Time For A Change?

 

In Publishing News this week,

I always tell writers that if they want to know what’s coming check out what the romance industry is doing. They are always ahead of the curve. So I was surprised when I read that Harlequin are discontinuing historical romances after forty years. Publishers Weekly looks into the reasons why. Have eBooks replaced mass market paperbacks?

 

Publishing Perspectives reports on research findings in Italy that suggest that piracy accounts for one third of the book publishing market. This is a shocking statistic, and the publishers have gone in depth to find out where and how it is happening that they have lost so many sales. 

If it’s happening in Italy, a sophisticated publishing market, what is happening elsewhere? 

 

Recently the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators held their winter conference in New York. There was an interesting panel discussion from Editors and Agents talking trends in children’s books. Humour is on the wish list.

 

Writing Australia has some money to play with and they want to invite small Australian publishers to spend it. Be still my heart. If only we had such nice things here. There is a dedicated travel fund to get to the bookfairs and other goodies. 

 

Eleven Labs audiobook company recently held their summit in London at the same time as the Independent Publishers Guild. Publishing Perspectives reports that both conferences talked about AI voices. Eleven Labs is moving beyond just audio books and into voice anywhere.

 

Publishers Weekly reports that the Minnesota Booksellers are not being nice to the ICE agents in their city. They are actively running campaigns to support the victims and harass the agents. It’s all part of the community service.

 

Mark Williams has a deep dive article into the merging of audiobook and eBook and how disruptive this technology is. Amazon has just launched their Immersion Reading feature. We are seeing the merging of book formats. Mark examines the rise of audio for populations that are illiterate. He knows first hand the struggles of access to literacy. He teaches in an isolated school in the poorest country in Africa.

 

Sara Hildreth has been looking at her reading strategy. In the midst of change she has found herself reading differently. She offers four shifts in focus that are helping her enjoy her reading more while navigating through family chaos.

 

Rachel Thompson has an interesting article on why We Can’t focus Anymore. The Hidden Cost of our Attention Economy. She offers a few strategies to cope. First, just breathe.

 

Gabriela Pereira has an article on time management. It’s not about time it’s about priorities and setting goals. This is something that I have been trying to do in my own life lately.

 

Dave King writes about the perfect novel. In his opinion it is Pride and Prejudice. He writes that in his forty years as an editor he finds it hard to read for pleasure, but he was recently reading P&P out loud and thought- this is the perfect novel. He looks at the way Jane Austen got it right.

 

In The Craft Section,

Are you making these four mistakes?- Anne R Allen- Bookmark

How not to write your novel- James Scott Bell- Bookmark

Which point of view should you use- Gabriela Pereira- Bookmark

Let’s be clear- Grammar fix its.- Jim Dempsey- Bookmark

Four act structure- K M Weiland-Comprehensive- Bookmark!

 

In the Marketing Section,

A 5 star email experience- Ines Johnsen- Bookmark

28 whimsical holidays for March- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Voice options for do it yourself audio books- Indie Author Mag- Bookmark

Why writers need multiple practical marketing strategies- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

The submission package - Michelle Barker- Bookmark

 

To Finish

 

I have been busy writing long nonfiction articles. They are going to be appearing here over the next three weeks while I am traveling. I will try to pop in and check comments. 

I hope you will find the articles useful. I started this blog to educate myself in publishing and along the way it has taken on the structure you know and (hopefully) love. I don’t write deep dive articles often, so if you like my wild viewpoints let me know and I might consider doing it more often for you. 

 

Ciao

 

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 Jon Tyson on Unsplash

AI – Publishing Friend or Foe

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

Last week the big news was Bookshop.org partnering with Draft2Digital. This week it’s Bookshop.org partnering with Spotify. You can buy the audio books you are listening to and Spotify also has a nifty new feature which could be a real game changer in inter device use. With all these deals Bookshop.org is becoming a global player. Hopefully they will see the rest of the world exists soon.

 

In other global player publishing news, Microsoft has just launched a platform marketplace to facilitate the buying of licenses to train AI’s. They are looking at fast churn news stories to get up to the minute information but there may be scope for publishers to market their IP. After all the Anthropic judge did say that it was fair use to buy a copy of a book to train an AI. HarperCollins leapt in quickly to license their back list. Mark Williams takes a deep dive into the pro’s and con’s of this announcement and what it means for fiction publishers. While Microsoft has already made the marketplace Amazon is shouting that they are making one too. It’s nearly here. Soon.

 

The next AI training court case is nearly upon us. Google is in the hot seat trying to defend themselves against a class action. Two publishers have recently joined the class action and Google is shouting not fair. Publishing Perspectives has an article on why the publishers were so late to the party. 

 

Forbes has an article on why Publishers are employing AI engineers. This has been quietly happening for about a year now. Publishers using AI’s in the business and demanding no AI use in making the books. Why has it become a news issue now, sadly because the entry level jobs in publishing are being done by AI. I have a recent publishing graduate in the house looking for their first job and it’s tough out there.

 

I have been writing some non -fiction articles recently and while my brain was wandering into this head space, I read this article in Publishers Weekly on the top best sellers for 2025 in children’s books. They have divided the list into front and backlist.  One of the things that caught my eye was the amount of back listed titles sold in huge numbers that were first published sixty years ago or more. The perennial value of this Intellectual Product couldn’t have been foreseen when they were first published. It makes you think about your own backlist and how every title, no matter when it was published, can be new to a reader.

 

Who has the biggest Book Fair in the world? If you said Frankfurt, you would be wrong, India is second biggest. But for sheer size check out Egypt. The New Publishing Standard has a run down on all the numbers and why publishers should be seriously looking to have a presence there.

 

Last year I linked to articles about Ireland’s Universal Basic Income scheme pilot for artists and writers. It was such a success that they are rolling out for real. Scotland has taken a look at Ireland’s model and are considering doing the same. It could be a movement…

 

Do you remember joking about wanting robots to do the boring work and let you be free to do the fun stuff? I had the feeling we were getting close to that with Chelle Honnikers article on code last week and then she followed it up with Agentic AI, which is where AI is going this year. Your own personal AI agent worker. Chelle is an expert in author business automations and the programmer for the Author Nation conference. It is worth while reading the articles for a look at the future.

 

Russel Nohelty writes excellent articles on author mindset and business. This week he has a great article on how authors need to treat their business like a startup. There are some key road map signs to look for in being successful.

 

If you are looking for some quick author upskilling, The Get Published summit is on soon. There are great speakers, many of whom have featured in this blog so go on over to the website and grab your free ticket.

 

Katie Weiland has a fantastic article from James Scott Bell about the mirror moment in fiction. I had one of those AHA moments when I read James’ book on the topic. The article is excellent and I highly recommend the book too.

 

In The Craft Section,

The scene between the beats- Ines Johnson- Bookmark

The beginning page- Kathleen McCleary- Bookmark

Single or multiple viewpoints- Becca Puglisi-Bookmark

Get paid as a writer Suzy Vadori- Bookmark

What does your character fear – September Fawkes

 

In The Marketing Section,

How one author got ripped off- Sandra Beckwith

25 things I wish every writer knew- Dan Blank- Bookmark

Explaining KDP expanded distribution- Memoir Mentors

Reader magnets- Ines Johnson- Bookmark

Book Marketing metrics that matter- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish

If you have been in the traditional author space or reporting on it for a few decades you would have noticed the gradual decline in publishers taking an interest in their authors.  A few decades ago a publisher or an editor would nurture a writer and spend time polishing the manuscript or giving them opportunities to grow their career. 

Ah the good old days. 

Richard Charkin comments on the power shift in publishing that has happened almost without publishers realizing it. And they only have themselves to blame. Aligned with this thinking ,Agent Richard Curtis talks about the importance of negotiating rights in your contract. Who is looking after your best interests? It should be you!

 

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.

 

Picture- The great Tom Gauld nailing it again.