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 Now that I have your attention, she talks about how she can’t share her unpublished writing with anyone because of the naked writer feeling.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
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
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Pic: Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash
