I do twitter– as @IWhoDaresWins since my name was taken and now I’m kind of stuck with it. I’m uncertain about social media and it’s effect. I think as a writer you have to do it, because, well, doing nothing dooms you. I find interesting links on Twitter every day. A few days ago I was directed toward a blog by Michael Hyatt, who is CEO of Thomas Nelson. That’s a Christian book publisher in Nashville. In his blog he talked about agents being upset about Harlequin and Thomas Nelson opening vanity arms. He actually asked: Why is their no uproar about authors ripping off publishers? His point was since most new authors never earn out, publishers take a hit. True.
I’ve heard this for years. My answer would be that perhaps publishers need to stop blaming authors and take a look at their flawed business paradigm. I once asked an editor where Random House put it’s publicity money and he said: Our bestsellers. It makes sense, but it also means publisher are throwing 100 books against the wall, hoping one or two stick. I don’t know any other business run this way. I sold over 1 million books for Random House and the sum total of their marketing campaign was one time they made up some hats with the title and gave them to distributors. I figure they must have paid 100 bucks or so. Efficient. And they just rejected a new proposal from me saying that my numbers dropped as the Area 51 series went on. True. But my question is: they printed less and less books, did less and distribution– and was that my fault? I guess so, since in essence they fired me.
I think there are a lot of smart people trying to figure out the future of publishing. The economy is in the tank and a lot of editors and publishing people have been fired. So have a lot of authors. We need to get smarter. The first thing, though, might be if people like Michael Hyatt had a little more respect toward authors. He is one too, after all. He closed his blog to comments after people reacted to his comments. He also deleted my response and has barred me from making any further comments. This is interesting coming from a publisher, given, you know, a thing like freedom of speech. It also indicates the close-mindedness of certain people.
I think a lot of people are very scared right now and they should be. Things are changing quickly. But it’s a good news, bad news thing. We have to evolve. I noticed on recent royalty statements a slight uptick in e-books sold, which is good. POD and e-books are the future of publishing. The days of mass printing and shipping are ultimately doomed.
The big question is who will be the ‘gatekeepers’ of the new face of publishing?
