Caution: Look Carefully At The Message.

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

Frankfurt Bookfair wrapped up and everyone is slowly trickling back to their offices in publishing land. Publishers Weekly has a rundown of the gossip, the political brickbats, the changes coming to the fair to make it more public facing, much to some publishers’ dismay. I think there will be a lot of water cooler conversations about the fair, especially the stats of more than 50% of European readers not reading more than one book a year, and the American ambassador feeling attacked because the German minister said AI was digital colonization. 

 

While AI might have been the subject of fiery speeches at Frankfurt there was a survey done that asked how many publishers were using AI. Some were but many aren’t for various reasons, reports Publishing Perspectives. It sounds like many publishers are dipping the tip of their little toe in the water, seeing which way the rest of the publishing world is going, and still making up their mind.

 

Nielsen released a report at Frankfurt showing which territories were having a growth moment. More than half but some were going backward rather than staying the same. Nielsen reported than NZ was locked in price discounting which stifled growth. (I wonder where those cheap books are?) 

 

Publishers Weekly reported who the top trade publishers are in 2025. Thompson Reuters took over pole position. It is interesting how Amazon, possibly the worlds biggest bookstore, isn’t on the list.

 

Barnes and Noble have got a new library distribution eco system sorted out. This is to try to fill the gap left by the collapse of Barker and Taylor. They are the latest in a stream of book distributors and publishers hoping to help libraries part with their meager funding. 

 

Meanwhile, in a glimpse into the future, Thomas Umsteddt reports that Walmart are making buy links directly into Chat GPT. Watch for this to be quickly adopted by Amazon. Thomas also talks about the changes to the Amazon algorithm now rewarding readers from outside the ecosystem coming to buy your books. Amazon ads are slowing down.

 

Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware has a post on the Army of Bots taking over the publishing scams. She has examples and screenshots of what to look for. As ever, if you see a newbie talking about the great offer they got – gently point out that publishers don’t randomly email you out of the blue to offer publishing contracts.

 

Chad Allen writes on Jane Friedman’s blog about Why Your Book Isn’t Enough and Why that’s Good News. This is an interesting article on platform. Could you engage more with your audience?

 

Insecure Writer Support Group have an interesting post on Fair Use. What is it and when can you use it? This is a good reminder that lawsuits follow when you take someone’s work without getting permission.

 

The Creative Law Centre has a good post on Author Estate planning. Protecting Your Legacy Beyond The Page.

 

Hank Quense has an interesting post of Elizabeth Spann Craig’s blog warning beginning writers not to use AI. This is sound advice. How can you know if AI is writing anything good? How will you learn to tell the difference? September Fawkes is also cautioning writers about over reliance on Beat Sheets. Yes they teach structure but sometimes they get in the way of the story. This is an excellent article from a great writing teacher.

 

James Scott Bell is starting a new project and he looks at the process of getting ready and when the big grind points will hit. If you are thinking about having a go at Novel November (NovNov) this is a good primer.

 

Katie Weiland has an excellent article on the midpoint which had me thinking about my own characters and where their mirror moment is. A good excuse to dive back in and see if I have really nailed that essential bit of the story down.

 

In The Craft Section,

Strengthening your prose through direct language- Elizabeth Spann Craig

Working with relationship driven scenes- September Fawkes- Bookmark

Clean 1 draft fiction Dean Wesley Smith- Bookmark

Coach your characters- Jackie Alcalde Marr- Bookmark

You keep using that word- On profanity- Tiffany Yates Martin

 

In The Marketing Section,

On Amazon verified reviews- Sandra Beckwith

Branding by standing out- Podcast with Joanna Penn and Steve Brock- Bookmark

Free reads- new service from Bookbub

Creative book launches- Bookbub – Bookmark

How Netgalley makes your book stand out- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

This week I dropped into the Alliance of Independent Authors free conference on New Trends in publishing. These mini online conferences are excellent. My hand cramped writing notes. It is so good for those of us in opposite time zones to be able to access replays. Sadly, the two day grace period to watch the replays disappeared very fast. If you are hunting down information online about writing conferences check out YouTube. The 20books to 50k conference sessions are still up. Author Nation who have taken over the big 20 books conferences have a video podcast now. Draft2 Digital has an excellent series on Print or you can go down the Brandon Sanderson’s Writing University rabbit hole. 

If you want to grab writing craft books don’t forget to check out Storybundle’s collection, a win win win for the book authors, writers, and a charity. All this is great prep for Novel November (NovNov) coming soon. 

 

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 free 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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How To Find A New Book

 

 

In Publishing News this week

 

Publishers Weekly had a story about Bookshop.org beginning to sell eBooks in the UK. If you haven’t heard of Bookshop.org they are an independent online book seller that sells into the US and UK. They donate their profits to your local independent bookseller. Their catalogue is from Ingram. With eBooks being added to the stores that’s another win for independent booksellers. In NZ we have BookHub, an online book site linking to independent booksellers throughout the country. It’s a great tool to quickly research and buy books from your local bookseller.  

 

Porter Anderson reports that the judge has approved the settlement of the Anthropic case but as anyone in publishing knows what about the fact that AI companies all scraped their information from pirate book sites. Porter talks to some of the plaintiffs about that big problem that wasn’t addressed in the settlement.

PEN America reports on the latest round of book censorship taking place across the US.

Banned Books week is next week and sadly there is an increase in book censorship in American schools. It’s got to the point where they are just reporting on new books that are being banned, not all books that have come under censorship. 

With a child studying the publishing industry here in NZ, I am interested in what publishing courses around the world are teaching. Publishing Perspectives has a run down on what New Yorks Advanced Publishing Institutes week long conference will be covering. Their hot topics are very familiar to anyone in the indie publishing world. Newsletters, YouTube, AI, Audio, and Direct Selling. 

 

There has been a lot of comments in Social Media about an article published by The Walrus – Publishing has a Gambling Problem. Some commenters agree that the system could be broken, others defend it. At issue is how publishers’ actions can screw up a writers career. Nowadays the success of their first book dictates whether they have a career at all. Kathleen Schmidt has an interesting take on this from the publicist’s point of view. And riffing on a theme, An independent bookshop book buyer also weighed in how difficult it was from the bookshop side to even choose books from a catalogue. Suffice to say that if you see a book being featured in a window it has already gone through many battles to get there.

 

In a potential new book alert- The Dream Team of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have a new thesaurus in the works – The Coping Mechanism Thesaurus. They like to test out ideas with writers so have a great article on what coping mechanisms are and how you can use them in your character development.

 

It is nearly time for the Frankfurt book fair and happening at the same time is The Alliance of Independent Authors 24 hour online conference. The conference is free and available for everyone. This year’s theme is New Trends. They have their usual fantastic lineup of speakers. Sign up and get all the talks for two days before they go behind a paywall. 

 

Dave Chesson has pulled together a list of the best book marketing books in his opinion. Rachel Thompson has a great article on 5 Misconceptions Writers Have About Book Marketing and Sales.

 

Liz Michalski has an interesting article on Writer Unboxed – How First Drafts Are Like Cauliflower. She has a list of hints that can make the process of revision so much better.

I’m currently working through one of her hints in my own work. It’s tough but it is worthwhile.

 

Katie Weiland has a quick post on single vs multiple narrators in your novel. What are the pros and cons of each style of writing? I’m wrestling with a multiple POV book, and it is tricky. Huge learning but hard work. 

 

In The Craft Section,

How to find your characters voice- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Craft a Raptor Hero-Sue Coletta- Bookmark

Picturing your characters- James Scott Bell

Can setup and backstory work in chapter one- Donald Maass- Bookmark

Writing friends becoming co-authors- Julie Glover

In The Marketing Section

How to get reader reviews- Sandra Beckwith

5 mistakes authors make running eBook promos-Written Word Media- Bookmark

How authors can ask smarter questions- Brian Jud- Bookmark

Global Translation tips- Kelly McDaniel

15 rules for advertising books- David Gaughran- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

It’s the last quarter of the year and that’s a panic time for authors. The Christmas book sales rush – will my book sell? The end of year, I still haven’t finished my manuscript, worry. Advertising budgets go up. Aaargh Money!  Not Enough Time -Aaargh! That treadmill of productivity starts to run faster. 

How do we counter this? 

Meet someone to talk about books. 

Electric Lit has an article on what they think is the next big past time, Book Readings. Have a session at a bar and read each other’s books… or just your favourite book. Hang out at a bookstore event- or start a weekly reading drop in. Book readings where you can ‘meet cute’ or just meet someone new and buy a book as well. It might be just what you need.

 

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 Steven Wright on Unsplash

 

Sharing Our Ideas

 

In Publishing News this week

 

And back to court we go in the Anthropic AI court case. Publishers Weekly writes that the attorneys for the authors had to satisfy the judge that the right people would get compensation. Publishers Weekly have laid out what different sectors of the industry should expect in renumeration. The judge will decide if it's fair.

 

In New York, women in publishing got together for a Publish-Her session. Porter Anderson talks about the keynotes and the new collaborations amongst women in publishing. This international movement is gaining momentum. Bologna will have a dedicated PublishHer session.

 

Publishers Weekly turns a spotlight on Indie children’s publishing to share the secrets of their success. Amongst their advantages are how they are using their smarts and size to take advantage of opportunities quickly. They also have more editorial control over their books so they can publish the unusual or potential problem book.

 

Publishers are waiting to see what the terms of the deal are over the Baker and Taylor sale. The new owners, Readerlink are only buying the assets of Baker and Taylor library distribution company. Who will pay the bills owed? According to one source -it will be a wild ride for publishers.

 

In academic publishing news, Cambridge University and the Max Planck society are collaborating to provide open access publishing of evidence based research. The academic publishing model is one of pay through the nose to publish and pay through the nose to read it. Open access publishing shares the work among researchers, so everyone benefits. Given the nature of wild claims coming from some politicians free access to medical evidence based research should help everyone to figure out what is pure bunkum snake oil. 

 

Amazon are partnering with the International Congress of Arabic and Creative Industries to create a comprehensive digital Arabic collection. Amazon will bring their AI translation and Audible publishing company to the party. Publishing Perspectives reports on how it will change the Middle Eastern publishing industry.

If you have been wondering about what to do in November  now that NaNoWriMo is no more- Fear Not, the annual push to write a novel in 30 days is still on. ProWriting Aid has taken over the reins and has a whole lot of free support for you if you want to have a go, including a big list of mentors and coaches. 

 

The Tax arm of our government occasionally puts out some good short videos to help small business figure out what to do at tax time. This morning I watched a little video on business expenses. Yes, writers can claim business expenses. If you aren’t sure what to claim the video is very educational. Of course this is New Zealand- your country might have different expense claims. You might have to do some digging on your own government website.

 

Chelle Honniker from The Indie Author magazine has been beavering away on a new author automation hub. If you have been wondering about streamlining your author business go and have a look. She is doing a coming out of Beta special.

 

Rachel Thompson breaks down the numbers around marketing for traditional publishing. This is a good overview of what you can expect from your marketing budget – and what you have to do for yourself. She has some great reference articles to help you manage your marketing.

 

Stephanie Cowell has an interesting article on Writer Unboxed about Daring to Share Your Work. It never gets easier even the great Madeleine L’Engle said this. She shares some helpful ideas to make the process easier on the writer.

 

Kaitie Weiland has an excellent article on Big vs Small character arcs. Some characters have a quieter life in your story but they still have an arc. How do you make the most of those small moments? 

 

In the Craft Section

How to write twists and turns- KWL team-Bookmark

A writing compass- Sally Hamer- Bookmark

Trouble is your business- James Scott Bell

Use weather to create mood- Angela Ackerman

5 strategies for pacing dialogue- C S Lakin- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

Why most writers hate marketing-Rachel Thompson – Bookmark!

What to do when ads stop working- Mathew Holmes- Bookmark

Pen to camera – YouTube a platform authors can’t ignore- Dale Roberts

3 powerful things to find your ideal reader - Sandra Beckwith

Newsletter magic without math- Lisa Norman-Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Jane Friedman has excerpted a chapter from Nadim Sadek's book How Creativity Survives in an AI Monoculture. This is an excellent reminder of what AI can do and can NOT do. Now more than ever is the moment where we must remember it is our relationships, our voice, our vision that makes us different. Handing creativity to a machine that can only regurgitate the next most likely words in the sentence is not a replacement for human experience. 

Sharing our creativity with others adds to the global human story.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly 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 Free 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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Is It A Trend?

 

 

In Publishing News this week.

 

The Anthropic court case news was everywhere.

A quick rundown of the case so far. Anthropic (Claude AI) were taken to court in a class action on unlawfully training their AI on pirated copyrighted works. The judge indicated fair use was the issue and they could have bought a copy of each book for training. However, they used stolen work- so there was a case. Anthropic settled out of court for $1 Billion. (less than 1% of their recent venture capital fundraising) Each author stands to get $3000 if they or their publisher had registered the book with the US copyright office. Authors discover their publishers haven’t copyrighted their books. The judge comes back and says hang on this settlement is not fair. Who knows what will happen next.

 

While Apple was celebrating their latest iPhone, in court news they are being sued by authors for copyright infringement and yes… they used a pirate site to train their AI.

 

Media Voices has an article about a new AI on the block that publishers can use to find places where their content has been reused or pirated without compensation. 

 

Elsewhere, Spotify is teaming up with Booktok to launch Booktok Hub a dedicated site to get Booktok recommended audiobooks through Spotify. They will use the viral power of Booktok to sell books to you.

 

This week International Literacy Day was not celebrated with joy. A report out from the World Literacy Foundation laments that literacy is going backwards. An estimated 2 Billion people cannot read a simple sentence. This is appalling. Bring back the old days when rich people funded libraries and lifted literacy. 

 

Bologna Children’s Book Fair and Shanghai Book fair have got together to produce a fair dedicated to illustration and pop culture. This looks like an exciting event to go to. Publishing Perspectives reports what’s on offer in November. 

 

With the huge interest in K Pop stories, a new publishing company has been set up to bring more of these stories into the English language. Publishers Weekly details the rise of the webcomic publisher Crossed Hearts.

 

Publishers Weekly also has an in-depth article with Agents on Middle Grade fiction and the trials of bringing these books to market in the current restricted publishing atmosphere. Despite all the hurdles they remain optimistic.

 

Darcy Pattison has an excellent article on publishing children’s books. She lays out the different models and talks about what you might want from your career. Your goals will determine your business model. 

 

Jami Gold has an excellent article on Angela and Becca’s blog about How to Differentiate Stories from AI Slop. What do you bring to the table in your writing that an AI can’t. This is a must read for reasons not to let AI do the creative work for you.

 

In the Craft Section,

It’s what’s up front that counts-James Preston

How to write stories that matter- Lynette Burrows – Excellent!

Foreshadowing in writing- Tammy Burke- Bookmark

Does my Character have to arc our of their want- September Fawkes - Bookmark

Make yourself the most useful critiquer- Lisa Poisso- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Bookbub Ads- easy to create- Bookbub- Bookmark

How to use geniuslink to sell books- Rachel Thompson -Bookmark

Podcasts and authors- Sandra Beckwith

How to have multiple identities- Alliance of Independent Authors

Surviving author photos- Randy Susan Meyers- Bookmark

 

To Finish 

A writer just can’t help it. They have to find out what everyone is writing. Chasing Trends is always the hot topic at writer’s gatherings. Can you get in on the ground floor of a trend? Ellen Buikema has a great article on spotting trend cycles and when to just leave them alone and write your own unique story.

You might just start a trend!

 

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 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 愚木混株 Yumu on Unsplash

This Crazy Thing We Do

 

 

In Publishing News this week

 

A tentative agreement has been reached with authors and Anthropic reports Publishers Weekly. This means an out of court settlement is on the cards. If you have a claim against Anthropic scraping your work to teach its AI you need to register before September 1^st. Tech Dirt has an interesting commentary on why Anthropic may have settled- the threat of extreme statutory damages. However, they say this might not be an ongoing trend given what the judge declared about training AI’s.(Fair use- if they bought a copy of the book.)

 

Mark Williams has an interesting article looking at the middle ground of the two extreme positions of AI use in publishing. Four perspectives of AI collaboration in publishing. He lays out the pro’s and cons of a thoughtful use of AI. 

 

Publishing Perspectives has a breakdown on the Book Sales numbers from The Association of American Publishers from 2024.In a $32 Billion industry, print is still up there. However, online sales accounted for over 30%. Audio sales drove much of the revenue.

 

While print last year was booming, lack luster sales this year has Bloomsbury axing some of their children’s division team. The Bloomsbury Boom and Bust rollercoaster of children’s publishing. (They get saved every twenty five years by some big name author.)

 

Mary Kole, specialist children’s editor and agent has written an interesting article on research she has done on the latest sales trends in Midgrade writing. Midgrade is quietly having a moment.

 

Some children’s writers have got together to launch an MFA in writing for young readers. After teaching at other programmes they decided what the world needed was a dedicated MFA just for children’s books. They have a great faculty and only five in person residencies over two years with two intakes a year. They are fundraising to keep the costs low. 

 

Jennifer Probst has a great article on the 7 steps to thriving as an author in a changing publishing world. Every now and then an article comes along and socks you between the eyes. This is a must read.

 

Jane Friedman has made her newsletter free for its 10th anniversary. In this article she looks at how publishing has changed since 2015. Does anybody remember the world before Kickstarter, Audio books, and Direct Sales platforms?

 

James Scott Bell has a great article on the origin of Kill Your Darlings, No it’s not a horror story. It’s being aware when you have overwritten.

 

Katie Weiland has concluded that story is almost dead in this year’s films. What happened to modern storytelling and 6 ways to find its soul. In the film story cycle we may be in for a return to those great film stories from the 80’s. 

 

Erin Halden has an interesting article on Antagonists. – Do you know about antagonist hierarchy. That is the layers of antagonism in your story. Not every antagonist is a mastermind criminal sometimes they can be the burnt toast in a scene.

 

In The Craft Section,

How much research is too much- Ellen Buikema (You can never have too much-MC)

5 ways to engage the senses- Lynette Burrows-Bookmark

Deep POV- Lisa Hall Wilson- Bookmark

Writing with subtext- Tammy Burke- Bookmark

What bad movies can teach you- Alex Cavanaugh- Excellent! 

 

In The Marketing Section,

Leverage someone else’s network- Sandra Beckwith

Why every author needs a platform- Written Word Media- Bookmark

Holiday marketing – why prep matters- Penny Sansevieri

10 Amazon KDP secrets- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

How to write a Book Proposal- Reedsy- Bookmark

 

To Finish

To shamelessly rip off Steven Colbert’s monologue, I trawl through the web to harvest those snippets of interest, tossing them into a pot with spices and creating the hot stew of information that is my weekly roundup. This is a niche blog that writers and publishers tell me is required reading. Even if I take you down some rabbit holes. (Hat tip of thanks to those of you who have chucked a dollar or two into the coffee fund.) 

If you have ever had to explain publishing to someone not in the industry you will appreciate the Diana Urban article about the Publishing Sitcom.

 

Yes, we’re mad to do this crazy thing called 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 free Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, It is much appreciated. 

Thank you.

 

Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

Who Owns Your ideas?

 

 

In Publishing News this week.

 

Calling all writers who have been caught up in the Anthropic AI mess. The lawyers in the legal case against Anthropic want your name for a class action. If you have had books pirated, this is your must read article from Publishers Weekly. Act quickly you don’t have much time.

 

Mark Williams is also highlighting the case against Open AI in India. They are in the Indian courts trying to prove fair use. These big court cases are being watched by countries around the world. Copyright and AI use, every country has to make a decision over their meaning.

 

I try to have balanced viewpoints on AI in the blog. This is an interesting post from Mythcreants about not falling for AI. There are some good points here. Be very sure why you might use AI. It can be a useful tool but it shouldn’t do the creative work.

 

Publishers and educators advocating for freedom to read are cheering. They have received a positive judgement on the book banning that has been happening in Florida schools. The judge agrees with them. Hopefully this will start the ball rolling the right way in other states. Meanwhile Book Riot have some resources for people trying to navigate the supreme court decision on allowing parents to opt out of school programmes. 

 

The Diamond Comic Distributors case is taking another twist. At issue, the assets. Liquidators want a fire sale of the comics, but Diamond doesn’t own them and a Judge made that ruling. Bankruptcy law, if the item is sitting in your warehouse, then it’s an asset regardless of who actually owns it.

 

The Nordic countries are often held up as the model everyone should follow for happiness and lifestyle. Denmark is suffering a literacy crisis just like everyone else. They have a great way to promote book reading. Make it cheaper!

 

Agent Richard Curtis has an interesting article on Clout. When agents have it and what it actually means. 

 

James Scott Bell responds to an email saying that his book deserves to reach a larger audience. I got one just like it last week. The AI scams are alive and well. He discusses the difference between the terms writer and author. Apparently, they mean different things.

 

Barbara Linn Probst has an interesting post on Writer Unboxed. Are you a planned writer or a summoned writer? Just where do your ideas come from? 

 

Lesley Krueger has an interesting article on her response to a viral post of hers. Why I won’t chase the post that went viral. This is about authentic writing and figuring how to engage with readers without selling your soul.

 

How do you manage your Zone of Proximal Development? Jenny Hansen has a great post on the magic zone where all your learning takes place. This is where seeking the right kind of help in your writing can accelerate your craft learning.

 

In The Craft Section,

Character healing from an emotional wound- Angela Ackerman

5 conflict management styles- K M Weiland- Bookmark

5 tips to enhance your story atmosphere- Nick Bailey- Bookmark

The power of dialogue- C S Lakin

How to use iteration in your writing- Gabriela Pereira-Bookmark

 

In the Marketing Section 

How to maximize the return on your newsletter- Linda Dunn

Book Marketing tips- Mindset Joanna Penn – Podcast excerpt- Bookmark

How net galley makes your book more visible- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

How to get more of the right readers- Sandra Beckwith

How to build a reader funnel- Written Word Media – Bookmark

 

To Finish

Roger Hyttinen has a great post on the 16 things that writers love. I laughed when I read number seven as I had just done it. One of the things he didn’t have on his list was the new video game Tiny Bookstore. Instead of heading to a remote island to manage one you can stay at home and play bookstores from your couch. You can even recommend real books.

A writer must have thought of the game idea, while procrastinating.

 

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 free Substack version.

If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, It is much appreciated. 

Thank you.

Photo by Jacek Dylag on Unsplash