The More Things Change…

18 years...  

In Publishing News this week,

 

Publisher’s Weekly reports on The Authors Guild statement condemning publishers indiscriminate use of AI. Editors have been loading manuscripts and author personal information into AI with no security guardrails and compromising authors. Hopefully they will address the concerns. (I won’t hold my breath.) This issue highlights something I have been thinking about. Writers and Illustrators work has been scraped to train AI so when a publisher checks whether AI has been used and the answer comes back yes how can you trust the answer? Kathleen Schmidt has written about this - Can We Trust Book Publishing To Tell Us The Truth?

 

Meanwhile, there is an update on the Anthropic Court Case for people following this. The payout numbers are fluctuating, and everyone is waiting on the hearing in May.

 

Penguin Random House likes to get spot new talent and every year they have a competition for cover designers to reimagine a couple of their classic titles. They have just announced their 2026 winners. An interesting view of changing styles in cover design.

 

Mark Williams has an eye on publishing news across the world. He reports on the first Indigenous Literary Congress and Book Fair. It is about to get underway in May run by the Dayak People of Indonesia. 

 

Publisher’s Weekly reports on the findings from the 150 page report, Books in Translation: Trends and Transformations in the European Publishing Market. With the rise in adoption of AI translation what does it mean for translators today? This is an interesting article and a guide on what will separate out the best from the rest.

 

The case of the new fees at Draft2Digital continues to rage and now Barnes and Noble have instituted a minimum low price on print books being sold on their platform. These are all ways to combat an onslaught of AI written sludge from scammers. Rachel Morton offers another perspective of why you should be happy with the new fees. Food for thought here.

 

Richard Curtis explains the role of Royalty Managers in Publishing and how this role developed. This is also the area where the biggest frauds against authors happen and once you read how royalties work you will understand why. It all has to do with Book Returns. (This is a contentious subject. Publishers created this system in the depression to keep bookstores open. So do we need a 100 year old model which encourages unsustainable printing practices in 2026?)

 

Jane Friedman has an interesting essay on Librarians and how they may be seen as ‘arbiters of reality’ in the future. Already they are the most trusted humans. In this age of fake and AI, we need these important people. Share this essay around!

 

Joanna Penn has been mining her vast collection of author interviews and has another deep dive information article, this time on Kickstarters. If you have been wondering how to go about planning a Kickstarter campaign, check out this comprehensive article.

 

Tasmina Perry has an interesting blog on creativity. This week she was looking at lessons from the past and how we can reframe them to boost our creativity now.

Emilie Noelle Provost has an essay on Writer Unboxed on four ways you can recharge your creativity. 

 

In The Craft Section,

Why your story is important- Jenny Hansen- Bookmark

Fear or the fatal flaw- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Give your characters serious challenges- Jonelle Patrick- Bookmark

How to write when it feels hard- Jill Boehme- Bookmark

Turning point vs Plot Point- September Fawkes- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

The sales conundrum- Kathleen Schmidt- Great Essay

The introverts guide to quiet marketing- Kristina God

Substack vs Blogs- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

2 great articles from Penny Sansevieri- Updated Goodreads for Authors and Book Promotion ideas–- Bookmark

 

To Finish

Today is World Book Day and if you want a quick history of the book check out Kay DiBianca from the Killzone blog who has a great list article on the evolution of the book.

 

Kristine Rusch has curated a new Writing Craft Book Bundle. She contacted all the authors and asked if they wanted to produce updated versions of their writing craft books based on the challenges facing writers today. An excellent collection and exclusive to Storybundle so grab the bargains and feel good about paying the authors directly and supporting a great charity as well.

 

This week The Craicer Blog turns 18. That's 18 years of watching this crazy industry and trying to understand it. The view from my desk is that the more you can show that you are human and worth listening to, or reading, the more you will appear authentic in this age of AI. 

I would like to thank all the people who have been reading the weekly blog from the beginning- yes that’s my Kidlit people in New Zealand, who know me in person, but also readers from around the world who have only met me through the blog or by email. In the beginning publishing news and ideas took 18 months to filter down as change in the New Zealand publishing scene. Now it’s less than a month and change is felt everywhere. But my corner remains unchanged over here in the publishing blogosphere. 

Thank you for continuing to drop into the blog and sharing it with your friends. I’ll continue to shine a light into the jungle of publishing, older and greyer but still interested in this crazy industry.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

If you want to celebrate with me on 18 years you can donate to my coffee fund here. I appreciate all coffee blog love. Thank you.

 

It will soon be newsletter time so if so 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.

Thanks.

 

Eyes Wide Open.

  

In Publishing News This Week

 

The Bologna Book Fair is on. This is the annual international bookfair for children’s books. Publishers Weekly caught up with agents at the fair to talk about trends that they see coming in children’s books. Publishers Weekly also reported on disquiet over the prevalence of AI. There were a number of panels on the subject with great advice for illustrators and writers about showing development and transparency. The last paragraph was interesting. There is more pushback against AI from younger members of publishing teams.  

 

Also in Bookfair news, Frankfurt Bookfair is carving out permanent space for comics with the introduction of a Comics Business Centre for everything comic book related at the fair. Mark Williams reports that on what Frankfurt is planning. With webtoons and anime becoming big business Frankfurt is following the trend.

 

Bookfair season always worries newer authors who wonder whether they should be attending them. Mark Lefebvre has the answer. NO. However he also explains why and what book events you should be thinking about attending. It’s all about what you want and need for your own author journey. Great Advice from Mark.

 

Amazon announced they would be discontinuing support for a number of Kindle devices reports Dan Holloway of The Alliance of Independent Authors. This has caught readers out. Will they be able to access their books? Well ,there is the Kindle App. And everybody is reading on their phones now aren’t they? 

Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware has an update on The Bartz Vs Anthropic class action court case. If you are following this you can get up to date with all the machinations, like the move to exclude publishers from the payout and whether the judge will let new people into the class action and just when will we see any money?

 

Penguin Random House is calling on US politicians to reject a proposed bill on banning books. Of course it is never called a book ban it’s protecting the children from knowledge they do not need to know. Riiiight. 

Meanwhile, authors who have had books banned are facing threats and harassment. PEN America has created a US Author Safety Programme and is raising money for resources, workshops and training for authors who need help. Some high profile authors are auctioning off character names in forthcoming books to support the cause.

 

Kirsten Bell has a cautionary tale on Jane Friedman’s blog, about paying for social media exposure and what not to do. This is a lesson on doing due diligence for everything. Jane adds her own advice as well, if you are really tempted by using an influencer to promote your book.

 

Darcy Pattison has an updated roundup of the best tech to create children’s books. She looks at all the software available and what is best to use. Very useful information.

 

Reedsy has been playing with new tech solutions for writing and organizing your manuscript. Check out Reedsy Studio. It’s free for the basic set up which looks pretty nifty.

 

Alexa Bigwarfe has a great post on avoiding procrastination because the weather is warmer and you should be outside. She has advice for how to trick your brain into writing when you really don’t want to.

 

The dream team, Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have launched their latest Thesaurus, The Fear Thesaurus. At the moment, it is available only on their website store before they launch it on all the other stores. Their books are great reference tools used by writers around the world. If you haven’t seen one, check out their website. The Fear Thesaurus is their 11^th book. They also have a great article on How fear plays into the Character Arc.

 

In The Craft Section,

Want stronger writing? Write Less- Janice Hardy - Bookmark

How to create compelling hooks for chapters- Jenn Windrow- 

Bookmark

Microtension by degrees- C S Lakin- Bookmark

4 ways specificity drives your story forward- Kathryn Craft- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

How Author Visibility Drives Book Marketing- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

Stalled book marketing and what to do about it- Sandra 

Beckwith- Bookmark

Bookstagrammers – What you should know- Ann Marie Nieves

Finding the right book positioning- Penny Sansevieri

Your About page matters more than you think- Dan Blank- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Draft2Digitals new press release on charging fees dropped into inboxes causing all kinds of comments in the Indie Writing community today. Their reasoning is that they are swamped with AI titles and scammers so they figure charging for new accounts and annual fees if you earn less than $100 annually might get over this problem. The debate is raging online. 

While you are weighing up pros and cons of publishing aggregators, Dale Evans has written the comprehensive deep dive into all things Amazon and the pros and cons of publishing with them.

 

AI books and scam operators are changing the playing field. Go into publishing with eyes wide open and test your results. Be skeptical. Do your research. What works in one genre may not work in another. Find successful authors in your genre and watch what they are doing. 

Let’s be careful out there.

 

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 Colin Lloyd on Unsplash

Help In Publishing Land.

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

Good News for libraries in the United States of America this week, the appeal against the defunding of the Institute of Museum and Library Services was withdrawn. Librarians may still have jobs. Libraries may stay open, life might get back to normal in schools and institutions across the country. However, while librarians and their supporters were celebrating a watchdog agency was noting that far right book banning groups are using AI to scan books for detailed take down notices to libraries and schools. It’s a case of constant vigilance!

 

Publishers Weekly published an Op Ed Politicians should not be choosing what our children read. Danny Caine points out that this is the same argument used by both sides but the government is about to do just that with a new law being introduced in the US House of Representatives this week for debate.

 

Reuters reported that the Judge in the Bartz vs Anthropic case has frowned upon the $300 million fee to lawyers administering the settlement. And to general cheering by everyone the lawyers have agreed to reduce the fee substantially. They still pocket a lot though. 

 

I was interested to see in the Around The Book World news roundup from Publishing Perspectives about a Japanese Manga publisher beginning to publish weekly episodes of their novels in nine languages. They also want to move into publishing their novels in English. At the recent London Book Fair there was handwringing from publishers about the rise of other countries publishing their books in English instead of going through English publishers. If we can AI translate into another language, so can they. In the end it will be the marketing of these books that will make the financial difference to the publisher bottom line.

 

Next week – all eyes will be on BookCon in New York. Will it be successful? Will America finally get a national book fair again? 2 days, 250 exhibitors. Publishers Weekly wants to predict smiles all round.

 

At the same time as BookCon, Bologna Children’s Book fair will be celebrating 63 years of existence with the guest of honour- Norway. (It could have been us except our NZ politicians dropped the ball and own goaled to the derision of the children’s book community in NZ, but we don’t hold a grudge. *CoughNovemberelectionCough*) The fair is chock full of events celebrating and discussing children’s literature and literacy and what to do about AI. 

 

Last week I mentioned Harlequin partnering with an AI studio to produce microdramas. LitHub published an essay from Maris Kreizman Dear Harlequin: Nobody Asked For Your Weird New AI Video ‘Microdramas’. Maris doesn’t hold back. She mentions all the things they should be doing. Ouch! 

Mark Williams takes a different view of the news. He points out that microdramas are an $11 Billion market in Asia. Romance is just the first genre to embrace it. Genre publishers will be looking and wondering if it is a goldmine for them. 

 

Ossandra White has a thoughtful essay on what might be stopping you from creating. She runs through the usual physical discomfits and then into mental mindsets.

 

Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone was a sentence that resonated with me in the Writer Unboxed essay from Allison Winn Scotch. Five Things I Didn’t Know About Publishing Five Years Ago. Tackling a scary project could be just what you need to grow as a writer.

 

Dan Blank has a great essay on how to talk about your writing. We’ve all been there. That moment when someone asks you Have you written anything I’ve read? Aside from the clueless question- how would I know what you read… you demur and fail to mention anything you have written. Dan has some tips to turn the conversation around.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to keep the flow with Dialogue tags- Ellen Buikema

Writing Book 2- Ines Johnson- Bookmark

Seven common story problems- Collen Story- Bookmark

Internal Conflict vs External conflict- K M Weiland- Bookmark!

What Noir can teach any writer- Ruth Knafo Setton- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

Author Photos- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

How to read your story aloud to an audience- Lynette Burrows

Plan your Marketing Quarter- Ines Johnson-Bookmark!

Substack as a marketing tool- Podcast and transcript Orna Ross- Bookmark

Crafting marketing emails- Pine State Publicity

 

To Finish,

Mark Lefebvre wrote recently about a question from a newbie writer asking for anyplace that had non-judgmental instructional resources for new writers who are worried that they were going about publishing all wrong. 

This is a fast changing behemoth business and anyone trying to dip a toe in the water of publishing is bound to flail in the water while learning not to drown. 

Mark kindly points them in the right directions from his vast experience of doing practically every job in publishing. You Don’t Have To Figure This Out On Your Own. This is a pin on the wall post to use when you get a plaintive wail from a newbie writer. ‘But what do I do?’ Answer: You read this post from Mark LeFebvre and maybe check out Maureen Crisp’s Craicer blog. *SMILE*

 

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 Jude Mack on Unsplash

Is AI Text Destroying Our Characters Humanity?

 

In Publishing News This Week

 

The end of March saw the closing date for authors to claim compensation from Anthropic in the Bartz vs Anthropic class action. However, this doesn’t mean that Anthropic is off the hook. This week the Association of American Publishers, along with the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical publishers joined a class action taken by the Concord Music Group publishers. Yes, song lyrics were ripped off as well as scientific, technical, and medical information. So Anthropic might have to delve into their $300 billion wallet and find some loose change.

Over on Lit Hub, Mary Childs has an article on feeling left out of the Bartz claim…her book was in the original theft, how come It wasn’t chosen to be in the compensation?

 

The Guardian reports that Penguin Random House is taking Open AI to court because their Chat GPT bot plagiarized their German children’s book. This court case is being taken in Europe. This is a specific case involving a chat bot. The case is compelling and Open Ai don’t really have a leg to stand on here.

 

Are animated micro dramas the next big thing? Harlequin thinks so. They have partnered with Dashverse, an AI entertainment company, to produce animated micro dramas inspired by their romance titles. They have a huge back list to mine if the first forty animations do well. 

 

Publishers Weekly interviewed agents and publishers about the Shy Girl controversy which I reported on last week. There was skepticism about Hachette’s claims that they didn’t know anything about the problem before it was brought to their attention. 

There are some telling comments about the disparity of power between what publishers demand of authors and what use of AI they make themselves. 

Mark Williams has been looking at the audiobook industry and finding the gaps that publishers are missing. Mark is a teacher in The Gambia, one of the poorest nations on Earth and he shares insights into a world where everyone has a smart phone but not a book or a credit card. There is a distribution model ripe for disruption. A fascinating article.

 

Jane Friedman has a great article about how the Bookstore Market has changed and what publishers should be doing to support them. The article is based on the recent Book Industry Study Group candid discussions at their recent event. If you know a bookseller pass it on. (I will be) Jane also has some author takeaways to think about.

 

Joanna Penn recently interviewed Anne Lamott and her husband Neal Allen on their new book Good Writing. Many writers will know Anne Lamotts book Bird by Bird which is one of those books on writing that every writer should read. Anne and Neal’s new book for writers is on crafting sentences. Read the transcript or listen to the interview it is fascinating.

This month Richard Charkin is reflecting on those strategy retreats that he attended when he was a publishing CEO and how quickly the high ideas and plans fell by the wayside to corporate bottom lines. This year will the strategy retreats focus on AI and will they change anything in publishing land?

 

Sara Hildeth writes this week about the rise of AI text generated newsletters. Her response is to question why writers would even bother to use an AI to generate text. The act of writing demands so much more from the writer. This is a thought provoking article on what it means to be a writer.

 

Written Word Media has an interesting deep dive article into what moves the needle as you go from Author to Authorpreneur. The transition to a business takes a different mindset and a willingness to look at marketing strategies.

 

Donald Maass has an interesting article on the writers toolbox of questions to make your characters and plot stronger. The important takeaway here is you can read loads of craft books but do you put the ideas into practice?

 

Mark Leslie Lefebvre is also looking at characters this week, specifically how your characters look at the world differently. Are you thinking about your characters world view and how they move through your story? 

In The Craft Section,

15 actionable tips for writing deep characters- Joanna Penn- BOOKMARK

Ego driven vs Soul driven character arcs- K M Weiland – Bookmark

Using contradiction to create micro tension- C S Lakin

How does fear play into Character arcs- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Types of backstory – Gabriela Pereira

 

In The Marketing Section,

How to beat your newsletter competition- Jane Friedman- Bookmark

How to build a powerful email list- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

AI systems can rescue you from difficult marketing tasks- R J Redden

Marketing myths – Rachel Thompson- Bookmark!

Amazon A content can upgrade your sales page- Penny Sansevieri

 

To Finish

Recently Tessa Barbosa wrote an interesting article on Writer Unboxed about the value of craft in the art of writing. “Creativity is a practice, just like meditation. It is about noticing things, making connections and asking questions." 

An AI can’t replicate your voice or point of view. Go out there and be human!

 

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 Emilipothèse on Unsplash

Smart Ideas

In Publishing News this week,

One of the flow on effects in the Straits of Hormuz crisis is the slow down in the global supply chain. We have been here before, when a globally important canal was blocked. Suddenly everything is in short supply including books. They are stuck on a freight ship under fire in the Straits of Hormuz. Publishers Weekly looks at the rising costs due to this war.

 

Over the last week there has been comment over the Shy Girl book being pulled by Hachette just as it was being prepared for publication in the US. That’s a lot of pulped books as it was already on sale in the UK. The reason for the pulling- the book didn’t pass the sniff test for AI use. If so, why was it acquired in the first place? The author claims an editor must have used AI. Hachette didn’t notice anything until a New York Times article from another writer pointed it out and then they cancelled the book immediately. Mark Williams looks at the contract clause invoked and the problems this might create for authors in the future. 

 

Publishing Perspectives writes in their news roundup about Germany launching a credit card sized book token with a link to an audio book similar to the Tonies character player for children. Publishing Perspectives went on to say that Tonies has almost a 50% take up in target families in Europe.

Over the many years writing this blog the idea of physically owning your digital books has never gone away. Reading books on devices and subscription is not owning the book. You buy a license to read it on your device, kindle, smartphone, tablet or computer. This is true for audio books as well. Various companies have started with great intentions and then have gone quiet after trying to get traction from publishing companies to make bookcover trading cards with a download link combining the idea of convenience and physical ownership. If adults can buy Tonie character stories for their kids, is there a market for their favourite characters with audiobook or eBook links? 

 

Sweden recently had its Book Industry day and Publishing Perspectives covered the discussions. Amongst the applause at rising print book sales and the huge growth in audio, a new bookseller commented on Bookshops as social spaces. 

This idea has been on my mind for a while. The Bookshop as a curated experience. 

Savvy independent booksellers are embracing the idea of Bookshops as Destinations, offering experiences that enhance the readers enjoyment, Book club nights, author talks, panel discussions, book launches, themed membership nights. The Bookshop is the new literary salon. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that atmosphere?

 

Publishers Weekly writes about the Substack-ified books that used to make the literary community ill. Authors were doing deals with Substack to serialise books back when Substack was new. A decade on and publishers are now realizing that the literary creator economy is over on Substack and they had better factor it in now that there are no longer glossy magazines to publish stories in.

 

The nightmare of having your social media or publishing accounts suspended can be paralysing to an author. Becca Syme writes about how to deal with the calamity and offers helpful advice based on how other authors came through the experience.

 

Jane Friedman has written the comprehensive post on AI and Publishing. This is an FAQ article that will be updated constantly. In the meantime, Jane has hit every major AI question with comprehensive answers.

 

Writing retreats and why they are a good idea, Harper Ross writes about how you can organize one for yourself. If you are lucky enough to get away and go write somewhere with like minded people you will already know this is golden time. 

 

Mark Leslie Lefebvre writes in praise of PLR. If you are lucky enough to live in a country that has the Library Public Lending Right – don’t take it for granted. There are plenty of authors who would like the chance to enjoy what you have. In the meantime, support your local library. I know a thriller writer who has all her book launches in the local library and they are highly anticipated affairs.

 

Katie Weiland has a thought provoking post on embodied writing or emotionally resonant writing. She writes “Embodied writing is an intentional return to that lived reality as the wellspring for fiction.’ This is an article that will keep you thinking for the rest of the week.

 

In The Craft Section,

Amplifying tension- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Journey of a romantic novel- Lucy Hay-Bookmark

Finding the heart of a story- Heather Webb- Bookmark

How to create a consistent Story Tone -K M Weiland- Bookmark

Focus on finishing- Joseph Lallo- Great Advice

 

In The Marketing Section,

Weak promotion dooms good books- Josh Bernoff

Are you overlooking potential readers- Kathy Steinemann- Bookmark

Author visibility- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

You don’t need 10000 followers- Dan Blank

How to succeed at live events- Russel Nohelty- Bookmark

 

To Finish

You might have noticed the little rocket that I use as part of the Craicer branding. I write science fiction for kids so I let myself geek out a little on space things. This means that I read Andy Weirs books when they came out and watch the movies countless times. Project Hail Mary is a great story and all the scientists agree that it translated over to film pretty well. It deserves every success. Andy’s story is well known to the hard sci fi nerds amongst us. Tasmina Perry has an article on what we can all learn from Andy’s stories. Make your readers feel like smart problem solvers, they will love you for it.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter If you want the best of my bookmarked links as well as other eclectic things 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.

 

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Readers- The New Superheros.

 In Publishing News This Week

I am back at my desk after three weeks away and looking through the news to see what I have missed. It is all London Book Fair with side issues of AI and ways to prove human authentication on your books. 

 

While I was away, I scheduled three articles on Copyright, Literary Estates, and Artificial Intelligence to appear on my blog. Thanks to readers who shared them with others. If you missed them and want to catch up, I wrote about 

What Copyright means and what it is worth.

Why you need to understand your Literary Estate.

How Artificial Intelligence can be used ethically.

Looking over the meaty topics discussed at the London Book Fair my articles reflect some of the discussions, which is gratifying.

 

One of the meaty topics discussed at LBF was Joanna Prior’s keynote speech. Joanna is chair of the UK Literacy Trust as well as being CEO of Pan Macmillan and her speech was an admonishment that the publishing industry is focusing on the wrong crisis. “The decline of reading is a greater challenge to our industry than AI could ever be.” Her speech highlighted the challenges we all face to keep our readers. 

 

Two great London Book Fair overview posts were from Tasmina Perry and Deborah Maclaren. Tasmina wrote about the publishing trends she saw at the LBF, short books are in. Deborah had a more considered overview on the big topics that were discussed, preparing for the next generation of readers. Both these articles highlight the need for publishers to be engaged with their readers.

 

Beside the keynote speeches, a protest book was published by 10,000 authors. Don’t Steal This Book was a direct response to the UK governments plan to allow AI companies to train AI models on copyrighted work without compensation.

 

Jane Friedman writes about her concern that author societies that are sponsoring certification models highlighting human authored books may be missing the point. What use is a sticker on the book if you can’t prove and AI was not involved in writing it?

 

Meanwhile, over in The Gambia Mark Williams writes about what it is like to be a teacher with access to AI but not printed books. His comments reflect Joanna Prior’s keynote on literacy and the challenges of keeping a reader. Without readers there is no publishing industry.

 

Publishing Perspectives reports on a panel discussion at LBF that highlighted the need for publishers to make licensing deals with AI. A bad deal is better than no deal was the comment. I’m not sure that should be a business maxim, but the arguments were compelling.

 

Recently Chelle Honiker of Indie Author Magazine interviewed Draft2Digitals CEO Kris Austin on How AI is affecting The Publishing Industry.

Kris talked about the flood of AI books in the nonfiction space that they reject. He is not so worried about fiction books authored by AI. We could be inflating AI’s ability to tell a compelling story.

 

Baker and Taylor have finally fallen on their sword and filed for bankruptcy. This surprised a few commentators that thought their recent fire sale of assets might have covered the creditors; however the bills were bigger than anyone knew. They owe some eye watering sums as Publishers Weekly reports.

 

Mark Leslie Lefvbre has an interesting article on being wide and how some authors have failed to understand what that actually means. Mark has done just about every job in publishing and is a great resource for how to run an author business. Are you publishing wide but shallow?

 

Ingram Spark has put together a free book marketing course. Each of the modules are under four minutes long and they cover metadata to publicity to websites to social media marketing. If you were looking for an overview on book marketing this could be for you. You get a certificate as well. 

 

Donald Maass has been an agent for a long time. He writes an interesting article on Writer Unboxed about Reading as an Agent. What he looks for might not be what you think. This is required reading if you are submitting to agents and editors.

 

In The Craft Section,

Awaken your creativity- Sarah Hamer- Bookmark

Learning about genres makes you write better- Andromeda Romano-Lax

Base your story structure on principles not systems- Tiffany Yates Martin

How to write dark stories responsibly- K M Weiland- Bookmark

Writing uncomfortable scenes- Jami Gold- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

2 excellent posts from Rachel Thompson- Understanding Social Media Followers and Book Giveaway subscriber marketing.- Bookmark Both.

Ten tips for Newsletter swaps- Gayle Leeson- Bookmark

5 ways to make your book relevant to media- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

7 Kindle keywords- Dave Chesson- (Updated)

 

To Finish,

While I was away, I did not check my email every day. However, when I did, I was looking through my lists for emails from real people not the next scam email. (There were a few of those.) Recently, Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware went down a Simon and Schuster scam rabbit hole to see how far they would go before they realized that she wasn’t a genuine mark. What I found interesting is that the AI scammer did not flag her name or her actual job which is to write about dodgy practices in the publishing world. If you are reading my blog, you are likely quite up to date on new scam practices, it’s the newbie authors that they target and whose dreams they shatter. A kind word from you and a link to Victoria’s blog might save a newbie from an expensive and embarrassing mistake.

 

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 Kyle Hinkson on Unsplash