Uniquely You

 

Apologies for no blog last week. It was family medical drama week.

In Publishing News this week,

 

In my blog two weeks ago, I wrote about the US government firing the Director of the Copyright office. As with all these government moves there are court cases pending to slow down the speed of these changes. The Copyright Director is suing to get her job back.

 

Across the pond in the UK, Elton John and other big names lambasted the news that the AI transparency act favours tech companies, calling the government decision criminal and irresponsible. Publishing Perspectives has a detailed look at what went wrong with the proposed law.

Giving tech companies an almost free rein to use copyrighted material seriously undermines what copyright stands for. At the moment the EU seems to be the only jurisdiction where artists copyright matters. Keep an eye on what your own government is doing around these laws for creative artists.

 

In an I-can’t-believe-it move, a Texas court has reversed a book banning law, stating that libraries must be the voice of the government. The librarians are warning that this smacks of propaganda for the state. 

 

The invisible first lady of America is bringing out a memoir. Eyebrows are raised as the narration of the memoir is a cloned AI voice, which will also be used in translations. Mark Williams looks at the rise of synthetic voices and the possibilities for publishers.

 

The UK Children’s Laureate has launched a campaign to get families to read in response to the dismal reading statistics that were announced recently. It is well known that if you read to children from birth they start school with a big advantage that only keeps continuing. Congratulations to our own newly appointed Reading Ambassador for New Zealand, Kate De Goldi.

 

Publishing Perspectives has an interesting essay from an Indian publisher on the rise of Print on Demand use by publishing companies and how it is changing the nature of the publishing business. These insights could be applied to other publishing territories as well.

 

Literacy is being challenged. What can publishers do about it? Richard Charkin writes in his monthly column about the clouded nature of publishing stats and how the underlying news means we must worker harder to engage readers. Key to this is amplifying the uniqueness of their authors.

 

Two great podcasts caught my eye this week… The SPA Girls celebrated 500 episodes with a great chat about the past and where they think the future of publishing will go.

Joanna Penn interviewed Comic and Game maker Dave Morris about creative control, world building and AI tools. Dave has some interesting insights on training AI on your own content. 

 

If you are looking for some great craft books check out Storybundle. Kris Rusch has curated an excellent collection of books  –  You pay not much – the authors get the money and so does a great charity. Win Win Win.

 

Writers and discipline. We chase it, revere it, get the apps, try the productivity short cuts. Harper Ross writes on Writer Unboxed about the discipline myth and what sustains us.

 

Lisa Norman has an excellent post on staying true to our unique voice. Over the years all the tools we have used to showcase our writing have changed but our unique voice hasn’t. 

 

September Fawkes has a great post on misaligned characters wants and plot goals. When the character is acting against what they profess they want sets the scene for a weak plot or theme. How can you fix it?

 

In the Craft Section,

Secondary Characters- all the fun and less work- Laurie Schenebly Campbell

Choose a powerful foundation for POV -Lynette Burrows- Bookmark

Plot twists- crafting the unexpected- Tammy Burke-Bookmark

The power of connotation in picture books-Chelsea Tornetto- Bookmark

Enneagram for character development- K M Weiland – Bookmark

Reading like a writer- Michelle Barker

 

In the Marketing Section,

10 little known Substack features- Rachel Thompson

10 things I wish writers knew about marketing- Dan Blank- Bookmark

How to maximise being a podcast guest-Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark

What is book bundling and how does it work- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Video marketing tips for authors- PR by the book

Audiobook marketing- Reedsy- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

It is mid way through the year. Where has the time gone? How are the writing goals? 

If you are feeling down in the dumps, try a creativity date. Monica Cox has an interesting post on Angela and Becca’s website about the benefits of the artist date. You don’t need to date an artist you just need to make time for creativity, with no strings attached. Create for the sheer joy of creating. 

Isn’t that why we started writing in the first place?

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Photo by Nick Karvounis on Unsplash

Standing Up

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

Striking a blow for librarians, a Rhode Island judge has ordered a halt to the dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Publishers Weekly has updates on the legal challenges and efforts to save these and other important services.

 

This week the U S government fired the Librarian of Congress and the Director of the Copyright office. This comes at the moment when the U S government must make a stand on how the law will treat AI. There are many lawsuits over the illegal use of copyrighted material used by tech companies to train their AI’s. Publishers Weekly looks at the potential outcome of this move, open season on copyright material by AI.

Mark Williams also takes a look at the potential disaster for copyright holders if the US government allows tech companies free rein.

Publishing Perspectives talks with the head of the American Publishers Association about their recent annual meeting. They had a panel discussion over the threat of AI to the fundamental protection of copyright. What do they think of this latest news?

In Europe people are heading in the opposite direction with petitions in support of creative workers being circulated and handed in to various parliaments. Every government has to make a decision on the ethical and legal use of AI. Does copyright count anymore?

 

Ingram has appointed an AI chief according to Publishers Weekly. They will be in charge of implementing Ai across the whole group. This is quite wide ranging and so PW asked him a few questions.

 

Audible has finally moved on using AI voices, joining Spotify in making AI narration available to authors. The Guardian reports this as a worrying trend. (A bit late) Audible are almost the last audiobook company to openly admit they are using AI voices for narration.

 

Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware writes on two new scams doing the rounds internationally. The Book Order scam and the fake review scam. Remember keep yourself up to date on what new lows the scammers are going to, if not for you, for writer friends or newbies. They crush dreams. 

 

BookVault are expanding to Australia and they are moving to be truly global in their Print on Demand technology. BookVault specialise in integrating their services with direct shipping and shopping off your own website. Check out the podcast transcript from a recent interview with The Alliance of Independent Authors.

 

Ruth Harris writes about the clip file being the writer’s secret weapon.

 

Rachel Toalson has an interesting article on Writer Unboxed on what she has learned writing for children. For those of us out there who write for our inner child this will be familiar. If you want to do one of the hardest writing jobs, check out the article.

 

Sally Hamer has a great article on what to do if you have a great short story that you want to expand into a full length novel. First … don’t pad it with fluff.

 

In The Craft Section,

2 great posts from Gabriela Pereira using the Hunger Games- three act analysis and Organising your manuscript.- Bookmark

Is your book a romance?- Selene Grace Silver

How to write a 5 star sequel- Suzy Vadori- Bookmark

Working with relationship driven scenes- September Fawkes- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section

How to write a powerful About page- Sonya Matejko

Insider tips to make Goodreads work for you- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

The Bookstore of You- Jonny B Truant- Interesting

The authors edge- not knowing any better- Mathew Holmes- Bookmark

Book Marketing Plan- Kindlepreneur- Bookmark

 

To Finish,

Recently a librarian thanked me for writing about the ongoing saga of the US Institute of Library and Museum Services that I highlighted in every week of April’s blog posts. It was not a pleasure to have to write about the death of an institution dedicated to funding libraries. It was pain and a feeling of helplessness. 

So why did I highlight this news story? I don’t live in America. Why should I care? 

Libraries provide information. It costs nothing to walk into a library and open a book. They even let you read right there in the building. 

Information educates people. This a fundamental right. An informed educated population can make up their own minds about whether governments are uplifting their people or not. 

When fundamental rights to information are taken away the world notices. They speak up, highlight the problem, witness the injustice on behalf of the people affected. Because if we don’t who will speak when it happens to us. 

Randy Susan Meyers has an interesting post on Writer Unboxed this week on writing to save democracy. Writers can imagine futures without democracy. They can inform and educate through their work. Throughout history writers have witnessed what happens to a population denied freedom to think for themselves.

I am a witness.

 

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 buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic from Vox article on the 10^th anniversary of The Hunger Games.