In Publishing News This Week,
Last week I mentioned Scholastic and its diversity boxes which they were making optional in the book fairs to the disgruntlement of their authors. Scholastic listened and backtracked. They published a contrite letter telling everyone that it was a mistake to segregate the books. Authors are calling it a win. It could be the 1500 author and illustrator signatures to the open letter (many from scholastic authors) in two days that tipped the balance. Scholastic promises to lead the fight “and redouble our efforts to combat the laws restricting children’s access to books.”
Frankfurt Book Fair has wrapped up. After the rocky start the book fair got down to the business of rights selling and self-congratulation. ‘Having a presence here is indispensable to your business,’ says Jurgen Boos CEO of the Frankfurt Fair. Publishing Perspectives writes about the highs and the big talking points at Frankfurt.
Mark Williams notes that the report from the American Association of Literary agents which was released during the Frankfurt Bookfair makes for tough reading. The agents are working super hard in a challenging environment. Does the commission model stack up as a means to pay the bills? Is there a better way to be an agent? This is a long thoughtful article on some unsung hardworking publishing professionals.
Good E Reader reports that the latest Kindles are getting integrations with Goodreads that means you can have the app open in your kindle and have it update all your reading and reviews immediately. If you are behind on your reviews this could be helpful.
Writer Unboxed has an interesting article on why engaging in multiple creative activities can help your writing. While you are digesting that article read this article from Lisa Cooper Ellison on how to use the right brain waves to make the most of your writing time. This is a fascinating peak at the science of brain waves intersecting with creativity.
The Alliance of Independent Authors has an interesting article on that age old eBook question KDP Select or Going Wide. It’s all about what you want to achieve. They also have a comprehensive article on how to design a great book cover.
It is nearly time for NaNoWriMo. Over the last few weeks I have been posting articles on preparing for the month long push to write 50,000 words. However, sometimes doing NaNoWriMo can bring up some horrible creative writing memories or entrench habits that aren’t helpful. Anne R Allen has a great article on creativity wounds. You might have them and not know it. Doing NaNoWriMo could be the worst writing advice for you.
Kris Rusch has an interesting blog post on how author careers have diverged from what they thought they were signing up for. Since the 90’s publishing has changed dramatically and what was a career then is completely different to now. Even the big household names of the 90’s acknowledge they won’t see the sales numbers like they used to have. But have the publishers moved on?
Name an overused opening… David Griffin Brown has an article on how to avoid the cliché opening and figure out a better way to get into the story.
In The Craft Section,
How to write more in less time- Sarah Kuiken
What to do when your villain is the protagonist – Janice Hardy- Bookmark
Two excellent posts from Mythcreants- Five fake turning points storytellers keep using and How long can you let tension fall before the reader gets bored- Bookmark Both
Tightening Prose dialogue tags- Diana Peach
In The Marketing Section,
2 great posts from -Penny Sansevieri - Crafting an irresistible book pitch and 11 book promotion ideas- Bookmark
How to promote a book on social media- Andy Slinger
5 unique book marketing ideas - Rachel Thompson- Bookmark
Everything to know about book proposals – Reedsy- Bookmark
To Finish,
Recently Joanna Penn interviewed Patricia McLinn about keeping up with the changes in publishing. If you immediately felt tired or negative about that previous sentence, don’t feel bad. Everybody is struggling with changes in social media or direct sales or AI or whatever big thing is being talked about on whatever social media you are on. Joanna and Pat talked about overwhelm and taking back control by really looking at what you need to do and what you want to do. It’s a great interview. You can listen or read the transcript. One line stuck with me. … ‘through all of this tech and business stuff keep the writing…because without the writing what’s the point of all this.’
Let’s find the joy in the words we had, when we started writing.
Maureen
@craicer
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Pic: Photo by Jamie Albright on Unsplash
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