Thursday, December 7, 2023

Little Gifts of Change.

 


In Publishing News this week,

 

Richard Charkin, commentator on the publishing industry, is walking the talk by having his press go to Print on Demand with Ingram Spark. With calls over the last three years or so for publishing companies to be more sustainable this is a move that will hopefully herald a lot of other publishing companies following suit. Along with POD, Richard is using the new kid on the block Shimmr to handle the book promotion. Shimmr uses AI to scan the book pull out the tropes and selling points and then crafts media ads to target ideal readers. Changes might be happening. 

 

Publishing Perspectives reports that Germany has taken the falling stats in reading skills among German youth to heart and they are going to embark on new strategies to help keep young people reading.

 

It’s time to wheel out the big lawyers. In litigation news, Democrat members of Congress (US) introduced a bill to stop the surge of book banning in schools. Their bill is for federal funding to fight the book bans.

 

Dan Holloway has an interesting news roundup for the Alliance of Independent Authors. This week he looks at all the news surrounding the various court cases being brought by authors against AI. There seems to be one law firm spearing the charge. Dan has some interesting things to say about whether these court cases are useful or not. 

 

Meanwhile, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) is sending strongly worded statements to the copyright office about the Tech companies use and abuse of Fair Use which is what the Tech companies are pinning their defense on. 

 

Jane Friedman has a very telling post on how publishing professionals can sometimes screw up a writer’s career. She has an interesting case study, that a lot of writers can probably empathise with. I have heard variations on this problem for years. Sometimes you just have to trust your gut.

 

Anne R Allen has a great post on query letters. If your manuscript hasn’t had any bites, it could be that you are screwing up your query letter. She has a run down on best practice.

 

Katie Weiland has compiled a lovely list of writer gifts that you can share around to your loved ones if you want something particular and they need ideas.

 

December is commonly referred to as NaNoEdMo or the time when writers who managed to write a novel in November take a step back and look at the editing of that novel. Michel Leah has a great article on what to do now. 

 

In The Craft Section,

Story Tropes to avoid or not to avoid- Jami Gold


The 10 most common editing mistakes- Natalie Hanemann- Bookmark


Brainstorming words of wisdom -Dale Ivan Smith- Bookmark


Why the protagonist must be a problem solver- September Fawkes- Bookmark


FBOBA The fragile beauty of being alive- Donald Maass- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Marketing Outside The Box- Terry Odell- Bookmark


20 ways to promote during holiday season- Thomas Umstattd- Bookmark


Publish as an audiobook with Scott Sigler- Thomas Umstattd-Bookmark


Parts of a book- Reedsy- Useful Info


It’s not about You- Kathy Steinemann- Bookmark


How to find time for book promo- Sandra Beckwith

 

To Finish,

As we head into December, many writers start thinking about their goals for the year. Have they been achieved? Are you thinking about next year? Are you setting goals?

Kay DiBianca has a great post on acknowledging your accomplishments and planning for the next year.

 

In personal news – I have ebooks on sale all over the place. If you are looking for kids books You can check out my maureencrispbooks website or hit this link for a group sale promo. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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If you want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.


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

 

Pic: Photo by Mark König on Unsplash

Thursday, November 30, 2023

Taking Time

 


 

In Publishing News this week,

 

I received an email from Google Play telling me about the exciting changes they are making to AI narrated audiobooks- Voices, lots of voices, enough for a cast of characters. They are upping the auto narration stakes. Other audiobook producers offer this feature for a fee. Google just rolls it into their free audiobook creation. AI is disrupting audio books. However, if you are thinking about the magic bakery of IP creation, (Dean Wesley Smith’s great analogy - he has a book on the subject) then AI audio is just one facet of audio, like author narrated or actor narrated or radio play version with a full cast of characters. 

 

Over in Europe Bookwire has been expanding its audiobook service - Sign up with them and get your audiobook translated into five languages.

 

As I am a children’s writer, I like to keep one eye on what is happening in that marketplace. Over 25% of China’s book trade are children’s books and at the moment they are going crazy for Manga Non-Fiction.

 

Mark Williams highlighted the plight of Afghanistan publishing. Since they cracked down on girls attending school the book trade has died by 50%. Who knew that girls reading kept an economy going? Mark wants the publishing industry to remember the missing readers. Today I saw a picture of a bombed out library in Gaza and felt grief for the missing readers there. The freedom to read safely is a privilege we often take far too lightly here in the western world. Just think about the lawsuits to let kids read books in the largest democracy in the world. It could happen in a town near you.

 

Richard Charkin writes about publishing in the good old days… he discusses the traditional publishing fondness for territory rights instead of language rights. Do we really need an American English version of a book published in England? And why do we have different covers?

 

Sue Coletta has a stunning post – What type of Writer and Reader are you? Our brains process information through one of our five senses… So which type are you?

 

Katie Weiland has a brilliant post on Time Management for Writers. There are some gems in this article.

 

Chuck Wendig is wondering about Social Media now that we have to be everywhere or is it nowhere… or somewhere. If you are feeling bewildered by new Social Media - read Chuck. At least you will laugh.

 

Tzivia Gover has a guest post on Jane Friedman’s blog about Journals and Dreams: The Unsung Heroes of Literature. Have you been writing your dreams down?

 

Ruth Harris has a great article on writers’ advice. Let the experts help you to craft those sparkling passages. “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club” - Jack London.

 

In The Craft Section,

What sleeping with Jane Eyre taught me about pacing- Heidi Croot


Rewriting- keep your eyes open and your ego closed- P J Parrish- Bookmark


Create personal writing timelines- Cindy Sproles- Bookmark


Five Elements of relationship plot lines- September Fawkes- Bookmark


Writing in scenes- Paula Munier


Are your characters living in the moment?- Janice Hardy

 

In The Marketing Section,

Christmas Book Promotions and strategies- PublishDrive- Bookmark


Boost your holiday sales- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark


How to Newsletter swap- Sandra Beckwith


15 must have resources for authors- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark


Use TikTok to sell books-Joe Yamulla


To Finish,

Why do our brains impact our self confidence? We remember the bad reviews not the good ones. We absorb only the savage critique not where our writing sang. How can we combat our confirmation bias?- Kasey LeBlanc has the answer.

 

This week Joanna Penn talked to a serial writer and entrepreneur. If you have been thinking about subscription based writing and the creator economy – check out the interview with Reem Co Founder Michael Evans- he’s been writing books for 7 years. With everything he has been doing it’s hard to believe he’s only 21.

 

Time stays long enough for those who use it - Leonardo Da Vinci

 

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 want the weekly blog in your inbox subscribe to the Substack version.


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

 

Pic: Photo by Andrik Langfield on Unsplash

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