Last week's attack by Hamas on Israel and the ongoing Israeli retaliation is reverberating through the publishing world, particularly at two key upcoming publishing conferences: the Frankfurt Book FairWorld's largest trade fair for books; held annually mid-October at Frankfurt Trade Fair, Germany; First three days exclusively for trade visitors; general public can attend last two. and Sharjah International Book Fair.
Links of the week October 23 2023 (43)
Our new feature links to interesting blogs or articles posted online, which will help keep you up to date with what's going on in the book world:
23 October 2023
Last week, Israeli publishers, literary agents, and publishing organizations hurriedly sent emails canceling meetings they'd planned for Frankfurt, and the grief over the events of the past week has been palpable-especially over social media. Lucy Abrahams, a scout living in Tel Aviv, encouraged people to reach out to their colleagues in Israel, many of whom have family directly impacted by Hamas's attacks and the response. Benjamin Trivaks, chairman of the Book Publishers Association of Israel, told the Bookseller: "In light of the war in Israel, as far as I know, all the Israeli publishers and agents who had planned to attend Frankfurt will be canceling."
From agent Jonny Geller: I write to recognise the experience many Jewish colleagues in our industry who have contacted me have had this past week. Their anxiety is not just about the atrocities committed, but also about the reactions from their colleagues.
I understand the situation in Gaza and Israel is distressing and for many hard to understand. The suffering of Israeli and Palestinian innocent people is beyond question and we all call for peace. What lies ahead leaves everyone filled with dread. Please remember it is OK to reach out to Jewish friends to express your sympathy while supporting either side. Empathy doesn't demand context.
Expectations were high in the buildup to the 2023 Frankfurt Book FairWorld's largest trade fair for books; held annually mid-October at Frankfurt Trade Fair, Germany; First three days exclusively for trade visitors; general public can attend last two., another year removed from the pandemic and with the fair set to celebrate its 75th anniversary. But world events-most prominently, the war between Israel and Hamas-have loomed large over the fair, where the professional program draws to a close today.
Despite the state of world affairs, business appeared brisk, and the fair seems to be bouncing back from the pandemic, reporting roughly 105,000 trade visitors from 130 countries. "We have returned to about 80% of the square meters of exhibitors that we had in 2019," said Juergen Boos, director of the Book Fair. "And part of that is the loss of the Russian national stand, which was banned following their invasion of Ukraine, and Iran, which pulled out following our announcement of Salman Rushdie as winner of the Peace Prize [of the German Book Trade]."
Organizers said that the fair has seen an overall rise in ticket sales, some of which is likely a consequence of the fair adding several new events for the public. Those include a "Meet the Author" program for author signings, a TikTok Book Award ceremony, and a ticket event for 2,000 people for a live recording with Philip Banse and Ulf Buermeyer, hosts of the popular German podcast Lager der Nation (State of the Nation). "What this means is, the readers are back," Boos said, adding that sales of tickets to the public were up 10% over the previous year.
With geopolitics still looming large, the Frankfurt Book FairWorld's largest trade fair for books; held annually mid-October at Frankfurt Trade Fair, Germany; First three days exclusively for trade visitors; general public can attend last two. professional program got down to business on October 19, including during a pair of panels addressing two key concerns for the publishing industry: the rise of AI and environmental sustainability.
In one panel, agents and publishers acknowledged the need to protect the future of creativity, but took a generally positive view of what AI technology might offer. Moderated by Thomas Cox, managing director of Arq Works, a company that offers software solutions for the publishing industry (and has recently integrated AI into its content management and discovery tools), the panel suggested that fears over AI's misuse should not deter the book business from exploring the opportunities the new technology offers.
AI will have a "profound transformative effect on all of us," Cox said, adding that because AI excels at routine, predictable tasks, it could release people from having to do them, leaving us more time to spend to spend on being creative. In five years, he predicted, we would all have "constructive" AI companions. Still, Cox urged companies to put policies in place for the handling of AI, so that employees have a clear understanding of its implications.
The conversation around artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications for publishing and the wider creative industries is very much live. Over the last year, every corner of our industry has been confronted with the colossal innovation in the generative capability of this new technology, with little known as to how it will impact our sector.
Developments around AI have been rapid, and understanding how the sector can strategically navigate this emerging landscape has been a priority for the Publishers Association (PA), our members, and the wider industry.
Publishers have long embraced AI and new technologies, and many are already reaping the benefits of these tools. We know that AI has been applied throughout the value chain by publishers from across every sector, to drive benefits for their organizations - this could be through improved intellectual property (IP) protection, content discoverability, or to provide strategic insights.
The rich have got richer as the top 10 global publishing groups saw a collective double-digit jump in sales in 2022. Yet those just outside the highest echelon stuttered, with revenue flat or falling for the next tiers of international conglomerates, as post-pandemic and cost-of-living crisis slowdowns took a toll.
Those are a couple of the top-line findings of the 2023 Global 50 Publishing Ranking, the annual report of the world's biggest houses, compiled and researched by Ruediger Wischenbart Content and Consulting since 2007. The 2023 edition covers fiscal year 2022, which shows the largest 10 publishers (topped for the sixth time on the trot by Elsevier owner RELX) earning a total of €34.5bn, up 10.1% from the previous year. The top 10, which all retained their same position in the ranking year on year, saw five conglomerates post double-digit percentage growth, led by Dutch STM giant Wolters Kluwers with a sales jump of 13.4% to €4.2bn. The slowest grower, Hachette Livre, still had a relatively healthy 5.8% increase.
The Society of AuthorsThe British authors’ organization, with a membership of over 7,000 writers. Membership is open to those who have had a book published, or who have an offer to publish (without subsidy by the author). Offers individual specialist advice and a range of publications to its members. Has also campaigned successfully on behalf of authors in general for improved terms and established a minimum terms agreement with many publishers. Recently campaigned to get the Public Lending Right fund increased from £5 million to £7 million for the year 2002/2003. Regularly uses input from members to produce comparative surveys of publishers’ royalty payment systems. http://www.societyofauthors.org/ (SoA) has said it is "deeply concerned" about the streaming deals the major publishers have agreed with Spotify, saying that writers haven't been consulted and streaming will damage book sales. The SoA's c.e.o. Nicola Solomon has also suggested that the competition authorities should be alerted over the deals.
It was announced last week that all the major publishers had entered into the deals with the Swedish tech company, with several agents optimistic about how Spotify's streaming programme could amplify authors and provide competition to Audible. However, the SoA has heavily criticised the new development.
In a statement the authors' body said: "The Society of AuthorsThe British authors’ organization, with a membership of over 7,000 writers. Membership is open to those who have had a book published, or who have an offer to publish (without subsidy by the author). Offers individual specialist advice and a range of publications to its members. Has also campaigned successfully on behalf of authors in general for improved terms and established a minimum terms agreement with many publishers. Recently campaigned to get the Public Lending Right fund increased from £5 million to £7 million for the year 2002/2003. Regularly uses input from members to produce comparative surveys of publishers’ royalty payment systems. http://www.societyofauthors.org/ was deeply concerned last week to learn from press reports that ‘all major book publishers' have agreed new limited streaming deals with Spotify. Under these agreements, subscribers to the Spotify Premium service in the UK and Australia will gain access to up to 15 hours of audiobook content per month through the Spotify app, from a catalogue of more than 150,000 audiobooks.
The success of Britain's English-language export sales into some European markets is cannibalising local book sales, gutting translation revenue, harming Anglophone author earnings and has "an unpleasantly colonial feel".
That is the opinion of many editors, agents and rights professionals on the current trading climate as the 75th Frankfurt Book FairWorld's largest trade fair for books; held annually mid-October at Frankfurt Trade Fair, Germany; First three days exclusively for trade visitors; general public can attend last two. opened for business. The issue is particularly acute in relatively small European territories with a high level of English literacy, such as the Netherlands, Nordics and the Baltics, but many have noted it encroaching into some larger markets, particularly Germany.
Laurence Laluyaux, RCW agent, director and head of international, said: "It is undeniable that English-language book exports are having a growing impact on the ability to sell Anglophone authors in translation and that there is a waning of appetite in some markets. The competition is problematic, not least because these export editions are always cheaper than the local editions and aren't subject to national laws such as fixed price."
A new survey on American literary agents' experience surfaces concerns about the business model's viability, diversity, and burnout in a demanding job.
But as much as the industry understands and appreciates the LitAg as "the beating heart" of the world's largest international book fair, a report that arrived early this month indicates that many literary agents may be struggling in their work as the industry evolves, many markets' economies go into flux, and making ends meet gets harder.
Literary agents-so critical to the international industry's viability and health-could use some attention, as members of the profession report they're experiencing more burnout than before, not least because the job entails so much "invisible labor," for which agents aren't paid.
The 24th Nairobi International Book Fair (NIBF), which took place from September 27 to October 1 at the Sarit Expo Center in Nairobi, Kenya, held the first international rights fair in East Africa. In partnership with the Kenya Publishers Association, eKitabu-a business that delivers accessible content, software, and programs-sponsored 12 publishing professionals from across Africa, Europe, and North America to meet with publishers, authors, and booksellers at the book fair. The flagship ambassadors came from Malawi, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, the U.S., the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, the U.K., and France.
This first year has laid the foundation to open networks across the continent and internationally. By creating a serious rights fair on the continent, the NIBF hopes to lay a pathway for African writers to be published in other African countries and globally.
Along with the African Publishers Network (APNET) and the Kenya Publishers Association, "we want to grow to scale and sustain this initiative for 2024 and beyond," says Mercy Kirui, senior manager, content at eKitabu. "We hope to build a community of people who will engage with us throughout the year to make this bigger and better."
Participants characterized the rights fair as a success, regardless of how many deals result from the meetings. "Rights fairs always occur outside the continent," says Goretti Kyomuhendo, publisher at Africa Writers Trust Ltd in Uganda. "Because African publishers experience major hurdles-both financial and visa-related-to attend rights fairs in Europe or North America, other rights fairs always seem exclusionary to us."
A well-conveyed setting can transport readers into the world of your story like a magic carpet. In this article, writer and NCW Academy tutor Melissa Fu shares five things to consider when ‘setting' the setting.
Visit your setting.
If possible, go to the setting itself. Even if your story takes place somewhere familiar, go visit. Sometimes we think we know a place, but when we visit again with our characters' preoccupations in mind, we see it differently. Take a field trip and challenge yourself to notice ten things you hadn't realised before about the place. If your setting is inaccessible - perhaps it's too distant or only exists in the past - there are other ways of visiting. For example, photos, newspapers, maps, documentaries and archives all offer ways of accessing a faraway time or space. As for imaginary or speculative settings, coupling real images and resources with imagined concepts can be a delightful pathway into world-building.
As a reader and writer of detective fiction, I've taken great pleasure in seeing the resurgence of interest in "Golden Age" mysteries over the last few years.
The term "Golden Age" is a fairly malleable one, though I usually take it to refer to mystery fiction from the decades between the world wars. Think Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers. But this isn't a hard and fast definition, and there are plenty of works produced outside the period that can be considered part of the tradition. So what does "Golden Age" actually mean?
Essentially, the term refers to whodunits; vintage-style puzzle mysteries in which a detective is called on to unravel a complex web of deception and identify a criminal from a cast of likely suspects. Reginald Hill, for instance, features a country house crime that is billed as "the last of the golden age murders" in his Dalziel and Pascoe novel Recalled to Life (1992). The book is a wonderful cocktail of familiar Golden Age trappings; but does that mean the "revival" is just a question of recycling cliches?
Since young adult emerged as a category in the 1960s, it has served as a distinct place where 12-to-18-year-olds could find stories that speak to their unique position in life - the often awkward, painful, emotionally charged teen years when values are tested and identities are forged. The category aimed at teens hit peaks in the '90s with mass market paperback series like Fear Street and the Vampire Diaries, dipped, then exploded with early aughts hits like Twilight (2004) and The Hunger Games (2008), expanding the category to adult audiences and creating crossover hits.
According to January 2023 WordsRated statistics, 51% of YA books are purchased by people between the ages of 30 and 44, and 78% of those buyers said that they intended to read the books themselves. In recent years, librarians report that more middle grade readers (traditionally eight- to 12-year-olds) are "reading up" to YA books.
Twelve-year-olds and 35-year-olds reading the same books? Publishing isn't set up for this range of readership. So who is YA for?
Commercial book publishing was (and is) unbearably white. In 1971, when Toni Morrison became a trade editor, about 95 percent of the fiction published by the big commercial houses was by white authors. By 2018, that number dropped only to 89 percent. One of the only other black women working as an editor, Marie Brown, started the same year at Doubleday. Black women faced bias along axes of race and gender, making Morrison's extraordinary accomplishments all the more astonishing. She began her career in publishing as a textbook editor for L. W. Singer in Syracuse, a Random House subsidiary. On a visit a couple years later, Bob Bernstein-observing that "African Americans were not just underrepresented in the business; they were practically nonexistent"-promoted Morrison first to the scholastic division then to trade editor for Random House at the New York City headquarters.
She pointedly acquired black writers for what was an extremely white list. "I wasn't marching," she told Hilton Als. "I didn't go to anything. I didn't join anything. But I could make sure there was a published record of those who did march and did put themselves on the line." She was unsentimental and unsparing. For an internal report on a manuscript from Black Panther Huey Newton, she recommended that Random House "delete some of the truly weak essays, edit all" and argued that "the Panthers and their prose should be given the benefit of editing and thus be shown in their best light." Along with Newton, she published nonfiction by Muhammad Ali and Angela Davis; in terms of fiction and poetry, she published Toni Cade Bambara, Lucille Clifton, Leon Forrest, June Jordan, and Gayl Jones. She managed to make a little headway against the whiteness of the house's list.
When writing a novel, it's best to show, not tell. When tackling social issues, it's best to tell a story, not preach. The former is a rule every writing course teaches us. The latter is something I learned the hard way.
Novels have been tackling social issues throughout history-think of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist or John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. The former denounces Victorian London's inhumane treatment of the poor, while the latter depicts Dust Bowl migrants facing unjust labor conditions in California. Books like these are usually serious and biting, meant to expose problems and sway readers to the author's stand on a particular issue. They're sometimes called social novels.
"Speed kills" has always been identified with fast-moving cars and drugs. But today it best describes the crime novel genre, which combines murder with a quickened pace to compete for the conscious mind of an Attention Deficit Disorder society.
"It is a different world now and we can't deny attention spans are shorter. That's not going to change," says bestselling author Jeffery Deaver. "...We authors are up against a different medium for storytelling-TV and video games."
Today's culture becomes more problematic when you consider authors are trying to write stories that engage their readers even closer. How do you do that in a world with the attention span of a gnat?
Acclaimed Goosebumps author R.L. Stine just celebrated his 80th birthday on October 8, and says he's having the busiest fall of his life.
As far as publishing goes, Stine has six books coming out including a comic book for adults, a picture book, a new addition to the Goosebumps series, and even a book of writing tips for adults. Zombie Town, a movie based on Stine's novel of the same name, started streaming on Hulu starring Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase. Then there's the Disney+ adaptation of Stine's iconic and beloved Goosebumps series which starts streaming on Oct. 13 starring Justin Long and Rachael Harris.
The man is a non-stop working machine, maintaining the same writing schedule he's kept up for decades of his life: Completing 2,000 words every single morning before 1:00 p.m. like clockwork. From new novels to big and small screen adaptations, the worlds of literature and Hollywood are keeping Stine busy, to say the least. He doesn't mind the work, though. Stine tells Rolling Stone, "I'm cut out for this."
McDorman's West Heart Kill was signed by Raven Books in a six-figure, two-book deal
TV producer Dann McDorman's debut novel, West Heart Kill, is published today (24 October) by Raven Books. The novel takes place at a prestigious country club over a Fourth of July weekend in the 1970s. There's a body, a private detective, and a mystery to solve - and the reader has a role to play too.
What was your inspiration for West Heart Kill?
One day, for reasons I can't explain, I wrote the dust jacket copy for an imaginary book. It promised a detective... an enclosed, claustrophobic setting... enigmatic secrets... and (of course!) a body count. But I had no plot, no characters, and no clue (literally) about how to start. But my wife encouraged me to give it a shot.