Getting The Office Ready

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

The US Copyright office has been thinking about AI copyright and has now stuck a stake in the ground. Copyright applicants must disclose when their work contains AI created material. Previously, AI created work could not be copyrighted, however now the office wants to know how much AI was used before allowing you to copyright something. Will other countries follow suit?

 

Ethical AI Publishing has an article on how AI is disrupting white collar jobs, fueling the anti AI debate. Where were they when it was blue collar jobs on the line? AI is a classism debate. 

 

Jane Friedman has an interesting article on how Wattpad kickstarted some older authors careers. Before everyone leaps into Wattpad the news out is that Wattpad is laying off staff due to the changing economic environment.

 

Netflix is changing their streaming model. The lowest tier will be ad supported. First off the block with their ads is Cornerstone Publishing advertising … books!

 

Have you enjoyed any web comics lately? Which way did you read them? If you shook your head and thought aren’t they formatted left to right, then you might be surprised to find that the comic publishers in Europe are looking seriously at vertical formatting for smartphones.

 

Draft2Digital eBook aggregator recently moved into providing print books to a limited range of countries as a trial. This week they announced they were opening up to authors everywhere with free conversions eBook to print, free wraparound covers and lots more goodies. This will shake up the Print On Demand model. 

 

Reedsy has collected together a list of writing communities that authors can join to find like minded writing buddies. You also might be interested in time blocking tips from K M Allen.

 

Anne R Allen has a great guest blog from lawyer Joseph Perry about negotiating a literary agent agreement. Some literary agents are happy with a verbal agreement but you shouldn’t be. This is a great list of tips and things to think about.

 

If you have been getting up from your writing desk in some pain you might want to check out this article from Colleen Story on the 5 types of writing related pain. Colleen offers some solutions.

 

Are you staring at your characters and wondering why they are so flat? Lynette Burrows has the answer. Making flat character genuine in 8 easy steps.

 

In The Craft Section,

Character arcs making a long story short- Jami Gold – Bookmark

Chekov’s gun and the writer- Anne R Allen

How to craft interesting minor characters- J D Harlock- Bookmark

Using the But Therefore method of plotting- Literary Architect- Bookmark

The most common writing mistakes agents see- Mary Kole

 

 

In The Marketing Section,

2 interesting posts from Jane Friedman Author websites and  Authors who launched careers on Tiktok- Bookmark Both

How authors can engage on Instagram- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Book advertising- The Alliance of Independent Authors- Bookmark

Category Data- Kindlepreneur- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Writer Unboxed has a great article by Kelsey Allagood on spring cleaning your brain. Of course down under we are heading into Autumn so perhaps we could call it preparing to hunker down for your writing brain.

K M Weiland has a great article on the best places to write. Have you tried different places to write? Changed your office? Changed where you are most creative? Katie offers some tips to keep everything fresh and productive.

 

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 Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

Pull Out Your Toys

  

In Publishing News This Week...

In the continuing saga of being a HarperCollins employee- you strike for 3 months, you get told that HC is settling but reducing their workforce and now you hear that severance is all voluntary for a limited time. Publishers Weekly takes the time to remind readers that this was predicted early this year. (See Februarys blog) If you want a more personal story about why it’s so hard to work in publishing, Electric Literature has an essay on how a living wage has never been a priority in publishing.

 

After last weeks news and then backtrack on cleaning up Roald Dahl to this week examining the role of sensitivity readers. Do we really need them? Canadian reporters explore why the publishing industry is feeling alarmed. Meanwhile, well-known Canadian writer Margaret Atwood has decided that she will write her memoir after all. That’s 80 years well lived.

Anne R Allen has a great post on whether you should fictionalise your life. It’s called Autofiction if you are thinking about it.

 

It’s Bookfair time and on everyone’s lips is AI. The Author’s Guild is being proactive and having their lawyers write clauses for writers and publishers to insert into writing contracts limiting the use of AI and Machine Learning on new work. 

 

Mark Williams highlights a little snippet from Animation Magazine – They are embracing AI and using it to make short animations. This new tech promises fun times ahead. Publishers have you thought about your own IP?

 

Kris Rusch continues to look into AI audio and whether its suitable in the first instance to make their print books accessible. She delves into the contracts and hidden fees and concludes that Google is probably the best player at the moment in this space.

 

Bologna Children’s Book Fair celebrates its 60^th year and everyone is happy to be back. The big sellers at the fair…children’s mental health books. The legacy of the covid years.

 

Mattel toy company is moving into books which will be based off their IP. So if you have a hankering to ghost write Barbie fiction or Hot Wheels road trips there is a place for you in the Mattel story world.

 

Earlier in the year I linked to a news article about Adelaide books and the problems they were having. Jane Friedman has a guest post this week from a writer caught up in the mess. How Bad Publishers Hurt Authors. Yes, she checked and she checked it was not a scam… it looked legit. Even the most savvy of writers can be sucked in. 

 

Do you wake up itching to be back at the manuscript or has it become the dreaded homework. Naomi Rose writes about how you can find ways to be pulled by love not pushed by force into your writing.

 

 

In The Craft Section,

Will readers find your protagonist worthy?- Angela Ackerman

Comedic writing- Now Novel- Bookmark

Novel and script editing tips- Novel Factory

Gender neutral replacements- Kathy Steinemann- Bookmark

Writing onomatopoeia- Joe Bunting- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Best Fonts for Print- Kindlepreneur

Selling books on your website- Penny Sansevieri

The formula for more book sales – Sandra Beckwith- Boomark

To give it away or not- Kim Catanzarite-Bookmark

Unique ways to engage readers with live streaming- Shailee Shah- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

How often do you reward yourself with something creative after writing your novel. P A Cornell builds Lego sets. Then she got thinking, Lego is really like story building. Take those Lego bricks and find out the 10 things that Lego can teach you about writing.

 

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 Xavi Cabrera on Unsplash