The Sinners And The Saints

 

In Publishing News this week,

The UK publishing industry is in turmoil this week over a controversial book that was called out by commentators, who then found themselves targets in a social media pile-on. The book has been pulled for a revision but the apology over the mess has created more controversy with well-known authors tweeting their support citing free speech without checking the facts. There is an open letter being circulated about the treatment of the commentators. 

N.B. If you hold an honoured position in the industry, be very sure of all the facts in the story before making public statements. No one will believe you made the statement as a private individual. As my journalist friends say, Nothing is ever off the record!

 

News broke this week of depths of parsimony attributed to one of the wealthiest entertainment companies on the planet. The comic book creators for the Marvel Movie franchise are being paid a flat fee of $5,000 and if they are lucky, a seat at the premier.

Yes – You did read that right. Check your contracts people and learn what all the terms mean.

 

Here in New Zealand, we celebrated the best children’s and young adult books of the past year. A fantastic night was had at the NZCYA awards by all as we gathered in person after last year’s virtual gathering. We are very mindful of the privilege here in NZ. In a nice touch, we applauded last year’s winners who were present. Congratulations to everyone who were finalists and winners on the night!

 

The New Publishing Standard takes a look at how the first year of subscription with Kobo+ shaped up. Every week there seems to be something about subscription plans as big players and not so big players jostle for room. This is our publishing future, as Mark Williams points out. You can’t ignore it you have to learn to work within it.

 

If you create comics you might need to look at a rapidly growing comic distributor platform which has just raised a substantial chunk of cash to expand with AI.

 

The stellar human being, Dolly Parton, is writing her first fiction book with James Patterson.

In an interesting creative addition, Dolly is also writing a companion album of songs that explores the themes in the book. 

 

This week Time magazine published the 100 best Young Adult books of all time. It made for interesting reading and a lot of Twitter congratulations to living authors. How many books have you read?

 

Nathan Bransford has a guest post from an acquisitions editor detailing all the steps that go into acquiring a book. Interesting reading.

 

In The Craft Section,

Don’t let excess baggage bring down your characters- Marissa Graff- Bookmark

Write like you are in love- edit like you are in charge- James Scott Bell 

Dual points of view- E J Wenstrom- Bookmark

Every hack needs an ideas file- Bill Ferris

Which story structure is right for your book- Savannah Cordova- Bookmark

The flat archetype of the child- K M Weiland- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

How to give readers a direct amazon review link- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

10 ways to handle bad reviews- Indie Author News

Book marketing success and 5 top Twitter tips for authors- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

Personal branding for authors- Kimberly Grabas- Bookmark

Book Release Checklist – Elizabeth S Craig- BOOKMARK

 

To Finish,

When chatting to the supreme winner at the New Zealand Children and Young Adults Book Awards, Tania Roxborogh, she recounted a familiar story of feeling utterly demoralised as a young writer. James Scott Bell has a great article on advice for the demoralised writer. 

Success is sweeter after a long agonising climb to the top.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Steve Snodgrass

 

Publishing - Not A Sprint

 

This week in publishing news

Canadian authors have been dealt a blow with their Supreme Court ruling that collecting royalties from educational institutions cannot be enforced. This is a long-running dispute going into its 10^th year of wrangling after an amendment to the law saw educational institutions copying an estimated $150 Million worth of material with no compensation to the copyright holders.

 

If you receive a notice asking you to prove your right to publish your own work, what can you do? The Alliance of Independent Authors has a comprehensive article of advice for you. This is something to keep an eye on with some scammers claiming books and putting them on Audible without the creators knowledge. You might not have decided to make an audiobook but a scammer can see the opportunity. With the rise of AI voices getting better they don’t have to work very hard to do it either.

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard takes a look at Academic publishers, Pearson. Academic publishers don’t make a cent from the second-hand market which is where most students shop for books. But now they have a plan. Enter subscription. Now you don’t have to choose between rent and an academic textbook.

 

Have you been struggling to get back into a writing rhythm? Kristine Rusch has a great post on getting into the writing groove. Easy does it. Don’t go for broke.

 

Reedsy have a comprehensive article stuffed full of tips for anyone looking to find out about audiobook production and publishing.

 

If you are looking for critique partners check out Critique Circle

 

Dave Chesson has examined the A+ content blocks that Amazon are now offering and has written a comprehensive article on how to get the best out of the new bells and whistles.

 

Suzanne Lakin has a masterful breakdown of how to infuse micro tension in your story. She calls it the secret ingredient to the commercially successful novel.

 

In The Craft Section,

How do I include diverse people in fantasy worlds- Mythcreants

What do your characters falsely believe- Jami Gold

Revising your plot after your first draft- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

The steadfast character arc- September Fawkes  Bookmark

Curiosity and tension in storytelling- Stefan Emunds- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Unique content marketing ideas for August- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Writing Author blogs – Anne R Allen- Bookmark

The best day to discount books- Bookbub

All about email lists- Reedsy- Bookmark

Do Ads work and How can you tell -SPF James Blatch- Interesting article

3 tips for a great cover reveal- Greer Macallister

 

To Finish,

It’s Olympic time and in amongst the spectacular achievements are the human interest stories that have all the elements of a riveting novel. You can always check Nownovel’s great post on 10 ways to write better plots and see if they match up.

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Peppe702

To Market To Market

 

 

In Publishing News this week…

Some changes over at Amazon caught writers by surprise this week. Amazon introduced A+ which is a spiffy new makeover for your Amazon detail pages. They have a new section on the book page from the publisher- Where you can add video, banners, images, bells  and whistles. Take a look and then dive into amping up your book pages.

 

Mark Williams over at The New Publishing Standard published two items this week that caught my eye. Indian publisher Byju has just shelled out $500M to buy children’s books subscription platform, Epic. Epic provides books to North American schools for free in return for data insights for publishers. Byju is promising $1Billion expansion for the programme. 

So, get kids invested in subscription reading platforms and you get lifetime customers. Lots of implications here for children’s publishers.

The other news item that caught my eye from Mark was Storytel’s new audiobook app for the Tamil language. 

“For the literacy-challenged emerging markets the USP Tellander has latched on to which western publishers appear oblivious to, is the game-changing reach audiobooks bring to internet-savvy people around the world who have never learned to read but come from rich oral-storytelling traditions.”

With 5 billion people online – many from an educationally poor background, providing audiobooks in their own languages would be a huge marketing advantage to any savvy publisher. 

 

Ruth Harris has turned her laser eye onto how Amazon and Bookbub can help you get noticed for free. Have you ever really checked out your author page on Amazon? What about on Bookbub? Dive into this article and start making notes.

 

Jessica Conoley has a guest post over on Jane Friedman’s blog on the most important choice you will make in your writing career. How you talk to yourself. This information is so important I have two items in this week’s roundup on the topic.

Jennifer Alsever has a roundup of the 7 hot serialization platforms for indie authors. 

The Killzone blog has lots of great content, along with a great publishing model. John Gilstrap recently published an interesting article on writing to be heard. How knowing his writing will be recorded as an audiobook is changing the way he is writing.

 

In The Craft Section,

Knowing who your invisible narrator is- Milo Todd- Bookmark

How to build your own MFA experience- Tasha Seegmiller

Building POV and stakes in short stories- Rachell Shaw- Bookmark

Archetypes- The Crone- K M Weiland

Dialogue as a source of conflict- Mia Botha- Bookmark

Serialisation storytelling- John Peregine

 

In The Marketing Section,

The ultimate guide to comparison authors and genres- Alliance of Independent Authors- Bookmark

Bookbub deals on permafree books- Bookbub

Tools and resources – The Creative Penn- Bookmark

5 simple ways to optimize reviews-Blue Ink Review

In-depth article on marketing to Kindle Unlimited subscribers – Written Word Media- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

How often do you psyche yourself out of doing something? Is it fear of success or fear of rejection? Or do you tell yourself you just aren’t good enough?

The self-rejection voices in our heads can be insidious and loud. Royaline Sing has some ways to combat their mantras and get you back on the write path.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s the end of the month so time for my monthly newsletter full of the best of the bookmarked tips and other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: 

Publishing Formats or How Many Ways To Profit.

 

 

In Publishing News,

While various publishing houses are trying to open up their offices, Sourcebooks, one of the big independent publishers has rethought the way their staff will be working. Publishing Perspectives reports that Sourcebooks are asking their staff to decide if they want to come in or work from home in the future. (Allowing staff to live in 7 states if they want to.)

 

The Stats are in for the US publishers for the first half of the year. Sales are up. The lions share going to hardbacks…. This should make the publishers happy as there is a race to bring out the political analysis books over the final year of the Trump presidency with some eye-watering sums being thrown around for advance money. The publishers have to get it back somehow and hardbacks have the biggest profit margin.

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard keeps one eye on the global publishing market. He lives in Africa, so has a ringside seat to the biggest internet-connected nation in the world. Nigeria. They are about to have their international bookfair – a mix of in-person and digital events celebrating women. Nigeria publishers are looking to go digital.

 

Meanwhile, Overdrive, the world’s biggest digital library has just completed the acquisition of Kanopy, a video streaming service for public and academic libraries. Entertainment and knowledge all in one big digital package for libraries. 

 

Authors, with all the digital consolidation, keep an eye on your contract language. It might be time to revisit this excellent post by Dean Wesley Smith on The Magic Bakery. (AKA what rights are you selling.)

 

In our own corner of the world, the talk was all about New Zealand’s National Library playing recklessly with pirates.

Agent Kristin Nelson wrote this week about a topic that no one really talks about- When the author dream is no longer a dream. 

 

Bookfunnel is often cited as an indispensable tool for Indie publishers. It enables fast delivery of eBooks and storefront advantages for authors. They have added a few new features that make them even more spiffy. 

 

Kris Rusch this week takes a look at the ongoing black swan event that is the pandemic. She makes a forceful argument that business is will be an ongoing car crash due to the many people who refuse to be vaccinated. One point she brings up- kids younger than 12 will not be vaccinated. The sneaky virus is constantly mutating. Do you want to save kids?

 

Writing craft expert, Jerry Jenkins has an excellent article on the unreliable narrator. If you are tempted to have one of these, you have to find a way to make them consistently believable. 

 

In The Craft Section,

The key to character introductions- Scott Myers - Bookmark

Relationship thesaurus: Forced marriage- Becca Puglisi

How do you know your story is finished- Tiffany Yates Martin- Bookmark

How to write plays children will love- Christina Hamlett

Four ways to create inter-character conflict- Angie Hodapp- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

10 tips for working with an independent editor- Valerie Brooks- Bookmark

Unconventional book launch ideas- Ricardo Fayet

6 ways friends can help promote your book- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Bookbub ads- Bookbub

5 simple marketing strategies for your series- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

I’ve been having an up and down couple of weeks. Some of it is school holidays and some of it is an intractable computer problem. Judith Briles has an interesting article this week on being an author procrastinator. I’m trying not to tick the boxes.

On the other hand, Sue Coletta has an interesting take on multi-tasking. Apparently, it can be bad for our brains. So time to focus on …

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Trish Hartmann- Venice bakery

 

Reading Between The Lines

 

In publishing news this week,

Last year when the pandemic began to bite there was worry that bricks and mortar bookshops would fail and fold. Enter a smart organization that created Bookshop.Org which gave bookshops a digital storefront. A year on- the pandemic is still with us, but shops are beginning to open up. Publisher’s Weekly reports that Bookshop.org is still going strong and growing and how the digital storefront is essential.

 

Meanwhile The New Publishing Standard reports on a savvy move by a Danish publisher that has been buying up world language rights for audiobooks. This is a fascinating story from Mark which resonated with me here in New Zealand. We have a similar visionary who bought up English rights to award-winning European children’s books and founded an international award-winning publishing company on the strength of it. Digital format is open to the world and a small publisher from a tiny country can become a major player. Audiobooks are growing really fast- to the nimble go the spoils.

 

Publishing Perspectives reports on the European and International Booksellers federation report of 2020. This is a numbers report showing how bookselling fared in different countries. Booksellers in countries without a strong government response had a hard time. If bookshops had a digital presence they managed to stay afloat. The publishers who think everything will go back to the way it once was, before the pandemic, have badly misread the tea leaves. The digital change is here to stay.

 

Recently Maggie Lynch wrote about why she created an NFT book collection to sell. If you have been wondering about Non Fungible Tokens and why there is so much interest in them in the creative community- Maggie’s article is a great place to start. It is an interesting and informative read on provenance certificates and anti-piracy methods to protect your work.

 

Every month Orna Ross, the CEO of Alliance for Independent Authors (Alli) chats with Joanna Penn on what’s happening in the global world of indie publishing. They often talk big picture stuff and have opinions on the speeding trains coming down the track towards authors. This month they have a fascinating chat on how nimble authors are, and need to be. One comment caught my eye in the transcript- With Richard Branson going into Space this week – has anyone thought to license their work for onboard entertainment for off world transport?

 

Amazon Kindle Vella launched to the public yesterday. In the last three months authors based in the US have been uploading episodes to the serialized fiction platform. Engaget looks at the new shiny platform.

 

Jane Friedman hosted Intellectual Property lawyer, Kathryn Goldman on her blog this week. Are fictional characters protected under copyright law? Kathryn writes about the legal case being argued over Jack Ryan and how writers have got into trouble using character names from movies and TV. When is a name a character, and not a name?

 

For a while now authors have been encouraged to write newsletters and to grow a fan base that they can tap into for author book promo, sales etc etc. Many authors have a love hate relationship with their newsletters- not knowing how to use them effectively. Fiction authors particularly struggle. The Passive Guy has an interesting piece on his blog about newsletters being their own genre.

 

In the Craft Section,

Action beats for authors-Krystal Craiker

The inherent nature of story structure- Jim Dempsey- Bookmark

Plot you way back from an unruly idea- Kristin Durfee- Bookmark

How to end a story- Reedsy- Excellent 

How to tell if your story has too much plot and not enough character- K M Weiland - Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

10 Amazon changes authors need to know about - Rob Eager- Bookmark 

Using your back cover well-Bookbaby- Bookmark

5 tips for fitting book marketing into your schedule- Penny Sansevieri

SEO for indie authors- ALLI- BOOKMARK

How Authors are using Social Media platforms- Diana Urban

 

To Finish,

Today I struggled with my computer, searching to find a missing file. Every time I think I have cleaned up my file labeling structure something always slips up. There I was getting frustrated and thinking this is not a good use of my time- low and behold up pops an article on 10 tools to make you a more productive writer.

I just want a computer that knows what file I’m looking for and gets it for me regardless of where I stuffed it in the system. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Jon Evans (Guess Who Won)

 

Warming Up…

 

It is summer break time in the Northern Hemisphere. Everyone in publishing is looking for a sign that publishing is going back to how it used to be before the pandemic. And a sign has appeared. Frankfurt Book Fair has just announced that they will be having an in person fair this year in October. 60 exhibitors have signed up so far. Publishing Perspectives has the details. 

The big question is how safe is world travel going to be in October? Digital conferences have filled a gap but I am seeing a lot of wait-and-see discussions on Twitter amongst publishing professionals. Planning something on the scale of Frankfurt Book Fair could be a big bust if the audience doesn’t show.

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard has an article on the rise and rise of digital book subscriptions. There are still sections of the publishing world that don’t think digital book subscription programmes should be a thing while they load up on Netflix and Spotify.

 

This week Anne R Allen has an interesting blog post on unsupportive friends and family. Yes, it is a thing. There are writers out there who can’t talk about their success or writing with their family because they just don’t understand what is involved. Anne looks at the reasons why family and friends tend to rain on your parade and how to cope with it.

 

Penny Sansevieri has an interesting post this week on small changes that can really make a difference to your marketing. Penny talks about using short videos and intriguing bios to add interest to your Amazon author central pages.

 

Every year Joanna Penn breaks down her publishing income and where she has earned it. In the last year she has been trialing selling direct from her website. She talks about the challenges and the rewards of doing this. 

Another high-profile publishing professional, Jane Friedman, has also broken down her income streams and what has worked over the covid years. 

As some commentators have said, it is becoming more apparent that having a portfolio of paying jobs in publishing is the way to go. 

 

Brandon Sanderson has a host of best-selling titles, a thriving community of fans that tipped his modest Kickstarter project into millions of dollars, and is a writing teacher who puts his university courses on YouTube for free. September Fawkes recently looked at his advice on making characters interesting to readers. Brandon has three very important scales for creating characters. A fascinating read.

 

In The Craft Section,

Ideas for writing prompts- Now Novel

5 steps to creating a unique character voice- Janice Hardy- Bookmark

The essentials about supporting characters- Stavros Halvatzis- Bookmark

The one question you must ask about scenes- Marissa Graff - Bookmark

The importance of a strong story concept- Scott Myers 

 

In The Marketing Section,

How to create an easy blog calendar- Rachel Thompson

What to tweet- Frances Caballo- Bookmark

Publishing timeline for holiday sales i.e. plan for Christmas now- Steven Spatz- Bookmark

Amazon book reviews- Tucker Max

Book marketing and Integrity- Sandra Beckwith- Interesting article.

 

To Finish,

I have a bookcase filled with books that were termed pulp novels back in the 50’s and 60’s. They were called pulp because the standard of paper used to print the books was low-grade newsprint, the covers were soft and often had a graphic picture on the front usually picturing a woman in peril (while wearing impossibly tight clothes.) The strategy of pulp writers was to get straight to the action, take the reader on an entertaining ride and tell the story. They were popular with readers and many writers made a good living often with a pseudonym to separate themselves from what was considered low-brow entertainment. Dean Wesley Smith takes a look at how the pulp writers worked and what we can learn from them today.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter? When you subscribe you will also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Blondinrikard Froberg Euro cup 2013