In publishing news this week…
The Guardian reports from The London Book Fair on what the 5 biggest trends are according to the fair. Or according to the Guardian, what we will all be reading in the near future. Funny how they’ve missed all the other formats out there.
Meanwhile, YouTube is figuring out ways to monetise podcasts and provide analytics for podcast producers, Mark Williams reports. If YouTube thinks there’s gold to be had in someone else’s creative IP, what about the creator? Something to consider if you are thinking of podcasting…
Mark also shines a light on the global nature of publishing which is often seen as very western-centric. Qatar has a bookfair underway for Ramadan, which is a first, and Middle Eastern bookfairs expect to attract millions of visitors in the near future.
This week I listened to Joanna Penn interview children’s author D Jude Miller and how he sells direct to libraries and schools. It was really interesting to hear his ideas and how he gets the word out. Also, how he runs his e-commerce business from his website.
If you want to get some ideas for integrating your author websites and e-commerce, check out this article from Prowritingaid.
Staying with money, Debbie Burke has a great article on the Killzone blog about writing articles for money- Short term rewards for the long haul.
Kris Rusch looks at the responses from other authors on Brandon’s Kickstarter. Is it a unicorn? Could it be replicated by other authors? Kris points out a few things that authors seem to have forgotten. Brandon is training readers to buy direct from the author, is this a bad thing?
Joseph Perry guest posted on Anne R Allen’s blog about legal issues that authors should be aware of and do their best to avoid.
Brian Feinblum posted a hard-hitting article, the truth that authors need to hear, because they were sick of fielding whining queries from authors. Any author that has been around for a while will recognize the truths in this article. We all get annoyed with people who expect to be granted all the keys and wisdoms of writing and publishing and don’t do any work to find out answers for themselves. There is a huge amount of information out there if you go looking. (If you read this blog for just six months you will gather all sorts of resources, imagine if you read it for 14 years… my blog anniversary is next week. I know I can’t believe it either.)
In The Craft Section,
Two great posts from Jerry Jenkins -How to become a better writer- and Types of characters - Bookmark Both
Context, Text, and subtext- September Fawkes
What Are Story Beats? Tim Grahl
What is rhythmic writing -Sue Coletta - Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
May promo days -Sandra Beckwith
5 ways to build an email list for authors- Written Word Media -Bookmark
PR and Marketing tips for authors- Anne Marie Nieves- Bookmark
Book marketing on a budget- Bookrescue
Instagram book marketing ideas- Bookbub
Author Branding with Mark Coker- Bookmark
To Finish,
The music industry is humming with the court case that Ed Sheeran was involved in, where he was accused of lifting a section of tune from someone else. Cory Doctorow has a great article on how the music industry has created their own problems with copyright. As the publishing industry often follows trends in the music industry check out the article for a heads up of issues that might be coming down the track.
Maureen
@craicer
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