A Twist in The Tale

  

In Publishing News This Week,

 

Porter Anderson at Publishing Perspectives has an in-depth article looking at why Melissa Fleming, the UN undersecretary of Global Communications is speaking at the International Publishing Association conference in Mexico this year. It all ties in with publishing sustainability. Melissa will be coming from the UN Summit of the Future. The article highlights the challenges that publishers face with disinformation, AI, and sector sustainability.

 

Dan Holloway takes issue with the big jump in subscription pricing from Canva. They justify their price hike on customers wanting AI bells and whistles. Canva still has a free tier which is pretty powerful. Just right for all your marketing graphics needs. (If you haven’t checked it out yet Go Do IT)

 

Publishers Weekly has a big article on making reading fun again. This is an answer to recent articles on the decline of children reading. Many children’s writers offer their opinions as to how to get the kids reading. Shorter, snappier, visual heavy books could be the way forward.

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard looks at how Macmillan Education is launching an AI service for teachers with the goal of helping them find the right courses for their students. But as anyone who has attempted to use AI - you have to know how to write a prompt question for it. Have they got a course on that?

 

TechCrunch reports that the music industry is reluctantly embracing AI. The Grammy awards will allow its creative use. This is opening up a big can of worms when there are lawsuits on deepfake voices out there. Last year they banned it, this year they’re flip flopping. The music industry often changes before the publishing industry so keep an eye out.

 

Alistair Sims writes in The Bookseller on dyslexic friendly books for adults. Finally, a publisher is listening. Bloomsbury is beginning to produce these format books. Can we get a snowball effect happening?

 

If you have been wondering how to get the words down without being distracted you need to look at some new nifty tools that are coming out through crowdsourcing sites.

I was emailed a link to a little screen device that operates as a word processor, just link it up with your favourite keyboard and write anywhere. No distractions. They have a successful Kickstarter campaign on, if you are interested.

 

Lately there have been some high profile authors who have tumbled off pedestals they have been put on by adoring fans. Mythcreants has an interesting article on whether you can judge the author on what they write. At what point do you separate the work from the author?

 

Joanna Penn has an interesting interview with Sword Guy – Guy Windsor on creating training courses and looking after your true fans. Check out the podcast/transcript.

 

The seven habits of highly ineffective writers or how to sabotage yourself. Joni B Cole has a guest article on Jane Friedman’s blog about how you might be sabotaging your writing career.

 

Writer Unboxed has an article from Terah Shelton Harris about rethinking your Writer Bucket list. Are you open to outside the box thinking?

 

Jami Gold has another super writing craft article on story tropes. If you have wondered about them and whether to use them this is the article for you! Lots of great learning packed in here. 

 

In The Craft Section,

Using colour and pattern to enhance your stories-One Stop For Writers

Going beyond the first 50 pages- Sally Hamer - Bookmark

7 ways to find telling in your writing- Suzy Vadori

Story structure – 2^nd act- K M Weiland - Bookmark

Story Foreshadowing – Kay Dibanca- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

10 tips for children’s book freebies- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

How to title your non fiction book- Dale Roberts- Bookmark

10 things to be a successful marketer- Penny sansevieria- Bookmark

76 ways to market for free- Aspiring Author

Why content marketing can be successful- Mandy Ellis

 

To Finish

My bibliophile child was waxing lyrically on her idea of a perfect bookstore combination - Books and Cocktails. There was general laughter. Cafes in bookstores are a thing and book décor in bars are a thing but a genuine melding of the two – not likely. Or so we thought. Enter New York Book Bars. 

Where everybody knows your name and what you like to read…

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Publishing: The Irony

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

Oh, the irony.

The Guardian reports on a Florida school book ban. Yes, they have banned a childrens book about book bans. Imagine if the kids knew that they could protest against book banning.

 

Publisher’s Weekly reports on the Ukraine Book Festival. Yes, they are still managing to celebrate books in the midst of the war. However, one of their biggest printing plants was targeted which has destroyed the books printed for Summer release. 

 

Elsevier, science publishers have just published their report of gender diversity in scientific publishing. It’s been twenty years since the last report, has anything got better since 2004? They have a breakdown of countries who are publishing their woman scientists.

 

Elsewhere in Europe, Publishing Perspectives reports French editor Arnaud Nourry has formed a collective of independent publishers. This might not sound so exciting but collectives can amplify everyone involved. And in a canny move Arnaud has made some first look agreements with some very big publishers. A model of publishing to keep an eye on.

 

Draft2Digital has partnered with an international rights broker. If you are a D2D author you now have a sweet deal on foreign language translations and rights selling.

 

Convertkit is a premier email service that many authors love. They are shaking up their email service by providing a free tier especially for newsletter builders. Check it out. 

 

Dan Holloway has an article on publicity costs and how the big authors are now having to pay for their own publicity.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a roundup of the latest scams and phishing attacks targeting authors. Check out the list for a heads up.

 

Should you show your Work In Progress to your friends and family? Anne Allen talks about the pitfalls involved in sharing your work with people who don’t really understand what you do. She has advice for how to survive the drama.

 

Sandra Beckwith has an article on how to get kicked out of Facebook groups. This is list of don’ts if you really want to stay in them, which is pretty much why we are still on Facebook.

 

Jami Gold has a super post on backstory. How can you structure your story when you need to get a lot of backstory into the front story. 

 

Suzanne Lakin has an interesting post on theme. Ask yourself why you are writing the story? Therein lies your theme. Suzanne has 3 ways you can infuse your story with theme.

 

In The Craft Section,

How symbols can support your writing- Lisa Tener- Bookmark

How to write non mean barbs or banter- Chris Winkle

Increasing the emotional impact of your story- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Outline your book 10x faster- Dale Roberts - Bookmark

Picking the right names for your characters- September Fawkes

 

In The Marketing Section,

Tips for event bookselling- Sharon Woodhouse- Bookmark

Advanced reader engagement strategies- Dale Roberts

Can introverts market effectively- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

Things to bring to book signing events- Michelle Millar

How to pick topics for your blog or newsletter- LA Bourgeois- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Booklife has an interesting article from Brooke Warner, an editor/publisher about how the constant layoffs are changing the culture inside the big trade publishers. When the people who still have a job, have to do 2 or 3 other jobs as well, you get delays all along the pipeline. However, Brooke thinks there is an upside for publishing. The real energy and innovation is happening right in front of us with the publishing professionals that were laid off.

Ironic huh.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic Photo by the blowup on Unsplash