Hello independent author,
This letter, I share some predictions for popular genres in 2023 from an industry data analyst, details on a writing competition with mentorship as a prize, and info on a free webinar about e-mail list management from ChildrensBookMastery.com.
News
Draft2Digital Buys Smashwords
In some recent news, publishing platform Draft2Digital has purchased e-book distribution platform Smashwords. Draft2Digital began with a focus on digital content, specifically e-books and audio books (with Findaway Voices), but have since added paperback books to the options their authors can publish. Now they have also acquired a large e-book marketplace to add to their offering.
Draft2Digital is free to publish with and offers royalty sharing for multi-author books. Their percentage of royalties taken is roughly the same as Amazon and they are clearly working hard to develop into the major alternative to the Bezos publishing giant.
Publishers Weekly Presents Thoughts on Book Selling in 2023
In mid-January, Kristen McLean, industry analyst for U.S. books at the NPD group (a market analyst company) suggested that 2023 will be a year of transition in the industry and that innovation will be needed to restore the market from its slump of the last few years.
Two months later and AI-written books have already begun to flood the marketplace. I'm not sure this is the innovation she meant. Regardless, she remains optimistic and sees some tried-and-true catagories continuing to do well, while some newer genres become popular. She also sees a new demographic of book buyers emerging.
" McLean expects the romance category to do well again this year, and said that some other categories that have momentum heading in to 2023 include manga, young adult fiction on social themes, YA graphic novels, and horror. Drilling down a little more, areas that NPD is bullish on include humor, mental health, pets, and books for next-generation moms. "
In addition, she believes that Gen Z (12-26) is becoming a strong book-buying demographic and that BookTok (TikTok book enthusiasts) will continuue to drive sales for a while yet.
Opportunities
Free E-mail List Management Webinar
On March 20, children's book illustrator and publisher Karen Ferreira of GetYourBookIllustrations.com is hosting a free webinar on growing and managing e-mail lists through her Children's Book Mastery programs. You can sign-up here:
Evening Standard Story Competition
The annual Evening Standard Story Competition is now open, with a nice prize for the winner. Here's a bit from their website:
" The competition is now open and it’s free to enter. Entries can be submitted as written, audio or film. The competition closes on 12th April 2023 at 11:59 pm.
The winner will be published on the Evening Standard, receive mentoring in their chosen field for a year from management and production company, 42mp, who represent some of the world's leading voices, and win a course of their choice at City Lit, our official education partner. "
You can find more details here:
