Writing Break

We travel to Vilnius, Lithuania, learn about the different types of antiheroes, discuss a disturbing trend on LinkedIn job posts, and catch up on Amazon publishing trends.

• More Writing Tips
• Nicole Banks
• Andrius Tapinas, Hour of the Wolf - Featured Author
• Eureka! Vilnius, Lithuania - Featured Bookstore
• K-lytics Female & Sleuths Market Report
• The Historical Fiction eBook Market - Author and Publisher Guide
• Storytel Grows in Q1 With Audiobooks.com Acquisition, Confirms Restructuring - Publishers Lunch
• Free Style Sheet Templates

Music licensed from Storyblocks:

“More Jam Please” by Raighes Factory

"Lawn Chair" by Humans Win

"Overtime" by Humans Win

"King Me" by Nite Owl

"I Meant That" by Nick Battle

"The Battle with the King of the Dead" by Precarious Perch

This episode features publishing profit updates, a burning publishing house, and an ode to the anti-hero.

• More Writing Tips
• Jaire Sims - Featured Author
• Glad Day Bookshop, Toronto, Ontario - Featured Bookstore
• Summer Reads 2022 from Publishers Weekly : Publishers Weekly
• Summer Reads 2022 from Publishers Weekly : Publishers Weekly
• Baker & Taylor Opens a New Chapter with Paw Prints
• Auto-narrated audiobooks - Create audiobooks with Google Play Books
• Pro-Kremlin Publishing House Catches Fire in Moscow, Videos Show
• Google Play Books Expands AI Audiobook Narration
• S&S Defies Gravity in First Quarter
• A Bad First Quarter at Amazon
• Profits Fell 16% at HarperCollins
• Free Style Sheet Templates

Music licensed from Storyblocks:

“More Jam Please” by Raighes Factory

"Urban Street Life" by Oleksii Abramovych

"Endless" by Enzo Orefice

"Chill Out In The Coffee Shop (No Sax)" by Jon Presstone

"Heroic Fight Drama" by Rainforest Audio

Get whisked away to the Dutch Caribbean to visit with our listener friends. While we’re there, we discuss beach reads, the impossibility of being a prophet in your own land, and, of course, publishing news. Plus, there are a couple of presents waiting for you at the end of this episode.

• More Writing Tips
• Free Style Sheet Templates
• Plaza Bookshop, Oranjestad, Aruba - Featured Bookstore
• Manuscript Writing Cafe
• Books from Ukraine: A Call to Buy Rights to Support Publishers
• Blackstone Ends Library Embargo
• NYC libraries are offering free digital library cards to people across the U.S.
• Kentucky Legislature Politicizes Libraries
• Authors Guild Launches a Banned Book Club

Music licensed from Storyblocks:

“More Jam Please” by Raighes Factory

"Over The Ocean" by Sondé

"Lullaby Lofi" by OKO 

"Casa De Frio" by Jon Presstone 

This episode features a lot of happy publishing news, a trip to the Land Down Under, and information about style sheets and the people who love them.

• More Writing Tips
• Recipe for a Healthy Brain | Shawline Publishing Group P/L - Featured Author
• Paperback Books, Melbourne, Australia - Featured Bookstore
• First Quarter Deals: Sales Remain At Record Levels, Even As Six-Figure Deals Soften - Publishers Lunch
• HarperCollins Focus Launches New Imprint Harper Select
• Ancient Lives from Yale University Press
• B&N Audiobooks
• Nostalgia for Big Box Bookstores
• NYPL Ends Late Fees

Music licensed from Storyblocks:

“More Jam Please” by Raighes Factory

"Warm Honey" by Jon Presstone

"Le Passage" by Enzo Orefice

"Hair and make up" by C.J. Harris

"Walking Through Downtown" by Humans Win

In this episode, we'll catch up on publishing news, continue our global independent bookstore visits, and learn how publishers keep an author's writing style consistent and how you can do the same.

• More Writing Tips
• Escents Bookcase - Featured Bookstore
• Island Press Submission Guidelines
• Graphic Novel Sales for 2021
• LGBTQIA+ Romance Is Booming
• Congress Investigates Book Banning in Schools
• Amazon Returns Policy Petition
• Brandon Sanderson's Record-Breaking Kickstarter
• PEN America Report Documents Massive Spike in Book Bans

Music licensed from Storyblocks:

“More Jam Please” by Raighes Factory

“Prelude (Entering The Thickspace)” by Humans Win

“Hip Hop Beat Gushito” by Gushito

“The Tune of Nature” by Gushito

Twenty minutes of nothing but writing tips from a book editor and publishing manager.

• More Writing Tips

Music licensed from Storyblocks:

“More Jam Please” by Raighes Factory

"Shimmy On Over" by Jon Presstone

The Muse takes you to an inspirational bookstore in Denmark, fills you in on publishing news, and shares 4 dos and dont's for working with beta readers.

• More Writing Tips
• arkbooks – Home of the best stories you've never heard - Featured Bookstore
• Gustavo Aviles - Featured Author
• Zestworld
• LGBTQ Books Removed from Target.com
• 2022 Audie Award Winners

Music licensed from Storyblocks:

“More Jam Please” by Raighes Factory

"Here with You" by Blaine Green

"Feeling Melancholy" by Neil Cross

"Future Now" by Simon Jomphe Lepine

"Cool Bounce" by C.J. Harris

"Endless" by Enzo Orefice

The Muse delivers a writing tip that could save your manuscript and maybe even your writing career and reports on AI-generated books. We also head to France for our first international bookstore visit.

• More Writing Tips
• Crystal Swain-Bates - Featured Author
• The Red Wheelbarrow - Featured Bookstore
• #CookiePitch
• University of Wales launches trade imprint, Calon - Wales Arts Review
• Disney Publishing Teams with ESPN for New Publishing Imprint
• US Copyright Office refuses to register AI-generated work, finding that "human authorship is a prerequisite to copyright protection" - The IPKat

Music licensed from Storyblocks:

“More Jam Please” by Raighes Factory

“Paris Coffee Break” by Style da Kid

"Lofi Jazz Beat (Paris Café Version)" by Tencher Music

"Cotton Candy Clouds" by Jon Presstone

In this Writing Break, we’re discussing Simon & Schuster’s prediction for book sales in 2022, the end of Pitch Wars, and Brandon Sanderson's mega-success with Kickstarter. Plus, the Muse answers some listener questions.

• More Writing Tips
• John Clayton - Featured Author
• Tumbleweed Bookstore and Cafe, Gardiner, MT - Featured Bookstore
• What Brandon Sanderson's $14M+ Kickstarter Project Means
• Brandon Sanderson Kickstarter
• The Future of Pitch Wars and #PitMad … | Pitch Wars
• AMC NETWORKS LAUNCHES BOOK PUBLISHING ARM WITH FOUR NEW FAN-FOCUSED, ORIGINAL TITLES – AMC Networks Inc.
• Simon & Schuster Sales Neared $1 Billion in 2021

Music licensed from Storyblocks:

“More Jam Please” by Raighes Factory

"Funky Good Times" by Jason Donnelly

"Breakin Smooth" by Gar Ashby

"Western Adventure" by Volodymyr Piddubnyk

“Pop-up” by Humans Win

"Storm On The Plains" by Humans Win

“The Simple Things” by Judson Lee

The Muse visits your neighborhood and discusses an Amazon fail, a school board win, libraries, your ideal audience, and more.

• More Writing Tips
• Five books removed from Indian River school libraries, but 151 remain
• The Selfies US Book Awards – Rewarding the very best in self-publishing each year
• Amazon to Close All Bookstores
• Shawanda Williams Launches Black Odyssey Media

Music licensed from Storyblocks:

“More Jam Please” by Raighes Factory

“Style and Class” by Amber Waldron  

“Lucky Day” by Zac Nelson

“Retro Styling” by Jon Presstone

"Chic" by Amber Waldron