Where Will You Find Your Next Read?

This Week In Publishing News,

 

Authors behaving badly can be a career killer. This week an author called out a reviewer for only giving her 4 stars. The backlash over the author's vitriolic comments to a hapless newbie reviewer had a slew of 1 stars being attached to the book. Then the publisher dropped her.

Note to all authors- Never comment on reviews. It’s the safer way. Read Anne R Allen’s excellent article from a few years back for a refresher on not taking reviews personally.

Anne’s latest post is on readers pet peeves- They are not the same as writers pet peeves. You shouldn’t ignore them.

 

Publishing Perspectives had an exclusive article this week. Elsevier’s director of sustainability, Rachel Martin, recently spoke at an international congress on sustainability and announced that within a few years all mainstream printed books would be displaying labels specifying their environmental credentials. 

 

The Audio Publishers Association in America reported that their annual earnings were up by 10% to $1.8 Billion. More than half of the population had listened to an audiobook. 

This fits in well with the report from Publishers Weekly over the latest trends in children’s publishing. Audio is the hot trend across all age groups. Paper is driving midgrade and everyone is looking for graphic novels and Webtoon stories.

 

Business Insider reports that tropes are where its at if you want to go viral on TikTok. This speaks to the importance of knowing and using tropes in your books. (It’s how you use or twist the tropes that make you stand out.)

 

Grace Bialecki has a guest post on Jane Friedman’s site about when an author needs a website. These days a website can be many different things and on many different platforms.

 

Two big AI articles came out this week.

Publishers Weekly had a widely read post on how AI is about to turn the publishing world upside down. This huge post from Thad McIlroy talks about whose jobs are under threat.  Thad also takes a positive view that being human will be the biggest advantage. 

“You can only understand the perils surrounding a new technology after you fully appreciate the opportunities that it affords.”

 

The other big AI article comes from Peter Houston and the way AI search is set to upend online publishers who rely on ad sales on their websites to generate income. AI is just going to scrape the content and not refer the user to a website. This could be problematic if you rely on your website to sell books.

 

Katie Weiland is always a must read for me. She usually puts her finger on what might be troubling me writing craft wise. This week however she took a different tack and looked at Imposter Syndrome. This is a stand out post on how writers can deal with that inner critic. A must read.

 

Joanna Penn recently Interviewed John Fox on crafting the linchpin moments of your novel. This is a deep dive into why we need these plot points to work and how to strengthen scenes.

 

In the Craft Section,

2 Great posts from Sue Coletta- How critical distance improves writing and Why readers love anti-heroes. Bookmark Both

The nemesis as the protagonists shadow- Scott Myers – Bookmark

Connection Love Loss Hope- Donald Maass- Bookmark

7 ways to ensure you reach your writing goals- Jordan Kantey

 

In The Marketing Section,

Choosing a title that hooks your reader- Draft2Digital- Bookmark

8 ways to market your book- Brian Feinblum

Using drip marketing- Thomas Umstattd- Bookmark

Working effectively with your book designer- Andrea Reider- Bookmark

5 things I tell authors that really annoy them- Sandra Beckwith

Successful self promotion- Penny Sansevieri

 

To Finish,

This week Kris Rusch talks about curation and how over the years the places and people you used to be able to rely upon to tell you what to read or listen to have changed. Combined with this recent article from the UK Booktrust on how many parents feel they lack the skill to help their children to read, I asked my teen how she discovers books and music. Spotify was her answer to the music one but she surprised me when she said the School Library. With all the published angst about book influencers on TikTok – the humble school library is still in there. This makes the survival of the school library so important. They are shaping readers of today and tomorrow- if we don’t support them we won’t have a publishing industry.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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

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 Shunya Koide on Unsplash

Challenging Pages

 

 

In Publishing News this week,

The Guardian published two interesting articles based on sessions at the Literature festivals.

Author Rebecca Kuang spoke about authors writing about other races. She rejects the idea that authors must stay in their own racial lane. 

Meanwhile, French author Annie Ernaux awarded the Nobel prize for Literature last year declared it was an unwelcome surprise.

 

Publishing Perspectives reports on how Pen America is tracking educational gag orders which have risen very sharply in the last few years. This is of particular concern to universities who have mandates to allow free speech. I saw one statistic lately that showed out of 1000 book challenges the bulk of them were filed by just 11 people. 

 

The Association of American Publishers released their stat shot of all the numbers for the last publishing year. Paperbacks outsold hardbacks… online selling outsold physical. If you like deep dives into interesting stats on the health of American publishing, check out all the graphs.

 

NFT”s are quietly bubbling away in the background. Goodereader takes a dive into Literary Non Fungible Tokens and why they have some merit for authors. When you buy an ebook you actually buy the license to read it. NFT’s are a permanent buy of a digital product. If that is slightly hurting your head- The company behind Webtoon digital comics and Anime is investing in NFT avatars that will speak and move… tell your stories etc. (Ready Player One is almost here.)

 

The world is catching on to AI and calls to curb its influence are growing among tech founders. Many countries are only just starting to grapple with the impacts on copyright. Laws are being examined to see if they cover AI generated work. Because the publishing world is moving slowly on its response to AI, Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld Science Fiction magazine has put together a series of belief statements that publishing industry people can sign on to. It is still in draft mode but is getting quite a bit of attention.

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard has eviscerated Markus Dohle ex CEO of PRH over his speech at Sharjah last month. Mark pulls out all the facts and figures and shows up Dohle’s errors to devastating effect. OUCH.

 

Ruth Harris writes about writer wannabes and authors who have literary cooties. Every writer has experienced one or the other or unfortunately both. How do you deal with these people who want to rain on your parade or you personally? Ruth has some sweet revenge.

 

Kris Rusch has an interesting blog post on facing the future. She states that the writers who face the future will be the ones to survive it. She has some pretty compelling arguments based on recent publishing history. 

 

Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur has some great free resources for writers so take the time to trawl around the site. If you are looking for writing inspiration check out the book ideas post.

 

In The Craft Section,

5 ways to use your character shadows- K M Weiland- Bookmark

How AI can help strengthen your writing- Keri Kruspe

The virtues of non linear writing- Scott Myers

Character tropes- The innocent- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

How to manage a difficult book- Rachel Toalson- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Tips to improve newsletter design – Sue Coletta- Bookmark

5 things I wish I knew before publishing- Jenna Podjasek

Book marketing rundown (updated) Make sure you scroll down.-Rachel Thompson – Bookmark

Book Marketing truths- Angela Ackerman- Useful information 

How to create a Book Trailer- Elaine Dodge

 

To Finish,

Today the finalists of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults  were announced. Congratulations to all. As a previous judge of these awards I know just how hard it is to judge and many who missed out would have come achingly close.

Writer Unboxed has an article from Julianna Baggot about how hard this writing game is. 

If you finish writing a book you have already achieved what most aspire to but never do. 

As Julianna says, we have outer critics and we have inner critics, she offers ways to handle both.

"We need to protect our relationship with the page. Doing what we love is challenging but worth it."

 

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 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 Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash

 

Reading Between The Lines

 

In Publishing News this week,

Last week publishing social media was full of comment from disgruntled authors discovering they had been let go from a prominent author agency. I didn’t link to it at the time as tempers and opposing viewpoints were swirling and I figured that everyone might calm down and things were not as bad as portrayed. Then the Authors Guild got involved to try to sort out the mess of over 20 authors with contracts in various states of negotiating being hung out to dry. So yes, things were bad. The fallout has probably permanently tarnished the reputation of the agency. There are no winners.

 

This week a hybrid virtual/in person book fair in New York was held over three days. It’s the only Book Fair that attempts to be a national book fair for the USA. After the demise of Book Expo America and virtual Digital Book World offerings, the flagship shows like London or Frankfurt aren’t happening for the U.S. Mark Williams looks at the problems of running a big book fair. Does the English language publishing world really need another bookfair?

 

Germany has just published a survey on reading in their country and the declining levels of literacy among children is alarming. They are embarking on a huge campaign to lift literacy. However, recently their teen reading levels have been huge. Is it the power of TikTok influencers?

 

James Daunt CEO of Barnes and Noble recently spoke on how his policies have changed the face of the bookselling company. The secret is in curation, and local curation at that. Also shelving non-fiction books by subject instead of alphabetically. Wow. Who knew that might work?

 

Jane Friedman has a guest post by Joni Cole on cover woes and what you can do when your publisher gets it so very wrong. Her publisher though she would be happy with an explicit cover on a book about… writing craft. 

 

Randy Peyser has an interesting post on what publishers want. This is not a specific post but does have some interesting ideas for what you should keep in mind when approaching them.

 

Ingram Spark has a useful article on choosing readable fonts for your book. If you are into designing print interiors check it out. Warning- once you go down the typeface rabbit hole you will discover a wonderful new world that can be quite addictive. 

 

Recently the Spa Girls writing podcast had an interview with Matt Bird – a writing craft teacher on the secrets of story. It’s a great interview with different ways to look at scenes and characters.

 

September Fawkes has a great article on things she wished she knew as a beginning writer. This is a must read. It doesn’t matter if you are beginning or not, there are gems to think about… print out…carve on your wall, in here.

 

In The Craft Section,

7 cool tricks for beating the maddening middle- Holly Lisle

Hero’s journey structure and examples- Lisa Taylor- Bookmark

3 steps to engaging your readers- Angela Ackerman

The difference between Character Archetypes and Tropes- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

How to create insanely complex characters- K M Weiland- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Marketing to Libraries- Goodstory company- Bookmark

12 ways to promote your book- Green Leaf

First impressions, Book Covers-Mibl Art-Bookmark

Relaunching with audiobooks- Bookboss Academy

Moving the needle- Huge Marketing post from SCBWI – BOOKMARK

 

To Finish

Lisa Cooper Ellison has a great column on Jane Friedmans blog, this week she writes about Beta Readers. Lisa looks at  how important they are and how you can help them out. If you prepare questions and manage their expectations it should be a positive experience for everybody. If you haven’t really made use of Beta readers before this is a handy article on how to get started with them.

 

Go Forth and Read.

 

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 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 Matias North on Unsplash

 

Reading gymnastics- or how many ways you can curl up with a book.

Holding On To Your Own Creativity

In Publishing News this week…

Amazon is raising their subscription price for Kindle Unlimited by $2. This comes on the heels of the lowest page read payout to date. Today writers using Amazon Print were informed that the cost to print would be going up. 

 

Recently The Association of American Publishers had their AGM and the big event of the night was the CEO Maria Pallente addressing the issue of AI and publishing. Porter Anderson  has a full report of her speech. If you are keeping an eye on AI you will know that this week the CEO of Open AI has been asking for a regulatory framework from US lawmakers to control AI going into the future.

 

Pearson Textbooks has taken issue with the use of their IP content to train AI’s. They have started sending cease and desist letters and taking legal action. This is because they have plans to train their own AI on their own content so they can expand their business.

 

Scholastic are finally embracing digital publishing. Apparently paper mills see no extra value in making book pages. Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard has some pithy words for the publishing industry as the head of Scholastic points out just how shaky the print arm of publishing is.

Mark also shines a spotlight on HarperCollins India and their search for a realistic AI Indian voice to change the face of audio narration in India.

 

Bookriot reports on PEN America and Penguin Random House taking a school district to court over book banning. This is a warning shot in the battle for freedom to read. How many school districts can take on these giants and win?

 

If you live with anyone whose profession is the subject of TV dramas you will be used to the constant comments about unrealistic work portrayals. Melodie Campbell takes a look at unrealistic portrayals of crime scenes.

 

Katie Weiland has a great article on Why There Is No Such Thing As ‘Just A Story.’ 

Suzanne Bennett has a great article on what to do with abandoned manuscripts… you don’t have to junk them. 

 

In The Craft Section,

How to write organic themes- K M Weiland- Bookmark

Setting and sense of place- Joanna Penn

Does your story make sense-Susan DeFreitas

5 ways to avoid white room syndrome- Linnea Gradin- Bookmark

Ignite with the inciting incident- Lynette Burrows- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Infographic 7 tips to grow your social media platform- Barb Drozowich

Get reader reviews- Sandra Beckwith

Data on author newsletters- Written Word Media- Bookmark

Booklinker article on Bookmarketing- Bookmark

Tips to improve newsletter design- Sue Coletta – Bookmark

The Rebel Author Podcast -advanced marketing strategies (great episode)

 

To Finish,

What are you doing to fill your creative well? This is a question I often asked my teaching colleagues. You can’t keep giving out creatively to others if you don’t fill your well. Kris Rusch has been musing on the nature of cross training for your brain. This is a good article to mull over at the change of seasons. Are you stretching your writing brain by doing something else?

 

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 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 Amritanshu Sikdar on Unsplash

 

Breaking The Rules

 

If you have been anywhere on Social Media today, you might have caught a trending topic called Bigolas Dickolas. The owner of the name decided to tweet their appreciation for a four year old book. The tweet went viral and all formats of the book rocketed up the charts. You never know when a book review will change an author’s life!

 

In the academic world, news that the entire editorial board of major academic publisher Elsevier resigned over the fees the journal was charging academics to publish, hit like a thunderclap. The eyewatering prices are detailed in the Guardian along with the complaints of greed from academic institutions. Everyone will be watching the boards of other academic journals – will they follow suit? Meanwhile, the editors are taking their reputations and starting an online journal which will be much cheaper.

 

Many writers are keeping one eye on the current strike happening with Film and TV writers. If you haven’t been seeing your favourite shows lately or found out their seasons have been cut short, the strike by the writers of these shows is the reason. Kris Rusch breaks down why it is so important that writers know the reasons for the strike and how it might affect you in the future.

 

The children’s writing community was shocked this week when a recent book on grief got unexpected publicity. The author wrote the book for her children dealing with the shock death of their father. Unfortunately, the author was arrested for the death of her husband.

 

Our household has an affection for Mo Willams and his Don’t let the Pigeon Drive The Bus and its various spinoffs. Mo has launched a production company to control his IP. If you have an iconic character this might be something to look into.

 

Scribd has altered its Terms of Service (contract) to take into account AI. Publishing Perspectives writes on how EU lawmakers are using these new terms to inform copyright law.

 

Anne R Allen has a good run down on scammers and the methods they are using at the moment. Please be aware of the pitfalls and tell others about them too. Book scammers prey on dreams and Newbies are their favourite targets. However, seasoned hands have been caught so keep your eyes open. 

 

Recently Publishers Weekly held a webinar on best practice for publishers in a changing marketplace. The main points have been summarised in an article on Publishers Weekly. The sky is not falling you will be pleased to know.

 

Recently Orna Ross and Joanna Penn from The Alliance of Independent Authors sat down for an in depth chat on crowdfunding books. If you have been thinking about this- drop in for the podcast or read the transcript. The Alliance (Alli) have a wealth of great resources, they recently did a deep dive on selling books from your own website.

 

Beta Readers are an important step in the publishing process. As first readers they can flag plot holes or scenes that just aren’t working. Check out this article on How Beta readers might save your book from disaster.

In The Craft Section,

How to edit your novel- Alli Blog- Bookmark

What is the big deal about ‘was’- Terry Odell

Top 5 mistakes with sex scenes- Bang2Write

How to build a flesh and blood character- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Human moments- Donald Mass- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

How writers can be successful in media interviews- Anne Alenskis

Tips for working with a cover designer- K M Weiland

5 book marketing tasks that can be done in 5 minutes- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

4 cornerstones to success for book marketing- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Branding tips for authors- Shayla Raquel- Bookmark

 

To Finish

Rules- you need to know the reason for the rules before you break them is a popular saying. In writing, there are many lists of rules floating around. Some are common-sense and some are more obscure but can be the difference between a readable sentence and not. (*wink*) 

Check out this article on writing rules to make you shine not whine.

Many writers want to finish the story before they tell anyone about it. Jane Friedman has a guest post from Catherine Baaab-Muguira  on why you should start promoting your writing before you are ready.

 

Breaking Rules can be empowering.

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 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 Alex Lvrs on Unsplash

Under The Skin

 

In Publishing News this week,

Many writers muttered Hallelujah when Ingram Spark announced they were making print file uploads of Print On Demand books free along with free revisions for the first 60 days. There was general joy all around the publishing socials. They wouldn’t have changed their policy because every other print POD service is free would it?

 

Business Insider reports that Tiktok has registered a publishing press trademark. I wonder how they are going to advertise their books to readers or reviewers or even how they will go about getting books to publish? Now all they need is a buy button…

 

The Writers Guild of America called their TV writer members out on strike. This last happened about 16 years ago… and suddenly there was lots of Reality TV popping up. The writers have been screwed by streaming. The New Yorker lays out the case.

 

The arrest of a Taiwan publisher visiting relatives in China is making the Asian book industry nervous. The disappearance of the writer and publisher is being highlighted by news agencies around the world, reports The Guardian.

 

The UK Publishing Association reports that they had a bumper year last year with physical book sales up. Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard points out that their reported numbers have huge million dollar holes. What happened to their digital book industry?

Mark also points out the double standard over Storytel Norway being accused of favouring their own brand on their own platform. Who knew that was unethical? *coughAmazoncough*

 

Kris Rusch writes this week on the gradual breakdown of favourable terms for writers from Amazon. She has been an advocate of going wide for years. This is her last heads up blog post on the danger of putting all your sales eggs into one basket. All the signs are warning of an iceberg ahead.

 

Ruth Harris has an interesting post on Outlines, AI, and Stormy Daniels. Ruth tries her hand at using AI to write a blog post and concludes that the prose is very boring. Then she thought about a biography of Stormy Daniels….

 

Lit Reactor has a great article on books with a lack of character development and concludes it is not a problem. Do we really need to see the characters grow and change? Sometimes the fact that they don’t is comforting. 

 

In The Craft Section,

Assuaging the pain of punctuation- Tiffany Yates Martin - Bookmark

5 things to know about writing for teens- Jennifer De Leon

The difference between character archetypes and tropes- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

What is a psycological thriller- Cailean Steed- Bookmark

What we can learn from reading bad fiction- Richard Thomas

 

In The Marketing Section,

7 tips for strategic pricing- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Critique sites- Kathy Steinemann

Should you pay an influencer- Sandra Beckwith

What goes on the copyright page- Darcy Pattison- Bookmark

Readerscout- new free tech from Kindlepreneur- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

The 122 page book, Death Of An Author has been making small waves after it was recently published by Seth Godin’s press Pushkin Industries. 95% of this murder mystery is written by AI. The New York Times reviews it fairly. Some will like it. Some will hate it. 

Creativity is not under threat- yet. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

 It’s time for my monthly newsletter? If you want the best of my bookmarked links and other extras why not subscribe and join our merry band.

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 Possessed Photography on Unsplash

https://claudeai.uk/ai-blog/

Longing For The Good Old Days

 

 

In Publishing News this week…

 

Publishers Weekly highlights a problem facing manga translation freelancers, poor pay. While Manga is surging in the sales lists the money isn’t trickling down to the people actually doing the work in translation ($1 a page isn’t fair) You may as well get an AI to do it… and really scramble the translation.

 

The New Publishing Standard sounds a warning to publishers who are relying on Booktok to boost their sales. Tiktok is facing bans in some states… Don’t put all your publicity eggs in one basket.

 

There was lots of chat this week as the first ads inside audiobooks started rolling out on the Audible platform. Audible promises there will be only 8 ads every 24 hours.

It’s another marketing platform which is probably here to stay. 

 

Recently a writer alerted me to this very damning report from The Bookseller on publisher and agent support to authors in the last few years. I have heard of instances of all these issues highlighted. Publishing is not like it used to be with editors nurturing writers and guiding careers last century (or even 30 years ago)

 

Kris Rusch writes this week on the way the past can highjack a writers expectations and stop them from trying new things. She compares two different writers she knows who are struggling with new ways of doing things- spoiler alert it’s not the 80 year old writer who has publishing blinkers.

 

Google has quietly launched some new tools for writers and publishers. If you have been wondering about patreons or substack or some sort of mailing list or paywall, Google has got a new subscription tool for you.

 

Joanna Penn has an excellent interview with Halima Khatun on how to get  free publicity from newspapers etc. It’s all in the way you pitch a press release.

 

Congratulations to the Dynamic Duo of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi – They have reached 1million copies sold of their Emotion Thesaurus Book series. If you haven’t checked these books out yet you are in for a treat. They are often cited as essential textbooks in writing courses. Being the Dynamic Duo – they are celebrating by having a huge giveaway of cool prizes.

 

Anne R Allen has a great blog post on that old chestnut- everybody has a book inside them (and there it should stay.) She has the 10 do’s and don’ts for people thinking that they might want to write a book someday.

Of course many people procrastinate and never write that book – if you want some tips on productivity check out these gems from BangtoWrite.

 

In The Craft Section,

Backstory Techniques- Part2- K M Weiland- Bookmark

Choosing scenes to cover the right information- Mythcreants- Bookmark

Heinlein’s rules for writing – Becca Puglisi

How to decide what story to write- Scott Myers

Tell Don’t show- Terry Odell- Bookmark

Using Sensory Perception – DiAnn Mills

 

In The Marketing Section,

How to pitch a book to readers- Penny Sansevieri

Silly fun June dates for promotion- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

Book Marketing Plan guide-Adacted

Free resources - Shayla Raquel- Bookmark

5 pieces of blurb advice to avoid- Written Word Media – Bookmark

 

To Finish

If you are constantly scribbling plot points on bits of paper you might like this planning tool. 

It is like mind mapping plot points but on a screen.

If you are thinking about audiobook production – check out whether there are audiobook narrators in your area. One of our local audiobook narrators is keen to rent out her studio and coach and edit if you want to narrate your book yourself. (If you are in NZ email me for her details.)

It could be the start of a whole new career.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

If you want to get the best of my bookmarked links and other extras you can subscribe to my monthly newsletter. 

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top or here. 

I appreciate virtual coffee love. 

Thanks.

 

PicPhoto by Hannes Wolf on Unsplash