Publishing - Always Learning.

In publishing this week,

There has been a mixed reaction to a publishing company releasing books written under male pseudonyms with their correct gender name. The publishing company is promoting a special collection of books, however, others are asking, is this what the authors would have wanted? Just because we can – should we?

 

The rapid growth of Amazon (40% over lockdown) has caused more disquiet in the publishing industry. Publishers Weekly reports that American publishing leaders have now written to the American government to get them to curb the tech giant’s growth before it destroys the publishing industry.

 

Publishing Perspectives recently highlighted Ukraine’s publishing industry woes as publishing in that country has taken a big hit. The New Publishing Standard looks at the global publishing industry. How well, or not, is publishing doing in other markets? This week TNPS published an article on the book trade in Europe. What can we learn from other markets? Will they be saved by the undead also? (YA vampires saved the book industry once…  Midnight Sun rockets past a million copies sold in its first week.) Meanwhile, everyone keeps one eye on the American market.

 

A piece of news that made me gasp today was a hint at the possible disruption of the audiobook industry. There has been speculation about what this company could do to the audiobook landscape.  TNPS saw the job advert and put a few things together. Enter Spotify…

 

I am always fascinated by where science and Artificial Intelligence is going. This week I listened to Joanna Penn and Mark Lefebvre have a conversation with voice doubles. It was uncanny… and the possibilities for its use slightly scary. On the other hand, imagine pressing a button at the end of writing your manuscript and having the whole thing read back in your own voice- edit on the page… and then upload as an audiobook.

The Alliance of Independent Authors has been looking at copyright. With rapidly improving AI, copyright is not keeping up. If an AI can write a book in the style of another author who owns the copyright? 

 

Barb Drozdowich has an interesting article on Anne R Allen’s blog about the psychology of selling and the superfan in book marketing. Limiting choice makes a big difference in selling your books. Angela Ackerman also looked at marketing this week with an examination of FAR marketing. Focus, Authenticity, and relationships.  They are both excellent articles.

 

Reedsy has updated their book editor and it is pretty spiffy. Check out their free writing program.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to stay on point in your plot.- Jennie Nash

9 ways to originalise your story idea- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Story description- Lynnette Bonner

Transitions- James Scott Bell- Bookmark

How to create a blockbuster- Story Grid- Michael Finberg

Character development-shadow- Antonio del Drago- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

4 secrets to book marketing- Frances Caballo

2 articles from Penny Sansevieri - Pitching to be a guest blogger and 

How to connect with influencers on Twitter

How to repurpose audio and video content for social media- Social Media Examiner- Bookmark

Guide to social media image sizes- Social Media Today- Infographic

Must-Do steps for Amazon ebook campaigns- Judith Briles- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Recently I congratulated Joanna Penn and the SPA Girls for achieving significant milestones in their podcasts. It takes a special commitment to keep showing up every week to share thoughts and ideas with an audience. Often the audience has no idea what hurdles you have overcome to be present in that time and space. Kristine Rusch is also celebrating a milestone with her publishing business posts. She talks about the time when she thought there was nothing more to say and then the world changed. It’s a great post from a great voice in publishing. She has done it all and has wide-ranging knowledge of the publishing industry. Learn From The Masters, people. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

P.S. This is blog post 599

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter with loads of bookmarked links and tips.

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  virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons- Alan Levine

The Future Of Book Marketing

This week in publishing…

Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors came out in droves to condemn Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the Science Fiction convention. Their main problem was that the restrictive nature of the Saudi society would be against the spirit of the genre.  Meanwhile, CoNZealand is happening online with overseas authors skyping into New Zealand instead of the usual extravaganza that is this year's World Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention. 

Staying with science fiction for a moment. The Verge is reporting that AI Podcast editor Descript is releasing its voice double from Beta. I know that Joanna Penn has been playing around with this. Think about narrating your books with your favourite actor’s voice or your own without having to sit in a booth for 10 hours… If you are interested in more about creativity and AI check out Joanna Penn’s recent podcast.

The New Publishing Standard reports that Big Bad Wolf, the huge Asian bookseller of remaindered English language books, is also going online. They have partnered with an online marketplace and will be selling their physical books in their usual 10-day 24-hour sale marathon. Check out how many books they intend to move- eyewatering!!! This could also be a sign of things to come.

Mike Shatzkin has been taking a look at how the publishing industry is coping with the pandemic. What is happening to the supply chain? Are they changing their practices…? thinking about changing how they operate…? still have their head in the sand?

Maybe they should be reading Penny Sansevieri’s article on the best book marketing ideas during a pandemic. 

Kris Rusch is still diving deep into the implications of Brandon Sanderson’s Kickstarter. Have you thought about all the different types of licensing in a contract? Brandon is exploiting one tiny one. With one week to go Brandon is closing in on $6 million. Kris talks about what you need to think about in your own Kickstarter campaigns.

Ruth Harris has another great article looking at the problem of how to write what you know when you can’t write what you know. Sound convoluted? It’s all about what you can change. This is another excellent article on the craft of writing.

In The Craft Section,

Plot development questions- Now Novel- Bookmark

Developing a coherent story- Jael Bakari- Bookmark

Authentic dialogue- CS Lakin

How to finish writing your book- Kevin Tumlinson- Bookmark

How to outline a novel- Roz Morris - Bookmark

Line editing tips- Jocelyn Pruemer- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

176 resources and tool to market and launch your book- Digital Publishing – Bookmark

Apps for Bookstagram- Bookriot

How to market a book with 5 simple website upgrades- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Spoilers won’t spoil your book promotion- Writer Unboxed

5 ways to use video to promote books- Cristian Stanciu- Bookmark

August Unique content ideas – Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

To Finish,

The psychology of making a sale. How do you get people to buy what you have to sell? 

I was interested to see this marketing article try to link book marketing to the 5 principles of human behavior. How do you buy books? This week a bookseller I know called me out on deliberately not looking at the books when I was talking to her. ‘I know why you are doing that,’ she said. I had to confess that she was right. I was trying not to buy any more books. I bought new books last week and I haven’t even cracked the spine on them. 

Selling to a bibliophile is just putting the new shiny book object in front of them in a trail of book crumbs to the cash register.

#hopelessaddiction

Maureen

@craicer

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter to go out. If you want the best of the months bookmarked links and other assorted stuff go on and 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- Bex Walton Topping & Company Booksellers

Surviving 2020

Sometimes I feel like every month lasts a year. It seems so long ago that we were brightly predicting what might happen in publishing in 2020. Boy, were we wrong…

In publishing news this week....

This week Bertrams, the second largest book distributors in the United Kingdom went into receivership. The Bookseller shared the news and its possible impact on the book industry for the UK going forward. Monopoly anyone?

Subscription services are getting a lot of love in this Covid 19 era. One monthly fee – Unlimited Entertainment but how can we find out how our books are doing in there? Bookbeat is a subscription service in the Nordic countries and they are offering publishers all sorts of data- like where do readers stop reading? What trends are the best-selling? Could be a watershed moment says TNPS

Publishers Weekly have been taking a look at the way publishers have been tackling their business throughout the pandemic. As was predicted some are ditching their New York offices, others are getting creative to get the word out about their books. It’s going to be an interesting next six months for the publishing industry.

The Alliance of Independent Authors has been looking at the facts and figures of self -publishing and the impact this has had on the overall book market. The last decade has completely changed the publishing landscape… and we are not finished yet with 2020. 

When you see all your writing friends succeed it can be pretty hard to feel positive about your writing life. Meg Dowell has written a great post on the 10 survival tips you need to cope with your friend’s success.

Anne R Allen has a bracing post on how to cope with a bad review. I am a member of a high powered writing group on Facebook and not a day goes by when someone isn’t celebrating a bad review. Yes, you read that right. Read Anne’s post to understand why.

Jami Gold has written a great post on choppy writing and how to fix it. I’ve been staring at my manuscript lately and wondering if the writing is bad because I’m going backward and forwards with dictating or whether it’s my unconscious mind picking up on the state of the world. ( or it could just be bad…) This is a must-read to get some craft perspective.

In The Craft Section,

Foreshadowing, Symbolism, and Payoff- Tyrean Martinson

Getting past Hard To Write Scenes- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

6 tips for avoiding repetitive conflict- Mythcreants- Bookmark

 2 great posts from Lucy Hay -What’s the difference between horror and thriller?

 And How to develop your structural toolbox- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

How to create 1-minute videos in 4 easy steps-Joseph Kunz- Bookmark

Fourteen ideas for what to put in an author newsletter – Nate Hoffelder- Bookmark

13 ways to increase your email open rate – David Gaughran- Bookmark

Amazon discounted my book – why this is a good thing (Brilliant ideas here)

July unique content ideas from Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

To Finish,

As I was looking over my selection of articles for you I was thinking about the theme of Survival. Who could predict 10 years ago which publishers, bookselling chains, or distributors would still be around in 2020? When the dust settles on the other side of Covid 19 how will the publishing landscape have changed? Is it survival of the fittest or the most nimble? How can writers be creative in the midst of unrelenting negative news? Kristine Rusch has a timely look at survival and forgiveness for writers. This is a great post to mull over and apply to your own writing life. 

Maureen

@craicer

I round up the best of my bookmarked links and other assorted tips in a monthly newsletter.

Go on and 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 –  Virginia State Parks

What Lies On The Other Side?

I’m sorry this blog is late… One of those times when the computer wouldn’t play nicely. Hopefully, it’s all fixed now.

This week I have been listening to commentators talking about how the world of work might change post Covid 19

A lot of people have discovered working from home has some benefits. Many report being more productive. With no commute time to the office, the day has a smoother start and finish. Of course, there have been people feeling the opposite. This morning I heard that central city businesses were desperate to have the office workers back as their cafes and shops had hardly any customers. How will publishing change in the post Covid 19 world?  

The New Publishing Standard reported a Canadian publishers lament that they were facing a deluge of returned books. This highlighted how broken the returns system in publishing is. Would it really be bad if there was no returns system? I can think of a benefit straight away. Less wastage in the system. The ability for Indie Bookstores to source books instead of waiting and waiting until big chains return the books so they can get access to them. We’ve got the ability to Print on Demand with many printers doing short runs. You can even use a Book Expresso machine in a book store to print single copies. I first linked to this technology back in 2012. If you aren’t sure what a Book Espresso machine is check out this video.

Publishing Perspectives have taken a good hard look at Publishing in the U.S. going forward. Will publishers need those fancy New York offices now that everybody can work from home? Will the rents fall for bookstores now that so many businesses have gone to the wall? How has having a supply chain of printers in Asia impacted the book industry? What will be the next best thing to publish? It all gets a look in this big article.

White Fox Publishing gathered five experts together to talk about how they see the publishing world post Covid. This is a great post and has some important things to think about. They cover publishers, agents, editors, bloggers, and marketing for their thoughts.

Meanwhile, the Romance Writers of America have done away with their flagship romance awards. They are introducing another set of awards. ( hopefully without the baggage from the causes of RWA meltdown) Time will tell if they can reinvent themselves successfully.

Nate Hoffelder has a nifty little project for anyone who is interested. He is designing an author website in a box. It’s free if you want to take a look.

It is the last day for grabbing the Story writing bundle of craft books. Check out what’s on offer but move fast we are in the last day to get this great collection.

In The Craft Section,

Creating characters who are fully alive- Barbara Probst

What do readers want from a POV- Jami Gold Bookmark

2 great posts from Anne R Allen’s blog- Improve the action in your story and 15 keys to writing dialogue- Bookmark.

10 ways to hook a reader- Ann Garven

What being an editor taught me about writing- Anna Pitoniak

In the Marketing Section,

Using Goodreads giveaways in your marketing- Penny Sansevieri

Turn your book marketing around- Sandra Beckwith

5 easy ways to increase your book sales – Dave Chesson- 
Bookmark and check out Dave’s Amazon book description 
generator- Bookmark it too

Setting up amazon author pages- Tony Riches- Bookmark

To Finish,

Recently Joanna Penn and Orna Ross of the Alliance of Independent Authors got together to talk productivity tools.

They referenced a wide range of tools that they are using or have used- Check out the list and while you are at it listen to the podcast. 

Maureen

@craicer

If you want the best of my bookmarked links in a monthly newsletter go on and subscribe. You will 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 virtual coffee love. Thanks.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons- David Meurin  

When we get back to normal- will it be different?

This week there were interesting anecdotes from around the book publishing community on how the continuous lockdown has affected book sales. 

Audiobook sales and podcast listening has tanked. When I thought about my own life I realized why. There are no commutes. People’s consumption of podcasts and audiobooks during their work commute drove audiobook sales. I’m behind in so many episodes in my regular podcast listening I should just escape to the car for an hour and catch up on them in the driveway. 

Recently I managed to listen to The Six-Figure Author podcast and they were mentioning that Google Play had come back on stream again for author sign-ups.

One country that seems to be bucking this trend is Sweden- they aren’t in lockdown therefore audiobook sales are booming.

Mike Shatzkin has been looking at the cracks that have been exposed in the publishing industry because of the pandemic. How reliant is everybody on a functioning supply chain? With paper produced in China in short supply… alternative editions seem to be the way forward but for the price-conscious having an ebook priced the same as a paper book is not going to cut it. 

Kris Rusch has been looking into the past to see how publishing fared the last time there was a big disruption to the publishing industry. There wasn’t an indie book scene back then so what happened to writers. The title of her post is train wreck so that should give you some ideas. She explores the ways that writers could be much better off this time.

Penguin Random House, the biggest publisher, has been doing some experimenting according to The New Publishing Standard. They have opened an online branch in India’s Amazon platform… get ready rest of the world?

Litreactor has an interesting post on how to help writers through the pandemic and also how writers can help themselves.

Anne R Allen has a great post on successful writers and detectives. They have lots in common. Check out the post to see your alternative career.

In The Craft Section,

Know your genre- Scott Myers

How to create characters that come alive- Dana Bate

How to use sequels in scene structure- Jami Gold- Bookmark!

How to get your book written this year- Belinda Pollard

Writing fight scenes for female characters- Aiki Flinthart- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Tips for marketing children’s books- Karen Whiting

How to make an awesome book trailer- Victor Blasco

9 tips for creating Amazon ads that convert- Dave Chesson - Bookmark

8 ways to sell books locally- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

The art of condensing an entire novel into a sales pitch- Florence Osmund- Bookmark

To Finish,

The new normal is working from home surrounded by others who are also working from home. Trying to retain sanity and normality can be challenging. The virtual world is at your beck and call. Here are some ways you can keep in contact with your fans and peers. Just remember to have a great bookshelf behind you. The above picture would be just perfect!

Maureen

@craicer

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want to subscribe you 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- Susan - Library

Lockdown Blues

Here we are still in the middle of the pandemic and thoughts and discussions abound on-line as to how the world will be when we get out of this. Will life be the same as before? Will we be able to go back to our local bookstore or will it have disappeared? What will the book industry look like on the other side?

The New Publishing Standard posted an interesting article on what publishers need to understand about the new normal of publishing that is fast evolving. 

Meanwhile, Anne R Allen had a great wake up article on getting your social media affairs in order just in case…Do you have a social media executor? (This also is a time to contemplate literary estates.)

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a great article on how to run online conferences or workshops. Yes, this could be the new normal for the rest of the year with conferences and book fairs transitioning online.

The ever trusty David Gaughran has an extensive article on Author Platforms. They are now more important than ever. And no, it is not just your website. It is who you are!

This week Kris Rusch talks about keeping sane as a writer in this mad mad world… She is also running a Kickstarter for writing craft bundles… with some good giveaways so you should check it out. 

William Kenower has an interesting article on Writers Digest about the cold open. When you are staring at the blank page. How do you get into the story and engage your creative mindset. He shares some tricks of the trade…

In The Craft Section,

2 great posts from Janice Hardy- 5 ways repetition is hurting your novel and plotting in 3 simple steps- Bookmark Both

How to submit to magazines- Writers Digest

Evoke reader emotions with surprisingness- C S Lakin

Active vs Passive voice- Jami Gold Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

2 great posts from Rachel Thompson- Promoting your books right now and Get ready for 2020 NaNoProMo- Every May Rachel hosts and teaches book promotion- Bookmark both

18 questions to ask when refreshing your author website- Nate Hoffelder- Bookmark

Book Promotion during a pandemic- The Book Designer

To Finish,

Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have a great website for authors. It is chock full of great resources. I often link to interesting articles on their blog. Today Angela wrote a great article on goal setting for writers during a pandemic… Great advice

I have been thinking about how much this pandemic has been showing us what is important in life. The unsung heroes (usually the lowest paid,) that keep the food arriving in the supermarkets… that clean the hospitals and streets… that work long hours doing essential work but never getting the good recognition they deserve. While these people are out there, the rest of us are consuming creative content to keep entertained. Entertainment also created and delivered originally by unsung heroes (also usually the lowest paid.)

The Romans were right. Bread and circuses… Marcus Cicero 

Maureen

@craicer

(LD Day 22)

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.

Bad Actors

Today I was perusing Twitter for interesting writing links and I noticed that there was an online chat with Victoria Strauss from Writer Beware. What a super site. Victoria mentioned that it was started in 1998 with the late Ann Crispin. If you put #bookmarketingchat in the Twitter search box you can get a great rundown on the shonky clauses and bad hat operators out there in publishing land from today’s chat.

Chuck Wendig published a thoughtful piece on a trend he is seeing that he is NOT OK with. The soliciting of blurbs from authors for unpublished novels or novels on submission or before they have been edited. Blurbs for editors to take to acquisitions meetings??? So they’ll only publish if you’ve got fancy writer friends? (Not to mention shady opportunities.)

Agent Janet Reid has also highlighted a problem with agent persona theft that is happening.

If an agent is contacting you first… check up! Are they bona fide?

While we’re on bad ideas… Hugh Howey recently published a blog article where he describes the inertia of bad ideas in the writer’s room. He is taking part in a writer’s room for screenwriters at the moment and watching what happens when a writer gets an idea that proves to be bad and how everybody can get carried away trying to make it fit.

Kris Rusch has an interesting article this week on learning from watching horrible performances. What worked? What didn’t? Where was the point that the audience was lost? Now, how could you apply lessons learned in your manuscript?

Apparently, Google Play have made it easier to publish on their platform. After making it really hard last year that many aggregators gave up on them. I went hunting for an explanation and found this article by Publish Drive on how to get yourself into Google Play.

Meanwhile over in Sweden, The New Publishing Standard has a remarkable post today on the tipping point of digital versus print in their publishing landscape. The subscription model in the Nordic countries might be breathing life into the backlist but what about the printers…This makes the recent meeting of printers and publishers in the US have a lot more meaning for the future of print publishing.

Scribendi has put together their list of the 30 best writer’s websites in 2020. Take a look. There are some tried and true sites that have featured here over the years and some new ones you might like to explore.

Written Word Media has published a list of the top ten trends that 2020 will bring to publishing so be prepared. 

Have you heard of a Mary Sue? Do you know what it means? Are they the kiss of death in your novel? Litreactor takes a look at this writer/superhero stand in.

James Scott Bell is one of the better writing craft gurus around. This week he looks at the themes of The Kings Speech and what writers can learn from the way the beats were used to mine emotion in the film.

In The Craft Section,

How to write your bad guys- Richie Billing

5 ways to make multiple viewpoints engaging- Mythcreants- Bookmark

Mapping story settings – Sara Letourneau

350 ways to replace the verb take- Kathy Steinemann

The a-z of novel writing- Writers Digest- (very creative)

In The Marketing Section,

Author websites- Jane Friedman- Bookmark

Publishing using Kickstarter- Bookriot

The perils of also boughts – Penny Sansevieri

A marketing roadmap – Insecure writers Support group – Bookmark

To Finish,

Write On Con is on this weekend! If you are interested in writing for children you need to check out this online conference. It is affordable… $10 and the range of presenters is top notch. The all you can eat feast of craft, workshops, pitching opportunities, marketing, illustrators, writers, Uncle Tom Cobbly and all schedule is here. (US eastern time)

Maureen

@craicer

If you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter, why don't you SUBSCRIBE and you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. The first newsletter of the year is going out soon.
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: Salvador Dali- Not a Bad Actor but I couldn't resist that moustache! (photographer Phillippe Halsman 1942)