Imagine That

 

 

In Publishing News this week.

 

Publishers Weekly has a report from Booksellers in the Washington DC area about book sales slumping as a result of the National Guard being deployed in the city. In response some booksellers have quietly protested by getting creative with their front windows. 

 

KDP has just opened up Kindle Unlimited books to libraries. I haven’t found a proper link but the rumour is out there. 

 

Following on from the Anthropic AI case, Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware has been fielding enquiries over what to do if your publisher hasn’t registered you for copyright in the United States. There is a time limit on copyright registry in the US. Yes, you can claim copyright from the moment the story is written but if you want to sue someone over your copyright it needs to have been formally registered. Many writers are discovering publishers haven’t done this. 

 

The Anthropic court case settlement does have implications for the Meta court case coming up. Mark Williams explores the out of court settlement news and how the publishing world might have missed a big opportunity. Suffice to say it won’t hurt Anthropic one bit.

 

Bookwire is hosting a conference specifically for the publishing community called All about AI. Just looking at the topics on offer –  this is a get familiar with this subject or get left behind, conference.

 

Eleven Labs, who are leaders in the AI cloned voices for audio space, have now opened up a direct sales store on their site, reports Publishers Weekly. They have a good royalty rate there too. I think Eleven Labs is the only place where you can license your own voice- which takes author narration to another level. No more hours in a recording booth with dodgy sound.

 

Spotify are flirting with enhanced content on their audio books- You can add video and visual extras to your books which will play on the screen. Publishing Perspectives writes about whether this is a good thing or not.

 

Maris Kreizman has an interesting article on Lit Hub about the Harper Collins staff strike and why publishers have been poorly paying their staff. A Series of Unfortunate Salaries or Fighting the Publishing Industries Elitism.

 

Joanna Penn has an interesting interview with Clay Vermulm who writes short stories and collaborates with other authors in anthologies and podcasts. Check out the transcript for a different way of working.

 

Building a sustainable author future beyond GEO is a great article overview on how to remain visible in this AI search world. This is an article every author and publisher should read to understand how search is changing- then go for a deep dive into the subject with practical tips from Rachel Thompson on How to make AI work for you. 

(Remember AI is a tool- don’t use it for creativity. Many editors are refusing to touch AI generated books because they are so bad at writing.)

 

It must be the change of the season- I’ve seen my first ducklings down under. (Shakes head at the folly of ducks) And it’s back to school up in the Northern Hemisphere.

So, it’s time for the writing craft bundles. There are two different bundles of resources out there for writers for a limited time. They have different prices (both under $100) but are chock full of different courses, books, workshops, printables…etcetc. Infostack Writing Craft 7.0 and Masterstack-Writing Craft. (There are writing for children guides in this one too.) If you are looking for your next year’s learning resources they’ve got you covered.

 

Donald Maass has written one of those articles that have you thinking about the topic for days. What is Truth in Fiction. It may just change the way you write forever.

 

In the Craft Section,

The power of giving up- Greer Macallister- Bookmark

Plot as Utility- John Gilstrap- Bookmark

Story Structure as architecture- P J Parrish- Bookmark

Dissecting the creative guides- Lisa Miller- Bookmark!

Write where you know- Kirsten Oliphant- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

2 great articles from Penny Sansevieri-Basic elements matter more than you think and The genre mismatch problem with Ads- Bookmark Both

Transform your book into speaking opportunities- Stephanie Chandler- Bookmark

ACX review- Reedsy

Maybe I want authors to be celebrities- Interesting- Cassie Manns Murray

 

To Finish,

As I compile my list of articles, I’m always wondering what is the thread that runs through them. This week I was thinking about how publishing and writing is changing very quickly, and we may be running so fast to keep up that we forget why we started to write in the first place. Then I read this parody on publishing by Steven James  based on The Lorax by Dr Suess. 

 

Congratulations Julia Donaldson – The children’s author who has broken the record for all time book sales at 50 million according to NielsenIQ

Trust in your imagination!

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Pic  Photo by Kelly Sikkema 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

 

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Thank you.

 

Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash