Finding Our Way

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

Publishers Weekly has an interesting article on Booksellers in Minneapolis and how their visibility in the recent protests have affected their sales. The picture of a 70 year old bookseller standing in clouds of teargas went viral. For my American readers – the world is watching and appalled on your behalf at what is happening in your cities by your own government. 

 

In happier news, The Babysitters Club is 40 years old and Scholastic are celebrating with new projects. It is amazing how this series kept going, girls, and clubs a winning combination. Meanwhilie, the American Library Association celebrated their Carnegie and Newbury medal winners today.

 

Bologna Children’s Book Fair has a sizable exhibition section devoted to the illustrators and every year they host a competition of submitted work from illustrators. Thousands enter but only 75 get honoured at the children’s book fair. Looking down the list- only one from the Southern hemisphere and one each from USA and UK. 

 

Mark Williams reports on Amazon coding changes that were rolled out slowly in 2025. A10 is now fully implemented across the ecosystem and Mark explains how this has changed the way books are ranked and hopefully cut off the AI book surge.

 

Dale Evans reports that Ingram Spark is dropping the Update fee from February 1^st. When Ingram first started Print on Demand publishing it used to cost to upload a title and then a further cost to update it. With all the Print on Demand competition they dropped the upload fee a few years ago and now the update fee is no more. Expect a wait as thousands of authors take the opportunity to refresh their books in the first half of this year. 

 

Selling Direct was the catch phrase in 2025 and everybody seemed to be experimenting with different online shops. Just coming to the party are publishers who have caught on to the benefits of knowing who might be buying their books. The Independent Publishers Group has partnered with Norwegian Beat Technology to offer sales platforms to their members. 

 

Joanna Penn recently interviewed Adam Beswick on his selling direct adventures with live streaming on TikTok. As I read through the transcript I was constantly marveling at how bookselling is changing. If you want a glimpse of the future check out what Adam is doing. Mind blowing stuff for 2026.

 

Written Word Media have a comprehensive article on author trends for 2026. They start off with the statement Trust is the new currency. This is one of those articles that you need to read without distractions. There is a lot to think about.

 

Jenny Hansen has an interesting article on Writers In The Storm on writing goals and how they suffer in January. You start the year with great intentions then flail around after a few weeks doubting yourself. Writing Goals: Going From Aargh to Aha! 

 

Kristin Hacken South writes on Writer Unboxed about the dilemma of the writer. Who Are You? This is not a navel gazing exercise in what type of writer you are, it is a look at the profound understanding of choosing the identity of writer. 

 

In The Craft Section,

How to craft accurate fight scenes- Dr Alex Jemetta

Writing without trying to manage the reader- Excellent essay -Harper Ross

Character Journey as Structure- Lisa Poisso- Bookmark

5 ways to hide your villain- Jill Boehme- Bookmark

Writing for change- Nina Amir- Excellent 

 

In the Marketing Section,

The author formula workbook- Book Review- Sandra Beckwith

2 great posts from Penny Sansevieri-9 Proven strategies for Amazon sales and

What drives success- Bookmark

Substack made simple- Rachel Thompson

Planning a branding focus- Ines Johnson- Bookmark

 

To Finish

 

Katie Weiland is not afraid to go deep into the writer’s psyche and study how we think and express ourselves. As we start a new year there are challenges in the world that have us feeling unsure and unsettled about our place as writers and how our work is influenced by the events around us. Her essay on Why Writers Need A Sense of Wonder in Fiction More Than Ever speaks to the unease many of us are feeling. Our own lives can be seen in the context of stories. It is a great essay, and I hope you will read it. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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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.

 

pic Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Trying To Stay Sane for 2026

 

 

And we are back for another year of looking at news, trends, and tips on navigating the publishing world. 

Because I live in the Southern Hemisphere, we also have Summer, schools out, and Christmas and New Year all squashed together in one month of eating, celebrating, and broken new year’s resolutions. But the publishing world continues without noticing we are gone, so the first blogs in January are What Did We Miss.

 

Publishers Weekly reported that publishers are getting together to join a class action against Google. Yes, they too copied the Anthropic playbook and now a court case is looming on the horizon.

 

Spotify having made a substantial inroad into Audibles market share on audio books is looking to expand into video and to sweeten the pot it is going to be super easy to get eyeballs and ears on audio books. Meanwhile, Audible is doing the same according to Publishing Perspectives. The video wars on audio books are about to start.

 

If you are using YouTube for audio books you might like to check out the new trend on BookTok, ambient video for your books. You could upload a video of a cozy fire in a library as the visuals for your audio book experience. This could help with lots of sales if you upload the video to Spotify and Audible.

In AI news – HarperCollins France has decided to embrace AI translation much to the annoyance of translators. Publishing Perspectives reports on The Future of Translation: AI and The Greater Good.

 

Dave Malone has an interesting post on what labeling could look like as a way to distinguish works with AI use in it. He has some clear examples of types of labels which could be used on creative work. (It looks a little like a nutrition label, but the concept is worthy.)

Steph Pajonas has an interesting post on AI resistance being a problem for your ego. Are you letting your ego get in the way of using this tool?

 

Mark Williams keeps his eye on the publishing in the rest of the world, and he has some interesting things to report on the new darling of the Frankfurt Book Fair- India.

With their Gen Z numbers bigger than the population of the United States this is a potential publishing market that has been ignored for too long. The New Delhi Book fair is aiming for over 2 million visitors. If your country has just signed a free trade deal (NZ) this could be a great opportunity for publishing expansion.

 

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has seen the future in kids literature and it is Manga. They have embraced the Manga storytelling style and are teaching their kids to create this using their own stories.

 

Big Bad Wolf is back in Indonesia. BBW takes English language books that would be pulped otherwise and sells it in huge sales that last a week and are round the clock. Children’s books are in high demand. The numbers are astonishing. (A nice little earner for the publishers who write off their books, officially.)

 

Every January, the list of books, songs and films coming into the public domain gets attention. This is for specific books or characters. So thriller authors if you want to do your own versions of The Saint or Miss Marple or the Maltese Falcon you are in luck. Check out the list. There might be a pot of author gold waiting for you.

 

If you are thinking about the coming year and what might be the dominant themes check out Joanna Penn’s predictions for publishing in 2026. She is a publishing futurist and is often ahead of the trends.

Meanwhile, Erin Niumata has an interesting post on selecting a word of the year as your guiding star for decisions in your author life.

In the Craft Section,

How to use character tropes without the cliches- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

3 Unforgettable Scenes- James Scott Bell

Summing up your story in 2 sentences- P J Parrish- Bookmark

The sentence and the story; a fable- Donald Maass

When to reveal story stakes- K M Weiland- Bookmark

 

In the Marketing Section,

Tips to overcome video shyness- Amy Rogers Nazarov- Bookmark

2026- the year to stop being invisible- Jaime Buckley

The pitch- a writing selling point- Ellen Buikema- Bookmark

Facebook ads for authors – video teaching by David Gaughran- Bookmark

5 social media metrics that matter- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

As we look to start another calendar year of writing and publishing organizing ourselves into productive habits become the most pressing things to conquer in January. In the Southern Hemisphere it is right up there with getting the kids back to school after the so called Summer holiday. (It’s torrential rain here- Climate Change is biting.) If the thought of planning a year full of writing activities daunts you, check out this excellent post from Alexa Bigwharfe on a way to plan your writing goals and keep you moderately sane for 2026.

 

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.

 

Pic Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash