In Publishing News this week,
Just as I was publishing my blog last week, I was contacted by a writer who was caught up in the Starfish Bay publishing nightmare. So Substack readers got an early heads up.
Children’s authors around the world have been caught out by the closure of Starfish Bay Publishing. An Australian news team interviewed some authors caught up in the mess, which is looking very like a scam or pyramid scheme according to one writer who contacted me about it. When the publisher asks you for money, you weren’t expecting to pay, or the contract changes abruptly take a good hard look at the operation. When a publisher fails it is usually the result of money mismanagement. (If you can’t get sound on the link turn on captions)
Meanwhile, Frankfurt Book Fair kicked off and everyone was keen to find out what the next hot genres that agents are seeing and editors are buying. Remember Traditional Publishing works on about an eighteen month lead time unless you are a celebrity or are writing a politically explosive book.
Spotify announced moves to expand into 180 countries with audiobooks this year. If you thought audiobooks were peaking in sales you haven’t seen anything yet. One writer I follow said that over covid lockdown her audiobooks sales tanked because no one was commuting. It’s back to normal now and only getting bigger.
If you are wondering how to market your audiobooks, check out this great article from narrator Christa Lewis over on The Indie Author Magazine
Publishing Perspectives has examined the latest global publishing list and listed the biggest publishing owners on the planet. It’s been another year of consolidation. Are we happy that the bulk of the worlds ideas and thoughts are controlled by so few?
Questions are being asked about how and why at the recent Association of American Literary Agents People In Publishing conference, there were panels with agents who have financial stakes in Pangram. And the concerns about the use of this AI detection software used in publishing were not addressed. Andrea Bartz has a pulled together a list of big concerns about Pangrams ability to detect AI use at all. It’s only author careers that are on the line.
Jason Chatfield from New York Cartoons wrote an article that had a lot of comment from other cartoonists. The way AI generated artwork is also stealing their signatures, to put on the AI generated slop. Cartoonists are feeling under threat, and many don’t want to post their work online anymore.
The Dynamic Duo of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are celebrating eleven years of their great website One Stop For Writers. Where has the time gone? They have a great discount happening over on their website. While you are visiting, trawl around for great resources on all things writing craft related.
Becca Syme is the writer go to for all things psychological on how and why writers do the weird things that writers do. She is starting a new article series on why writers have problems selling our work or even just talking about it.
Every now and then you see an author having a terrible time because their Amazon KDP account was terminated wrongfully. Dale Evans has the, what to do if that happens to you, article. And the Jeff at amazon email still works.
Donald Maass over at Writer Unboxed has a deep writing craft article on that mountain all writers trip over … the middle. Great reading for ways to tackle the beast.
Katie Weiland is continuing her excellent series on character arcs. This week she looks at Negative Character Arcs. These are the trials a character must go through to change. Katie has studied and written about character arcs for years. She even wrote a great book on the subject.
In The Craft Section,
Why does my story feel broken- Jaime Buckley- Bookmark
The mirror is not your friend- Sarah Hamer- Bookmark
3 questions to ask when the scene feels off- Kelsey Allagood- Bookmark
10 things to consider when naming characters- Amanda Patterson
When you return to a manuscript after a break- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
Personal Brand advice- Jessica Sorentino- Bookmark
Fixing your lead magnet book- Mykyta Chernenko- Bookmark
Does your book blend genres- Hannah Jacobson
Accidentally going viral- Jason Zackowski
What actually sells books- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark
To Finish,
From time to time I come across odd little things in the writing blogosphere that make me stop and think deep thoughts. (I know, who knew?) Today I discovered my nine books. These are books that have made an impact on your life. Of course I could do a different set on a different day or theme them into comfort reads or challenging reads.
This collection comes from books that changed my world view when I was growing up and continue to challenge me with their masterful execution of story and character.
What would be your nine life changing books?
Maureen
@craicer
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