Welcome to the SPF Weekly Write-Up, where each Wednesday we collect together the self-publishing news of the week so you don’t have to.

This week: how the coronavirus is shaking up the traditional publishing industry, and a brand new Instagram Stories webinar from Stuart Grant in SPFU.

How the Coronavirus is Changing Publishing (for Trads)

For us indie authors, not a lot has changed since the coronavirus became a thing (from an indie publishing perspective, that is – obviously a lot has been turned upside down on a personal level!). But where indies may even see a boost in sales during global isolation, the traditional publishers and bookstores are seeing a whole different picture.

An article in the Los Angeles Times covers the impact of the virus, from the “short-term tragedy of independent bookstores” to drops in online orders (outside of Amazon, obviously) to trad publishing’s tendency to schedule book launches years in advance, resulting in delays and further complications. Ebooks, however, are selling “at about the level we would see during the holidays”!

You can read the full article here.

Instagram Stories for Authors Webinar

Back by popular demand, Stuart Grant (author of SPF’s Instagram for Authors book and previous SPFU webinar presenter) will soon be taking a deep-dive into the ins and outs of Instagram Stories, a relatively new content format that most of us aren’t making the most of (even though Instagram is a platform with a massive global reach).

The SPF University is currently free to enrol in (normally exclusive to course students and Patreon subscribers). You can catch Stuart’s webinar on Wednesday 8th April, or catch up afterwards in the SPFU course folder.

You can sign up here.

Tom Ashford

Tom Ashford is a professional copywriter, author of numerous dark fantasy and sci-fi novels, and the Head of Content at the Self Publishing Formula Blog. His books include the Blackwater trilogy and the Checking Out series.

He lives in London with his wife, in an apartment that doesn’t allow pets. Find out more about Tom here.