In Publishing News This Week,
The news everywhere in publishing was the smackdown given by the judge in the Internet Archive vs The Publishers court case. The centre of which was Internet Archive claiming a controlled digital lending policy of printing a PDF from an Ebook for their patrons was fair use.
There were comments on all sides, Libraries, Publishers, Writers, Lawyers all had opinions often conflicting. In the middle was copyright and who loses out. Libraries have been stung by publishers license demands. Publishers argue that a PDF is just the same as an Ebook and if printed out a paperback. This will be an ongoing wrangle.
Meanwhile, the American Library Association has released a report stating the numbers of books banned in the USA in 2022 broke all previous limits. It is sobering reading. If you live in a country that doesn’t have book banning public drives, don’t take this privilege for granted. Libraries closing is another way to ban books from the community.
Also in the news was a Wired article that was little better than a hatchet job on Brandon Sanderson. Brandon graciously defended the writer… but the outrage from other writers and his fans was loud and public. Apparently all Brandon does is write in a very scheduled way. If the writer had problems with Sanderson- how come he owns 17 books written by Brandon?
Esquire writing at the same time as Wired detailed the organisation Brandon has had to put in place since that Kickstarter.
AI was back in the news (surprise) today when many influential tech founders published an open letter asking tech companies to pause their AI training citing the risk to humanity. A media commentator looked at how publishers could license content to AI’s and the potential prices they could charge.
Kris Rusch has an interesting blog post on AI content being the mediocre level of work instead of purposefully crafted writing, or speaking.
Jez Walters has an article on how Bonnier Publishing company has restructured based around enthusiast communities. This is a result of the covid lockdown where their publishing company went to Zoom and now they are staying that way. It’s an interesting article. Bonnier CEO likens it to taking the company back to start up mode. Ground yourself in who you are and be pragmatic.
Publishing Trends looks at what makes an audiobook original. That is a book that is published in audio first. This is a different publishing model from the norm but audio companies are seeking out titles they can have exclusively.
Lisa Tener has a great article on protecting yourself from accidental plagiarism. Don’t forget to attribute your notes to who said what. Lisa has some recommended plagiarism trackers to keep on hand.
Jane Friedman has a guest post by Carly Watters on What Is Upmarket Fiction. This is a deep dive into that sweet spot between commercial and literary, which everyone wants to inhabit.
In The Craft Section,
No Swords No flowers- Anatomy and sex scenes- Molly Rookwood- Bookmark
How to write a memoir- Reedsy
5 mistakes to avoid if you want to finish your book- Colleen Story
How archetypes changed my life- K M Weiland- Bookmark
6 terror tactics for really scary villains- Sacha Black
In The Marketing Section,
How soon should you think about marketing your book? K M Weiland
9 proven strategies to increase book sales- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark
How to build your reader audience- Written Word Media- Bookmark
Social Media for writers- Ellie Diamond
Your books press release- Sandra Beckwith
To Finish,
It’s the end of March, for many it’s the end of the tax year or the end of the first quarter. If you need to review your goals, get some, or just identify one goal to focus on check out this Goal Setting post for writers.
Along with goal setting you might need to run your eye down this list of things that might be holding you back from achieving your goals.
See you in the next quarter (next week.)
Maureen
@craicer
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Pic: Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
