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Publishing News Roundup Series: The Changing Definition of Content

 
 
With the advancing forms of technology comes the redefinition of content.

Content is constantly changing as our forms for presenting it evolve. Below we explore the best ways to present content in the modern market:
 
Content Collaboration

Pic from Flickr/ Creative Commons– Butch Delisay

 

I’ve been thinking about content lately. Content is the new word for story. Container is the new word for form that the story comes in. It could be digital or print or images or audio or interactive game… A creative project I’m involved in is creating a found artifact which takes the form of a journal. This is to be part of a larger art project looking at different ways artists and writers collaborate together. I seem to be coming across content collaboration everywhere.

 

Porter Anderson reports on an opening keynote speaker at the recent Publishers Forum held in Berlin. Author Kathrin Passig gently told the publishers that they were using outmoded technology when they worked with authors. Had they ever heard of collaboration?

 

Joe Wikert has been thinking about content too. Specifically how he thinks publishers could improve the e-book sample and be better at converting samplers into buyers by working with authors.

 

Joanna Campbell Slan talks about serialising a novel on her website and what she has learned. Is this controlling your content or letting it go? I know of other authors who do this in other canny ways.  (If you can’t wait for the next installment you can go buy the whole book…)

 

The latest Author Earnings snapshot is out. You may have heard that e book sales are declining. Author Earnings gurus Hugh and Data Guy have discovered that this is happening only to Trad publishers who raised their prices after negotiating new deals with Amazon. Check out the Author Earnings website for other interesting news from the 6th snapshot.

 

Joel Friedlander has an interesting guest post up. Short is the new black– your shrinking reader attention span. This is spinning your content in another way.

 

Mandy Hager recently had to give a lecture on Dystopian Fiction so she posted it on her blog. What does an author have to think about when constructing a dystopian world.

 

In the Craft Section,
2 great posts from the Emotion Thesaurus team. Moving Beyond 
Screenwriting tricks has a story elements checklist.
Why you should put your book on Wattpad (this is a quick
intro to Wattpad.)

 

In the Marketing Section,
Making a living from your writing – Joanna Penn (Bookmark)
Kameron Hurley (popular sci fi author) has posted an in depth article on why Patreon is better than Kickstarter for writers. If you are interested in crowd funding this is a must read!

 

Website of the Week
Last week I linked to Dave Gaughran talking about Author Solutions. Indie Publishing Magazine has a link to the class action depositions (testimony from the other side) and what I read had my eyebrows achieving liftoff. I am honestly amazed that Random Penguin would be associated with this outfit.
SFWA, who sponsor Author Beware, have a link to the list of DISREPUTABLE publishers out there.

 

To Finish,
Brian Pickings always has interesting long form articles. This week they look at Delacroix’s journal notes about the need for writing in solitude. If you had to go away to collaborate on content, how about going to a castle which is a dedicated library and hotel…
 
Maureen
@craicer



Maureen Crisp has been writing her weekly publishing roundups for over seven years. She is a traditionally published children’s author as well as indie-published. She lives in New Zealand and is heading the team organising the 4th National Conference of Children’s Writers and Illustrators. Maureen is currently trying her hand at writing a children’s book series if she can drag herself away from forever tweaking her Mars novel or obsessing over space.

 




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