In Publishing News This Week…
Anthropic.
The settlement letters came out and there was an immediate outcry. So much that Writer Beware was documenting in real time as authors discovered publishers had claimed 100% of the payout share or were claiming for books whose rights had reverted. One sad author found a scam artist had laid claim to all of hers and she wasn’t the only one. These were not isolated instances. It almost looked as if it was deliberate. Widespread panic dominated social media. Claims need to be signed off by the end of this month so disputes have to be resolved fast with publishers. If you have an Anthropic claim check your correspondence carefully, even if it looks ok. Check in with Authors Guild on what you need to do. Drop in to Writer Beware for the latest updates including the new ‘helpful’ companies which will make this problem go away. (SCAM)
Rolling up behind the Anthropic claim is the Open AI, Microsoft claim. Based on the previous lawsuits Authors Guild have asked the judge for a summary judgement, however much of the claims evidence has been redacted, reports Publishers Weekly.
On the other side of the fence, Chelle Honniker, who has a business teaching authors about AI has written an article explaining that authors signed up for AI Indexing. You are misguided about putting a line in your copyright notice about AI training. It is too late.
Authors have missed a crucial understanding. The Anthropic case was about piracy, not training.
Kevin Kelly (of 1000 true fans fame) has written an interesting article, Arguments In Favour of AI Fair Use. This is what the judge decided. Now how can we make it work in our favour. Kevin has always advocated a direct relationship with your readers as humans make connections with other humans.
There is a backlash demanding that AI not be used in any image creative work. Illustrators who use digital illustration techniques are being branded as using AI- even when they haven’t. Glossy children’s book illustrations are being panned. Illustrators are now using more texture brushes to their work so they won’t be lumped in the AI slop basket. Recently I saw a claim that the digital texture brush tool makers are demanding in their sale contracts that they can’t be used in AI illustration. As news media reports another scary claim from the computer scientists who created AI, it is obvious that it is almost too late to put in safeguards.
Audible is pushing hard in the translated audio market with original audiobook titles they are translating into English. This used to take a long time and happened only if the books won print awards. Now Audible expect their Original to English translation market to grow to 25% of their English language audiobooks by the end of the year.
Publishing Perspectives reported on a white paper from Frankfurt Bookfair on AI narration. Who is narrating our future? The white paper had input from across the industry. However they noted that they were only able to write this paper if they assured the respondents that they would be anonymous, such is the sensitive nature of the subject in publishing. It is worth reading the article to get the facts and figures.
Jami Gold has an interesting article on procrastination. She examines cognitive theory ideas for ways to help authors break out the blocks to productivity. There is great ad vice in here about mindset hacks.
Jane Friedman has an excerpt from M Stevenson’s book, It Depends: An Authors Practical Guide to Debut Year. The excerpt is on partnering with bookstores to run pre orders. This breaks down what you need to do with examples.
Rachel Thompson is known for her practical marketing advice and encouragement to authors around the web. Her latest article -8 Writing And Publishing Lessons I learned From Writing 8 Books is full of great advice. These 8 maxims about writing and marketing are timeless. This is a Print Out and Put on Your Wall post!
In The Craft Section,
Serials – Start with a finished manuscript or write on the fly? - Simon Jones- Bookmark
Delivering backstory with setting- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark
10 standout tips for writing- Randy Susan Meyers- Bookmark
The Villains Journey-Debbie Burke- Bookmark
What should you write next- James Scott Bell-Bookmark!
In The Marketing Section
Honesty in book marketing- Sandra Beckwith
Paid Newsletters -Smart income stream or expensive
distraction- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark
Marketing without panic- Susan Odev- Bookmark
Maximising free book downloads- Bookbub- Bookmark
10 social media platforms for authors- Alliance of Independent Authors
To Finish
There are so many demands on your author business that often the way forward seems to be obscured. This week I was listening to Joanna Penn’s podcast interview with Tracy Cooper Posey on redesigning your author business for the environment that actually exists. It was a hopeful episode. Check out the transcript or listen when you can. No matter how small your actions are, they contribute to your author momentum forward.
Go forth… even with small steps, you can reach your destination.
Maureen
@craicer
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