In Publishing News this week…
Remember this time last year when Audible wanted to create transcripts of audiobooks and they got slammed by publishers because that was effectively making ebooks. Another year rolls around and Android are making changes, one of which is captions for audiobooks and this time the publishers are on board?
Last week I mentioned Overdrive’s huge jump in lending figures. Overdrive supplies libraries around the world with eBooks. A lot of publishers distribute their eBooks to libraries through Overdrive. Amazon was never interested in libraries until someone in their office must have made a connection somewhere. Publishers Weekly report changes are afoot.
I try to keep one eye on the educational publishers, think of the captive market of students and their textbooks needs. Academic publishers went to digital subscription early for journals. Textbooks however are still a holdout. What are the differences between Trade and Academic publishers? Prestige or Money? Richard Charkin explains how the mindsets of each are changing and even swapping.
The dream team of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi always find innovative ways to give back to the writing community. They are hosting a writing advent calendar and you can go back in time and join all the giveaways. Check it Out!
Nick Stephenson has been working with a website designer recently looking at author websites and coming to grips with what should be in a comprehensive one. He has 7 essential elements for an author website for you to think about.
Reedsy decided to round up the best book covers, in their opinion this year. I was looking through them trying to figure out what sort of unifying trend there was that made them all similar. 2020 - was it the year of blue or the year of rough font- or a symbolic representation of the existential despair suffered by cover designers and publishers as they grapple with life in 2020.
Kris Rusch has an interesting blog this week on the signs of hope that the coming year may be getting back on the right track. But there will be big changes. For instance, all the big movies are being released online instead of in cinemas. Movie producers are still going to rake in the cash from a captive home audience. Will this spell the end of the big cinema chains? (There is a huge movie theatre construction site happening not far from me. They might have to repurpose the building.)
Recently K M Weiland had a blog post on overthinking your writing. This is a horrible little trap when the perfection demons come out to play and you lose any joy in your work. Katie has some strategies for you.
In The Craft Section,
How to make the most from our story tropes- Jami Gold Bookmark
13 pieces of advice for aspiring authors- Shelly Munro
4 ways to fix a boring story- Gilbert Bassey
Writing schedule hacks – Now Novel- Bookmark
Your characters why- Beth Barany- Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
Lessons learned from producing podcasts- Simon Owens
The 2021 Literary Calendar for Social Media- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark
How to sell romance books- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark
What to include in an advanced information sheet- Dan Parsons- Bookmark
To Finish
As we head into the end of the year thoughts turn to writing gifts… What would you like to give yourself? If you are struggling to put your finger on the right gift check out Reedsy’s collection of gifts. For the creative among you - you can always make your own version of The Writer’s Block.
Maureen
@craicer
Next week will be the last blog post for the year and also time for the last newsletter of the year. So if you want to get the bumper roundup of links for Christmas- Go on and subscribe
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Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Gisela Francisco
