There are so many links I come across and there is not enough time to write blog posts about all of them. Borrowing an idea from Ben Dowdy and his Misfill feature at The Pen Addict, I am going to start sharing these links in a blog post with a short description about why each article is interesting for authors.
- The “Well-Balanced Meal” MBA Reading List (Laura Huang) – As a Harvard Business School professor, Laura was tired of seeing best-of lists with nothing but white male authors. She compiled her own list with input from others that span eleven categories, pulling titles from a wider array of voices and perspectives.
- Six Rules For Startup Founders When Reading Business Books (Travis Steffen, Forbes) – I often get asked how people can get more out of the books they read. Travis’s ideas are good but nails it with his fourth point— “Implement your ideas as experiments.”
- In Publishing, ‘Everything Is Up for Change’ (Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth Harris, New York Times) – The big New York publishers have seen a huge turnover in executives recently. The real news is that their replacements are diverse and being drawn from outside the industry.
- How to Sell Books in 2020: Put Them Near the Toilet Paper (Elizabeth Harris, New York Times) – Harris says grocery stores and big box chains are benefitting from being open and they are selling more books. I consider this an interesting data point, but I have seen this phenomenon play out in my corner of the book publishing world.
- The Hunt for the Next Blockbuster Manga (Joshua Hunt, Businessweek) – Manga accounts for almost 50% of Japan’s $12 billion book industry. And writers/authors/creators own all of their work. This is a huge difference from the Marvel/DC method of publishing where they own all the IP.
- Self-Publishing Is a Gamble. Why Is Donald Trump Jr. Doing It? (Elizabeth Harris and Annie Karni, New York Times) – Independent of your politics, this is an interesting case for self-publishing. Trump and his father has an audience. The RNC is supporting launch with bulk sales and they are using the book to fund raise for the campaign. They haven’t even talked to anyone in distribution about making the book more widely available.
- Malofiej Awards 2020 – Considered the Pulitzer of infographics, the awards highlight the best work in the space. I could look at these all day. There are more opportunities than ever for authors to present their works in interesting ways.
