Links of Interest: May 29.2019

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News

  • Penguin Random House takes a minority stake in Sourcebooks. The long-celebrated independent publisher, based in Chicago, has sold a 45 percent stake to the biggest publisher in the world. Read more at Publishing Perspectives.
  • Books are a target of new China tariffs. The tariffs aren’t in place yet, but if they are implemented, they will be significant—potentially 25 percent. Read Jim Milliot in Publishers Weekly.

Traditional Publishing

  • As the comic book industry grows, smaller publishers learn to adapt. Mergers, direct-to-consumer sales, and different formats are helping publishers better compete. Read George Gene Gustines in The New York Times.
  • New York Times’ journalists are asking for leave after securing book deals. And the NYT is not all that happy about it—those deals can drain reporting resources. Read Joe Pompeo at Vanity Fair.
  • Canada’s Parliament favors book publishers in its review of the Copyright Modernization Act. The government has reviewed damage to copyright holders since the passage of Canada’s 2012 Copyright Modernization Act and issued recommendations. Read more at Publishing Perspectives.

Amazon

  • Amazon Publishing turns 10. It now consists of 16 imprints, has 200 to 300 employees, publishes 1,000 books per year, and has a backlist of 10,000 titles (mostly fiction). Oh, and it also paid a seven-figure advance for a novella coming out this August—even though most of its titles are not sold in brick-and-mortar bookstores. Read Jim Milliot in Publishers Weekly.
  • The Amazon Literary Partnership has granted $1 million to 66 organizations that support and promote authors. This is Amazon’s 10th year in making such grants, and it debuted two new grantmaking partnerships for poetry and literary magazines. Read more at Publishing Perspectives.

Trends

  • We’re in the fifth era of bookselling: the attention economy. Industry vet Mike Shatzkin comments on a talk by Kobo’s Michael Tamblyn. Read at his blog.
  • What clicks with fiction readers? Wattpad helps authors find out. The company uses AI to indicate whether audiences have responded to or been moved by particular writing. Read David Israelson in The Globe and Mail.
  • TV producers are taking a second crack at filming books that have already been adapted once. Keep an eye out for remakes of Catch-22, The Name of the Rose, and Hot Zone. Read Noel Murray in The Week.

Culture and Politics

  • Final Draft adds a tool to measure the inclusiveness of a script. The most widely used screenplay program is trying to nudge writers toward equality and inclusion. Read Melena Ryzik in The New York Times.
  • Publishing in Asia has changed an Asian-American writer’s experience. The author says her book tour made her think about how publishers—and readers—react differently to writers who look like them. Read Winnie M. Li in Electric Lit.

Bookselling

  • Is it possible to create a new regional independent bookstore chain? That’s what Shakespeare & Co. is attempting. Read Judith Rosen in Publishers Weekly.
  • Seattle bookstores deal with increased minimum wage. This six-part series by Shelf Awareness discusses how indie bookstores are adding more high-profit sideline items, securing better discounts on books from publishers, seeking more business-to-business sales, decreasing store size, and managing the effects on staffing. Here are all six parts by Alex Mutter.

Marketing Toolbox

  • How to pitch your book for TV or film. TV executive and producer DJ Williams discusses how to pitch to a streaming service, how to create treatments and summaries, and more. Read or listen at The Creative Penn.
  • A podcaster makes $8,000 per month with a small audience. But you probably won’t be eager to try this approach, as he points out. Read Tim Romero at Noteworthy.  
  • Optimize your books and online presence for voice search. Listen to or read a discussion between Joanna Penn and Miral Sattar about ensuring your books are discoverable to those using voice assistants. Read at Penn’s site.
  • Learn to avoid scammy awards and competitions. Victoria Strauss offers excellent and evergreen advice worth reviewing before you enter a competition of any kind. Read at Writer Beware.
  • Use expert sources to generate local book publicity. If you quote someone in your book, make it known to their local media. Read Sandra Beckwith at The Book Designer.

Self-publishing

  • Should you be exclusive with Amazon? Longtime indie author Joanna Penn looks at the benefits and drawbacks as of May 2019. Read at her blog.
  • Reedsy now offers a free EPUB-to-MOBI converter. MOBI files are designed to be read on Kindles. Here it is.
  • How to set up an Amazon UK advertising account. Some authors say that advertising on the Amazon UK site is more effective than advertising on the US site. Learn how from Rachel McCollin at the ALLi blog.

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