Listen Up

 

In Publishing News this week.

 

Spare a thought for the publishing community on the American Continent. With the new tariffs kicking in this week, the publishing community has been looking at their supply chains and wincing. They can’t print in China, the tariffs will hit them. They can print in America, but the bulk of their paper supply comes from Canada. If you want a Spanish language book- it comes from Mexico. Publishers Weekly takes a look at what else is going to hit hard for the publishing and writing community.

 

The London Book Fair is next week, and the International Publishing Associations president will be talking about sustainability and the importance of books for today’s issues. Publishing Perspectives has a great article on the president who knows first hand how books are important in a repressed society. “Our weapon is our knowledge.”

 

In the audiobook world- The Audies (awards for audiobooks) have just been awarded. If you check the list, they have awards in all sorts of fields. Many actors are featured as narrators. 

 

While the dream of a full cast of characters with famous actors might be beyond the purse strings of many authors, the AI voiced audiobook is getting more attention. Eleven Labs has launched an app that publishes audiobooks on their own site. It’s almost a one stop shop. Also making waves is their new deal with Spotify which offers 100% royalties to the author. 

Eleven Labs has a voice cloning service which might be useful to think about. Clone your voice and then publish your audio books. It could be a good option if you can’t pay for studio time to narrate yourself.

 

If you have ever wondered how to get a look inside preview on your website, this article from The New Publishing Standard will be of interest. Bowker has partnered with Indie Commerce – the commerce arm of the American Booksellers Association to make Book2look widely available.

 

Have you spent long hours in the university library trying to track down source material for your professor? Spare a thought for those institutions whose job it is to provide you the wide-ranging collection of sources. Academic libraries are being hit with huge subscription fees to access research from publishers. Publisher’s Weekly reports that the move is destabilizing the library and university press market.

This new move is punishing…right when we need access to knowledge. Sadly, the altruistic reasons for the internet - where you would be able to access the worlds knowledge wherever you are - is now paywalled behind data bases who are charging $25,000 for access.

 

Are writers uniquely vulnerable to getting scammed? Victoria Strauss gets asked this question a lot. She has been writing about writer scams for over twenty five years and there is always something new. We are not alone but we may be an easier target.

 

When you are eyeball deep in your manuscript it can be difficult to figure out where you should put breaks in the story. You don’t want to confuse the reader but ramping up tension is better if you leave the reader hanging. What to do? Reavis Wortham recently tackled this dilemma, with the article Give Me a Break on the Killzone blog.

 

Katie Weiland has a great craft article on your character’s three choices. They must have a fundamental choice, a primary choice, and a secondary choice. This is a print out and study article for learning about crafting characters.

 

In The Craft Section,

The top 20 developmental mistakes- Jenn Windrow- Bookmark

Deep POV checklist- Lisa Hall Wilson- Bookmark

Scars tell a story- Sue Coletta

Section breaks and how to use them- Kathy Steinemann

Best ways to pace your story- Lisa Poisso- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

What to do with one star reviews- Sandra Beckwith-Bookmark

Bookmarketing planning and strategy- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

Social Media for authors- Evergreen Authors

How to write an Author Bio- Penny Sansevieri

Marketing for introverts- Laura Gallier

 

To Finish,

Bands have discovered that playing live and selling merch is almost the only way they can make a living in these streaming times. Writers are now seeing the benefits of selling extra physical products, but you need to be discerning. You don’t want your brand on a crappy product. Check out this comprehensive article from the Alliance of Independent Authors about Author Merchandise. It can be a nice sideline along with audiobooks and writer’s special edition formats. It’s your IP. If it wasn’t important there wouldn’t be a clause in the standard publishing contract about it. 

 

Maureen

@craicer

 

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If you like the blog and want to buy me a coffee, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Photo by C D-X on Unsplash

What Is The Real Story?

 

In Publishing News this week

 

The Independent Book Publishers Association is rebranding their main book awards and adding some new ones, reports Publishers Weekly. They are including many marginalized and diverse communities in their new categories.

 

Publishers Weekly is promoting a book to publishers about Disinformation and how to recognize it. With national elections coming up in nearly half the world- publishing the truth has never been more important.

 

Publishing Perspectives reports that the Sharjah Booksellers conference has grown to 76 countries participating. They are just wrapping up their successful gathering of booksellers and distributors.

 

Last week, I mentioned the viral post on book publishing that had people polarized over the future of the book industry. The week has seen a few more Op Ed’s. Here is a reasonably balanced one from Lincoln Michel published in Slate.

 

America’s National Public Radio has discovered that authors are using AI- they have an article on authors who are feeding AI their own work. But does this help you create anything new?

Meanwhile, there is still divided opinion whether Harper Collins partnering with Eleven Labs is a good thing. Harper Collins stress it is only looking at AI audio for their backlist. And now that they have started, watch everyone else do the same.

 

This week Ruth Harris looks at that problem when literary agents go bad. Do your due diligence and check out this great article. Over at Writer Beware, there is a great article on how a book really becomes a movie. Hint: It’s a hard slog.

 

Joanna Penn interviews Dan Blank on human centered marketing. This is a great podcast/transcript of getting comfortable about talking about what you write, whether it is to one person or Social Media.

 

Ingram Spark has an interesting article on creating Book Merch. They list all the places you can get it along with design ideas. Do you have a great setting for your books? Design the town’s business logos. Put it on a coaster. 

 

Ayesha Ali has a great post on Jane Friedman’s blog about opening scenes. She has 4 must have goals to really nail the scene. This is a print out and mull over post. 

Donald Mass has been thinking about imagination. How does the writer convey their imagination to the reader- does it ever happen? He has some words of wisdom for getting the reader and writer imagination working together.

 

In The Craft Section,

2 excellent posts from Becca Puglisi-7 growth milestones for character arc and The central conflict of your story- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

12 Jungian archetypes to shape character- Now Novel

5 effective outlining techniques- Rachel Thompson

Yes or No questions in dialogue- Sue Coletta-Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

How to record your own audiobook- Draft2Digital

Author website start points- R Shannon

FAQ on Book marketing with Book Machine PR- Bookmark

24 ways to promote your book or brand- Marika Flatt- Bookmark

Promoting your book with another author- Ingram Spark

 

To Finish

‘Won’t someone think of the children,’ has become a pop culture phrase culled from The Simpsons television series to lampoon a moralistic and narrow outlook. I confess to wincing and thinking these thoughts when I saw a news article about a horror movie being developed with those two out of copywrite characters, Mickey Mouse (Steamboat Willie) version and Winnie the Pooh (A A Milne version). What’s next … Conan the Barbarian meets Little House on the Prairie? (2028)

 

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, I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic: Photo by Michael Carruth on Unsplash

The Book Brand

 

In Publishing News this week,

Recently there have been calls for the publishing industry to start using more sustainable practices. Taylor Francis Publishing have opted to send out their journals with paper wrapping instead of shrink wrapping. Read how they found the experience.

 

If you have been wondering if the subscription model will kill publishing you must be living in the United States. Mark Williams takes a look at the rising figures of subscription and wonders how long it will take for book publishers to change their tune.

 

Another day, another AI lawsuit. Google has been hit with a lawsuit filed by the same firm that filed against Open AI. They are alleging that Google ‘scraped everything ever created and shared on its platform’ to train its AI bot. DUH!

Meanwhile, Shutterstock, having embraced the Open AI model on its website, is now expanding its AI tools. When you can’t beat them, be at the forefront of the new technology.

 

If you are still wondering about copyright and AI check out Kelly Way’s recent article.

 

Publishers Weekly reports that book sales are down in the first half of the year. Backlist is propping up everyone’s bottom lines. 

Goodereader has an article on the massive cost of book piracy. Latest figures have the cost to publishers topping $300 million.

 

Berritt Koehler publishers recently published an article on the 10 awful truths about book publishing. While their 10 awful truths are awful they have at least shown how you can manage and market in this challenging industry with some good strategies.

 

It’s half way through the year and Colleen Story thinks this is a perfect time to stop – and look at your writing and publishing goals, are they on track? Do you need to change things?

 

Kris Rusch has some advice to consider. Think small. In the next interesting instalment of her niche marketing series she examines how small is big in the niche world. 

 

How much attention do you pay to the file formats you write in? Do you have the source files of your published books? What happens when your publisher disappears? David Wogahn writes an interesting article on Jane Friedman’s blog about protecting the files that make your books.

 

How easily are you distracted from your writing? Daphne Gray Grant has an article that helps you figure out how to be distraction free and productive in your writing time. First – halve your goals…

 

In The Craft Section,

9 Common Dialogue problems- Anne R Allen- Bookmark

Discover what your character fears- K M Weiland- Bookmark

5 common problems with background characters- Mythcreants-Bookmark

How to figure out which writing advice suits you best- Trisha Loehr- Bookmark

How I zero drafted a novel in 6 weeks- Kelsey Allagood- Bookmark

 

In The Marketing Section,

Best practice for selling more books - Elizabeth Craig- Bookmark

When is the best time to release a book- Sue Coletta- Bookmark

How to get a more successful launch- Penny Sansevieri- Bookmark

How to get your book into libraries- Roland Denzel and Mark Lefebvre

How to write a book description- Bookbub

 

To Finish

It has to happen. The world needs another cute digital reading device that will be the next must have item. Introducing immersive reading in virtual reality… with a pair of sunglasses?

 

While authors are wondering if they can get their book published, publishers are embracing the merch opportunities to influence the influencers. The influencers can have their pick of totes, caps, journals, bags, sweaters, mugs, limited edition prints… and on and on. Do they get the book too? Will we see Book Branded Merch shows on TikTok?

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. (Yes, I'm running late I have a good excuse... honest!)

If you like the blog and want to shout me a coffee, hit the coffee button up top or here. I appreciate the virtual coffee love. Thanks.

 

Pic Photo by Joao Tzanno on Unsplash

In The Brave New World of Next Week

In Publishing News this week, Sam Missingham, wrote an opinion piece for The Bookseller entitled ‘Now is the time for publishers to show their real value.’ This is a plea to publishers to look at what is happening under the pandemic and change their way of operating for the future. 

Here is one small quote from the article- This approach treats publishing like the long game it is and more importantly puts readers first. And it means all of our books and content, front list and backlist, have the same value. And we showcase our authors beyond their publication window.

This is a great rallying call for a better publishing standard.

Some of the ideas Sam talks about are happening in an experimental way. Today I saw news that Faber was partnering with Glassboxx to develop a direct to consumer portal. Check out what they are doing and think of the implications. Digital content has sustained the traditional publisher's bottom line through the print publishing slow/stop.

Joanna Penn mentioned other similar initiatives in the intro to her latest great interview on writing and selling short fiction. 

In happy news, The UK has also scrapped VAT on books… so that’s something nice to come out of the pandemic.

Publishing Perspectives has taken an in-depth look at China’s publishing world as they are the first to come out of a lockdown situation. Print sales down for obvious reasons. Printers and supply chains have almost ground to a halt, but digital sales are up.

Booktopia – Australia’s online bookseller has joined forces with Kobo to take advantage of a bigger global reach.

Staying in Australia – The Guardian recently published a sad look at what is happening in the Australian publishing community with the cancellation of many writer’s festivals and publishing job losses.

If you need some bracing advice for keeping your writing chin up and plowing forward Chuck has written his Writing Advice In The Age Of The Pandemic. This is a must-read for everyone who has looked at the last months writing goals and despaired. (a nice pickmeupoffthewritingfloor)

Elisabeth Spann Craig has written an interesting article on writing sprints. She joins video sprint writing groups. If you are missing a group sprint writing session check out the video options. 

In The Craft Section,

How to improve story with action beats- Jami Gold-Bookmark

Newbie writing mistakes- Anne R Allen- Bookmark

9 ways to originalise your story idea- Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

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

Writing prompts for socially isolated authors- Writers Digest

In The Marketing Section,

The importance of book landing pages- Convertkit

Book Promotion during a pandemic- The Book Designer- Bookmark

Selling books on your author website- Alli blog – Bookmark

8 Social Media scheduling apps- Frances Caballo

Create your own book video step by step guide- Bookmark

Book Merch for authors- Dan Parsons- Bookmark

To Finish,

Today I went down the font rabbit hole. I’m not sorry. I love looking at all the creative ways designers can imagine the alphabet. It all started with IngramSpark’s blog on the best fonts for books.

I also discovered naturalreaders.com. Another tool for editing your book. Choose a voice to read back your writing. I found hearing your work read back can highlight grammar mistakes. I played around with so many voices the kids rebelled. They just don’t understand, I have a cast of thousands in my head.

Maureen

@craicer

Pic: Flickr Creative Commons- Hanumann- viet globe

Do you want the best of my bookmarked links in a handy monthly newsletter?

When you subscribe you will 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.