In Publishing News this week,
The Gremlins got into my blog and sent people off on a wild goose chase looking for my post last week. I am still trying to fix it so eagle eyed readers will notice that my header has gone back to the old old Blogspot address.
If you missed last week’s post, Writing Resistance, you can check it out here. And if you are a week or so behind you can check out the 800th blog post here. Thank you to the readers who alerted me to the problem. You are the best!
As we wrap up October, National Book Month (US) The Independent Publishers Association published an article on The Copyright Alliance's website about the importance of copyright and the current moves to allow AI to erode it.
Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard highlights the success that educational publisher Pearson is having with AI and customized lesson plans. I was caught by the last line on the continued relevance of print in the classroom. I want to cling on to the printed book with two hands but the future might have other ideas.
Two trade authors who were having moderate success separately have teamed up at the request of their publishers to produce books. Publisher’s Weekly reports on the pairing and why they are now having more success as part of a team. This could be a great move or a horrible can of worms depending on their publisher support.
Scribd, almost the last of the all-you -can-eat digital subscription model, has now bowed to the inevitable and is introducing tiered pricing. The unlimited digital reading experience was great to get people into the eco system but whale readers, who read a book a day, can quickly have reading subscription services in the red. They read faster than the subscription model can make money.
Publishing Perspectives have a quick run down on the publisher’s conference in Sharjah that is happening next week. They are getting bigger every year.
Dan Holloway takes a look at the results of the Written Word Media Survey and there is a big chunk of change going into romance and fantasy authors pockets.
John Gilstrap wrote this week of an unnerving experience when an AI muscled in on his Zoom call. This surprised everyone but what happened next was cause for concern.
The Alliance of Independent authors have shone a spotlight onto contract clauses to watch out for in serialized fiction. It is useful to glance over these stories so you are familiar with contract language and what to look out for.
Jane Friedman looks at the recent moans about Print On Demand and the perceived lower quality of these books coming out from big publishers. For years the printing industry has been asking publishers to standardize their print sizes. With Print on Demand they may be getting their way at last.
Amazon is tightening up on author claims of being 'best selling' and 'award winning.' If you use these slogans in your marketing be prepared to show the evidence. Penny Sansevieri has a run down on what is happening.
It’s always interesting to drop into Maria Popova’s blog The Marginalien to explore language and all its little quirks. Recently she explored the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig and shared some beautiful words for feelings that we don’t have a name for. This is an article to savor and a book to buy the word nerd in your life.
In The Craft Section,
How to end a scene- James Scott Bell- Bookmark
How to use Goal Motivation and Conflict- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark
Why conflict drives a story- Jerry Jenkins- Bookmark
7 tips to avoid overwriting- C S Lakin- Bookmark
How to hook readers with character descriptions- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark
In The Marketing Section
5 reasons to consider translating- Angela Ackerman
Best communities for marketing- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark
The ultimate book cover reveal – Sandra Beckwith-Bookmark
ISBN’s made easy- Comprehensive article – N.B. ISBN’s are free in NZ
9 Key reasons why your book is not selling.- Laurence O’Bryan
To Finish
If you haven’t discovered Canva yet and yes there are some authors who haven’t. Check out this powerful friendly design site. There are heaps of templates for marketing as well as Book Cover designs, banners, Ads, Video’s Reels etc. Canva is free and it also has a paid tier. The free tier can give you pretty much everything. Author, Jeevani Charika has a YouTube channel to help authors get the most out of Canva. Canva has just dropped a whole lot of new features. Jeevani shows you how you can use them.
Maureen
@craicer
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Pic Photo by Nikola Tasic on Unsplash
