In Publishing News this week,
Frankfurt is often touted as the biggest book fair in the world. This is where countries get invited to showcase their literary works and deals are done in rights trading and translations etc. It is a general book fair covering all genres. It opened yesterday. Everybody had high hopes that it would be a standout year after the pandemic years. The wheels started falling off yesterday with a mass walkout of nations over the withdrawing of a prize ceremony for a Palestinian writer.
Scholastic is in hot water with writers after they put together a diversity box for school bookfairs. (These are a big deal in American schools. Scholastic provides all the books for display and kids buy.) It’s not that they put a box of diversity books together it’s that they made it an opt out option bowing to book banning groups.
Staying with Kids books- There is a distinct drop in sales in the mid-grade and teen categories or as some librarians insist a non-existence of books for the 12- 15 age group. Everybody has been waiting for a breakout hit and they are still waiting.
The New Publishing Standard has a look at the subscription numbers for audiobooks in Europe and the news that Spotify is rolling out subscription in the UK. Subscription is here to stay says Mark. He has other pithy observations to make on audiobook subscription and how consumers are using it. If 30 % of the listeners are speeding up their playback speeds does this mean they can listen to more books in their subscription hour? And would they notice if it was an AI voice?
Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware has been shining a spotlight on the shonky payment systems of Cricket and its associated children’s fiction magazines over the last couple of years. She updates the post to tell what one writer did to finally get their money after 3 years which might help others in the same boat.
I sent out my monthly newsletter with the comment that every lead story in September was on AI. Poets and Writers magazine has an article on the AI lawsuits and how suddenly you can’t get excerpts anymore of famous writers work (but they are probably still there.) Joanna Penn has a great transcript on a how to double down on being human. This is your point of difference from an AI
If you have been mulling over whether to try yet another social media site Anne R Allen has a timely post on social media etiquette for any social media site. Great advice.
I’m often surprised when I come across writers who don’t really understand what copyright means. There are so many layers to a piece of intellectual property. For an introduction masterclass on the subject read this piece by Dean Wesley Smith.
Barbara Linn Probst has an excellent article on Why We Write. Artistry, Identity, Legacy. She explores the art and the craft of writing, finding your tribe and bearing witness. It’s a must read.
If you are looking for some inspiration for short stories- have you tried mining the lyrics of songs. They are chock full of emotion and little moments that are really stories in disguise.
In The Craft Section,
10 signs your plot is weak and how to fix it- September Fawkes- Bookmark
Navigating inner conflict- C S Lakin- Bookmark
Getting beyond stereotypes- Now Novel
Foreshadowing vs spoiling what’s the difference- Jami Gold- Bookmark
Printables for NaNoWriMo- Payton Hayes
In The Marketing Section,
2 great posts from Penny Sansevieri - Preorder strategies and 7 genius AI strategies – Bookmark Both
Marketing and promo plan for indie authors - Emma Lombard
3 things your author newsletter should do - Colleen Story
The best free marketing tool is in your head- Lisa Norman – Bookmark
To Finish
The Alliance of Independent Authors is running their next 24 hour free conference starting October 21st The sessions will be up for 3 days. Check out the agenda and feast your eyes on all the fabulous speakers. This conference is on Mindset. Do something for your writing mind and sign up.
Maureen
@craicer
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