Traditional Publishing
- Now that the New York Times bestseller list has cut ten categories, what’s the fallout? Much of this article is speculation, but the general consensus is that mass-market and self-published work is hurt the most. Read at the Outline.
- Arts Council England has a new award for small, independent publishers, with a purse of £10,000. It’s named the Clarissa Luard for the agency’s former literature officer. Read more in the Bookseller (paywall).
News and Trends
- TV is changing how novels get adapted for the screen. Examples discussed include The Handmaid’s Tale and American Gods. Read in the Guardian.
- Move over, Oprah: theSkimm is the hot new place for book recommendations. Read more in Business Insider.
- Five legal myths that writers still believe: Attorney Helen Sedwick quickly puts to rest some common misconceptions. Read more.
- The UK government will now pay authors for ebook and audiobook library loans. The move builds on an existing tradition of payment for print book library loans. Learn more in the Bookseller (paywall).
Self-publishing
- A comprehensive look at ebook bundling for authors: If our story this week on bundling has you curious, check out Joanna Penn’s interview with the creator of BundleRabbit on the benefits and how-to of multi-author bundling for indie authors. Read or listen.
- A Canadian indie author shares his sales and marketing experience using StoryBundle. Here’s another post offering bundling insight; learn more about StoryBundle at Steve Vernon’s blog.
- The economics of cookbook publishing: Here’s a detailed look at how and why a very prestigious chef struck an unusual deal with an independent publisher—and is now self-publishing his followup book. Read in Medium.
- Draft2Digital now distributes to Kobo Plus. Kobo Plus is the ebook subscription service that competes against Kindle Unlimited. It does not require exclusivity. Learn more.
Marketing Toolbox
- Author JT Ellison and her author assistant, Amy Kerr, sing the praises of Wunderlist. It helps them complete marketing and admin work collaboratively and efficiently. Read more at Ellison’s blog.
- The definitive guide to personal email newsletters. It’s long, but easy to read, and it includes lots of examples. Read at Hacker Noon.
- Wondering about Amazon algorithms and how “also boughts” get determined? Indie author David Gaughran has written insightfully about how to strategically and ethically work the system. Read at his blog here.
- Audible has suspended gifting functionality for its users. This mechanism was used by authors to gift copies of their audiobooks to readers. Audible has explained the move as a way to focus on the selling of gift subscriptions. It’s hard to find discussion of this online, but here’s a Reddit thread.
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.