Shopping for Knowledge

 

In Publishing News this week.

In a surprise move, as everyone thought the Baker and Taylor Distributors had a buyer, B and T shut the door and fired everyone. Publishers Weekly reports that this leaves B and T workers, small publishers and libraries completely in the cold with no sign of redress.

 

Fox Entertainment and HarperCollins have decided to work together. They have signed a first look deal. Fox gets to develop Avon romances and HarperCollins gets to write books on Fox studio properties. If you can’t beat Netflix – Do what Netflix does… all the way to the bank.

 

If you are a subscriber to the Substack version of the blog you will have already seen the breaking news about the new searchable database for the Anthropic settlement last week. Darcy Pattison has a great article on what all the important dates around filing for the $3000 per book payout means. This is a must read. You can be sure that the other AI companies are looking at this judgement and will be taking notes. Anthropic saved themselves a $75 Billion fine by settling out of court and if you look at the numbers they come out of it pretty well. The kick in the teeth for some writers is discovering their publishers in America didn’t file a copyright claim within 5 years of publication which leaves them out in the cold.

 

On Writer Beware Victoria Strauss writes about the return of the Nigerian Prince scam and includes the new book club feature scam. With AI doing all the research work the email scams can be pretty convincing.  

 

Penguin Random House has sent its banned books wagon to Washington DC for Banned Books Week. Insert your own pithy comment on the juxtaposition of these two entities meeting in the seat of American government. The banned books on this year’s list, that they are handing out, will make you weep. 

 

Last week I mentioned an article - Publishing has a Gambling Problem and the responses from many people in publishing to its truths.

This week to add to the discourse, Karen Gillespie writes about The Case of the Disappearing Author and Why You Don’t Want a 6 or 7 Figure Deal.

 

 Agent Richard Curtis turns the spotlight onto Moral Clauses this week. He argues that the moral clause is immoral. Publishers are seeing the moral clause as a potential weapon to disassociate themselves from a high risk client. High risk? That could be a writer who disagrees with the latest edict from a political leader. Have you read your contracts morals clause?

 

Next month you can join Novel November. This is the replacement for NaNoWriMo. The list of sponsors for this free event is gathering momentum. If you want to test yourself and write a novel in November check out the site and sign up for free. There are lots of goodies on offer, including a charity donation from Pro Writing aid for every writer who succeeds in writing 50,000 words in November. This could be the month to try dictation and smash those words out.

 

Dan Blank has an interesting article on cycles of learning. What stops you from doing or learning about book marketing and connecting with readers. It can be as easy as committing to a short daily challenge. 

 

Susan Watts has one of those articles that you file away and think I must do that. It’s all about body position and health. If you have felt the strain of sitting at your keyboard Susan has some ideas for you to fix your workspace. (Stretch your body now!)

 

The Dream Team of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are celebrating 10 years of their website One Stop for Authors. This is their comprehensive website with articles and planners and all good things. They have some great deals to say thank you.

 

The Art Of Keeping Your Readers Hooked is what every writer wants. Elizabeth Craig has boiled it down to five important things to nail to keep your readers nailed to the page.

 

In The Craft Section,

Writer Igniter Story prompts- DIYMFA- Bookmark

How long should a series go- James Scott Bell

First draft words of wisdom- Dale Ivan Smith-Bookmark

10 dialogue tips – C S Lakin- Bookmark

What is a compelling voice-Tiffany Yates Martin

 

In The Marketing Section,

Booktok for Book Marketing- Sandra Beckwith - Bookmark

Social media strategies for authors- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

Creating Buzz- Terry Odell- Bookmark

When your imaginary world becomes real- R J Redden

10 proven strategies to own the Amazon Algorithm- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

October was usually called NaNoWriMo prep month. Now with Novel November prep month continues, with lots of resources around for writers to access. Kevin Anderson has put together a collection of writing craft eBooks for Storybundle with great bonus books if you buy the whole set. It’s a win win win, writers get money, you get great books for not much, and a charity gets a dollop of cash. 

To make the most of writing resources you should read Gabriela Pereira’s article on Double Take learning. It is especially interesting if you are thinking about stretching yourself into new writing directions in November.

Don’t forget to sign up for The Alliance of Independent Authors free online 24 hour conference. This year’s theme is New Trends and the agenda is up. 

Go out there and soak up the knowledge.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter of 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 free Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

 

pic Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash

 

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

 

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.

 

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Uniquely You

 

 

In Publishing News This Week

Who is making money in the book industry? Lagadére seems to be leading the pack. They are up 48% in sales in the first half of 2024. They attribute their good fortune to sales of audio and front list and back list… or did the total reorganization of Hachette have something to do with it.

 

If China is the elephant in the room for all things sales wise… then the elephant likes cats. They feature in all the children’s bestsellers in China. If you have a cat main character ….

 

Publishers Weekly has an interesting article on Children’s Booksellers engaging audiences in different ways. It brings in the readers… which drag in the payers and everyone has a good time.

 

In the UK, Newcastle wants to be a centre of writing and publishing. They have an historic building and buy in from publishers, they just need lots of cash from the new government. It has to be cheaper to run a publishing business out of Newcastle than London, one of the most expensive cities in the world, right?

 

Colleen Story has an interesting article on 5 steps to building a strong foundation to your writing career. Have you considered that emotional, physical and mental health is just as important in your writing career as having a website.

 

Rachel Thompson has a must read post on phishing scams targeting writers  and how to tell if its legit and thriller author Cat Connor takes issue with digital marketers trying the same thing and what she does to discourage it.

 

If you are hunting around for interesting writing competitions take a look at this list compiled for the month of August.

 

Joanna Penn has an excellent interview with Roz Morris about writing emotion. How do you know when you have nailed it for the reader. Check out the transcript/ podcast.

 

How much does your environment influence your writing? Sue Coletta has a great post on how it has affected other authors. Does changing your environment result in a totally different book?

 

Joy York writes on Story Empire about how to go about seeking feedback on your writing.

 

Katie Weiland continues her story structure series with a great article on the art of The Hook.

 

In The Craft section,

Adding subtext to dialogue- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Does your scene need more tension- Angela Ackerman

5 effective outlining techniques- Rachel Thompson-Bookmark

Learning to love synopsis- Diana Giovinazzo

Infusing mood into your fiction- C S Lakin- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Gaining more reviews- Fussy Librarian

Multiple ways to sell the story- Brian Feinblum

Social Media sells- Jennifer Windrow- Bookmark

Creative book marketing strategies- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Book Promo timing- Sandra Beckwith-Bookmark

Reader Magnets and other questions - Alli Podcast

 

To Finish

Today I was checking that a review on Amazon that I had written was up and at the top of the review pages was Amazon’s AI roundup of the reviews and what they were all commonly saying. Woah, I thought, AI gets everywhere. Dan Blank recently had an interesting article on how AI was sliding into our everyday lives making shortcuts and time saving. What we really should be doing, he said was celebrating our unique creative voice.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

I’m running late on the monthly newsletter. This weekend I will get to it.  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.

 

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Belief In Your Voice

  

In Publishing News this week,

 

There were accolades and ‘I remember’s’ all over Social Media when Alice Munro died this week. Alice was a ground breaking short story writer awarded the 2013 Nobel prize in Literature for her work and was often cited as one of the finest writers in the last 50 years.

 

In audiobook news, Bonnier books joined Spotify’s audiobook premium offer. Publishing Perspectives reports that Spotify has over 200 million premium subscribers and they are listening to backlist audio books. With Harper Collins move into AI voiced audiobooks for their backlist (in the blog a few weeks ago) the publishers have found another pot of gold to exploit.

 

Meanwhile, The Bookseller reports on a hybrid first- mixing real narrator, digital voices and AI into an audiobook.

 

The EU has signed their AI Act into law and it will be in effect from June. It is more comprehensive than the United States law or the UK. The fines are whopping. Keep an eye out for expert commentary for how the law will affect publishing going forward.

 

Dan Holloway reports that Open AI, the tech firm behind ChatGPT, have disbanded their risk team. This seems particularly short sighted as a risk team might have alerted them that Scarlet Johannsson was about to launch a lawsuit against them for copying her voice.

 

Spare a thought for the Spanish language publishers. Their children’s books are in hot demand, but they can’t get them picked up in their own countries. If the book comes from America, it is a different story. Publishers are resorting to opening American offices so they can get American ISBN’s. Publishing Perspectives reports on the conundrum.

 

Anne R Allen has a great post on genre, comps and categories or where does your book belong on the shelf. This is an excellent rundown on why subcategories are important in marketing your book.

 

Dave Chesson has a must read article on the importance of making sure you have licenses for the fonts you use. Just because it’s on word doesn’t make it free to use in your print book or eBook.

 

Lisa Gardner has an interesting post on the 10 things she has learned as a crime fiction writer for 30 years. 

 

Sandra Beckwith has 9 writing tools and resources she can’t do without. Mug warmers anyone?

 

How are your endings? Katie Weiland has a great post on troubleshooting your endings to make them the best they can be.

 

Angela Ackerman is guest posting on Jami Gold’s site with a great article on the inner character arc. How do we get resolve the inner conflict and give the character layers?

 

In the Craft Section,

Character failure responses- Angela Ackerman

Writing for your readers-Linda Clare

The first million words are practice- Draft2Digital

How to avoid reader déjà vu- Jami Gold Bookmark

The three rules of point of view- Gabriela Pereira- Bookmark

Novel writing words of wisdom- Dale Smith- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Powering through the unfun parts of the job- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Types of videos authors can make- Rob Bignell

Book marketing strategies on a budget- Dale Roberts- Bookmark

Human centered book marketing- Joanna Penn talks to Dan Blank-Bookmark

Converting Word docs to ePub- Jane Friedman

 

To Finish,

How do you know when you have a big enough story to tell? This is a question that can send the writer into a spin. Some compensate by throwing everything and the kitchen sink into the story. Others can’t write the story because it doesn’t feel compelling. Jane Friedman has an excerpt from Robin Finn’s book on self belief and the limits we place on ourselves when we are writing.

 

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 Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash

What Is The Real Story?

 

In Publishing News this week

 

The Independent Book Publishers Association is rebranding their main book awards and adding some new ones, reports Publishers Weekly. They are including many marginalized and diverse communities in their new categories.

 

Publishers Weekly is promoting a book to publishers about Disinformation and how to recognize it. With national elections coming up in nearly half the world- publishing the truth has never been more important.

 

Publishing Perspectives reports that the Sharjah Booksellers conference has grown to 76 countries participating. They are just wrapping up their successful gathering of booksellers and distributors.

 

Last week, I mentioned the viral post on book publishing that had people polarized over the future of the book industry. The week has seen a few more Op Ed’s. Here is a reasonably balanced one from Lincoln Michel published in Slate.

 

America’s National Public Radio has discovered that authors are using AI- they have an article on authors who are feeding AI their own work. But does this help you create anything new?

Meanwhile, there is still divided opinion whether Harper Collins partnering with Eleven Labs is a good thing. Harper Collins stress it is only looking at AI audio for their backlist. And now that they have started, watch everyone else do the same.

 

This week Ruth Harris looks at that problem when literary agents go bad. Do your due diligence and check out this great article. Over at Writer Beware, there is a great article on how a book really becomes a movie. Hint: It’s a hard slog.

 

Joanna Penn interviews Dan Blank on human centered marketing. This is a great podcast/transcript of getting comfortable about talking about what you write, whether it is to one person or Social Media.

 

Ingram Spark has an interesting article on creating Book Merch. They list all the places you can get it along with design ideas. Do you have a great setting for your books? Design the town’s business logos. Put it on a coaster. 

 

Ayesha Ali has a great post on Jane Friedman’s blog about opening scenes. She has 4 must have goals to really nail the scene. This is a print out and mull over post. 

Donald Mass has been thinking about imagination. How does the writer convey their imagination to the reader- does it ever happen? He has some words of wisdom for getting the reader and writer imagination working together.

 

In The Craft Section,

2 excellent posts from Becca Puglisi-7 growth milestones for character arc and The central conflict of your story- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

12 Jungian archetypes to shape character- Now Novel

5 effective outlining techniques- Rachel Thompson

Yes or No questions in dialogue- Sue Coletta-Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

How to record your own audiobook- Draft2Digital

Author website start points- R Shannon

FAQ on Book marketing with Book Machine PR- Bookmark

24 ways to promote your book or brand- Marika Flatt- Bookmark

Promoting your book with another author- Ingram Spark

 

To Finish

‘Won’t someone think of the children,’ has become a pop culture phrase culled from The Simpsons television series to lampoon a moralistic and narrow outlook. I confess to wincing and thinking these thoughts when I saw a news article about a horror movie being developed with those two out of copywrite characters, Mickey Mouse (Steamboat Willie) version and Winnie the Pooh (A A Milne version). What’s next … Conan the Barbarian meets Little House on the Prairie? (2028)

 

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: Photo by Michael Carruth on Unsplash

Taking Time to Recharge

 

 

In Publishing News this week.

 

The new Tutulia app is making little waves in the book community. The App uses a Machine learning AI to recommend your next read based on the information you feed it. The AI scrapes all the book sites and reviews and buzz to pull together a list of books that will suit you. As Ingram is a founder investor you can buy the book from inside the app and Ingram will print it and ship it to you. This is next Gen thinking.

 

Publishing Perspectives reports that Bonnier owned Bookbeat is expanding Europe. They seem to be competing in the Audiobook sector with Storytel. They want to increase more competition in Audiobooks. Their pricing subscription reflects this with by the hour of listening instead of monthly fees.

 

Mark Williams has an optimistic view of the big book fairs happening in the Middle East. They are back to clocking up a million visitors and audio looks like it will be taking off there as well with audio subscription services chasing this big market. Publishers should be taking note of the expanding audio markets.

 

Kris finishes The How Writers fail series with a pithy article on quitting too soon. This is a thought provoking article on how writers can self-sabotage their writing. 

 

Sam Missingham has a great newsletter called The Empowered Author. She has her finger on the pulse of the UK publishing scene and is often amplifying authors across social media. Recently she updated her fabulous post on all the different ways Author Collectives operate and their value to the writers involved. ( So of course I would be all over it.)

 

Recently Dan Blank was commenting on generosity as a book marketing idea. He has some really interesting examples of how this has been playing out in the author community.

 

Terry Odell on The Killzone blog recently wrote about giving yourself permission to step back from your writing. Sometimes life gets in the way and writers can tie themselves into knots trying to get their word count in or their projects finished. This is a great little article.

If you need to take a longer creative rest- check out Orna Ross and Joanna Penn’s latest podcast transcript. Joanna has just walked the Santiago Camino Trail and talks about how she is structuring creative rests into her writing calendar.

 

If you are preparing for NaNoWriMo which starts in November, Don’t Forget to check out all the good offers/ deals available for participants. (pssst Scrivener is on sale)

 

James Scott Bell is a great writing craft teacher. I have a few of his books and they are constant dip-ins when you get stymied. He is guest posting over on Anne R Allens’s Blog with a great 10 commandments of writing post- This is print out gold!

 

In The Craft Section,

7 tips to add complexity to the story- K M Weiland- Bookmark

2 tips to amp up the conflict- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Handwriting vs Typing- Kay DiBianca

Prologues- Do we need them?- Janice Hardy – Bookmark

Fear Theasaurus- Not being believed- Angela Ackerman Becca Puglisi

 

In The Marketing Section,

Marketing beyond the bookstore

7 strategies to focus on book marketing- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Publishing resources Free downloads- Shala Raquel- Bookmark

The key elements of eye-catching book design- Jane Friedman- Bookmark

How to publish a Hardcover book on Amazon

 

To Finish,

It’s Frankfurt Bookfair time which means The Alliance of Independent Authors runs one of their free online conferences. SelfPubCon. Check out the link to see who the speakers are this year and sign up. The sessions are all prerecorded and usually 30 minutes long and chock full of information. It is free and there are often neat little deals and competitions on offer.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top or here. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

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