This week the news in the publishing blogosphere is...
FRANKFURT.
This German Book Fair is amongst the biggest in the world
and it was a big deal when New Zealand went as Guest Of Honour last year. This
is where foreign rights deals are made so it is big business and fueling this big business is ebooks.
Every year the continuing growth of self publishing gets
talked about at the big book fairs...which are required attendance for agents
and publishers. This year, in a Frankfurt debut, CONTEC an industry forum to specifically discuss Digital Publishing was launched and started making waves. The news right off
the bat... 60% of Self Published authors would not take a Trad deal if it was offered to them. Publishing professionals were asked how this would impact the
industry...
Jane Friedman takes a close look at all that was said and unsaid on this panel that has everyone talking.
In an off the wall moment a respected agent demanded that all publishers pull their books from Amazon...annoying Penguin Random House in
the process. The Passive Guy looks at the fall out.
Discussions about Author Collectives are everywhere I look
as more writers find this is a model that makes sense to help them cope with
the fast changing world of Publishing Now. From small press collectives to nationwide
collectives for small countries... Catherine Stine looks at starting an Indie Collective.
The wonderful Anne R Allen has a brilliant blog and this week she lays out the rules of the Amazon Jungle...This is all about the
changing nature of reviewing...a must read.
In the Craft Section,
Paying attention to the characters life journey with Kristen Lamb
In Marketing,
Writers and Artists interview with Karen Inglis a children’sbook author self publishing with POD illustrated books...
Website to check out,
K M Weiland has a new website and it is beautiful...check it
out and her latest post on when characters lack solid story goals.
To Finish,
Over the last few years there have been rumblings of
discontent in the text book world. First from the students...the high
prices...then from the professors who have to pay for their work to be
published in journals...as the text book publishers have a cash cow... but check out this latest from Harvard Business School....and read the comments!
Enough to make me reach for a ....
Maureen
* High Five to anyone who gets the reference in the title...
pic from Flickr /Creative Commons/Tim Pearce
