Just When You Thought It was Safe

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

The Gremlins got into my blog and sent people off on a wild goose chase looking for my post last week. I am still trying to fix it so eagle eyed readers will notice that my header has gone back to the old old Blogspot address.

If you missed last week’s post, Writing Resistance, you can check it out here. And if you are a week or so behind you can check out the 800^th blog post here. Thank you to the readers who alerted me to the problem. You are the best!

 

As we wrap up October, National Book Month (US) The Independent Publishers Association published an article on The Copyright Alliance's website about the importance of copyright and the current moves to allow AI to erode it.

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard highlights the success that educational publisher Pearson is having with AI and customized lesson plans. I was caught by the last line on the continued relevance of print in the classroom. I want to cling on to the printed book with two hands but the future might have other ideas.

 

Two trade authors who were having moderate success separately have teamed up at the request of their publishers to produce books. Publisher’s Weekly reports on the pairing and why they are now having more success as part of a team. This could be a great move or a horrible can of worms depending on their publisher support.

 

Scribd, almost the last of the all-you -can-eat digital subscription model, has now bowed to the inevitable and is introducing tiered pricing. The unlimited digital reading experience was great to get people into the eco system but whale readers, who read a book a day, can quickly have reading subscription services in the red. They read faster than the subscription model can make money.

 

Publishing Perspectives have a quick run down on the publisher’s conference in Sharjah that is happening next week. They are getting bigger every year.

 

Dan Holloway takes a look at the results of the Written Word Media Survey and there is a big chunk of change going into romance and fantasy authors pockets. 

 

John Gilstrap wrote this week of an unnerving experience when an AI muscled in on his Zoom call. This surprised everyone but what happened next was cause for concern. 

 

The Alliance of Independent authors have shone a spotlight onto contract clauses to watch out for in serialized fiction. It is useful to glance over these stories so you are familiar with contract language and what to look out for.

 

Jane Friedman looks at the recent moans about Print On Demand and the perceived lower quality of these books coming out from big publishers. For years the printing industry has been asking publishers to standardize their print sizes. With Print on Demand they may be getting their way at last.

 

Amazon is tightening up on author claims of being 'best selling' and 'award winning.' If you use these slogans in your marketing be prepared to show the evidence. Penny Sansevieri has a run down on what is happening. 

 

It’s always interesting to drop into Maria Popova’s blog The Marginalien to explore language and all its little quirks. Recently she explored the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig and shared some beautiful words for feelings that we don’t have a name for. This is an article to savor and a book to buy the word nerd in your life.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to end a scene- James Scott Bell- Bookmark

How to use Goal Motivation and Conflict- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Why conflict drives a story- Jerry Jenkins- Bookmark

7 tips to avoid overwriting- C S Lakin- Bookmark

How to hook readers with character descriptions- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

5 reasons to consider translating- Angela Ackerman

Best communities for marketing- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

The ultimate book cover reveal – Sandra Beckwith-Bookmark

ISBN’s made easy- Comprehensive article – N.B. ISBN’s are free in NZ

9 Key reasons why your book is not selling.- Laurence O’Bryan

 

To Finish

If you haven’t discovered Canva yet and yes there are some authors who haven’t. Check out this powerful friendly design site. There are heaps of templates for marketing as well as Book Cover designs, banners, Ads, Video’s Reels etc. Canva is free and it also has a paid tier. The free tier can give you pretty much everything. Author, Jeevani Charika has a YouTube channel to help authors get the most out of Canva. Canva has just dropped a whole lot of new features. Jeevani shows you how you can use them. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Thanks.

 

Pic Photo by Nikola Tasic on Unsplash

 

Who would have thought...

 It’s my Blog Birthday.

Fifteen years ago the word on the publishing street was ‘life is good in the trade.’ People in publishing were excited by the new 13 digit ISBN number. Publishing companies were looking sideways at the new Hachette conglomerate, made up of several big publishing houses and a host of smaller ones. Mergers were still scary stories told over drinks at publishing conferences. Amazon was a small outfit selling second hand books, odd digital stories and a new device called the Kindle. 

Into this gentle pool I waded… not able to see the drop off or the funny fish with the lights.

The Global Financial Crisis happened. Publishers began merging or disappearing and the Kindle blew open the publishing world. 

Fifteen years later, publishing conferences are just coming back again after the Covid years. 

In Publishing News this week...

London Book Fair launched this week with all kinds of fanfare and a shocking arrest as Publishers Weekly details.

Meanwhile, publishing pundit Brian O’Leary thinks it’s time to shake up the publishing supply chain (there must be a better way after 15 years of the same old thing.) 

 

Fifteen years ago Publisher’s Weekly would have never published an article on how a traditionally published children’s writer dumped by his publisher went Independent and made money.

And they wouldn’t have given the time of day to Manga and how the format has gone global changing the way graphic novels are being read everywhere.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors crunched the numbers on their writers income survey which makes interesting reading. I guessed that the Romance Authors were printing money but it surprised me how high the children’s writers were on the survey.

 

While every writer wonders if anyone is reading, Nielsen took a look at who was buying translated fiction- it turns out everyone is. Men making up nearly half of the readers…along with women under the age of 24. 

 

Joanna Penn has an interview with a small press publisher about the challenges of niche publishing. It’s full of advice and best practice.

 

Have you challenged yourself to write a multi point of view story? Barbara Linn Probst on Writer Unboxed has an article of how writers have tackled telling a story with many different voices.

 

In The Craft Section,

9 hidden problems in your Scene writing- Tim Grahl

Finding the beginning – John Gilstrap- Bookmark

Prologues vs Flasbacks- K M Weiland- Bookmark

Before beginning the first novel-Luke Lovelady

Short stories can have character arcs- Jami Gold-Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Trade Book Reviews- Behind The Scenes- Sandra Beckwith

Updated how to publish a book on Amazon- Dave Chesson- 

Bookmark

8 book marketing strategies to master- Penny Sansevieri

How to get the best cover design- Vasalysa Zaturets- Bookmark 

Tiktok for Authors video workshop- Shayla Raquel- Bookmark

 

App Sumo have a fantastic deal for the Depositphotos website. 100 photos for $39. Every time this deal comes along designers, publishers, marketers jump on it. Everything is royalty free and you have unlimited time to use the pics/videos/animations/ vectors/ illustrations.

 

To Finish,

I have been in and out of a now spare room trying to figure out how I would organise my writing office. After 15 years I might finally get one that is not the kitchen table or the armchair or a friends spare room. It’s a big step. First, I have to get rid of all the accumulated stuff in there. Then, I might have to get rid of some books. When I ventured this thought, my family thought I had a fever. Articles like sprucing up your writing nook offer lots of incentive…. 

 

If you have been reading from the beginning THANK YOU  for sharing the journey with me. It has been a rollercoaster ride. Every now and then someone shouts me a coffee and makes me feel particularly special. This week I’ll be eating cake with the coffee. 

 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

If you want to get the best of my bookmarked links and other extras you can subscribe to my monthly newsletter. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top or here. 

I appreciate virtual coffee love. 

Thanks.

 

Pic:

Photo by Ilya Chunin on Unsplash