Help In Publishing Land.

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

Good News for libraries in the United States of America this week, the appeal against the defunding of the Institute of Museum and Library Services was withdrawn. Librarians may still have jobs. Libraries may stay open, life might get back to normal in schools and institutions across the country. However, while librarians and their supporters were celebrating a watchdog agency was noting that far right book banning groups are using AI to scan books for detailed take down notices to libraries and schools. It’s a case of constant vigilance!

 

Publishers Weekly published an Op Ed Politicians should not be choosing what our children read. Danny Caine points out that this is the same argument used by both sides but the government is about to do just that with a new law being introduced in the US House of Representatives this week for debate.

 

Reuters reported that the Judge in the Bartz vs Anthropic case has frowned upon the $300 million fee to lawyers administering the settlement. And to general cheering by everyone the lawyers have agreed to reduce the fee substantially. They still pocket a lot though. 

 

I was interested to see in the Around The Book World news roundup from Publishing Perspectives about a Japanese Manga publisher beginning to publish weekly episodes of their novels in nine languages. They also want to move into publishing their novels in English. At the recent London Book Fair there was handwringing from publishers about the rise of other countries publishing their books in English instead of going through English publishers. If we can AI translate into another language, so can they. In the end it will be the marketing of these books that will make the financial difference to the publisher bottom line.

 

Next week – all eyes will be on BookCon in New York. Will it be successful? Will America finally get a national book fair again? 2 days, 250 exhibitors. Publishers Weekly wants to predict smiles all round.

 

At the same time as BookCon, Bologna Children’s Book fair will be celebrating 63 years of existence with the guest of honour- Norway. (It could have been us except our NZ politicians dropped the ball and own goaled to the derision of the children’s book community in NZ, but we don’t hold a grudge. *CoughNovemberelectionCough*) The fair is chock full of events celebrating and discussing children’s literature and literacy and what to do about AI. 

 

Last week I mentioned Harlequin partnering with an AI studio to produce microdramas. LitHub published an essay from Maris Kreizman Dear Harlequin: Nobody Asked For Your Weird New AI Video ‘Microdramas’. Maris doesn’t hold back. She mentions all the things they should be doing. Ouch! 

Mark Williams takes a different view of the news. He points out that microdramas are an $11 Billion market in Asia. Romance is just the first genre to embrace it. Genre publishers will be looking and wondering if it is a goldmine for them. 

 

Ossandra White has a thoughtful essay on what might be stopping you from creating. She runs through the usual physical discomfits and then into mental mindsets.

 

Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone was a sentence that resonated with me in the Writer Unboxed essay from Allison Winn Scotch. Five Things I Didn’t Know About Publishing Five Years Ago. Tackling a scary project could be just what you need to grow as a writer.

 

Dan Blank has a great essay on how to talk about your writing. We’ve all been there. That moment when someone asks you Have you written anything I’ve read? Aside from the clueless question- how would I know what you read… you demur and fail to mention anything you have written. Dan has some tips to turn the conversation around.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to keep the flow with Dialogue tags- Ellen Buikema

Writing Book 2- Ines Johnson- Bookmark

Seven common story problems- Collen Story- Bookmark

Internal Conflict vs External conflict- K M Weiland- Bookmark!

What Noir can teach any writer- Ruth Knafo Setton- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

Author Photos- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

How to read your story aloud to an audience- Lynette Burrows

Plan your Marketing Quarter- Ines Johnson-Bookmark!

Substack as a marketing tool- Podcast and transcript Orna Ross- Bookmark

Crafting marketing emails- Pine State Publicity

 

To Finish,

Mark Lefebvre wrote recently about a question from a newbie writer asking for anyplace that had non-judgmental instructional resources for new writers who are worried that they were going about publishing all wrong. 

This is a fast changing behemoth business and anyone trying to dip a toe in the water of publishing is bound to flail in the water while learning not to drown. 

Mark kindly points them in the right directions from his vast experience of doing practically every job in publishing. You Don’t Have To Figure This Out On Your Own. This is a pin on the wall post to use when you get a plaintive wail from a newbie writer. ‘But what do I do?’ Answer: You read this post from Mark LeFebvre and maybe check out Maureen Crisp’s Craicer blog. *SMILE*

 

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.

 

Photo by Jude Mack on Unsplash

Is AI Text Destroying Our Characters Humanity?

 

In Publishing News This Week

 

The end of March saw the closing date for authors to claim compensation from Anthropic in the Bartz vs Anthropic class action. However, this doesn’t mean that Anthropic is off the hook. This week the Association of American Publishers, along with the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical publishers joined a class action taken by the Concord Music Group publishers. Yes, song lyrics were ripped off as well as scientific, technical, and medical information. So Anthropic might have to delve into their $300 billion wallet and find some loose change.

Over on Lit Hub, Mary Childs has an article on feeling left out of the Bartz claim…her book was in the original theft, how come It wasn’t chosen to be in the compensation?

 

The Guardian reports that Penguin Random House is taking Open AI to court because their Chat GPT bot plagiarized their German children’s book. This court case is being taken in Europe. This is a specific case involving a chat bot. The case is compelling and Open Ai don’t really have a leg to stand on here.

 

Are animated micro dramas the next big thing? Harlequin thinks so. They have partnered with Dashverse, an AI entertainment company, to produce animated micro dramas inspired by their romance titles. They have a huge back list to mine if the first forty animations do well. 

 

Publishers Weekly interviewed agents and publishers about the Shy Girl controversy which I reported on last week. There was skepticism about Hachette’s claims that they didn’t know anything about the problem before it was brought to their attention. 

There are some telling comments about the disparity of power between what publishers demand of authors and what use of AI they make themselves. 

Mark Williams has been looking at the audiobook industry and finding the gaps that publishers are missing. Mark is a teacher in The Gambia, one of the poorest nations on Earth and he shares insights into a world where everyone has a smart phone but not a book or a credit card. There is a distribution model ripe for disruption. A fascinating article.

 

Jane Friedman has a great article about how the Bookstore Market has changed and what publishers should be doing to support them. The article is based on the recent Book Industry Study Group candid discussions at their recent event. If you know a bookseller pass it on. (I will be) Jane also has some author takeaways to think about.

 

Joanna Penn recently interviewed Anne Lamott and her husband Neal Allen on their new book Good Writing. Many writers will know Anne Lamotts book Bird by Bird which is one of those books on writing that every writer should read. Anne and Neal’s new book for writers is on crafting sentences. Read the transcript or listen to the interview it is fascinating.

This month Richard Charkin is reflecting on those strategy retreats that he attended when he was a publishing CEO and how quickly the high ideas and plans fell by the wayside to corporate bottom lines. This year will the strategy retreats focus on AI and will they change anything in publishing land?

 

Sara Hildeth writes this week about the rise of AI text generated newsletters. Her response is to question why writers would even bother to use an AI to generate text. The act of writing demands so much more from the writer. This is a thought provoking article on what it means to be a writer.

 

Written Word Media has an interesting deep dive article into what moves the needle as you go from Author to Authorpreneur. The transition to a business takes a different mindset and a willingness to look at marketing strategies.

 

Donald Maass has an interesting article on the writers toolbox of questions to make your characters and plot stronger. The important takeaway here is you can read loads of craft books but do you put the ideas into practice?

 

Mark Leslie Lefebvre is also looking at characters this week, specifically how your characters look at the world differently. Are you thinking about your characters world view and how they move through your story? 

In The Craft Section,

15 actionable tips for writing deep characters- Joanna Penn- BOOKMARK

Ego driven vs Soul driven character arcs- K M Weiland – Bookmark

Using contradiction to create micro tension- C S Lakin

How does fear play into Character arcs- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Types of backstory – Gabriela Pereira

 

In The Marketing Section,

How to beat your newsletter competition- Jane Friedman- Bookmark

How to build a powerful email list- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

AI systems can rescue you from difficult marketing tasks- R J Redden

Marketing myths – Rachel Thompson- Bookmark!

Amazon A content can upgrade your sales page- Penny Sansevieri

 

To Finish

Recently Tessa Barbosa wrote an interesting article on Writer Unboxed about the value of craft in the art of writing. “Creativity is a practice, just like meditation. It is about noticing things, making connections and asking questions." 

An AI can’t replicate your voice or point of view. Go out there and be human!

 

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 Emilipothèse on Unsplash