This Crazy Thing We Do

 

 

In Publishing News this week

 

A tentative agreement has been reached with authors and Anthropic reports Publishers Weekly. This means an out of court settlement is on the cards. If you have a claim against Anthropic scraping your work to teach its AI you need to register before September 1^st. Tech Dirt has an interesting commentary on why Anthropic may have settled- the threat of extreme statutory damages. However, they say this might not be an ongoing trend given what the judge declared about training AI’s.(Fair use- if they bought a copy of the book.)

 

Mark Williams has an interesting article looking at the middle ground of the two extreme positions of AI use in publishing. Four perspectives of AI collaboration in publishing. He lays out the pro’s and cons of a thoughtful use of AI. 

 

Publishing Perspectives has a breakdown on the Book Sales numbers from The Association of American Publishers from 2024.In a $32 Billion industry, print is still up there. However, online sales accounted for over 30%. Audio sales drove much of the revenue.

 

While print last year was booming, lack luster sales this year has Bloomsbury axing some of their children’s division team. The Bloomsbury Boom and Bust rollercoaster of children’s publishing. (They get saved every twenty five years by some big name author.)

 

Mary Kole, specialist children’s editor and agent has written an interesting article on research she has done on the latest sales trends in Midgrade writing. Midgrade is quietly having a moment.

 

Some children’s writers have got together to launch an MFA in writing for young readers. After teaching at other programmes they decided what the world needed was a dedicated MFA just for children’s books. They have a great faculty and only five in person residencies over two years with two intakes a year. They are fundraising to keep the costs low. 

 

Jennifer Probst has a great article on the 7 steps to thriving as an author in a changing publishing world. Every now and then an article comes along and socks you between the eyes. This is a must read.

 

Jane Friedman has made her newsletter free for its 10th anniversary. In this article she looks at how publishing has changed since 2015. Does anybody remember the world before Kickstarter, Audio books, and Direct Sales platforms?

 

James Scott Bell has a great article on the origin of Kill Your Darlings, No it’s not a horror story. It’s being aware when you have overwritten.

 

Katie Weiland has concluded that story is almost dead in this year’s films. What happened to modern storytelling and 6 ways to find its soul. In the film story cycle we may be in for a return to those great film stories from the 80’s. 

 

Erin Halden has an interesting article on Antagonists. – Do you know about antagonist hierarchy. That is the layers of antagonism in your story. Not every antagonist is a mastermind criminal sometimes they can be the burnt toast in a scene.

 

In The Craft Section,

How much research is too much- Ellen Buikema (You can never have too much-MC)

5 ways to engage the senses- Lynette Burrows-Bookmark

Deep POV- Lisa Hall Wilson- Bookmark

Writing with subtext- Tammy Burke- Bookmark

What bad movies can teach you- Alex Cavanaugh- Excellent! 

 

In The Marketing Section,

Leverage someone else’s network- Sandra Beckwith

Why every author needs a platform- Written Word Media- Bookmark

Holiday marketing – why prep matters- Penny Sansevieri

10 Amazon KDP secrets- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

How to write a Book Proposal- Reedsy- Bookmark

 

To Finish

To shamelessly rip off Steven Colbert’s monologue, I trawl through the web to harvest those snippets of interest, tossing them into a pot with spices and creating the hot stew of information that is my weekly roundup. This is a niche blog that writers and publishers tell me is required reading. Even if I take you down some rabbit holes. (Hat tip of thanks to those of you who have chucked a dollar or two into the coffee fund.) 

If you have ever had to explain publishing to someone not in the industry you will appreciate the Diana Urban article about the Publishing Sitcom.

 

Yes, we’re mad to do this crazy thing called writing.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links 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, It is much appreciated. 

Thank you.

 

Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

Who Owns Your ideas?

 

 

In Publishing News this week.

 

Calling all writers who have been caught up in the Anthropic AI mess. The lawyers in the legal case against Anthropic want your name for a class action. If you have had books pirated, this is your must read article from Publishers Weekly. Act quickly you don’t have much time.

 

Mark Williams is also highlighting the case against Open AI in India. They are in the Indian courts trying to prove fair use. These big court cases are being watched by countries around the world. Copyright and AI use, every country has to make a decision over their meaning.

 

I try to have balanced viewpoints on AI in the blog. This is an interesting post from Mythcreants about not falling for AI. There are some good points here. Be very sure why you might use AI. It can be a useful tool but it shouldn’t do the creative work.

 

Publishers and educators advocating for freedom to read are cheering. They have received a positive judgement on the book banning that has been happening in Florida schools. The judge agrees with them. Hopefully this will start the ball rolling the right way in other states. Meanwhile Book Riot have some resources for people trying to navigate the supreme court decision on allowing parents to opt out of school programmes. 

 

The Diamond Comic Distributors case is taking another twist. At issue, the assets. Liquidators want a fire sale of the comics, but Diamond doesn’t own them and a Judge made that ruling. Bankruptcy law, if the item is sitting in your warehouse, then it’s an asset regardless of who actually owns it.

 

The Nordic countries are often held up as the model everyone should follow for happiness and lifestyle. Denmark is suffering a literacy crisis just like everyone else. They have a great way to promote book reading. Make it cheaper!

 

Agent Richard Curtis has an interesting article on Clout. When agents have it and what it actually means. 

 

James Scott Bell responds to an email saying that his book deserves to reach a larger audience. I got one just like it last week. The AI scams are alive and well. He discusses the difference between the terms writer and author. Apparently, they mean different things.

 

Barbara Linn Probst has an interesting post on Writer Unboxed. Are you a planned writer or a summoned writer? Just where do your ideas come from? 

 

Lesley Krueger has an interesting article on her response to a viral post of hers. Why I won’t chase the post that went viral. This is about authentic writing and figuring how to engage with readers without selling your soul.

 

How do you manage your Zone of Proximal Development? Jenny Hansen has a great post on the magic zone where all your learning takes place. This is where seeking the right kind of help in your writing can accelerate your craft learning.

 

In The Craft Section,

Character healing from an emotional wound- Angela Ackerman

5 conflict management styles- K M Weiland- Bookmark

5 tips to enhance your story atmosphere- Nick Bailey- Bookmark

The power of dialogue- C S Lakin

How to use iteration in your writing- Gabriela Pereira-Bookmark

 

In the Marketing Section 

How to maximize the return on your newsletter- Linda Dunn

Book Marketing tips- Mindset Joanna Penn – Podcast excerpt- Bookmark

How net galley makes your book more visible- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

How to get more of the right readers- Sandra Beckwith

How to build a reader funnel- Written Word Media – Bookmark

 

To Finish

Roger Hyttinen has a great post on the 16 things that writers love. I laughed when I read number seven as I had just done it. One of the things he didn’t have on his list was the new video game Tiny Bookstore. Instead of heading to a remote island to manage one you can stay at home and play bookstores from your couch. You can even recommend real books.

A writer must have thought of the game idea, while procrastinating.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links 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, It is much appreciated. 

Thank you.

Photo by Jacek Dylag on Unsplash

Trying Not To Be Political

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

This week the Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in New Zealand happened. I always try to go because I’ve been a past judge. It’s a great time to catch up with colleagues, to meet and celebrate the winners and the new writers coming up. 

We try not to be political. It was hard though, to see the government minister trying to sound as if he was supportive of us when he stopped New Zealand’s chance to be guest of honor at Bologna. We were polite. It was a shame that he left for another engagement after the first award. We could have told him what we really thought.

 

Across the pond in Australia, Danielle Binks writes about why there is a crisis in children’s books – it’s to do with birth rates and short-sighted policies. It’s not political. (much) The problems she outlines can be repeated here or in your own country. Children’s writers and Librarians are seeing it up close already. 

 

Publishers Weekly has a warning that the budget cuts to libraries in the United States are now affecting publishers. This will have a knock-on effect… and we know where that will leave us.

 

Pen America is sounding a warning about school libraries and the increase in book banning lawsuits hitting schools. Pen warns about self censorship and intimidation tactics being used against schools.

 

Publishers Weekly reports the Anthropic AI case and their piracy of authors is heading to the courts with the Judge saying that the three author plaintiffs can represent all their colleagues. This is going to cost Billions!

 

Riding to the rescue of orphaned Unbound authors is publishing company Wilton Square. They will undertake to publish the books for authors who got their rights back. It’s a pity there is no redress for authors owed thousands from sales with no way of getting it. Bankruptcy law trumps contract law. The Unbound mess is a big lesson for authors and agents.

 

Kathleen Schmidt has a great article on publicity. How much publicity is enough? It depends. Some publicity completely hits the wrong audience.  

 

Rachel Thompson has an excellent publication week survival guide. What to do leading up to launch day and then after. This is a print out and stick on the wall post.

 

Kimberley Grabas has an interesting post on harnessing AI to use in author branding. This is when using AI as a tool can be very useful.

 

Kathleen McCleary has an excellent post on Writer Unboxed about the power of WHY. 

How often do you use this word to drill down to the emotion of the story. 

For instance: Why did the politician come to a celebration of children’s literature after he scuttled plans to promote it internationally? Did he think we were happy with his decision and that we wanted to see him speak platitudes? Ok I will be polite and just say, we’ve got some cracking good writers here as the 2025 shortlist shows.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to develop character wounds and misbeliefs- Selen Grace Silver- Bookmark

5 paths to plotting your novels- Janice Hardy

When structure is the enemy- Kelsey Allagood- Bookmark

How to start dictating- Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer- Bookmark

Plot devices- when to use them – Elizabeth Craig

 

In The Marketing Section,

How to write emails without feeling spammy- Phillip Duncan- Bookmark

Free marketing strategies-Steve Higgs

Driving traffic to your website-Linda Dunn- Bookmark

How to write a great blog post – Lisa Tener- Bookmark

Add audio to an eBook- Great podcast from Matty Dalrymple

 

To Finish

In some positive news, The International Kids Literature Quiz started by a fantastic kiwi is getting a new quiz master. The literature quiz has gone from just a local competition to a regional competition then a national competition and then international. It is in its 37^th year and kids from around the world are flying to Johannesburg this week for the international final. The brilliant mind behind it, Wayne Mills, is stepping down as quiz master. Our recently retired reading ambassador, Alan Dingley, is stepping up into the role. He is going to be brilliant. 

The literature quiz is all about kids reading. Let’s celebrate them and their book creators. We are all legends. 

 

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 Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash

Sharing Our Stories

  

In Publishing News this week,

 

It’s August so naturally our thoughts turn to Spring Bookfairs? Bologna Children’s Book Fair has just finished sweeping up from their last fair and already they starting to plan big things for their next one in 2026. Now they are moving into games... or more content. Publishing Perspectives reports on their new roadshow telling everyone all about it.

 

Periodically I post articles about moves towards sustainability in publishing. Usually, they take the form of publishers talking about how they are going to do it. Publishing Perspectives Arpita Das explores practical tips that the Indian Publishers are doing to be more sustainable.

 

Taking sustainability up a notch Publishers Weekly showcases Cardboard House, a bilingual press which publishes poetry in chap books and handmade book cover workshops. This is part of a grass roots mission to create spaces for language justice, and to reform, and reformulate audiences.

 

Publishers Weekly has a feel good story. Book stores specifically selling stories for the Black community in America have started a national association. They specifically want to use their association to promote literacy and amplify Black voices. 

 

Here in New Zealand our Storylines Author Tours need some love. About four times a year Storylines takes authors on the road to visit schools in rural areas or little towns around New Zealand. With funding drying up they are having a Boosted campaign for the month. They need $5000 dollars and they only have a month to get it. Go on and share the love. Help a kid meet an author.

 

Now that we are in August a few companies have changed names, or terms or disappeared. In audiobooks Findaway Voices is now Voices by INaudio. You can still use them to distribute audio everywhere. Spotify for Authors is now enabling direct uploads at their site using the INaudio site. As any musician will tell you, check the terms of service before leaping in to Spotify.

 

Oh, Nigerian Prince, I’ve missed you. Not. Writer Beware has a warning of a new scam using AI to craft the most compelling flattery of your book and offering to review it, market it etc and then comes the catch, their Nigerian assistant. Just after I wrote this paragraph, I checked my inbox… Oh look a flattery email about wanting to market my children’s books….

 

Have you checked out a picture book lately? An English professor decided to do a deep dive into the data around animal main characters. A few decades ago, this was a talking point in the children’s publishing community. Are all the animal main characters boys? Everyone resolved to do better. But did they? Professor Melanie Walsh writes in Publishers Weekly it depends on whether they are a cat or a dog or a frog or a hen.

 

Tammy Burke has an interesting article on outlining for discovery writers. If anybody has ever asked you if you are a plotter or a pantser as a writer and you’ve been stuck on the answer, this is the post for you. Tammy shows other ways to outline. You could be a writer who uses trail markers, breadcrumbs, emotional anchors, and other exciting ways to get that story out of your head.

 

Donald Mass has another great article on the craft of writing over on Writer Unboxed. Are you guilty of throwing everything into your opening paragraph? Maybe you are trying too hard. An opening should be an invitation. 

 

In The Craft Section,

Types of scene endings- K M Weiland- Bookmark

The power of paragraphing- Lori Freeland- Bookmark

Taming The Backstory Beast- P J Parrish

Amp up your story setting- Angela Ackerman

Fluff, Flab, and Fillers- Sue Coletta- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Pay attention to your bio picture- Rob Bignell

A ready to use bookclub kit- Ingram Spark- Bookmark

Updated Amazon Keyword rules- Kindlepreneur- Bookmark

Do Author Blurbs create sales?- Alessandra Torre- Bookmark

The publicity tip you should ignore- Sandra Beckwith

 

To Finish

It’s nice to find positive publishing stories to share in the weekly blog. Author, Jen Craven has the ultimate feel good marketing story. What do you do when you receive a bunch of badly printed books from your printer? Jen turned them into a town wide scavenger hunt that got big publicity. 

This is out of the box thinking and a fun thing to do when less than perfect books arrive on your doorstep. She writes about her most creative marketing campaign yet over on Jane Friedman’s blog.

 

Authors- thinking creatively since forever.

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 Klara Kulikova on Unsplash

Feeling Besieged?

 

 

Just after I published last week’s roundup I read the article from Publishers Weekly about the US Presidents comments on copyright. (Substack subscriber readers got the news early.) 

Last month the UK voted down a transparency law that would have required tech companies to compensate owners of copyrights that they had scraped in order to teach their AI’s. This was a blow to authors everywhere who see their work effectively stolen with impunity. 

The President of the United States commented this week at an AI summit that copyright was an obstacle to rapid development of AI. The comments seemed to completely undermine the new directives from the White House on AI and caused many choking fits across publishing. Publishers Weekly looks at the new playing field impacting authors and publishers.

Publishing Perspectives reports on the White House’s Action plan entitled Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan that slid out just ahead of the president’s comments. 

 

Across the pond, European Publishers and writers are having their own crisis of faith in their elected representatives over AI. Groups representing 17 million creative copyright holders are accusing the EU ignoring their rights in favour of Big Tech in the matter of the new EU AI Act. Coming at the same time as the US  statements it feels like copyright holders are getting a bashing from all sides.

 

With Writers and Publishers feeling the creative ground shifting under their feet, it didn’t help to see reports that broadcast television was also under fire from the White House. Kathleen Schmidt sounds a warning to publishers that appeasement never works. 

 

Publishers Weekly has the American sales stats from May and it makes sobering reading. Every genre has taken a hit in sales. Is it a sign of the end times or just a blip going into the northern hemisphere summer?

 

Dr Herman Kleiger has a guest post on Rachel Thompson’s excellent blog about why authors and artists get targeted in phishing scams. The Creative Artists Survival Guide to avoiding scammers.

 

Mark Williams has an interesting opinion on the passivity of publishers exploiting works in the public domain. With the entertainment world jumping on the 250^th anniversary of Jane Austen- why aren’t publishers being proactive about bringing other Public Domain works into the sun?

 

It is always worth dropping into Writer Beware to keep an eye on dubious dealings in publishing. Writer Beware is provided by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. Their members have been wrestling with new contract terms being rolled out for submitters to famous Science Fiction and Fantasy magazines. Victoria explores the contract language and the fall out. If you are or hope to be signing a contract soon this is a must read of new terms and rights grabs to watch out for. If you have never seen a writer’s contract, this is essential reading.

 

In a great guest article on Jane Friedman’s blog, Orlando Ortega-Medina looks at the differences between Author Promotion and Book Promotion and why you need both. He explains that authors often confuse the two. He offers practical tips and advice to implement immediately.

 

Catherine Misener has a great article on dictation. The productivity hack hiding in plain sight. I have tried dictation a couple of times and it is great for getting words down but the cleanup is so time consuming that it doesn’t necessarily speed up anything. However, I was recently listing to a podcast where a writer said she dropped her transcript into ChatGPT and told it to punctuate the sentences. It was a game changer for her. I must get out the voice recorder again…

 

Katie Weiland has an interesting article on intentional reading for writers. If you are what you eat as the old adage goes. Do you write what you creatively consume? Is this a strength or a weakness. 

 

An AI does not have emotional intelligence. Lynette Burrows has a fantastic post on Emotional Awareness. It is your most powerful writing tool. This is a must read.

 

In The Craft Section,

A category romance primer- Juliette Hyland

Fictionalising your family-Linda Ulleseit Bookmark

Villainous words of wisdom- Dale Ivan Smith-Bookmark

The gravity of a single word- Evan Swenson

Mining for theme- Susan Fletcher- Bookmark

 

In the Marketing Section

Finding your audiobook audience- Bookfunnel podcast

What is a soft book launch- Sandra Beckwith – Bookmark

Troubleshooting Bookbub campaigns- Bookbub

The pay to play dilemma- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Where to find royalty free photo’s- Rachel Thompsom- Bookmark 

 

To Finish

If you are feeling besieged with the negative news in publishing this week, take heart there is good news out there. Recently the SelfPublishing Show had their annual conference in London. This is the largest Indie author event in Europe and over 1000 people were there. Business services for writers or publishers see these big conferences as a must attend. Written Word Media has a recap article on SPS and what the big takeaways were. They followed this up with launching a brand-new podcast on YouTube and an episode dedicated to the SPS conference. 

 

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 Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Photo by Artur Tumasjan on Unsplash

Is There Another Way?

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

It’s Summer in the Northern Hemisphere so everyone is on vacation. However, there are a few interesting things to think about.

In Brazil they have just wrapped up a Book Fair which had a publishers and booksellers side event to the main public event. Publishing Perspectives looks at the conversation topics. There was discussion on price fixing which is going through the Brazil senate. Is it a good thing? Also under discussion, the quality of digital productions- Does it matter? 

 

Publishers Weekly takes a look at San Diego Comic Con which is on now. This event usually sees a lot of interest across the publishing community with Franchise tie ins in games, movies, graphic novels. However, this year it is a more muted affair because of visas, and the uncertain nature of entering the United States. 

 

The NZ Booksellers conference just wrapped up with many notable people and publishers receiving awards for excellence. Congratulations to authors Rachel King and author booksellers Gareth and Louise Ward. 

 

Audio Book walking groups. Yes, they are a thing. Publishers Weekly looks at the rise of these groups. You don’t have to listen to the same audio book to join in. This could be the great new friend meet up activity. Walk with a friend while listening to your own book.

 

Russell Nohelty has an interesting article on chronic illness and the writer. When your brain says Write and your body says Nope. He looks at ways to get your body to trust again instead of the stress response of panic and shutdown. 

 

Rachel Thompson has a great article on the Why Alt text is a writers secret. Using Alt text has been promoted as a must for helping the disabled community deal with visuals in a way that fits them better. Rachel points out that the extra few seconds to do alt text is great for other reasons.

 

Agent Richard Curtis has an interesting blog post on some contract terms that are important and overlooked in a standard writing contract. On their own they look ok, in a writing contract they mean warning bells.

 

James Scott Bell often does a close edit page to show different story points. This time he is doing one that Chat GPT supplied. His comments are on point. Competant and Forgettable.

 

Seth Godin is known for pithy comments on a variety of subjects. Recently he looked at Productivity, AI and pushback. Are you working for AI?

 

Mary Kole has a great article for children and teen story writers about marketing. What do you do when you can’t market to your stories intended audience. Who is your real audience?

 

Katie Weiland looks at What makes a bad story. No, it’s not bad editing or plot holes, or even an AI written story. Have you taken a close look at your characters?

 

In The Craft Section,

2 great articles from Angela Ackerman The key to writing authentic characters and How to use hidden experiences- Bookmark Both.

Bring your setting to life- Sue Coletta

Why scene mapping is your secret weapon- Juneta Key- Bookmark

3 ways to add tension- Janice Hardy

 

In The Marketing Section,

Email-the best marketing channel?- Bookbub

New hope for old books- Sandra Beckworth

How to format a book- Bookbaby

2 great articles from Thomas Umstettd- How to create sales optimized book pages-and How to grow email lists with giveaways- Bookmark Both

 

To Finish,

Everywhere I look this week, I have seen something from Johnny B Truant. He is one of the originals from Smarter Artists from over a decade ago. After an extended break he is back with a new book on slow writing, no social media etc. Is this really Johnny I thought. He is embracing the Artisan Author way and he chats with Joanna Penn on why he has done an almost about turn. It has lots to do with the joy of writing and how you can kill this joy by being on a produce treadmill. He has a great video which inspired the book. The low stress, high quality, fan focused way to escape the publishing rat race.

Isn’t that what we all want to do?

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links you can subscribe here to join our happy band.

If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Photo by Vladislav Babienko on Unsplash