The Popcorn Sideshow

 

 

This week in publishing news…

The court case over whether Penguin Random House can buy Simon and Schuster has become a compulsive watch spectacle for many in the publishing industry. The CEO of Penguin Random House gave testimony along with agents and other heavy hitters in the respective companies. However, the words the CEO was saying had people scratching their heads wondering if he knows what actually happens in publishing below his executive floor. 

Publishers Weekly are updating a list of articles they have published over the last week on the utterances in court. You can follow live tweeting of the issues being discussed. 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard has some hard-hitting comments on the way the CEO of PRH has been hurling numbers around without checking if they make sense. PRH is the biggest publisher and wants to get bigger. The CEO believes they are the only knight standing between the reading public and Amazon's unlimited digital subscription models for books, which is why they need to get bigger. But there are other publishers out there too. Surely five knights are better than one knight. Swallowing up other publishers reduces the competition. Isn’t this court case about publishing monopolies?

 

In other news, The Authors Guild pulled off a win against Netflix on behalf of screenwriters in court. The writers have not been paid against the negotiated standard. The court found in favour and now Netflix has to pay 42 million dollars in back pay to writers. It pays to belong to a writers union.

 

Jane Friedman has a guest post from two agents on how books get picked up to be adapted for the screen. With so many streaming services looking for content the word is shopping agreements for a limited time.

 

Cory Doctorow has a huge post on copyright laws and how much things have changed over the last 20 years. First, it hit the music industry with sampling, mix tapes, Napster- these events changed the way people understood copyright and now practices that began in the music industry are moving into print publishing.

 

Litreactor has an interesting post on why great opening lines work. They have analyzed 10 examples to find what makes them stand out.

 

In The Craft Section,

2 Great posts from K M Weiland 13 rules to be a better Beta Reader and

Misconceptions about In Media Res. Bookmark Both.

How many scenes does it take to tell a story- Sarah Hamer

How to tell if your story is a Mystery or Thriller- Lucy Hay

Dialogue tags- Kellie McGann

The art of colour coding a manuscript.- Cathy Hall- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

10 tips for more author blog traffic- Anne R Allen- Bookmark

5 reasons your ads aren’t working-Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

9 tips to build your following- Lucy Hay- Bookmark

How to tell if you’ve found your marketing niche- Colleen Story

Republish vs update- Dave Chesson

To Finish,

Every now and then I drop into Dean Wesley Smith’s blog for his interesting take on the writer business. This week he has been writing about all the ways to freely advertise your book. He started listing ideas, and over two blog posts people added their best advertising strategies. So read all the comments for some great book marketing plans to try out. 

With PRH telling the court all their authors get large marketing plans and many of their writers wonder how and why they missed out on the marketing largess… the only way is to learn the author's hustle. 

 

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 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 or here. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

PIC Photo by Corina Rainer on Unsplash

 

The Publishing Business- unlike any other.

 

This week in the publishing world

 

At the moment the eyes of the publishing world are fixed on the court proceedings where the U.S Department of Justice is trying to stop the sale of Simon and Schuster to Penguin Random House. The live twitter feed from observers on how the court is trying to understand the publishing industry is illuminating… So, a midlist book isn’t as important as a front list book which you paid a lot of money for. Why do you have them then?

Stephen King testified for the State over the shrinking nature of independent publishing houses. S and S are his publishers, his books are just one of the reasons why PRH would want the sale to go through.

 

Staying with PRH, they have just published their diversity report where they look at their business and see whether it reflects the diversity of the country. They divided the workforce into warehousing and publishing. I wonder if other publishers would put themselves under such a spotlight.

 

I try to keep an eye on what is happening with new digital technologies as it relates to publishing. Recently Joanna Penn had a podcast interview on the blockchain and what it means for copyright and and intellectual property. Her guest was Roanie Levy, a lawyer who specializes in copyright and IP and is working in the blockchain field. If you are unclear what blockchain is and how copyright and smart contracts are going to change in the future, check out this great interview.

 

While authors are coming to grips with new technologies like NFT’s (limited editions of digital products) some publishers have figured out how NFT’s can make them money. Remember back at university and the huge price of textbooks? Many students buy second-hand textbooks or thirdhand. Academic publishers have figured out they can make money with these subsequent sales if they publish their books as NFT’s. (Will the author of the textbook get a cut?)

 

I am reminded of the words of a retiring publisher here in NZ. The business of a publisher is to stay in business. This week Kris Rusch puts on her publishers hat and examines the ways a publisher could be making money for their business. 

 

PEN America has issued a press release over a Utah school board banning 52 books under a new state law allowing books to be removed because of pornography issues. But what is pornography? When you look over the list you will be scratching your head like PEN.

 

Oh to have books to ban. Mark Williams looks at the difficulty faced by African nations just getting books. Digital books were supposed to be the answer but not if the publisher still sticks by regional rights. It is a reading desert out there with hope centered on the Middle East publishing community. Mark is hand making books for his school and they are one of the lucky ones.

 

Ruth Harris takes a look at decision fatigue. Just being a writer means making many decisions in your writing, let alone anything else. Ruth has some strategies for when it gets too much. 

 

Bang 2 Write has a great article on 5 examples of story structure. There is more than one way to understand the steps of the plot. 

 

In The Craft Section,

The intersection between Plotting and Pantsing- Litreactor- Bookmark

How to structure stories with multiple main characters- K M Weiland -Bookmark

Elements of a story- Reedsy – Comprehensive

Using backward design to plan your story- Angela Ackerman

Managing point of view and distance of time- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Backcover copy formula- Sue Coletta- Bookmark

What to do instead of a writer blog- P S Hoffman

How to use Amazon to market for free- NY Book editors

Getting your work noticed- Liza Taylor- Bookmark

Author strategy for Bookbub ad bidding- Bookbub- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Carmen Machado has an interesting article on taking the time to write when doing an MFA. So many writers are focused on trying to get an agent or a deal while doing their MFA that they miss the point that having time to write is the best thing you can do for your writing. One of her students forgot this and is now mired in a plagiarism scandal. Write first. Polish it until it gleams, then look for the deal. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links come on over and subscribe. You will also get a nifty mini book crammed 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 or here. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Photo by Sean Pollock on Unsplash