Facing The Music

 

This week Japan just jailed some copyright pirates. (Is that a cheer I hear from authors?). How much did publishing lose? The New Publishing Standard crunches the numbers and asks is it piracy if the pirates were just filling a gap in the market? 

 

The European Writers Council is looking sideways at EU member nations this week who have been dragging their feet over ratifying the Single Market Digital Copyright Directive. They have had two years. There are now some very nervous content providers out there looking at their disappearing copyright. Publishing Perspectives looks at implications.

 

Dave Chesson is on a roll with another comprehensive article on how to choose good book titles. This is a fascinating deep dive into the emotion of book titles… just in case you thought they were pulled out of a hat.

 

Kristine Rusch has another great post on fear based decision making in publishing. There is so much to mull over in here. Kris is writing mainly about the US publishing world but these things echo around. I know that print runs have been drastically cut in the last ten years here in NZ.

 

Anne R Allen has a very good blog that is chock full of interesting content. This week Anne has a mini-rant on self-publishing. It is not a childish game. This is not a let’s play at publishing dress-up. It’s a business and the choices you make at the beginning can make or break you. (Totally Agree)

 

I was interested to see an opinion piece on Forbes about micropayments and the continuing lack of a viable way to show one-time appreciation. It was big news about five years ago as everybody thought it would be sorted soon. And still we wait. A tip jar could make all the difference to writers whose work is stuck behind paywalls and subscription plans. How many subscriptions does one person need?

 

Brenda Copeland has an interesting article on Show and Tell. We often hear writing advice that emphasises the Show -Don’t Tell mantra. But sometimes you need some telling. Brenda shows where it is most effective.

 

In The Craft Section,

5 types of surprise and how to write them- September Fawkes- Bookmark

5 ways to get unstuck- Lisa Tener

2 great posts from Jami Gold -How we can avoid talking heads and Characters and Settings- make them interact- Bookmark Both.

Archetypes- The parent- (another in her excellent series) K M Weiland - Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

FAQ on Lyrics In Books-Bookbaby- This question comes up all the time- You may need to bookmark it if it’s something you want to do in the future.

Book promotions- The long term- Anne Janzer

How to get awesome book cover blurbs and Who are the best Booktubers- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark Both

Podcasting as an Indie author- The Alliance of Independent Authors- Bookmark

 

To Finish

The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults Finalists were announced today. Congratulations to all finalists. I have been a judge for these awards and it is no easy task. There would be many fine books that would have just missed the cut. We need a longlist. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Tim Green - Sax Maniac

 

Playing Catch Up

 

In interesting news for writers from The Guardian, a couple of second-hand book merchants have been working on a scheme where writers can get a small payment if their books get on sold. Hopefully, the idea gains traction and goes worldwide. 

 

Mike Williams of The New Publishing Standard takes a look at the German acquisition of Print On Demand business Bok2. Lessons learned from the pandemic – The Backlist keeps your publishing business afloat and this means Print On Demand is important. 

 

When you read Kris Rusch’s latest post on fear in publishing and how, even with credible data on backlist, it's hard to believe that publishers are still hoping a magic reset button will be pushed and everything will go back to the way it was before. The pandemic is changing entertainment. Now it is all about subscription- How many subscription services do you pay for? 

Diana Urban of Bookbub has just published the key Marketing and Sales takeaways from the virtual U S Book show hosted last week by Publishers Weekly. It’s all about the power of the backlist. – There’s gold in there and some savvy publishers are now putting dedicated teams on to mining it. 

Writer’s Digest has an excerpt from a new book, Book Wars by John Thompson, on 3 crucial changes that have impacted the book industry. John sees a publisher move to a reader-centric model as being the next big change in publishing-but have the publishers left it too late? 

 

Publishing Perspectives has an interesting article on how the Arab world is changing its book buying. Most books are sold in big book fairs but with the pandemic Arab booksellers have had to develop online stores.

 

Dave Chesson has been working hard on an interesting and comprehensive article on How To Format A Book. It is chock full of information (A mini book's worth!) This is the go-to article for anyone who wants a little bit more information before dipping their toe in. Dave’s site is full of other great resources so take some time to check it out.

 

Briefing a beta reader- Brenda Pollard has an interesting blog post on how to educate your beta readers to get the most out of them. Beta readers are the readers who get the book before it’s published when you still have time to fix any errors.

 

In The Craft Section,

A beginners guide to structure- writing cooperative

Archetypes- The King Arc- KM Weiland – Bookmark

When to break the rules – Karel Segers

Rewriting your novel - Linda Clare- Bookmark

Tips on writing the boring stuff- Jenna Harte-Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

Ten ways for authors to waste money- Nate Hoffelder

The ultimate guide to selling children’s books- Karen Inglis – Bookmark

What is a soft book launch- Sandra Beckwith – Bookmark

Book marketing- 14 tips- Bewrit

5 types of video for social media marketing-Joe Forte

100 Facebook promotion groups for writers – Kathy Steinemann- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Sandra Beckwith has reviewed Ricardo Fayet’s book - How to market a book. Ricardo is one of the founders of Reedsy and has had a ringside seat to the changes in the book industry over the last five years. Reedsy has a lot of free courses and resources and this book is Free as well. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Steven Pisano