News and Trends
- Independent bookstores are doing great at selling … socks. Shelf Awareness has rounded up what types of merchandise are succeeding in stores across the United States. Find out more from Alex Mutter.
- There’s a new app that’s publishing new and classic serialized stories. LongShorts is available for both iOS and Android, and it’s accepting applications for writers. Check it out.
- Kobo is getting into audiobook retail. Their plan costs $12.99/month and includes a 30-day free trial period; the service is available in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Read the announcement.
Amazon
- Audible (owned by Amazon) is launching a Canadian-focused site. While Audible subscriptions were available to Canadians before now, the new launch offers better pricing for Canadians and better profits for Canadian publishers and authors. Learn more from Brian Bethune at Maclean’s.
- Amazon has filed complaints against several bad actors using Kindle Unlimited. We last reported on scams surfacing in the Amazon/KU universe in July. Now Amazon has filed arbitration complaints against KDP users and service providers who manipulated its system for financial gain. Find out more from Calvin Reid in Publishers Weekly; you can find the arbitration documents here.
- How Amazon advertising could be dramatically improved for authors (and Amazon itself): Indie author David Gaughran offers an in-depth analysis that we hope Amazon reads. Visit his blog.
Marketing Toolbox
- Reedsy has created a database of nearly 200 book-review blogs. It’s searchable, and Reedsy promises to updated it regularly. Take a look.
- Reedsy has also created a database of free and paid book-promotion sites. More than 50 services are mentioned so far, and you can sort by genre as well as by Reedsy’s tiered star rating. Take another look.
- Are you a romance author? Reach Readers is an email swapping service to help you find authors with whom you can cross-promote in email newsletters. It does require paying a fee. Check it out.
- Facebook advertising how-to: Here’s the latest podcast discussing how to invest more wisely in this hot-button marketing tool. Listen to the Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast.
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.