In Publishing News This Week
The Commonwealth short story prize was awarded last week and already the knives are out as people study the story and conclude that AI must have been seriously used to write it. The author isn’t commenting but The Guardian has plenty to say after prestigious magazine Granta published the winning story.
James Pattison rides to the rescue of children’s literature with a new institute dedicated to early adolescent reading skills, reports Publishers Weekly. James has pledged $10 million dollars to the cause. He has a philanthropy history of growing readers through programs targeting reading, libraries, and bookshops. All power to him!
Once upon a time, when a printer had made a serious snafu on a print book, the copies would be pulled and the print run replaced. Not so at Minotaur. They recently had a special print run for independent bookshops of the hotly anticipated thriller The Last Mandarin. Then something went wrong. Publishers Weekly reports that the bookshops have been told that 6 pages are missing and to direct customers to a QR code to read the missing pages. You can imagine the reaction.
Publishing Perspectives reports that the Anthropic settlement has gone through its final fairness hearing. At the hearing, objectors were allowed 2 whole minutes to explain why they objected to the settlement and the objectors have good points. It is US centric, it leaves out other countries, and there is no compensation for authors whose publishers never filed copyright. How is that fair? In my recent article on Literary Estates I commented on the amount of money that publishers have missed out on by not filing copyright.
After a period of consolidation, Storytel are back out acquiring audio book sites. Publishing Perspectives reports on their latest acquisition, the Dutch publishing company Overamstel. And they are paying cash…so they have some serious money to spend in Europe.
Are you looking for royalty software? Publishing Perspectives reports on a new venture that will do everything for the publisher regarding rights, royalties, workflows and liaising with authors. Crealo is a one stop shop. They aren’t saying it’s AI but….
Mark Williams likes to point out where AI might be of benefit to the publishing community. He reports on the new president of the Korean Publishing Association and their conceptual shift of seeing AI as a reader. It’s an interesting article which examines how we might go forward in licensing content.
Tanya Anne Crosby, the CEO of Oliver Heber Books, recently wrote an article on what she is seeing with the changes over at Amazon. She writes about being hopeful that the changes are going to benefit the reader. She has great advice for how you can jazz up your marketing on Amazon and get those eyeballs.
If you are writing romance and need some high-level workshop learning check out the Writing Romance Mastery Summit says Alexa Bigwharfe. She breaks down what is on offer, 25 sessions over 5 days. It’s free but only if you show up. So those outside the US set your alarms.
For some reason Anne R Allens inbox is the place to be for a scamming email. Anne has seen it all, often every day. her article Writers- Don’t Let Yourself be Groomed By Book Publicity Scammers is a must read for what to look out for.
Katie Weiland has a thoughtful post on How The Marketplace Is Shaping The Stories We Tell. She examines the role of the storyteller and offers some great advice for balancing the commercial with the creative.
Jenn Windrow has written a fantastic article on voice. Your Voice Is The Point – Stop Toning It Down. Writers often second guess themselves and edit out the very thing that makes their writing unique. Embrace your authenticity.
In The Craft Section,
Showing or telling- Tiffany Yates Martin-Bookmark
A great weird editing habit to get into-Alison Hammer-Bookmark
Round vs flat characters-Rapid Reads Press
The art of withholding information-Michelle Barker - Bookmark
Defeating the next book willies- James Scott Bell
In The Marketing Section
Mating signals on your bookshelf- Mark Lefebvre
Trade Book Reviews- Sandra Beckwith
Author Case Study – Kindlepreneur- Bookmark
How to turn your readers into your marketers- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark
What happens after your KDP account gets terminated- Useful information!
To Finish.
Don’t look now but it’s nearly the middle of the year. Aaargh. If you have been thinking you have plenty of time left, you may need to revisit your publishing calendar, reprioritize your goals, or have an existential crisis. Dan Blank has a great essay on mid-year creative goals using clarity cards. He has a made the clarity card visual process available as a free PDF to help you.
Liz Talley also looks at the mid-year blues. She shows how you can use business goals to help you get organized for the next half of the year.
Go forth with renewed purpose and crush those productive blocks!
Maureen
@craicer
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