It has been a funny old fortnight (do you still use that
word in daily speech?) I had to take a break from my regular weekly blog due to
the recovery dance going backwards.
In the publishing blogosphere it is Frankfurt time!
Frankfurt is one of the worlds biggest book trade fairs. This year Frankfurt nodded towards self-publishing with a who’s who line up of speakers for a
dedicated two day conference tacked onto the main event. Along with the many book deals being
done at Frankfurt there is lots of discussion about industry trends. ISBN’s are
in the spotlight. Porter has been looking at the increasing dissatisfaction with ISBN’s. Are they necessary? (N.B. NZ provides free ISBN’s through the
National Library for NZers.)
Just when you thought bookstores were on their way out...
Faber (Lit publishers) decide to operate a pop up store selling Faber titles.
Other publishers are watching that space.
Amazon announced this morning that they were going to have a
store in Manhattan... So the store idea is not dead.
In a little rumble that may herald an earthquake is on the
way... Adobe has been identified as scanning people’s digital bookshelves
without their consent... this may be the straw that breaks DRM. Publishers may
feel that DRM won’t be worth the lawsuits...
Futurebook has an interesting article on Bookbridgr. This is
a site that teams up book bloggers with publishers. With the increasing loss of
book review pages in print this looks like an interesting option. (Could be
room for a NZ option...)
I’ve always thought India was a market to watch... 1billion
people... many who speak English... EBooks India has just interviewed Mark
Coker on what it takes to self publish there.
Writer Beware has an interesting post on how to ask publishers about rights reversion. This is an important clause in your
contract...
Karen Inglis walks her readers through converting a Picture Book to an ‘Enhanced eBook’ through iBooks.
In the Craft Section,
Two great links from Ava Jae. How to write effective betrayal
and How to make up your own language for your WIP.
Anne R Allen - Are your dreams getting in the way of your writing goals?
Multi - coloured heroes... diversity in your characters.
Chuck - what you need to know about your second draft. (Great
article! Usual Chuck warnings)
In the Marketing Section,
Jane Friedman interviewed Bella Andre... and learned 5 tips
for success.
If you are interesting in the self-publishing revolution,
Lateral Action interviewed Joanna Penn about her new book Business for Authors.
Writer Unboxed has 5 tips from Joanna to consider when you
look at your author business.
To Finish,
The ongoing battle of should you/ shouldn’t you over author
blogging is always a weighty tussle.
Here it takes another twist with a guest article on The Book
Designer website... Thou shalt blog.
Of course I don’t follow the proscribed rule... in my weekly
(ahem) blog but if you want to click on the book covers in the side bar you can
get a taster of my writing.
maureen
