Standing Out

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

The Sharjah Bookfair is on. As Publishers Weekly explains it centers on the Global South, Africa, Asia, India, and the Middle East. That’s a fair chunk of the world catering to a young demographic. Over 118 countries and over 2,300 publishers represented. It’s a networking extravaganza.

In an interesting side event at Sharjah the PublishHer- Women In Publishing, networking event was held over three days. Publishing Perspectives reports that the mood was upbeat. ‘What a time it is to be a publisher,’ said Gvantsa Jobava, president of the International Publishers Association.

 

Dan Holloway reports on the European and International Booksellers Federation’s new AI charter. They have a list of 11 points that they want to make clear to the technological industries. Dan makes a good point about the confusion between assistive AI and generative AI. The 11 points are easy to understand and a good guideline for the publishing industry.

 

Everybody seems to be launching a website company for authors. Publishers Weekly reports that Tertulia book discovery platform is launching a website building platform for authors that will instantly populate their books and sell them using Ingram for shipping. It’s in Beta at the moment, but with the current move to direct selling it looks like a good solution to an author problem.

 

A while ago (Before Covid) I delivered a big speech on the future of publishing where I talked about the potential of blockchain technology. At the time many people shook their heads and muttered that it was all too much for them to understand. It was interesting to come across this company who want to take the concept of books on the blockchain and run with it. Publishing Perspectives writes about the Written site. It’s a pity that their website is so horrible though. 

 

Writer Beware has the best guide to the Anthropic AI case. This is a what you need to know, all the links you need to claim compensation, timeframes etc. If you still are wondering how to claim your $3000 from the settlement this is required reading.

 

Kevin Kelly, of 1000 true fans fame, has an interesting take on AI. Paying AI’s to read my books. This is a completely opposite idea to the prevailing concerns in the publishing industry. If AI is going to be the search engine for everything don’t you want your books and ideas inside the box being discovered? A fascinating point of view here.

 

Gabriele Pereira has a great article on DIYMFA- Two Things AI Can’t Take Away From You. This is a good reminder that the importance of your voice and how you write is what distinguishes you from every other writer out there.

 

Agent Richard Curtis has an interesting article on the Droit Moral clause and what happens when you waive it in a contract. This is eye opening. This is a clause that is in contracts for film rights. If you waive the clause – the film can do anything they like to the story.

 

Rachel Thompson has a great post on writers block. If you are settling in for Novel November this is the last thing you need. Rachel writes that it’s not your muse that has gone missing but something else in your life.

Ellen Buikema continues this theme with a look at writer self doubt. She has some great tips to get over your fear of not being good enough.

 

Chelle Honniker of Indie Author magazine has a sideline in devising author automations. She is an expert at streamlining author business with innovative uses of software. I was intrigued with her post on branding. She dives into things I never thought of before on author branding. 

 

Cathy Yardly writes on The Art of Propulsive Fiction for Writer Unboxed this week. This is the fiction that sits between pure commercial and literary. Is it plot driven or character driven? Cathy writes that this is the wrong focus. It’s about the goal of the main character. Sometimes that gets lost in the story.

 

In The Craft Section,

Five commandments of Storytelling- StoryGrid- Bookmark!

Connecting points keep the story moving- K M Weiland- Bookmark

6 tips for creating great character chemistry- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

Crafting real relationships between characters- C S Lakin

The fastest way to make a character sympathetic- September Fawkes

 

In the Marketing Section,

3 common book marketing tactics that are useless- Sandra Beckwith

Book marketing Blueprint- John Kremer- Interesting

Author event ideas that sell books- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Adventures at book signings- Terry Odell- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Elizabeth Spann Craig has been writing great articles for years on her author blog. It’s a great blend of her cozy mystery books and her articles for writers. Recently she had an interesting article on the importance of author promo instead of book promo. She writes “Readers remember the author who taught them something or made them laugh, not the author who just posted cover reveals.” This is a great mantra to remember as we head into the Christmas selling season.

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Finishing To Start Again

  

In Publishing News this week,

 

The most fantastic news hit the worldwide children’s publishing community. The Booker prize for children’s books was announced. Yes, we have made it! A huge prize of our own and it is of equal value to the other Booker prize. That is such an endorsement of the importance of children’s books. (After all if they don’t learn to love reading, they won’t be reading all those other Booker prize books.)

 

Meanwhile, over the pond the American Publishers association was lamenting the latest sales figures for summer. Every format was taking a hit according to Publishers Weekly. 

However, in Europe the biggest selling format was comic books. They were up nearly 10 % in sales. Why? Publishing Perspectives looks at this quiet superhero publishing industry saviour.

 

In AI court news a judge has ruled that there is a case to answer with Chat GPT’s book summaries that violate copyright laws. These court cases will lay the basis of how AI will operate in the future. More judgements might be going authors way in the next round of the AI legal cases.

While eyes are on AI court cases, the CEO of Bloomsbury was making waves by saying that AI can help with writers block and other creative things. This has surprised many people in the book industry who see AI and creativity in a different light.

 

The Independent Book Publishers Association has a comprehensive article on the pros and cons of direct sales from websites. Direct Sales has been the one of the major topics of interest in the Indie publishing community for its ability to bypass the Amazon algorithm. What happens in the Indie world will gradually trickle up to the traditional publishing world.

 

Kathleen Schmidt writes this week about the rise of lavish book publishing parties. She details parties that were spectacular blowouts as a way of marketing. But did they work? Meanwhile, there is a rise in the sort of book party that benefits a charitable cause. I’m going to a book launch next week of a poetry book on food and everyone is asked to bring items for the local foodbank. The last event this small press ran filled a car with food for the foodbank.

 

Kindlepreneur has added a new video to their useful YouTube series- How to format in Word. This is actually a great primer on the basics of interior page design.

 

Anne R Allen has an excellent post on writing rules. They are only guidelines. This is important to know. The rules should be in service to the story not the other way around. 

 

Good luck to all those people tackling Novel November. Don’t forget to sign up and access those freebies. Also if you want some craft books to help you on the journey check out Storybundle.

When do you need a prologue? Many writers say never but there is a place for them according to Maryka Biaggio on Jane Friedmans blog. She explores why some prologues work.

Over on Writer Unboxed, Barbara O’Neal writes about The Art of Endings. Do you stop and reflect on the energy of finishing a project? Does the end set the scene for the next project?

 

In the Craft Section,

Waiting for inspiration to strike- Ellen Buikema

9 ways to energise your plot- Ruth Harris

The stubborn elephant- Sue Coletta- Bookmark

The real purpose of the second act- K M Weiland- Bookmark

The art of crafting relationships - C S Lakin- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

What’s Interesting – Dissecting Marketing Copy-Cassie Murray- Bookmark

Simple steps to success- Rachel Thompson

Leverage someone elses network- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

The week following a promo- WrittenWord Media- Bookmark

Eleven Labs review- Reedsy

 

To Finish

The blog is late by a day because last night I attended the Whitireia Publishing Course graduation. This course is the only one of its kind in the Southern hemisphere. It has been running for over 30 years. The graduates have a 75% chance of getting a job in publishing within six months which is an enviable position to have as a training course.

So why am I talking about this? 

In the constant restructuring of our education system across all age levels, this post graduate course held on in the face of funding cuts and restructuring until this year. The axe fell and 2025 was to be the last year. The shortsightedness of axing a course that was profitable with a great international reputation stunned the New Zealand publishing industry. This course is hands on, working on real projects, and acts as an apprenticeship scheme for publishers. A Whitireia Publishing grad can walk in and do the job on day one is the unofficial motto. 

The Publishers Association of New Zealand put their heads together and worked up a model that will save the course, partnering with Whitireia polytechnic to keep the course going. They need a venue, but they are taking enrolments for next year. If you know of anyone who wants to spend an intense year learning all things publishing in a post graduate course with a high success rate, fantastic tutors, internships, publishing projects, speakers, and total book love send them here.

In uncertain times, books are a comfort and an inspiration. It is nice to know that publishers can come together to protect their industry newbies in the face of their own challenges. In the end, the books will be the winners!

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

If you have a job for a recent publishing course graduate – drop me a note.

 

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, I appreciate all virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash