This. Week. PUBLISHING!
The big news this week is courtesy of the Crown Group at Random House, which underwent its second reorganization in a year. Lots of people reporting to different people and imprints created and closed and you can find the details here.
Mike Shatzkin had a great series of posts this week on what he would have said at the London Book Fair were it not for the unpronounceable volcano spewing ash everywhere and messing up travel plans. In particular I want to highlight Part II, in which he has an overview of how he sees the next twenty years in books unfolding. Brace yourselves paper friends, because he’s envisioning a world of ubiquitous screens and paper books as mere antiques and collectibles, which will have a massive impact on the role of publishers and the value of content.
And speaking of which, io9 linked to a really cool and exhaustive illustration that shows precisely how a paper book is made.
There are now quite a few publishing types on The Twitter, and publishers are taking to the Tweetwaves to give away books and give inside info. Follow the Reader has a list of their favorite Tweeting publishers. In other social media news, FinePrint also had a quick post that discusses the most important element in a blog’s success: voice.
In publishing advice news, Jessica Faust at BookEnds had a great post where she kept track of why she was passing on queries (most common reason: a project just not feeling different or special enough), and Editorial Anonymous has a really fascinating post about the balance between deciding whether a children’s book will appeal to kids or adults, and which is more important.
Eric from Pimp My Novel had a great post this week on making sure you know your non-compete clause before you decide to post content on the web, and he also has a refresher myth-busting post on some common misconceptions about the biz.
Comment! Of! The! Week!! Actually there were lots of really great comments this week and thanks to everyone who participated in Be an Agent for a Day II. Rather than pick just one comment, I’d like to thank the participating authors once again for their intrepid bravery.
And finally, it’s iPad 3G release day, and when mine arrives I can hardly wait to keep reading LOTR on a bigger screen. What would Tolkien think?
Have a great weekend!
Katherine says
Anonymous at 3:44 PM days ago.
I'm late to the party as well, but it needs to be said, again.
Thank you!
"Authors need a good f#@king story."
That's right…that's all there is to it. Stay the course and write as well as you can. Stay focused on the writing.
Tiffany says
how does the change in book publishing (switching to ipads and kindles, etc.) affect childrens and YA? Specifically, because the audience as a whole may not have as much access to ereaders?
p.s. I always love the week in publishing posts- I feel up to date in a world I know so little about!
J. T. Shea says
Regarding Non Compete Clauses, it seems blindingly obvious to me that if an agent wishes to withhold E-Book or Graphic Novel rights, he or she should include contract language specifically excluding those rights from the provisions of the Non Compete Clause. I am amazed agents do not seem to have a fairly standard way of dealing with this. If, in the negotiations, the agent has withheld certain rights, and the publisher has agreed, that verbal agreement should be spelled out in the language of the written contract. If the publisher baulks at that then they are not in fact agreeing to the withholding of the rights.
Nathan Bransford says
j.t.-
It's not that simple, but it's not something I can really blog about either.
J. T. Shea says
I do imagine that in publishing, as elsewhere, there is tension between ‘boilerplate’ and custom and the handmade nature of individual deals. My concern was first sparked by Kristin Nelson’s post in November last, and then by the post by Eric (Pimp My Novel) you mentioned, and Marilynn Byerly’s comments on the last. It all sounded like a case of Sudden Rediscovery Of The Obvious(!?) That Non Compete Clauses might be used and abused in that way was known since the original Rosetta case.
I would be very surprised if the matter is new to you or Curtis Brown, and, of course, I do not need to know your trade secrets. In just the last few months I have learned more about publishing from you than from any other commentator I have read either in print or on the Internet.