In Publishing News this week.
Paris, the city of love, or if you have been following AI news, the city of the International AI Summit. 40 world organizations called on the summit to recognize the threat to copyright. Unfortunately, the summit didn’t take much note of the threat to Intellectual Property, so publishers are not happy.
Joanna Penn recently interviewed Alicia Wright on copyright and AI which gives you a handle on how one Intellectual Property lawyer who also happens to be a sci fi author is using it.
Meanwhile, The Diamond Comics Distributor bankruptcy is beginning to bite with many bookshops left hanging. Diamond distributed many niche comic magazines which may go to the wall if another distributor doesn’t buy Diamond’s business. Publishers Weekly looks at the assets on sale.
In book sales news, the latest monthly numbers are in. Dystopian books are outselling everything else. Is everybody looking for a how to survive the current political turmoil handbook? Publishers Weekly looks at who the big winners are in post inauguration book sales.
While dystopian fiction is on the rise- Mark Williams is taking acerbic aim at HarperCollins and how they may have only just come to realise that the world has changed in publishing.
Spotify are happy. Dan Holloway reports that they have made a profit after a year of making audiobooks available. They are also very keen on their Spotify for Authors platform.
Anne Carley has a guest post on Jane Friedman’s blog about the messy creative process. Nothing is ever straightforward in the creative life. This is a great post on recognizing when the process gets unstuck and how to get creative again.
Colleen Story has a great post for when you don’t think your writing is good enough. This happens to every author. It doesn’t matter how many best sellers they have. If you are feeling down about your writing check out this great post. Jenny Hansen takes it a step further looking at Book Structure for Disorganised Writers. No, you are not at fault... in fact there is no fault.
Kathleen McCleary has a great post on Writer Unboxed about working obsessively on the beginning of your novel and why it’s important to nail these pages.
You have to make the reader care… really it’s just a reader meet cute.
In The Craft Section,
5 questions to ask before adding a subplot- Janice Hardy- Bookmark
How to use traits to create character arcs- Sarah Hamer- Bookmark
Deepening a story with theme echoes- Jami Goild- Bookmark
Redeeming your villain- Becca Puglisi
Overcoming plot constipation- James Scott Bell
In The Marketing Section,
Book advertising- David Gaughran- Bookmark
How to promote like a pro- Ingram Spark
How to build a loyal audience- PR by the book- Bookmark
25 ways to promote your book- Marika Flatt
2025 Literary Calendar dates Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark
To Finish,
The romance story outsells every other genre. The romance authors are the savviest book marketers on the planet. The romance brand gets the most brickbats. I don’t know whether it’s jealousy because of the sales, or covering up sentiment by doubling down on hate, or some mistaken idea that cool people don’t like romance. With savvy marketing, huge sales, and the stories promoting being nice to each other, everybody should be celebrating the genre. September Fawkes writes on how every story needs a meet cute scene.
It’s got to be better than doom scrolling.
Maureen
@craicer
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