In Publishing News this week
It’s Frankfurt Bookfair time and publishers are showing off their booths on social media.
Publishers Weekly has a report on the first of the big stage moments – the CEO’s of 3 of the biggest publishing houses talking about aspects of modern publishing and the challenges to change the industry.
Publishing Perspectives has an in depth chat with Philippians publishers who are guests of honour at Frankfurt about their publishing business and the challenges of a western publishing model.
Amazon has released a new Kindle according to GoodEreader. Spotify have expanded their audio book business into Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands. The numbers of books in these languages are growing all the time.
Nielsen Book data have released their half yearly global report on which countries are reading and what they were buying. Fiction was more popular than non fiction. Many countries sales were staying the same or dipping slightly except for New Zealand which has had a nearly 10% decline in book buying. (Come On Kiwi’s- buy a book!)
The Guardian has an article on why bookshops are the new cool place to shop. It seems everyone is looking for the curated experiences and community that bookshops bring to the shopping experience.
While bookshops might be the place to hang out, this is not so true for the writers who provide the books. The income of writers has been steadily declining. In a recent article many writers who in the past would have been receiving a modest income are now struggling. ‘It’s a hobby not a profession anymore.’
Joanna Penn has been celebrating a milestone with her podcast. It has racked up over 10 million downloads. She examines the highs and learnings she has gained from having a popular podcast.
James Scott Bell has a great post on how writing can sometimes feel like trudging over the tar pits. It’s a wry look at the writer’s dilemma – when the book is not working where do you cut.
Katie Weiland has made it to the end of her Structure series with a close look at resolution. This has been a super series and if you have been following along you should definitely check out her book on Structure. (It’s really good!)
In The Craft Section,
6 cheats to tell well- September Fawkes- Bookmark
Clues to a great story- The Pixar talk- Bookmark
Using Chekov’s gun strategically- Kevin Tumlinson
How to write a short story- ProWritingAid
Murky middles and how to strengthen them- Kristen Melville- Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
Authors are assets not competition- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark
Finding Readers who write reviews- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark
When you need an author website- Grace Bialeckie
How to make a book trailer- Reedsy
We are all marketers- Ann Marie Nieves Bookmark
Finish
This is my 800th blog post. I feel like I have been talking publishing and writing forever.
The blog has given me into some interesting insights into the publishing world. I think we can say that the experiment of the Kindle as not killed publishing. It is continually evolving. It has been interesting to see the rise of audiobooks and the changes that Indie Publishers have forced the traditional publishing houses to take.
Staying nimble in this business is the key to success. I hope that you have learned along with me and that I have not bored you.
A huge thanks to those who have been with me from the beginning. I’m still interested in this world, so I’ll keep going for a little while longer.
All celebrations should have cake… I’m off to find one.
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 buy me a coffee, or celebratory cake, I appreciate all your kind virtual coffee love,
Thanks.
