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

Another Year – Another Publishing Model

 

 

In Publishing News this week… It is all about Vella. 

Amazon has developed a new publishing arm to publish serials- Amazon Vella.

But why, and how will it work? has been all the gossip in the last 48 hours since the news dropped.

Mark Williams takes a look at why Amazon might have jumped and jumped quickly as they seem to be making this up on the fly. 

Meanwhile, commentators are examining Amazon’s announcements and trying to pull together how it will work. Exclusive- America first. 50% revenue of ‘tokens’ to writers. Subscription model, sort of. Only new work allowed.

Time will tell whether it will take off. It could go the way of Worlds and Singles… but you never know. It could be the next big thing.

 

The subscription model of acquiring entertainment is becoming the norm. Orna Ross of the Alliance of Independent Authors and Joanna Penn have a monthly salon where they talk about big picture stuff in publishing. Recently they looked at Subscription models and how publishing might change because of it.

 

In Book Fair news – BookExpo is no more and in its place will be a digital fair called The U.S. Book Show. Publishing Perspectives has a look at what’s on offer. 

Just announced- London Book Fair will be digital this year. After last year’s debacle of will-it- go-ahead-or-won’t-it. They may have learned some lessons.

 

Kristine Rusch has Part 4 of her interesting Hollywood and The Writer series and this one is all about money- You would think that money would be the most important thing in the contract but Kris says No. There is more at stake than that. (N.B. Hollywood is a catch-all term for all film and TV work, regardless of country. They all operate in much the same way.) 

 

Randy Ingermanson (AKA – The Snowflake Guy) has an interesting article on action plans. He has developed templates for action plans for writing, for book projects, and other tricky tools for writers. 

 

In The Craft Section,

How to cut the cost of a professional editor- Jim Dempsey- Bookmark

How to build tension successfully- Angela Ackerman

The basic scene checklist- K M Allen- Bookmark

When you talk about your Work In Progress- Robert Brewer

3 ways to increase reader belief- Roz Morris- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Know what you want to say and how to say it – Sandra Beckwith

Marketing questions – Joanna Penn- Bookmark

A beginners guide to Author Branding and 11 Book Marketing myths- Penny Sansevieri- 

Bookmark

Creating an author newsletter- Kirsten Oliphant- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Today is the Blog Birthday! 13 years of weekly posts. 

It has morphed a bit from the beginning. I started the blog to learn about publishing and I must say I have had an education over the last 13 years. Publishing has changed significantly in that time. Publishing Houses have contracted. Gone Digital. Print On Demand. Kindle. Kobo. Subscription. Wattpad. Audio. Serial. 

There have been scandals, lawsuits, scammers, #publishingpaidme and dodgy deals done. But still, authors hang in there, sometimes by our fingernails. 

Around this time of the year, I start thinking about the next financial year- tax time etc. Writer Mag has a collection of products for writers to stay organized and The Plot Whisperer, Martha Aalderson, has a post on creating a universal story planner. 

 

Onto Year 14… I might finally get organized.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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.

 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Andreas Cappell