Links of Interest: July 5, 2023

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AI

  • Imagine AI that can be trained to perfectly imitate each reader’s taste. For novelist Ken Liu, that is a far more interesting question than whether AI can be trained to write like a specific author. Read at Slate.
  • An interview with author Ted Chiang on AI. “How can you evaluate the merits of anything fairly without thinking it’s good simply because it’s new? I think that is super difficult.” Read Delia Cai at Vanity Fair.

Traditional Publishing

  • Children’s middle-grade sales have declined. In 2022, sales declined by 16 percent overall, and the picture doesn’t look any better in 2023. Across all formats, they’re down 8 percent versus last year. Analysts say pricing isn’t the issue. Read Joanne O’Sullivan at Publishers Weekly.
  • Will TikTok’s book publishing efforts hurt other publishers’ sales?The platform has bestowed bestsellerdom on many authors, including Colleen Hoover. Some worry it will put its thumb on the scale in favor of its own signed authors. Others believe that TikTok has a long way to go before it can build a meaningful publishing distribution and infrastructure that’s comparable to established houses. Read Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter (gift link).
  • How big will your advance be for a nonfiction book? Author Josh Bernoff conducts a survey and finds the median advance was $17,500. Read at his site.
  • Mixed book sales in Europe. Half of the countries are enjoying sales increases, while half are in decline. Read Ed Nawotka in Publishers Weekly.

Creator Economy

  • Creators on Patreon can now offer a free tier. Previously, all patrons had to pledge at least $1. Also, the platform will now allow creators to sell digital products directly to subscribers. Read Mia Sato at the Verge.
  • Discord allows creators to sell digital products via one-time purchases. They’re called “Downloadables”—e.g., you could sell an ebook. This is in addition to Discord’s recent rollout of server subscriptions. Read Jay Peters at the Verge.
  • Learn about a successful cover reveal campaign on TikTok. Debut novelist Sagit Schwartz did her own cover reveal campaign with great success. Read Leigh Stein at Attention Economy.
  • Many authors use Shopify successfully. In a past issue of Hot Sheet, you may have seen a link to an article by Monica Leonelle about why she doesn’t like or recommend Shopify to sell books direct to reader. However, she received considerable pushback from some in the author community about her position. You can read the original post here; it now includes an addendum about the criticism she received. Her business partner, Russell Nohelty, continued the discussion on his own. If you’d like to learn why Shopify is used for direct sales by many indie authors, read Joanna Penn. Also, as a reminder, the Authors Guild hosted a one-hour conversation with an indie author who sells direct using Shopify combined with other tools. We summarized the takeaways in our Feb. 1 issue. As with so many things, use the tools that make sense for your skill level, your resources, and your business. There’s almost always more than one solution that can work.

Legal

  • An FTC antitrust suit against Amazon is coming. It alleges that Amazon rewards online merchants that use its logistics services and punishes those who don’t. Read Anna Edgerton and Leah Nylen at Bloomberg. The FTC is also suing Amazon for making it difficult to cancel Prime.
  • FTC looking to crack down on fake reviews. A new rule would ban paying for reviews, suppressing honest reviews, and selling fake social media engagement, among other things. Read at the Associated Press.
  • The latest from the Scribe trainwreck: Another company has purchased Scribe’s assets. The co-founder of that company posted an introductory letter on LinkedIn. Read.

Culture & Politics

  • On getting mad at essays: While the key concern here is “don’t get mad at people for writing essays,” there’s a publishing lesson as well about attracting agent or editor attention. Read Jonathan Malesic at Burnout Culture.
  • How Goodreads reviews can tank a book before it’s published. The review-bombing of Elizabeth Gilbert has made Goodreads’ problems apparent to the wider public. But don’t expect anything to change. Read Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth A. Harris at the New York Times (gift link).
  • The rise of the “microgenre.” Romance, fantasy, and crime are where you’ll find most microgenres, such as “cowboys and ranchers with big hearts.” Read Arvyn Cerézo at Book Riot.
  • More romance covers now feature illustrations. And it’s divisive! Some readers dislike such covers with a passion. Read P.N. Hinton at Book Riot.
  • The year of the slim volume: There’s been an uptick in popularity for the novella as well as collections. (However, editor’s note: Don’t expect it to last or for agents to respond more favorably than before, although literary publishers may be more tolerant.) Read Kate Dwyer at Esquire.