This week's publishing news and industry blogs post covers 5/22-6/5.
Publishing News
In the UK, the rumor is that Penguin Random House and Amazon UK are having a terms dispute.
JD Salinger has three short stories in the American public domain--which a publisher is packaging and trying to sell to foreign markets. Salinger Literary Trust disputes, and the courts are looking at the impact of individual foreign countries' take on public domain rights as compared to US rights. Since European countries typically have longer life of copyright than American copyrights, but there's an unequally enforced statute that the country of origin's copyright lifespan should be used, the decision could possibly impact the US's take on global public domain policy.
British publishers take on and win against e-book overseas pirate websites.
Industry Blogs
Agent Nephele Tempest posts a group of Friday Writing Links for 5/22 and 5/29.
Agent Janet Reid gives advice and answers questions. She shares an insightful post on writing a great synopsis. Is it okay to mention that you really like the agent/editor you're querying, or is that unwelcome? (Be specific about what you like, but sincere thanks isn't a bad thing.) You don't like a potential agent's voice or phone mannerisms, despite that they're not rude or particularly bad; is that a legit reason to turn them down? (No. If they've got a good rep and are well-established, the editors who matter are already used to her voice.) Is 6 weeks long enough for an edit and requery? (Not really, a revise and resend takes a lot of work. And not just cleaning up some stray grammar.) How important are websites for queriers? (Not so much for Reid.)
Agent Kristin Nelson offers insight into the Publishers Markplace Deal Lunch subtext: What does each adjective used to describe a deal mean? And what does it mean when no mention is made of an advance?
At BookEnds Literary Agency, a new agent joins the crew. Advice on how to choose what to wear to a conference.
Agents at Books and Such Literary Management share some advice. Wendy Lawton explains why sometimes, when an agent is sitting on a manuscript, it might be the smartest move for the author's career. Rachelle Gardner explains 6 factors in deciding which publisher to go with when offered multiple deals.
Author Kristine Kathryn Rusch reflects on John Scalzi's $3.4M deal with a traditional publishing company, and points out to those who criticize that Scalzi did what he felt was right for his own career--publishing isn't a one-size-fits all, after all.
Fiction editor Beth Hill reminds that often cutting big parts of a manuscript actually adds to the story. If a chapter doesn't feel like it fits after revisions, maybe it's time to cut the whole chapter; you book might have changed enough that less has become more for that particular plot bunny.
When it comes to image file types, which should you use? CompanyFolders gives an infographic explaining when to use which, and also explain in detail, breaking down with a description of each type of image and where it comes from/what it's used for.
How popular is Wattpad? Apparently it has, monthly, more than 40 million people using the site. (in math terms, that's p>40,000,000, and yes, I wrote that out because it's a lot of zeros and I like math and maybe it's getting a little too close to my bedtime as I write this post).
What major publishing news have you encountered in the past two weeks?
(The next news post will July 3, so it may be broken into two parts, or longer than usual. Regular news posting schedule will resume afterwards.--See you then!)
Publishing News
In the UK, the rumor is that Penguin Random House and Amazon UK are having a terms dispute.
JD Salinger has three short stories in the American public domain--which a publisher is packaging and trying to sell to foreign markets. Salinger Literary Trust disputes, and the courts are looking at the impact of individual foreign countries' take on public domain rights as compared to US rights. Since European countries typically have longer life of copyright than American copyrights, but there's an unequally enforced statute that the country of origin's copyright lifespan should be used, the decision could possibly impact the US's take on global public domain policy.
British publishers take on and win against e-book overseas pirate websites.
Industry Blogs
Agent Nephele Tempest posts a group of Friday Writing Links for 5/22 and 5/29.
Agent Janet Reid gives advice and answers questions. She shares an insightful post on writing a great synopsis. Is it okay to mention that you really like the agent/editor you're querying, or is that unwelcome? (Be specific about what you like, but sincere thanks isn't a bad thing.) You don't like a potential agent's voice or phone mannerisms, despite that they're not rude or particularly bad; is that a legit reason to turn them down? (No. If they've got a good rep and are well-established, the editors who matter are already used to her voice.) Is 6 weeks long enough for an edit and requery? (Not really, a revise and resend takes a lot of work. And not just cleaning up some stray grammar.) How important are websites for queriers? (Not so much for Reid.)
Agent Kristin Nelson offers insight into the Publishers Markplace Deal Lunch subtext: What does each adjective used to describe a deal mean? And what does it mean when no mention is made of an advance?
At BookEnds Literary Agency, a new agent joins the crew. Advice on how to choose what to wear to a conference.
Agents at Books and Such Literary Management share some advice. Wendy Lawton explains why sometimes, when an agent is sitting on a manuscript, it might be the smartest move for the author's career. Rachelle Gardner explains 6 factors in deciding which publisher to go with when offered multiple deals.
Author Kristine Kathryn Rusch reflects on John Scalzi's $3.4M deal with a traditional publishing company, and points out to those who criticize that Scalzi did what he felt was right for his own career--publishing isn't a one-size-fits all, after all.
Fiction editor Beth Hill reminds that often cutting big parts of a manuscript actually adds to the story. If a chapter doesn't feel like it fits after revisions, maybe it's time to cut the whole chapter; you book might have changed enough that less has become more for that particular plot bunny.
When it comes to image file types, which should you use? CompanyFolders gives an infographic explaining when to use which, and also explain in detail, breaking down with a description of each type of image and where it comes from/what it's used for.
How popular is Wattpad? Apparently it has, monthly, more than 40 million people using the site. (in math terms, that's p>40,000,000, and yes, I wrote that out because it's a lot of zeros and I like math and maybe it's getting a little too close to my bedtime as I write this post).
What major publishing news have you encountered in the past two weeks?
(The next news post will July 3, so it may be broken into two parts, or longer than usual. Regular news posting schedule will resume afterwards.--See you then!)
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