In Publishing News this week,
The merger of Draft2Digital and Smashwords was announced this week and everyone is talking. Each company has made a significant noise in the Indie Publishing world. Smashwords was first making ePublishing accessible to everyone in 2008. Draft2Digital followed them in 2012. Each publishing portal has its own specialties and exclusive deals. Many authors belong to both, to get as wide a coverage as they can along with access to accreditation, coupons, print deals etc. Together they will be a force, a complete one-stop portal for Indie publishers. Read the Press release from D2D and the commentary from Publishing Perspectives. The two companies are merging staff and senior management with Mark Coker of Smashwords joining the board. Both companies have a wide reach into Europe and it will be interesting to see if they can crack Asia. Now that Amazon has closed down their Asian publishing arm there might be expansion room.
Leipzig Book Fair happens 2 weeks before London and is a useful indicator on whether Book Fairs are back to normal. Last week everyone was happy, Leipzig will be in person. 6 days later Leipzig is canceled. A week is a long time in publishing and Covid 19 is not done yet.
Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware took Wattpad to task over the rules to their latest contest, which has caused a huge controversy in that part of the publishing blogosphere. The overreach in rights being denied authors entering the contest was excessive. Please read this article from Victoria on the language used and what it means. Publishing contracts and Contests are increasingly using this language. Grabbing as many IP rights as you can is highly profitable for publishing companies. Forewarned is forearmed.
Anne R Allen has a great article on 10 dangerous critiques that can scuttle your book and your mental well-being. This is an article that anyone involved in workshopping manuscripts needs to read.
Joanna Penn interviewed John Kremer over on her podcast and it is a fascinating read/listen on ways to market books long term. John authored a successful book on the subject now in its 7th edition. The two of them talk about new markets, new ventures and co-op marketing.
David Gaughran has a great article on 15 rules for Book Advertising. David has a wealth of information at his fingertips and all over his website to check him out and pay attention to what he says.
Jane Friedman has a great guest post from Janna Maron on the 3 shifts you need to finish your book. I was fascinated by the sanctuary idea. Do you have a mental sanctuary for your book?
The Dream team of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have come up with a great article on treating your writer self this Valentine’s day.
In The Craft Section,
Do you begin at the beginning- maybe not- Barbara Lynn Probst
5 Steps to becoming a nonfiction author- Nina Amir- Bookmark
The zigzag plot arc- Marissa graff- Bookmark
Antagonist motivations- K M Weiland
The rule of three- Anne R Allen
In The Marketing Section,
Leverage someone else’s network- Sandra Beckwith
Which comes first the marketing or the book- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark
Infographic for March marketing- Penny Sansevieri-Bookmark
Best promo sites 2022- David Gaughran- BOOKMARK
An introvert’s guide to an online presence- Tessa Barbossa
Prize ideas for giveaways and promotions- Bookmark
To Finish,
Writer Unboxed has all sorts of interesting articles and this one caught my eye this week
Before you start looking at your bills, this article is about owing energy, owing creativity, owing your story to … your reader.
Maureen
@craicer
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