Premium content for paid subscribers only

Former publisher has founded The Watermark Agency

/
Mark Tauber has launched The Watermark Agency to “develop and represent projects from writers, journalists, public intellectuals, authors, leaders, and credentialed experts in their fields
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Zibby Books launches with an unusual business model

/
Founded by wealthy book influencer and podcaster Zibby Owens, Zibby Books will publish one book per month,
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Marketing and Selling to “US Book Buyers of Color”

/
Many big publishers, who understand and focus on white audiences, urgently need an education in non-white book buyers.
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Trendspotting: Discord

/
Founded in 2015, Discord tends to get pigeonholed as mostly for gamers or young people. But the user base doubled in 2020
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Amazon Trend Report: Paranormal Romance

/
Paranormal romance is an increasingly versatile subgenre, encompassing mystery/thriller/suspense and urban fantasy with both supernatural and romance plot elements.
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Book sales update: September 15, 2021

/
BookTok is still driving US sales in YA fiction, with backlist titles from Adam Silvera, S.E. Hinton, and Lois Lowry recently topping the print charts.
Premium content for paid subscribers only

A Twitter kerfuffle over the power of poetry

/
A poetry editor, Danielle Rose, tweeted on Sept. 3, “I wish poets understood that the general population has no interest in what we do.
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Chandler Bolt’s Self-Publishing School is buying up writing sites

/
Earlier this year, we took note when The Book Designer changed hands and became the intellectual property of Chandler Bolt.
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Printing prices set to increase at Ingram—the second time within a year

/
Amidst significant uncertainty in the global supply chain, IngramSpark is committed to supporting the book industry with the best possible service through the busy holiday season and into 2022.
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Considering Crazy Maple Studio / KISS? Here’s an important heads-up

/
Recently, a well-established romance author posted a warning in a private Facebook group that they had an unfavorable experience with the publisher of the KISS app
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Even Salman Rushdie has a Substack

/
Just before the Labor Day holiday weekend, news arrived that Salman Rushdie had signed a one-year contract with Substack to serialize his unpublished novella.
Image: urban wall with graffiti reading "Let's start over."

Why and How I Got My Rights Back from HarperCollins

/
Despite pre-publication buzz, one author found her book orphaned when the publisher was fired and the imprint dissolved.
Want to Win NaNoWriMo? The Secret Is Preparation

Want to Win NaNoWriMo? The Secret Is Preparation

/
Whatever your writing goals are in November, a bit of planning can help set you up for success.
Image: a note reading "We start from WHY" pinned to a bulletin board.

Why Write This Book?

/
Identifying your story’s “why”—why it haunts you, why you care—will give your book power that readers can feel.
Image: a megaphone placed on a chair

Choosing a Publicist (Again): Assessing Your Changing Needs

/
As an author’s career progresses, the publicity needs change—and what worked for the first book might no longer be appropriate for the third.
Illustration of Edgar Allan Poe sending an angry face emoji on a laptop computer.

How to Turn Trolling Into a Fine Art

/
Edgar Allan Poe was a 19th century troll, virulently critical of other writers—but also engaged in literary citizenship for work he admired.
Substack money

I Like Substack. But the PR Is Getting Ridiculous.

/
Substack makes it easy for non-tech people to harness the power of email newsletters, and that's a good thing. Just beware the hype.
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Closing Image: September 1, 2021

/
The Association of American Publishers has released their latest StatShot report, which allows for a comparison of 2021 versus 2020,
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Links of Interest: September 1, 2021

/
News Libraries have a once-in-a-lifetime chance for a funding boost. The US House of Representatives just passed a $3.5 trillion
Premium content for paid subscribers only

New literary agency and services firm: BBH Literary

/
BBH Literary is a publicity firm, literary agency, and editorial services company founded by David Bratt and Laura Bardolph Hubers.
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Yes, You Can Sell Your Book without Social Media

/
One of the biggest anxieties and preoccupations of authors today is social media. How big does your following have to be?
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Trendspotting: Supply Chain Woes

/
I happen to know more about the ins and outs of publishing’s supply chain because I’m married to a former production guy.
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Where Does RWA Go from Here?

/
Romance Writers of America (RWA) is the leading organization for a genre that is a force within publishing. Romance titles consist of a third of all book sales and bring in over $1 billion a year
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Book sales update: September 1, 2021

/
Barnes & Noble’s sales are up by 5 to 6 percent this year compared to 2019, according to CEO James Daunt in an interview with Publishers Weekly.
Premium content for paid subscribers only

Amazon to open larger physical retail outlets

/
Amazon opened its first brick-and-mortar bookstore in fall 2015 in Seattle’s University Village; it stocked a modest 5,000 to 6,000 titles.