Latest Indiereader column is on Kindle bestseller John Locke and his tireless sales force
Interview at Misha's My Book Affair. Thanks, Misha!
Excellent Barry Eisler and JA Konrath discussion on the digital-book future--from guys who have turned down big bucks from big publishers to fly solo. I met both these guys at the first Thrillerfest in 2006. Little did anyone know how much the business would change in just a few years. I'll be over at Joe's blog on April 1 as part of my Liquid Fear launch, discussing expanding your book base in the digital era.
I've also started a fledgling blog called Folkwiz to pursue my more sustainable/organic gardening endeavors, a little bit of modern Will Rogers crossed with stuff like saving seeds, growing food, and getting along iwth the neighbors.
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Showing posts with label authors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label authors. Show all posts
Monday, March 21, 2011
Friday, December 10, 2010
Divergence
The publishing world has two paths right now. The first is tradition, with PW reporting ebook growth slowed in October (but overall sales still grew) and Huffington Post lamenting the closing of bookstores.
Then there's the path taken by J.A. Konrath and an accelerating number of authors--the indie way. Or self-publishing. Or vanity press. Whatever.
Joe loves to delve into numbers, and rightly so, given his success and his platform that feeds on being a center of the indie world. It's a smart business, and he's interested, and he's always gone the extra mile to be out front on promotion and the future. And, rightfully, bunches of successful authors chime in with their own numbers. So both paths look a little skewed--New York is shrinking and indie is growing, suggests these two groups of data.
I have no doubt indie is growing, but when I posted on Joe's blog, I didn't see anybody in there saying "I only sold 12 copies that month." But there are hundreds of thousands of authors who sold only that many or less. I know, because I have rankings all over the map for my 18 or so books. I know roughly how many sales will get you at a certain rank, and it's pretty easy to get "locked in" at a certain level. Success breeds success, and not selling makes it harder to sell.
So, really, there's not enough evidence to make a comprehensive analysis, and I don't think the data will ever exist, because few indies will report their numbers, most don't use ISBNs to track sales, and PW will always get a very myopic and limited view of the market. It's simple enough to look at the Kindle bestseller list, which is, for all intents and purposes, the overall e-book bestseller list (though the UK Kindle market is expanding). Bestsellers still sell the best, and that hasn't changed.
What has changed, and what affects me happily, is that books stay in print and available and continue to reach new readers. I love expanding--getting emails, blogging, and even reading my one-star reviews. I say the customer is always right and I stand by it, even when the customer doesn't like my product.
But I've learned that people often take personal truth as a universal truth. For Joe and many authors, it's the best of times and the future looks bright. For an editor who just lost a publishing job, the future looks gray. But 99.9 percent of the readers don't care which view is right.
They want content how and when they want it, at a price they are willing to pay. That's pretty much the X factor to which all surrounding conditions respond. It's not indie success or publishing-industry failure shaping the landscape. Readers are tugging this tide. And it's absolutely cool.
Digital Drive-In flirts with Speed Dating with the Dead
Free multi-author sampler download Just In Time For The Holidays
###
Then there's the path taken by J.A. Konrath and an accelerating number of authors--the indie way. Or self-publishing. Or vanity press. Whatever.
Joe loves to delve into numbers, and rightly so, given his success and his platform that feeds on being a center of the indie world. It's a smart business, and he's interested, and he's always gone the extra mile to be out front on promotion and the future. And, rightfully, bunches of successful authors chime in with their own numbers. So both paths look a little skewed--New York is shrinking and indie is growing, suggests these two groups of data.
I have no doubt indie is growing, but when I posted on Joe's blog, I didn't see anybody in there saying "I only sold 12 copies that month." But there are hundreds of thousands of authors who sold only that many or less. I know, because I have rankings all over the map for my 18 or so books. I know roughly how many sales will get you at a certain rank, and it's pretty easy to get "locked in" at a certain level. Success breeds success, and not selling makes it harder to sell.
So, really, there's not enough evidence to make a comprehensive analysis, and I don't think the data will ever exist, because few indies will report their numbers, most don't use ISBNs to track sales, and PW will always get a very myopic and limited view of the market. It's simple enough to look at the Kindle bestseller list, which is, for all intents and purposes, the overall e-book bestseller list (though the UK Kindle market is expanding). Bestsellers still sell the best, and that hasn't changed.
What has changed, and what affects me happily, is that books stay in print and available and continue to reach new readers. I love expanding--getting emails, blogging, and even reading my one-star reviews. I say the customer is always right and I stand by it, even when the customer doesn't like my product.
But I've learned that people often take personal truth as a universal truth. For Joe and many authors, it's the best of times and the future looks bright. For an editor who just lost a publishing job, the future looks gray. But 99.9 percent of the readers don't care which view is right.
They want content how and when they want it, at a price they are willing to pay. That's pretty much the X factor to which all surrounding conditions respond. It's not indie success or publishing-industry failure shaping the landscape. Readers are tugging this tide. And it's absolutely cool.
Digital Drive-In flirts with Speed Dating with the Dead
Free multi-author sampler download Just In Time For The Holidays
###
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Barbarians at the Gate
According to Publishers Weekly: "A staggering 764,448 titles were produced in 2009 by self-publishers and micro-niche publishers, according to statistics released this morning by R.R. Bowker. The number of 'nontraditional' titles dwarfed that of traditional books, whose output slipped to 288,355 last year from 289,729 in 2008. Taken together, total book output rose 87% last year, to over 1 million books."
And that's just the books that registered for ISBNs. When you consider e-books, chapbooks, books distributed free through various online outlets, and anything not even in the "nontraditional" system, it's quite staggering. Amazon now has 5 million print titles available, though only 480,000 or so e-books. I fully expect 10 million books to be available, in various formats, by 2020.
What does this mean for readers and writers? Niche audiences. The 288,000 industry titles will probably continue to decline, because the business model favors selling hundreds of thousands of copies of a single book over the hustling of many smaller titles. In the corporate world, economies of scale always make for a good quarterly report, all things being equal. Anyone bitter about the publishing industry should realize it must operate the way it does, and even then it's a difficult business. What's remarkable is that good books still get out there and writers can still have careers.
But a fracturing of the market is inevitable. The major limiting factor in audience building is not the readers' money, but time. Most people are only going to buy a certain amount of books, and many of the early adopters of e-book readers hoarded a bunch of content, much of it low-priced, and have enough reading material to last years. They have to be really persuaded to go out and find more authors, especially when a million titles are staring them in the face. A number of them appreciate what they consider a filter, the winnowing process of the publishing industry that supposedly rejects terrible books and protects readers. The only flaw in that thinking is the publishing industry will most certainly publish a terrible book if it will make money--I think most of us have read a few of them, or at least the first 30 pages.
But who will winnow the other 9 million books? Right now, it's a buyer's market, and people whose manuscripts used to languish in the bottom drawer now have computer files that can be uploaded in a matter of minutes. Over time, readers will churn the cream to the top--it has already happened in a few instances, where self-published e-books have been picked up by traditional publishers. These "success stories" make good campfire tales for those millions of unpublished writers out there. Except now they aren't unpublished.
Writers as brands is a staple of the modern industry, and it will become even more significant as the millions of new authors take the stage and compete on the electronic bookshelf. It's a beautiful, crazy time, and I understand how the traditional industry might feel invaded and pillaged--they had a good thing going, a nice little castle and a high turret from which to view and shape the landscape. Now, nobody knows which way the storms will blow, least of all me. Anyone who believes in her work should have the opportunity to find readers--it may only be a handful, it may be millions. It still comes down to one writer connecting to one reader. Not much has changed, yet everything has changed.
###
And that's just the books that registered for ISBNs. When you consider e-books, chapbooks, books distributed free through various online outlets, and anything not even in the "nontraditional" system, it's quite staggering. Amazon now has 5 million print titles available, though only 480,000 or so e-books. I fully expect 10 million books to be available, in various formats, by 2020.
What does this mean for readers and writers? Niche audiences. The 288,000 industry titles will probably continue to decline, because the business model favors selling hundreds of thousands of copies of a single book over the hustling of many smaller titles. In the corporate world, economies of scale always make for a good quarterly report, all things being equal. Anyone bitter about the publishing industry should realize it must operate the way it does, and even then it's a difficult business. What's remarkable is that good books still get out there and writers can still have careers.
But a fracturing of the market is inevitable. The major limiting factor in audience building is not the readers' money, but time. Most people are only going to buy a certain amount of books, and many of the early adopters of e-book readers hoarded a bunch of content, much of it low-priced, and have enough reading material to last years. They have to be really persuaded to go out and find more authors, especially when a million titles are staring them in the face. A number of them appreciate what they consider a filter, the winnowing process of the publishing industry that supposedly rejects terrible books and protects readers. The only flaw in that thinking is the publishing industry will most certainly publish a terrible book if it will make money--I think most of us have read a few of them, or at least the first 30 pages.
But who will winnow the other 9 million books? Right now, it's a buyer's market, and people whose manuscripts used to languish in the bottom drawer now have computer files that can be uploaded in a matter of minutes. Over time, readers will churn the cream to the top--it has already happened in a few instances, where self-published e-books have been picked up by traditional publishers. These "success stories" make good campfire tales for those millions of unpublished writers out there. Except now they aren't unpublished.
Writers as brands is a staple of the modern industry, and it will become even more significant as the millions of new authors take the stage and compete on the electronic bookshelf. It's a beautiful, crazy time, and I understand how the traditional industry might feel invaded and pillaged--they had a good thing going, a nice little castle and a high turret from which to view and shape the landscape. Now, nobody knows which way the storms will blow, least of all me. Anyone who believes in her work should have the opportunity to find readers--it may only be a handful, it may be millions. It still comes down to one writer connecting to one reader. Not much has changed, yet everything has changed.
###
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Writing survival tips? Too late, you're already dead
After last night's writing session, I stayed up after midnight reading the blog of Dean Wesley Smith, a pro's pro and author of 70 or so books. His comments are stunning and eye-opening. I'm not saying the advice works for everyone, especially since he writes a lot of science fiction and fantasy, fields in which a few publishers will still look at unagented manuscripts. He talks about "Killing The Sacred Cows of the Publishing Industry." In fact, he's writing the book.
Since this is part of the goal of my collaboration Write Good or Die, I'm talking with Dean about using some of the material. I knew of him, of course, but didn't seek him out until finding the blog of his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch, herself a prolific writer with a bibliography as long as a river and also a wellspring of practical advice. In fact, her blog is about a "survival guide" for writers, eerily similar to Write Good's subhead of "Survival Tips for 21st Century writers." I think, between the two of them, they just might make it!
Throughout my career, I have paid attention to the small details while focusing on the big picture. I never felt my industry partners in the past cared as much about those details as I did. I understand, because they have different priorities and goals. As well they should. But I didn't adequately fight for what I believed to be right, and those details did turn out to matter. To me, not to them.
The old, broke, and sick living-legend author is practically a cliche now. Professional organizations, conventions, and communities rush to their rescue with fundraisers and benefits. That's heart-warming and inspiring, but also deeply sad at its core. Agents and editors and publishing corporations are not building pension funds for writers. In most cases, they go, "Here is a lump sum, buy your own insurance, pay your own taxes, and by the way, we'll control your content for X number of years and take 90 percent of everything. Oh, and the agent will take 15 percent of that remaining 10 percent. Be grateful. Now go out there and hustle this book for us at your own time and expense, or we'll dump you. And still tie up your rights."
It's insane. Even right now, the lure of "ooh, I have an agent," and "ooh, they really, really like me" is a heady tonic. And, even now, practically speaking, it's the absolute best way to be a "professional writer." That shows the sad state of this occupation, and the lowly fate of most writers. Even the people who love us don't treat us very well. Below the blockbusters, all the rest of us are bottom feeders.
I've always thought of my writing as products of my creation, products of my ownership, and that rightly I should wring income from them for as long as I live, and even pass that income on to my heirs for as long as the works are protected by copyright. I should be free to exploit those products, and achieve the majority of the profits. Dean Koontz refers to his books as "annuities," income-bearing properties. Obviously he's made mistakes, as admitted through his hilarious newsletter, and hasn't been afraid to change agents if things weren't working out.
A writer friend of mine was telling the story of one of his book deals, and when the agent was hemming and hawing a little, the acquiring editor said, "Let's just add a zero to the end." No matter the numbers, that is just plain stupid. A little hesitation automatically increases the property's value by a factor of ten? Would this have happened if the editor was spending her own money? And they say New York isn't broken? Hey, I am happy for this writer, and this writer deserves it.
But please spare me the whining about how major publishing needs to be preserved and protected with artificially high ebook prices so that we can "save the independent bookstores." I am willing to bet if corporate publishing and distribution were decentralized, there would be an explosion of independent bookstores. Of course, they'd better be selling decent coffee and have a POD kiosk, as well as some sort of digital catalog or library. They might even start having book signings again. You know, the part with the writers.
I guess the preservation of any culture depends upon your personal stake in it. If you are an agent getting easy deals, why should you care about the long-term well-being of your clients? If you're an editor who will probably get fired if you don't deliver a blockbuster, why should you risk your neck for a "small book" with a lot of heart? If business as usual is keeping you fed, why bother to change? If you're a writer, why not trust your career to the people who know how all this is supposed to work, for your own good?
Heck, look at me. I'm willing to trade words for magic beans. I'm as stupid as anybody.
###
Since this is part of the goal of my collaboration Write Good or Die, I'm talking with Dean about using some of the material. I knew of him, of course, but didn't seek him out until finding the blog of his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch, herself a prolific writer with a bibliography as long as a river and also a wellspring of practical advice. In fact, her blog is about a "survival guide" for writers, eerily similar to Write Good's subhead of "Survival Tips for 21st Century writers." I think, between the two of them, they just might make it!
Throughout my career, I have paid attention to the small details while focusing on the big picture. I never felt my industry partners in the past cared as much about those details as I did. I understand, because they have different priorities and goals. As well they should. But I didn't adequately fight for what I believed to be right, and those details did turn out to matter. To me, not to them.
The old, broke, and sick living-legend author is practically a cliche now. Professional organizations, conventions, and communities rush to their rescue with fundraisers and benefits. That's heart-warming and inspiring, but also deeply sad at its core. Agents and editors and publishing corporations are not building pension funds for writers. In most cases, they go, "Here is a lump sum, buy your own insurance, pay your own taxes, and by the way, we'll control your content for X number of years and take 90 percent of everything. Oh, and the agent will take 15 percent of that remaining 10 percent. Be grateful. Now go out there and hustle this book for us at your own time and expense, or we'll dump you. And still tie up your rights."
It's insane. Even right now, the lure of "ooh, I have an agent," and "ooh, they really, really like me" is a heady tonic. And, even now, practically speaking, it's the absolute best way to be a "professional writer." That shows the sad state of this occupation, and the lowly fate of most writers. Even the people who love us don't treat us very well. Below the blockbusters, all the rest of us are bottom feeders.
I've always thought of my writing as products of my creation, products of my ownership, and that rightly I should wring income from them for as long as I live, and even pass that income on to my heirs for as long as the works are protected by copyright. I should be free to exploit those products, and achieve the majority of the profits. Dean Koontz refers to his books as "annuities," income-bearing properties. Obviously he's made mistakes, as admitted through his hilarious newsletter, and hasn't been afraid to change agents if things weren't working out.
A writer friend of mine was telling the story of one of his book deals, and when the agent was hemming and hawing a little, the acquiring editor said, "Let's just add a zero to the end." No matter the numbers, that is just plain stupid. A little hesitation automatically increases the property's value by a factor of ten? Would this have happened if the editor was spending her own money? And they say New York isn't broken? Hey, I am happy for this writer, and this writer deserves it.
But please spare me the whining about how major publishing needs to be preserved and protected with artificially high ebook prices so that we can "save the independent bookstores." I am willing to bet if corporate publishing and distribution were decentralized, there would be an explosion of independent bookstores. Of course, they'd better be selling decent coffee and have a POD kiosk, as well as some sort of digital catalog or library. They might even start having book signings again. You know, the part with the writers.
I guess the preservation of any culture depends upon your personal stake in it. If you are an agent getting easy deals, why should you care about the long-term well-being of your clients? If you're an editor who will probably get fired if you don't deliver a blockbuster, why should you risk your neck for a "small book" with a lot of heart? If business as usual is keeping you fed, why bother to change? If you're a writer, why not trust your career to the people who know how all this is supposed to work, for your own good?
Heck, look at me. I'm willing to trade words for magic beans. I'm as stupid as anybody.
###
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
POD people
Review of The Red Church up at DigiScrapping. It's kind of cool to get reviews for an older book with a new leash on life. I'm working with Damien Navillus to do print layout and make it available in paper once again, like through a print-on-demand press. Since acquiring an ISBN, paying proof and set-up fees, and other overhead would run in the hundreds of dollars, and the ebooks are doing well with nothing more than time invested, it makes sense to do it directly through Amazon's Createspace, but I haven't made a final decision yet. I've been brainstorming ways to get the book back in print for at least a year, and, well, I'm not getting any younger.
If there's enough interest, I'll probably go ahead and release a print novel of The Skull Ring, probably in trade paperback size, and also work up a couple of graphic anthologies for the long-suffering DIRT series and GRAVE CONDITIONS. Let me know if you still like paper over plastic--I expect it will be three to five years before ebooks take a majority share of the reading market.
If there's enough interest, I'll probably go ahead and release a print novel of The Skull Ring, probably in trade paperback size, and also work up a couple of graphic anthologies for the long-suffering DIRT series and GRAVE CONDITIONS. Let me know if you still like paper over plastic--I expect it will be three to five years before ebooks take a majority share of the reading market.
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