Links of Interest: February 28, 2024

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Traditional Publishing

  • It feels tougher right now to sell a book. That’s what agents and authors are saying. But what makes a market tough? Agent Kate McKean offers some of the reasons floating around. Read at Agents and Books.
  • The top dogs at Simon & Schuster discuss what’s next. Now that one of the Big Five publishers is owned by private equity, what’s next? They’re looking at a little more “science” to spot bestsellers, as well as reduced returns and an improved supply chain. Watch the eight-minute clip.
  • Is Sarah J Maas the next JK Rowling? They’re both published by Bloomsbury in the UK and have midnight parties when their books launch. Still, they’re very different authors with different readerships. Maas’s work is described by one person as a “porny Lord of the Rings.” Read Jessie Thompson at The Independent.

Romance

Trends

  • There’s an explosion of book clubs among Gen Z readers. The following article looks specifically at the UK, but as usual, TikTok is involved in this trend. Read Olivia Allen at Dazed.
  • A deep dive on BookTok for writers. Leigh Stein, who often encourages writers to get active on TikTok, discusses how it influences book marketing and sales. Listen to the Sarah’s Bookshelves podcast.
  • There’s good money to be made in sprayed edges, which upsets some authors. There are small businesses that buy books in bulk and paint artwork on the edges, then sell those editions at a high markup. It is totally legal to sell a book you’ve legitimately bought (and to modify it!), but some self-publishing authors complain these books are being bought on wholesale terms through Ingram. Even though authors still get paid for those sales as they would any sale, profits through Ingram are always less than profits through Amazon. Our advice for any author affected: Offer these small businesses a very nice bulk rate to order direct! Here’s a TikTok by aerithgirl, explaining the controversy.

Audio

  • Eccentric audiobook narration can distract from a book. A book critic says, “It is very enjoyable when a narrator reads the words on a page to me, but not nearly as enjoyable when they over-interpret.” Read Maris Kreizman at Lit Hub.
  • The biggest audiobook streaming service is doing okay. Storytel’s year-end report shows 9 percent sales growth over the prior year, but no profits. One in three employees has also left Storytel in the last three years. Read Ed Nawotka in Publishers Weekly (subscription required).

AI

  • AI is being used to pump out unauthorized bios of the recently deceased. And, in our experience, the long deceased as well. Read Elizabeth A. Harris at the New York Times.
  • AI-generated video promises to change the TV/film industry. OpenAI’s latest tool is Sora. Not long after the announcement, Tyler Perry halted his $800 million studio expansion. YouTuber Marques Brownlee has a good explainer of the technology.
  • Tor Books is criticized for use of AI-generated art on a book cover. It’s not the first time the publisher has been criticized for such use. Readers can sometimes identify AI-generated images when stock images—transparently labeled as AI-generated by the stock image companies—have been used. Keep in mind that some companies that offer AI tools and images, such as Adobe, offer their users legal protection against future litigation. Publishers who are comfortable today using such images may be more likely to source from a company like Adobe. Either way, it seems unlikely that moral outrage can stop the use of AI-generated art across industries, and that includes books. Read Sophia Stewart at Publishers Weekly.