News and Trends
- Entrepreneur and author Andrew Keen discusses how to fix the future of books. He believes the biggest opportunity remains the discovery, development, and distribution of high-quality authors. He thinks concerns about AI taking over the writing of literature are misplaced. Read the interview in the Bookseller (subscription required).
- In the United States, Huffington Post has discontinued its free contributor platform. Some see the development as a favorable sign, a move that underlines the importance of quality content—and paying for that content. Authors who’ve successfully used the platform for free book marketing and author-platform building may feel otherwise. Learn more at TechCrunch from Ingrid Lunden.
- The National Book Awards have added a new translation category. The honor will be for fiction or nonfiction work. Learn more at Publishing Perspectives.
- #MeToo is coming to a bookstore near you. Women are landing book deals for work that focuses on female empowerment and experiences of sexual harassment. Read more from Ellen Gamerman in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
Sales and Distribution News
- Google Play is now offering digital audiobooks. To start, they’re selling in 45 countries and nine languages, with a promotional offer of 50 percent off your first audiobook purchase. No subscription or commitment is required, in contrast to Audible. Learn more at Google’s blog.
- StreetLib launches in India. The ebook distributor is partnering with India’s PubGen. Mark Williams at the New Publishing Standard discusses the development.
Marketing Toolbox
- Take time off writing to level up your marketing skills. Indie author Karen Myers offers a detailed look at how she improved her book marketing and what resources she used to increase her know-how. Read at the ALLi blog.
- Learn how to sell better on Kobo. Christine Munroe, director of Kobo Writing Life, discusses marketing and pricing strategies. Listen to the Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast.
Booksellers and Bookselling
- How to think beyond the traditional read-and-sign bookstore event. Independent booksellers recently discussed how to stage offbeat book events for the benefit of everyone. Read in Shelf Awareness.
- A status report on independent booksellers in the United States. Winter Institute, an annual publisher-bookseller gathering, provides an opportune time for reflection and analysis. American Booksellers Association CEO Oren Teicher discussed takeaways from 2017, reported by Shelf Awareness.
- Advice for UK indie authors on getting into bookstores: The Booksellers Association and the Society of Authors have produced a guide to instruct authors on brick-and-mortar sales and distribution. Mark Williams at the New Publishing Standard summarizes.
Self-publishing
- The open-source office software suite LibreOffice can now export EPUB files. Version 6.0, just released, includes the new capability. Here’s the announcement.
- It’s dangerous to get all your income from one source. Kristine Rusch’s latest 2017 year-in-review post looks at lessons learned for indie authors. Read at her blog.
- Beware of Author Solutions copycats. Before you pay for any kind of self-publishing service, read the fine print. Victoria Strauss at Writer Beware advises.
- Amazon’s ad business is growing. In 2017, its advertising revenue grew 60 percent over the prior year. Look for more changes to and developments in the Amazon Marketing Services platform. Read more in Digiday from Shareen Pathak.
New Imprint Alerts
- London-based Flame Tree Press launches in September with 12 titles. The press will build on a pre-existing program of publishing genre short stories; eventually, they expect to release up to 30 horror, crime, science fiction, and fantasy books a year for the trade. Learn more in the Bookseller from Natasha Onwuemezi (subscription required).
- Author Kwame Alexander is heading up a new children’s literature imprint, Versify. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers will launch the imprint in spring 2019 and focus on “innovative creators with fresh stories.” Alexander tells the New York Times he views Versify “as a way to leverage his professional connections and marketing savvy to boost the profiles of newer writers.” Read the full piece by Alexandra Alter.
- DC Comics is launching two new graphic novel imprints this fall. DC Zoom is for middle-school readers, and DC Ink is for young adults. Learn more from George Gene Gustines in the New York Times.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.