In Publishing News this week
It’s Banned Book week in the US and there are many different ways authors and publishers are drawing attention to the rise of challenged books in school sysyems. For the second year Penguin Random House are touring states with their Banned Book Wagon handing out banned books everywhere. Publishing Perspectives has a great article on what they are doing including the whopping number of books they are donating.
Following the bankruptcy of United Book Distributors a few months ago in the UK, the ripples are being felt throughout the UK book community reports Publishers Weekly. Verso publishers are running a Kickstarter campaign just to get their books from the distributor warehouse to another distributor. With 1 million pounds owed in book sales they are very pessimistic about receiving any money back.
Publishers Weekly also reports on the latest statistics on the publishing industry. Over the last 30 years, jobs in the industry have declined by 40%. Where have they gone asks Publishers Weekly. Amalgamations, bankruptcies, declining reading populations, digital publishing, rising printing costs… take your pick.
Bucking the trend is Poland who have reported rising demand for books. What are they doing right?
The publishing industry in the US is crossing their fingers that TikTok lives past the US ban in some form or other… or rather Booktok. Super book girl Sam Missingham has put together a new platform connecting Booktok influencers with publishers. Dan Holloway has all the details.
Recently Draft2Digital ran a survey asking authors how much they used AI tools and for what parts of their writing and editing. One of the survey questions asked whether authors would license their work to AI companies. I was surprised at the results.
Anne Handley has an interesting blog post on How To Write Like Robots Can’t, it’s all in the little details, like metaphor and word play.
Chloe Gong was interviewed by Elle magazine on what it was like be an author online. Booktok influences had a hand in turning Chloe into a phenomenon but it’s not all Booktok. Chloe sees being online differently. Her books are great too- Shakespeare stories set in 1920’s China- addictive reading according to the teen in our house.
Joanna Penn has a great interview with Mark Leslie Lefebvre on selling books at live events. He has some nifty tricks up his sleeve. Check out the podcast /transcript.
Kelley Way looks at the five most important clauses in a publishing contract. This is a must read for anyone who has or wants a publishing contract. Inside the very fine print after how much money you might get is some important information that often gets overlooked.
If you had to start your publishing career all over again, what would you do? Recently Craig Boyack published an article on what he has been doing starting a new genre and pen name. Everything completely different to what he wrote before. Interesting insights into what is useful now for starting up a new brand.
Russel Nohelty has an interesting article on How to Market Myself without Feeling Gross About It. This is a topic that every author struggles with. A great read.
Cynthia Swanson writes about how she went from debut New York Times bestseller to Publishing her 3rd novel herself. There is a name for this, Orphaned Sequel Syndrome. When the career you thought you were going to have gets cut short and what you can do about it.
In The Craft Section,
Layering your romance scenes- C S Lakin
5 pitfalls to avoid with protagonists- Savannah Cordova- Bookmark
Vulnerability not likeability is the key- Susan De Freitas- Bookmark
Why you lose motivation- Suzanne Lieurance
Story Structure the 3rd act- K M Weiland- Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
7 secrets to make your Manuscript stand out- Top Author
Social Media for authors-Evergreen authors- Bookmark
7 simple steps to build your brand- Draft2Digital
Creative reader magnets – Bang2Write- Bookmark
3 things you can do to get amazing blurbs- Sandra Beckwith- Bookmark
To Finish,
Sometimes events get up your nose and you find yourself on a rant. But should you write about it? James Scott Bell has an interesting blog post on writing while you are angry. Does the writing calm you down or rev you up even more? James has some great tips for when you are just burning to say something and putting it in a novel feels like a good idea.
Maureen
@craicer
It’s nearly time for my monthly newsletter. If you want the best of my bookmarked links 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, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.
Pic Photo by Johnson Wang on Unsplash
