In Publishing News this week,
The biggest indie author conference in Europe wrapped up this week in London.
For a roundup of topics discussed and great little ideas check out the YouTube video of one of founders of the Self Publishing Show and its podcast talking about the show…at the show.
Publishing Perspectives highlights a new tool for publishers created by the Green Book Alliance, a group dedicated to advancing sustainability in the publishing industry. The new tool helps publishers to calculate their carbon footprint. This could be a marketing win if used the right way.
The Alliance of Independent Authors has an in-depth article about Draft2Digitals new fees and what it means for authors. If you have been on the fence this might help. (I’ve just paid my fee, as a wide author I appreciate their global reach.)
What do you do when you have a big backlist? You make a portion of it available for film and television people to find new projects. Simon and Schuster have just put over 6000 projects onto the Blacklist search engine for screenplays according to Publishers Weekly. Placing books on this list is only a recent development.
A new court case hit the news this week. This time it's academic publishers going after a sketchy outfit which ‘publishes’ access to literary and scientific journals. Of course you can draw a direct line to skull and crossbones flag. The publishers are on a roll as they have already won a court victory against other pirates.
Javier Celaya has an opinion piece in Publishing Perspectives about going back to school to learn about AI. He is adamant that publishing professionals need to understand at a structural level what AI can and cannot do. It should be a requirement at management level he says.
Jak Bazino went down the rabbit hole into a Nigerian run Book Club Scam. It starts off very slowly and what looks legit then starts to unravel. This is play by play story of how these scams operate.
Meanwhile, over on Killzone blog Debbie Burke has the ABC’s of avoiding scammers. Required reading.
Lucy V Hay has a great article on Angela and Becca’s writing blog about overwhelm. Sometimes this writing business can get you down and when that happens your headspace can get screwed up. She has some helpful advice for getting you out of your own head. Overwhelm can also hit your inbox so check out Lisa Normans essay on managing the inbox deluge.
Agent Richard Curtis has some hard advice for writers who are dreaming about writing full time. Be very careful about what you are giving up and what you expect the life to be like. This is a dose of straight talking about the writing life.
The Publishing Industry’s Habit of Selling and Packaging Youth, and Its Wider Impact.
If you blinked when you read that line, you need to read the essay from Faridah Àbíke Íyímídé. She writes from personal experience.
Ines Johnson has written a great marketing essay in praise of libraries. But what is even better she writes it to her book fans and tells them that she loves it if they take her book out of the library. This is marketing by acknowledging that times are tough and books are expensive. There is another way!
In The Craft Section,
When your characters begin to breathe- Sarah Hamer- Bookmark
How to write mythic fiction- K M Weiland
Write stronger characters for a plot driven story- September Fawkes -Bookmark
Rediscovering Creative Joy- Podcast Joanna Penn and Austin Kleon
Writing the opening scene- Janice Hardy- Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
If you are uncomfortable with book marketing- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark
Building Local Reader Engagement- Written Word Media-Bookmark
How to check on KDP account health- Written Word Media- Bookmark
The scrapbook of publicity- Cassie Mannes Murray- Interesting essay
Learning about Book trailers- Linda Sienkiewicz
To Finish,
It was great to get out of the house this week and celebrate a local author at a book launch. It was a chance to catch up with my writing friends and find out what everyone is doing.
Getting together with other writers can inspire collaborative projects that you wouldn’t do on your own. Dale Ivan Smith has a great article on Anthologies and contests. I’ve heard about fundraising anthologies and genre anthologies. Submissions to a poetry anthology are being asked for in my writing circle. I can’t write poetry for toffee but a project like this can get be a low-risk way of stretching your writing or trying out a new genre.
Dip your toe in.
Maureen
@craicer
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