Buying Books

 

 

In Publishing News this week...

Another year, another big publisher on the sales block. This time it's Hachette. But there are differences. Their parent company is dividing the group into four and putting each group on the share market. Publishing by stock market dividends. I can’t see any problems with that model. Can you?

 

The director of The London Book Fair revealed he didn’t know much about the Global Book Business when he declared London was the first Bookfair of 2024. It isn’t and it’s not even the biggest. Mark Williams does a run down of the figures to educate the LBF director.

 

Publishing Perspectives are still filling their news pages with the International Publishing Association conference in Mexico. It’s getting bigger and with more star power- They have a top UN speaker and will be devoting a big chunk of programming to Climate Change issues.

 

Publishers Weekly sat down with some top Children’s editors and agents and asked what the themes of 2024 were. Hands up Romantasy. Manga is still looking good. Everybody is still waiting for the next Harry Potter (holy grail) book. Many have tried and failed. Perhaps HP is the last of the ‘once in a generation books.’

 

LitHub recently published an article by a New Zealand writer about what it’s like to have a successful story and then get told to Americanize it, when the publishers bought it because it was so edgy and cool. Who knew other cultures had their own versions of the English language? Can readers not understand different English words? SIGH.

 

Ricardo Fayet of Reedsy has an article explain the new changes to email which are rolling out this month. If you have a mailing list you will need to take note of the new requirements.

 

Kathy Steinemann has a great article on how to spot publishing scammers and fakes. Everybody should read this- even if you think you are very good at spotting them. Then head over to Writer Beware and take a look at the latest scams out there, like a cloned version of Macmillan Publishers.

 

Jane Friedman has a great guest article by Claire McKinney on why you need a press release and how to write one. This is a print out and stick on the wall post for marketing purposes.

 

The first rule of Write Club… Cathy Yardley has a super post on getting into the thick of writing, digging deep and channeling the things that speak to your passions then pouring them out on the page. And don’t forget about the last rule of Write Club…

 

Sue Coletta has a great post about how to write a dance scene. Like fight scenes they need some choreography and attention to surrounding detail. 

 

How do you know when you have too much dialogue?  And is it a bad thing? What about when the dialogue is authentic? Can’t you keep it? Anne R Allen has an excellent article on how to spot overuse, over authenticity and chatter going nowhere. 

 

In The Craft Section,

Scene Structure Basics - Lewis Jorstad- Bookmark

Vision board for writers- Sarah Rexford

All you need for characters- Writers helping writers- Bookmark

Increasing the emotional impact of your story- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

What is overwriting and tips to avoid it- Edie Melson

 

In The Marketing Section,

Writing the perfect synopsis- Randy Ingermanson- Bookmark

ISBN’s all you need to know.

Creative Indies resource page- Bookmark

March Promotion opportunities-Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

How to promote your book- Reedsy

3 creative ways to use your book2read account- Draft2Digital

To Finish,

As a teacher, I’m always interested in ways to get kids reading and unlocking the power of story. In Ohio a couple of schools have invested in Book Vending machines which are being used as rewards for good behaviour. The lucky kids get tokens to spend in the machine. Of course, you could see all the ways this could be problematic but still anything that gets kids holding books must be a good thing.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Pic Photo by Streetwindy on Unsplash

Surviving Career Custard Pies

In the publishing blogosphere this week....

K-boards is a well known chat forum for authors who publish on Amazon. This week the news that K -boards was sold from the deceased estate of its founder to a tech company caused hardly a ripple in the smooth working of the forum until participants noticed changes in the terms of service that were unusual and upsetting. It could get very messy. The Passive Guy brought his lawyer eye to figure out what was what.

Apple has quietly changed its bookstore. No more iBooks... Apple books are here to stay. Apple have some nifty new revamps to the bookstore.

The rising cost of Amazon ads has caught authors on the hop. The suggested price to start bidding has risen by 25%. The Alliance of Independent Authors great blog highlights and examines this situation. This has been a big topic of conversation around the indie publishing blogosphere.

It’s Book Launch week for me. Do you know any quirky confident beginning readers? I have a great book series launching now based in a traveling circus... add in some codes... and you get custard pies thrown... Um No. Ricardo Fayet of Reedsy has a list of unconventional book launch ideas...

Agent Janet Reid has an interesting answer to a reader question on what happens when you have fired your agent but they still have an interest in the books that they submitted on your behalf. How long do they have their claws in me?

Kris Rusch comments of the hits an authors career takes when a publisher makes a stupid decision... The latest stupid decision - Tor stopping libraries from accessing their new releases. 

Chuck Wendig has an interesting post on his blog today about writing careers being a series of cliff mitigation exercises. This is a super read. It is thought provoking especially when joined with Kris Rusch’s blog. 

I flicked this link on Book Covers to my fabulous Cover Designer Adele Jackson. This is a fascinating roundup of the cover designers on Instagram. If Typography and pretty colours are your thing - take a look!

3 writing techniques adapted from the visual arts- This is a great post by Tess Callahan on Writers Digest. 

In The Craft Section,

Mythcreants have two great posts that you should Bookmark- 5 Reasons not to write a persecution flip story and How do I avoid endorsing my protagonists actions

How to write exceptional endings- September Fawkes- Bookmark

How to find and capture your novel ideas- Joanna Penn

How to deal with rejection as a writer- Meg Latorre

What’s at stake- Michael Hauge- Bookmark

Sweeter than tea- Writing tips

In The Marketing Section,

Biggest Bookbub ad mistakes- Bookbub- Bookmark!!

Misconceptions about literary agents- Writers Digest

The Ins and Outs of Contests- Writers on the move

Embed video in your Amazon book listing. - The Digital Reader

Using excerpts from your book on Social Media- Bookbuzzr

Creating an Author Persona for live events- Joanna Penn

How to set up and run an author exhibition stand- Alli -Bookmark

David Gaughran has a fascinating guest post from Nicholas Erik. This is a MUST READ if you are advertising on FB or Amazon.

To Finish,

Anne R Allen has put together a handy list of books to help writers when they feel discouraged, blocked or feeling like they are not a real writer. This is EVERYONE. We all feel like this at times. Her list has been extensively added to in the comments so make sure you read them.

Maureen

@craicer

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter 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 want to say thanks for all the blog posts you can hit the coffee button and help fuel my week. It’s Circus Quest book launch time! I’m up to my eyes in custard pies…If you know a quirky confident beginning reader then check out my Circus Quest series. 

Pic; Atlas Obscura- The Perils 1947 Custard Pies

Is The Sun Shining?

This week the sun disappeared in North America.

In olden times... (pick your century) an eclipse was a portent of disaster or great change.

Some might have decided that the eclipse came seven months too late. If you are an indie author publishing some romance fiction on Nook it came right on time. With no warning to the authors involved accounts have been closed. This is a great reminder about spreading your eggs among many baskets.

Kris Rusch wrote about the eclipse in a different way. Her little town prepared for an influx of visitors... and they didn’t come. Kris compares this to the book publishing industry. What happens to publishing if all the marketing goes on the books with the highest advance and they don’t sell?

Porter Anderson recently talked with Sophie de Closets, the CEO of French publishing house Fayard, about women in publishing. Sophie talked about what it was like as a young CEO walking in to manage such a venerablehouse but then she added something startling. Where are all the men in publishing? This potentially is a huge problem for identifying readers.

Amazon is on track to open their tenth brick and mortar bookstore this year.  Their bookstores are small with books facing out and highly curated. Are they on to a sure thing? Their emphasis on data and buying habits suggest they are.

So is it the right time to be buying a bookstore? Dean Wesley Smith thinks so because he just bought one. However Dean has data of his own and lays out what a modern bookstore should be doing.

Hugh Howey is sailing the Pacific living the life on the boat his books bought. (Not jealous... really...) He finds time to write in between swimming with turtles and whales (not jealous....) Recently he wrote two really good posts on becoming a writer. ( and Part Two)

They are thoughtful and insightful and a great pick me up when you are staring at your MS thinking about sailing in the pacific with turtles... on a dream boat.... (OK Jealous!)

A few years ago now a bunch of crazy writers got together to write a serial story for kids. It was hard work but creatively inspiring. The crazy writers are still writing for kids but we aren’t doing serials. Every now and then I read an interesting article on Serial Writing and think ... hmm Crazy Fun. This article looks at 13 reasons why writing a serial is better than writing a book.

In The Craft Section.

How to hook a reader- Mary Kole- Bookmark

The ingredients of great series characters- James Scott Bell- Bookmark

3 tips for using Scrivener corkboard

3 reasons you don’t need a character arc- Janice Hardy

2 great articles from Now Novel- 7 examples of great plot twists and How famous characters teach characterisation. Bookmark

Zero Draft Thirty is the screenwriters NaNoWriMo It kicks off in September.

In The Marketing Section,

The reason book marketing is exhausting- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

9 tips to clarify your target market- Lisa Tener

Using Canva for book marketing- Bookmark

How to promote yourself as an author

Mailchimp alternatives- Ricardo Fayet - Bookmark

28 book marketing tips

Book launch timeline- Shelley Hitz- Bookmark!

To Finish,

The New Yorker, venerable institution of prose and social comment has an article on.... Fan Fiction? Yes you did read that sentence right. It’s a good article too. Go on... dip your toe in....

Maureen

@craicer

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons Andrew Napier

I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces in my monthly newsletter. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. (Hi New Subscribers!) THANKS to everyone who hit the coffee button this week.