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?
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It’s a very interesting time to be a writer, that’s for sure. One thing that struck me; I had a request from a reader yesterday to buy all my books via download in one location, and there was no single place that had them all. Problems like that need solving. If a reader can order all of an author’s print backlist from Amazon, why can’t they download all ebooks to their Kindle? There are still titles of mine that don’t have ebook versions, and not all ebook versions are distributed to online retailers.
I think there’s a lot of opportunity in the changing world of publishing, but it’s going to be the ones who adapt that make the shift, for authors and publishers alike.
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Thanks for the article. I am a POD published author and my question is, how do you get people who are browsing for a book to read, find your book? Unless they type in your name or title, they will never find it. I blog, twitter, facebook, become a member of every site dealing with books, and sales are almost non existent. I have a few five star ratings listed on some sites but again to find the book you need to know what you are looking for. If POD is the future for authors, how does a new author get his or her book noticed? When does the stigma come off for these books?
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It’s an interesting point you make, and one I agree with. All types of publishers, music, books, etc. have this model. They throw money around to a variety of authors, hopeing that one or two will make hits and the rest get little effort. Even marginal releases, which could be a decent revenue stream for authors, aren’t well promoted because there is this need to have large hits to cover the failures.
It’s the same issue in the venture capital business. Lots of decent companies get dropped or sold or closed because they don’t provide a great return.
I think one big problem is that publishers take too many rights, for too long, and then don’t return them when the sales aren’t there. Instead what I’d like to see is that authors get rights, including print rights, returned to them in a year or two if the publisher doesn’t meet some xx sales target. Then the author can continue to publish on their own terms with various booksellers.
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Laura, I think that is the big problem with non-traditional publishing. The market isn’t currently setup to allow the single author to find an audience and make any money. The distribution channels are poor, and there is a literal sea of books to choose from. There is no adequate way to aggregate and curate the vast pile of non-traditionally published books. Let’s face it, it’s hard to find what you want through the traditionally published channels. I’m not seeing anything currently to change this. The simple fact is, it’s just too difficult to get noticed, and the vanity/subsidy presses make sure you don’t realize. You’ll hear the success stories but never be told about the other 99.9% of authors that get nowhere and basically get no return for the money invested.
Who will be the gatekeepers? Honestly, for all of the turmoil and change going on, I think that this function will remain in the traditional publishing realm. They’ll figure out how to get a handle on the great digital change. They have the leverage to do it, and I believe the reason they’ll be successful is the fact that readers just don’t want to put a great deal of effort into finding good books to read. They want to be able to go to a few, reliable places where they know they’ll find good books, and it’s the traditional publishing industry that has major control over this, and you can bet they’ll do whatever it takes to maintain it. If there ever comes a time and place where non-traditionally published works are curated and aggregated to a point where it’s easy for readers to find the good stories, then and only then will it be viable for authors to pursue this route. Even then, it won’t be any easier than the traditional route. There are even more books published now through non-tradtional methods than traditional. I readily admit I don’t look to the digital world for my reading. Fact is, I don’t need to. There are more than enough books available that I will like through the main channels. It’s relatively easy to look, and I can be reasonably sure of quality (not always of course).
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I agree with the comments. I think traditional publishing will still rein supreme and that’s not a bad thing. You’ve got a lot of smart people working in the business and we’ll sort out the mew mediums of books. I think too many writers are very frustrated with what they consider the gatekeepers (agent and editors) but they should focus more on controlling what is in their realm: the quality of writing. I don’t care how many people follow you on Facebook and how many Tweets you send, the #1 thing that sells a book is strong characters in an excellent plot. And once a book is published, for a new author, word of mouth is what sells, not an ad in the NY Times or a 20 city book tour. Placement money in the bookstore is the main way a publisher can promote a book in the current system– which is why many non-traditional publishing venues can’t help you. They have no distribution system that really functions. They’ll tell you nice tales of what they will do, but simply go into your local bookstore, independent or chain, and look at the publisher imprints. That’s the reality.
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Thank you, Jim. Being a new author I fell into the joint publishing venue. I have heard so many pros and cons concerning both Traditional and subsidy. It’s too bad there isn’t an online store that lists the names of the non traditional books with their covers and a link to where to buy it. Maybe this is something that Amazon and the larger bookstores should do. At least give the new authors a chance at showing their books. It would be better than waiting for someone to accidently hit on it. I’m discouraged but will keep on keeping on. Thank you for your reply. Happy Thanksgiving, Launa
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I think it’s touch because traditional publishers put out lots of titles each month, and Amazon, etc. already can’t showcase all the commercially published titles. I think that most POD and so on aren’t showcased as much because of the lack of huge distribution, etc.
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I will always have a difficult time with the concept of a writer paying a business like Author Solutions who partnered with Thomas Nelson and Harlequin. It is much like multi-level marketing which, while a few at the top will make money, most are not and because you have to buy into the programs, buy inventory (sometimes) and buy from yourself, well, it seems the money is rolling away from the “business owners” then toward them. Same goes for vanity publishing or what they are now calling Assisted Publishing.
As a writer who has published with a small press and a small eBook press, this is also a difficult road for many writers. It is nearly impossible to make a living with these small presses. Yes, I make a profit, though small and I am very happy with the choice I made. It is also nearly impossible to be “seen” with this type of venture. This is where social media can help, but the question remains, how many books did I sell from my time on Twitter? Maybe a couple. Tops.
I’ve always believed that many people misuse social sites thinking it will sell whatever it is they are pushing. Same as advertising, it’s not about sales, it’s about name recognition. I have gone to conferences and people have come up to me and say “hey, remember me? I am so and so on Twitter.” Yep, that’s cool. Most of them didn’t buy my book. I don’t expect them too.
I would like to see publishers embrace the technology available and bring authors into the world on more of a partnership relationship.
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For me, Twitter is just a way to keep up to date with friends and other writers. (and to follow a few celebrities I like) It’s like one giant Instant Messenger pool. I can have conversations, or lurk and follow.
It’s also a way to keep up with news as it happens. (Like the boy not in the air ballon and Harlequin Horizons thing..)
I don;t do it to sell books, but it’s also a great way for readers to follow me or shoot me a quick simple message after they’ve read a book of mine, or if they’re looking for a book.
These are all things that can also be done with blogs, email and Facebook, but twitter is just that much faster and easier.
As for publishing, I agree that traditional publishing will remain the top dog for a long while. But change starts somewhere, and other options are here and growing. You never know how things will be in 10, 15, or 20 years.
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The simple question for Michael Hyatt is “You were the one who agreed to offer the advance. Why did you do so?”
Publishers are expected to have some feel for their market, and buy books that will sell. Agents have an incentive to negotiate an advance large enough that it won’t earn out, so a book that doesn’t should not be a surprise.
But under the circumstances, “disingenuous” strikes me as a good description of his statements.
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Two things:
The recent Amazon/Wal-Mart price war bodes ill for us. With e-book profits being whittled down by new agreements based on actual earnings vs. price (as you pointed out) the future looks a little grimmer.
Social media seems to me to be a fad that has grown in sync with unemployment rates. I tried Facebook and Twitter and dumped them both (but have recently had to rejoin FB in order to view family photos). Twitter … what’s the point? Really? Tried it, dumped it.
The other thing that’s looming is “mobile media” advertising – translation: marketing delivered to your cell phone. Isn’t this more of what Philip K. Dick predicted?
N.
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Blogging and social networking seems to be distrusted by publishers. I recently had a rejection for one of my books, on the grounds that I had already published the material on my website and blog. I hadn’t, and they could have verified this by just checking my URL. I got the impression that the editors were distrustful of blogs and all that malarky, and so wisely decided to stick their heads in the sand.
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I did read the rest of the article, but just a note about this: “I do twitter– as @IWhoDaresWins since my name was taken and now I’m kind of stuck with it.”
Actually, you’re not stuck with it. As far as I know you can still change your Twitter name at any time without starting all over again. The only thing is that it will change the URL for your account so that’s something to keep in mind. (And people may not know it’s you so it’s a good idea to keep the same avatar for a while after you change your name.)