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.

Quick one this week: Bookouture signs indie duo Vargas and McBain, and a BBC article goes into the history of Amazon and how they harvest customer data (for our benefit).

Bookouture Signs Vargas and McBain

Following on from snapping up Rachel Abbott’s new thriller novel, Bookouture has signed indie writing duo Vargas and McBain for the first three books in a brand new crime series. It’ll be about “a private detective haunted by the voice of her dead sister” on Salem Island.

The lines between traditional and indie publishing are beginning to blur as indie publishing houses grow in popularity. The founder of Bookouture, Oliver Rhodes, will be speaking at the Self Publishing Show Live conference, along with other industry leaders changing the way we launch books.

For more news on Vargas and McBain’s deal, read the original article here.

The Inner Workings of Amazon

Amazon has been a major part in shifting the power dynamic in the literary/ publishing industry away from gatekeepers and towards the writers themselves. But how many of us know how Amazon became the behemoth they are today, or how they’re so effective when it comes to marketing?

A new report from the BBC takes a deep-dive into the company, from how it gathers data to the evolution of its branding to how it stays ahead of its competitors. It’s well worth a read, if only to know how we, as authors, might benefit from data down the road.

You can read the full article 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.