In Publishing News this week,
Amazon has made some changes to what they refer to as low content. These are journals and workbooks, which are now being filed under stationery items. If you create workbooks for your books or seminars you may want to check out the new rules. First up you will need your own ISBN for them.
Publishers Weekly reported on a panel discussion at the US Book show on what a healthy publishing industry looks like. There was a general consensus that publishing is feeling the miasma of the last few years. Just in time supply chains have been hit with delays… Writers have been hit hard… Publishing has to compete with other forms of entertainment. Who knew? The CEO’s discussing these woes almost want a back to the future style intervention.
Meanwhile over in Canada, Kobo has been quietly adding Arabic to their list of publishing languages. CEO, Michael Tamblyn addressed the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair announcing the move and talking about the advantages of having a global perspective on publishing and cultural understanding.
Amazon has started a monthly Book Club. I guess it was inevitable with the rise of book club influencers that Amazon would begin to carve out a space. Amazon’s editorial director, Sarah Gelman, is running Sarah Selects. However, in a nice twist, Amazon is opening up Book Clubs to everyone. You too can host a book club.
The Hollywood Reporter has an interesting article on the rise of Literary Agents producing content for streaming services, film, and TV. Meanwhile, magazine publishers are building in-house production arms to take advantage of properties they already own.
Recently Joanna Penn interviewed Derek Sivers on selling direct, independence, and being open to technological change. Derek has some interesting ideas on publishing, describing it as ‘Networking for Introverts.’
Sandra Beckwith has a great article on how to position yourself to get local publicity for your book. You may think any publicity is good publicity but Anne R Allen has a great article on when this is the wrong idea. How bad marketing can destroy your author brand, lose friends, and influence nobody
Kris Rusch continues her How Writers Fail series. This week she looks at expectations. Are you putting unrealistic expectations on yourself? Are you unconsciously loading the dice against your own writing succeeding?
Stephanie Morrill wrote an interesting article on The Go Teen Writer website- 7 ideas to help you get through a hard writing season. These hard writing seasons strike everybody, even multi-published award winners. Sometimes there seems to be no outside reason for a writing slump. Stephanie has some ideas to help.
Elizabeth S Craig looks at how maintaining a regular writing habit in times of stress can trick you into feeling more in control of the situation.
In The Craft Section,
How to write realistic sex scenes- Ari Meghlen
3 important things to learn from editing- Colleen Story
Avoid repetitive scenes- K M Weiland- Bookmark
The importance of character psychological development- Becca Puglisi
3 ways to ramp up fiction pacing and tension- C S Lakin-Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
9 tips for marketing your first book- Penny Sansevieri
Promote your book with your own values- Sonya Huber- Bookmark
The ins and outs of blurb requests- Liz Alterman
Market your audiobook- Joanna Penn- Bookmark
7 easy ways to refresh your website- Pauline Wiles- Bookmark
To Finish,
A few months ago the news was all Brandon Sanderson. If you have been under a writing rock and haven’t caught up on the phenomenon check out previous blog posts. James Scott Bell has an interesting post on how Brandon connected with his readers and puts it down to knowing yourself and what kind of writer you want to be. He has 3 tips to help you figure this out for yourself. His maxim - Carpe Typem!
Maureen
@craicer
It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter chock full of bookmarked links. 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 or here. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.
Pic:
Photo by Daria Kraplak on Unsplash
