In Publishing News this week...
Another year, another big publisher on the sales block. This time it's Hachette. But there are differences. Their parent company is dividing the group into four and putting each group on the share market. Publishing by stock market dividends. I can’t see any problems with that model. Can you?
The director of The London Book Fair revealed he didn’t know much about the Global Book Business when he declared London was the first Bookfair of 2024. It isn’t and it’s not even the biggest. Mark Williams does a run down of the figures to educate the LBF director.
Publishing Perspectives are still filling their news pages with the International Publishing Association conference in Mexico. It’s getting bigger and with more star power- They have a top UN speaker and will be devoting a big chunk of programming to Climate Change issues.
Publishers Weekly sat down with some top Children’s editors and agents and asked what the themes of 2024 were. Hands up Romantasy. Manga is still looking good. Everybody is still waiting for the next Harry Potter (holy grail) book. Many have tried and failed. Perhaps HP is the last of the ‘once in a generation books.’
LitHub recently published an article by a New Zealand writer about what it’s like to have a successful story and then get told to Americanize it, when the publishers bought it because it was so edgy and cool. Who knew other cultures had their own versions of the English language? Can readers not understand different English words? SIGH.
Ricardo Fayet of Reedsy has an article explain the new changes to email which are rolling out this month. If you have a mailing list you will need to take note of the new requirements.
Kathy Steinemann has a great article on how to spot publishing scammers and fakes. Everybody should read this- even if you think you are very good at spotting them. Then head over to Writer Beware and take a look at the latest scams out there, like a cloned version of Macmillan Publishers.
Jane Friedman has a great guest article by Claire McKinney on why you need a press release and how to write one. This is a print out and stick on the wall post for marketing purposes.
The first rule of Write Club… Cathy Yardley has a super post on getting into the thick of writing, digging deep and channeling the things that speak to your passions then pouring them out on the page. And don’t forget about the last rule of Write Club…
Sue Coletta has a great post about how to write a dance scene. Like fight scenes they need some choreography and attention to surrounding detail.
How do you know when you have too much dialogue? And is it a bad thing? What about when the dialogue is authentic? Can’t you keep it? Anne R Allen has an excellent article on how to spot overuse, over authenticity and chatter going nowhere.
In The Craft Section,
Scene Structure Basics - Lewis Jorstad- Bookmark
Vision board for writers- Sarah Rexford
All you need for characters- Writers helping writers- Bookmark
Increasing the emotional impact of your story- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark
What is overwriting and tips to avoid it- Edie Melson
In The Marketing Section,
Writing the perfect synopsis- Randy Ingermanson- Bookmark
Creative Indies resource page- Bookmark
March Promotion opportunities-Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark
How to promote your book- Reedsy
3 creative ways to use your book2read account- Draft2Digital
To Finish,
As a teacher, I’m always interested in ways to get kids reading and unlocking the power of story. In Ohio a couple of schools have invested in Book Vending machines which are being used as rewards for good behaviour. The lucky kids get tokens to spend in the machine. Of course, you could see all the ways this could be problematic but still anything that gets kids holding books must be a good thing.
Maureen
@craicer
Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? You can subscribe here to join our happy band.
If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.
If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.
Pic Photo by Streetwindy on Unsplash
