In Publishing News this week,
A new press has launched reports The Guardian. Conduit books seek to only publish books by men as they are being “overlooked with the perception that the male voice is problematic.” The founder hopes the press will help to change the narrative that boys and men don’t read. Anything to get people reading, I say.
The fan run Science Fiction and Fantasy conference called WorldCon is under a massive cloud at the moment. At issue is the use of ChatGPT to vet authors and panelists. Cora Buhlert, who will be on a WorldCon panel virtually, explores the problems of using AI for programming in her article, Robot Hallucinations. She uses her own name and prompt as an example of the problem the organisers overlooked. It is a minefield. If you are planning a conference- do your own homework, don’t rely on AI.
The attack on the arts in the United States continues. Next on the block are the National Endowments for Arts and Humanities. These two organisations have stopped or rescinded funding for Literary grants and awards amongst other important funding for the literary sector. Publisher’s Weekly reports that they fought back in the first Trump presidency, but they may not be able to fight back this time.
The UK Publishers Association have been reminding people of the soft power they wield in the UK economy. Their study puts the figure in the billions of pounds reports Publishing Perspectives. It all hinges on literary tourism.
Spotify is retiring its Findaway Voices by Spotify, arm in August. They have sold this part of the business to INaudio. Spotify will continue with Spotify for Authors its dedicated audiobook distribution business. Dan Holloway reports on the changes for authors.
Recently UNESCO released a document from a trio of European organisations entitled A Call For Transparency Regarding AI-Generated Books. Publishing Perspectives reports on the document and the 3 key points UNESCO is asking for. Developing critical thinking is top of the list.
Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard looks at the old model of publishing regions and why it has taken so long for the publishing industry to realise that eBooks are global and you don’t need regional publishing distinctions.
Publisher’s Weekly reports that Young Adult trends in books being published this year are bouncing between light and dark. A recent survey shows that its either frothy romance or dark academia that are the stories of the moment. What is there for the teen in the middle?
Lit Hub has an article on The Rise of The Submission Industrial Complex, or how journals are increasingly asking for fees to submit work. Some journals are using this to weed out AI written stories. But others are seeing it as a cash cow.
David Woghan writes an interesting article on Jane Friedman’s blog about whether you really need Ingram Spark. Print On Demand has come a long way from its beginnings. At issue is print quality and availability. In my experience IngramSpark have been excellent down under.
I love researching…it’s the writing I find hard. The urge to go down the rabbit hole is something I battle every day. Kate Woodworth has a great article on how going down the rabbit hole opened her up to a whole different narrative.
Kathleen Schmidt has a great article on book publicity. It’s not a contest. There are many factors that help your book make a splash, having money to spend on publicity is not the only way to get a book noticed.
In The Craft Section,
Voice revisited- Terry Odell- Bookmark
Thriller words of wisdom- Dale Ivan Smith- Bookmark
10 things I learned teaching children to write- Tari Jewett
How readers react to reactions- Donald Maass- Bookmark
Writer Better Action Scenes- K M Weiland - Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
8 strategies to boost reader engagement-David Lewis- Bookmark
Stock Photos for Book Covers-Jonathan Green- Bookmark
How to revive a dead email list- Emily Enger- Bookmark
How much does publicity cost- Kathleen Schmidt- Bookmark
Book promotion ideas- Bookbaby
To Finish
Joanna Penn interviewed Pia Leichter, a publicist and writer about her new book Welcome to the creative club: Make life your biggest art project. This is a wide ranging interview on being a creative director and taking those skills to apply them to writing and your own life. Changing your own narrative can happen with making small changes in your life.
Diana Stout writes about persevering through failure. How the writer reacts to failure will show whether they will ultimately be successful.
Creative Courage to keep writing is what we all strive for.
Maureen
@craicer
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