This Week’s Self-publishing News

Do not adjust your sets. It really is Thursday. I feel like Jesse Eisenberg playing Mark Zuckerberg in the Social Network in one of those archetypical scenes that you sort of know happens only in cinema – and on the Dow Jones, if news channels are to be believed. As I post this, all of us at ALLi are literally huddled round our chatboxes and stat counters, getting ready as the 24 hour bonanza that is Indie Author Fringe goes live in 3…2…1… well, in under 24 hours at any rate!

So, without further ado,

This is what you can do to take part. Jay has written a fabulous post here, giving you the lowdown on absolutely everything to get the most out of IAF, with all the details about events and giveaways – the whole caboodle.

Congratulations!

In case it has escaped your notice, this week has seen London Book Fair. One particular note of cheer was another major scoop for ALLi partners Reedsy, who bagged the Innovation Award at Quantum Conference, held on the eve of LBF (details here). Meanwhile, and in keeping with making sure there’s always something to say about bookstores, Readings of Melbourne have won International Bookstore of the year (story here).

Copyright questions

The connection might not be obvious, but the music industry always leads where literature follows on such questions, (although we have followed the recent Shadowhunter case with great interest), and the news that Led Zeppelin’s classic Stairway to Heaven is having the originality of its famous opening challenged in court is of interest to all creators (story here). Based on Zeppelin’s defence that the challenge comes from someone who is a jobbing commissioned writer, I can see several aspects of this worth watching for all of us. And on a similar theme, the prevalence of piracy is apparently affecting the creative sector in China (more here).

Golden Publishing Compass

Meanwhile, at the International Publishers’ Conference, Philip Pullman followed up his stand on behalf of authors being paid at festivals by warning publishers that it was not readers and not writers who would come out of the digital revolution as losers, but that it was “the people in the middle, the people between readers and writers, who are affected” (Full story here).

Giving up the Day Job?

Probably a lot of us would like to be able to write full time. Tempting as it might be simply to say “good luck with that, then”, The Passive Voice this week devoted an open column (here) for indies to share their stories of how they gave up the day job – 500 comments and counting. And if you *do* strike it rich, here’s a very interesting post with advice on what to do if an author finds themselves suddenly with money.

And finally, for those of you who might have though we haven’t heard much about Wattpad recently, news that Sourcebooks has acquired its first title, Undead Dating Service by Juliet Lyons, through its Wattpad “submit2sourcebooks” programme (story here).

Upcoming Author Conferences & Events

APRIL 2016
Indie Author Fringe: Apr 15 [Online, Global] – brought to you by ALLi
Pikes Peak Writers’ Conference; Apr 15 – 17 [ Colorado Springs, Colorado] Story Circle Network Women’s Writing Conference; Apr 15 – 17 [ Austin, TX] Writer’s Institute; Apr 15 – 17 [Madison, Wisconsin] Jane Austen Festival Australia: Apr 15 – 17 [Canberra, Australia] 23rd Annual Budapest International Book Festival: Apr 21 – 24 [Budapest, Hungary] Buenos Aires Book Fair: Apr 21 – May 9 [Buenos Aires, Argentina] Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival: Apr 23 {Gloucesterhire, England}
Pow Wow Festival of Writing: Apr 24 [Birmingham, UK] Abu Dhabi International Book Fair: Apr 27 – May 1 [Abu Dhabi, UAE] Geneva Book & Press Fair: Apr 27 – May 1 [Geneva, Switzerland] Las Vegas Writers Conference: Apr 28 – 30 [Las Vegas, Nevada] Chanticleer Authors Conference: Apr 29 – May 1 [Bellingham, Washington]

MAY 2016

Teheran International Book Fair: May 5 – 15 [Teheran, Iran] The Self-publishing Conference: May 7 [Leicester, UK] Creative Ink Festival: May 6-8 [Burnaby, B.C. Canada] Auckland Writers Festival: May 10 – 15 [New Zealand] Book Expo America: May 11 – 13 [Chicago, Illinois, USA] Franschhoek Literary Festival: May 13 – 15 [South Africa] Varena-Sydney Writers Festival: May 14 – 22 [New South Wales, Australia] Sydney Writers Festival: May 16 – 22 [New South Wales, Australia] Indie Author Fringe: May 14 [Online, Global] – brought to you by ALLi
Warsaw Book Fair: May 19 – 22 [Warsaw, Poland] Writecon: May 21 [Zurich, Switzerland] Kingsmead College Book Fair: May 21 [Johannesburg, SA] International Literature Festival: May 21 – 29 [Dublin, Ireland] Australian Booksellers Association Conference & Trade Exhibition: May 29 – 30 [Melbourne, Australia]

JUNE 2016

Dublin Writers Conference: June 24 – 26 [Dublin, Ireland] Seoul International Book Fair: June 15 – 19 [Seoul, Korea]

JULY 2016

Hong Kong Book Fair: July 20 – 26 [Hong Kong, China] South African Book Fair: July 29 – 31 [Johannesburg, South Africa]

(The above list may not include all the major events; please feel free to email us with any important ones we’ve missed out, or include in comments below.)