Letters & Numbers

Is the unauthorised copying of media, more commonly referred to as 'piracy' really one of the biggest threats to authors and other creatives? Or are there far more important things to be concerned about?

In this final episode of season 1 of Letters & Numbers, we look at the actual financial impacts of piracy, the statistics which show how being overly worried about piracy can actually backfire, and explore who is actually ripping off artists - spoiler alert, it's not...

The previous two episodes shone a light on some of the subtle forms of #bookbigotry in publishing: writers may show prejudices for or against books depending on their format (physical vs. ebook), and their platform (Amazon vs. 'the rest').

In this episode, we turn to explore prejudices based on location (i.e. US vs. 'international')...

The previous episode shone a light on three subtle forms of #bookbigotry in publishing: writers may show prejudices for or against books depending on their format, platform, and location of origin - starting with a focus on format (physical vs. ebooks).

In this episode, we turn to explore prejudices based on platform (i.e. Amazon vs. 'the rest')...

Carolyn Howard-Johnson uses the term #bookbigotry to describe snap judgements about a book on the basis that it is independently published - without so much as looking at the description, the author's bio, or even glimpsing the cover...

As much as I love books, I’ve never been a big fan of book-related merchandise, either as a reader or as a writer.

This is a rant about literacy, capitalism… and foul-tasting beans.

Join author, linguist, and mathematician-in-the-making Sarah on an exploration of the world through the lens of letters and numbers!

Links from this episode:

Harry Potter Wikiexchange rate, bean flavours

Dempster et al...

Don't worry, I don't mean how many books you should be allowed to buy, borrow or steal! Rather, in this episode we ask what is a reasonable limit when it comes to book hauls from conferences and giveaways...

For anyone aiming to become an author, the statistics on what happens to books once they hit the shelves aren't all that rosy. Around a third of all traditionally-published books that make it to bookstore shelves are returned to the publishers - then remaindered, or shredded.

In this episode, we take a look at Carolyn Howard-Johnson's tips on how to avoid our own books landing in the warehouse - or worse, in the shredder...

In the last episode, we looked at how online traditionally-published authors are via an examination of 12 bestselling authors. A lack of a social media platform doesn't seem to hamper these authors - but what about indies who don't have the same marketing power?

This time, we examine a dozen indie indie authors to see how important social media is for them...

Low-effort ghost-written books 'by' celebrities have long been a thing, but this type of publication exploded in popularity with the rise of internet celebrities who have amassed large followings. Meanwhile, as we saw in the previous episode, publishers themselves can hardly be said to have leveraged social media to the same extent...

In this episode, we begin the final mini-series in this first season of Letters and Numbers, turning our attention to the promotion of creative works. The real intersection between letters and numbers: where words meet money.

Authors are often advised that social media is 'key' to success. But very rarely is any evidence provided to back up this assertion. As readers, I suspect most of us would prefer that our favourite writers spend their time.....