Writers-Are You The Problem?

In Publishing News this week,

Publishers Weekly reports that Catapult publishers is to close at the end of the month. As you read the article you wonder why this is happening, on paper it looks successful. But there are a few paragraphs in the news report that offer a clue according to industry gossip. The staff decided to unionize. What was their billionaire owner to do?

 

On the other side of the publishing desk, two authors unhappy with the way their children’s book on Palestinian history was being edited decided to pull their book from Random House just as it was ready to go to print. Publishers Weekly details the authors concerns.

 

Amazon have announced they are changing the name of Kindle Unlimited to Kindle+. In their press release they are adding audiobooks into the subscription and they promise that audiobook royalties will be by the page. With the heavy competition for audiobook ears, it seems this was a match waiting to happen. 

 

The Authors Guild has written a set of guidelines for publishers around AI best practice in dealing with authors. They hope that it will give authors and publishers a starting point to understand how much and what kind of AI should be acceptable.

 

The Wall Street journal writes about YouTube looking to officially expand into audiobooks. Unofficially, authors have been putting their audiobooks onto YouTube and getting lucrative advertising money. 

 

The next big court case has been filed with 300 authors filing copyright infringement claims against Meta. What is interesting is that this is not a class action. That’s 300 individual claims. This is just the first group reported on. Lawyers interviewed by Publishers Weekly indicate that another 2000 are in the pipeline and they are asking $150,000 per claim.

Over in Korea, Mark Williams reports on the Korean Publishers Society launching an appeal to their government to pursue compensation from Anthropic for illegally copying their authors work. Other countries are preparing their own cases.

 

Publishing Perspectives reports that due to the dire state of reading and closing of bookshops Poland’s Ministry of Culture and Heritage is debating whether to make fixed price book laws. The rest of Europe is waiting to see whether it is a good idea.

 

Over the years I have linked to articles that explain IP (Intellectual Property) and why keeping control of it is a good idea. Publishers Weekly reports on two ex Amazon Executives who also think IP is a good idea and they have formed a company to help authors exploit their own IP in book packaging deals. 

 

Ines Johnson has a great essay on how to create your own author mastermind group. 

It doesn’t need to be in person but the idea of looking over another writer’s shoulder to get motivated and learn can be beneficial to everyone in the group.

 

Claire Taylor has an interesting essay on calendaring. What happens when calendaring your life isn’t working? Are you stuck in the constantly planning phase and not getting any further forward in your creative project? Claire explains that your ego might be the problem.

 

Mark Leslie Lefebvre has a thoughtful essay on pre rejection. This is the essay for you if you are feeling imposter syndrome. Mark writes about wearing two hats, one hat is well known in the industry and gets all the attention which he wishes the other hat would get.

 

Jenny Hansen writes this week on the difference between Fear and Fine. Each word is an acronym for a state of mind that can halt the writer in their tracks. A must read.

 

Kris Rusch has an interesting essay on Craft and the writer. Have you stopped learning?

She is a big advocate of the writer constantly learning about craft. You may think that you know all the basics but are you writing the same story over and over again?  

 

In The Craft Section,

Grammar errors you may be making- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

Using Character Tropes effectively- Angerla Ackerman- Bookmark

Author blind spots- Jenn Windrow- Bookmark

When is it ok to quit a story- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

The many ways to bookend a novel- CS Laking- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

November holiday Book Promotion ideas- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Are low content books dead- Dale Evans

Should writers pay to have their book edited- Jill Boehme

Interview with Spoken founder Phil Marshall-Indie Author- Interesting

Why Writers need multiple practical marketing strategies- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

 

To Finish

It’s nearly Novel November and you’ve obsessively planned out your story. (See last weeks post for links) Got all the craft books you need and are ready to go…and stop. You have run out of momentum before you even start the project. Or you may have had a project rejected that has been one rejection too many. Natalie Hart has the essay for you. The Big List of Momentum Recovery Activities. You need to reframe the feelings that you have to go forward.

Among the quotes Natalie shared, this one got me thinking about new beginnings. 

The phoenix must burn to emerge- Janet Fitch.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Photo by Patrick von der Wehd on Unsplash