Who Has The Power?

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

The first of the AI lawsuits has been decided with a Californian Federal Judge handing down a pre-trial ruling that the Anthropic company was using fair use to train its AI using copyrighted material. However, the fact that they used pirated material was a problem. Read the article from Publishers Weekly and find out what the AI companies are doing now to get around licensing the work for training purposes. I wonder if the judge will address the trampling of the moral rights of the authors.

 

Publishing Perspectives looks at the latest statistics from the American Publishers Association and sales are down across the formats. These numbers are just snapshots they hasten to add. Hopefully it is not a downward trend.

 

On the African continent Mark Williams based in The Gambia looks at how AI is making an impact in publishing. If you can’t get any print books and only sporadic internet what are you to do? Mark talks about how publishing in Africa is quietly breaking records as they figure out ways to get books into the hands and ears of people across the continent.

Mark also looks at a little Romanian startup with big plans to grow across Europe and Latin America. It’s not about competing with everybody else but looking at who everybody else is overlooking and filling the gap.

 

Because writing and journalism go hand in hand, I try to keep an eye out for what is trending in journalism writing. Reuters, one of the world’s biggest news agencies, has released their digital news report for 2025, a snapshot on where people get their news from and who they trust to give them news. Ouch. Social Media wins out. 

Adam Tinworth drills into the data and points out how journalists have to change to cope with the emerging media tsunami.

 

In fun uplifting news, London has its first dedicated romance book store, The BBC reports. Finally, some positive reporting about this genre. Could it be because the Romance genre was behind $1billion worth of sales last year in the UK? The bookstore is loud and proud with a Smut Hut inside it. Interesting how the BBC just couldn’t bring themselves to name the bookstore.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has an interesting article on the audiobook book boom and how indie authors and publishers are looking closely at KDP’s AI Virtual Voice. Is it worth doing and how do you price it for the consumer?

 

Anne R Allen has an excellent article on building inventory. This is a positive spin on not being published. I am reminded of one of our most beloved children’s authors who when an American Big Publisher saw her work at an exhibition came calling. Do you have anything else besides that story, she was asked. Margaret Mahy pulled a suitcase out from under the bed. It was stuffed with stories. 

 

Johnny B Truant has been writing lately about the Artisan Author. He has an interesting article on taking back the power over your author career. Have you really looked at who has the power? It is often not the author. So what can you do about it?

 

Savannah Cordova has an interesting article on Angela and Becca’s blog about writing what you know. She turns this familiar writing adage on its head. Know What You Write. 

 

In the Craft Section,

Different character arcs for the same character- K M Weiland Bookmark!

Do you have to use the 3 act structure?- C S Lakin

Semi colons and other punctuation- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

The importance of conveying character- September Fawkes- Bookmark

6 cheats to tell well- September Fawkes.

 

In The Marketing Section,

5 tips for stella cover design in 2025- Savannah Cordova

10 Amazon KDP secrets- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

Pinterest -best kept author marketing secret- Melisa Bourbon- 

Bookmark

2 Great posts from Written Word Media- Pen to camera don’t ignore YouTube and Marketing on a shoestring- Bookmark

 

To Finish

Being a kiwi… a New Zealander, I am used to seeing the Haka – often described as a Maori War chant by overseas commentators, at important events. To the outside world it is mostly seen on television at international sports matches to honour the opposition by bringing your best game. Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, it is also performed to honour someone who has achieved great mana or made a community impact by their life and actions. School prizegivings and graduations are often punctuated by Haka from the families of students. It stops us all in our tracks. The recipient is usually in tears for the honour bestowed. The Haka is never taken for granted. Recently Elizabeth Heurgo wrote in Writer Unboxed about the passion of the Haka and how she is using it to tackle the blank page. It’s a fascinating essay linking the Haka to Literature and Booker Prize winners. Your blank page may generate the honour of a haka for your work. You just have to write. 

 

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 Mateusz Wacławek on Unsplash

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

Defending Literature Around The Globe.

In Publishing News this week,

 

Copyright received another blow in the United Kingdom this week, when the amended law supported by the Upper house was defeated again in the Lower house. That meant that the new bill will not have any transparency compliance from tech companies. Publishing Perspectives covers the implications and what publishing companies can hope for in the near future.

 

Canadian authors alerted the writing community to an AI scam that is happening on Amazon. Take a hot new title… change the cover a little bit with AI. Change the author name a little bit. Scrape the insides… and take advantage of the original books marketing push to make bucks. This kind of dupe gives authors a bad name and it’s not their fault! 

 

International tax and legal services firm, PWC has released a report on the impact of AI in the workforce. It’s surprisingly positive with employees who can use AI being valued more. Mark Williams looks at the report findings for the publishing community.

 

Meanwhile, Jane Friedman has written an article about What AI can’t steal from you which is your unique voice and perspective. 

 

Ingram Content Group has integrated AI tools into its marketing platform, Ingram iD. The tools will write blurbs and run campaigns across social media according to Publishers Weekly.

 

The Toronto Comics festival just wrapped up and the big talking points were how much the cross border attendance had taken a hit because of fear of gender challenges at the border. The festival has been a safe space for people from marginalized communities. Although comics are in good heart the people reading them may not be so confident.

 

The International Publishers Association’s World Expressions Forum (WEXFO) has just finished meeting in Lillehammer. The clarion call from the forum was the threat to Democracy from disinformation and censorship. They have released a report exhorting members to resist this. “World Expression Forum calls for resistance against authoritarian forces that undermine democracy and freedom of expression. Democracy is continuously under threat, and we (the undersigned) promise to strengthen our battle against disinformation, censorship and polarization–and improve literacy in our societies.”

Over in the middle east the Shajah Publishing Sustainability Fund has just helped 12 publishers to scale up their business and use new tools to make their publishing sustainable. They get so many business development goodies they must be the envy of publishers worldwide. Mark Williams dives into what is on offer for the lucky selected publishers. This is possible because of the countries commitment to literacy and education. 

 

Seth Harwood writes on Jane Friedman’s blog about the perils of Diminishing Returns in Revision. Do you know when it is time to let go. This is one of my biggest problems…if only I had another five minutes to put in that comma and take it out again four times before I’m finished… .

 

The fantastic Jami Gold is back with an excellent post on writing stand alones in a series. Yes, you can do it. It takes some creativity but we’re writer’s aren’t we? Jami has some great tips for thinking outside the series box.

  

In The Craft Section,

3 act analysis of Star Wars- Gabriele Pereira

Chekhov’s Gun- Anne R Allen- Bookmark

When the 2^nd draft feels like a step back- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

Different character arcs for the same character-K M Weiland- Bookmark

Dual Protagonists- Terry Odell- Bookmark

 

In the Marketing Section,

Conquering limiting beliefs- Kimberly Grabas- Bookmark

10 Free Book Promo ideas- Sandra Beckwith

Monitoring your author brand- Dave Chesson – Bookmark

21 marketing tips- Writing Oasis

How to define a strong marketing brand- Jenny Hansen- Bookmark

 

To Finish

It’s halfway through the year and my thoughts turn to the current novel and if I will ever wrangle it into submission. It didn’t help that I wrote out of sequence. Jenny Hansen has an excellent article on the non linear writing process. Some writers work best when the manuscript looks like a mess. 

How often do you start a writing project knowing who the audience for it is? Liz Alterman has an article on The Dynamic duo’s website about pitching the concept to yourself before you write the book. I can’t help thinking that if we did more of this we wouldn’t have half-finished novels in the bottom drawer.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter of the best of my bookmarked links. You can subscribe here if you want 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 NASA on Unsplash

Uniquely You

 

Apologies for no blog last week. It was family medical drama week.

In Publishing News this week,

 

In my blog two weeks ago, I wrote about the US government firing the Director of the Copyright office. As with all these government moves there are court cases pending to slow down the speed of these changes. The Copyright Director is suing to get her job back.

 

Across the pond in the UK, Elton John and other big names lambasted the news that the AI transparency act favours tech companies, calling the government decision criminal and irresponsible. Publishing Perspectives has a detailed look at what went wrong with the proposed law.

Giving tech companies an almost free rein to use copyrighted material seriously undermines what copyright stands for. At the moment the EU seems to be the only jurisdiction where artists copyright matters. Keep an eye on what your own government is doing around these laws for creative artists.

 

In an I-can’t-believe-it move, a Texas court has reversed a book banning law, stating that libraries must be the voice of the government. The librarians are warning that this smacks of propaganda for the state. 

 

The invisible first lady of America is bringing out a memoir. Eyebrows are raised as the narration of the memoir is a cloned AI voice, which will also be used in translations. Mark Williams looks at the rise of synthetic voices and the possibilities for publishers.

 

The UK Children’s Laureate has launched a campaign to get families to read in response to the dismal reading statistics that were announced recently. It is well known that if you read to children from birth they start school with a big advantage that only keeps continuing. Congratulations to our own newly appointed Reading Ambassador for New Zealand, Kate De Goldi.

 

Publishing Perspectives has an interesting essay from an Indian publisher on the rise of Print on Demand use by publishing companies and how it is changing the nature of the publishing business. These insights could be applied to other publishing territories as well.

 

Literacy is being challenged. What can publishers do about it? Richard Charkin writes in his monthly column about the clouded nature of publishing stats and how the underlying news means we must worker harder to engage readers. Key to this is amplifying the uniqueness of their authors.

 

Two great podcasts caught my eye this week… The SPA Girls celebrated 500 episodes with a great chat about the past and where they think the future of publishing will go.

Joanna Penn interviewed Comic and Game maker Dave Morris about creative control, world building and AI tools. Dave has some interesting insights on training AI on your own content. 

 

If you are looking for some great craft books check out Storybundle. Kris Rusch has curated an excellent collection of books  –  You pay not much – the authors get the money and so does a great charity. Win Win Win.

 

Writers and discipline. We chase it, revere it, get the apps, try the productivity short cuts. Harper Ross writes on Writer Unboxed about the discipline myth and what sustains us.

 

Lisa Norman has an excellent post on staying true to our unique voice. Over the years all the tools we have used to showcase our writing have changed but our unique voice hasn’t. 

 

September Fawkes has a great post on misaligned characters wants and plot goals. When the character is acting against what they profess they want sets the scene for a weak plot or theme. How can you fix it?

 

In the Craft Section,

Secondary Characters- all the fun and less work- Laurie Schenebly Campbell

Choose a powerful foundation for POV -Lynette Burrows- Bookmark

Plot twists- crafting the unexpected- Tammy Burke-Bookmark

The power of connotation in picture books-Chelsea Tornetto- Bookmark

Enneagram for character development- K M Weiland – Bookmark

Reading like a writer- Michelle Barker

 

In the Marketing Section,

10 little known Substack features- Rachel Thompson

10 things I wish writers knew about marketing- Dan Blank- Bookmark

How to maximise being a podcast guest-Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

What is book bundling and how does it work- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Video marketing tips for authors- PR by the book

Audiobook marketing- Reedsy- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

It is mid way through the year. Where has the time gone? How are the writing goals? 

If you are feeling down in the dumps, try a creativity date. Monica Cox has an interesting post on Angela and Becca’s website about the benefits of the artist date. You don’t need to date an artist you just need to make time for creativity, with no strings attached. Create for the sheer joy of creating. 

Isn’t that why we started writing in the first place?

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. You can subscribe here to get the best of my bookmarked links and other extras.

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.

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Reading Success

 

London Book Fair is over and in comes Bologna Children’s Book Fair. I like to think it’s the most important because without creating readers the other book fairs wouldn’t exist. 

Publishers Weekly has a deep dive into what the big topics are at Bologna. The crisis in early literacy is worrying and have the covid years caused a reading slump or is it cyclical?

 

Graphic novels are now one of the biggest formats at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. There are many interesting moves in this area reports Publishers Weekly. One thing that caught my eye in this article was audio books scripts generated by graphic novels.

 

The awards for Children’s Publisher of the year at Bologna is always a great event. The world is divided into six continent-ish zones and so there are six winners. Publishing Perspectives has a run down of the winners. Congratulations to Mila’s Books from New Zealand which took out the Oceania prize.

 

In another attack on literacy in the United States-The staff of The Institute of Museum and Library Services – the body that oversees funding for libraries have been placed on administrative leave according to Publishers Weekly. Hopefully their jobs can be saved.

 

Also closing their doors is NaNoWriMo. After a turbulent year and falling memberships the organization has closed. NaNoWriMo was a great idea and many bestsellers got their start in the white hot frenzy of writing a novel in a month.

 

Ingram Spark’s new book to screen database, MediaScout is now live. Publisher’s Weekly reports they already have an impressive number of books in the catalogue.

 

Mark Williams looks at the latest fallout of Meta AI and the proposed tariffs that had a good portion of the world on edge. While Mark see’s the value in some AI tools on the basis of its coming anyway we may as well use it. Dan Holloway looks at the impact AI has had on translators and artists. 

 

Teri Case writing on Jane Friedman’s blog looks at how AI made her want to trademark her name and how she went about it. This came about because Jane Friedman’s name had been stolen and pasted on AI generated books last year. Amazon wouldn’t take the books down because Jane hadn’t trademarked her name. 

 

Kathleen Schmidt has a fascinating article on book publicity. She dives into when and how to connect to your audience and book publicists. This is a must read if you have a book ready to release into the world.

 

Sandra Beckwith has a list of useful apps and tools to help the writer.

 

Donald Maass writing on Writer Unboxed has an excellent craft article on the hidden reason why readers read. Donald has excellent advice on how to craft your plot to hit all the right cues. A must read!

 

In The Craft Section,

The wolf under the table- J Scott Coatsworth

How conflict enhances your story- Ellen Buikema- Bookmark

4 stages of knowing in character arcs- K M Weiland – Bookmark

Using writing prompts to unstick yourself- Savannah Cordova

Dialogue mechanics- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

How to get accepted by a distributor- Bokbaby- Bookmark

Marketing tips for a new genre- an example - Bookbub

Author swag and merch- IWSG- Bookmark

Amazon central changes – Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

How to sell on Amazon – Dave Chesson – updated- Comprehensive!

 

To Finish

The world can be filled with negativity everywhere you look. It’s hard to stay upbeat when you feel bludgeoned by the daily news. In writing we can so often feel discouraged about our work. Harper Ross had a timely post on Writer Unboxed last week -The importance of defining success for yourself. This is a little reality check to recognize the wins in your creative life and celebrate them.

 

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.

 

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When The Writing Business Gets You Down

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

Just after I published last week’s blog, The Atlantic* published an article on the books that Meta used to train their AI as well as the shady practices they used. Substack readers of the blog got the breaking news. Use The Atlantic search engine if you want to check whether your books were scraped, then contact your local writer association. Here in NZ the Society of Authors is taking names to join a class action. 

Many authors guilds around the world are preparing court cases. Publishing Perspectives has the US and UK Authors societies responses. 

 

While authors are getting hot under the collar about AI theft, publishers have been quietly doing deals with AI companies to let them have access to their lists. Jane Friedman highlights just what is going on under writer’s noses.

 

Of course, AI as a tool offers so many advantages to the struggling publishers. Although I don’t think Taylor and Francis is exactly struggling, Publishers Weekly reports that they are using AI to translate their books into English. 

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard has an interesting article on film companies and how they are using a text to screen AI to generate films. Yes, AI is everywhere. Last week he said that publishing history is active resistance, passive acceptance, and eventual embrace. I think the publishers might be moving out of passive acceptance. So many seem to be saying one thing to authors and another to their staff. 

 

Do you remember Stories for Rebel Girls? The author, Francesca Cavallo has been looking at the dire statistics for boys reading and has a new collection coming out. Publishing Perspectives has an article looking at what Francesca will be doing at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair next week.

 

Diamond Comics Distributors has found a buyer, reports Publishers Weekly. Whether there will be enough left over to pay all the creditors could be touch and go. Many comics publishers who used Diamond have been scrambling to find other distributors in the interim.

 

Written Word Media were at the Future of Publishing/ Writer MBA conference, and they have an in depth article about what they learned there. They also have some great takeaways to get you thinking about your publishing business.

 

Alia Habib has an interesting article where she sat down with five book publicity people are asked questions about the best way of getting their attention with a book project. The package matters.

 

Phil Simon has a guest article on Jane Friedman’s blog about a new writing tool that can streamline your workflow. If you are looking for help in sorting out all your projects this might be useful. It has a free tier.

 

James Scott Bell has a great article on the melted butter of writing or in other words metaphors and similes. He has some great examples. Do you use metaphors in your writing?

 

In The Craft Section,

Relationship Conflicts- prolong the agony- Jerry Jenkins- Bookmark

How to use the thesaurus properly- September Fawkes

How to use show don’t tell- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Consider your characters age- Tiffany Yates Martin - Bookmark

If the relationship is the primary story- September Fawkes- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

How to thrive without viral marketing- Janee Butterfield- Bookmark

The best author promo ideas- Penny Sansevieri

From Readers to review- Written Word Media- Bookmark

How to market a book- Reedsy

Maximising Backlist Sales- SPA Girls- Bookmark!

 

To Finish,

Sometimes the writing and publishing world can leave you feeling like a used tissue. That is where having a writing buddy to share the highs and lows with is so important.

Every year Katie Weiland has a week where she helps writers find a writing buddy. Hop on over to her blog and scroll down to comments. You never know, you might find your life-long writing buddy who helps you to scale new heights, propels you to new projects and has your back like you have theirs. 

And if you already have a writing buddy- Make time to celebrate them. You don’t need an excuse. Reach out and say you value them, with cake. 

An AI won’t do 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 virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

N.B.* The Atlantic has been having a sensational week- AI Theft and War Plans. All it takes is a courageous writer to speak truth to power. They give us hope that we can do the same.

 

Photo by Pixel Rich on Unsplash