Where Is The Money?

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

A few weeks ago Spotify announced they were trialing audiobook access within the Spotify premium subscription with 15 hours a month free access in the UK and Australia. It must have worked as they announced this week, they are rolling it out to the United States.

 

Kobo is rolling out new devices for the Indian market. They are hoping to scoop up readers, but Mark Williams points out Kobo are falling into the same trap Amazon did with their initial Amazon India rollout. 

 

Publishing Perspectives reports that PRH India is committed to 100% recycled paper for its books. After a few years of the publishing community talking about being sustainable this is the first big publisher to walk the talk. Hopefully the rest of PRH will follow. After all if the biggest publisher does it… .

 

Penguin Random House has issued their first ever diversity report on the makeup of their non warehouse employees in the US. As you will have guessed the employees are mostly white, but they are changing and are happy that they employ above average diversity than other publishing houses. 

 

The Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone has unveiled a nice exclusive package of business deals for publishers wanting to do business in Publishing City, reports The New Publishing Standard. I never thought about publishers navigating their way around local laws etc until I saw this package. Sweet deal.

 

The Wall Street Journal has dropped its best seller lists. With best seller lists falling by the wayside or being dubious about how they count book sales are there any lists we can trust anymore? 

 

Many in the industry are waiting to see what the courts say about various lawsuits involving the provenance of Artificial Intelligence and creativity. Three artists were disappointed when the judge handed down the verdict that AI wasn’t infringing on their rights. 

 

Goodreads are asking their users to help combat review bombing. Finally, they do something about this. It couldn’t be because of the bad publicity they got when review bombing hit Elizabeth Gilberts new book before it had been released. This caused the author to pull the book with many critics crying shame on Goodreads. 

 

Darcy Pattison has a must read post on author income accounting. There are good tools out there to help you integrate all your sales and expenses. You don’t have to stick with the back of an envelope.

 

Kay DiBianca has an excellent post on project planning. This is a helpful list to think about all the tasks you need to do when you write and publish a book. Do you have a checklist?

 

Jan Sikes has an interesting post on going back and revising an old novel. Should you? In positive spin she learned it’s a great lesson for seeing how far you have come as a writer. 

 

How invested in your book is your reader? Are your stakes high enough? A great article from Suzanne Dunlap on keeping your readers turning the pages.

 

Anne R Allen has a great post on tone in writing. This goes hand in hand with voice. You can make the gruesome funny with the tone of your writing. It is all in the word choice. 

 

In The Craft Section,

Should you revise as you go – Jessica Strawser

What are antagonist proxies- K M Weiland – Bookmark

Breaking writer rules- September Fawkes

Story pacing- Florida writers- Bookmark

8 qualities of a great book editor- C S Lakin- Bookmark

Plotting with Michael Hauge’s 6 stages- Janice Hardy -Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Lead magnets for authors- Inkerscon- Bookmark

How to write a powerful about page- Sandra Beckwith

Make a good impression with cover design- Lexi Greene

Unexpected things your author platform can do for you- Colleen Story -Bookmark

Head shots- Terry Odell- Bookmark

Pinterest for book marketing- Joann Penn interview with Trona Freeman- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Writing is a business. It’s entertainment. It’s escapism. It’s knowledge. It is a business. Hopefully money is flowing to the writer. That is a helpful tip if you get a publishing deal. Are you paying for it? Reputable publishers/agents don’t charge you. 

With the recent surveys on author income and the sad reality that many writers can’t make a living The Alliance of Independent Authors has a comprehensive blog post on embracing a positive money mindset. Money is not a dirty word if you need it to pay the bills. Every writer would like to not worry about money. So, look at the article. Cultivate that mindset, and money might begin to flow into your author bank account.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter to go out. 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 Substack version.

 

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Taking A Moment To Breathe

 

This week in Publishing News.

Oh Scholastic, it hasn’t been a good month for your public relations. Today the publishing professionals that work at Scholastic Head Office walked out and started picketing over the un-living wages they were getting from a billion dollar company.

 

In the Wow-they-finally-did-it-stakes, Amazon’s publishing arm KDP announced they were beta testing eBook to audio narration using AI Voices. These will be sold through Audible. Cue jaw drops as they were adamant they weren’t getting into the AI voice game… but Google has already been in this space for a while so it was always on the cards. 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard has some pithy observations regarding Amazon’s quarterly report- one mention of books vs 33 mentions of AI.

 

Amazon is back in court – this time taking scammers the down. Yay. Staying on the scammy front Victoria Strauss has a Writer Beware post on impersonation scamming which is on the increase. She shows how it is done and breaks down how to spot the warning flags in her real scam examples. A week doesn’t go by now without coming across some impersonation scam or an author checking in with others to ask if the email they have just got is legit. 

Today I saw advice that recommended sending a screenshot to the agency in question and just checking if it is legit. – Good advice.

 

Written Word Media has been making news with its promo stack partners. They have been busy signing up other ebook reader sites to create big promotion stack opportunities for marketing for authors. Their latest press release has them adding another heavy hitter to the fold.

 

November is the month of NaNoWriMo. Good luck to all those who are attempting to write 50,000 words in a month. The idea behind it was to create a writing habit so even if you make a practice of just showing up every day, you are winning. Roz Morris has a good post on how to get through the month. 

There are various ways to win at NaNowriMo. You can record your word count for everything you write in November or do the ALT NaNoWriMo challenge.

 

 Jane Friedman has two guest writers on her blog with two very different approaches to writing and marketing. Check out How do you turn an essay into a book deal and an interesting post on How to earn six figures as a writer with one weird trick. 

Ruth Harris has an excellent post on radical revision- When the going gets tough get your radical creativity muse on. This is a print out and post it on the wall post.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a comprehensive guide post on producing audiobooks. This covers pretty much everything you need to know to get started.

 

Katie Weiland has a knock it out of the park post on despair in fiction. This is one of those craft posts that inspire authors to the next level of writing- A Must Read.

In The Craft Section,

Protagonists and points of view- Draft2Digital

Mastering character evolution-Laurie Schnebly Campbell- Bookmark

The enemy within- crafting powerful inner conflict- C S Lakin- Bookmark!

I broke Elmore Leonard’s Rules- P J Parrish

3 ways to structure a chapter- Anne Brown-Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Subgenres and comp books- Kris Maze

Ways book marketers use social media to promote pre-orders- Bookbub- Bookmark

5 unique book marketing ideas- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

How to create fun freebies for your newsletter- Colleen Story- Bookmark

Podcasting magic bullet- Alliance of Independent Authors podcast /transcript

Marketing resources- Foothills Writers group

 

To Finish,

Recently Joanna Penn spoke with Tracy Cooper-Posy on managing your author business long term. It was a fascinating long look at what is worthwhile to invest in and how to manage discouragement. This is one of those posts where you nod and start to make notes and think about stepping sideways of the hamster wheel. 

It’s hard to focus on your writing business when you feel that the world is going to hell in a handbasket. This overwhelm can be energy sapping and creativity stalling. 

Do what you can and give yourself time to breathe.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? You can subscribe here to join our happy band.

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

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 Khamkhor on Unsplash

It Used To Be So Simple Back Then

 

 

In Publishing News This Week,

Last week I mentioned Scholastic and its diversity boxes which they were making optional in the book fairs to the disgruntlement of their authors. Scholastic listened and backtracked. They published a contrite letter telling everyone that it was a mistake to segregate the books. Authors are calling it a win. It could be the 1500 author and illustrator signatures to the open letter (many from scholastic authors) in two days that tipped the balance. Scholastic promises to lead the fight “and redouble our efforts to combat the laws restricting children’s access to books.” 

 

Frankfurt Book Fair has wrapped up. After the rocky start the book fair got down to the business of rights selling and self-congratulation. ‘Having a presence here is indispensable to your business,’ says Jurgen Boos CEO of the Frankfurt Fair. Publishing Perspectives writes about the highs and the big talking points at Frankfurt.

 

Mark Williams notes that the report from the American Association of Literary agents which was released during the Frankfurt Bookfair makes for tough reading. The agents are working super hard in a challenging environment. Does the commission model stack up as a means to pay the bills? Is there a better way to be an agent? This is a long thoughtful article on some unsung hardworking publishing professionals.

 

Good E Reader reports that the latest Kindles are getting integrations with Goodreads that means you can have the app open in your kindle and have it update all your reading and reviews immediately. If you are behind on your reviews this could be helpful.

 

Writer Unboxed has an interesting article on why engaging in multiple creative activities can help your writing. While you are digesting that article read this article from Lisa Cooper Ellison on how to use the right brain waves to make the most of your writing time. This is a fascinating peak at the science of brain waves intersecting with creativity.

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has an interesting article on that age old eBook question KDP Select or Going Wide. It’s all about what you want to achieve. They also have a comprehensive article on how to design a great book cover.

 

It is nearly time for NaNoWriMo. Over the last few weeks I have been posting articles on preparing for the month long push to write 50,000 words. However, sometimes doing NaNoWriMo can bring up some horrible creative writing memories or entrench habits that aren’t helpful. Anne R Allen has a great article on creativity wounds. You might have them and not know it. Doing NaNoWriMo could be the worst writing advice for you.

 

Kris Rusch has an interesting blog post on how author careers have diverged from what they thought they were signing up for. Since the 90’s publishing has changed dramatically and what was a career then is completely different to now. Even the big household names of the 90’s acknowledge they won’t see the sales numbers like they used to have. But have the publishers moved on?

 

Name an overused opening… David Griffin Brown has an article on how to avoid the cliché opening and figure out a better way to get into the story.

 

In The Craft Section,

How to write more in less time- Sarah Kuiken

What to do when your villain is the protagonist – Janice Hardy- Bookmark

Two excellent posts from Mythcreants- Five fake turning points storytellers keep using and How long can you let tension fall before the reader gets bored- Bookmark Both

Tightening Prose dialogue tags- Diana Peach

 

In The Marketing Section,

2 great posts from -Penny Sansevieri - Crafting an irresistible book pitch and 11 book promotion ideas- Bookmark

How to promote a book on social media- Andy Slinger

5 unique book marketing ideas - Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

Everything to know about book proposals – Reedsy- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Recently Joanna Penn interviewed Patricia McLinn about keeping up with the changes in publishing. If you immediately felt tired or negative about that previous sentence, don’t feel bad. Everybody is struggling with changes in social media or direct sales or AI or whatever big thing is being talked about on whatever social media you are on. Joanna and Pat talked about overwhelm and taking back control by really looking at what you need to do and what you want to do. It’s a great interview. You can listen or read the transcript. One line stuck with me. … ‘through all of this tech and business stuff keep the writing…because without the writing what’s the point of all this.’

Let’s find the joy in the words we had, when we started writing.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? You can subscribe here to join our happy band.

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

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 Jamie Albright on Unsplash

Sending The Wrong Message

In Publishing News this week,

Frankfurt is often touted as the biggest book fair in the world. This is where countries get invited to showcase their literary works and deals are done in rights trading and translations etc. It is a general book fair covering all genres. It opened yesterday. Everybody had high hopes that it would be a standout year after the pandemic years. The wheels started falling off yesterday with a mass walkout of nations over the withdrawing of a prize ceremony for a Palestinian writer. 

 

Scholastic is in hot water with writers after they put together a diversity box for school bookfairs. (These are a big deal in American schools. Scholastic provides all the books for display and kids buy.) It’s not that they put a box of diversity books together it’s that they made it an opt out option bowing to book banning groups.

 

Staying with Kids books- There is a distinct drop in sales in the mid-grade and teen categories or as some librarians insist a non-existence of books for the 12- 15 age group. Everybody has been waiting for a breakout hit and they are still waiting.

 

The New Publishing Standard has a look at the subscription numbers for audiobooks in Europe and the news that Spotify is rolling out subscription in the UK. Subscription is here to stay says Mark. He has other pithy observations to make on audiobook subscription and how consumers are using it. If 30 % of the listeners are speeding up their playback speeds does this mean they can listen to more books in their subscription hour? And would they notice if it was an AI voice?

 

Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware has been shining a spotlight on the shonky payment systems of Cricket and its associated children’s fiction magazines over the last couple of years. She updates the post to tell what one writer did to finally get their money after 3 years which might help others in the same boat. 

 

I sent out my monthly newsletter with the comment that every lead story in September was on AI. Poets and Writers magazine has an article on the AI lawsuits and how suddenly you can’t get excerpts anymore of famous writers work (but they are probably still there.) Joanna Penn has a great transcript on a how to double down on being human. This is your point of difference from an AI

 

If you have been mulling over whether to try yet another social media site Anne R Allen has a timely post on social media etiquette for any social media site.  Great advice.

 

I’m often surprised when I come across writers who don’t really understand what copyright means. There are so many layers to a piece of intellectual property. For an introduction masterclass on the subject read this piece by Dean Wesley Smith.  

 

Barbara Linn Probst has an excellent article on Why We Write. Artistry, Identity, Legacy.  She explores the art and the craft of writing, finding your tribe and bearing witness. It’s a must read.

 

If you are looking for some inspiration for short stories- have you tried mining the lyrics of songs. They are chock full of emotion and little moments that are really stories in disguise. 

 

In The Craft Section,

10 signs your plot is weak and how to fix it- September Fawkes- Bookmark

Navigating inner conflict- C S Lakin- Bookmark

Getting beyond stereotypes- Now Novel

Foreshadowing vs spoiling what’s the difference- Jami Gold- Bookmark

Printables for NaNoWriMo- Payton Hayes

 

In The Marketing Section,

2 great posts from Penny Sansevieri - Preorder strategies and 7 genius AI strategies – Bookmark Both

Marketing and promo plan for indie authors - Emma Lombard

3 things your author newsletter should do - Colleen Story

The best free marketing tool is in your head- Lisa Norman – Bookmark

 

To Finish

The Alliance of Independent Authors is running their next 24 hour free conference starting October 21^st The sessions will be up for 3 days. Check out the agenda and feast your eyes on all the fabulous speakers. This conference is on Mindset. Do something for your writing mind and sign up.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

 If you want the best of my bookmarked links and some extras you can subscribe to my monthly newsletter here. Come and join our happy band.

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

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 Lee Soo hyun on Unsplash

Beginnings and Endings

 

In Publishing News this week,

Last week I linked to a news story about Spotify and how they are rolling out their audiobook streaming to the UK and Australia.- That’s news to us said the UK Society of Authors. How come no one has talked to us about contract terms and rights and who are you dealing with – publishers? Where are author agents in this deal? The Society of Authors has a strongly worded statement on this.

 

The news is filtering out that DK, a well known UK children’s publishing house is revamping its top brass and are about to add a new publishing arm…adult. My mind is trying to put the two strands side by side and failing. If you are familiar with DK books - high production non fiction books beloved by schools, libraries, obsessive kids and teachers, how will adult books fit in? The industry will be watching with interest to see how they will manage it.

 

Publishers Weekly details the hit that print publishing as taken so far this year. The numbers are in and so far all genres are hurting. This feeds in to the dismal survey on author income which the Authors Guild recently released. Maybe everything will turn around before the end of the year?

 

If you are struggling with self doubt, you are not alone. Robin Maass writes about her publishing journey and self doubt beautifully on The Writing and Wellness blog. 

 

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a comprehensive article on how to get your book into bookstores. It’s full of tips and advice, a must read.

 

Kathleen McCleary has an interesting post on Writer Unboxed about getting naked. Now that I have your attention, she talks about how she can’t share her unpublished writing with anyone because of the naked writer feeling.

 

Kris Rusch has got her hands on the new agreement by the TV writers with the studios. She writes why it’s important to understand the AI clauses in the agreement and how they will impact writers. This is a heads up post. You are in charge of your own career and if down the track your work gets optioned for the screen- and you used AI in any capacity you may not have any rights. A Must Read.

 

The Dream Team over at One Stop for Writers, Angela and Becca have a comprehensive list of planning resources for NaNoPrepMo. (or anytime you need to plan/plot a story.) 

 

Katie Weiland has a great blog post on archetypes – she wrote the book (literally) on how to use them. In this week’s article she looks at how to use archetypes in a series. 

 

In The Craft Section,

Crafting beginnings- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

Real crime as novel inspiration-Gary Braver – Bookmark

The secret to show don’t tell

Navigating inner conflict- C S Lakin- Bookmark

How to write a flashback- jerry Jenkins- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

6 ways to become a Go To Expert-Paula Rizzo

Better book descriptions- Draft2Digital

The business of writing- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Marketing Burnout- Kindlepreneur- Bookmark

12 insider tips for booking school visits- Bookfox-Bookmark

 

To Finish,

They say the first page sells the book and the last page sells the next book. No pressure to nail both those important pages…Um. 

James Scott Bell master of writing craft books has even dedicated a whole craft book to the last 50 pages. He writes about how important it is to tie up loose ends and payoff those twisty plot points. Something the writers of the TV series ‘Lost’ didn’t understand.

Even if you are the most Pantzer of writers it helps if you know how the story ends before you get to the last page.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links and some extras you can subscribe here to join our happy band.

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

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.

 

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Preparing For The Future

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

It’s Banned Books week in the United States and Penguin Random House has pushed out the truck on this literally. They have a huge truck visiting neighbourhoods and giving out children’s books that have been banned from their publishing house.

 

It was big news when Spotify bought Findaway voices last September and we waited to see what they would do. A year on and Spotify unveil their audiobooks in premium memberships in a trial run with Australia and the United Kingdom. They have negotiated deals that Publishing Perspectives report will shake Audible’s hold on the audiobook market.

 

Publisher Weekly reports on the Authors Guild author income survey- Why do we write again? It’s not for the money.

 

Wattpad wants to offer its creators more money so they have launched a new tier called Originals. You can pay for the latest chapter in your serial story or wait until it’s all finished. It’s like Netflix for authors.

 

Mike Shatzkin writes this week about AI and publishing. Mike has largely retired form advising big publishing companies so it’s always interesting when he writes an article on current trends. Just when you think you know what a commentator would say- they surprise you. Mike thinks AI is a good thing for publishing.

 

Another who thinks the Publishing industry is short sighted on AI is Mark Williams. He has a long form essay on how Publishers are tackling issues around AI- is it a tool, a threat, a higher form of achievement or copyright theft?

 

Seth Godin uses Chat GPT to come up with good questions to ask Chat GPT. An interesting way of editing your work.

 

Copyright is at the heart of AI. Who owns AI copyright. The machine or the prompter? Is it fair use to train AI on whole books? If a machine can replicate someone’s style is it a breach of copyright? Whatever you think, you do need to have a working knowledge of copyright and how it impacts your publishing business.

Kris Rusch writes about making sure you have the right licenses and why you need to print them out.

 

People who have mastered dictation swear by the ease of writing. You get articles like this one- I wrote a novel in a day- Nick Thacker on Writers in the Storm. Nick goes into detail about what tools he uses. Meanwhile, over on Jane Friedman’s blog Sarah Sawyer talks about how dictation can free up your writing time.

 

It’s that age old writer struggle- How do you feel when you kill off a nice character? 

Robin Rivera writes that picking the reason you want to kill off the character is just as important as choosing the character you want to kill- She has four reasons you might want to do this.

 

In The Craft Section,

Crafting unforgettable character arcs- C S Lakin- Bookmark

Fake swearing and how to write it- StopGap

5 mistakes that reverse social justice messages- Mythcreants

Mastering character description without info dumps- Lisa Hall Wilson- Bookmark

Going to your unhappy place- Donald Maass- Bookmark

Writing Mystery – DabbleWriter- Comprehensive

 

In The Marketing Section,

Honesty in book marketing – Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Your books most powerful marketing tool- Greer Macallister

Playlists for your books- Heather Weidner

Non salesy social media content for authors- Dan Parsons- Bookmark

10 easy steps to get your website back to life- Karen Cioffi- Bookmark

October Social Media content- WolfSparrow- Bookmark

 

To Finish

October – or in the publishing world… getting ready for NaNoWriMo. 

There are a few good articles out there on NaNoPrepMo but if you go to the source- The NaNoWriMo official website,  you can get a huge checklist of ideas and resources to get your preparation for National Novel Writing Month underway.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links and some extras you can subscribe here to join our happy band.

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

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 Sylas Boesten on Unsplash