The Next Big Thing

 

We are halfway into 2021 and I feel that I have been writing every week on the rise of entertainment subscription companies. 

This week Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard, reported on yet another new kid on the block BookBeat which is quietly gathering steam in the Nordic countries and will probably try to break out soon. Another subscription reading/ listening service, are we going to see subscription wars soon for our reading dollars? 

Mark also reported on Wattpad’s new merged Webtoon entity- which is making bold claims to knock down every border in entertainment. 

 

Publishers Weekly reported in-depth on a webinar from NPD, a data and trend company. They have been analysing publishing over the last couple of years and have made some startling conclusions. Manga has gone from niche to mainstream in record time. They report that licensing is huge in children’s books- And it is all about backlist. This is driven by Booktok influencers in children’s books. It’s a fascinating read. 

 

Mike Shatzkin, a long time publishing commentator writes about the third disruption to hit publishing since the 1990’s – The growth of Print On Demand and the rise of Ingram in this space. When Traditional Publishing takes notice after Indies have been in this space for years, is that mainstream?

 

Ebooks are mainstream technology but did you know they are 50 years old? Yes I was surprised too. Here is a handy infographic showing their history.

 

Meanwhile staying right in the present, Brad Frazer writes on Jane Friedman’s blog about the copyright headaches being caused by NFT’s. (I wrote about them two weeks ago.) I think this technology is still in its infancy and we will be seeing teething problems for a while.

 

Kindle Vella is still in the news around author groups. They have been tweaking their requirements before the big rollout. You can now publish your serial as a book. There are some strings and you have to be in the US.

 

Kristine Rusch has another great post in her Fear Based decision making series for authors. How much is your writing being affected by your fear? Are you afraid to push the envelope in your story?

 

My First Writing Craft book was How To Tell A Story by Gary Provost and Peter Rubie. Gary’s descriptive sentence for explaining the dramatic arc in the story is a classic. Recently Sue Coletta examined the sentence again and Gary’s Buts- How you can test a story idea. This has Must Read written all over it. 

 

In The Craft Section,

8 tips to writing unreliable narrators- Deb Caletti

Character types – orphan- Scott Myers

Understanding the mirror moment- September Fawkes- 

Bookmark

How to show your protagonist is stressed- Kathrine Grubb- Bookmark

3 mistakes writers make in act 1- Jeanne Bowerman- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

5 Twitter tips for marketing books- Newsbreak

What happens when you find a typo- Sandra Beckwith

Unique marketing ideas for July- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Social media tips for book marketing- Penny Sansevieri

Reader magnets for Indie Authors – Alliance of Independent Authors- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Ruth Harris writes about writing superstars and how we are just like them. They started from nothing, just like us. So, what was their secret? They were everyday stars like us.

They showed up, they wrote in the teeth of rejection. It is that simple and that hard. 

Another great post from Ruth.

Maureen

@craicer

 

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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 – Shyn Darkly

The Healthy Author Business

 

Two interesting posts from Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard have bookended my week. 

The first was an examination of the new digital publishing and subscription 'Kid On The Block', Legible. They have launched with bold claims about publishing to the world, but Mark thinks they’ve tripped up by focusing on North America first. 

The other post, out today, is the realisation that some of Australia’s literary treasures are out of print and lost. They won’t be the only country where this is happening. Don’t publishers have a duty of care to their nations?

 

The London Book Fair is on the horizon. This year’s virtual fair offers up three weeks of virtual workshops for writers for the author HQ area of the fair. Publishing Perspectives takes a look at the program.

 

Recently, Sotheby’s were about to auction off rare Bronte manuscripts until various Bronte societies and libraries heard about it. They want them preserved for the public. Sotheby’s has agreed to delay, which means the libraries have to come up with some cash soon. 

 

In the various author groups that I am part of, there is huge respect for Kristine Kathryn Rusch. She writes valuable posts about the business of writing. This is where many writers come unstuck. Business is hard. This week she turns her spotlight on the raft of laws about to go through congress aimed at taking apart tech firms. What will happen to authors if Amazon is forced to sell off its publishing arm? This is an important read for anyone in the Amazon ecosystem.

 

The long-running joke in writer and reader circles is when the next book in Game of Thrones might be published. Spare a thought for George R R Martin who is struggling with regret and writing a book that the TV show changed direction on. 

 

Nate Hoffelder has written a great article on Anne R Allen’s blog on introverted authors. Yes, some of us struggle with the public face of being an author. Nate has some great tips to overcome fears.

 

How many of you are curled up like a pretzel when you write? (Guilty, right now.) You know that you need to build healthy writer habits. Here are a couple of posts to jog you into some good habits. Why writers need healthy habits. and Why walking is the best exercise for writers. And don’t forget your mental health too. Writing can be such a slog that it is tempting to quit. Here is a helpful post on when it all gets too much.

 

My comfort books when ill are Georgette Heyer- her historical research was gold standard. A family member is a regency writer and I often dip into her extensive library of research books from the period. If you are venturing into historical fiction – know that your readers are going to be looking to see if you got your facts right. Check out 5 tips for creating a fully realized historical setting. (Georgette was often in a rare tweak when other writers would crib her words for their novels- the effrontery!)

 

In The Craft Section,

What to do when you can’t connect to your characters- Ellen Brock

What is your characters emotional shielding- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

Trick yourself into finding time to write- Suzanne Henshon- Bookmark

What is an unsympathetic character-  Anne R Allen- Bookmark

The 7 laws of successful villains- Lisa Voisin

 

In The Marketing Section,

Choose the perfect pen name- Lewis

Use your email signature for book marketing- Sandra Beckwith - Bookmark

Indie author marketing and promotion plan- Emma Lombard – Bookmark!

10 books to help with your writing life- Rachel Thompson

2 Great posts from Penny Sansevieri- 10 minutes or less to a polished author brand and Monopolise your indie author real estate- Bookmark Both

 

To Finish,

Back at the beginning of April, we struggled with articulating the loss of Beverley Cleary. (OK 104 years -we need to let go.) Vulture writer, Kathryn VanArendonk, has examined the mastery of emotion that Beverley exhibited in her Ramona stories. I think she has put her finger on just how brilliant Beverley was at close 3^rdperson writing and evoking emotion in adults and children.

Oh to write half as well.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links You can subscribe. (And 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 – MaxiuB