The Rumours Are True

 

 

In Publishing News this week....

Earlier in the year I wrote of a rumour that TikTok would start a shop…and now they have. They aren’t selling books in it yet… but publishers will be wondering when. An important side note though, with the ownership of the TikTok site being controversial, many states and countries are looking at ways to limit its influence. If you build a business only on TikTok it could disappear overnight. Mark Williams points out that English Language publishers could be heading for a disaster here.

 

Big Bad Wolf is back. For new readers BBW is an outfit that buys up remaindered English language books from publishers and sells them in huge 24/7 book sales in Asia and Indonesia. The numbers are eye watering… and show that there is a huge market for these books in other countries. (Not to mention, a quick way to get a fast buck without the author getting a slice of the sale.)

 

Do you remember the HarperCollins strike from earlier in the year? (BTW the TV/Film writer’s strike is still ongoing.) It may have been resolved but HarperCollins seems to have mislaid payment of some outstanding bills to content writers. Lawsuits about to start.

 

In welcome news the USA Today Bestsellers list is back after its hiatus. The USA Today list is only judged on book sales across many outlets so often gives a truer picture of what is selling compared to other lists where list placement can bought.

 

Children’s writers were thoroughly approving when Michael Rosen was awarded the Pen Pinter prize "for the ability to address the serious matters of life in a spirit of joy, humour, and hope." 

 

I can already tell that Kris Rusch’s new series on niche marketing is going to be another epic series. This week she talks about multiple newsletters and why they are a good idea.

 

Recently I have seen questions from writers who have been diagnosed with ADHD about how they can manage the diagnosis and also write effectively. This article recently published in an online journal might shed some light. Other ADHD writers find that writing sprints work very well for getting the words down.

 

Writer’s Digest has a spotlight on Sacha Black – Sacha besides writing lots of books, also runs the Rebel Author podcast and has a popular series of writing craft books. It’s a great interview.

 

Writers In The Storm have an article from Karen DeBonis on What I didn’t expect after publishing my book? Post publishing depression is a real thing.

 

Insecure Writers Support Group have an interesting post on archetypes- using Christopher Vogler’s Writers journey book for inspiration.

 

Have you thought about using onomatopoeia in your stories? This article looks at how words like rattle and screech add life to your writing. 

 

 

In The Craft Section,

What does you character want-K M Weiland- Bookmark

Using Story Structure to your advantage- Janice Hardy – Bookmark

How to determine your books timespan- C S Lakin- Bookmark

Positive traits can have drawbacks- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Save the cat beat sheet- Kindlepreneur- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

How to write a book proposal- Reedsy – Bookmark

How to Quick Pitch your book- Ruth Harris- Bookmark

Adding direct sales to your website – Written Word Media- Bookmark

What can be author swag – Bookmark

7 tips to boost your Author homepage- Camilla Monk-Bookmark

 

To Finish,

I came across this article from Colleen Story on 5 ways writers are like aliens from outer space. How dare she expose us. Yes, the truth is out there. We have been discovered. Luckily, all is not lost. Our eccentric ways are fully justified if we call ourselves writers. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It's nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links and other interesting extras you can subscribe here to join our happy band.

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 Albert Antony on Unsplash

As The World Turns

In Publishing News this week,

 

Last week I wrote that Storytel is partnering with Eleven Labs, an AI audio specialist for audiobook dubbing in different languages. This week Goodereader has an interesting article on Eleven labs and just what they are capable of- including voice cloning. You give them a sample of your voice, they clone it and then your voice clone reads the audiobook. I had a play with their regular AI voices and it’s amazing.

So if you clone your voice is it still really you or an AI? The benefits are no more voice strain when you are recording your books- also no more studio fees or production costs.

 

For the first time since 2019, Beijing has held their International Bookfair. Attendance was good and there were over 2500 exhibitors.

 

Pundits are still talking about Elizabeth Gilbert’s decision to pull her book because of Ukrainian backlash. Is it a publicity stunt or a genuine reason. Is it all politics?

 

Publishing Perspectives has an article by Richard Charkin on the megatrends in international marketing. He asked Chatgpt for help and then he corrected the resulting article.

 

Publishers Weekly takes a deep dive into the shifting Middle Grade market. Once it held up the book sales stats but lately it’s been falling. How can writers stay relevant in this important market.

 

Darcy Pattison has a great article on getting photo permissions. There are different levels of copyrights with photos so do your homework if you are using them in your work.

 

Draft2Digital has an interesting article on how to stay productive and using time management skills to keep your writing on track.

 

Do you need an author assistant? What do they do? If you have wondered whether you need to get help in your author business, this article is for you.

 

Colleen Story has a great article on the 5 things a writer can’t control- This is a good pointer for what to let go of for your mental health.

 

Sue Coletta has written about how she parted ways with her Traditional publisher and why. This is a story I have heard from other authors. It starts off well and then production values drop, editors stop editing and then the relationship fails.

 

Kris Rusch has a new series looking at niche marketing. Do you know your niche market? (Do you know how to pronounce the word niche properly?*) Many writers are still following old publishing ways of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. Sometimes a smaller focussed approach is better. 

 

Tiffany Yates Martin explores whether writing in deep 3^rd person is actually a point of view or just really layered writing. Do you even know when you are writing in it?

 

In The Craft Section,

Using crisis to reveal character- September Fawkes- Bookmark

How good is your writing-Allison Williams- Bookmark

How to hurt your characters- Liz Generally

Coming up with the perfect character name- Emmanuel Natif

How you can be a better author with the snowflake method- Written Word Media- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

How to talk publicly about writing- James Preston- Bookmark

Do pre orders affect release day sales?- Jackie Karneth

Using blogger book reviews- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Creative ideas for book events- Penny Sansevieri

How authors can use Bookfunnel- Joanna Penn Interview with Damon Courtney- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

The Winter/Summer Solstice is this week and many traditions use this time to reflect and plan or celebrate the turning of the seasons. If you want to give yourself a gift over Solstice check out these two amazing bundles of writing craft goodies.

The Info Stack of writing resources has a super abundance of high quality courses with lifetime access’, books, K-lytics reports etc for a one time fee of $49-Limited time only.

 

The Storybundle of writing craft books, available for two weeks with a great selection of books on writing, productivity, short stories… curated by Kris Rusch. These bundles are always great value.

 

Happy Solstice.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

If you want the best of my bookmarked links in a monthly newsletter you can subscribe here to join our happy band.

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 Selvan B on Unsplash

 

(* There are two different ways to say it depending on where you come from.)