It’s been a busy week in publishing.
The wait is over and everyone now knows who won The Man
Booker. The type of book is a little eyebrow raising. The author writes in 166
different voices to tell the story. Literary writing is becoming very
experimental.
While everyone was waiting for the award to be announced,
that perennial favourite in publishing, diversity, was back in water cooler
discussions. Has the publishing industry got any better since the last time we
all said we needed more diverse voices in publishing?
Chris Jackson has an essay on Lit Hub about the need for
social diversity in publishing. Are we just getting the same old stories being
selected by the Ivy League grads?
Diversity in children’s publishing is also a hot topic. At
the recent trade fair in the Pacific Northwest booksellers were told that the
majority of American kids are not white and children’s publishing is moving to
reflect that.
Also in children’s publishing Macmillan has created a new
imprint and handpicked a team to lead it. It’s all about interactivity... the
hot new thing in non fiction children’s books...
While Macmillan gears up to change the children’s book
scene... Hyperion has launched a new digital hub for children centered around Rick Riorden. Are they copying anyone?
Createspace closed its doors on its online bookstore this
week. Did you know they had a bookstore? Me neither.
Remember last week... Yes it was so long ago, when I
introduced my blog saying the big talking points at Frankfurt were the rise of
audio books and free speech. GQ magazine explains the history and rise ofAudible and why audio books are an addiction.
Besides the rise in audio being discussed at Frankfurt there
was also a future look at a new looming disrupter to the publishing industry.Blockchains. Try and get your head around this possibility. Every item created
will have its own identifier which will enable the purchaser to pay the creator
instantaneously.
If you haven’t checked out the Indie fringe conference...
The videos are up. Immerse yourself in a treasure trove of content all about
Author Business.
Kris Rusch has a great post on author subsidiary rights. Do
you know what these are and how you can earn money from them?
In The Craft Section,
How to write good endings- Roz Morris- Bookmark
Plot planners – Martha Alderson
Occupation Thesaurus- Angela Ackerman
5 tips for telling resistance stories- Mythcreants- Bookmark
Brainstorming a great novel hook- Janice Hardy-Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
How to crush social media as an introvert- Bookmark- Frances Caballo
How to improve your About Me page- Bookmark
Selling direct from your site and other goodies from the SFF
Marketing podcast team. You should
watch it.
Writing to match genre categories- Debbie Young -Alli Blog
To Finish,
Two CEO’s were talking at Frankfurt about their industry.
One was optimistic that Young People would continue to read lots of print books
and that publishing was doing well. The other talked about the huge amount of
customers who used to come to them but no longer do... Mike Shatzkin reflects on their speeches and what the messages might actually be.
N.B These CEO’s head up two of the biggest publishing houses
in the world.
Looks like murky waters ahead...
Maureen
@craicer
In my monthly newsletter I round up the best of the
bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces.
When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing
notes. Feel free to hit the coffee button. I live on the fumes of that most
excellent drink.
Pic: Flickr Creative Commons- Stad Amsterdam – Denna Jones
No comments:
Post a Comment