Whose attitude is right?

Around the publishing blogosphere...

This week was unsettling on Social Media. First there was the big Twitter pile on

about a forthcoming book from Young Adult writer, Amelie Wen Zhao.

Amelie was about to publish her debut novel. As authors do, she drew on her upbringing

and culture from her own country. She has a 3 book deal with a traditional publisher in the USA.

She was forced to ask for a delay in publication due to the backlash on social media

about content in her book.

From what I could see as the Twitter rage grew… many commenting had not read advance copies so did not know the context but raged about it anyway. Many immediately took the author to task for seeming to use American historical events badly in her fantasy.

For writers from other countries watching this rage fest unfold on Twitter it was deeply unsettling. The rest of the world has stories to tell of slavery, human trafficking happening now or in the past. Other cultures experiences of this is just as valid to use as a basis for a fantasy book. Do we always have to use and be mindful of the same western viewpoints in an age where stories are shared globally with the click of a button?

While writers and commentators were getting steamed up over a fantasy book,

publishers and agents were getting spooked by the story broken in

The New Yorker of a prominent writer and editor who seemed to have based

all his credentials on a fantasy life. As the events in his fantasy life were exposed

it read like the famous novel The Talented Mr Ripley. The writer/editor had relationships

everywhere and there will be many people in publishing feeling they have been

the townspeople in The Emperor’s New Clothes.

Another big story this week was the subscription service

Scribd passing 1 million subscribers. Publishers have been flirting with subscription

services for a while. Amazon has what could be the world’s biggest with Kindle Unlimited

based mainly in the USA but that leaves Scribd with the rest of the world…

and they have lots of plans for growth.

Another publisher with global ambitions has just opened publishing portals in another

21 countries over 6 continents.

Italian based Streetlib seeks to publish everywhere that has an internet connection,

in any language, in any format.

If you are a writer in Lesotho or Nandi, writing in your own language…

Streetlib is for you. Among the new countries just enrolled in their publishing

portal are Fiji, Australia and New Zealand.    

Amazon is looking at the rest of the world and thinking hmm great kids books in

other languages- they need us. They are opening up their Amazon kids publishing

arm to translations.

Meanwhile Google is contracting- with Google Plus set to disappear by April.

And so we come to Kris Rusch’s last blog post looking at the changes for publishing this year.

It has been an fascinating series. If you haven’t been reading her posts you are missing out
on learning about this industry. Last week’s post is a must read!

This week Kris talks about the attitude change in publishing.

In The Craft Section,

Writing a single POV story - K M Weiland

5 ways to turn off your inner editor - Janice Hardy- Bookmark

6 ways to show emotion for non POV characters- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

What is your protagonist object of desire- Bookmark

Writing skill you should cultivate- Jerry Jenkins

In The Marketing Section,

3 principles of selling rights- Orna Ross- Bookmark

Discoverability and Going Wide- The Book Designer

Social Media tips for the introverted writer- Ella Barnard-Bookmark

How can I get more subscribers- Indies Unlimited

Distribution for the indie author- Alli Blog

Smart author advertising strategies - Penny Sansevieri - Bookmark

To Finish,

We are living through major changes in our climate and our perceptions

and understandings of our place in a global village.

The internet has opened up the democratisation of information across the world.

For the author having an online presence is essential. Careful curation

of your digital presence is important.

Anne R Allen takes a good look at mistakes that authors have made in

their online presence and how to fix them.

Remember that gossip is not restricted to your own village now,

it can spread throughout the world with a click of a button.

Maureen
@craicer

In my monthly newsletter, coming soon, I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee- hit the coffee button up top. Thanks.

Pic : Flickr Creative Commons Guilhem Vellut