In Publishing News this week.
The Writer’s Strike is over (provisionally.)
Many Film and TV writers are hailing this as a landmark ruling for the way it is putting constraints on the use of AI in their industry. As the news filters out, everyone is eager to look at the terms and commenting on why the networks and producers only started to negotiate 10 days ago.
The Atlantic published a search database you can use to see whether your books have been scraped to train an AI. Many writers have discovered their whole catalogue on there. SSF writers have been especially hard hit. But today I learned an academic family member had two of her textbooks scraped. The Authors Guild has got their lawyers onto it and have published a template take down notice as well as a What To Do Now statement.
Meanwhile, in other AI news the AI industry is looking for poets or anyone who has an MFA to teach their AI’s how to write lyrical language.
There is a publishing world outside the western centric one. Nairobi is about to have their International Book Fair and they have added a rights market into their programme. Guests are coming from around the world. Publishing Perspectives looks at what is on offer.
Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard takes a look at the new sales pot for Kindle Unlimited and compares it to the Print figures which have been sliding.
Staying with Amazon, the book business applauded when the Federal Trade Commission of the United States began an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon. Take 17 state attorneys and 172 pages and stir in the words “uses a set of interlocking anticompetitive and unfair strategies to illegally maintain its monopoly power” and you get a lawsuit that will take years to unravel. At least it’s a start.
You have finished the book and now you have to edit it. Where do you start? Kobo has the answer. How to edit your first draft.
Kris Rusch is a power house and there is nothing in publishing that she has not done. The big chat around the Indie publishing community is owning your own store and selling there first before going out to the online distributors. This week she talks about merchandise and all things store related with the launch of her first series store. Take a look and have your mind blown.
When an Indie Press ceases to be, it makes the publishing world a little gloomier. Louise Walters writes about the hard decision to shut her press and her thoughts on why Indie Presses need more love from bookshops.
Are you struggling with Social Media? Ambre Leffler has an interesting post on managing your energy and your posts.
Have you been asked to Beta read or are you wondering about how to set up parameters for your Beta readers. Jae from Sapphicquill has a great checklist for authors to use.
If you just need a reason to read, check out Molly Templeton’s 21 thoughts about reading habits.
The Bookbub website is chock full of interesting articles on writing and marketing books . This week they have a comprehensive 140 tips for book marketing from AJ Lee
In The Craft Section,
3 ways to use Theme to deepen your story- Sharon Skinner
Changing the hero’s goal- Michael Hauge- Bookmark
Tropes as a jumping off point- Richard Thomas- Bookmark
Tips for writing a character that you hate- Sue Coletta
Transition sentences- Ruth Harris- Bookmark
Using Description- Kathy Steinemann
In The Marketing Section,
2 great posts from Penny Sansevieri 7 creative ways to boost local book sales and
Holding book events in non-traditional venues- Bookmark
Identifying the 5 core ideas of your book- Judith Briles-Bookmark
3 design secrets for captivating book ads- Teresa Conner-Bookmark
How to glo up your Instagram- Lara Ferrari
To Finish,
Every year The Alliance of Independent Authors run 3 virtual 24 hour conferences. Each of these conferences are themed around a different skillset for authors and are filled with a wealth of information. The next conference is on Mindset. They have a great line up of speakers well known in the author community. (Spot the Kiwis.)
Sign up. It’s free.
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 shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top or here. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.
Pic: Photo by Jaredd Craig on Unsplash
