Things have gotten pretty wild out there in the publishing world. First, you have publishers who haven't clue one about digital publishing and don't take the steps necessary to find out.
Then this--the big Amazon-MacMillan dust-up. It seems that Amazon objects to MacMillan's high retail prices for e-books, not to mention the timing of their release. (To boost hardcover sales, of all things. Yeah, just when you thought you'd heard it all.) So, now it's reached the point where Amazon simply won't sell MacMillan's books (they can be obtained through the site from third parties).
Here's the memo from MacMillan that's got everyone in an uproar.
Now, I was all set to write a scathing post about how charging way too much for e-books won't help anyone and delaying their release won't affect hardcover sales a whit. But someone beat me to it. Chris Meadows does nice job of summing the whole mess up and rendering a scathing opinion for me. (And thank you, Chris, for that. :))
Now, like Meadows says, Amazon may be a jerk here, but MacMillan is being an even bigger one.
How do I know? From my own experience. I was selling my own mystery novel, IDENTITY CRISIS, for $1.59 a download and making decent (if unspectacular) sales. I dropped the price to $.99 and suddenly sales shot through the roof.
With the drop in price my download sales went from 40 to 70 per month up to hundreds. In fact, would you believe that at $.99, I've sold more than 1,000 downloads in January?
And the notion that delaying an e-book's release to sell hardcovers is laughable. I guess publishers never heard of the library. Duh.
One thing's for sure, the Kindle forums are lit up with discussions about this. Readers are pissed. And not at Amazon.
Oh, and one more thing, here's Amazon's response posted to one of its forums.
Among other things, it says:
"[U]ltimately, . . . we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books."
Uh, ahem, well thanks for looking out for the readers' interests and all (how noble of you) and, as for the term "monopoly" . . . well, let's not go there, okay?
ADDENDUM: Forgot to include this awesome post by Carolyn Jewel, as well as this one by Mr. Cutting Edge himself, the great Joe Konrath.
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Quotation for the Week of January 31
"I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy."
-- J. D. Salinger (RIP J.D.)
-- J. D. Salinger (RIP J.D.)
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Are You Writing for a Hostile Audience?
A guest post by Rick Holton
Most business communicators recognize the value of understanding their audience. It is especially important to determine whether you are writing for a hostile or friendly audience.
In writing to inform, you will usually be writing for a friendly or neutral audience. In writing to persuade, you will often be writing for a hostile audience—in other words, you will be trying to motivate your audience to do something they do not want to do. “Hostile” only means hostile to your message, not hostile to you personally.
Writing for a Friendly or Neutral Audience
In writing for a friendly or neutral audience, state your conclusions first and then support them with evidence. Doing this gives the reader a context in which to place your arguments. Knowing in advance where you are going, the reader is less likely to reach a different conclusion.
Writing for a Hostile Audience
In writing for a hostile audience, you should present your arguments first and then your conclusions. If you start with your conclusions, the reader, who is disinclined to believe you, has no incentive to read further. Instead, you must convince the reader gradually.
Example
You manufacture and sell a new type of high-quality luggage. A retailer has just canceled his initial order for 40 pieces, on the grounds that he has had second thoughts and thinks he will have a hard time selling them. Your job is to convince him to reinstate his order on your terms.
Rather than starting by saying that you are writing to get him to reinstate his order (which will cause him to stop reading), you should first explain the benefits to him, starting with the most important. You might mention your nationwide advertising campaign, your luggage’s growing reputation for quality, and the favorable terms you are offering.
After you have demonstrated the benefits of carrying your luggage, he should be more amenable to your conclusion that he should reinstate his order.
(In Rick's next guest post, he'll talk about writing for immediate, primary and secondary audiences.)
Rick Holton is owner of The Holton Group, which specializes in business writing and consulting.
Most business communicators recognize the value of understanding their audience. It is especially important to determine whether you are writing for a hostile or friendly audience.
In writing to inform, you will usually be writing for a friendly or neutral audience. In writing to persuade, you will often be writing for a hostile audience—in other words, you will be trying to motivate your audience to do something they do not want to do. “Hostile” only means hostile to your message, not hostile to you personally.
Writing for a Friendly or Neutral Audience
In writing for a friendly or neutral audience, state your conclusions first and then support them with evidence. Doing this gives the reader a context in which to place your arguments. Knowing in advance where you are going, the reader is less likely to reach a different conclusion.
Writing for a Hostile Audience
In writing for a hostile audience, you should present your arguments first and then your conclusions. If you start with your conclusions, the reader, who is disinclined to believe you, has no incentive to read further. Instead, you must convince the reader gradually.
Example
You manufacture and sell a new type of high-quality luggage. A retailer has just canceled his initial order for 40 pieces, on the grounds that he has had second thoughts and thinks he will have a hard time selling them. Your job is to convince him to reinstate his order on your terms.
Rather than starting by saying that you are writing to get him to reinstate his order (which will cause him to stop reading), you should first explain the benefits to him, starting with the most important. You might mention your nationwide advertising campaign, your luggage’s growing reputation for quality, and the favorable terms you are offering.
After you have demonstrated the benefits of carrying your luggage, he should be more amenable to your conclusion that he should reinstate his order.
(In Rick's next guest post, he'll talk about writing for immediate, primary and secondary audiences.)
Rick Holton is owner of The Holton Group, which specializes in business writing and consulting.
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Quotation for the Week of January 24
"Things are only impossible until they're not."
-- Jean-Luc Picard
-- Jean-Luc Picard
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Amazon Announces 'Active Content' App Program
Hot on the heels of yesterday's news about its new enhanced e-book royalties agreement, Amazon has now announced that it's developed a program for what it calls "active content."
According to Publishers Lunch, this amounts to being able to create the Kindle version of apps. As the announcement notes, "Handmark is building an active Zagat guide featuring their trusted ratings, reviews and more for restaurants in cities around the world, and Sonic Boom is building word games and puzzles. "
To quote Publishers Lunch:
"Like Apple's App Store model--and the new self-publishing Kindle royalty option announced yesterday--creators of active content will receive 70 percent of the revenue, minus delivery fees of 15 cents per megabyte. Small apps of less than 1 mb can be offered free, and their model provides for both one-time purchases as well as monthly subscriptions."
Damn, it's getting hard keeping up with all this. Who knew that as a writer, I'd need training in computer science? My only consolation is that publishers are probably asking themselves the same question.
According to Publishers Lunch, this amounts to being able to create the Kindle version of apps. As the announcement notes, "Handmark is building an active Zagat guide featuring their trusted ratings, reviews and more for restaurants in cities around the world, and Sonic Boom is building word games and puzzles. "
To quote Publishers Lunch:
"Like Apple's App Store model--and the new self-publishing Kindle royalty option announced yesterday--creators of active content will receive 70 percent of the revenue, minus delivery fees of 15 cents per megabyte. Small apps of less than 1 mb can be offered free, and their model provides for both one-time purchases as well as monthly subscriptions."
Damn, it's getting hard keeping up with all this. Who knew that as a writer, I'd need training in computer science? My only consolation is that publishers are probably asking themselves the same question.
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Amazon is Making an Offer Authors Can't Refuse on Digital Books
Good heavens, this has turned into quite the busy news day in the publishing world. Today, Amazon announced a new deal for authors putting their books up on its digital text platform (DTP). Under that deal, authors will get 70 percent of the list price of their ebooks, net of delivery costs. (And how much could delivery costs for an ebook amount to? Can't be much.) Under its current DTP contract, authors get around 30% (more or less) of the list price.
The announcement goes into the requirements for taking advantage of this deal (which do involve setting a minimum price, so there is a possible trade-off here), which will become available on June 30, 2010.
The announcement goes into the requirements for taking advantage of this deal (which do involve setting a minimum price, so there is a possible trade-off here), which will become available on June 30, 2010.
Amazon Settles Antitrust Lawsuit Filed by BookLocker
Normally, I don't post to this blog except on Thursdays and Sundays, but this news was way too big to wait another day. What's happened is that Amazon has called it quits in the antitrust lawsuit BookLocker filed against it. Yes, Amazon has thrown in the towel and settled its differences with BookLocker.com, who claimed that Amazon tried to force them and other POD (that's print-on-demand, folks) publishers to pay BookSurge (the name at the time, since changed to CreateSpace) to print their books or lose their "buy it now" buttons on Amazon.
Here's the post that discusses the class action lawsuit that resulted and its settlement. (BookLocker absolutely refused to make it a confidential settlement. Whoa, Nelly! Amazon must have really wanted to fraking settle this.)
Anyhow, looks like David just beat Goliath again.
Here's the post that discusses the class action lawsuit that resulted and its settlement. (BookLocker absolutely refused to make it a confidential settlement. Whoa, Nelly! Amazon must have really wanted to fraking settle this.)
Anyhow, looks like David just beat Goliath again.
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Quotation for the Week of January 17
"Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine."
-- Sir Arthur Eddington
-- Sir Arthur Eddington
Thursday, 14 January 2010
When Are Publishers Going to Get a Clue About E-Books?
You know, you really have to wonder--why's it taking the publishing industry so long to catch onto the obvious? (Of course, I am talking about an industry that allows bookstores to return books for a 100% refund of the purchase price. Traditional? Yes. Stupid? Yes.) E-books represent a burgeoning market that's only going to grow bigger.
And yet, this question was raised in a recent Soapdish post: So when should an e-book be published?
Well, duh. How about as soon as possible. I mean, this post even cites a success story for George Soros's The New Paradigm for Financial Markets, which sold more than 50,000 downloads as a digital book, two months before the hardcover was released.
I mean, by putting an e-book out there, you're giving the book amazing exposure, which should lead to better print sales. (Word of mouth, people. It works. And those who download the book and like it will probably recommend it to those who stick to "dead tree" books.)
And here's another fair question posed by Soapdish: Why Were There No Publishers at the Consumer Electronics Show?
That's right. Publishers claim they want to ride the e-book gravy train, but they can't seem to find the station.
Open your eyes, traditional publishers. Because that train will be leaving the station without you, if you aren't more vigilant.
And yet, this question was raised in a recent Soapdish post: So when should an e-book be published?
Well, duh. How about as soon as possible. I mean, this post even cites a success story for George Soros's The New Paradigm for Financial Markets, which sold more than 50,000 downloads as a digital book, two months before the hardcover was released.
I mean, by putting an e-book out there, you're giving the book amazing exposure, which should lead to better print sales. (Word of mouth, people. It works. And those who download the book and like it will probably recommend it to those who stick to "dead tree" books.)
And here's another fair question posed by Soapdish: Why Were There No Publishers at the Consumer Electronics Show?
That's right. Publishers claim they want to ride the e-book gravy train, but they can't seem to find the station.
Open your eyes, traditional publishers. Because that train will be leaving the station without you, if you aren't more vigilant.
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Quotation for the Week of January 10
"How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?"
-- Charles De Gaulle
-- Charles De Gaulle
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Will Self-Publishing Your Fiction Hurt Your Writing Career?
Someone on LinkedIn recently posed this question, in essence. The question this person actually asked was whether you'd hurt your chances of being picked up by a traditional publisher, if you self-published.
I have (ahem) a few opinions on this matter. I say the answer is no.
Here's what I had to say in my somewhat non-responsive response (with a correction and some parenthetical thoughts in brackets):
I can think of a few examples of self-published fiction authors who've found traditional publishers (not always big publishers, but that's not necessarily a bad thing).
K.j.a. Wishnia (who self-published a mystery that got an Edgar nomination, which was almost withdrawn until a traditional publisher signed him)
Brunonia Barry (her novel "The Lace Reader" became a bestseller)
M.J. Rose (not familiar with her work, but she started out self-published)
Seth Harwood (author of "Jack Wakes Up"--initially self-published, but the book's under contract with a small press now) [Oops, that's not right. It was with a small press, but got picked up by Random House.]
Seth is a particularly interesting example. He has been called an author-preneur. I wrote about Seth recently on my blog Writing for Hire [yeah, this one :)].
In my opinion, writing is like any other business. If you create a good product (i.e., a good, well-written story), promote, market and sell it, and keep an eye out for opportunities, you can eventually build a viable readership. These days it's much easier to do this through e-book publishing. However, with print-on-demand technology, it's achievable with print books, too. In addition, social networking is a very powerful marketing tool. And you can sell your work on your Web site.
The problem with most authors is that all they see are the negatives. They're so used to gauging their worth by the opinions of an insular few within the publishing industry, rather than readers, that they fail to see the possibilities of achieving success without the industry's stamp of approval. [That's right. I'm going balls out on this one.] Yet it's readers who are their customers--not publishers or agents. Publishers and agents provide value, but they aren't the ultimate consumer.
If you have worked hard on your craft and produced a good book, I believe you can achieve success based entirely on sound business principles. I'm not saying you'll necessarily hit the bestseller list, but I think it's possible to make a living as a writer with this philosophy.
Again, I'm not saying that publishers or agents have no value. Clearly, they do. The question is, what value do they [as in, publishers] give in exchange for getting a license to your rights?
These are the kinds of questions any business person should be thinking about before entering a licensing contract for their product with anyone. And a book is, ultimately, a product.
I don't think I necessarily answered your question, but I hope these thoughts are helpful.
I have (ahem) a few opinions on this matter. I say the answer is no.
Here's what I had to say in my somewhat non-responsive response (with a correction and some parenthetical thoughts in brackets):
I can think of a few examples of self-published fiction authors who've found traditional publishers (not always big publishers, but that's not necessarily a bad thing).
K.j.a. Wishnia (who self-published a mystery that got an Edgar nomination, which was almost withdrawn until a traditional publisher signed him)
Brunonia Barry (her novel "The Lace Reader" became a bestseller)
M.J. Rose (not familiar with her work, but she started out self-published)
Seth Harwood (author of "Jack Wakes Up"--initially self-published, but the book's under contract with a small press now) [Oops, that's not right. It was with a small press, but got picked up by Random House.]
Seth is a particularly interesting example. He has been called an author-preneur. I wrote about Seth recently on my blog Writing for Hire [yeah, this one :)].
In my opinion, writing is like any other business. If you create a good product (i.e., a good, well-written story), promote, market and sell it, and keep an eye out for opportunities, you can eventually build a viable readership. These days it's much easier to do this through e-book publishing. However, with print-on-demand technology, it's achievable with print books, too. In addition, social networking is a very powerful marketing tool. And you can sell your work on your Web site.
The problem with most authors is that all they see are the negatives. They're so used to gauging their worth by the opinions of an insular few within the publishing industry, rather than readers, that they fail to see the possibilities of achieving success without the industry's stamp of approval. [That's right. I'm going balls out on this one.] Yet it's readers who are their customers--not publishers or agents. Publishers and agents provide value, but they aren't the ultimate consumer.
If you have worked hard on your craft and produced a good book, I believe you can achieve success based entirely on sound business principles. I'm not saying you'll necessarily hit the bestseller list, but I think it's possible to make a living as a writer with this philosophy.
Again, I'm not saying that publishers or agents have no value. Clearly, they do. The question is, what value do they [as in, publishers] give in exchange for getting a license to your rights?
These are the kinds of questions any business person should be thinking about before entering a licensing contract for their product with anyone. And a book is, ultimately, a product.
I don't think I necessarily answered your question, but I hope these thoughts are helpful.
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Quotation for the Week of January 3
"If God had really intended men to fly, he'd make it easier to get to the airport."
-- George Winters
-- George Winters
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