Motivation and The Writer

 

 

This week in publishing news...

 

Spare a thought for the new Debut authors in the UK who have discovered that the UK’s largest book chain Waterstones is still having problems with their new book supply software. Waterstones promised it is fixed but now they are trying to process the backlog of two months of supply chain issues. Meanwhile, marketing campaigns fizzle out as the books are not on shelves.

 

It’s Book Festival time and along with the shock cancelation of the Beijing Book Fair with two days' notice, many book festivals are finding the numbers attending are down. The Guardian wonders if the pandemic years have doomed the book festival as it used to be. Will they morph into something else?

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard has two interesting articles this week on the launch of a self-publishing Manga comic platform and the quiet rise of another podcast company looking to stake a claim in European audiobook market, after gobbling up Latin America.

 Audiobooks aren’t stopping yet. 

If you have been wondering just what all the hype about the PRH vs the DOJ court case really means to publishing going forward- Nathan Goldman has broken it down in an interesting essay on The Conglomeration Of Literature. The other big three are already sniffing around S&S with big wallets waiting for PRH to be rolled by the court.

 

I always recommend writers keep an eye on Writer Beware so they are up to date with scams and bad actors in the publishing scene. This week Victoria Strauss had an interesting and detailed exchange with an editor who found herself out of a job when the company disappeared under her and set about pulling together writers and contracts and trying to salvage author careers. This is a close look at the behind-the-scenes problems of keeping a publishing house going. 

 

Kristine Rusch continues her How Writers Fail series with a look at the problem of upskilling. How often have you really challenged yourself to get better in the craft? Do you consciously practice new techniques?

 

Imposter syndrome- Writers are notorious for suffering it. Ruth Harris has a great article on dealing with this mental monster of destruction- First, did you know there was an upside to having imposter syndrome?

 

Yazmin Angoe in Writer Unboxed has an interesting article about the trials and tribulations of writing the second novel. What can you do when the second novel is a grind after the freedom of writing the first one has disappeared.

 

In The Craft Section

How to choose the right kind of conflict- Angela Ackerman

Character development- Dianne Braley

7 ways to reach writing goals- Jordan Kantay- Bookmark

5 times it's ok to write stereotypes- Lucy Hay

The beats of the Action Genre- Storygrid- Bookmark

How to start a story- Novelry- Bookmark

 

In the Marketing Section,

What a book marketing strategy requires- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Grow your writing business by stepping away from your computer- Alexander Lewis

55 examples of what to say if you are unsure about book marketing on social media- Frances 

Caballo - Bookmark

Sending surveys- Mailerlite

6 steps for building a brand using giveaways- Bestbookmonkey- Bookmark

Turning books into audiobooks- DIYMFA- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

 

Motivation. If you could sell it in a bottle you would be rich. Alyssa Hitaka of Insecure Writers Support Group has some great ways to capture that motivation spirit to get you back writing again. This is a print out and keep on the wall list of great ideas. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s time for my monthly newsletter If you want the best of my bookmarked links and other interesting tidbits, you can subscribe here. (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 virtual coffee love.  It's nearly time for a blog celebration cake! 

 

PIC: Photo by Cristofer Maximilian on Unsplash

 

The Publishing Business- unlike any other.

 

This week in the publishing world

 

At the moment the eyes of the publishing world are fixed on the court proceedings where the U.S Department of Justice is trying to stop the sale of Simon and Schuster to Penguin Random House. The live twitter feed from observers on how the court is trying to understand the publishing industry is illuminating… So, a midlist book isn’t as important as a front list book which you paid a lot of money for. Why do you have them then?

Stephen King testified for the State over the shrinking nature of independent publishing houses. S and S are his publishers, his books are just one of the reasons why PRH would want the sale to go through.

 

Staying with PRH, they have just published their diversity report where they look at their business and see whether it reflects the diversity of the country. They divided the workforce into warehousing and publishing. I wonder if other publishers would put themselves under such a spotlight.

 

I try to keep an eye on what is happening with new digital technologies as it relates to publishing. Recently Joanna Penn had a podcast interview on the blockchain and what it means for copyright and and intellectual property. Her guest was Roanie Levy, a lawyer who specializes in copyright and IP and is working in the blockchain field. If you are unclear what blockchain is and how copyright and smart contracts are going to change in the future, check out this great interview.

 

While authors are coming to grips with new technologies like NFT’s (limited editions of digital products) some publishers have figured out how NFT’s can make them money. Remember back at university and the huge price of textbooks? Many students buy second-hand textbooks or thirdhand. Academic publishers have figured out they can make money with these subsequent sales if they publish their books as NFT’s. (Will the author of the textbook get a cut?)

 

I am reminded of the words of a retiring publisher here in NZ. The business of a publisher is to stay in business. This week Kris Rusch puts on her publishers hat and examines the ways a publisher could be making money for their business. 

 

PEN America has issued a press release over a Utah school board banning 52 books under a new state law allowing books to be removed because of pornography issues. But what is pornography? When you look over the list you will be scratching your head like PEN.

 

Oh to have books to ban. Mark Williams looks at the difficulty faced by African nations just getting books. Digital books were supposed to be the answer but not if the publisher still sticks by regional rights. It is a reading desert out there with hope centered on the Middle East publishing community. Mark is hand making books for his school and they are one of the lucky ones.

 

Ruth Harris takes a look at decision fatigue. Just being a writer means making many decisions in your writing, let alone anything else. Ruth has some strategies for when it gets too much. 

 

Bang 2 Write has a great article on 5 examples of story structure. There is more than one way to understand the steps of the plot. 

 

In The Craft Section,

The intersection between Plotting and Pantsing- Litreactor- Bookmark

How to structure stories with multiple main characters- K M Weiland -Bookmark

Elements of a story- Reedsy – Comprehensive

Using backward design to plan your story- Angela Ackerman

Managing point of view and distance of time- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Backcover copy formula- Sue Coletta- Bookmark

What to do instead of a writer blog- P S Hoffman

How to use Amazon to market for free- NY Book editors

Getting your work noticed- Liza Taylor- Bookmark

Author strategy for Bookbub ad bidding- Bookbub- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Carmen Machado has an interesting article on taking the time to write when doing an MFA. So many writers are focused on trying to get an agent or a deal while doing their MFA that they miss the point that having time to write is the best thing you can do for your writing. One of her students forgot this and is now mired in a plagiarism scandal. Write first. Polish it until it gleams, then look for the deal. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links come on over and 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.

 

Pic: Photo by Sean Pollock on Unsplash

Writing With The Machines

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

Publishing Perspectives writes about a new UK literary magazine starting up which is international in its outlook. Fictionable has short fiction, translated fiction, and short graphic fiction and is backed by some big literary names.

 

Pan Macmillian has had a cyber-attack that seems to have crawled right across the company over the last week. I’ve seen a couple of references of it hitting the US and now the UK.

 

This week the UK government released its response to Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property consultation paper. Are the AI’s being given copyright rights? Not yet.

As everyone delves through the document to find out how many rights AI will have, there are rumblings from Techcrunch over Alexa’s new features. Amazon has given Alexa the ability to speak in dead relatives' voices, (for an extra layer of creepy.) Of course, it would never be abused.

 

Publishing perspectives reports that German audio publisher Bookwire has now added AI voices to its range of narrators, the first audio publisher to do so and have them for sale. (Google offers AI narration only on their publisher dashboard.)

If you want to learn more about this checkout Joanna Penn’s great article on AI Narrated audiobooks.

 

Book Riot reports on the latest data on American reading habits. The stats say that half the adults don’t pick up a book but it depends on their age. Who are the biggest readers? Some interesting takeaways from this.

 

Meanwhile, the Alliance of Independent Authors is collecting data of its own. They want Authors to share their earnings and their publishing numbers to get a snapshot of how healthy the publishing industry is. Check out their numbers so far this year.

 

Penny Sansevieri has a great article on getting the most out of writing conferences. If you are attending one soon, check out her tips.

 

Jen Calonita has an interesting article in Publishers Weekly on being a children’s writer on TikTok. Embrace the fun.

 

Kris Rusch continues her series on why writers fail- How do writers treat money? Love it. Loathe it. Spend it. Hoard it. It’s a problem that writers are always struggling with.

 

Ruth Harris has a great post on how lists can keep you sane as a writer. Use them to jog your memory, plan your scene, character interview, plot points… there’s a list for everything. 

 

In The Craft Section,

13 Methods for writing the best dialogue

3 ways to infuse Character voice

Point of View and voice- John Gilstrap- Bookmark

Trimming- The tricks of the trade- Scott Myers

The role of the antagonist in story structure- K M Weiland- Bookmark

Is the last page as good as the first- Anne R Allen- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

How to acquire an agent- Lauren Sharkey

Kindlepreneur list of promo sites- Dave Chesson

Get better book launch results- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

How to get a great author photo- ALLI

How to prepare for a blog tour- WritePublishSell

 

To Finish,

It’s been a while since I linked to a Terrible Minds ramble but this week’s news has been an up and down rollercoaster of emotion. Chuck Wendig looks at how writing is a place to put your rage, sorrow, and even joy and have it take the emotional load you may be carrying. 

 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links, come join our happy band and 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.

 

Pic Photo by Andrea De Santis on Unsplash

 

 

The Places You Will Go

 

 

This week in Publishing News

 

It’s Queen’s Birthday Honours at the moment in the UK.

Arise Sir Quentin Blake (I can just imagine the fabulous illustrator's whimsy portrait of the event.) 

Arise Sir Ian Rankin- (Can I borrow that sword for my next murder mystery?) 

Across the pond the number one bestselling book is Oh, The Places You Will Go by Dr Suess. It must be graduation time. This illustrates the power of the Suess backlist for keeping publishers afloat.

 

Amazon is pulling out of China. They are shutting up shop for Kindle eReaders immediately and will close their e-bookstore and app down next year. Could be tricky times ahead if you sell into China.

 

This week the New Statesman business magazine published an article looking at the rise of independent bookshops and compared them with Amazon’s increasing prices for books.

Are they really losing out against bookshops? 

 

Publishing Perspectives reports on the latest numbers from Italy. Heading into Summer, visits to bookstores are up which means print sales are up. Everything is looking good but what is really behind the numbers… comics?

 

Publishers Weekly has an interesting report on the Readmagine conference, an annual publishing futures conference in Europe. The first sessions looked at current global trends in reading. There are lots of intriguing ideas to unpick here on reading, its communities, and opportunities to mix it up with other forms of communication and streaming, and its only day one! 

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard has an interesting opinion piece on how Kobo’s move to add the Arabic language, which I reported on last week, is a potential game changer for the predominantly English language based eBook industry.

 

Kris Rusch attended the 2022 Licensing Expo and shares her initial thoughts. If you can remember way back before Covid, Kris was fascinated by the opportunities licensing had for content creators (writers). She is still optimistic but cautionary.

 

Joanna Penn interviewed Tammi Lebrecque (NewsletterNinja) this week on The Creative Penn podcast. This is a power house interview that should be mandatory listening/reading for authors. Yes, I know it’s scary but you can adapt ideas for your genre.

 

Julie Issac has a written a great guest article on Sandra Beckwith’s Bookbuzz blog, When ‘good enough’ is not good enough. This is a thought provoking post on what not to do when you are thinking of adding value to your readers.

 

In the Craft Section,

9 ways to approach relationship dynamics in fiction- K M Weiland - Bookmark

The art and importance of ambiguous writing- Becca Puglisi

How to sharpen your first sentences- Carolyn Dennis- Willingham

5 solutions when you are stuck- Bang2Write- Bookmark

Your microcosm is our world- Donald Maass- Bookmark

4 tricks to transform scenes- Zena Dell Lowe

 

In the Marketing Section,

6 strategic benefits to publishing an ebook- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

7 ways to build an author platform- Reedsy

9 things learned from tracking 150k books on Amazon- Ingram- A deep dive into detail.

Prize ideas for book promo- Bookbub

6 ways an author bio sells books – Ruth Harris- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

The writer’s imagination - where would we be without it? Sometimes it lets us down, cue writer's block. Sometimes it keeps us up all night. Di Anne Mills has an interesting article on how we can enhance our imaginations, so our readers get a better experience from our writing.

 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It's nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links, come and join us by subscribing. 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.

 

Pic: Photo by Rumman Amin on Unsplash

 

 

Everybody’s Talking.

 

 

This week in the Publishing blogosphere,

 

There has been a lot of talk in the U.S. on book banning. It seems every other day some state feels the need to ban books for some reason or another. Many in the publishing and library field are calling it an onslaught against diverse books. The Authors Guild decided to launch a Banned Book Club. They have partnered with an App, selected their first book, and invited the public to join them in discussion. 

 

Staying with the U.S. Writer Beware notes that Audible has changed its tax reporting policy making it harder for authors to separate out expenses. If you have an audible account check out the article for the heads up.

 

This week writers in six countries got an email from Google about the ability for them to take an eBook and convert it into an audiobook. If you have your books on Google Play you can sell the audio there as well as on your own website. At the moment you can’t sell AI generated books on any audio platforms. Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard shares his thoughts on this latest move. Check out the latest voices Google are offering as a demo. Many authors have been commenting on this move in the last few days. The consensus is if you have short-form nonfiction it could be a great addition to your catalogue, the jury is out on fiction.

 

Kris Rusch reports on her recent class with a practising entertainment lawyer. She details what she has learned and how these practitioners differ from book agents. Of course, as she has many decades in publishing she was able to talk about the times when a lawyer would have been a good idea.

 

With all the chatter at the Authors office cooler, (Twitter) about Elon Musk buying Twitter there was renewed interest in alternative social media outlets. Bookbub repeated their best social media for authors article. I have heard of a few more new kids on the block that are getting traction, Mastodon and Ello. As with any social media you have figure out if 1. Your readers are there. 2. You enjoy/ are comfortable with that style of social media.

 

Staying with social media, Dean Wesley Smith had a great blog post on keeping all your social media marketing resources for each book in a special folder. When he detailed what his team does, I was surprised. It is a comprehensive collection, but you can see the value in it straight away.

Joanna Penn has an interesting interview with Theodora Taylor about aiming for seven figures. It is a wide ranging interview full of little gems on mindset, planning, writing, and inspiration. 

Angela Ackerman has an interesting post on using seasonal symbolism to shift your writing mindset. It’s a way of reconnecting with your writing goals. Angela is focused on Spring… here we are going into Autumn but the ideas on refocussing are just as good

 

Ruth Harris has a great blog post on half-baked ideas that you put in the back of the filing drawer. As you become more proficient at writing there are ways to rework these old projects and finish baking them.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to write a plot twist- Jerry Jenkins- Bookmark

The challenge of the second novel- K M Weiland

Foreshadowing- A revision skill- Kathryn Craft- Bookmark

Creative ways to brainstorm ideas- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Scenes vs Sequels- Jami Gold

 

In The Marketing Section,

Literary agents and query resource questions- Mae Clair

The difference between book reviews and endorsements- Sandra Beckwith

 

2 great posts from Penny Sansevieri- Simple book marketing strategies

 And Promoting with bonus content- Bookmark

3 creative ways to use Book2read URL- Draft2digital- Bookmark

 

To Finish

The Alliance of Independent Authors recently celebrated its 10^th anniversary. As part of marking the occasion, they have published their predictions for the decade ahead. Take a look at their recipe for publishing success this decade. 

Going Direct. Audio. Collaboration. Authenticity. 

As I head into the fifteenth year of the blog, I think they are right on the money. Authors need to work together in as many formats as possible and cultivate a direct experience with the reader. After all they can’t replace the meeting of minds that completes the reading experience with an AI.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links, go on and subscribe. You will also get a nifty mini book crammed full 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.

 

Pic: Photo by saeed karimi on Unsplash

The Book Fair Smorgasbord

 

In Publishing News This Week,

 

It’s Book Fair season and the publishing world is venturing out to meet in person for the first time in two years. First up Bologna Children’s Book Fair which has just wrapped up. Publishing Perspectives has the lowdown on how it went.

 

Publishers Weekly takes a look at what will be the big topics at London Book Fair, London will be buzzing next week with the organisers expecting over 20,000 people to attend. They have an interesting collection of talks around publishing in the future too.

 

Frankfurt Bookfair is next after London they are finalising their programme but the theme this year is Translate, Transfer, Transform. Publishers Weekly details what they mean by the catchy slogan.

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard shares his thoughts on The Alliance of Independent Authors tenth anniversary and he also has an interesting column on what’s coming down the track -publishing in the metaverse. 

 

Dipping a toe into the future is Joanna Penn, This week she had an interesting talk with a copyright attorney and they talked NFT’s, The Metaverse, and other publishing models and how contract law is changing. This is a meaty interview about copyright so make sure you have a long drink while you listen/read.

 

Writer Unboxed has a new kid on the roster Yasmin Angoe who writes about the eight lessons she has learned as a debut author.

 

Penny Sansevieri has an interesting post on Indiereader about baking in book marketing strategies as you write the book. A whole different way of thinking as you write, identifying angles for marketing.

 

Bookfairs are full of resources for the publishing professional but down at the coal face what does the writer rely on? Ruth Harris has organised an impressive list of resources to make research easy for the writer. Need a name, an historical detail, or a date… Ruth has you covered.

 

In The Craft Section,

How To Write A Blurb- Ruth Harris- Bookmark

Cliffhangers not just for the end of the book- Jami Gold

Character states- September Fawkes- Bookmark

Writer life inside and outside story universe- Seth Myers- Bookmark

Dealing with backstory- Janice Hardy

 

In The Marketing Section,

Step by step guide to author websites - Jane Friedman

10 ways to blog about your book- Amanda Zieba- Bookmark

Author press releases- Sandra Beckwith – Bookmark

Amazon ads for Traditional authors- Dave Chesson- Bookmark

Unique branding for April- Penny Sansevieri -Bookmark

 

To Finish,

The first quarter of the year is over and we should be all back in the writing groove. If you are struggling check out Now Novels collection of group writing exercises.

The Alliance of Independent Authors celebrates its ten year anniversary at the London Book Fair. They have gone from strength to strength and have a huge international membership now. The founder, Orna Ross, had an enlightening article on the Author and The Creator Economy. It’s fascinating and full of mind food.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links you can subscribe here. (You 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.

 

Pic: Photo by Hamza NOUASRIA on Unsplash

 

  

Publishing Icons

 

 

This week in Publishing News,

 

Reuters reported that Amazon is closing all its physical bookstores

I wonder what happened? Maybe customers didn’t like only seeing face out books of the top 100 in the store? Or perhaps customers didn’t like not taking the book away with them when they bought it, instead having to wait for it to be sent the next day. 

Or maybe it was the lack of book aware sales people or their experiences with the contactless physical shop. I wonder what they will experiment with next?

 

Publishers Weekly reports on an Industry meeting where publishers were trying to figure out what to do about the paper shortage. I reported a couple of weeks ago that Italy was dropping art books from publishing lists. But the paper shortage is biting hard and now publishers might have to change their way of business (Outmoded, some would say.) Do we really need massive print runs to get the unit price down? Booksellers have to return unsold books which then get pulped or sold to Big Bad Wolf in a cut your losses deal. Will Print On Demand be the way of the future along with a big book price rise? There may be other ways out….

 

Brandon Sanderson decided that he would have another Kickstarter. He posted it on the 2^{nd .} as a surprise. In 6 hours he surpassed his previous record and by the end of the day had passed $14 million and he has the rest of the month to go. 

How did this happen? Kickstarter author experts analysed his spectacular success. 

Give the fans what they want. Brandon has noted that his fans like book boxes. He is releasing 4 secret books next year. In the 8 months where there isn’t a book release, he will send a book box of swag related to one of his previous books. 

He gamified the launch. He is releasing the title of each book each week of the Kickstarter so that you have to keep coming back. The books are already finished and different tier rewards release different formats. Or you can go straight to premium and get everything for $500.

He has made a cool easy shared video and his fans are getting the word out. 

That’s all you need for Kickstarter success. (And being Brandon Sanderson, of course.)

 

Apparently, there is money to be made in NFT’s. Illustrators are being snapped up to produce limited-edition images for middle managers to market as NFT’s. But if the NFT bubble bursts, on the horizon lurk custom-made 3d avatars for the metaverse.

 

Victoria Strauss has joined Writer Unboxed. Her first article for them is a breakdown of the most common writing scam that gets authors every time. Surprise! We saw your little book and we want to take it to Big Publishers/ Film Directors… someone rich and famous our fee is… Victoria shares what the red flags are.

 

Who knew that Horror was the favourite of Latin America? Apparently, we like classics Down Under. 

Check out this reading infographic-What are people reading around the world?  Market your books accordingly.

And just in case you think that books are not selling, check out Book Riots reading statistics for the last two years.

 

Ruth Harris has a great article this month on how to get rejected. Before you think oh that’s easy… just check out the mistakes that authors are making that get them rejected before they send in the manuscript.

 

In The Craft Section,

 2 Great articles from Jami Gold-Nods, smiles, and frowns. How to avoid talking heads and Story focus- Character or plot?- Bookmark

18 tips on writing better sentences- Helen Bolam

Writing prompts with dream symbols- Kathy Steinemann

Cause and effect- 2 sentences to use when editing- Kahina Necaise- Bookmark

Breaking writing rules- September Fawkes

 

In The Marketing Section,

7 questions for your book marketing plan- Sandra Beckwith - Bookmark

What sells books in 2022- Kobo- Bookmark

Book marketing resources- Indie Book review

How to launch on a budget- Thomas Umstattd- Bookmark

Have you found your book marketing niche- Colleen Story

 

To Finish,

In the children’s writing world there are touchstone authors. The ones that create a genre niche so perfectly that their books are instantly iconic. So, it was a huge sadness when the news broke that Shirley Hughes has died. An extraordinary illustrator and storyteller.

Requiescant In Pace.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

I’m late with the monthly newsletter (Aaargh.) So if you want the best of my bookmarked links go on and subscribe. (You will also get a nifty mini book 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.

 

Pic: Illustration by Shirley Hughes.