Trying To Stay Sane for 2026

 

 

And we are back for another year of looking at news, trends, and tips on navigating the publishing world. 

Because I live in the Southern Hemisphere, we also have Summer, schools out, and Christmas and New Year all squashed together in one month of eating, celebrating, and broken new year’s resolutions. But the publishing world continues without noticing we are gone, so the first blogs in January are What Did We Miss.

 

Publishers Weekly reported that publishers are getting together to join a class action against Google. Yes, they too copied the Anthropic playbook and now a court case is looming on the horizon.

 

Spotify having made a substantial inroad into Audibles market share on audio books is looking to expand into video and to sweeten the pot it is going to be super easy to get eyeballs and ears on audio books. Meanwhile, Audible is doing the same according to Publishing Perspectives. The video wars on audio books are about to start.

 

If you are using YouTube for audio books you might like to check out the new trend on BookTok, ambient video for your books. You could upload a video of a cozy fire in a library as the visuals for your audio book experience. This could help with lots of sales if you upload the video to Spotify and Audible.

In AI news – HarperCollins France has decided to embrace AI translation much to the annoyance of translators. Publishing Perspectives reports on The Future of Translation: AI and The Greater Good.

 

Dave Malone has an interesting post on what labeling could look like as a way to distinguish works with AI use in it. He has some clear examples of types of labels which could be used on creative work. (It looks a little like a nutrition label, but the concept is worthy.)

Steph Pajonas has an interesting post on AI resistance being a problem for your ego. Are you letting your ego get in the way of using this tool?

 

Mark Williams keeps his eye on the publishing in the rest of the world, and he has some interesting things to report on the new darling of the Frankfurt Book Fair- India.

With their Gen Z numbers bigger than the population of the United States this is a potential publishing market that has been ignored for too long. The New Delhi Book fair is aiming for over 2 million visitors. If your country has just signed a free trade deal (NZ) this could be a great opportunity for publishing expansion.

 

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has seen the future in kids literature and it is Manga. They have embraced the Manga storytelling style and are teaching their kids to create this using their own stories.

 

Big Bad Wolf is back in Indonesia. BBW takes English language books that would be pulped otherwise and sells it in huge sales that last a week and are round the clock. Children’s books are in high demand. The numbers are astonishing. (A nice little earner for the publishers who write off their books, officially.)

 

Every January, the list of books, songs and films coming into the public domain gets attention. This is for specific books or characters. So thriller authors if you want to do your own versions of The Saint or Miss Marple or the Maltese Falcon you are in luck. Check out the list. There might be a pot of author gold waiting for you.

 

If you are thinking about the coming year and what might be the dominant themes check out Joanna Penn’s predictions for publishing in 2026. She is a publishing futurist and is often ahead of the trends.

Meanwhile, Erin Niumata has an interesting post on selecting a word of the year as your guiding star for decisions in your author life.

In the Craft Section,

How to use character tropes without the cliches- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

3 Unforgettable Scenes- James Scott Bell

Summing up your story in 2 sentences- P J Parrish- Bookmark

The sentence and the story; a fable- Donald Maass

When to reveal story stakes- K M Weiland- Bookmark

 

In the Marketing Section,

Tips to overcome video shyness- Amy Rogers Nazarov- Bookmark

2026- the year to stop being invisible- Jaime Buckley

The pitch- a writing selling point- Ellen Buikema- Bookmark

Facebook ads for authors – video teaching by David Gaughran- Bookmark

5 social media metrics that matter- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

As we look to start another calendar year of writing and publishing organizing ourselves into productive habits become the most pressing things to conquer in January. In the Southern Hemisphere it is right up there with getting the kids back to school after the so called Summer holiday. (It’s torrential rain here- Climate Change is biting.) If the thought of planning a year full of writing activities daunts you, check out this excellent post from Alexa Bigwharfe on a way to plan your writing goals and keep you moderately sane for 2026.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Pic Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash

The Writers Gift

 

In Publishing News this week,

If you have books on the Amazon store you may have received a message about an important change coming in January. Amazon will allow book downloads of ePubs and PDF’s. This is a potential hazard as one author put it. What’s to stop someone taking that PDF uploading it with another name and selling it… or using it to train an AI? Will the T’s and C’s change allowing Amazon to train Ai’s because you didn’t put a DRM on the book? A nice conundrum present for Christmas.

 

Writer Beware also flags a problematic Amazon gift. The one that introduces a chat bot into your book to help you find where you got up to in the story. This could be a breach of copyright. Publishers are reaching for contracts and lawyers. Amazon’s gifts are double edged and always in favour of the gift giver.

 

If you are an author in France, you will be celebrating as the French Publishers Association have negotiated a way to compensate authors for used book sales. Money for writers, what a present.

 

Also in the money for writer’s present mode, a new literary prize for Deaf and Disabled Writers. This is welcome news and a nice boost of sharing the love to emerging writers. Publishing Perspectives talks to the first recipient. 

 

Hachette is funding a Raising Readers campaign to encourage reading by funding class libraries and other great things to reach the younger readers. After all if we don’t encourage reading early, we won’t have adult readers. It would be nice if other publishers joined in this gift giving.

 

The American Book Fair died a lingering death over a few years ago and pretty much disappeared but now something new is coming. BookCon 2026 which has sold out already, according to Publishers Weekly. A potential gift to the publishing industry in America- their very own Bookfair.

 

The Diamond Comics fallout, or the gift that keeps on giving. It was the first news story of the year and now it’s in my last roundup for 2025. After all the court cases, the shady deals, the legal wrangling, finally they are moving to liquidate stock. Probably, says Publishers Weekly.

 

PEN America has the list of most banned books for 2025. Sigh. Not the gift you were looking for, John Green and Jodi Picoult. On the other hand, having a banned book might result in lots of sales as a backlash. 

 

Hoopla library app has been tracking the 2025 most borrowed trends. Audiobooks are up nearly 20 percent with Thrillers and Romantasy the top audio borrows. Banned books were also amongst the top borrowed books. With physical libraries suffering under book bans- there is still a way to read that ‘controversial’ book.

 

Richard Curtis has part 2 of his article on collaborations. This is where the copyright and back detail gets a close look. If you are thinking about collaborations with other authors next year – check out these articles.

 

Mark Leslie Lefebvre has an entertaining article on the author photo. I didn’t realise the lengths he would go to get the right author photo. Hilarious. A completely different way to look at author branding.

 

Sarah Brinley has an interesting article on the stress response and how you can use the Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn responses to strengthen your scenes. 

 

In The Craft Section,

What to write next- Julie Glover- Bookmark

Tech tips for organizing your novel- Kris Maze- Bookmark

Allow your characters a moment of happiness- Lesley Krueger- 

Bookmark

Using character themes to fix a scene- September Fawkes- Bookmark

Why character motivation matters- Lucy V Hay- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section.

The art of the ask- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

How authors can elevate their brand- Kimberley Grabas- 

Bookmark

The years best book marketing articles – Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

The complete guide to Amazon optimization- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

 

This is the last roundup for the year. I feel a bit battered by the years events. Jane Friedman has written a comprehensive review article on the standout moments. You may be reaching for the eggnog after reading it.

 

Gift giving for writers always generates lists of journals and pens etc. The best gift you can give a writer is a review or a library request. Go out and talk about your favourite writers. Share the love. (My book Star Light is free in an epic mid-grade book giveaway.)

 

I will be back halfway through January 2026. I’m off to finish the bumper newsletter and find some sunscreen because its Summer down under. 

Have a fantastic festive season.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

If you have enjoyed my weekly blog this year and want to buy me a coffee or an eggnog, you will have my grateful thanks.

Newsletter subscribers will be getting the bumper Christmas edition. You can subscribe here to join our happy band.

If you want the weekly blog in your inbox, subscribe to the free Substack version.

 

Thanks.