy also has a great post on Bookbub ads for anyone who wants to get a grip on these. 

Passive Guy reports on a court case where Amazon was found to be liable for third party sales. This might not seem big just yet but... if your book is pirated then sold on Amazon... then Amazon could be liable. ( cue pirate cleanup)

Every year around this time Joanna Penn writes her version of Author Earnings when she does a deep dive into her business and looks at how it is doing. She even makes pretty graphs and does data analysis. Have a look at this years report. This is what we can all aspire to. 

In The Craft Section,

The importance of character names- Scott Myers

Trim the fat from your fiction- Utopian Editing

8 quick tips on Show not Tell- K M Weiland

Writing your novels blurb- Staci Troilo- Bookmark

How to see the holes in your stories ending-Roz Morris - Bookmark

Planning your opening passages- Mythcreants- Bookmark

How to slash your word count by 20%- Jodi Renner

In The Marketing Section,

How to test Bookbub ads- Bookbub- Bookmark

20 Quick book marketing ideas- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

10 things to update every time you release a book- Deborah Jay

Reader Targeting influences everything- David Gaughran- Bookmark

Production calendars- DIYMFA

How to use book content to reach more readers

25 newsletter incentives for fiction authors- Mixtusmedia- Bookmark

To Finish,

It’s been a book cover week. I’ve relaxed looking at Bookcoverzone. ( No I haven’t bought any more covers for nonexistent books this year...Yet.) Design Wizard sent me a link to their selection of the most creative book covers. Go and be inspired.

Maureen
@craicer

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter?
When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you.
If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Phil Hearing

Rich Writers (and their bot slaves)

In the publishing blogosphere, it has been a week of big ideas. 
I have been mulling over the article from Kris Rusch, in last weeks blog, about the licensing expo and the implications for writers. If you haven’t read it... Please do. It gives a whole ‘nother perspective on the writing business. Then read Part Two which came out today. Imagine a merchandising line based around your characters. What would it take to set up... 
This is writing as a business with its big boots on. 

Meanwhile over in the UK Joanna Penn is rattling my brain with her mega podcast episode on 9 ways AI will disrupt publishing- (it’s happening now.)
I am always interested in the future. I’m absolutely jealous of the kids just born as they will be setting foot on other planets. I have been interested in AI for a while but strangely have never thought of the implications for publishing. My teen heard part of this podcast and she was disturbed. (Her word.) The potentials for good and bad are very stark. Joanna transcribes her podcasts but if you can, listen, because she adds in extras, not in the transcription. Prepare to have your mind blown. (and not in a bad way...)

Findaway Voices – rival audio distributor to Audible has announced a new royalty rate from Google Play. And it’s bigger than before. Is this the first salvo in dragging content off other sites?

We love libraries... wonderful portals to exciting worlds... Jane Friedman has an interesting article on how libraries increase book discoverability but you need to know how to get their attention.

Rachel Thompson has a great article on author networking. Here are five ways to conquer your self-doubt and reach out to others who are just like you.

Have you ever thought about writing to market? Do you think it is a bit mercenary? Do you only write what the muse tells you to write? Jeff Elkins has an interesting post on reframing this writing to market as writing what readers want to read. Of course, then you have the problem how do you find that out? Luckily Jeff shares some ideas.

Every few months there is an article about the death of the novel. The sky is falling- book sales go down, claim the newspapers. The Guardian recently tried to spin this but at the same time they had to say that there were no big blockbusters published this year so maybe that was why the publishers reported a fall. 

In The Craft Section,

The psychology of a layered story- Tamar Sloan- Bookmark

Two fabulous must-read posts from Jami Gold - Does every scene need a goal and Character goals 
Can there be too many?

Gaslighting and writing villains- Carla Hoch- Bookmark

Writing Rogue characters- Ruth Harris - Bookmark

In the Marketing Section,

9 Query mistakes for instant rejection- Writers Relief

Tips for Author interviews – Ingram Spark

Is your website protected- and Are You?- Judith Briles – Bookmark

Top 10 FAQs about book publicity – Joan Stewart- Bookmark

2 Great posts from Penny Sansevieri- How to realign your book marketing strategies and Goodreads giveaways, a solid marketing strategy

To Finish,

Recently I saw a discussion on the reactions that people mostly have when they find out you are a writer. It was funny and tragic at the same time. 
Have I read anything you’ve written? 
You must be rich like J K Rowling
Do you write stuff like 50 shades ... (cue inappropriate joke) 
I want to write a book. I’ll give you the idea and we’ll split the profits...
And don’t get me started on the stupid things people say when they find out you write for children. 
Ashleigh Young wrote an article addressing this common writer pitfall. What to say when someone asks how you make your living as a writer. 

What do you say? How will you be making your living in the future?

Maureen
@craicer

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter?
When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you.
If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Barbie Fantasies