Where Is The Money?

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

A few weeks ago Spotify announced they were trialing audiobook access within the Spotify premium subscription with 15 hours a month free access in the UK and Australia. It must have worked as they announced this week, they are rolling it out to the United States.

 

Kobo is rolling out new devices for the Indian market. They are hoping to scoop up readers, but Mark Williams points out Kobo are falling into the same trap Amazon did with their initial Amazon India rollout. 

 

Publishing Perspectives reports that PRH India is committed to 100% recycled paper for its books. After a few years of the publishing community talking about being sustainable this is the first big publisher to walk the talk. Hopefully the rest of PRH will follow. After all if the biggest publisher does it… .

 

Penguin Random House has issued their first ever diversity report on the makeup of their non warehouse employees in the US. As you will have guessed the employees are mostly white, but they are changing and are happy that they employ above average diversity than other publishing houses. 

 

The Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone has unveiled a nice exclusive package of business deals for publishers wanting to do business in Publishing City, reports The New Publishing Standard. I never thought about publishers navigating their way around local laws etc until I saw this package. Sweet deal.

 

The Wall Street Journal has dropped its best seller lists. With best seller lists falling by the wayside or being dubious about how they count book sales are there any lists we can trust anymore? 

 

Many in the industry are waiting to see what the courts say about various lawsuits involving the provenance of Artificial Intelligence and creativity. Three artists were disappointed when the judge handed down the verdict that AI wasn’t infringing on their rights. 

 

Goodreads are asking their users to help combat review bombing. Finally, they do something about this. It couldn’t be because of the bad publicity they got when review bombing hit Elizabeth Gilberts new book before it had been released. This caused the author to pull the book with many critics crying shame on Goodreads. 

 

Darcy Pattison has a must read post on author income accounting. There are good tools out there to help you integrate all your sales and expenses. You don’t have to stick with the back of an envelope.

 

Kay DiBianca has an excellent post on project planning. This is a helpful list to think about all the tasks you need to do when you write and publish a book. Do you have a checklist?

 

Jan Sikes has an interesting post on going back and revising an old novel. Should you? In positive spin she learned it’s a great lesson for seeing how far you have come as a writer. 

 

How invested in your book is your reader? Are your stakes high enough? A great article from Suzanne Dunlap on keeping your readers turning the pages.

 

Anne R Allen has a great post on tone in writing. This goes hand in hand with voice. You can make the gruesome funny with the tone of your writing. It is all in the word choice. 

 

In The Craft Section,

Should you revise as you go – Jessica Strawser

What are antagonist proxies- K M Weiland – Bookmark

Breaking writer rules- September Fawkes

Story pacing- Florida writers- Bookmark

8 qualities of a great book editor- C S Lakin- Bookmark

Plotting with Michael Hauge’s 6 stages- Janice Hardy -Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Lead magnets for authors- Inkerscon- Bookmark

How to write a powerful about page- Sandra Beckwith

Make a good impression with cover design- Lexi Greene

Unexpected things your author platform can do for you- Colleen Story -Bookmark

Head shots- Terry Odell- Bookmark

Pinterest for book marketing- Joann Penn interview with Trona Freeman- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Writing is a business. It’s entertainment. It’s escapism. It’s knowledge. It is a business. Hopefully money is flowing to the writer. That is a helpful tip if you get a publishing deal. Are you paying for it? Reputable publishers/agents don’t charge you. 

With the recent surveys on author income and the sad reality that many writers can’t make a living The Alliance of Independent Authors has a comprehensive blog post on embracing a positive money mindset. Money is not a dirty word if you need it to pay the bills. Every writer would like to not worry about money. So, look at the article. Cultivate that mindset, and money might begin to flow into your author bank account.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter to go out. 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 shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top or here. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

Pic: Photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash

Taking A Moment To Breathe

 

This week in Publishing News.

Oh Scholastic, it hasn’t been a good month for your public relations. Today the publishing professionals that work at Scholastic Head Office walked out and started picketing over the un-living wages they were getting from a billion dollar company.

 

In the Wow-they-finally-did-it-stakes, Amazon’s publishing arm KDP announced they were beta testing eBook to audio narration using AI Voices. These will be sold through Audible. Cue jaw drops as they were adamant they weren’t getting into the AI voice game… but Google has already been in this space for a while so it was always on the cards. 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard has some pithy observations regarding Amazon’s quarterly report- one mention of books vs 33 mentions of AI.

 

Amazon is back in court – this time taking scammers the down. Yay. Staying on the scammy front Victoria Strauss has a Writer Beware post on impersonation scamming which is on the increase. She shows how it is done and breaks down how to spot the warning flags in her real scam examples. A week doesn’t go by now without coming across some impersonation scam or an author checking in with others to ask if the email they have just got is legit. 

Today I saw advice that recommended sending a screenshot to the agency in question and just checking if it is legit. – Good advice.

 

Written Word Media has been making news with its promo stack partners. They have been busy signing up other ebook reader sites to create big promotion stack opportunities for marketing for authors. Their latest press release has them adding another heavy hitter to the fold.

 

November is the month of NaNoWriMo. Good luck to all those who are attempting to write 50,000 words in a month. The idea behind it was to create a writing habit so even if you make a practice of just showing up every day, you are winning. Roz Morris has a good post on how to get through the month. 

There are various ways to win at NaNowriMo. You can record your word count for everything you write in November or do the ALT NaNoWriMo challenge.

 

 Jane Friedman has two guest writers on her blog with two very different approaches to writing and marketing. Check out How do you turn an essay into a book deal and an interesting post on How to earn six figures as a writer with one weird trick. 

Ruth Harris has an excellent post on radical revision- When the going gets tough get your radical creativity muse on. This is a print out and post it on the wall post.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a comprehensive guide post on producing audiobooks. This covers pretty much everything you need to know to get started.

 

Katie Weiland has a knock it out of the park post on despair in fiction. This is one of those craft posts that inspire authors to the next level of writing- A Must Read.

In The Craft Section,

Protagonists and points of view- Draft2Digital

Mastering character evolution-Laurie Schnebly Campbell- Bookmark

The enemy within- crafting powerful inner conflict- C S Lakin- Bookmark!

I broke Elmore Leonard’s Rules- P J Parrish

3 ways to structure a chapter- Anne Brown-Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Subgenres and comp books- Kris Maze

Ways book marketers use social media to promote pre-orders- Bookbub- Bookmark

5 unique book marketing ideas- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

How to create fun freebies for your newsletter- Colleen Story- Bookmark

Podcasting magic bullet- Alliance of Independent Authors podcast /transcript

Marketing resources- Foothills Writers group

 

To Finish,

Recently Joanna Penn spoke with Tracy Cooper-Posy on managing your author business long term. It was a fascinating long look at what is worthwhile to invest in and how to manage discouragement. This is one of those posts where you nod and start to make notes and think about stepping sideways of the hamster wheel. 

It’s hard to focus on your writing business when you feel that the world is going to hell in a handbasket. This overwhelm can be energy sapping and creativity stalling. 

Do what you can and give yourself time to breathe.

 

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 Khamkhor on Unsplash

Beginnings and Endings

 

In Publishing News this week,

Last week I linked to a news story about Spotify and how they are rolling out their audiobook streaming to the UK and Australia.- That’s news to us said the UK Society of Authors. How come no one has talked to us about contract terms and rights and who are you dealing with – publishers? Where are author agents in this deal? The Society of Authors has a strongly worded statement on this.

 

The news is filtering out that DK, a well known UK children’s publishing house is revamping its top brass and are about to add a new publishing arm…adult. My mind is trying to put the two strands side by side and failing. If you are familiar with DK books - high production non fiction books beloved by schools, libraries, obsessive kids and teachers, how will adult books fit in? The industry will be watching with interest to see how they will manage it.

 

Publishers Weekly details the hit that print publishing as taken so far this year. The numbers are in and so far all genres are hurting. This feeds in to the dismal survey on author income which the Authors Guild recently released. Maybe everything will turn around before the end of the year?

 

If you are struggling with self doubt, you are not alone. Robin Maass writes about her publishing journey and self doubt beautifully on The Writing and Wellness blog. 

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a comprehensive article on how to get your book into bookstores. It’s full of tips and advice, a must read.

 

Kathleen McCleary has an interesting post on Writer Unboxed about getting naked. Now that I have your attention, she talks about how she can’t share her unpublished writing with anyone because of the naked writer feeling.

 

Kris Rusch has got her hands on the new agreement by the TV writers with the studios. She writes why it’s important to understand the AI clauses in the agreement and how they will impact writers. This is a heads up post. You are in charge of your own career and if down the track your work gets optioned for the screen- and you used AI in any capacity you may not have any rights. A Must Read.

 

The Dream Team over at One Stop for Writers, Angela and Becca have a comprehensive list of planning resources for NaNoPrepMo. (or anytime you need to plan/plot a story.) 

 

Katie Weiland has a great blog post on archetypes – she wrote the book (literally) on how to use them. In this week’s article she looks at how to use archetypes in a series. 

 

In The Craft Section,

Crafting beginnings- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

Real crime as novel inspiration-Gary Braver – Bookmark

The secret to show don’t tell

Navigating inner conflict- C S Lakin- Bookmark

How to write a flashback- jerry Jenkins- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

6 ways to become a Go To Expert-Paula Rizzo

Better book descriptions- Draft2Digital

The business of writing- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Marketing Burnout- Kindlepreneur- Bookmark

12 insider tips for booking school visits- Bookfox-Bookmark

 

To Finish,

They say the first page sells the book and the last page sells the next book. No pressure to nail both those important pages…Um. 

James Scott Bell master of writing craft books has even dedicated a whole craft book to the last 50 pages. He writes about how important it is to tie up loose ends and payoff those twisty plot points. Something the writers of the TV series ‘Lost’ didn’t understand.

Even if you are the most Pantzer of writers it helps if you know how the story ends before you get to the last page.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links and some extras 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 Adam Winger on Unsplash

Panning For Gold

 

In Publishing News this week,

Last week I updated my post as the news that Amazon was changing its AI policies started filtering out. So this week to expand on this is Mark Williams - exactly what does it say at the surface level on the website. 

For a more in depth discussion go to Joanna Penn’s podcast and listen to the first 15 minutes. Joanna breaks it down and looks at all the sub pages and why they are there for uploading an AI assisted book. (Stay to listen to the super interesting talk about audio drama) 

Remember Grammarly is an AI. Gmail uses AI. All those chat bots are AI. AI is a tool. Amazon wants to know how much the AI tool is being used. If it generates the whole story and has an AI generated cover then it might fall in the scam bucket. Especially if it rips off name author styles. At the beginning of the year there were howls of dismay over AI…now many big author societies are holding workshops on how to use it and Shutterstock and Adobe are adding it to their design services. It’s great that the biggest marketplace for books is doing something proactive about AI books.

 

Meanwhile, another group of authors are suing AI. In the end the courts will decide. So far they haven’t been ruling in the authors favour.

 

While the TV writers are on strike - TV is getting annoyed that it is taking so long to fix, so they are going ahead without the writers. This did not have good consequences for the host of the National Book Awards, who was dumped after her TV show evicted fans who wore strike buttons.

 

A few months ago the court ruling came out against the Internet Archive and its attempt to digitise back list copies of books. Libraries are in a bind when they cannot offer digital copies to patrons of books in print. What To Do. The New York Public Library may have the answer. An interesting twist that could be a win/win for everybody.

 

Where have all those YA books gone laments one YA author in Publishers Weekly. Have the teens stopped buying books or can’t they afford them? What happened to mass market books first? Is it only adults that can afford the glossy big hardbacks with the bevelled edges and spot colour illustrations being marketed today? Today I saw a new YA book series released with different glossy treatments for each country, along with bevelled pages, foil and spot illos. The writer has a good point!

 

How many social media platforms are you on? With the disintegration of Twitter by the owner there is a rush to find the next best thing. But where should you spend your time? Where are the writers hanging out now? Kris Rusch is struggling with whether Social Media is worth it anymore. 

 

Insecure Writers has a timely reminder on those little scams that can become big ones. Things like identity theft and book promotion scams. Colleen Story has a post on 4 reasons a writing business will fail.

 

Daniella Levy has a great post on How to Take Criticism and Turn it into Growth. If you have been critiqued lately and it has left some bruises- this is a good reminder. Sometimes the harshest critic can be yourself- so read this post.

 

The super amazing Katie Weiland has a knock it out of the park post on plotting that got me thinking. Where should you begin to plot your story? Sometimes it is not clear. Stories springboard in different ways. There is no gold star for starting at the beginning. Brilliant post.

 

In The Craft Section,

Use and abuse of lampshading- Jami Gold- Bookmark (and also read the companion piece.)

Mastering foreshadowing- Jerry Jenkins- Bookmark

How to write a grump readers will love- Sharon Peterson- Bookmark

10 tips on sexual tension- Lucy Hay- Bookmark

The role of failure and conflict in a character arc- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

 

 

In The Marketing Section,

Author marketing 3 best practices- Draft2Digital

Maximising your author website with blogging- J Alexander Greenwood- Bookmark

5 unique bookmarketing ideas- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

How to choose the best kindle ebook categories- updated – Dave Chesson- Bookmark

Email market glossary for authors- Sandra Beckwith

 

To Finish,

I often link to Joanna Penn’s podcast because it is informative and interesting. There are other great podcasts that I listen to and recommend. SPA Girls- Great weekly writing craft show. Sacha Black, ALLI podcasts etc. They are great for when you are doing mindless chores.  Recently the dream team Angela and Becca posted their must have writing craft books. If you are looking for that early NaNoWriMo gift for yourself check out the list.

 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you would like the best of my bookmarked links and extras 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 Matt Seymour on Unsplash

(Arrowtown in NZ where you can still do this.)

Reading The Blurb

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

We’ve all seen the puff quotes on the jackets of books. The name dropping- famous author loved it… but what happens when the book gets negative reviews and the publisher picks out words and throws them on the cover as praise. You get the backlash. Could puff quotes be over?

 

Penguin Random House (PRH) has had a jolly good half year. They have nearly made double digits in revenue. Even though they did not get Simon and Schuster that hasn’t stopped them snapping up smaller fruit.

 

Ingram is expanding its Print On Demand capabilities. With some big POD hubs in different parts of the globe they are challenging the sustainability of those big print runs out of China. 

 

Mark Williams shines a spotlight on the Music industry and how their revenue has grown over the last decade. It is broken down by genre. The music industry is always ahead of the publishing industry…what lessons can publishers take from all the numbers. Is children’s publishing the rock music buying equivalent?

 

Publishers Weekly is heralding the return of author tours with delight. Booksellers are gearing up for sell out author tours. Are we getting back to normal again? Or will Hybrid events be the new way to go? After the covid years is there even any money for author tours?

 

You’ve finished the book. You’ve scaled Mount Strunk and White. You’re ready for the big reward and yet you feel…flat. Ruth Harris has a great post on the 3 R’s of a successful writing career.

 

Are you struggling with the whole social media problem? The common complaint what should I post I’m a fiction writer… and which social media? Read this great post from Jessica Thompson. You can apply it to all sorts of social media.

 

Chat GPT or AI assisted writing has been in the news pretty much all year. If you are unsure about what sort of a tool it is to help you check out this posts on the 6 useful prompts for fiction writers.

 

You should be reading in your genre but how do you choose the books that you will get the most out of? Book Coach Robin Henry has a comprehensive post on How to read to elevate your writing practice. 

 

Sometimes the book of your heart… or the story that won’t let you go takes an awfully long gestational time. Stephanie Cowell writes about a story that has taken 39 years to pin down. When your favourite novel takes a long long time to write.

 

In The Craft Section,

Raise the stakes by making it personal- Angela Ackerman

8 different types of scenes- K M Weiland- Bookmark

4 tips for memorable characters- Lisa Hall Wilson

Setting- the versatile tool - C S Lakin- Bookmark

Hide exposition inside confrontation- James Scott Bell- Bookmark

13 tips for powerful pacing- Lynette Burrows- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Step by step marketing- Penny Sansevieri

Compelling descriptions- Sandra Beckwith

Marketing vs publicity- Kelly Rendina- Bookmark

27 things to promote your book- Brian Feinblum- Bookmark

Direct sales strategies- Bookbub- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Stephen King is often quoted as saying You can’t be a Writer if you are not a Reader, or words to that effect. This week Kris Rusch shines a spotlight on reading practice. Have you got out of the habit of reading? It happens. I have a friend who works with words all day and struggles to read anything for pleasure. Do you still love reading? 

You must fill the well of words if you want to keep drinking from the well. 

Ask yourself these questions. What books do you escape into? Challenge yourself with? Comfort reads? Keeping up with the genre reads? If you are struggling to name a book you’ve read for pleasure in the last month, make a date with a comfort book and rediscover your joy. Your writing will thank you for it.

 

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 this 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 Blaz Photo on Unsplash

Won’t Somebody Think Of The Children

 

In Publishing News this week,

Techcrunch reports on Amazon’s AI reviews. They are about to be rolled out on products very soon. Will they hurt the review as an art form? Reviews are social proof and book reviewers take their job seriously. Having AI synthesize reviews could stop reviewers bothering to write an in depth review. 

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard looks at the state of TV streaming and asks if publishers are seriously looking at their backlists. With the increasing share of TV revenue coming from digital subscription – backlist is king. So where are all those publishing deals? In the meantime the screenwriters are still out on strike.

 

Being a teacher by trade I am always interested in how the educational publishing world is doing. 

Publishers Weekly reports on the latest discussions of teaching reading. If you have been in the field for more than a decade you will be aware of different fads coming and going on reading instruction. 

 

A news report out of Brazil about a state abandoning its textbook industry had me concerned. A judge has reinstated it, thank goodness. This was a move to exert control over educational textbooks. There are always two sides to an educational textbook. It could be propaganda or it could be rigorously factual. When a person mandates a textbook change without consultation or notice right before the school year, it doesn’t bode well for truth. 

 

While Brazil is wrestling with truth in textbooks, Pen America reports that there has been a huge surge in educational intimidation bills. The old adage – In war, truth is the first casualty seems to fit here. The war is for hearts and minds… and the victims are often unaware that there is a problem. 

 

Goodereader reports on the wave of fake books compiled by AI and sold on Amazon – the most notorious being a book about the Maui fire two days after it happened. This kind of AI scamming behaviour by people putting these books up for sale is pretty low. It is no wonder that people feel mistrustful of any information.

 

Anne R Allen has a roundup of the latest writer scams to be aware of. Scammers prey on hopes and dreams. It could be for a publishing deal or agent or film contract. Once they hook you they suggest you pay for all sorts of extras. Money is supposed to flow to the writer- not the other way around. Always check the name and use the word scam in the google search. No one in the publishing industry will solicit you out of the blue for a publishing deal. Please make newbies aware of this fact.

 

Allison Williams has a writer beware post on editors behaving badly. You’ll never write in this town again. Writers who have been bitten by predatory editors don’t want to name and shame. Allison has useful tips for dealing with editors- This is a must read post.

 

Kris Rusch finishes up her niche marketing blog series with a look at how Barbie moved from a niche toy into an international brand with social media accounts and a billion dollar earning film. It’s a lesson in niche longevity.

 

The fabulous Sam Missingham of The Empowered Author is running a book marketing online conference later in the year. This week is the last week for early bird prices and discounts. 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a comprehensive post on Non Fiction book marketing and a great post on writing and publishing with a family member.

 

Have you ever created your own fantasy map? It is often something we get into as kids but I have found that writers have a particular affection for maps. Mirror World has a great post with lots of links on map creation.

 

Molly Templeton writes about the ritual of rearranging your books periodically. I like to think that I do this yearly but I’m kidding myself. When the bookshelf is so messy it looks like three toddlers have had a playfight I know its time to seriously attack my bookshelves. Unfortunately knowing that I will be have to look inside every second book stops me from doing the job more frequently. Sigh.

 

Did you know that those little quotes in front of chapters that some writers use in their books are called Malcolms? After the guy who started doing it. It wasn’t that long ago either.

 

In The Craft Section,

What are plot devices and why you should be cautious- K M Weiland – Bookmark

How to write 5000 words a day- Bamidale Onibalusi

You as the fictional character- Anne Janzer- Bookmark

Writing about pain- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

What show don’t tell actually means- Mythcreants

 

In The Marketing Section,

You’ve written your book now what- Carrie Weston

Imaginative September holidays for book promo- Sandra Beckwith – Bookmark

How to build an author platform that attracts readers- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Ideas for blogging on your author website- Judith Briles- Bookmark

How authors use pre-orders to promote new books- Bookbub- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Esquire interviewed Josh Cook, the author of a new book – The Art of Libromancy. Josh has written about bookstores being at the vanguard of the culture wars. He is an independent book seller and believes in the importance of book stores for people to test beliefs, moral standpoints, and get information. This makes their survival all the more important in an age of book banning and AI scraping fakes 

I would like to add that libraries, particularly school libraries, are equally important. Having a repository of widely curated books allows the reader to make up their own mind. We must teach curiosity and fact checking and to do that we need access to a wide range of opinions and facts. You fail when you restrict access to books, or news, or dissenting opinions. Even though you might not agree with how some people ‘blindly’ follow the latest theories, it’s the ‘blindly’ that is the problem. Blindly reinforces prejudice without allowing that there might be an opposing fact to refute it. A wide range of voices and books to sample from is necessary and good for society. 

Here Endeth The Lesson.

 

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 this 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 Joel Muniz on Unsplash