How To Find A New Book

 

 

In Publishing News this week

 

Publishers Weekly had a story about Bookshop.org beginning to sell eBooks in the UK. If you haven’t heard of Bookshop.org they are an independent online book seller that sells into the US and UK. They donate their profits to your local independent bookseller. Their catalogue is from Ingram. With eBooks being added to the stores that’s another win for independent booksellers. In NZ we have BookHub, an online book site linking to independent booksellers throughout the country. It’s a great tool to quickly research and buy books from your local bookseller.  

 

Porter Anderson reports that the judge has approved the settlement of the Anthropic case but as anyone in publishing knows what about the fact that AI companies all scraped their information from pirate book sites. Porter talks to some of the plaintiffs about that big problem that wasn’t addressed in the settlement.

PEN America reports on the latest round of book censorship taking place across the US.

Banned Books week is next week and sadly there is an increase in book censorship in American schools. It’s got to the point where they are just reporting on new books that are being banned, not all books that have come under censorship. 

With a child studying the publishing industry here in NZ, I am interested in what publishing courses around the world are teaching. Publishing Perspectives has a run down on what New Yorks Advanced Publishing Institutes week long conference will be covering. Their hot topics are very familiar to anyone in the indie publishing world. Newsletters, YouTube, AI, Audio, and Direct Selling. 

 

There has been a lot of comments in Social Media about an article published by The Walrus – Publishing has a Gambling Problem. Some commenters agree that the system could be broken, others defend it. At issue is how publishers’ actions can screw up a writers career. Nowadays the success of their first book dictates whether they have a career at all. Kathleen Schmidt has an interesting take on this from the publicist’s point of view. And riffing on a theme, An independent bookshop book buyer also weighed in how difficult it was from the bookshop side to even choose books from a catalogue. Suffice to say that if you see a book being featured in a window it has already gone through many battles to get there.

 

In a potential new book alert- The Dream Team of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have a new thesaurus in the works – The Coping Mechanism Thesaurus. They like to test out ideas with writers so have a great article on what coping mechanisms are and how you can use them in your character development.

 

It is nearly time for the Frankfurt book fair and happening at the same time is The Alliance of Independent Authors 24 hour online conference. The conference is free and available for everyone. This year’s theme is New Trends. They have their usual fantastic lineup of speakers. Sign up and get all the talks for two days before they go behind a paywall. 

 

Dave Chesson has pulled together a list of the best book marketing books in his opinion. Rachel Thompson has a great article on 5 Misconceptions Writers Have About Book Marketing and Sales.

 

Liz Michalski has an interesting article on Writer Unboxed – How First Drafts Are Like Cauliflower. She has a list of hints that can make the process of revision so much better.

I’m currently working through one of her hints in my own work. It’s tough but it is worthwhile.

 

Katie Weiland has a quick post on single vs multiple narrators in your novel. What are the pros and cons of each style of writing? I’m wrestling with a multiple POV book, and it is tricky. Huge learning but hard work. 

 

In The Craft Section,

How to find your characters voice- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Craft a Raptor Hero-Sue Coletta- Bookmark

Picturing your characters- James Scott Bell

Can setup and backstory work in chapter one- Donald Maass- Bookmark

Writing friends becoming co-authors- Julie Glover

In The Marketing Section

How to get reader reviews- Sandra Beckwith

5 mistakes authors make running eBook promos-Written Word Media- Bookmark

How authors can ask smarter questions- Brian Jud- Bookmark

Global Translation tips- Kelly McDaniel

15 rules for advertising books- David Gaughran- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

It’s the last quarter of the year and that’s a panic time for authors. The Christmas book sales rush – will my book sell? The end of year, I still haven’t finished my manuscript, worry. Advertising budgets go up. Aaargh Money!  Not Enough Time -Aaargh! That treadmill of productivity starts to run faster. 

How do we counter this? 

Meet someone to talk about books. 

Electric Lit has an article on what they think is the next big past time, Book Readings. Have a session at a bar and read each other’s books… or just your favourite book. Hang out at a bookstore event- or start a weekly reading drop in. Book readings where you can ‘meet cute’ or just meet someone new and buy a book as well. It might be just what you need.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter of the best of my bookmarked links. 

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Pic  Photo by Steven Wright on Unsplash

 

Publishing: The Meet Cute Rollercoaster

 

 

In Publishing News this week.

 

Paris, the city of love, or if you have been following AI news, the city of the International AI Summit. 40 world organizations called on the summit to recognize the threat to copyright. Unfortunately, the summit didn’t take much note of the threat to Intellectual Property, so publishers are not happy.

 

Joanna Penn recently interviewed Alicia Wright on copyright and AI which gives you a handle on how one Intellectual Property lawyer who also happens to be a sci fi author is using it.

 

Meanwhile, The Diamond Comics Distributor bankruptcy is beginning to bite with many bookshops left hanging. Diamond distributed many niche comic magazines which may go to the wall if another distributor doesn’t buy Diamond’s business. Publishers Weekly looks at the assets on sale.

 

In book sales news, the latest monthly numbers are in. Dystopian books are outselling everything else. Is everybody looking for a how to survive the current political turmoil handbook? Publishers Weekly looks at who the big winners are in post inauguration book sales.

 

While dystopian fiction is on the rise- Mark Williams is taking acerbic aim at HarperCollins and how they may have only just come to realise that the world has changed in publishing. 

 

Spotify are happy. Dan Holloway reports that they have made a profit after a year of making audiobooks available. They are also very keen on their Spotify for Authors platform.

 

Anne Carley has a guest post on Jane Friedman’s blog about the messy creative process. Nothing is ever straightforward in the creative life. This is a great post on recognizing when the process gets unstuck and how to get creative again.

 

Colleen Story has a great post for when you don’t think your writing is good enough. This happens to every author. It doesn’t matter how many best sellers they have. If you are feeling down about your writing check out this great post. Jenny Hansen takes it a step further looking at Book Structure for Disorganised Writers. No, you are not at fault... in fact there is no fault. 

 

Kathleen McCleary has a great post on Writer Unboxed about working obsessively on the beginning of your novel and why it’s important to nail these pages.

You have to make the reader care… really it’s just a reader meet cute.

 

In The Craft Section,

5 questions to ask before adding a subplot- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

How to use traits to create character arcs- Sarah Hamer- Bookmark

Deepening a story with theme echoes- Jami Goild- Bookmark

Redeeming your villain- Becca Puglisi

Overcoming plot constipation- James Scott Bell

 

In The Marketing Section,

Book advertising- David Gaughran- Bookmark

How to promote like a pro- Ingram Spark

How to build a loyal audience- PR by the book- Bookmark

25 ways to promote your book- Marika Flatt

2025 Literary Calendar dates Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

The romance story outsells every other genre. The romance authors are the savviest book marketers on the planet. The romance brand gets the most brickbats. I don’t know whether it’s jealousy because of the sales, or covering up sentiment by doubling down on hate, or some mistaken idea that cool people don’t like romance. With savvy marketing, huge sales, and the stories promoting being nice to each other, everybody should be celebrating the genre. September Fawkes writes on how every story needs a meet cute scene. 

It’s got to be better than doom scrolling.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links 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 Bundo Kim on Unsplash

Looking for Rainbows!

 

In Publishing News this week,

Microsoft launched a non-fiction publishing arm publishing original research, ideas and insights from the intersection of science, technology, and business. Publisher’s Weekly reports on this venture that looks like a mashup of a research journal and a vanity imprint.

 

Sharjah International Book Fair clocks up nearly 2 million visitors. Publishing Perspectives looks at the huge impact of the fair.

Bologna is starting to ramp up its planning and guests five months out from the big children’s book fair scheduled for the end of March. With the roaring success of the Chinese Children’s Book Fair will they be implementing any new ideas?

 

There is a lot of comment around the news of the HarperCollins AI deal that has publishers and writers talking. Publishers Weekly looks in depth at the implications for agents and writers. Under the terms HC want to split 50/50 the pot of cash for allowing AI to scrape the book. Everybody has an opinion. Authors Guild has come out with their recommendation. Don’t take the money. Publishers have a different view, it looks so sweet and backlists are just sitting there.

 

Joanna Penn commented on her podcast that in the space of a year the mood of authors has changed around using AI tools. She is just back from Author Nation – the rebranded 20books Vegas conference (also known as the biggest writers conference in the world.) AI can offer shortcuts and great tools to help with mundane tasks but it shouldn’t be used to create the content. 

Josh Bernoff writes about how his developmental editing business is being impacted by AI writing. It’s harder to edit AI generated content because it is inconsistent, repetitive, and a grammar mess. AI shouldn’t replace your own writing voice.

 

Meanwhile, after the election, the publishing industry is trying to make plans or sense of what might be coming down the track in the brave new world after January. Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard details the lawsuits that face publishing from the president elect already and how this might be a sign of things to come. It looks like a lucrative time to be a lawyer.

Kathleen Schmidt from Publishing Confidential points out where publishing can learn from the election.

 

Jennie Liu writes about the authors note… that’s the page in your novel where you write about your influences. Readers love them… authors struggle.

 

Michelle Baker has a post on the five fears of writers and how to defeat them. (Don’t reach for the alcohol just yet.)

James Scott Bell reassures a young writer that writing can be good again in his excellent piece on writing past discouragement. 

Ellen Buikema has a great post on Writers In The Storm about Writing Anxiety and how to overcome it. 

Look after your mental health- give yourself healthy writing challenges, check in with your writing friends. Remember, you write so your readers can escape from stressful lives. You are vital to each other and the general population. Be the rainbow after the storm!

 

In The Craft Section,

How to trust yourself as a writer- K M Weiland- Bookmark

What are the stakes- how to find out- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Nailing teen dialogue in YA Fiction- Kris Maze

Humorous scenes  – Dale Smith- Bookmark

Balancing showing with telling- C S Lakin

 

In the Marketing Section,

18 book marketing tips from the trenches- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Harnessing the power of AI for author branding- Kimberley Grabas- Bookmark

Identify your most successful marketing paths- Emily Enger- Bookmark

Colleen Story on Selling at Craft Fairs- YouTube video

The best concepts of Write to Market-Karen Whiting

 

To Finish

Look Rainbows!

 

It’s Black Friday sales time so here are some writer focused deals. Some of these are time sensitive so don’t wait around. 

 

The Dream Team – Angela And Becca have a roundup of some great writer deals for software and craft books.

 

Don’t forget Storybundle still has their collection of writing craft books up until the end of November if you are looking for good cheap craft books. 

 

Katie Weiland has 25% off all her courses and books. (I snapped up her new revised expanded edition on structure. I loved her first edition!)

 

David Gaughran has links to the EXCELLENT AppSumo deal from Deposit Photos. This is a total no brainer if you do your own book covers or ad images. $49 lifetime deal on 100 stock photos or videos- limited time! Dave also has a video showing how to use two stock images to generate a whole ad campaign. 

 

Amid the depressing news there are little gems to make you smile. And these deals might just help with that.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links 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.

 

Pic Photo by Agustin Gunawan on Unsplash

Talking Tough

In publishing news this week,

The Booker longlist is out and this is when the judges make some sort of statement about the industry. The chief judge has called for translators to get royalties. This isn’t the first time that translators have been highlighted by the Booker judges. The Booker, one of the most prestigious English language literary prizes has made a point of noticing that their long lists have books that rely upon top-notch translations to get into contention. They argue that translators should get co-billing with the original author, or at least their name on the front of the book. 

 

Publishers Weekly reports on a Caldicot winner setting up a writers retreat for children’s writers. It looks amazing. The retreats are to be themed with 8 or so people at the time across the children’s literature spectrum. 

 

Bologna Children’s Book Fair is on the horizon and Publishing Perspectives details the new events happening online for attendees and free talks you can drop into. 

 

Meanwhile, further over in Europe, publishers are helping out struggling Ukraine publishers by taking books mid-production and finishing them off on behalf of their colleagues. There is a real push to provide small books in their own language to all the displaced Ukrainian children who have ended up in different countries. It is great to see publishers working across borders to help out.

Edit: When I originally posted this blog I edited out a paragraph that I couldn’t back up except with a general Twitter thread that was being talked about and shared, the mass exodus of publishing staff because of burnout. It’s a huge problem. So now I’ve found an article about it. 

This week Amazon apparently opened up advertising on traditionally published books by authors. If you have a traditionally published book you can run Amazon ads to it from your dashboard, not your publishers. (Of course, the sales will be good for your publisher…) I haven’t seen a direct link to a statement from Amazon about it yet but it is being talked about as having been slipped into Ad eligibility.

 

Another week, another Brandon Sanderson comment. Kris Rusch takes to task the thinking behind the sour grape comments about Brandon’s success. It is not down to his publisher's work. Quite the contrary. 

 

Here in NZ, a publisher has announced they are hosting a new prize for a commercial fiction novel. This has caused a lot of comments about why our books aren’t seen as commercial… or read as widely in our own country. Is it cultural cringe? Across the ditch in Australia they have a thriving Read OZ literature scene… why not here? Melinda Szymanik shares her thoughts on the subject. (Mine would get my mouth washed out.)

 

Written Word Media have an interesting article on how to dictate a book and Writer Unboxed has a great article from Sophie Masson on story strands using varied narrative forms- she touches on Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff’s YA books The Illuminae Files which are a tour de force if you want to see narrative forms used in all sorts of ways. 

 

In The Craft Section,

Writing secondary characters with purpose- Barbara Probst- Bookmark

Trimming tricks- Scott Myers

The role of failure in your character arc- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Being a hybrid plotter panster- Zoe McCarthy

How to know whether your story is a Horror, Mystery or Thriller- Lucy V Hay- Bookmark

The 3W’s of scene orientation- Kathryn Craft

 

In The Marketing Section,

9 uses of Free -David Gaughran- Bookmark

Twitter Spaces for writers- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

Author Platform-7 manageable ways to start from scratch- Brooke Warner- Bookmark

6 marketing myths for writers- Lisa Hall Wilson

Strategies to improve your website – Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Anne R Allen celebrates 13 years of blogging this week, or as she puts it, survives. What a treasure trove of interesting and thoughtful articles about writing, the craft of writing, scams, attitude, mindfulness, creativity, the whole 9 yards as we used to say. Drop in and have a trawl around. It is a blog well worth the visit. Congratulations Anne (and trusty co-blogger Ruth Harris.)

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed with marketing notes as a thank you. 

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.

 

Photo by Sam Moqadam on Unsplash

Owing The Writer

 

In Publishing News this week,

The merger of Draft2Digital and Smashwords was announced this week and everyone is talking. Each company has made a significant noise in the Indie Publishing world. Smashwords was first making ePublishing accessible to everyone in 2008. Draft2Digital followed them in 2012. Each publishing portal has its own specialties and exclusive deals. Many authors belong to both, to get as wide a coverage as they can along with access to accreditation, coupons, print deals etc. Together they will be a force, a complete one-stop portal for Indie publishers. Read the Press release from D2D and the commentary from Publishing Perspectives. The two companies are merging staff and senior management with Mark Coker of Smashwords joining the board. Both companies have a wide reach into Europe and it will be interesting to see if they can crack Asia. Now that Amazon has closed down their Asian publishing arm there might be expansion room.

 

Leipzig Book Fair happens 2 weeks before London and is a useful indicator on whether Book Fairs are back to normal. Last week everyone was happy, Leipzig will be in person. 6 days later Leipzig is canceled. A week is a long time in publishing and Covid 19 is not done yet.

 

Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware took Wattpad to task over the rules to their latest contest, which has caused a huge controversy in that part of the publishing blogosphere. The overreach in rights being denied authors entering the contest was excessive. Please read this article from Victoria on the language used and what it means. Publishing contracts and Contests are increasingly using this language. Grabbing as many IP rights as you can is highly profitable for publishing companies. Forewarned is forearmed.

 

Anne R Allen has a great article on 10 dangerous critiques that can scuttle your book and your mental well-being. This is an article that anyone involved in workshopping manuscripts needs to read.

 

Joanna Penn interviewed John Kremer over on her podcast and it is a fascinating read/listen on ways to market books long term. John authored a successful book on the subject now in its 7^th edition. The two of them talk about new markets, new ventures and co-op marketing.

 

David Gaughran has a great article on 15 rules for Book Advertising. David has a wealth of information at his fingertips and all over his website to check him out and pay attention to what he says.

 

Jane Friedman has a great guest post  from Janna Maron on the 3 shifts you need to finish your book. I was fascinated by the sanctuary idea. Do you have a mental sanctuary for your book?

 

The Dream team of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have come up with a great article on treating your writer self this Valentine’s day.

 

In The Craft Section,

Do you begin at the beginning- maybe not- Barbara Lynn Probst

5 Steps to becoming a nonfiction author- Nina Amir- Bookmark

The zigzag plot arc- Marissa graff- Bookmark

Antagonist motivations- K M Weiland

The rule of three- Anne R Allen

 

In The Marketing Section,

Leverage someone else’s network- Sandra Beckwith

Which comes first the marketing or the book- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

Infographic for March marketing- Penny Sansevieri-Bookmark

Best promo sites 2022- David Gaughran- BOOKMARK

An introvert’s guide to an online presence- Tessa Barbossa

Prize ideas for giveaways and promotions- Bookmark

 

To Finish, 

Writer Unboxed has all sorts of interesting articles and this one caught my eye this week

Who does an author owe?

Before you start looking at your bills, this article is about owing energy, owing creativity, owing your story to … your reader.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

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.

 

Conflict, Disruption and Scandal.

 

In Publishing news this week,

Scandal, shock, and naughty words were muttered around author communities this week. 

 

In New Zealand, a government ministry gave money to a start-up. (It can’t be called a start-up if it is 6 years old, but I digress) The Start-Up’s innovative idea was to find out what New Zealand readers are searching for and make appropriate recommendations. This is a big project. They asked and got a big grant of money. But then the flaws in their idea were exposed. One of their recommendations, buy your content (books) from Amazon. (Shipping costs from the US are astronomical.) Had no one in the ministry heard that local indie bookshops do a similar job? I see that Publishers Weekly has picked up this news item. (Shakes head sadly.)

 

News broke that a group of prominent American Young Adult authors were touting NFT’s to their fans to write content for them in a murky publicity stunt. Their publisher really hadn’t thought through the copyright implications of this. Many authors yelled naughty words this morning and the project has been quickly taken down… but mud sticks.

 

Forbes breathlessly announced the arrival of a wonderful social media platform that aims to disrupt the publishing industry by… gathering readers in one place to talk about books. 

This is an innovative idea. I wonder that it hasn’t been tried before. There have been howls of laughter around the publishing world. But maybe this Oxford MBA grad is onto something.

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard always has a well-researched take on international publishing news. He takes a look at the quiet takeover of a French ebook subscription company and the gateway into a huge market it promises for this Swedish company.

 

This week the children’s writing community around the world lost the king of the-coming-of -age survival story, Gary Paulson. Hatchet made an impact in gritty boy alone survival stories even down under. Gary wrote other great stories that slipped under your skin when you read them. Here is a great tribute to a great writer.

 

Recently KDP slipped in a new feature to the barcode section on the print book cover. If they provide the barcode they will add a transparency QR code which you can load with extra information about the book. Lots of possibilities here.

 

Don’t forget to sign up for the free Alliance of Independent authors 24 hour craft conference. It’s happening this weekend!

 

Kris Rusch has an interesting article on IP. How much do you know about your IP? What about books that are out of print and still relevant- shouldn’t they be saved? She takes a look at an Australian project to save cultural works of art that are still in copyright but out of print. Have the publishers missed a cash cow here?

 

Chapter titles, do you agonise over them? Children’s writers know this can be an important touchstone for children when they are learning to read. Anne R Allen has a great post on why she thinks they should be important for adult readers. Namely the eBook. What better way to advertise your book than the chapter titles- after all we do it for non fiction.

 

October is National Novel Preparation Month- The month where you get all your planning done so you can start November with a roar. Stephanie Bourbon has a great article on how to plan as a Pantser writer and hit a winning streak. Angela Ackerman also has a great nuts and bolts article on NaNoWriMo prep. It’s time to sharpen your pencils.

 

Are you addicted to research? Recently editor Denise Willson wrote on Writer Unboxed an excellent article on how to tackle plot holes, dragging middles and spicy events that have lost their fizz. It’s all in your research.

 

Bridget McNulty has a great article on Now Novel which breaks down the 6 types of Story Conflict. This is a useful resource to remind you that there are other conflicts besides name calling and punch ups.

In The Craft Section,

How to make the reader care- Ross Hartman- Bookmark

Top 5 Subplot mistakes- Lucy Hay- Bookmark

Two great posts - Internal conflict and Using conflict to build tension- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark Both

Capturing complex emotions- Tamar Sloan

 

In The Marketing Section,

November holidays for promo- Sandra Beckwith

Comp authors and marketing- David Gaughran – Bookmark

Why understanding categories is critical- Penny Sansevieri-Bookmark

Nonfiction Keyword strategy- Dave Chesson- Bookmark

12 things about book marketing and social media- Indie Reader

 

To Finish,

October is rapidly disappearing, and the problems of the supply chain are about to bite. It might be doom and gloom for print over Christmas, but have you thought about innovative ways to highlight eBooks and audiobooks? Lisa Norman writes about a different way of viewing the coming supply disruption. She has some brilliant ideas. It has changed my thinking… off to make notes.

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Jean Phillipe Bourque