In Publishing News this week,
There was a quick backlash on Social Media when a publisher announced that they would be using an AI to vet submitted manuscripts. They walked it back after only a few hours. Even though they are a Science Fiction publisher- this was a step too far for their writers. Just imagine, said one commentator, AI scraping trends and plots and writing its own book from submissions. Of course it will never happen….
The International Publishers Association are shocked at the dismissal of the case of attempted murder of a Norwegian publisher. 25 years ago, the publisher was shot 3 times. Many believed it was because they had published Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses book. It shook the publishing world at the time as an attack on free speech. If we don’t speak truth to power - who will?
Mark Williams had me chuckling so hard I nearly fell off my chair with this personal opinion about the London Book Fair. Sometimes you have to laugh because otherwise you would cry. Who knew there was a bookfair on in London that generated lots of sales?- Not the UK news media.
Bologna Children’s Book Fair is underway, and the early news is that everyone is having a good time- except for the transport strike. Publishing Perspectives is on the ground talking about the in person and virtual events.
Publishers Weekly looks at the dire news for mid-grade books. Everybody wants them… and no one can find a good one, apparently. What to do? The only country bucking the trend is The Netherlands and they’re translating from Korean.
In digital reading hardware news- Kobo is bringing out a colour ink version. Commentators are already looking at the E-Ink hardware wars on the horizon.
Draft2Digital is partnering with Fable. As far as I can tell this is a first for both companies. Fable runs virtual book clubs- many for celebrities and TikTok influencers. If you want to have an author book club, check it out. Draft2Digital is a publishing distributor, mainly for eBooks but now also for print. This could be a very interesting collaboration.
Ninc have analyzed the book cover trends for 2024- Font is still king. Illustrated and Animated covers are still on brand, I was surprised at how many genres now use them.
Anne R Allen has an interesting post on Substack Newsletters vs Blogging for authors inspired by Jane Friedman’s article last month. I post my weekly blog on Substack for people who want to get it in their inbox. I don’t charge. My monthly roundup newsletter with extras and oddments is through Mailchimp. As a children’s writer I’m always struggling with the concept of author newsletters for this audience as the buyers aren’t the readers, generally. Maybe I should write a serial story newsletter.
The Passive Guy highlights a post from Dean Wesley Smith on how big your name is on the cover of your book. Do you hide away or boldly brand? Dean also has a series of marketing posts on at the moment.
Joanna Penn has a great interview with Rachel Herron on Facing Fears in Writing and Life. This is well worth the time to read and/or listen. Rachel also mentions having ADHD. Katie Weiland recently had a great guest post on navigating the writing process if you have the ADHD superpower.
Sue Coletta has a great post on Story Bibles. Do you jot down important details so that you don’t forget them or is editing always a surprise with how many times the main characters eyes change. Sue looks at all the ways you can keep on top of the details.
In The Craft Section,
Strong plots need significant goals- September Fawkes
Style over plot and characters- James Scott Bell- Bookmark
Is page 98 as strong as page 1- Donald Maass- Bookmark
What to do when you lose your way- Matthew Norman
5 simple ways to create high stakes- C S Lakin-Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
Book PR and super powers- Ann Marie Nieves- Bookmark
The reason for pre sales- Catharine Bramkamp- Bookmark
How to love book marketing- Patricia Crisafulli
19 ways to Promote on TikTok-KellySchknecht- Bookmark
How to market with another author- Ingram Spark Blog
To Finish
Bucket lists. Yes, they are still a thing. Have you got a bucket list? Many people have life lists or travel lists… but Karen Banes thinks writers should have writers bucket list. Goals that you want to achieve in your writing life. She lists 100 ideas to get you started.
Maureen
@craicer
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