Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Publishing Industry News

Note: This news post only covers 9/21-10/3! I'll be at Moonlight & Magnolias again this year, so I'll be out town for your regular Friday post. Hence, you get it Wednesday.


Industry News

 Penguin sues several authors for failure to deliver manuscripts. The authors accepted advances but never completed their promised work, and Penguin's suing for the return of the advance money, on the grounds of breech of contract.

Sept. 1-October 6 is Banned Books Week! Go grab a banned book and read it! Yes, now. Hunger Games and Brave New World are both on the 10 Most Banned Books list.


Readers can now borrow library e-books on their Nooks if they have Nook Tablet, Nook Color, or Nook HD+. 

Penguin has teamed up with 3M to create a library e-lending program. Penguin formerly worked with Overdrive, but pulled their titles last year after discomfort with the Kindle-lending. 3M is definitely small compared to Overdrive, but it could yet grow.

B&N drops the Nook Glowlight to $119 to compete with Kindle's Paperwhite (ad-free version $139, ad-version $119).

The American Library Association writes a letter than states that publishers are being "discriminatory" in their e-lending policies. The Association of American Publishers declares the letter to be "disappointing," because it doesn't acknowledge the efforts the publishers are making to e-lend, or the difficulties in creating secure technologies.

Harcourt experiments with a social media publicity measure, where readers can sign up and earn points towards free e-books by sharing e-books on their social media platforms.

Lerner Publishing's Carolrhoda Books will be accepting unagented YA manuscripts for the month of October.


Industry Blogs

 QueryTracker's Publishing Pulse for 9/28.

In her Friday Night at the Question Emporium, Janet Reid gets asked if there's a trend of self-publishing to solicit blurbs from random readers. Her answer? No way! Bad idea. She also gets asked how to be a good editor. She suggests practice and listening to client feedback. And is it a bad idea to self-publish a book in one genre when querying a book in another genre? Quite possibly yes, because if the self-pub book doesn't do well, you have a bad track record before you've ever stepped onto the court.

Writers Write gives advice on coming up with a title for your book. Make sure it fits the genre, and try to keep it fewer than 5 words long.

Something I'd never considered before, but it's important to ask people before you thank them in the acknowledgements. Kate Messner explains that it might cause a conflict of interest for the person, such as if they're trying to be on an awards committee.

Feel embarrassed because you don't write every day? Nathan Bransford says it's okay; he doesn't either. Everyone is different and many successful writers don't write every single day. Just make sure you have some kind of established routine.

Do you use a pseudonym? If you're thinking about establishing a pen name, the question of whether or not to use them in the face of modern social media is up in the air. Rachelle Gardner gives some insight into the nays. She also points out a great reason to go to writers' events, join writers' groups, go to conferences, etc: sometimes knowing the right person can give you the leg up you need to get the agent you want. At the very least, meeting people in person helps you build a support network.

Patricia C. Wrede offers advice on using a variety of body language signs, not just sighing and shrugging, to convey emotion.

Stina Lindenblatt gives some advice on prioritizing social media, and why it's important to through more than one outlet at a time.

The Editor's Blog reminds us that characters shouldn't be able to read minds unless they're actually telepathic. Avoid having characters draw conclusions about what other characters are thinking.


Help keep me (and the other readers) up to date! What have I missed? What's happening while I'm gone?

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