Understanding The Rules

In Publishing News this week

 

In the continuing saga of Baker and Taylor distributors, the physical warehouse and staff have found a buyer. Riding to the rescue is Lakeside Book Company who have snapped up their warehouse, employees, and print on demand service. 

 

Publishing Perspectives highlights the news that Tennessee is demanding libraries comply with a directive on age appropriate books- or gender politics by another name. This has widespread condemnation with PEN America among many organisations crying political interference in library management and reading.

 

The suspension of books with AI covers from New Zealand’s prestigious national book awards was reported around the world. The online discussions ranged from it shouldn’t be about the cover to we must draw a line in the sand, and this will strengthen the argument for other book awards. One of the issues raised was the time a book is in production. If you change the rules unexpectedly instead of gradually everyone has time to prepare. 

This morning the Book Awards Trust released the new rules for the New Zealand Children and Young Adults Book Awards. There is a clear clause on AI.

“ 11. Works containing AI-authored text, in part or in whole, are not eligible for entry in any category of the awards. Use of AI for research and minor editorial or formatting support is permitted. Submitters should clarify any queries they have with the awards administrator before entering. If, after submission, a work is found to include ineligible AI-generated text, it will be disallowed. Entry fees will not be refunded and submitted materials will not be returned.

Note: Ahead of the 2027 awards, the awards organisers are consulting with the children’s book sector, including with illustrators and designers, to provide clarity around the use of AI for illustrations. Potential submitters who are currently working on books that will publish during the eligibility period for the 2027 awards (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027) should bear in mind the potential for restrictions on its use for illustrations.”

Their gradual introduction of rules for illustration and AI use gives everyone who already have books in production a grace period. 

 

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators recently held a webinar on the state of the industry. Gone are the months where children’s books propped up publishers. In this brave new world SCBWI believe it’s time to make everything fresh again.

 

Tanzania has a publishing problem, reports Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard. With all the English language books flooding into the country, reading in their native language is on the decline. What to do? 

 

Elle Magazine has an interesting article on the celebrity culture of using ghost writers. The quality of your ghost writer collaborator is now the hot thing. Can you get a Pulitzer Prize writer to ghost write your book?

 

Written Word Media has a comprehensive article on the latest AI scams for writers. Sigh.

Meanwhile, in another twist Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware reports that scammers are impersonating famous writers, calling you up to sell the dream.

Let’s be careful out there. Please pass this knowledge on to newbies. It doesn’t hurt to ring the company and ask if their email is genuine but do your own google search and website contact. I know of one local writer who did this and exposed a whole scam operation from a hacked financial account.

 

Chelle Honiker of Author Automations has an interesting article on using AI to streamline all her office jobs. 

Jenny Hansen also shows how you can use AI in 8 cool non writing ways to protect your work- which means not sharing it in the first place. (Yes you can turn off sharing in AI.)

AI is a tool, you can use it as such for proofreading but the accepted practice is don’t use it for creativity. AI does not have the human experience or voice.

 

Rachel Thompson has a brilliant post on repurposing content. Have you got an article or notes filed away that you can repurpose for social media, website articles or into different bite size notes? Rachel shows you how to do more with your work.

 

Kobo Writing Life has an interesting article on the three technical skills writers need to develop. This is a good advice. Are you learning your craft? Do you keep learning? Do you reread your writing craft books? This is also the last week for the Storybundle of writing craft books. Don’t miss out.

 

In The Craft Section,

Creating subtext in deep POV- Lisa Hall-Wilson- Bookmark

Edit your book as if it’s a screenplay- Lesley Krueger

Memoir examples- Reedsy

Ethical and moral dilemmas in crime fiction- Chris Berg and Paul James Smith- Bookmark

Is your character the true antagonist- September Fawkes- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

The importance of your author website- Kobo-Bookmark

The power of the free prequel- Harshini Fernando- Bookmark

Amazon Metadata mistakes- Bookbaby

The 100 rejections challenge-Libby James-Bookmark

Ebook Distribution Deep Dive – Reedsy - Interesting

 

To Finish

As we move into the last month of the year it's gift giving season with Black Friday deals, Cyber Monday deals and then Christmas. Sandra Beckwith is first off the rank with a collection of writer gifts that you might like people to buy for you. The best gift to give a writer is reviews, book sales, a coffee, and then maybe trawl the list for something they really need.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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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

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly 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.

 

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Reinventing Ourselves

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

Publisher’s Weekly writes about the reinstatement of BookCon for American publishers.  Back in pre covid days America had Book Expo which died. While other countries managed to keep their big Book Fairs alive, The United States of America struggled. Enter Book Con 2026 rising from the ashes and focusing on the young trend setters and readers of today. 

 

Publisher’s Weekly also reports on the mixed results to lawsuits trying to halt or reestablish the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This is of huge importance to libraries who rely on funding from this organization in the USA. 

 

Mark Williams looks at the partnership between Mattel (the toy brand) and Open AI. As a teacher and publishing commentator he is drawing some big links with childrens toys and the familiarity the next generation have with AI already. If you are a children’s publisher or writer keeping an eye on this is a must.

 

There is another audiobook award out there. Based in the United Kingdom it’s The Speakies. Dan Holloway looks at how to enter.

 

Staying in the UK, Publishing Perspectives writes about the upcoming UK Publishers Licensing Services conference and what the main topics are. The PLS collects and distributes money from copyright licenses. The 3 day conference is free.

 

Meanwhile, over in Europe there are meetings and summer schools happening for publishers about the new EU rules of accessibility in publishing. Can your books be read by the disabled community. How will you implement changes to your publishing program if you sell in the EU?

 

Recently I listened to Joanna Penn and Thomas Umstattd talking about book discoverability in the age of AI. This was so interesting I listened to it again and sent the link to a few people. Check out the transcript or download the podcast. Food for thought.

 

David Beer of 3 Quarks Daily has an interesting article entitled Will the fear of being confused for an AI mean that we will now write differently? This is an interesting article on deep learning and being human.

 

If you haven’t checked out the Indie author magazine you really should. Chelle Honiker is the programming director of the Author Nation conference and has been the driving force behind the indie author magazine for a few years now. They have great articles on all sorts of topics. Recently Chelle compiled a group of articles on mastering your writing time.

 

If you have been wondering how to get all your virtual events, merchandise sales, book talks, launches etc under one roof check out Benventi they may just have the solution. It’s always interesting to see how new teams approach working with author pain points.

 

Sara Hildeth has an interesting article on Literary Elitism and Literary Egalitarianism.

Why do people push the notion that to read Literary works they must be among the elite thinkers? Each side has entrenched views on the subject. Do we need to review the definitions again?

 

Kathleen Schmidt writes an interesting article on publishing imprints and the marketing budgets. The Vicious Cycle of Book Publishing. This is of interest if you are wondering why your book is not gaining traction. It could be that there just isn’t any money in the budget. For instance, this month is when publishers work out their Christmas promotion budget.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to prepare your manuscript for a developmental edit- Jenn Windrow- Bookmark

Character building – Dave King

Scene segmentation- C S Lakin- Bookmark

How long should a denouement be- September Fawkes- Bookmark

360 conference highlights-Debbie Burke- Super interesting!

 

In the Marketing Section,

7 ways to repurpose your book content- Sandra Beckwith - Bookmark

Disrupting book marketing venue by venue- Lynette Burrows- Bookmark!

How to get free book advertising- Brian Jud

Why I dropped the WordPress website for Payhip- Kris Maze- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Every now and then I wonder if anyone reads the blog. I have been writing it for over seventeen years. Sometimes it is easy to get discouraged and think blogging or compiling my weekly roundup of publishing news, writing, and book marketing tips is old hat and no one is really interested. Then I remember the little comments and emails and my newsletter subscribers who take the time to flick me comments and encouragement and I put my head down and get back to work. This week Rachel Thompson had a fantastic article on why blogging is still relevant. Of course I haven’t followed all her fabulous tips. I should have been blogging about children’s books seeing as how I write them. Ah well. Maybe that’s something I could be thinking about starting. 

In the meantime, thanks for getting all the way to the bottom of another weekly blog.

 

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 buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash