Finding The Sweet Spot

In Publishing News this week,

 

What happens when a TikTok influencer tries to find a book that impacted them as a child? Publisher’s Weekly talks to the publisher of a 40 year old vocab book having another outing in the sunshine of book sales.

 

What is the biggest event this summer in the northern Hemisphere… Could be FIFA world cup… or a Swift wedding. Publisher’s Weekly reports that publisher GP Putnam have created an anthology of YA love stories based on 13 Taylor Swift songs. Swoon all the way to the bank.

 

Publishers Weekly took a walk through last week’s Beijing’s International Book Fair and noted down some of the trends that are top of mind in one of the world’s biggest countries. It’s worth noting that the government has pivoted towards a reading oriented society. An interesting article.

 

With the demise of library distributors, publishers have been trying to figure out how to help libraries get their books. Penguin Random House is working with Ingram to mine their backlist and produce Print On Demand Hard Covers of 200 PRH authors. This is interesting because back before eBooks and POD, a publishing contract could revert back to the author if the copies were out of print. Now with eBooks and POD hardbacks this means the book is never ‘out of print.’ (Authors who have large print and hardback are very library friendly. Don’t forget every format needs its own ISBN.)

 

One of the side effects of war is the destruction of a nations culture and literature. Publishing Perspectives has an interesting article on a literary movement that is trying to save the Palestinian culture. 

 

Chelle Honniker has an interesting article on where AI and copyright now stands. With various law suits underway or finished, copyright on works using AI is still fluid. It has been established that AI cannot be an author. But what about using it as a tool? 

 

Meanwhile the Book Industry Study Group is surveying the book industry in North America to see how much they are using AI. The survey is anonymous so people should be honest. This is the second year they have run this survey. I will be surprised if the the numbers haven’t increased.

 

Earlier this month I highlighted an article from James Blatch on how AI was affecting search and what it means for authors. Edie Melson has an article on how GEO and AEO affect how our websites get found by AI search engines. If you are closing your eyes and covering your ears, relax. Edie’s article is very easy to understand. (It is an important topic so don’t leave it too long before coming to grips with the subject.)

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a great essay asking what type of author you are? This is an article on author values and the way you can structure your author business. Great Reading.

 

Tawny Lara has a guest post on Jane Friedman’s blog on Finding your voice as a writer in the age of AI. Voice is the one thing that distinguishes you from every other writer out there and is the one thing that AI can’t really do as the algorithm smooths out writing until it is bland. Mine your own experience.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to write Found Family tropes- Rhea Dionne

Differences between anti-hero and anti-villain- Joe Yamulla- Bookmark

Tell don’t show- P J Parrish- Bookmark

Mastering microtension- CS Lakin

11 chapter endings to keep readers turning pages- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

AI prompts for Book Marketing – Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Generating Buzz for your Book- Bookbaby

Simple Sample Strategy- Bookfunnel- Bookmark

The Access Marketing Funnel- Video - Alliance of Independent Authors - Bookmark

 

To Finish

I was reading Lisa Cohen’s article on Existential Dread – The Kickstarter edition and nodding away at some of the fears she expressed. The thought of telling anyone I have a book out and they might like it or God forbid asking people to back a Kickstarter, sparks a queasy feeling. Lisa talks about the need to market if you want your books read and how she survived doing a Kickstarter project even though she was way out of her comfort zone.

Marketing a book is where the hard work really is. However, there are a few lifelines out there. Check out Cassie Mannes Murray on 40 alternatives to the book event that is not a reading or conversation.

You never know you might sell a book as well.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Photo by Ulysse Pointcheval on Unsplash

Trying New Things

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

The biggest indie author conference in Europe wrapped up this week in London.

For a roundup of topics discussed and great little ideas check out the YouTube video of one of founders of the Self Publishing Show and its podcast talking about the show…at the show.

 

Publishing Perspectives highlights a new tool for publishers created by the Green Book Alliance, a group dedicated to advancing sustainability in the publishing industry. The new tool helps publishers to calculate their carbon footprint. This could be a marketing win if used the right way.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has an in-depth article about Draft2Digitals new fees and what it means for authors. If you have been on the fence this might help. (I’ve just paid my fee, as a wide author I appreciate their global reach.)

 

What do you do when you have a big backlist? You make a portion of it available for film and television people to find new projects. Simon and Schuster have just put over 6000 projects onto the Blacklist search engine for screenplays according to Publishers Weekly. Placing books on this list is only a recent development.

 

A new court case hit the news this week. This time it's academic publishers going after a sketchy outfit which ‘publishes’ access to literary and scientific journals. Of course you can draw a direct line to skull and crossbones flag. The publishers are on a roll as they have already won a court victory against other pirates.

 

Javier Celaya has an opinion piece in Publishing Perspectives about going back to school to learn about AI. He is adamant that publishing professionals need to understand at a structural level what AI can and cannot do. It should be a requirement at management level he says.

 

Jak Bazino went down the rabbit hole into a Nigerian run Book Club Scam. It starts off very slowly and what looks legit then starts to unravel. This is play by play story of how these scams operate.

Meanwhile, over on Killzone blog Debbie Burke has the ABC’s of avoiding scammers. Required reading.

 

Lucy V Hay has a great article on Angela and Becca’s writing blog about overwhelm. Sometimes this writing business can get you down and when that happens your headspace can get screwed up. She has some helpful advice for getting you out of your own head. Overwhelm can also hit your inbox so check out Lisa Normans essay on managing the inbox deluge.

 

Agent Richard Curtis has some hard advice for writers who are dreaming about writing full time. Be very careful about what you are giving up and what you expect the life to be like. This is a dose of straight talking about the writing life.

  

The Publishing Industry’s Habit of Selling and Packaging Youth, and Its Wider Impact.

If you blinked when you read that line, you need to read the essay from Faridah Àbíke Íyímídé. She writes from personal experience.

Ines Johnson has written a great marketing essay in praise of libraries. But what is even better she writes it to her book fans and tells them that she loves it if they take her book out of the library. This is marketing by acknowledging that times are tough and books are expensive. There is another way!

 

In The Craft Section,

When your characters begin to breathe- Sarah Hamer- Bookmark

How to write mythic fiction- K M Weiland

Write stronger characters for a plot driven story- September Fawkes -Bookmark

Rediscovering Creative Joy- Podcast Joanna Penn and Austin Kleon

Writing the opening scene- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

If you are uncomfortable with book marketing- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Building Local Reader Engagement- Written Word Media-Bookmark

How to check on KDP account health- Written Word Media- Bookmark

The scrapbook of publicity- Cassie Mannes Murray- Interesting essay

Learning about Book trailers- Linda Sienkiewicz

 

To Finish,

It was great to get out of the house this week and celebrate a local author at a book launch. It was a chance to catch up with my writing friends and find out what everyone is doing. 

Getting together with other writers can inspire collaborative projects that you wouldn’t do on your own. Dale Ivan Smith has a great article on Anthologies and contests. I’ve heard about fundraising anthologies and genre anthologies. Submissions to a poetry anthology are being asked for in my writing circle. I can’t write poetry for toffee but a project like this can be a low-risk way of stretching your writing or trying out a new genre. 

Dip your toe in.

 

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 Krists Luhaers on Unsplash