In Publishing News this week,
Over the years when Summer hits the Northern Hemisphere and the publishing world goes on holiday, I have noticed that’s when publishing companies start buying each other. First up this month, Wiley have bought UK based Emerald Publishing group. Ho Hum you might say but close reading of the Publishing Perspectives article points out why they did this deal. Content, and Archive. What would need access to trusted scholarly information across the world?
Dan Holloway reports on the recent post from Writer Beware about Indie authors being cut out of AI copyright class actions. The new META case specifically excludes ASIN’s. It’s worth reading the full post from Writer Beware as well as Dan’s commentary.
After recently celebrating a win for the US Institute of Museum and Library Services, the beleaguered Institute responsible for funding libraries and museums across the nation is still battling to stay alive. Publisher’s Weekly reports on the ongoing saga to keep information services free.
Staying with libraries, Publishers Weekly reports on five public library organisations who are pleading with the big five publishers and digital publishing platforms to overhaul their library prices for books. Publishers have long charged an exorbitant price for a book to be in a library, and they continue that practice with eBooks. The costs have ramped up so much that libraries can’t afford the licensing fees.
Publishing Perspectives recently interviewed the editor of Clark’s Publishing Agreements about their latest edition. This is the bible of publisher’s legal departments, as it contains publishing contracts and legal advice as well as information on international agreements. This edition includes AI information for contracts for the first time. An edition comes out every 5 years. With the speed of change at the moment. they may want to speed up their editions.
I have heard of duo’s writing books, but when six young adult authors get together to collectively write a book that’s news. Publishers Weekly interviewed one of the authors to find out why and how they did it.
App Sumo has its Deposit Photo deal on at the moment. This does not happen very often so if you need photos for any marketing or book covers etc, jump on this. It’s a lifetime deal for very cheap!
Dale Roberts pointed me in the direction of this interesting company. Spoken have just released a turnkey model to do full cast audio recordings. If you are thinking about audio books, check out their press release and pricing. They pay their voice actors and charge by project, so you don’t have to have a subscription. $20 per 5000 finished words is amazing!
James Blatch has an in depth essay on metadata and how this is becoming the most important way you can get your book noticed. This is an essay every author should read. Metadata doesn’t have to be put in the too hard basket. Understanding how to use it with the new search algorithms can give every author an advantage.
Many moons ago I had fun writing a serial novel with a group of writer friends. They pushed me to write well and ever since I’ve thought about serial novels as a fun flashback to the good old days. However, serial novels are very much alive on various sites. Matty Dalrymple has written a great essay on why she’s about to dip a toe into serial publishing. She also has great tips on how to go about it.
Do you remember what it was like to write your first story? How in touch are you with the writer you were then? Mark Leslie Lefebvre has a great essay on The Slow Pilgrimage To Author Success. Don’t forget why you started to write in the first place.
Donald Mass has a great essay on Writer Unboxed about what makes human written fiction human? In the age of the machines “being able to write” how do you cut across the noise and show human qualities in your fiction? He has a series of qualities to look for with prompts to help you explore your own writing.
In The Craft Section,
Sex scenes and curse words- James Scott Bell -Bookmark
Omniscient POV- Anne R Allen
How to write Mythic fiction – KM Weiland- Bookmark
Dealing with backstory- Janice Hardy
How to generate better story Ideas- Lisa Poisso- Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
Facebook ads- Ines Johnson-Bookmark- (Great series on this subject)
29 whimsical Book promo ideas for July- Sandra Beckwith
Publishing online- Gale Leach- Bookmark
The tiny detail that ruins a book- Nuria Corbi-(Important info)
Marketing, algorithms, and tropes- Terry Odell- Bookmark
To Finish,
There are some meaty topics in this week’s roundup. As I came to summing up the weeks theme, the word algorithm, defined as “a finite sequence of step-by-step instructions or rules designed to perform a specific task, solve a problem, or complete a computation,” got the blog title prize.
Writers need readers. Finding those readers, nurturing them, and hopefully inspiring them to become true fans of your work is the bedrock of your writing career. You can write for one person- yourself, and it’s a bonus if others follow along. Search is changing, AI has seen to that. Understanding algorithms is now important for writers. How will your readers find you? What do you want from a Book Launch by Alexa Bigwharfe is a great reminder of when to think about your launch plan. Written Word Media’s essay on Building Local Buzz is a timely reminder that you can control the algorithm in your favour.
Maureen
@craicer
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