Speaking Up for Reading

 

 

In Publishing News This Week

Another week, another news story on the Institute of Museum and Library Services, this time it’s an open letter to Harper Collins. Everyone else has made the campaign to save the Institute a priority- why haven’t they?

 

In the UK, a new survey on reading finds that nearly half of the adults surveyed struggled to finish a book. This should be ringing all sorts of alarm bells. Most reported that they had seen a significant shift in their lack of reading in the last three years. 

Barbara O’Neal’s article on Writer Unboxed about The War of Attention is a timely reminder to be proactive in carving out reading time. 

Sara Hildreth also has a great post on types of reading slumps and how to fix them. If we all share these articles around we might get some people reading again. It can only be good for us.

 

Recently I was out with family, and we were in a pub that had been decorated with old Reader's Digest books. You know the ones, four abridged stories in one volume. I had to explain to the teen what they were. Book subscription boxes are on the up reports The Guardian. In fact they are becoming so popular as a curated reading experience that they are starting publishing companies.

 

Richard Charkin writes on the existential threat to publishing. Which one I hear you mutter. Yes it’s all of the above but the biggest threat according to Richard is the publishing industry itself.

 

While we are lamenting reading with our eyes, perhaps we could take some time to look at reading with our ears. The rise of Spotify and its commitment to audiobooks, especially the launch of its short form audio this year, has reaped a big industry prize, says Dan Holloway. 

Authors are taking advantage of the short form audio boom and reaping a nice pay day with 2000 word novellas. Revenue exceeded $2Billion in podcast advertising writes Mark Williams.

The Alliance of Independent Authors writes on how to use short form audio to your advantage. Meanwhile, over on The Creative Penn, Joanna has an interview with Derek Slaton on how he is using short form audio as serialized chapters on YouTube. This is a fascinating look at another form of storytelling with podcasting and YouTube.

 

Anne R Allen has revised her post of 10 pieces of bad advice new authors get from their unhelpful friends.- Hands up if you have received more than one of these gems of bad advice.

 

Terry Odell has a super post on the very underrated super power that every writer has. It has nothing to do with structure and everything to do with voice. 

 

In The Craft Section,

2 great articles from Becca Puglisi-6 tips for creating chemistry between characters and Effective dialogue techniques- Bookmark

How to use asides- Arthur Plotnik

Writing a fall arc- K M Weiland – Bookmark!

Villains vs Antogonists- Debbie Burke- Bookmark

Unforgettable villains- Masterclass

 

In The Marketing Section,

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

Teachers guides with AI- Darcy Pattison

How to talk about your book ahead of publication- SamMissingham

Crucial elements to an author website-Carlyn Robertson- Bookmark

Prize ideas for promotions-Bookbub- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Dan Blank takes the concept of the writers voice and expands it in this great article on the incredible power an author has to take us out of our daily life and into another world. He writes about how to use your writer friends to challenge yourself to go deeper as a writer. We all have a unique voice, are we using it in our writing?

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Snacking On Publishers

 

 

In Publishing News this week

It’s a tough old time if you are a writer down under. You may have had some hope of placing a book with one of the independent presses that still operate, but last week saw another of them gobbled up by Penguin Random House. Our regional voices are disappearing said a Guardian article. While Aussie authors are wincing- Kiwi authors have been there. Most of our publisher’s head offices are in Australia and we are lucky if they publish 1 NZ book a year.

 

In Davos the world economic forum got underway. How does this relate to publishing? Well, one of the key presentations is the future of jobs report. Dan Holloway took a look and found key indicators for publishers and writers. Reading is down…but creative thinking is up. Can we work with this information?

 

Publisher’s Weekly reports on a new imprint being started by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. It’s all about science. In this world of misinformation, any increase in science publishing is a good thing.

 

When it’s award season the critics choices are always highlighted but if you look at the bestseller lists, they often don’t show up. However, bestsellers have awards too. It is based on number of sales. Spot the children’s books. Julia Donaldson has topped the UK bestseller lists for the 5^th straight year. She is a critics’ choice and a bestselling author. Gotta love children’s authors, they keep publishing houses afloat.

 

Bookshop.org is turning 5. This great independent initiative linked independent booksellers together and created another way to order books instead of always heading to Amazon. Now they are about to add eBooks into the platform.

 

The Encyclopaedia Britannica was the last word in authoritative knowledge when I was growing up. They are still around and having gone online early they are now embracing AI. This is a fascinating example of a publishing pivot. Mark Williams takes an in depth look at what they are doing. I don’t know about you but if I have to get information from an AI bot, I would prefer it to come from a trusted verified source, not a scraped chat forum.

 

Angela Ackerman has an interesting article on How Authors Thrive In A World Of AI-Generated Books. She has some great points to think about. Being human is your point of difference. As ever, she is a must read.

Meanwhile, Dale Roberts is talking about live video being the key to author visibility in 2025.

In The New Publishing Standard, Mark Williams shines a light on a publishing topic not much talked about, the three words ‘adjusted for inflation.’ Why don’t publishers show the real figures? 

 

Victoria Strauss does great work on Writer Beware and lately she has been looking at ghostwriting scams. She has a list of websites that are fronts for a scam publishing company.

 

Ah procrastination, what is stopping you from writing that novel? Barbara O’Neal has an interesting article on Writer Unboxed about the three things that cause procrastination. This is a must read if you want to conquer this insidious problem. Read It Now!

 

In The Craft Section,

How to make themes work together- Jami Gold- Bookmark

How to write dark fantasy- Stephanie Wytovich

How to stay focused on your central conflict- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

World building lessons from Myst- Gabriela Pereira-Bookmark

5 wellness hacks to boost your writing- Colleen Story

 

In The Marketing Section,

Planning a book launch party- Tama Hela

 2 great posts from Sandra Beckwith- 3 Author marketing mistakes to avoid in 2025 and

Using AI as your author assistant - Bookmark

Is Facebook still worth it for writers- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

How to budget for your book- Written Word Media- Bookmark

 

To Finish

It’s been a rough old week in politics for the USA. For those of us looking on from afar we do feel for the people caught up in the middle. In this age of instant news and opinion it can feel overwhelming. “In war, truth is the first casualty” said Aeschylus in 500BC. When the world is wondering whether Mein Kampf, published in 1925 is being dusted off 100 years later to the detriment of another empire, it is courageous to stand up to your government and demand that they do better. One such person was the Bishop Mariann Budde who asked the new president point blank if he would protect the meek and helpless. Her words resonated around the world and now her book How We Learn To Be Brave, published in 2023 is being rushed into a second printing and is climbing the bestseller ranks. 

 

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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Creating Assets in 2025

 

 

And we’re back…Hello 2025.

So down under - it’s supposed to be Summer but we have been getting cold snaps. Summer taunts us by appearing on different single days. Meanwhile, in the Northern hemisphere its Winter and California has been hit by devasting wildfires. I think we can agree that the climate has changed. Publishers Weekly has an article on how the publishing industry is helping out in California. There is some good advice for small publishers in there about prepping for disasters, business wise.

The Christmas/New Year break saw a bankruptcy filing that alarmed a lot of people in the publishing industry. Diamond Comics filed for bankruptcy. The news rocked the comics publishing world as they are one of the big distributors of comics to bookstores. One commentator has described it as the make or break moment for the comics industry.

Comics are big business. While Diamond owes PRH $9 million which helped to trigger the bankruptcy, other companies are full steam ahead in publishing comic book versions of their intellectual property. Mattel are doing big deals for manga versions of their hot properties Barbie and Hot Wheels. Mark Williams talks about the new deal and its implications.

 

Publishing Perspectives has the follow-up article on the Created by Humans business which has officially started with some big author names backing it. This is a marketplace to sell licenses to AI to use your creative work, amongst other ideas. 

Remember, if you create it, you own the copyright. If someone copies your work without paying for it, it is theft. There is a huge market for Intellectual Property assets. Publishers are valued, bought, and sold on the size of their IP assets which is why publishers want as many rights from the creator as they can get. It is all valuable and on the asset side of the ledger. Even if they never use those e-book rights, or special edition, or audiobook rights in Spanish. Whoever holds the IP has the potential to make money. With AI doing some underhanded scraping last year – this is an attempt to control the playing field.

 

If you have been reading the blog for a time and following the news in the publishing industry you might have forgotten that eBooks are still new in some countries. The New Publishing Standard reports that Greece is about to take the plunge with eBooks.

 

We are a quarter of the way through the current century, and it’s been a wild ride in publishing. However, there are still questions from new writers about how to publish. Writers in the Storm contributor Gale Leach has expanded Jane Friedman’s article of the different ways to publish by looking at the keywords Responsibility and Control. How much of each do you want to give up?

 

In the UK the Society of Authors is protesting against the BBC’s new move to discontinue audio drama. This is a blow for authors and a boon for audio book publishers they say. Audio drama is another format to interest and publicise books to a new audience. Here in New Zealand, we have a similar argument happening with our state broadcaster who is not even reviewing New Zealand books, let alone making dramatic readings of them. Our Society of Authors published a stinging criticism of what is happening. No one is holding their breath to see if it will get covered by other news media. After all, how does a country define its culture…, music, art, stories… or, if you are a broadcaster, news and sport. We have made huge movements in covering women’s sport in the last five years, wouldn’t it be great if there was a cultural segment as well?

 

A first roundup of publishing news and interesting craft and marketing information wouldn’t be complete without a predictions for 2025. Written Word Media pulled out their crystal ball and found 10 trends and predictions for the publishing industry . I agree with every one of them. They also have a great article on how to grow your author business in 2025 without losing your mind.

 

Elizabeth Rynecki has a guest article on Jane Friedman’s blog on avoiding creative slumps by changing your writing and publishing medium. If you are looking for a new project this might tick your creative buttons.

 

The Dream Team of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are back in 2025 with their great website and blog full of resources but I have discovered that they are venturing into video. Check out this great little episode on inciting incidents by Becca. 

 

In the Craft Section,

The role of narration in storytelling- Gabriela Pereira- Bookmark

In search of the well crafted sentence – C S Lakin- Bookmark

Look to the past for your writing future- Eldrid Bird

StoryGrid- Resource page- full of goodies!

What happens when there is no plot- September Fawkes- Bookmark

 

In the Marketing Section,

Authors and Bookclubs- Sandra Beckwith

Broad vs Niche keywords (2025)- Dave Chesson - Bookmark

Social media for authors in 2025-Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

How to make an author website – Bookbaby

Selling books from your own website- Morgana Best- Bookmark

 

To Finish

 

I’m a fan of podcasts and I have a few that are regular listens. While I am on my summer break, I try to stay off the computer and focus only on being present with my family. Even if it’s reading a paper book in the same room. So, this week as I walked back into my study, I stopped to check out a couple of my favourite podcasts. The Spa Girls have a super interview with Ines Johnson on direct selling and special editions. Joanna Penn always has an interesting goal setting podcast show for the beginning of the new year. 

 

It’s time to get cracking and creating!

 

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 BoliviaInteligente 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

Looking For A Hero

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

The regular news has been dominated by the Election in the United States of America. The world is going to change. Publishers are already looking at how the election result will impact their business.

If you publish books in/for the LGBTQ+ community, you may have a harder time in the business according to James Folta writing for LitHub. Authors against Book Bans took the time to read the Project 2025 book outlining a conservative agenda for the USA  (all 900 pages) but very early on they were confronted with some disturbing statements that will wreak havoc on the publishing community.

 

Libraries are also looking at the challenges they will face as the result of the election. With conservative states promoting Book Banning some libraries are thinking of adopting Idaho’s model of banning children from libraries so they can’t be prosecuted if the child sees a book that would be problematic e.g. Anne Frank’s Diary or How To Be An Antiracist.

 

Elsewhere in the world of publishing, Sharjah International Bookfair and the Publishers Conference was making news. The Bookfair starts today with over 2500 publishers from 112 countries. This Bookfair is going from strength to strength. Mark Williams offers an interesting view on the importance of the Sharjah Bookfair and how quickly it is becoming a fixture in publishers diaries.

With a dedicated free trade area for anything book related it’s no wonder that big printers are seeing the benefits of setting up shop there. John Ingram of IngramSpark and Lightening Source was interviewed about the benefits to the Print on Demand community. 

 

Publishers are embracing AI after condemning it. Translators are eyeing Simon and Schuster sideways as they committed to using AI for translating into English books published in other languages. First up Dutch through the Dutch publishing house that S&S acquired this year.

 

It's November and usually writers would have been settling in for NaNoWriMo. But news has been scarce of late due to changes in the structure of the nonprofit organization. If you have decided to turn off the news and just hunker down to write you can still join in with NaNoWriMo – maybe aim for 40,000 words instead.

 

If you are looking for a news escape and want to dive into some craft reading, Kevin Anderson has curated the annual November Storybundle of writing craft books. The Storybundle offers great craft books for cheap, money going directly to authors and a charity. Wins all around. This year there is even a year’s subscription to The Indie Author magazine.

 

Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur has a swag of free tools for writers, he has just launched a little app that can keep an eye on all your reviews. Check out what Writerwatch can do for you.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has an excellent post on special editions. This goes into detail about crowdfunding the edition, print runs, how to get special detailing all sorts of nuts and bolts information. If you have a special project that you want as a limited edition this is the article you need to read. 

 

Katie Weiland has a great article on the most important characters in your novel. She identifies three that you must have for your structure to work. The protagonist, the antagonist, and the relationship character. This is a super post on writing craft.

 

James Scott Bell has been looking at old movies for inspiration and he talks about the literal mirror moments in films that do the same things in a well written book.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to avoid author intrusion in the first person- Becca Puglisi-Bookmark

7 tips for finding perfect character names- Becca Puglisi

6 powerful techniques to escape tedious descriptions- Sandy Vaile- Bookmark

3 questions to ask about the protagonists goal- Susan DeFreitas- Bookmark

How to approach editing- Stephen Geez

 

In The Marketing Section,

The best time of the year to sell books- Rachel Thompson

Maximise Goodreads giveaways- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Getting Beta Readers- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Catalog sales campaigns, pros and cons- Authors Red Door- Bookmark

6 ways to boost author website visits – Rob Bignell

 

 

To Finish,

It can be tempting to wallow in the doom and gloom of an unexpected outcome. Although most people agree that wallowing can really hit your mental health. (Chuck Wendig -Terribleminds.) Many writers take their pain and rage and use it to fuel their writing. Others look objectively at how to promote the change they want to see in the world. 

Donald Mass on Writer Unboxed has a post asking if Heroes Are Obsolete. He suggests using your fiction to create the heroes you want to see in the world. 

I am reminded of the student protests in Asia where the hunger games salute became synonymous with defiance against a military regime. The power of a fictional character transcended language and culture to be a symbol for others. 

Writers have the power to change attitudes. It might be time to get your Big Damn Hero pants on.

 

 

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.

 

Pic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Reynolds Those who know... Know.

Just When You Thought It was Safe

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

The Gremlins got into my blog and sent people off on a wild goose chase looking for my post last week. I am still trying to fix it so eagle eyed readers will notice that my header has gone back to the old old Blogspot address.

If you missed last week’s post, Writing Resistance, you can check it out here. And if you are a week or so behind you can check out the 800^th blog post here. Thank you to the readers who alerted me to the problem. You are the best!

 

As we wrap up October, National Book Month (US) The Independent Publishers Association published an article on The Copyright Alliance's website about the importance of copyright and the current moves to allow AI to erode it.

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard highlights the success that educational publisher Pearson is having with AI and customized lesson plans. I was caught by the last line on the continued relevance of print in the classroom. I want to cling on to the printed book with two hands but the future might have other ideas.

 

Two trade authors who were having moderate success separately have teamed up at the request of their publishers to produce books. Publisher’s Weekly reports on the pairing and why they are now having more success as part of a team. This could be a great move or a horrible can of worms depending on their publisher support.

 

Scribd, almost the last of the all-you -can-eat digital subscription model, has now bowed to the inevitable and is introducing tiered pricing. The unlimited digital reading experience was great to get people into the eco system but whale readers, who read a book a day, can quickly have reading subscription services in the red. They read faster than the subscription model can make money.

 

Publishing Perspectives have a quick run down on the publisher’s conference in Sharjah that is happening next week. They are getting bigger every year.

 

Dan Holloway takes a look at the results of the Written Word Media Survey and there is a big chunk of change going into romance and fantasy authors pockets. 

 

John Gilstrap wrote this week of an unnerving experience when an AI muscled in on his Zoom call. This surprised everyone but what happened next was cause for concern. 

 

The Alliance of Independent authors have shone a spotlight onto contract clauses to watch out for in serialized fiction. It is useful to glance over these stories so you are familiar with contract language and what to look out for.

 

Jane Friedman looks at the recent moans about Print On Demand and the perceived lower quality of these books coming out from big publishers. For years the printing industry has been asking publishers to standardize their print sizes. With Print on Demand they may be getting their way at last.

 

Amazon is tightening up on author claims of being 'best selling' and 'award winning.' If you use these slogans in your marketing be prepared to show the evidence. Penny Sansevieri has a run down on what is happening. 

 

It’s always interesting to drop into Maria Popova’s blog The Marginalien to explore language and all its little quirks. Recently she explored the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig and shared some beautiful words for feelings that we don’t have a name for. This is an article to savor and a book to buy the word nerd in your life.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to end a scene- James Scott Bell- Bookmark

How to use Goal Motivation and Conflict- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Why conflict drives a story- Jerry Jenkins- Bookmark

7 tips to avoid overwriting- C S Lakin- Bookmark

How to hook readers with character descriptions- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

5 reasons to consider translating- Angela Ackerman

Best communities for marketing- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

The ultimate book cover reveal – Sandra Beckwith-Bookmark

ISBN’s made easy- Comprehensive article – N.B. ISBN’s are free in NZ

9 Key reasons why your book is not selling.- Laurence O’Bryan

 

To Finish

If you haven’t discovered Canva yet and yes there are some authors who haven’t. Check out this powerful friendly design site. There are heaps of templates for marketing as well as Book Cover designs, banners, Ads, Video’s Reels etc. Canva is free and it also has a paid tier. The free tier can give you pretty much everything. Author, Jeevani Charika has a YouTube channel to help authors get the most out of Canva. Canva has just dropped a whole lot of new features. Jeevani shows you how you can use 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 all your kind virtual coffee love, 

Thanks.

 

Pic Photo by Nikola Tasic on Unsplash