Author Platform
Trendspotting: NFTs (Very Late and Finally)
While most NFT activity today can be found in the arts, sports, and gaming communities, authors too are getting drawn in by market speculation and launching their own ventures
Closing Image: October 13, 2021
14 percent of UK book buyers were TikTok users in the 12 months to April, rising to 37 percent of 13-to-24-year-olds and peaking at nearly half of 16-to-19-year-olds.
Inkitt Raises $59 Million, Touts Success with Galatea
An exuberant market for online literature leads to investment in Inkitt’s serial fiction app, Galatea
Meet Atticus, an Emerging Software for Book Production
This new browser-based software competes directly with Mac-only Vellum, which makes it an alluring option for PC users
A New Service Helps Authors Advertise on Facebook
Reader Reach Ads comes from an established book promotion firm that has a strong track record of serving indie authors
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,
Closing Image: September 15, 2021
In a post about TikTok, audience intelligence firm Pulsar says, “We’ve previously seen Wattpad emerge as one of the leading hashtags on both TikTok and Twitter,
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.
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?
New podcast: Agent Provocateur
The Rights Factory, a literary agency, has just launched a new agency-wide podcast, Agent Provocateur, “to intrigue, entertain, and yes, provoke you.”
How to Harness Community to Build Book Sales and Platform
Traditional publishers often center marketing campaigns around community support—sometimes growing an author’s platform in the process
Curious Fictions closes
Curious Fictions, a Patreon-like site devoted to fiction writers, is closing its doors. We only just reported on the site in May, although the site has been in operation since 2017.
Trendspotting: Booming Hardcovers and Email Privacy
Where there’s smoke… As a reminder, Trendspotting is an occasional feature in Hot Sheet where I segue into first person
The Meaningful Online Event: Current Thinking
Regardless of how the pandemic unfolds, online events will continue, with a focus on meaningful, quality experiences; accessibility; and a
Medium modifies contest rules after pushback
the fine print in the official rules contained a rights grab—giving Medium “an irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide, nonexclusive, sublicensable, assignable” license to all entries
Substack launches a podcast network
Podcast RSS feeds have long been a part of Substack’s functionality, but not until this month has Substack taken such a major step in investing in podcast content.
Harnessing Community to Build Book Sales and Platform
Traditional publishers often center marketing campaigns around community support—sometimes growing an author’s platform in the process.
IMHO: Substack is not disrupting publishing with its book serialization
Last week, Substack, the email newsletter platform, announced that it was paying an advance to author and entertainment writer Zack O’Malley Greenburg to serialize a book, We Are All Musicians Now
What Kind of Book Translates Well to Screen?
Well-constructed stories, snappy dialogue, and surprising twists can all contribute to a book’s chance of being chosen for adaptation.
Longread: Did Twitter break YA?
For those who blame social media for what’s gone wrong with the world today, Twitter is one of the most favored targets and often for good reason.
Closing Image: July 7, 2021
YA fiction sales have grown in 2021, driven by an influential community of book readers on TikTok rather than big-name releases.
Could Amazon get broken up?
After a year of investigation, the US House Judiciary committee has introduced multiple bills that would potentially break up tech giants Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google.
The Future of Digital Events
The ease of being able to deliver the event from the convenience and comfort of home remains a primary advantage.
Legible: a new reading and publishing platform for ebooks
So far, the Canadian-based platform has 30,000 free and public domain titles and is beta testing sales of books from Grove Atlantic and Open Road Media.
Mirror: “Publishing like never before”
What would happen if you crossed Medium with cryptocurrency? That’s how people are explaining Mirror. The one-year-old startup is now valued at $100 million