Going Back To The Quill

 

In publishing news this week,

 

Last week I was traveling so I didn’t post a weekly roundup. This week is the last weekly roundup for the year. Down Under it’s supposed to be Summer but the rain and the southerly blowing from Antarctica are screaming Winter vibes where I live. 

As I look over the year, Artificial Intelligence and its effect on the Publishing World, from outright abhorrence to tempered acceptance in some quarters has been the major story of the year. There has hardly been a week where I haven’t reported on some AI story. 

This week, Publishing Perspectives reports that the UK Publishers Association sees the UK government announcement of open consultation, to inform the legal framework around artificial intelligence and copyright, as the make or break moment for the publishing industry. All creative people have a vested interest in the outcome. The CEO of the Publishers Association describes it as “a generationally important moment for the creative industries.” 

Techcrunch reports that the HarperCollins CEO spoke at a recent conference citing Spotify’s entry into the audiobook market and AI’s impact on the publishing industry as the most important news of the year for the future of publishing. Techcrunch has more interesting commentary from the CEO.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors also reports on AI, with lawsuits being filed against new AI on the block Perplexity Ai. This AI company writes mini essays on topics in response to questions. But where is it getting the information from?

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard stops for a moment to castigate luddites for trying to hold onto the past when the future is changing everything around them. He is a school teacher in one of the poorest countries in the world and describes what it is like to teach a class with only one book, in a world where even dodgy internet can still deliver information to the most isolated communities. It is a luxury to be a luddite in these times.

 

Jane Friedman reminds new authors that publishing trade fairs are not for them. The world of the big trade fair is about rights selling and won’t get you that coveted publishing or agent contract. As people start gearing up for the Spring trade fairs next year, be mindful that there is always a scammer that will promise you publishing unicorns and rainbows if you will just hand them money.

 

It’s the end of the year so Publishers Weekly reports on what they think were the biggest stories of the year. I’m not sure I would agree with their list though. What do you think?

 

Being the end of the year, thoughts turn to reflecting on what you have learned. Katie Weiland looks at 8 important lessons she has learned over sixteen years and being the fabulous writing teacher that she is… it is all on craft.

 

Penny Sansevieri has a checklist of the top fifteen marketing things that you should revise or revamp to get ready for the new year.

 

Elizabeth Craig points out where new mystery writers are going wrong, they are forgetting to include the reader as a fellow sleuth. Keeping the clues to yourself is not how mysteries are supposed to work. Meanwhile, Gabriela Pereira of DIYMFA has an interesting article on why home improvement is like writing a book. 

 

It's the Christmas season and so gift giving is happening all over the place. If you are looking for writer gifts here are two sites to give you inspiration. Reedsy has their 2024 gift collection of goodies for writers. Etsy have a similar sized collection including candles that have that old library smell (without the dust.)

 

In The Craft Section,

Writing novellas- Tara Deal

Tough love approach to backstory- Barbara Linn Probst-

Bookmark

Three ways to set your character apart- Lucy Hay- Bookmark

Three act analysis of Pride and Prejudice- Gabriela Pereira

8 elements to create tension- Margot Conor- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

5 do’s and don’t’s to save money- Penny Sansevieri- Great advice!

15 book marketing articles from 2024- Sandra Beckwith- All you need, really.

Charles Duhigg talks Nonfiction book proposals with Joanna Penn- Excellent!

 

To Finish

In our family we mark important educational milestones with a Christmas gift of the same significance. On starting high school, a nice watch, on starting tertiary education, an engraved fountain pen. For the postgraduates in the house the fountain pen is similar to their working tools. But the youngest will be going into a completely sound orientated field. She still got a fountain pen, but it was of the feather quill variety which I note turned up in one of the writer’s gifts lists.

I came across this interesting article on fountain pens and their ability to unlock the creative in us, so it’s still an appropriate gift. If you need an excuse for getting an old-fashioned feather quill and ink, it could unlock your next fulfilling creative project.

 

Have a restful and safe holiday season. I will be back half way through next month after I have recovered from the extensive family traveling and gathering schedules that our end of year revolves around. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? The last newsletter for the year coming soon, You can subscribe here to join our happy band.

If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee for Christmas, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

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Just When You Thought It was Safe

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

The Gremlins got into my blog and sent people off on a wild goose chase looking for my post last week. I am still trying to fix it so eagle eyed readers will notice that my header has gone back to the old old Blogspot address.

If you missed last week’s post, Writing Resistance, you can check it out here. And if you are a week or so behind you can check out the 800^th blog post here. Thank you to the readers who alerted me to the problem. You are the best!

 

As we wrap up October, National Book Month (US) The Independent Publishers Association published an article on The Copyright Alliance's website about the importance of copyright and the current moves to allow AI to erode it.

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard highlights the success that educational publisher Pearson is having with AI and customized lesson plans. I was caught by the last line on the continued relevance of print in the classroom. I want to cling on to the printed book with two hands but the future might have other ideas.

 

Two trade authors who were having moderate success separately have teamed up at the request of their publishers to produce books. Publisher’s Weekly reports on the pairing and why they are now having more success as part of a team. This could be a great move or a horrible can of worms depending on their publisher support.

 

Scribd, almost the last of the all-you -can-eat digital subscription model, has now bowed to the inevitable and is introducing tiered pricing. The unlimited digital reading experience was great to get people into the eco system but whale readers, who read a book a day, can quickly have reading subscription services in the red. They read faster than the subscription model can make money.

 

Publishing Perspectives have a quick run down on the publisher’s conference in Sharjah that is happening next week. They are getting bigger every year.

 

Dan Holloway takes a look at the results of the Written Word Media Survey and there is a big chunk of change going into romance and fantasy authors pockets. 

 

John Gilstrap wrote this week of an unnerving experience when an AI muscled in on his Zoom call. This surprised everyone but what happened next was cause for concern. 

 

The Alliance of Independent authors have shone a spotlight onto contract clauses to watch out for in serialized fiction. It is useful to glance over these stories so you are familiar with contract language and what to look out for.

 

Jane Friedman looks at the recent moans about Print On Demand and the perceived lower quality of these books coming out from big publishers. For years the printing industry has been asking publishers to standardize their print sizes. With Print on Demand they may be getting their way at last.

 

Amazon is tightening up on author claims of being 'best selling' and 'award winning.' If you use these slogans in your marketing be prepared to show the evidence. Penny Sansevieri has a run down on what is happening. 

 

It’s always interesting to drop into Maria Popova’s blog The Marginalien to explore language and all its little quirks. Recently she explored the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig and shared some beautiful words for feelings that we don’t have a name for. This is an article to savor and a book to buy the word nerd in your life.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to end a scene- James Scott Bell- Bookmark

How to use Goal Motivation and Conflict- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Why conflict drives a story- Jerry Jenkins- Bookmark

7 tips to avoid overwriting- C S Lakin- Bookmark

How to hook readers with character descriptions- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

5 reasons to consider translating- Angela Ackerman

Best communities for marketing- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

The ultimate book cover reveal – Sandra Beckwith-Bookmark

ISBN’s made easy- Comprehensive article – N.B. ISBN’s are free in NZ

9 Key reasons why your book is not selling.- Laurence O’Bryan

 

To Finish

If you haven’t discovered Canva yet and yes there are some authors who haven’t. Check out this powerful friendly design site. There are heaps of templates for marketing as well as Book Cover designs, banners, Ads, Video’s Reels etc. Canva is free and it also has a paid tier. The free tier can give you pretty much everything. Author, Jeevani Charika has a YouTube channel to help authors get the most out of Canva. Canva has just dropped a whole lot of new features. Jeevani shows you how you can use them. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? You can subscribe here to join our happy band.

If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate all your kind virtual coffee love, 

Thanks.

 

Pic Photo by Nikola Tasic on Unsplash

 

Writing Resistance

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

AI is back in the news in publishing, specifically how big the international petition calling for a halt to unlicensed use of creative work for training AI is. Publishing Perspectives looks at the big players that have signed and how critical this is to put a stake in the ground for creative livelihood.

 

Frankfurt has wrapped up. One of the interesting sessions which reflects the uneasy feelings of global politics was the session on Storytelling as Resistance. This article has some great statements which could be important to reflect on in the coming months. This one caught my eye. “Storytelling is a tool for human rights…”

 

Publishers Weekly has an article on a new imprint from Penguin partnering with John Green- Crash Course. This builds on the popular Crash Course YouTube channel that he started with his brother Hank over a decade ago. These books are aimed at young adults/students non fiction. The first book on tuberculosis has a 500,000 print run ordered. Just contemplate that last sentence again. If you haven’t investigated Crash Course and you have a teen getting ready for exams point them in this direction. My PHD student child swears by the physics courses which helped her at Uni.

Rachel Thompson has an in depth article looking at the prevailing scams targeting authors at the moment. Facebook scammers are quite prevalent. Scammers are getting more sophisticated so check out this article. Rachel has quite a few tips to show you what to look for. 

 

Publishers Weekly also has an article on Lit RPG becoming a mainstream genre rather than an interesting niche genre for gaming aficionados. Lit RPG is Literature based on Role Playing Games. Ready Player One was the crossover hit. But it now includes anime and other big interests of today’s young adults.

 

Thomas Umstattd has a deep dive into the two act chiastic storytelling structure that is used in anime and manga. He looks at best sellers over the years that have used this eastern form of storytelling. Dracula fits this storytelling structure as does Goodnight Moon.

 

Kim Bullock shares her journey of Promoting Literacy with a side of Activism on Writer Unboxed. This is a subtle form of putting a stake in the literary ground without confronting or using a loud hailer to get your point across.

 

Stephen Pressfield, known for his popular books on creative resistance has been writing a really interesting series of posts on how to get to the 'I love you stage' in your writing. This is not just for romance writers. There is an I love you stage in all genres. Check out this post and then deep dive into the series.

 

Marissa Graff has an interesting article on when you start to lose your readers trust. 

 

In the Craft Section,

How to master story rhythm- Sue Coletta- Bookmark

2 elements you need to catch readers- C S Lakin

Types of POV head hopping- K M Weiland- Bookmark

5 plot hacks that can save your novel- Susan DeFreitas- Bookmark

9 ways to craft the perfect opening line- Ryan Lanz

 

In the Marketing Section,

7 ways to promote your book on Goodreads- Rob Bignall

Book marketing on a budget- Jenn DePaula- Bookmark

How to write a book press release- Fussy Librarian- Bookmark

Master consistency to promote an indie published book- Penny Sansevieri

The must have author success checklist- podcast from Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Joanna Penn has a great interview with Rachel McLean about scaling your author business. This interview had me thinking about all the possible ways to spin off stories, work with different tools and ways to work differently. If you are wondering how to scale the next mountain in your author journey this is a must listen or read. Absolutely fascinating.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? You can subscribe here to join our happy band.

If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate all your kind virtual coffee love, 

Thanks.

 

Pic Photo by ALEXANDRE DINAUT on Unsplash

Accessing your Fearless Superpower

 

 

This week in Publishing News

Coming soon are the new European Union laws on accessibility. This matters as digital books, if they are being sold in Europe, will need to comply with the accessibility guidelines. Publishing Perspectives reports that publishers are already asking for more clarification. Meanwhile Dan Holloway of The Alliance of Independent Authors has written a quick breakdown of what you need to do. First, use the Epub format.

 

Frankfurt Bookfair is ready to start, and Porter Anderson interviewed the fellows in the Special Program. They are all publishers who are near or in war zones. This is an interesting article that shines a light of the problems of publishing in a war zone.

 

Mark Williams looks at how Korea is managing to be nimble as they stay ahead of trends. This is interesting as smaller publishers can quickly pivot into new genre trends. It’s all about Horror right now but Happiness is around the corner.

 

Written Word Media has a comprehensive guide to Tax Deductions for authors. Even though the article is skewed towards the American tax system there are still items that go across all taxed nations. Take a look you might be able to claim back some tax.

 

Kevin Anderson has curated another StoryBundle of Writing Craft books. StoryBundle is a great way to get books – You pay what you think they are worth- The Author gets the money- A charity gets a slice, and everybody is happy. Don’t forget that reference books can be claimed on Tax as professional development.

 

Joanna Penn interviewed Ariel Curry on non fiction writing and marketing recently. If you have some non fiction projects that you want to dig your teeth into, check out the podcast transcript.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a comprehensive guide on the Ethical and Practical use of AI for authors. This is a very useful article to help you understand how to use AI tools. Publishers are already getting on the AI train. You don’t need to use it for creativity but it could speed up those mundane challenging jobs that are part and parcel of the authors world.

 

Colleen Story has a great post on How to identify your writing business relationship type. She uses 5 well known stories to help you pinpoint where your writer business is and how you could help it get better.

 

The dream team of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have ticked over nine years with their great website One Stop For Writers. Take a look at all their resources and take advantage of the birthday discount. 

 

Greer McAlister has an interesting post in Writer Unboxed about ideas and how you can have many of them but they aren’t necessarily book ideas. Figuring out which ones are book ideas is the hard part.

 

Katie Weiland is up to the climax in her story structure series of posts. This is where the story lives or dies.

In The Craft Section,

All the different words for hard- Kathy Steinemann

Vulnerability in fiction- Angela Ackerman

The book in your head vs the book you write- Kathleen McCleary - Bookmark

Beta reader options- Lisa Poisso- Bookmark

7 tips for perfect character names- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Writing good bio’s- Bang 2 Write- Bookmark

How to be a great guest blogger- Sandra Beckwith

Lessons in Business Cards and Bookmarks- Debbie Burke- Bookmark

How Substack is revolutionizing writer careers- Jaime Buckley

How to get your book into libraries- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish

Sometimes the last thing you want to do is admit that you are an author. Aside from the inane comments like – have I read anything that you have written, or I’ve got an idea for a book, you write it and we’ll split the money, writers can feel shame that they have written something that didn’t quite work. Jennie Case writes about these feelings on Jane Friedman’s blog. It is natural to feel hesitant when you put your writing out there. But you do it. This is what Bridey Thelen-Heidel calls Fearless Writing. How to look the world in the eye and write and live fearlessly.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter to go out. If you want the best of my bookmarked links you can subscribe here to join our happy band.

If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic Photo by James Healy on Unsplash

Talking Down to Readers

 

 

In Publishing News this week.

 

Last week I mentioned that Booktopia in Australia had found a buyer, this week Simon and Schuster (Australia) has been shopping and they have bought Affirm Press. They want to expand their markets in Australia and New Zealand apparently. 

 

The numbers are in and PenguinRandomHouse has made some money.  Publishers Weekly reports the good news. It might have something to do with all that restructuring they have been doing.

 

Apple Books has started laying off workers, GoodEReader reports. Apple haven’t really been focused on its book platform for a while. This may be a sign of the coming times.

 

Just when you thought all that crazy book censoring was happening in one very large western country the UK woke up to discover it’s happening in their school libraries too.

In contrast, there are schools wanting to embrace PRH’s Book Vending machines. PenguinRandomHouse has provided a book vending machine to showcase its Lit in Colour series. The machine is stocked with books written by diverse authors of colour. 

 

Every few years some bright spark in publishing looks at the huge secondhand book market and wonders… How can I get a piece of that? Bookshop.org is the latest to try with secondhand books worth credits in the Bookshop.org store. But is anyone really going to send their books off?

 

Written Word Media have a detailed look at the new KDP author verification requirements and breaks down what is important. A must read if you publish on this platform.

 

On Jane Friedman’s popular blog, Amy Bernstein writes- What you can learn from a serial submitter to literary magazines. When you have assimilated all the good advice then hop over to curiosityneverkilledthewriter.com and look at the 67 submission opportunities for September.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has another in depth article- this one on creating nonfiction courses to complement your nonfiction book.

 

I’ve just finished reading a story that had some masterful backstory slid into it. Then I came across this great article from Lisa Hall Wilson explaining just how to do this kind of deep point of view backstory layering.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to strengthen a lean manuscript- Lisa Fellinger- Bookmark

Story structure as a fractal- September Fawkes- Bookmark

Should you abandon your novel- James Scott Bell

Steadfast arcs- September Fawkes

10 editing tips- C S Lakin- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

4 Facebook features

The matter of titles-Barbara Linn Probst- Bookmark

Comp titles- PenguinRandomhouse blog

Making your website friendlier- Debbie Burke- Bookmark

Getting into the Goodreads author program-podcast- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Every few years around this time in the Northern Hemisphere news cycle the same click baity headline somehow gets recycled. Are Romance Novels Literature? The latest to ask this is Time- with its 50 best romances list. Mark Williams of the New Publishing Standard vents on this. 

A literature novel can have a romance in it. (Test: If you took out the romance would it still stand as a novel?) Romance as a genre should have the romance as the driving force in the story. The question “Is (fill in your own genre) literature?” sets up an argument of snobbery with ‘literature’ seen as more highbrow. 

Literature is a genre.

It is not a genre with huge sales compared to other genres. It has cemented itself into creative writing faculties across the world so that its authors can make a living.

You never see the headline – Are crime thrillers literature? It is always Romance that is picked on. Is it the covers? The perceived readership? The sales? The jealousy of the author paycheck, that makes this genre a target? Stop going for the tired old click bait headline. We should be encouraging and celebrating reading- regardless of genre. I wince every time a child tells me, apologetically that they read graphic novels as if it was some sort of shame.* 

There is no shame in reading. We need all the readers we can get.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter to go out. If you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter you can subscribe here to join our happy band.

If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

*I tell them my favourite graphic novels and then we have a discussion on illustration styles and pictures as shorthand for setting.

pic Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Author Anxiety

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

The Readmagine conference is underway in Madrid and after the opening keynote from Madeline McIntosh from the brand new Authors Equity publishing house, a roundtable discussed  ‘publishing in the age of anxiety.’ This has been a theme through all the bookfairs this year. Publishing Perspectives reports on the big discussion points.

 

Authors Against Book Bans was officially launched this week in America. They have 1500 authors signed up to support librarians and schools who are battling on the front line of freedom to read.

 

Dan Holloway reports on Spotify bringing in a new tier to placate the Spotify music fans. It won’t have audiobooks available in it, but if you pay a dollar more…. Meanwhile, a Spotify executive who left the company has ventured out into publishing and is creating deals with Simon and Schuster for all things media. Watch out for even more rights grabbing in contracts as publishing companies become media companies with publishing as a side hustle.

 

Dave Morris writes about traditionally published authors being told that it is super hard to make eBooks. He was asked if this was true by a best-selling author whose publishing company assured him it was.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors decided to canvas their authors for their best tips for success in 2024. They came up with 25 tips and tricks for success.

 

Jane Friedman has an interesting guest post from author brand strategist Andrea Guevara, on being yourself so others can find you.

 

Joanna Penn has an inspirational interview with disabled writer Daniel Bate on how he overcomes his challenges and manages to write, and what sort of technology and apps allow him to do it. This article has been written by Daniel using dictation software as he is blind, paralysed, and dyslexic.

 

Dave Gaughran has a new series starting on his YouTube channel. How to turn your book cover into a killer Facebook ad. If you haven’t come across Dave before I recommend you check him out. He is highly regarded by everyone who is anyone in the Indie Author community for the quality and expertise of his advice, all of which is free.

 

Penny Sansevieri looks at why your Amazon Ads might not be working and Sandra Beckwith talks about author technophobia and how to overcome it.

 

Written Word media have a comprehensive post on 100 book marketing ideas for authors.

Katie Weiland has a great post this week on 9 ways to maintain your creative focus while you juggle writing and life.

 

How do you know when you are telling in a story? Check out this great post from Suzy Vadori on how to spot the signs.

 

In The Craft Section,

Choosing the chosen one- Vaughn Roycroft- Bookmark

The most important thing to include the story- Angela Ackerman

Getting the best response from your characters- Janice Hardy

How are Archetypes different from Tropes- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Inner conflict -the driving force- C S Lakin- Bookmark

 

In the Marketing Section,

Beyond the words, the impact of a brand style Deb Vanasse-Bookmark

Using hashtags-Kathy Steinemann

Using Bookfunnel as a landing page – Katie Cross-Bookmark

Canva tips for authors- Jeevani Charika- Bookmark

Book marketing strategies- Dale Roberts

 

To Finish,

You know the scenario… you are at a party and inevitably someone asks what you do? You tell them and you get the reply, ‘Have I heard of you?’ Aside from being annoying – how would I know what you’ve heard? How do you navigate the conversation after that? James Scott Bell looks at this dilemma and how to rise above it.

I am reminded of my uncle who used to make up highly technical terms for ordinary jobs when he was asked these questions. 

I am a content creator for an international media company currently specializing in long form content for juveniles in the speculative genre. 

Or you can just invent a boring job title.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? You can subscribe here to join our happy band.

If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

Pic: Photo by Cosiela Borta on Unsplash