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Dear Google, fix your algorithms — They're killing journalism
By Minda Zetlin
 Dear Google:
You and I have had our differences over the years, most notably when ASJA helped scuttle the settlement between you and the Authors Guild over the illegal scanning and dissemination of more than 30 million books. I continue to believe that your scanning amounts to theft, but this letter has nothing to do with that. It has to do with your core business, the thing your company does best: Search. Your insight that you could crowdsource website ranking literally launched an empire.
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Another's voice
By Gwen Moran
When it comes to ghostwriting, one of the most challenging aspects of writing the manuscript is capturing another author's voice. Writers typically have a cadence and style to their work that reflects certain word, construction, and other preferences. Sometimes, those can be easily recognized. Developing a strong, recognizable voice is a work-in-progress for many writers.
Ghostwriters, on the other hand, seek to be invisible. Our job is to capture and present the voice of the author. We are successful when someone says, "That sounds just like me!" And while that almost never happens in the first draft, there is a process I've found very effective to sound less like Gwen and more like the individual whose book I'm ghosting.
The future of self-publishing
Forbes
There are two scales at which we should look at the future of self-publishing: individual and industrial. On an individual level, self-publishing efforts evolve as the person develops the requisite knowledge, skills and contacts to do the job.
How to improve your writing: Subplots and subtext
Writer's Digest
Creating a story line that is subordinate to — but related to — the primary plotline, a background story that centers on the character's inner demons, is great fodder for a subplot. Because when subplot focuses on the hero's inner demons, it can also quickly become subtext. And subtext is a wonderful thing in storytelling.
Does the title fit?
Publishers Weekly
One of the fun things about being a bookseller is the opportunity to notice how readers (at least in one's own market) respond to book covers, titles, and handselling "pitches." So much can be learned from observing what makes a customer’s eyes glaze over, as well as what perks them up.
Hugh Howey on why he favors self-publishing
Boing Boing
Hugh Howey, author of the runaway self-published best-seller Wool, has a very well-argued, thoughtful, and fascinating look at the relative merits of self-publishing for a median kind of writer, who is not a bestseller and only looks for a supplement to a regular income.
Digital swag to share at events
Mediabistro's GalleyCat
What kind of digital swag do you share with your readers? We’ve created a list of ideas below. Add your ideas and links in the comments section, we will update as the list grows. … A Wired essay about BookExpo America bemoaned the lack of digital swag that authors can share with readers at conferences or readings.
Missed last week's issue? See which articles your colleagues read most.
Entrepreneur creates publishing powerhouse with niche romance novels
Small Business Trends
Tina Engler didn't set out to start a multimillion dollar publishing company when she began writing romance novels in the late 1990s. She just wanted to write the kind of books she wanted to read. Those kinds of books weren’t widely available from popular authors at the time.
Self-publishing platform for interactive books
Mediabistro's GalleyCat
Trying to create interactive stories for digital readers? The new Accel.io self-publishing platform was built to help create and sell interactive books with text, embed videos, slides, maps and more for any kind of reading device.
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The ASJA Weekly
Alexandra Cantor Owens, ASJA Executive Director, 212.997-0947
Colby Horton, Vice President of Publishing, 469.420.2601
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Yvette Craig, Senior Content Editor, 469.420.2641
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