In Publishing News This Week...
In the continuing saga of being a HarperCollins employee- you strike for 3 months, you get told that HC is settling but reducing their workforce and now you hear that severance is all voluntary for a limited time. Publishers Weekly takes the time to remind readers that this was predicted early this year. (See Februarys blog) If you want a more personal story about why it’s so hard to work in publishing, Electric Literature has an essay on how a living wage has never been a priority in publishing.
After last weeks news and then backtrack on cleaning up Roald Dahl to this week examining the role of sensitivity readers. Do we really need them? Canadian reporters explore why the publishing industry is feeling alarmed. Meanwhile, well-known Canadian writer Margaret Atwood has decided that she will write her memoir after all. That’s 80 years well lived.
Anne R Allen has a great post on whether you should fictionalise your life. It’s called Autofiction if you are thinking about it.
It’s Bookfair time and on everyone’s lips is AI. The Author’s Guild is being proactive and having their lawyers write clauses for writers and publishers to insert into writing contracts limiting the use of AI and Machine Learning on new work.
Mark Williams highlights a little snippet from Animation Magazine – They are embracing AI and using it to make short animations. This new tech promises fun times ahead. Publishers have you thought about your own IP?
Kris Rusch continues to look into AI audio and whether its suitable in the first instance to make their print books accessible. She delves into the contracts and hidden fees and concludes that Google is probably the best player at the moment in this space.
Bologna Children’s Book Fair celebrates its 60th year and everyone is happy to be back. The big sellers at the fair…children’s mental health books. The legacy of the covid years.
Mattel toy company is moving into books which will be based off their IP. So if you have a hankering to ghost write Barbie fiction or Hot Wheels road trips there is a place for you in the Mattel story world.
Earlier in the year I linked to a news article about Adelaide books and the problems they were having. Jane Friedman has a guest post this week from a writer caught up in the mess. How Bad Publishers Hurt Authors. Yes, she checked and she checked it was not a scam… it looked legit. Even the most savvy of writers can be sucked in.
Do you wake up itching to be back at the manuscript or has it become the dreaded homework. Naomi Rose writes about how you can find ways to be pulled by love not pushed by force into your writing.
In The Craft Section,
Will readers find your protagonist worthy?- Angela Ackerman
Comedic writing- Now Novel- Bookmark
Novel and script editing tips- Novel Factory
Gender neutral replacements- Kathy Steinemann- Bookmark
Writing onomatopoeia- Joe Bunting- Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
Best Fonts for Print- Kindlepreneur
Selling books on your website- Penny Sansevieri
The formula for more book sales – Sandra Beckwith- Boomark
To give it away or not- Kim Catanzarite-Bookmark
Unique ways to engage readers with live streaming- Shailee Shah- Bookmark
To Finish,
How often do you reward yourself with something creative after writing your novel. P A Cornell builds Lego sets. Then she got thinking, Lego is really like story building. Take those Lego bricks and find out the 10 things that Lego can teach you about writing.
Maureen
@craicer
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Pic: Photo by Xavi Cabrera on Unsplash
