News and Trends
- The problem isn’t the price of books, Mr. Riggio. After the CEO of Barnes & Noble said the price of books is too damn high, publishing consultant Thad McIlroy challenged him on his assumptions. Read at McIlroy’s site.
- Common sense prevails in #cockygate court ruling. The Romance Writers of America and Authors Guild have won a ruling against author Faleena Hopkins, who trademarked the word cocky. Read more in Publishing Perspectives.
- Literary agency embezzlement has left Chuck Palahniuk broke. You can read a journalistic take on what’s happened in the Guardian, but the analysis most authors are talking about is from long-time author Kristine Rusch. She discusses her own troubles with literary agents and advises authors to use lawyers to negotiate contracts instead. Read at her blog.
- The Authors Guild launches regional chapters. As we mentioned in our item on the Guild this week, there are now chapters, run by ambassadors of the Guild, in fourteen cities. Learn more.
Amazon
- KDP has taken a strong stance against book-stuffing or “bonus” content. The practice of shoving multiple titles in each ebook file to inflate Kindle Unlimited payouts is now against terms of use. You can read the new terms here. However, the situation on the ground evolves day by day. Indie author David Gaughran often has the latest news and analysis at his blog.
- Amazon bars Australians from shopping on non-Australian Amazon sites. Amazon’s reluctance to charge 10 percent sales tax on goods shipped from overseas is at the root of this latest move. Australians will have dramatically fewer products and titles to choose from. Read more from Patrick Hatch in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Marketing Toolbox
- Marketing uncovered: how to sell books in 2018. Indie author David Gaughran discusses various reader-magnet and lead-generation models for self-published authors. Read at his blog.
New Imprint Alert
- Macmillan launches a new children’s imprint. Odd Dot’s first titles will appear in 2019, starting with an interactive series of workbooks. Learn more from Alex Green in Publishers Weekly.
- Amazon unveils new comic line. The titles are being produced under the ComiXology Originals banner (Amazon acquired ComiXology in 2014). Read Graeme McMillan in the Hollywood Reporter.
Audiobooks and Video
- Vanity Fair’s Michael Lewis jumps to Audible. The hire has been billed as “Audible’s first magazine writer,” and Lewis is already a successful nonfiction author. Read Alexandra Alter in the New York Times.
- Storytel offers original serialized content in Spain. Storytel, a Sweden-based audiobook subscription service with international reach, just recently entered Spain and thinks serializations are the key to being competitive. Read in Publishing Perspectives.
- Wattpad pushes more into video. The company appears to be investing further in Wattpad Studios and the development of TV, film, and digital video based on its user-generated stories. Read more from Geoff Weiss in Tubefilter.
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.