This week's publishing news and industry blogs post covers 9/25/15-10/10/15... and is a bit late. Uh. Sorry. It was a long work week. Whoops!
Publishing News
Michael Glickstein put in a bid last year (on behalf of his investment firm) to purchase majority stakes Barnes in Nobles, but did not have the financing to do so; as such, he was charged with fraud. A settlement has now been reached.
A class action case against educational textbook publisher Pearson has been approved, for now, on the allegation of failure to pay proper royalties.
Industry Blogs
Agent Nephele Tempest posts writing-related links for 10/2 (and have you set your writing goals for this year?) and 10/9.
Agent Jessica Faust explains that when an agent is looking for something in particular, that doesn't mean they won't accept something else from their already-established clients. Also, why agents don't sign non-disclosure agreements before reading submissions. Also, start your query with "haves," not "have nots"--don't start off talking about what you haven't done.
Agent Janet Reid offers advice and answers questions. She explains how to evaluate a small publisher. Should an author looking to drastically change genres with a new pen name go ahead and create the new persona, or wait until query success has been reached? (Yes, start now.) She gives examples of questions to ask potential agents if they offer a chance to ask questions. What if your current agent hates your newest book and won't try to sell it? (Talk to your agent, see if you need to part ways, know that you shouldn't "shop around" until you've ended your previous contract.)
Reid answers more questions and gives more advice. If you've posted parts of a story on a writing website, is there a way to know when that will affect your ability to get a contract with a publisher? (It's up to the publishers whether to accept these or not; digital-first/only publishers will probably be the most affected by this.) Can you use citations from works in the public domain without permission? (You need permission if the copyright is still in effect, and you still need to cite your sources even if it isn't.) In nonfiction, what is considered platform?
In Shelf Awareness' latest issue, Simon & Schuster CEO's keynote address to the Book Industry Study Group is summed up, with some pretty big looks at the recent changes the publishing industry is taking into account, including the power of metadata and the desire for print books.
Author Hugh Howey releases another set of author earnings' reports.
Author Kristine Kathryn Rusch analyzes S&S's CEO's keynote for what it means for authors, and how "frontlist" and "backlist" are now outdated terms when what really matters is "accessible or not." She also analyzes the Author Earnings reports, for both their weaknesses and what she has gleaned from them.
Agent Kristin Nelson shares 3 tips for improving your manuscript gleaned from a recent conference discovery: less is more, don't try to get too fancy too often with language, and anchor the reader in the setting during dialogue.
On The Editor's Blog, how to properly capitalize holidays, and their greetings.
Cover designer Fiona Jayde talks about cover designs and reminds authors that they're to give the reader the gist, not the exact details.
Twilight author Stephanie Meyer publishes a gender-swapped version of Twilight. (link goes to video of interview/announcement)
On the Simply Novel Teachers Blog, an infographic on challenged and banned books.
In T-Magazine, an infographic of Penguin Books' 80 years of business.
The employees at Amazon selected their Top 100 Sci-Fi & Fantasy novels (link to GalleyCat as it's easier to read the list than Amazon's, which is in browse-buy format).
What other major publishing news have you encountered in the past two weeks?
Publishing News
Michael Glickstein put in a bid last year (on behalf of his investment firm) to purchase majority stakes Barnes in Nobles, but did not have the financing to do so; as such, he was charged with fraud. A settlement has now been reached.A class action case against educational textbook publisher Pearson has been approved, for now, on the allegation of failure to pay proper royalties.
Industry Blogs
Agent Nephele Tempest posts writing-related links for 10/2 (and have you set your writing goals for this year?) and 10/9.
Agent Jessica Faust explains that when an agent is looking for something in particular, that doesn't mean they won't accept something else from their already-established clients. Also, why agents don't sign non-disclosure agreements before reading submissions. Also, start your query with "haves," not "have nots"--don't start off talking about what you haven't done.
Agent Janet Reid offers advice and answers questions. She explains how to evaluate a small publisher. Should an author looking to drastically change genres with a new pen name go ahead and create the new persona, or wait until query success has been reached? (Yes, start now.) She gives examples of questions to ask potential agents if they offer a chance to ask questions. What if your current agent hates your newest book and won't try to sell it? (Talk to your agent, see if you need to part ways, know that you shouldn't "shop around" until you've ended your previous contract.)
Reid answers more questions and gives more advice. If you've posted parts of a story on a writing website, is there a way to know when that will affect your ability to get a contract with a publisher? (It's up to the publishers whether to accept these or not; digital-first/only publishers will probably be the most affected by this.) Can you use citations from works in the public domain without permission? (You need permission if the copyright is still in effect, and you still need to cite your sources even if it isn't.) In nonfiction, what is considered platform?
In Shelf Awareness' latest issue, Simon & Schuster CEO's keynote address to the Book Industry Study Group is summed up, with some pretty big looks at the recent changes the publishing industry is taking into account, including the power of metadata and the desire for print books.
Author Hugh Howey releases another set of author earnings' reports.
Author Kristine Kathryn Rusch analyzes S&S's CEO's keynote for what it means for authors, and how "frontlist" and "backlist" are now outdated terms when what really matters is "accessible or not." She also analyzes the Author Earnings reports, for both their weaknesses and what she has gleaned from them.
Agent Kristin Nelson shares 3 tips for improving your manuscript gleaned from a recent conference discovery: less is more, don't try to get too fancy too often with language, and anchor the reader in the setting during dialogue.
On The Editor's Blog, how to properly capitalize holidays, and their greetings.
Cover designer Fiona Jayde talks about cover designs and reminds authors that they're to give the reader the gist, not the exact details.
Twilight author Stephanie Meyer publishes a gender-swapped version of Twilight. (link goes to video of interview/announcement)
On the Simply Novel Teachers Blog, an infographic on challenged and banned books.
In T-Magazine, an infographic of Penguin Books' 80 years of business.
The employees at Amazon selected their Top 100 Sci-Fi & Fantasy novels (link to GalleyCat as it's easier to read the list than Amazon's, which is in browse-buy format).
What other major publishing news have you encountered in the past two weeks?
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