Smart Ideas

In Publishing News this week,

One of the flow on effects in the Straits of Hormuz crisis is the slow down in the global supply chain. We have been here before, when a globally important canal was blocked. Suddenly everything is in short supply including books. They are stuck on a freight ship under fire in the Straits of Hormuz. Publishers Weekly looks at the rising costs due to this war.

 

Over the last week there has been comment over the Shy Girl book being pulled by Hachette just as it was being prepared for publication in the US. That’s a lot of pulped books as it was already on sale in the UK. The reason for the pulling- the book didn’t pass the sniff test for AI use. If so, why was it acquired in the first place? The author claims an editor must have used AI. Hachette didn’t notice anything until a New York Times article from another writer pointed it out and then they cancelled the book immediately. Mark Williams looks at the contract clause invoked and the problems this might create for authors in the future. 

 

Publishing Perspectives writes in their news roundup about Germany launching a credit card sized book token with a link to an audio book similar to the Tonies character player for children. Publishing Perspectives went on to say that Tonies has almost a 50% take up in target families in Europe.

Over the many years writing this blog the idea of physically owning your digital books has never gone away. Reading books on devices and subscription is not owning the book. You buy a license to read it on your device, kindle, smartphone, tablet or computer. This is true for audio books as well. Various companies have started with great intentions and then have gone quiet after trying to get traction from publishing companies to make bookcover trading cards with a download link combining the idea of convenience and physical ownership. If adults can buy Tonie character stories for their kids, is there a market for their favourite characters with audiobook or eBook links? 

 

Sweden recently had its Book Industry day and Publishing Perspectives covered the discussions. Amongst the applause at rising print book sales and the huge growth in audio, a new bookseller commented on Bookshops as social spaces. 

This idea has been on my mind for a while. The Bookshop as a curated experience. 

Savvy independent booksellers are embracing the idea of Bookshops as Destinations, offering experiences that enhance the readers enjoyment, Book club nights, author talks, panel discussions, book launches, themed membership nights. The Bookshop is the new literary salon. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that atmosphere?

 

Publishers Weekly writes about the Substack-ified books that used to make the literary community ill. Authors were doing deals with Substack to serialise books back when Substack was new. A decade on and publishers are now realizing that the literary creator economy is over on Substack and they had better factor it in now that there are no longer glossy magazines to publish stories in.

 

The nightmare of having your social media or publishing accounts suspended can be paralysing to an author. Becca Syme writes about how to deal with the calamity and offers helpful advice based on how other authors came through the experience.

 

Jane Friedman has written the comprehensive post on AI and Publishing. This is an FAQ article that will be updated constantly. In the meantime, Jane has hit every major AI question with comprehensive answers.

 

Writing retreats and why they are a good idea, Harper Ross writes about how you can organize one for yourself. If you are lucky enough to get away and go write somewhere with like minded people you will already know this is golden time. 

 

Mark Leslie Lefebvre writes in praise of PLR. If you are lucky enough to live in a country that has the Library Public Lending Right – don’t take it for granted. There are plenty of authors who would like the chance to enjoy what you have. In the meantime, support your local library. I know a thriller writer who has all her book launches in the local library and they are highly anticipated affairs.

 

Katie Weiland has a thought provoking post on embodied writing or emotionally resonant writing. She writes “Embodied writing is an intentional return to that lived reality as the wellspring for fiction.’ This is an article that will keep you thinking for the rest of the week.

 

In The Craft Section,

Amplifying tension- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Journey of a romantic novel- Lucy Hay-Bookmark

Finding the heart of a story- Heather Webb- Bookmark

How to create a consistent Story Tone -K M Weiland- Bookmark

Focus on finishing- Joseph Lallo- Great Advice

 

In The Marketing Section,

Weak promotion dooms good books- Josh Bernoff

Are you overlooking potential readers- Kathy Steinemann- Bookmark

Author visibility- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

You don’t need 10000 followers- Dan Blank

How to succeed at live events- Russel Nohelty- Bookmark

 

To Finish

You might have noticed the little rocket that I use as part of the Craicer branding. I write science fiction for kids so I let myself geek out a little on space things. This means that I read Andy Weirs books when they came out and watch the movies countless times. Project Hail Mary is a great story and all the scientists agree that it translated over to film pretty well. It deserves every success. Andy’s story is well known to the hard sci fi nerds amongst us. Tasmina Perry has an article on what we can all learn from Andy’s stories. Make your readers feel like smart problem solvers, they will love you for it.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Readers- The New Superheros.

 In Publishing News This Week

I am back at my desk after three weeks away and looking through the news to see what I have missed. It is all London Book Fair with side issues of AI and ways to prove human authentication on your books. 

 

While I was away, I scheduled three articles on Copyright, Literary Estates, and Artificial Intelligence to appear on my blog. Thanks to readers who shared them with others. If you missed them and want to catch up, I wrote about 

What Copyright means and what it is worth.

Why you need to understand your Literary Estate.

How Artificial Intelligence can be used ethically.

Looking over the meaty topics discussed at the London Book Fair my articles reflect some of the discussions, which is gratifying.

 

One of the meaty topics discussed at LBF was Joanna Prior’s keynote speech. Joanna is chair of the UK Literacy Trust as well as being CEO of Pan Macmillan and her speech was an admonishment that the publishing industry is focusing on the wrong crisis. “The decline of reading is a greater challenge to our industry than AI could ever be.” Her speech highlighted the challenges we all face to keep our readers. 

 

Two great London Book Fair overview posts were from Tasmina Perry and Deborah Maclaren. Tasmina wrote about the publishing trends she saw at the LBF, short books are in. Deborah had a more considered overview on the big topics that were discussed, preparing for the next generation of readers. Both these articles highlight the need for publishers to be engaged with their readers.

 

Beside the keynote speeches, a protest book was published by 10,000 authors. Don’t Steal This Book was a direct response to the UK governments plan to allow AI companies to train AI models on copyrighted work without compensation.

 

Jane Friedman writes about her concern that author societies that are sponsoring certification models highlighting human authored books may be missing the point. What use is a sticker on the book if you can’t prove and AI was not involved in writing it?

 

Meanwhile, over in The Gambia Mark Williams writes about what it is like to be a teacher with access to AI but not printed books. His comments reflect Joanna Prior’s keynote on literacy and the challenges of keeping a reader. Without readers there is no publishing industry.

 

Publishing Perspectives reports on a panel discussion at LBF that highlighted the need for publishers to make licensing deals with AI. A bad deal is better than no deal was the comment. I’m not sure that should be a business maxim, but the arguments were compelling.

 

Recently Chelle Honiker of Indie Author Magazine interviewed Draft2Digitals CEO Kris Austin on How AI is affecting The Publishing Industry.

Kris talked about the flood of AI books in the nonfiction space that they reject. He is not so worried about fiction books authored by AI. We could be inflating AI’s ability to tell a compelling story.

 

Baker and Taylor have finally fallen on their sword and filed for bankruptcy. This surprised a few commentators that thought their recent fire sale of assets might have covered the creditors; however the bills were bigger than anyone knew. They owe some eye watering sums as Publishers Weekly reports.

 

Mark Leslie Lefvbre has an interesting article on being wide and how some authors have failed to understand what that actually means. Mark has done just about every job in publishing and is a great resource for how to run an author business. Are you publishing wide but shallow?

 

Ingram Spark has put together a free book marketing course. Each of the modules are under four minutes long and they cover metadata to publicity to websites to social media marketing. If you were looking for an overview on book marketing this could be for you. You get a certificate as well. 

 

Donald Maass has been an agent for a long time. He writes an interesting article on Writer Unboxed about Reading as an Agent. What he looks for might not be what you think. This is required reading if you are submitting to agents and editors.

 

In The Craft Section,

Awaken your creativity- Sarah Hamer- Bookmark

Learning about genres makes you write better- Andromeda Romano-Lax

Base your story structure on principles not systems- Tiffany Yates Martin

How to write dark stories responsibly- K M Weiland- Bookmark

Writing uncomfortable scenes- Jami Gold- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

2 excellent posts from Rachel Thompson- Understanding Social Media Followers and Book Giveaway subscriber marketing.- Bookmark Both.

Ten tips for Newsletter swaps- Gayle Leeson- Bookmark

5 ways to make your book relevant to media- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

7 Kindle keywords- Dave Chesson- (Updated)

 

To Finish,

While I was away, I did not check my email every day. However, when I did, I was looking through my lists for emails from real people not the next scam email. (There were a few of those.) Recently, Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware went down a Simon and Schuster scam rabbit hole to see how far they would go before they realized that she wasn’t a genuine mark. What I found interesting is that the AI scammer did not flag her name or her actual job which is to write about dodgy practices in the publishing world. If you are reading my blog, you are likely quite up to date on new scam practices, it’s the newbie authors that they target and whose dreams they shatter. A kind word from you and a link to Victoria’s blog might save a newbie from an expensive and embarrassing mistake.

 

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.

 

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