Simon & Schuster launched a new social media community called The Hot Bed for New Adult books, authors and readers. The community will be featured on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. The Tumblr page will feature a hot reads review segment with a chill chart rating the raciness of the content.
Bowker found that most authors looking into self-publishing are going to bring fiction to the market. That makes sense because only 25% of the titles produced by traditional publishers are fiction. When so small a door is open to authors, they have to turn to other avenues if they want to reach readers.
Oddly, though, readers polled by various organizations say they prefer reading fiction at a rate of 77% to 78%, leaving a very small number that prefer reading nonfiction.
It seems that indie publishers are giving readers what they want.
Recently there’s been some chatter about novellas. For a long time, novellas were shunned by all but literary publishers. Too short, it seemed, translated into too little interest by readers. Of course, there was the biggest problem: novellas were not terribly economical to print. That impacts the bottom line, and that means more pushback from publishers.
The trend has been increasing judging by what I’ve been hearing from agents and publishers alike. They want longer books (fiction and nonfiction), and the 50,000 word minimum is being held to more strongly than ever before. This makes sense in a time when publishers are trying to trim every penny to enhance their waning profits.
But organizations that have been keeping tabs on self-publishing are questioning this wisdom. They note that when publishers do take on novellas, they are marketing them as novels so as not to undermine the work in readers’ eyes. Also, they’ve noted that genre works are seeing success as novellas.
This is in part due to self-publishing successes. Authors write what they write…they honor the story itself without having to worry much about lengths and economies of scale if they are self-publishing. Readers are interested in the story, not whether it’s long or short, or which publisher it might have come from.
Novellas, then, might find that they will receive a greater amount of respect from traditional publishers in the future. This will take a year or more to sink in, though. For now, consider your length when approaching traditional publishers. Aim for that 50K minimum to ensure you aren’t rejected on length alone.
A roundup from Publisher’s Weekly about the top ten short story collections.
Longreads, a platform that curates fiction and nonfiction over 1,500 words, is starting a big push to increase membership. It’s free for users or you can buy full access to the site for a nominal fee. Longform works are experiencing a resurgence, so the time is right to find works that mirror your own.
Publisher’s Weekly offers a list of the top ten horror books. How does your writing compare?
Simon & Schuster is preparing to launch a new imprint dedicated to science fiction, fantasy and horror. The unnamed imprint will publish books “for readers of all ages.”
Larry Kirshbaum, the head of Amazon Publishing, will step down early next year when his contract is up so he can return to agenting. The program had difficulty gearing up to meet Amazon’s expectations and failed to attract any major bestsellers.
The future of the program is uncertain. Distribution into bookstores has been an issue all along despite their contract with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for distribution through their channels.
Amazon still remains big in self-publishing but for authors interested in a physical bookstore presence, they might be better served elsewhere.
A list from Publisher’s Weekly on the top ten mystery books. How does your writing stack up?
As brick-and-mortar stores fall and ebook sales grow, a lot of chatter has been going around about whether this is the new focus for the top publishers. Even agents no longer assume that print will be part of their clients’ deals.
Pressure on publishers to release books more quickly as well as to keep an eye on profitable releases is a major driver. Authors fear that with a smaller investment from publishers, the publishers won’t feel that marketing is as necessary as before.
Since these days the main benefit publishers can offer is the ability to get books into stores, it’s a tricky situation for everyone. What are your thoughts?
Random House Children’s Books has acquired Figment, an online writing community for teens. Founded in 2010, the site has attracted more than 300,000 users. The site will remain open to titles from all publishers
USA Today recently looked at twenty years of bestselling books from their own lists. Here’s what they found.
Self-help titles were big during the first five years. Oddly, the magazine connects this trend to the fact that print copies were still king then. In actuality, though, ebooks were first taken up by individuals reading nonfiction.
J.K. Rowling shattered the myths about what young readers wanted to consume both in terms of content and length during the 1998-2008 era.
Since 2009, in part due to the availability of ebooks (and of course the enhanced ability of readers to locate fiction through algorithms), fiction has risen to all-time highs.
Long ago in a dreamy land far, far away, publishing was a “gentleman’s business.” Publishers, agents and authors respected each other because they were working together to reach readers.
Then publishers started to become corporatized, focused on the bottom line. Over the decades, authors ended up at the bottom of the barrel. The only advocates, it seemed, were their agents.
Nowadays, things are changing rapidly. Self-publishing and the advent of new digital platforms are shifting the way publishers do business. One of the things that suddenly has become more important is…you guessed it…authors.
Authors are the brand around which readers revolve. A host of recent conferences and book trade shows have hosted multiple sessions that focus on the writer.
It’s a great time to be an author!
Quite a bit of chatter is going around these days about how self-publishing is shaking up traditional publishers. In some ways it is a war between sides that are battling for attention from the same pool of readers. WIthout going into all the other elements, let’s remember one key fact:
Self-published titles represent 10% of the current market.
This means that a number of places where books traditionally are distributed–brick-and-mortar bookstores, big-box retailers, shopping clubs and the like–aren’t paying very much attention at all to self-published titles.
When considering your career, take all the details into account to find the best path for you and your work.
Chronos Books is seeking historical nonfiction and historical biography. They are looking for real history for real people; imaginative, easy-to-digest and accessible text. Topics cover ancient times to the Second World War, and should add to a reader’s understanding of people and events rather than reading like a textbook.
Writer's Resource/Sunspot Lit 