This week's publishing news and industry blogs post covers 8/22-9/4/14.
Publishing News
Authors United prepares for another letter addressing Amazon's sales tactics.
Ellora's Cave publishing house confirms their sales have dropped dramatically on Amazon, likely to to revised algorithms. Many of Ellora's Cave books are erotica, and this may factor in to the sudden sales drop due to lower visibility following the search algorithms' modifications.
Bath reader? Kobo debuts a waterproof e-reader.
Amazon unveils KDP Kids, with the aim of making it easier to create and distribute illustrated digital children's books.
Barnes and Noble experiments with the Espresso Book Machine, the POD printer that allows customers to print and purchase any desired title even if they can't find it on the shelves (including self-published, traditionally published, digital-only, and public domain titles).
Industry Blogs
QueryTracker's Publishing Pulse for 8/29.
Also on QueryTracker, how to format e-mail queries, and why it can be so tricky to do so (and how to avoid those pitfalls). Also, how to ensure your payoff scenes have maximum impact.
Is AbsoluteWrite a great resource for writers, or a bully-board? Victoria Strauss weighs in, and her verdict is that the smear campaign against AbsoluteWrite is unjustified. Not just with an endorsement, but with a critical look at the major sites behind the AbsoluteWrite criticism, she says it really is a valuable resource and shouldn't be dismissed based on rumor and trolls run amok.
On The Editor's Blog, you'll find out how to diagnose your characters to see if any of them have the highly fatal Right Place, Right Time syndrome, that kills not them but your readers' suspension of disbelief.
Agent Janet Reid answers questions and offers advice. One common misconception is that writers shouldn't write series; Reid counters with writers shouldn't mention a sequel in the query. After many queries, the writer gets lots of "it's good but not for me"; is there something wrong with the story or has she just not found the right agent? (Probably needs some work to get the final push. Try writing another book, or checking the pacing.) She also comes across a definitely-a-service-to-avoid.
Agent Nephele Tempest has a nice set of writers' links, including opportunities for writers for September and October.
Mythcreants blogger Chris Winkle tells us how to know when to cut a scene. Yes, even if it's a darling: if there's no purpose to the story, it'll only weigh you down. (Hat tip to another of Tempest's posts.)
Diversity in fiction is important. Author David Mack and Buzzfeed writer Daniel José Older remind us of just how important, and why representation--or rather, the lack thereof--is still systematic and needs addressing.
And have you considered buying a BookBook? Rather hilarious ad on the newest technology: paper and ink books.
How about some copyright-free images for your blog? 2.6 million copyright-free images were released through the Internet Archive on Flickr by academic Kalev Leetaru.
Which is a great time to bring up The Visual Communication Guy's infographic on image copyright, "Can I Use That Picture?"
Also, on another note, one of my writer friends is teaching a course at Wake Tech in NC. If you want to take a fiction-writing course, check it out. The details:
What publishing news have you encountered in the past two weeks?
Publishing News
Authors United prepares for another letter addressing Amazon's sales tactics.
Ellora's Cave publishing house confirms their sales have dropped dramatically on Amazon, likely to to revised algorithms. Many of Ellora's Cave books are erotica, and this may factor in to the sudden sales drop due to lower visibility following the search algorithms' modifications.
Bath reader? Kobo debuts a waterproof e-reader.
Amazon unveils KDP Kids, with the aim of making it easier to create and distribute illustrated digital children's books.
Barnes and Noble experiments with the Espresso Book Machine, the POD printer that allows customers to print and purchase any desired title even if they can't find it on the shelves (including self-published, traditionally published, digital-only, and public domain titles).
Industry Blogs
QueryTracker's Publishing Pulse for 8/29.
Also on QueryTracker, how to format e-mail queries, and why it can be so tricky to do so (and how to avoid those pitfalls). Also, how to ensure your payoff scenes have maximum impact.
Is AbsoluteWrite a great resource for writers, or a bully-board? Victoria Strauss weighs in, and her verdict is that the smear campaign against AbsoluteWrite is unjustified. Not just with an endorsement, but with a critical look at the major sites behind the AbsoluteWrite criticism, she says it really is a valuable resource and shouldn't be dismissed based on rumor and trolls run amok.
On The Editor's Blog, you'll find out how to diagnose your characters to see if any of them have the highly fatal Right Place, Right Time syndrome, that kills not them but your readers' suspension of disbelief.
Agent Janet Reid answers questions and offers advice. One common misconception is that writers shouldn't write series; Reid counters with writers shouldn't mention a sequel in the query. After many queries, the writer gets lots of "it's good but not for me"; is there something wrong with the story or has she just not found the right agent? (Probably needs some work to get the final push. Try writing another book, or checking the pacing.) She also comes across a definitely-a-service-to-avoid.
Agent Nephele Tempest has a nice set of writers' links, including opportunities for writers for September and October.
Mythcreants blogger Chris Winkle tells us how to know when to cut a scene. Yes, even if it's a darling: if there's no purpose to the story, it'll only weigh you down. (Hat tip to another of Tempest's posts.)
Diversity in fiction is important. Author David Mack and Buzzfeed writer Daniel José Older remind us of just how important, and why representation--or rather, the lack thereof--is still systematic and needs addressing.
And have you considered buying a BookBook? Rather hilarious ad on the newest technology: paper and ink books.
 | |
| Copyright free, or in this case, expired copyright; that is, images so old they're now considered public domain. |
Which is a great time to bring up The Visual Communication Guy's infographic on image copyright, "Can I Use That Picture?"
Also, on another note, one of my writer friends is teaching a course at Wake Tech in NC. If you want to take a fiction-writing course, check it out. The details:
FICTION
WRITING FOR BEGINNERS
A
new fiction writing class is starting at Wake Tech. Learn to find and trust
your creative voice. Whether you have
started to write and need to finish something, or if you are just getting
started, this class will help you.
Turn
your experience and imagination into marketable fiction. Learn tricks for
overcoming writer's block, and creating characters and plots.
Dates:
Wed’s, Sept 10 – Oct 29, 6:30-9:30pm
CE
Non-Credit #: 127035 Location: Leesville
High School
What publishing news have you encountered in the past two weeks?
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