Snacking On Publishers

 

 

In Publishing News this week

It’s a tough old time if you are a writer down under. You may have had some hope of placing a book with one of the independent presses that still operate, but last week saw another of them gobbled up by Penguin Random House. Our regional voices are disappearing said a Guardian article. While Aussie authors are wincing- Kiwi authors have been there. Most of our publisher’s head offices are in Australia and we are lucky if they publish 1 NZ book a year.

 

In Davos the world economic forum got underway. How does this relate to publishing? Well, one of the key presentations is the future of jobs report. Dan Holloway took a look and found key indicators for publishers and writers. Reading is down…but creative thinking is up. Can we work with this information?

 

Publisher’s Weekly reports on a new imprint being started by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. It’s all about science. In this world of misinformation, any increase in science publishing is a good thing.

 

When it’s award season the critics choices are always highlighted but if you look at the bestseller lists, they often don’t show up. However, bestsellers have awards too. It is based on number of sales. Spot the children’s books. Julia Donaldson has topped the UK bestseller lists for the 5^th straight year. She is a critics’ choice and a bestselling author. Gotta love children’s authors, they keep publishing houses afloat.

 

Bookshop.org is turning 5. This great independent initiative linked independent booksellers together and created another way to order books instead of always heading to Amazon. Now they are about to add eBooks into the platform.

 

The Encyclopaedia Britannica was the last word in authoritative knowledge when I was growing up. They are still around and having gone online early they are now embracing AI. This is a fascinating example of a publishing pivot. Mark Williams takes an in depth look at what they are doing. I don’t know about you but if I have to get information from an AI bot, I would prefer it to come from a trusted verified source, not a scraped chat forum.

 

Angela Ackerman has an interesting article on How Authors Thrive In A World Of AI-Generated Books. She has some great points to think about. Being human is your point of difference. As ever, she is a must read.

Meanwhile, Dale Roberts is talking about live video being the key to author visibility in 2025.

In The New Publishing Standard, Mark Williams shines a light on a publishing topic not much talked about, the three words ‘adjusted for inflation.’ Why don’t publishers show the real figures? 

 

Victoria Strauss does great work on Writer Beware and lately she has been looking at ghostwriting scams. She has a list of websites that are fronts for a scam publishing company.

 

Ah procrastination, what is stopping you from writing that novel? Barbara O’Neal has an interesting article on Writer Unboxed about the three things that cause procrastination. This is a must read if you want to conquer this insidious problem. Read It Now!

 

In The Craft Section,

How to make themes work together- Jami Gold- Bookmark

How to write dark fantasy- Stephanie Wytovich

How to stay focused on your central conflict- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

World building lessons from Myst- Gabriela Pereira-Bookmark

5 wellness hacks to boost your writing- Colleen Story

 

In The Marketing Section,

Planning a book launch party- Tama Hela

 2 great posts from Sandra Beckwith- 3 Author marketing mistakes to avoid in 2025 and

Using AI as your author assistant - Bookmark

Is Facebook still worth it for writers- Rachel Thompson- Bookmark

How to budget for your book- Written Word Media- Bookmark

 

To Finish

It’s been a rough old week in politics for the USA. For those of us looking on from afar we do feel for the people caught up in the middle. In this age of instant news and opinion it can feel overwhelming. “In war, truth is the first casualty” said Aeschylus in 500BC. When the world is wondering whether Mein Kampf, published in 1925 is being dusted off 100 years later to the detriment of another empire, it is courageous to stand up to your government and demand that they do better. One such person was the Bishop Mariann Budde who asked the new president point blank if he would protect the meek and helpless. Her words resonated around the world and now her book How We Learn To Be Brave, published in 2023 is being rushed into a second printing and is climbing the bestseller ranks. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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Photo by Sander Dalhuisen on Unsplash

Avoiding the Sharks on Your Journey

 

In Publishing News this week,

 

There is a new scam going around and it is targeting authors and is particularly nasty. Anne R Allen has the details and even though it reads like a crime novel plot it is particularly horrible for people caught up in it. Before you think 'that would never happen to me', I invite you to think how you would react if you were confronted by law enforcement officers about all your identification being used to commit crimes. The horrible part is where the scammers are getting their information about you from. 

 

Back in the heady publishing days of the 1980’s when Harlequin was on the prowl buying up little publishing companies- Romance editors could see which way the wind was going and quickly set up publishing companies promising their innocent authors loads of goodies to come with them to the new digs- while they waited for Harlequin to buy them for big bucks. Authors got burned left, right, and center in all the wheeling and dealing of Romance imprints and publishing companies. I’m not saying that this new publishing house is anything like the bad old days but it triggered memories as I was looking at the news story from Publishers Weekly.

 

Ru Paul has a book club. Ru Paul has a bookstore. A big one. Taking a leaf out of the Amazon playbook Ru is catering to a specific audience and promising extra gravy to the authors and readers who sign up to be members.

Publishing Perspectives reports that the Access Copyright, a management site for Canadian Authors have been slapped with a huge court fine for demanding copyright fees on authors behalf. The court ruling seems to indicate that it is ok to copy anything you like from a Canadian author- which can’t be right or am I reading it wrong?

 

Mark Williams of The New Publishing Standard keeps an eye on what is happening outside our Western centric publishing view. He reports that the Oman Book Fair was well attended and the new trend on the rise is children’s books. With Big Bad Wolf selling remaindered English language books hand over fist in these markets, are publishers missing the sales boat on this?

 

Writer Michael Lucas comments on the Findaway saga using his knowledge of the tech world to explain how developers use Terms Of Service. While authors think that Findaway have walked back their horrible terms this might not be the case…think Bait and Switch.

Dave Chesson has been doing a deep dive into the data from a survey of authors on Direct Selling. Who is making money? Which store is popular? How many books you need? When should you jump into it? All these questions are answered with charts.

If you are trying to keep up with moves in AI and publishing here is a new way of combining the two into something that may be profitable (they have a lot of investment dollars) for someone. Tech Crunch reports on a new company that promises a bright new world- I’m not sure for whom.

 

Katie Weiland has a fantastic post on how to write deeply emotional fiction. If you have been struggling with nailing a scene or trying to convey tone or subtext read this great post. One to print out and stick on the wall. 

Tricia Jenn Loehr has a guest post on Jane Friedmans blog about emotional intimacy and how it’s not restricted to the characters in a romance novel. A great read and food for thought.

 

Gabriela Pereira from DIYMFA has a great post on writing prompts and how they build up the stamina and practice of writing. She offers some great insights here. 

 

In The Craft Section,

7 tips for compelling character motivation- C S Lakin- Bookmark

7 signs you have hidden self doubt- Colleen Story

The hierarchy of exposition- Donald Maass- Bookmark

Crafting an irresistible inciting incident- Polly Watt- Bookmark

Increasing the emotional impact of your story- Angela Ackerman- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

8 things needed on a homepage- Corina Amos

Back cover copy formula- Sue Coletta- Bookmark

How to use crowdfunding for book publishing- Sandra Beckwith

How to promote to the right audience- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

20 bookmarketing ideas that take 10 minutes or less- Jenn Hansen-dePaula- Bookmark

 

To Finish

As you wend your way through this blog post looking at links and trying to figure out what is most worth your time to read (all of it but I’m biased) you finally get down to the bottom and hopefully get a last gem. I have been following Suzanne Lakin for years and she always has a deeply insightful way of looking at the craft. This week she looked at how writers become proficient and the 10,000 hours mantra that Malcolm Gladwell made famous. It’s about the journey not the destination.

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

I’m late with my monthly newsletter (life got in the way) but it is coming I promise. If you want the best of my bookmarked links and other assorted stuff 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. It feeds my caffeine addiction. Thanks.

 

Pic Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash

The Unexamined Life

This week there was lots of chat around the writing watercoolers about the surprise of a joint win at The Booker awards and then came a surprising tell-all complaint about the judges and the process from one of the publishers of a shortlisted book. The whole process seems to be murky and not what you would expect from a high-end literature prize.

Meanwhile, Writtenword Media released its author income survey, for everyone who hasn’t won The Booker. Yes, we aren’t making much money but they drill down into who is and how you can change things.

This week Jane Friedman looked at the current trends over 2019 in book publishing. Publishers have finally caught on to Backlist reprints for serious money. Audiobooks and graphic novels for children (reading by other means) and there are problems ahead for the midlist children’s authors. 

Roger Packer explains the backlist experiments that the Traditional Publishers are doing... but have they got it all wrong with the pricing? In an Alliance of Independent Authors piece, Eliza Green comments on a reader rebellion... over the pricing and breaking up of Patricia Cornwall’s latest book. Amazon may have thrown their prize catch under a bus.

It’s been a while since we heard from Chuck who has been facing some pretty hefty life changes recently. This week he looks at Writer Self Care and the delicate balancing act a writer has to do to produce Art while not falling apart. 

Anne R Allen has a very thought-provoking blog this week on unexamined beliefs in writing. Do you know someone who has sabotaged themselves over a belief that is untrue but seems hardwired into their brain? So it is with writing. Are you holding on to beliefs that are sabotaging your writing?

Kris Rusch is also looking at the writing business. How are you examining the choices you make in your business? Are you leaping from one thing to another or are you examining the way carefully? Does that mean you may miss out on opportunities?

Unleash your storytelling superpower! Gabriela Pereira of DIYMFA has a new series looking at how to identify the specific archetype that you are drawn back to again and again. 

In The Craft Section,

The 10 step checklist for writing a better than average novel- K M Weiland- Bookmark

5 misunderstandings that keep writers from Plotting- Mary Buckham

How To Develop Your Book Idea- Now Novel – Bookmark for NaNoWriMo

The Ins and Outs of Internal Dialogue- Writersinthestorm- Bookmark

Pre plotting a novel – Martha Aalderson

Tips for NaNoWriMo

In The Marketing Section,

10 best Book Trailer types- Adam Cushman 

The 30 scariest author website mistakes- Pauline Wiles- Bookmark

Building a fan base- Angela Ackerman

How To Write A Book Blurb- Tara Sparling- Bookmark

You can now add audiobook codes to your Universal Book Link – Yay!

To Finish,

With all the stress factors involved in writing why would you do it? Give it all up and leave it to Artificial Intelligence. Yes, AI’s are writing books and designing book covers. You can buy a print book today, untouched by a human hand. ( A quick examination shows they probably aren’t suitable for The Booker, yet.)

Maureen
@craicer

My monthly newsletter is due out this weekend. It's a long weekend here so there are no excuses... (kids, garden, market bookstalls... I will prevail...)When you subscribe to the newsletter you also get a nifty mini book crammed full with marketing notes as a thank you. If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons – Thomas Galvez

Taking a Breather

In the publishing blogosphere this week...

Jane Friedman has taken a middle of the year look at how 2018 is shaping up publishing wise. What is trending? Who stays strong... and what really is going on in the back lists. This is well worth reading to get a sense of what is changing in publishing. If you are chasing a Trad deal come prepared with a marketing plan along with your synopsis to editors.

Joanna Penn always has interesting guests on her podcast. I have only just managed to catch up with two of her latest podcasts. David Kadavy on redesigning your writing life and Book editing tips with Natasa Lekic from NY Book editors. Both great podcasts.

Publishing Perspectives has an interesting article with Sara Sargent of Harper Collins children’s division on how they are sourcing content from Wattpad. They are working with Wattpad to identify strong authors and offering book deals. They call it the reverse engineering traditional publishing and are looking at compressed timelines etc. With Wattpad becoming a content curator for film and TV studios it is worth authors taking a look.

The Book Designer blog run by Joel Friedlander is another source of great content. Joel runs a monthly cover design award along with his wonderful book templates and an active blog on book marketing. Recently Joan Stewart had an interesting article on working with journalists to get good media coverage for your book.

This week Kris Rusch looks at a problem all writers would like to have... what if that unexpected windfall in the bank account is the start of great new things to come. How long should you wait before spending the checks? It’s an interesting dilemma. Are you prepared for success?

Lately it seems that everywhere I go on the podcasts or the internet or Twitter Dave Chesson pops up. I don’t mind as Dave has loads of great information for Indie Authors. This week he was guesting over at Anne R Allens’s blog with a post on achieving Zen mastery in writing efficiency.

In The Craft Section,

Writing descriptions that wow- Linda Clare- Bookmark

Do you know the 5 different plot holes?- Screencraft- Bookmark

Writing by design using colour theory- Gabriela Pereira

Using character motivations in plot chains

Ways to write instantly likeable characters- P S Hoffman- Bookmark

Hero goals- Scribe meets world

The Rainbow editing method- Angela Donofrio- Bookmark

In The Marketing section,

Promo Stacking effective strategies-Writtenword media- Bookmark

Two great posts from the Bookbub blog- free tools to build book buzz and Creative ways to use images- Bookmark

Author Bio’s- Rachelle Gardner

What promo items do authors really need- Careerauthors- Bookmark

13 pre order strategies- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

It's Ingram Sparks birthday... They have a free deal going.

To Finish,

School holidays and procrastination... All I want to do is sleep in and recharge. That’s what I tell my children whom I have to drag out of bed in term time. So I sleep in... and they get out of bed before the alarm to play on computers... hmmm, a role reversal here. I really need this post on 5 ways writers can be productive while procrastinating.

If you are watching a lot of movies this holidays... take notice of the films with the wrong main character.... Did the writer or the director get it wrong? This article has me looking at the films in a whole new way...

Maureen

@craicer

 My monthly newsletter is coming this weekend... after I send the kids away on holiday. I round up the best of the bookmarked craft and marketing links as well as some other bits and pieces. When you subscribe you will also get a nifty book crammed full with marketing notes. I appreciate the virtual coffee love from people who hit the Kofi button as a thankyou for the blog. Extra caffeine is always welcome.
 

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons- Don Le