Marketing & Promotion
- Your book’s metadata is increasingly for machines, not readers. What that means for authors is that everything about your book’s description and metadata should be in alignment and send a strong signal about what the book is and who it is for. Gaming the system will be, theoretically, more difficult. If this brings an end to choosing categories based on bestseller rank (or long, sales-y subtitles), this will be a great development. Read James Blatch.
Traditional Publishing
- What counts as a small press? The creator of Small Press Insights discusses the evolution of his ranking system and who’s eligible to be included. Read at Lou Reed’s Nephew.
- A publishing industry vet encourages consolidation among trade organizations. He believes the current organizations serve institutional preservation rather than advancement of the industry. Read Michael Cairns at Publishing Perspectives.
- An agent comments on the current nonfiction decline and how it might be reversed. Anna Sproul-Latimer writes, “One reason readers have drifted away from nonfiction might involve the fact that many books are riddled with errors. Who wants to spend time and money on a big wad of ‘truth’ if it’s less accurate than Wikipedia and contains AI-hallucinated quotes? Here’s a thought: One great way to create brand differentiation, audience enthusiasm, and value for published books in this benighted era might involve assurances that a publisher’s imprimatur equals work that is true, well researched, and original.” She also believes that readers want to “know and like” the people who create the media they consume and are more likely to trust personality-driven nonfiction (e.g., Heather Cox Richardson or Neil DeGrasse Tyson). Read at How to Glow in the Dark (paid subscription required).
AI
- The comics industry deals with AI entries in the Eisner Awards. An anthology with AI-generated material was nominated but then pulled from consideration after backlash. The awards currently have no official policy on AI but plan to announce one soon. Read Zach Rabiroff at Publishers Weekly.
- New York magazine reports “nonfiction book publishers aren’t remotely ready for AI.” Industry professionals believe AI use is “rampant,” but few people admit to its use. There seems to be little or no progress in addressing the issue, at least on the part of publishers. No editors quoted in the article were willing to be named, only agents. Read Charlotte Klein (paid sub may be required).
- LinkedIn is cracking down on AI posts and comments on the platform. One of their executives says they are using technology systems that have been trained to recognize AI-generated material. She writes, “When content appears to be generated by AI and lacks clear perspective, it is less likely to be widely distributed beyond a person’s immediate network, which helps keep space for more thoughtful contributions. Early results are encouraging. In our initial testing, we’re correctly identifying generic content 94 percent of the time.” Read Laura Lorenzetti at LinkedIn.
Culture & Politics
- The synergy between audio erotica and TV and book fandoms. Quinn was founded in 2019 and has picked up steam lately (pun intended) by partnering with celebrities associated with established fandoms. Read Charles Pulliam-Moore at The Verge.
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.