Sharing Our Ideas

 

In Publishing News this week

 

And back to court we go in the Anthropic AI court case. Publishers Weekly writes that the attorneys for the authors had to satisfy the judge that the right people would get compensation. Publishers Weekly have laid out what different sectors of the industry should expect in renumeration. The judge will decide if it's fair.

 

In New York, women in publishing got together for a Publish-Her session. Porter Anderson talks about the keynotes and the new collaborations amongst women in publishing. This international movement is gaining momentum. Bologna will have a dedicated PublishHer session.

 

Publishers Weekly turns a spotlight on Indie children’s publishing to share the secrets of their success. Amongst their advantages are how they are using their smarts and size to take advantage of opportunities quickly. They also have more editorial control over their books so they can publish the unusual or potential problem book.

 

Publishers are waiting to see what the terms of the deal are over the Baker and Taylor sale. The new owners, Readerlink are only buying the assets of Baker and Taylor library distribution company. Who will pay the bills owed? According to one source -it will be a wild ride for publishers.

 

In academic publishing news, Cambridge University and the Max Planck society are collaborating to provide open access publishing of evidence based research. The academic publishing model is one of pay through the nose to publish and pay through the nose to read it. Open access publishing shares the work among researchers, so everyone benefits. Given the nature of wild claims coming from some politicians free access to medical evidence based research should help everyone to figure out what is pure bunkum snake oil. 

 

Amazon are partnering with the International Congress of Arabic and Creative Industries to create a comprehensive digital Arabic collection. Amazon will bring their AI translation and Audible publishing company to the party. Publishing Perspectives reports on how it will change the Middle Eastern publishing industry.

If you have been wondering about what to do in November  now that NaNoWriMo is no more- Fear Not, the annual push to write a novel in 30 days is still on. ProWriting Aid has taken over the reins and has a whole lot of free support for you if you want to have a go, including a big list of mentors and coaches. 

 

The Tax arm of our government occasionally puts out some good short videos to help small business figure out what to do at tax time. This morning I watched a little video on business expenses. Yes, writers can claim business expenses. If you aren’t sure what to claim the video is very educational. Of course this is New Zealand- your country might have different expense claims. You might have to do some digging on your own government website.

 

Chelle Honniker from The Indie Author magazine has been beavering away on a new author automation hub. If you have been wondering about streamlining your author business go and have a look. She is doing a coming out of Beta special.

 

Rachel Thompson breaks down the numbers around marketing for traditional publishing. This is a good overview of what you can expect from your marketing budget – and what you have to do for yourself. She has some great reference articles to help you manage your marketing.

 

Stephanie Cowell has an interesting article on Writer Unboxed about Daring to Share Your Work. It never gets easier even the great Madeleine L’Engle said this. She shares some helpful ideas to make the process easier on the writer.

 

Kaitie Weiland has an excellent article on Big vs Small character arcs. Some characters have a quieter life in your story but they still have an arc. How do you make the most of those small moments? 

 

In the Craft Section

How to write twists and turns- KWL team-Bookmark

A writing compass- Sally Hamer- Bookmark

Trouble is your business- James Scott Bell

Use weather to create mood- Angela Ackerman

5 strategies for pacing dialogue- C S Lakin- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

Why most writers hate marketing-Rachel Thompson – Bookmark!

What to do when ads stop working- Mathew Holmes- Bookmark

Pen to camera – YouTube a platform authors can’t ignore- Dale Roberts

3 powerful things to find your ideal reader - Sandra Beckwith

Newsletter magic without math- Lisa Norman-Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Jane Friedman has excerpted a chapter from Nadim Sadek's book How Creativity Survives in an AI Monoculture. This is an excellent reminder of what AI can do and can NOT do. Now more than ever is the moment where we must remember it is our relationships, our voice, our vision that makes us different. Handing creativity to a machine that can only regurgitate the next most likely words in the sentence is not a replacement for human experience. 

Sharing our creativity with others adds to the global human story.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Show Me The Money

In Publishing News this week 

 

Publishers Weekly reports on the latest Trump court case. He is suing Penguin Random House and The New York Times for $15 Billion. Penguin Random House published a book by New York Times journalists called Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Fathers Fortune and Created The Illusion Of Success. I think the sub title spells out the problem. In other news- another U S late night talk show host has been taken off air. And DJT threatened an Australian reporter with an unfavourable outcome for Australia for asking if it was legal to make money off the office of president. 

 

Publishing Perspectives has an interesting article on the upcoming Shanghai Children’s Book Fair. Shanghai is adding new programmes to the fair and they expect over 50,000 visitors including over 20,000 publishing industry professionals from 35 countries. To make it even easier the fair is free for publishing industry people and they are allowing free 240 hour transit visas for attendees. 

 

Amazon is following the EU mandate to have books be accessible. Publishers Weekly reports that Amazon has begun asking for accessibility information as part of a books metadata. Meanwhile, Rachel Thompson has an article on KDP’s new rule changes. If you haven’t been on the Kindle platform lately there have been a few changes.

 

James Patterson has been offering authors money. If you are one of his lucky 12 – you will get $50,000 for a year to write your book. Lit Hub makes a case for being a recipient.

 

Kathleen Schmidt writes about Literary Criticism vs Book Consumerism and how one is not fueling the other. How are you finding books to read? Book consumerism is about fandom and emotional TikTok videos. Literary Criticism is rapidly being lost as Book reviews become harder to find in mainstream publications. Do you have a trusted source for reviews and recommendations?

 

A while ago I mentioned a podcast on AI that Joanna Penn and Thomas Umstattd had recorded that I thought authors should listen too. Joanna and Thomas recently recorded another podcast on The Authors Guide to AI. You can read the podcast transcript to see how authors can use the tools AI provides to help with the author business. 

 

Darcy Pattison has launched her big book on publishing children’s books on Kickstarter. This has been a few years in the making and Darcy reached her goal in the first day. If you want to get early access to a book written for children’s authors and publishers check it out.

 

Lucy Hay has an excellent post on the fear of never getting published. First you need to identify your fear and then you need to figure out what getting published means for you.

 

Colleen Story has a great post on Jane Friedman’s blog about Book Marketing and procrastination. Why do you fear book marketing? Is there another way to reframe it?

 

I have a bookcase filled with P G Wodehouse, so I was interested to see this article about poetry book publishing where the author Laura LeHew advocates printing out your poems, sticking them on a wall, reading the poem out loud and finding the theme. This is exactly what Plum (PGW) would do. He looked at each typewritten page in isolation. The higher on the wall the page, the less it needed work. He only sent the finished manuscript off when all the pages were up near the ceiling.

 

Katie Weiland has another knockout post on how a character’s personality shapes their voice and goals. She has a very comprehensive article on personalities to explain her points.

 

In The Craft Section

How to polish your first five pages- Jenn Windrow- Bookmark

Mapping your career path- David Farland

Writing for children- Sue Coletta

The role of food in building character- Karmen Spiljak- Bookmark

How to show repressed emotions- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

Building a quick website for a pen name- Alessandra Torre- Bookmark

Build a Book publicity media list- Sandra Beckwith

5 ways to become a better speaker- John Kramer

How authors can ask smarter questions- Brian Jud

Publishing in creative ways- Heather Webb- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

You all know the one. The book everybody seems to be talking about. The viral sensation. But how do you get a viral sensation? Harshini Fernando wrote an interesting article for Written Word Media on what makes a book go viral. It starts with a good story and accessibility. 

Once it’s viral then obviously the movie deals and best seller lists follow along. Sometimes the book becomes viral long after it was published. Or when there is a big court case suing the publishers and the money is a bludgeon or a carrot. (See the Anthropic court case.)

 

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 Alexander Mils on Unsplash

 

Is It A Trend?

 

 

In Publishing News this week.

 

The Anthropic court case news was everywhere.

A quick rundown of the case so far. Anthropic (Claude AI) were taken to court in a class action on unlawfully training their AI on pirated copyrighted works. The judge indicated fair use was the issue and they could have bought a copy of each book for training. However, they used stolen work- so there was a case. Anthropic settled out of court for $1 Billion. (less than 1% of their recent venture capital fundraising) Each author stands to get $3000 if they or their publisher had registered the book with the US copyright office. Authors discover their publishers haven’t copyrighted their books. The judge comes back and says hang on this settlement is not fair. Who knows what will happen next.

 

While Apple was celebrating their latest iPhone, in court news they are being sued by authors for copyright infringement and yes… they used a pirate site to train their AI.

 

Media Voices has an article about a new AI on the block that publishers can use to find places where their content has been reused or pirated without compensation. 

 

Elsewhere, Spotify is teaming up with Booktok to launch Booktok Hub a dedicated site to get Booktok recommended audiobooks through Spotify. They will use the viral power of Booktok to sell books to you.

 

This week International Literacy Day was not celebrated with joy. A report out from the World Literacy Foundation laments that literacy is going backwards. An estimated 2 Billion people cannot read a simple sentence. This is appalling. Bring back the old days when rich people funded libraries and lifted literacy. 

 

Bologna Children’s Book Fair and Shanghai Book fair have got together to produce a fair dedicated to illustration and pop culture. This looks like an exciting event to go to. Publishing Perspectives reports what’s on offer in November. 

 

With the huge interest in K Pop stories, a new publishing company has been set up to bring more of these stories into the English language. Publishers Weekly details the rise of the webcomic publisher Crossed Hearts.

 

Publishers Weekly also has an in-depth article with Agents on Middle Grade fiction and the trials of bringing these books to market in the current restricted publishing atmosphere. Despite all the hurdles they remain optimistic.

 

Darcy Pattison has an excellent article on publishing children’s books. She lays out the different models and talks about what you might want from your career. Your goals will determine your business model. 

 

Jami Gold has an excellent article on Angela and Becca’s blog about How to Differentiate Stories from AI Slop. What do you bring to the table in your writing that an AI can’t. This is a must read for reasons not to let AI do the creative work for you.

 

In the Craft Section,

It’s what’s up front that counts-James Preston

How to write stories that matter- Lynette Burrows – Excellent!

Foreshadowing in writing- Tammy Burke- Bookmark

Does my Character have to arc our of their want- September Fawkes - Bookmark

Make yourself the most useful critiquer- Lisa Poisso- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Bookbub Ads- easy to create- Bookbub- Bookmark

How to use geniuslink to sell books- Rachel Thompson -Bookmark

Podcasts and authors- Sandra Beckwith

How to have multiple identities- Alliance of Independent Authors

Surviving author photos- Randy Susan Meyers- Bookmark

 

To Finish 

A writer just can’t help it. They have to find out what everyone is writing. Chasing Trends is always the hot topic at writer’s gatherings. Can you get in on the ground floor of a trend? Ellen Buikema has a great article on spotting trend cycles and when to just leave them alone and write your own unique story.

You might just start a trend!

 

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 愚木混株 Yumu on Unsplash

Imagine That

 

 

In Publishing News this week.

 

Publishers Weekly has a report from Booksellers in the Washington DC area about book sales slumping as a result of the National Guard being deployed in the city. In response some booksellers have quietly protested by getting creative with their front windows. 

 

KDP has just opened up Kindle Unlimited books to libraries. I haven’t found a proper link but the rumour is out there. 

 

Following on from the Anthropic AI case, Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware has been fielding enquiries over what to do if your publisher hasn’t registered you for copyright in the United States. There is a time limit on copyright registry in the US. Yes, you can claim copyright from the moment the story is written but if you want to sue someone over your copyright it needs to have been formally registered. Many writers are discovering publishers haven’t done this. 

 

The Anthropic court case settlement does have implications for the Meta court case coming up. Mark Williams explores the out of court settlement news and how the publishing world might have missed a big opportunity. Suffice to say it won’t hurt Anthropic one bit.

 

Bookwire is hosting a conference specifically for the publishing community called All about AI. Just looking at the topics on offer –  this is a get familiar with this subject or get left behind, conference.

 

Eleven Labs, who are leaders in the AI cloned voices for audio space, have now opened up a direct sales store on their site, reports Publishers Weekly. They have a good royalty rate there too. I think Eleven Labs is the only place where you can license your own voice- which takes author narration to another level. No more hours in a recording booth with dodgy sound.

 

Spotify are flirting with enhanced content on their audio books- You can add video and visual extras to your books which will play on the screen. Publishing Perspectives writes about whether this is a good thing or not.

 

Maris Kreizman has an interesting article on Lit Hub about the Harper Collins staff strike and why publishers have been poorly paying their staff. A Series of Unfortunate Salaries or Fighting the Publishing Industries Elitism.

 

Joanna Penn has an interesting interview with Clay Vermulm who writes short stories and collaborates with other authors in anthologies and podcasts. Check out the transcript for a different way of working.

 

Building a sustainable author future beyond GEO is a great article overview on how to remain visible in this AI search world. This is an article every author and publisher should read to understand how search is changing- then go for a deep dive into the subject with practical tips from Rachel Thompson on How to make AI work for you. 

(Remember AI is a tool- don’t use it for creativity. Many editors are refusing to touch AI generated books because they are so bad at writing.)

 

It must be the change of the season- I’ve seen my first ducklings down under. (Shakes head at the folly of ducks) And it’s back to school up in the Northern Hemisphere.

So, it’s time for the writing craft bundles. There are two different bundles of resources out there for writers for a limited time. They have different prices (both under $100) but are chock full of different courses, books, workshops, printables…etcetc. Infostack Writing Craft 7.0 and Masterstack-Writing Craft. (There are writing for children guides in this one too.) If you are looking for your next year’s learning resources they’ve got you covered.

 

Donald Maass has written one of those articles that have you thinking about the topic for days. What is Truth in Fiction. It may just change the way you write forever.

 

In the Craft Section,

The power of giving up- Greer Macallister- Bookmark

Plot as Utility- John Gilstrap- Bookmark

Story Structure as architecture- P J Parrish- Bookmark

Dissecting the creative guides- Lisa Miller- Bookmark!

Write where you know- Kirsten Oliphant- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

2 great articles from Penny Sansevieri-Basic elements matter more than you think and The genre mismatch problem with Ads- Bookmark Both

Transform your book into speaking opportunities- Stephanie Chandler- Bookmark

ACX review- Reedsy

Maybe I want authors to be celebrities- Interesting- Cassie Manns Murray

 

To Finish,

As I compile my list of articles, I’m always wondering what is the thread that runs through them. This week I was thinking about how publishing and writing is changing very quickly, and we may be running so fast to keep up that we forget why we started to write in the first place. Then I read this parody on publishing by Steven James  based on The Lorax by Dr Suess. 

 

Congratulations Julia Donaldson – The children’s author who has broken the record for all time book sales at 50 million according to NielsenIQ

Trust in your imagination!

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 Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash