Counting The Cost

 

In Publishing News This Week,

 

The publishing world was rocked by the death of Porter Anderson. Porter was a long time commentator and publishing news journalist. I shared many of his articles on the blog over the last decade. He was a kind and generous man who will be missed. I still grin when I see the words The Industry. Porter coined this tongue in cheek phrase, “the industry, the industry,” when reporting on the impact of another merger of publishers or publishing shaking event. RIP Porter.

 

Publishers Weekly reports the deep dissatisfaction with the new owners of Edelweiss, the ARC copy review site and sales database. Prices have gone up sharply. Being in this catalogue was essential for small publishers but now they are being priced out.

Metadata. It’s important. And many people in publishing do not understand it. It is the difference between finding your book in an online catalogue where it is supposed to be or the book disappearing completely. Darcy Pattison has an informative post on metadata.

 

Bloomsbury has partnered with AI reports Publishers Weekly. If you sucked in your breath at that headline, you are not alone. However, they are using AI technology for discovery and engagement. Not for writing. Only for learning outcomes in their academic division. Really. 

 

Anne Trubek has an interesting article on Will AI Written Books Destroy Publishing. She lays out where AI and the publishing contract language of indemnity diverge. This is a soothing post for most writers worried that AI written books will replace them.  

 

Mark Williams has an interesting post on the music industry and how the music publishers are using leverage with the AI companies to get favourable terms. This is something that the publishing companies are trying to do. With the recent court case judgement of training AI’s coming under fair use if you buy a copy, publishers might have missed a trick with licensing.  

 

Written Word Media have published the results of their annual survey of writers. One of the interesting ways they present this data it what each finding means for the author reading the survey.

 

Richard Charkin has an interesting column on the measurement trap and how what you measure in publishing gets in the way of why you are measuring. Is the industry failing to understand the basics of good publishing judgement? 

 

Agent Richard Curtis has a guest post on Jane Friedman’s blog about the Importance of Print and why it never died. Print might still be alive but some formats of it are shrinking fast. 

 

Jenn Windrow has an excellent post on making your writing sparkle. She see’s developmental editing like a Christmas Tree. Has it got a good structure? What about the sparkle?

 

 

In The Craft Section,

The case for shrinking your novel- Amy Bernstein- Bookmark

Keeping score- Donald Maass- Bookmark

Four moments you should hold the conflict- Becca Puglisi

The most powerful writing tip- Sue Coletta- Bookmark

Naming your book- Penny Sansevieri

 

In The Marketing Section

Can Facebook ads sell books- Randi Minetor- Bookmark

Understanding IngramSparks title processing

Amazon royalties explained- Dale Roberts - Bookmark

Long term author career- Podcast with Joanna Penn and Jennifer Probst – Interesting

The Taylor Swift Newsletter strategy- Katrina God- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

The last month of the calendar year and everyone is thinking I haven’t met my goals.

If that is you, cut yourself some slack. Are you further ahead on your writing journey than the start of the year? If you need some concrete help in goal setting check out this article from the SPA Girls. They are fantastic and one of my go to podcasts.

As it’s December, there will be lists of writer gifts out there. Katie Weiland has 12 days of writing gifts to get for yourself or a friend. Treat Yourself.

 

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 free Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

 Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

Understanding The Rules

In Publishing News this week

 

In the continuing saga of Baker and Taylor distributors, the physical warehouse and staff have found a buyer. Riding to the rescue is Lakeside Book Company who have snapped up their warehouse, employees, and print on demand service. 

 

Publishing Perspectives highlights the news that Tennessee is demanding libraries comply with a directive on age appropriate books- or gender politics by another name. This has widespread condemnation with PEN America among many organisations crying political interference in library management and reading.

 

The suspension of books with AI covers from New Zealand’s prestigious national book awards was reported around the world. The online discussions ranged from it shouldn’t be about the cover to we must draw a line in the sand, and this will strengthen the argument for other book awards. One of the issues raised was the time a book is in production. If you change the rules unexpectedly instead of gradually everyone has time to prepare. 

This morning the Book Awards Trust released the new rules for the New Zealand Children and Young Adults Book Awards. There is a clear clause on AI.

“ 11. Works containing AI-authored text, in part or in whole, are not eligible for entry in any category of the awards. Use of AI for research and minor editorial or formatting support is permitted. Submitters should clarify any queries they have with the awards administrator before entering. If, after submission, a work is found to include ineligible AI-generated text, it will be disallowed. Entry fees will not be refunded and submitted materials will not be returned.

Note: Ahead of the 2027 awards, the awards organisers are consulting with the children’s book sector, including with illustrators and designers, to provide clarity around the use of AI for illustrations. Potential submitters who are currently working on books that will publish during the eligibility period for the 2027 awards (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027) should bear in mind the potential for restrictions on its use for illustrations.”

Their gradual introduction of rules for illustration and AI use gives everyone who already have books in production a grace period. 

 

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators recently held a webinar on the state of the industry. Gone are the months where children’s books propped up publishers. In this brave new world SCBWI believe it’s time to make everything fresh again.

 

Tanzania has a publishing problem, reports Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard. With all the English language books flooding into the country, reading in their native language is on the decline. What to do? 

 

Elle Magazine has an interesting article on the celebrity culture of using ghost writers. The quality of your ghost writer collaborator is now the hot thing. Can you get a Pulitzer Prize writer to ghost write your book?

 

Written Word Media has a comprehensive article on the latest AI scams for writers. Sigh.

Meanwhile, in another twist Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware reports that scammers are impersonating famous writers, calling you up to sell the dream.

Let’s be careful out there. Please pass this knowledge on to newbies. It doesn’t hurt to ring the company and ask if their email is genuine but do your own google search and website contact. I know of one local writer who did this and exposed a whole scam operation from a hacked financial account.

 

Chelle Honiker of Author Automations has an interesting article on using AI to streamline all her office jobs. 

Jenny Hansen also shows how you can use AI in 8 cool non writing ways to protect your work- which means not sharing it in the first place. (Yes you can turn off sharing in AI.)

AI is a tool, you can use it as such for proofreading but the accepted practice is don’t use it for creativity. AI does not have the human experience or voice.

 

Rachel Thompson has a brilliant post on repurposing content. Have you got an article or notes filed away that you can repurpose for social media, website articles or into different bite size notes? Rachel shows you how to do more with your work.

 

Kobo Writing Life has an interesting article on the three technical skills writers need to develop. This is a good advice. Are you learning your craft? Do you keep learning? Do you reread your writing craft books? This is also the last week for the Storybundle of writing craft books. Don’t miss out.

 

In The Craft Section,

Creating subtext in deep POV- Lisa Hall-Wilson- Bookmark

Edit your book as if it’s a screenplay- Lesley Krueger

Memoir examples- Reedsy

Ethical and moral dilemmas in crime fiction- Chris Berg and Paul James Smith- Bookmark

Is your character the true antagonist- September Fawkes- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

The importance of your author website- Kobo-Bookmark

The power of the free prequel- Harshini Fernando- Bookmark

Amazon Metadata mistakes- Bookbaby

The 100 rejections challenge-Libby James-Bookmark

Ebook Distribution Deep Dive – Reedsy - Interesting

 

To Finish

As we move into the last month of the year it's gift giving season with Black Friday deals, Cyber Monday deals and then Christmas. Sandra Beckwith is first off the rank with a collection of writer gifts that you might like people to buy for you. The best gift to give a writer is reviews, book sales, a coffee, and then maybe trawl the list for something they really need.

 

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 free Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Photo by Jonny Gios on Unsplash