Publishing News with Camels

Around the publishing blogosphere this week...

It’s been a busy old week in publishing. Authors outside the U.S woke up to find their books had vanished into a desert. They were not on the Amazon platform. Frantic calls from around the world perplexed the call centre. ‘We can see them fine here, stop worrying little author, it’s a glitch. It will sort itself.’ 
Authors talk to each other. (Odd, I know.) When the author community found out the problem wasn’t being fixed and wasn’t isolated geographically the screams were heard around the world. The heavy hitters in the Indie community called their Amazon Reps. Amazon is on it... so they say....

While Amazon was feeling the wrath of the authors...on the other side of the business, the booksellers were spitting like camels over changes to the Used and Rare book section. Suddenly booksellers were pulling their catalogues from ABE Books (rare and out of print booksellers owned by Amazon.) The issue was one of justice to the small bookshops in Africa. And Amazon caved.

Meanwhile, the publishing community is looking sideways at new conventions proposed by the EU and South Africa. Plan S has many worried about I.P. and how much it will count when changes are made to the ‘Fair Use’ guidelines. The accepted practice is restricted to Research, News, Teaching, Parody and only a limited amount at that. Publishers are already warning South Africa that their changes could contravene the Berne Convention.

While the publishers get set to fight for their IP rights there is another crisis looming. The shortage of paper is driving up the price of print. This could be another straw on the printed book camel. 

The Atlantic has an in-depth article on a rags to riches writer story that is a bit different. It was kick-started on Wattpad, written on a mobile phone at the supermarket, uploaded for free and then... 

Public Service Announcement: If you have published on Createspace you may want to check your accounts. Hackers have got in. 

Smashwords have been quietly working at things in the background while being a large distributor of Ebooks in the foreground. This week Founder and CEO Mark Coker unveiled the new Smashwords storefront. It has some nifty bells and whistles and Mark stresses that they will never game the recommendations. (Which makes a nice change from other store fronts.)

Last week I was a virtual fly on the wall at a huge conference in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Joanna Penn was attending the Independent Author conference. She shares her takeaways and lessons learned from this dynamic conference.  Even if you are traditionally published, have an agent... etc. etc... it pays to keep an eye on the indie author world. Often they are responding to changes much faster than traditional publishers. Forewarned is always a good thing.

In The Craft Section,

4 fool proof ways to be a prolific and successful writer- Writers in the Storm

Using tips from poetry to strengthen prose- Pamela Donison- guest post on Jami Gold's blog- Bookmark

10 books to read before writing your novel

How to write funny novels and why you shouldn’t.- Melodie Campbell

Writing a series from a standalone.- Alli Blog

Michael Hauge's Six stages of structure - Bookmark

Resources for NaNoWriMo

Overcoming emotional wounds showing your character is healing- Becca Puglisi

Character types- Go Into The story

The powerball of first page resources- Angela Ackerman

Plotting a novel when you haven’t figured out the details-Janice Hardy !!

70 plot twists and examples – Reedsy

In The Marketing Section,

5 tips for marketing books with a free excerpt- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

7 reasons Facebook ads don’t convert- Marie Page

How to get great book reviews- Alli Blog

New Book marketing- The bad girls guide to a book launch- Melodie Campbell-Bookmark

Meet the super fan that you want- Judith Briles- Bookmark

5 Author productivity tools- Dave Chesson- Bookmark

How to request a rights reversion- Writer Beware

To Finish,

The weird things people say to authors and what you can say in reply. This post strikes a chord with every writer I know. As we come up to the holiday season and the Christmas party round is about to begin. Store up some of these comebacks for the inevitable clueless questions from family and acquaintances.

I am guest posting over at Jami Gold's blog this week if you want to drop in and read an article on leveling up your writing. 

Maureen

@craicer

It’s time for my monthly newsletter, where I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. (This weekend, promise!) When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee hit the Kofi button up top. Congratulations for making it halfway through NANO!

Pic The Library Camel of the Gobi Desert./imgur pic  I couldn’t resist… you can check out Green Eggs and Ham in the Gobi. Theodore would be tickled pink over that!

We all need a Scottish Granny

Around the publishing blogosphere this week...

In the U.S. getting an ISBN number means either accepting a free one from Amazon... where they are listed as the publisher on record or buying one from Bowker which costs a lot of money but at least you or your publishing company is the publisher on record. You need a separate  ISBN for every format of the book so this can really add up depending on how many formats you have. Bowker’s website was hacked this week and they almost shut down their whole operation....

(NB. Here in NZ we can get free ISBN’s by going to the National Library of New Zealand website.)

In a recent article on Publishers Weekly some literary agents listed their MS wish lists for Young Adult. Themes wanted are teens dealing with the real world. If you keep an eye on the publishing houses bottom line you soon learn that a year without a breakout YA bestseller really hits the revenue of the big publishing houses. Everybody is chasing the next big thing because the readership is almost 50% older than teens and in paperback and voracious. Ka- Ching!

The teen’s themselves find the whole genre problematical. In a recent post on her blog teen reader Vicky found many of her generation agreeing with her when she wrote about how YA isolates teens. 

Meanwhile Scholastic scored a hit when the viral video of a Scottish granny reading kiwi book Wonky Donkey started a craze. The scottish granny is on tour, reports Publishers Weekly, and is being seen as having a magic touch.... Some savvy marketing person saw an opportunity. 

Staying with the children’s book theme... Augmented Reality has become a talking point. What more can you do with it and is it really reading? Check out the new iterations of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.

Chris Syme has an interesting guest post on Joanna Penn’s blog about crisis management for authors. What do you do when your reviews go missing or you get pirated or doxxed. First, don’t panic. Read this excellent post.

Quartz has a fascinating article on the rise of the new Sci Fi genre’s. Over the last year I have seen more references to Utopia fiction and Solar Punk but missed the defined niche of Cli Fi. What determines a new niche/genre? And is Cli Fi really contemporary thriller or non fiction depending on where you live in the world right now?

Character names are always challenging. I don’t feel the story is started unless I have the right character name. Once I have the name I often have the voice sorted in my head. Reedsy has a nifty character naming generator for those moments when you are stumped for a character name.

In The Craft Section,

Character arcs- Reedsy- Bookmark

Plucking heart strings with word choice- Vivian Kirkfield- Bookmark

Will readers find your protagonist worthy- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

The value quotient of your core story-Writer Unboxed- Bookmark

How to write a fight scene- Standout Books

Why you need real facts in your fiction – WriteOnCon

6 questions to help Non Fiction writers find their niche- Erica Meltzer- Bookmark

Resources for NaNoWriMo

How to improve writng productivity

Five Steps to Improved Process

5 Surefire ways to win NaNoWriMo

30 tips for conquering the 30 day writing challenge

Don’t forget The Storybundle of craft books curated by Kevin Anderson and available all month.

In The Marketing Section,

Learn How to market your books-Sacha Black

How to tap into street teams and micro influencers-Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Taking care of business for writers- Writer Unboxed- Bookmark

3 keys to blogging sucess- Joel Friedlander

How to get the reviews you want ethically- EC Murray- Bookmark

To Finish

Spare a thought for the poor writer that must write a promo blurb for another writer. Sometimes it can be very hard to find something positive to say. Tara Sparling helps authors to break down a series of honest blurbs so that you can mine the promo gold in the paragraph. Warning do not have a beverage to hand as you will choke... with laughter.

If you are a Scottish Granny then I have some great books you might like to read….

Maureen

@craicer

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter where I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee hit the Kofi button up top. 

Pic Flickr Creative Commons- Bryan Ledgard

Are you writing every day?

This week around the publishing blogosphere... 

If you have a Kindle ebook you might have noticed that books are disappearing all over the Amazon ebook store. Nate Hoffelder investigated and found there is a bug loose... 

Meanwhile Mark at The New Publishing Standard (TNPS) has a post about the Amazon’s stock market hit and why we should take notice.

This week some important imprints were dropped or consolidated. For writers this means fewer outlets picking up novels. For the big publishers... are they saving money? 

Mike Shatzkin takes a look at how and why the big publishers are consolidating imprints. 

I’ve been reading Seth Godin’s blog for years... He is the master of the short post with the big nugget inside. In this post he talks about the value of daily blogging...- Just think daily writing and there you have a new way of getting your thoughts out there.

Techcrunch has an interesting article on text serials. A writing team has a dark fantasy text serial going through Snapchat. Storytelling is compulsive and comes in all sorts of containers... echos of last NaNoWriMo where I ended up writing a big speech 

It is NaNoWriMo... (National Novel Writing Month.)

All over the world writers are gathering supplies and hunkering down to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. Of course there are the rebels out there who commit to writing 50,000 words but spread over different projects or the writers who focus on writing a 500 word picture book a day... because they are...(fill in the appropriate adjective/noun combo.)

Here are a few great links for anyone for needs some NANO inspiration.

Perfectionism and procrastination- Lisa Poisso

How to write a book in 30 days- Now Novel

Faster progress on writing projects – Ali Luke

Two great tools for NaNoWriMo- Angela Ackerman

If you want to treat yourself to some great writing craft books head on over to the Storybundle – NANO page. Every year Kevin Anderson curates some GREAT books and you can get them all very cheaply! (Every year I can’t resist buying them...)

Joanna Penn has a great post from Zara Altair on the three stages of editing.  This is a comprehensive look at what each stage is and how to approach it. A must read and bookmark for November- NaNoEdMo.

In The Craft Section,

Two great posts from K M Weiland-How to turn an idea into a story and

Writing a righteous character- Bookmark Both

What type of secret does your character keep-Writers in the storm

Do you start with protagonist first or situation?- Janice Hardy

When you need to do radical revision- Ruth Harris- Bookmark

3 ways to create a stellar antagonist villain- Screencraft- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

How to target and engage your reader- Bookworks

3 more things to do on Goodreads- Elizabeth S Craig -Bookmark

How to upload and Sell books on KDP- The full rundown from Fitsmallbusiness- Bookmark

Two Bookmark worthy posts from the Bookbub Blog- Biggest bookbub ad mistakes and 50 inspirational marketing tips.

To Finish,

I was noodling around the internet looking at pre made covers for inspiration- Yes there are writers out there who stockpile covers for books they want to write. I’m have all my sci fi series covers ready... but I’m still writing the books. (That was last years NANO project -then I ended up writing a big speech. LOL)  This week I came across this great pre made bookcover site... One of the great features is that you can play around with titles and placement instantly and see what it looks like before you buy... and the covers aren’t expensive at all. Lots of happy playing when I should be writing. 

Maureen

@craicer

In my monthly newsletter I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee hit the Kofi button up top. Thanks.

Pic Flickr Creative Commons- sure2talk- Quill

Exploring The Future

In The Publishing Blogosphere this week...

October is nearly over... that means writers around the world are preparing for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month.) October is usually prep month for this. It also is filled with things that go bump in the night. Publishing Perspectives takes a look at Serial Box a micro subscription storytelling service that is rolling out Holloween stories in a tag system from writers. Take a look at the future of binge reading.

Last year I received a fancy award that meant I had to deliver a 40 minute speech. The topic of my speech was on storytelling not being dependent on the container it comes in. I mentioned the development of blockchain technology that is set to be a publishing disruptor. This week Sony announced they were getting into blockchain technology as a way to control DRM. The upcoming year will be interesting as other tech companies won’t be left behind.

PublishDrive, Europes fast growing digital distributor are also interested in blockchain. They announced a few exciting developments at Digital Book World. They have improved ebook file generation, along with metadata scraping by AI for keyword generation and they have introduced subscription for authors in royalty payments. Get all your royalties managed for you with a subscription payment. I wonder how many authors will take them up on it...

How well do you know copyright? This week Kris Rusch looks at how Intellectual Property and who has the rights to it, is the name of the publishing game this century. Have you ever stopped to wonder why the publishers want world wide and now universal rights to your stories?

Nathan Hoffelder, besides keeping an eye on all sorts of publishing news also has a nifty page where he lists all the free courses around for authors. Take a look at his big list. There is something there for everyone. He also has an interesting guest post on how readers choose their books... Do you match up?

Jane Friedman has rounded up a best marketing advice list. There are some great gems on it. Have a look and see what you might have missed from my bookmarked links.

Joel Friedlander has got a great collection of ornaments together. What does this actually mean for authors? Ornaments are the little flourishes that you see in books... between scenes or chapters or below headings. They are part of font families. If you format books, ornaments can make a page look snazzy. So a handy collection of where to find these is a bookmark worthy opportunity.

In The Craft Section,

Finding the right sentence to start the story- NowNovel- Bookmark

The usefulness of lists for your writing- Wordstrumpet

Writing office hours- Live write breathe

MS word styles for formatting- Joel Friedlander- Bookmark

7 steps for Beta testing a story- Joanna Penn- Bookmark

Should you write faster?- Ali Luke

The 7 deadly sins of Novelists according to Editors

The mirror moment- James Scott Bell/ Mark Tilbury- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

15 secrets to selling more books at events- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

How to use your facebook group to get email leads

How to get a good author photo- Bryn Donovan

Distribution – Should you go wide or narrow? Dave Chesson- Bookmark

Advance Reader Copy sharing- Bookworks- Bookmark

How to write a bestseller- Jeff Goins

To Finish,

Sometimes all you want to do is curl up with a great fantasy novel and forget the world for a while. Spare a thought for the fantasy writer who has to make the world. That’s where a handy map comes in. For some enthusiasts the map is everything. How to map a fantasy world might just help you to plan your escape.

Maureen

@craicer

In my monthly newsletter I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes.
 

Pic Flicker Creative Commons- Captain Nemo

It’s all about language...

This week in the publishing blogosphere... I was struck by how many times I was reading important articles about language. 

Language as a weapon against bias.

Language as a priviledge.

Language in education.

Which is better- Short capsules of meaning or long explanatory paragraphs? 

The ability to use language correctly is a touchstone for the writer.

This week Chuck Wendig was fired from his writing job with Marvel and Star Wars. The reason... they had finally discovered he uses colourful language on Twitter. It has nothing to do with the ongoing Twitter rage and abuse felt by a section of the community over Chuck introducing an LBGTQ character in his Star Wars books apparently.

At the Frankfurt Book Fair, Publishing Perspectives interviewed Pieter Swinkel from Kobo about the rise of book serialisation and subscription models in Europe. Are they creating readers? What about binge culture?

Kris Rusch always has an eye to the future and her lengthy time in all facets of publishing gives her the ability to clearly see and articulate what is happening and likely to happen. This week she looks at Barnes and Noble. Are we about to see the end of the chain bookstore model?

The New Publishing Standard is fast becoming a must read. They focus on the global publishing industry and are not UK/US centric. The rise in AI translators has been rapid. This week they report a Chinese language book has been translated by an AI with 95% accuracy. Stop and think of the implications to publishing. (Last weeks blog had a very interesting post on whether translators should be seen as original writers.)

Dave Kudler was thrilled to be referenced in a recent podcast with Dave Chesson and Joanna Penn. He has done some in depth study on keywords. If you are studying or working with keywords and ads for marketing books this article is a must read. It expands some ideas in the podcast which is a must listen/read. 

The fabuous Katie Weiland has a magical post about the power of language to expand and illuminate ideas. How to Cherish Language. This is a fantastic post.

Joanna Penn has a great interview with Bec Evans on how to be a prolific writer. There are some great ideas and tips in this interview.

In The Craft Section,

How can you tell if your idea is worth it?- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

4 Common copyediting issues to watch for- Julie Glover

11 tips on how to scare your readers- Litreactor

3 tricks to instantly increase your writing speed- Self Publishing Formula

Creating Villain Motivations- Now Novel- Bookmark

How to outline without killing the fun of writing- Roz Morris- Bookmark

Capturing Complex Emotion- Tamar Sloan- Bookmark

When abandoning your novel makes sense

Why does learning writing take so long?- Writers in the storm-Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

Two interesting posts from the Ingram Spark blog- How to market your book with Author Speaking and What Authors can learn from Youtube stars.

Preorder Strategies- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

How to perform not just read your book- Writer Unboxed

A marketing exercise for critique groups- WomenOnWriting- Bookmark!

Do Bookbub members buy at full price?

What you are doing wrong on Twitter - Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

To Finish,

Shannon Hale is an award winning author of a popular series of books – Princess Academy. Here she writes in the Washington Post about the way books are presented to boys and how we unintentionally stop them from reading with the way we introduce books to them. Are we guilty of unconscious gender bias? Changing the language we use around boys and reading could be the magic trick that encourages life long readers. 

Maureen

@craicer

In my monthly newsletter I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. 

Pic Flicker Creative Commons- Yandle

Cracking Nuts...

In publishing news or rumours this week... Barnes and Noble might have a possible sale. The potential buyer has raised some eyebrows tho.

Last week I linked to Publish Drive's article on Asian markets and how we should keep an eye on them. This week Penguin Random announced that they were opening a branch in South East Asia. Watch the new Asian scramble for voices and deals begin...

While Penguin Random are setting up shop... with deep pockets, Publishing Perspectives had an opinion piece from a new publisher about how not to start a publishing company. This is a timely read if you are thinking about doing the same.

Fearless champion of the Indie and scourge of scammers David Gaughran has a post this week warning of new ploys from the scammers who were thrown out of KU. This is a must read if you are advertising or selling on Amazon. 

Anne R Allen also has a warning post on how to distinguish the good guys from the bad in publishing. The game is always the same... fleece the vulnerable... the ploys are always changing. Read it and share with others.

Aeon has a long form essay on Translators. Are they the servant of the text or are they originators? This is interesting as AI is becoming increasingly sophisticated. Do we want a straight translation or do we want a sense of the original lyrical expression?

Jane Friedman links to two great essay on avoiding exoticism when you write immigrant characters. There is much food for thought in this post. The quote from Rudine Sims Bishop certainly brought me up short. “When children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read, or when the images they see are distorted, negative, or laughable, they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society of which they are a part.”

 As a children’s writer and teacher this is engraved on my bones... I wonder sometimes how some adult writers get away with casual stereotyping in characters. 

In The Craft Section,

The brilliance of backstory slip ins- Margie Lawson -Bookmark

Common writing errors- Bookbub

The benefits of fan fiction- Writer Unboxed

Story Twist and Shout -  Janice Hardy - Bookmark

5 must use tips on writing powerful thrillers- Writers on the move

Making your book memorable- Elizabeth S Craig- Bookmark

What to do when you write yourself into a corner- September Fawkes

In The Marketing Section,

The anatomy of a book cover – Writers Digest- Bookmark

DIY guide to turn your book into an audiobook

Get noticed - submit to newsletters- Janice Hardy

5 simple ways to crush your networking on Goodreads- Penny Sansevieri

20 podcasts for Authors- Diana Urban - Bookmark

A really good book with an ill advised cover.- Publishers Weekly (FYI- what would you do?)

Why your best marketer is you- Alli blog – Bookmark

To Finish,

It is World Mental Health day as I write this. Two great posts caught my eye this week. Kris Rusch on When to stop writing and Chuck Wendig on When writers block is actually depression. This is a very real problem among the writing community. It is alright to take breaks from writing. Both Kris and Chuck have really good advice for anyone who has writers block.

Maureen

@craicer

 In my monthly newsletter, coming soon, I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. The kofi button is up top if you want to say thanks for the blog. I appreciate the virtual coffee love!

Pic: John Jones - Power Steel