Amazon Causes Problems Again!

All right. I admit it's not all Amazon's fault.

Here's a HUGE lesson for any of you newbies who haven't started publishing yet. SET UP A BUSINESS ACCOUNT ON AMAZON BEFORE YOU PUBLISH YOUR FIRST BOOK!

You see, my big mistake back in 2011 was not doing that. I published under my personal account. At the time, I didn't know any better, but then most of us indies were a little clueless. We didn't know where indie publishing was going. Amazon didn't have the option to have a business account either.

 

Oh, I finally set up an account under my publishing company's name. There's some advantages to a business account that regular customer accounts don't have and vice versa. Things like generating codes for giveaways instead of gifting books. However, the Prime account costs twice as much.

And everything continued just fine until two weeks ago when Amazon allowed indie publishers to control series' links.

 

Don't get me wrong! I love the fact that we have more control over a series order, add a overall description, and link related books together.

However, the changes can only be applied if all of the individual books of the series are on the same account.

Oops!

Honestly, I've been moving books over for the last couple of years. Slowly.

The recent changes have forced me to accelerate my schedule. So if links aren't working (in the books or on the websites), it's because I haven't gotten them updated yet. But I swear I'm working on it.

And now you know how I'm spending my Thanksgiving vacation!

The State of the Bookstore Address

Today was my day off, and I went to the local Barnes & Noble Cafe to crank out a few hundred words.

Roughly a third of the bookstore had actual books. There's now a huge toy section where movies and music section used to be. The cafe, gifts and calendars make up the rest of the store. I still go for inspiration when I write, to look at copies of so many books I've read, so many I want to read, and so many I'll never have time to read in the probable fifty years I have left on this planet.

I know this is a big box store, but frankly, there's only a Half-Priced Books and a little used bookstore left in our neighborhood.  Even Target and Wal-mart are cutting down their book sections. When I stopped at CVS to pick up prescriptions on the way home, their book rack, which was halved at the beginnng of the year, is being eliminated. The handful of books left were on clearance at 50% off.

Several folks have accused me of being anti-print. That's hardly the case. Looking at the loss of volumes on store shelves saddens me.

Logically, I know current publishing business practices cannot be sustained, and things must change. But paper books were my first friends, and I mourn their loss.

The New Paradigm?

If I hear a particular new concept or opinion three times in short order from three different sources, it's usually a little signal to pay attention.

This week I read someone's blog (I'd have the link here if I could find the blasted thing, but as you can see my middle-aged, drug-and-flu addled brain has forgotten which blog) about authors banding resources in order to form their own publishing company.  DH later questioned if I could join forces with friends looking into publishing our own books "sort of like the actors who formed United Artists."  Then I got an e-mail from an RWA cohort wondering if groups of independent authors would end up forming their own publishing consortiums to keep a majority of their profits.

Is the hive mind already formulating the next step in the publishing chaos?

The idea has its good points.  Consolidation of resources would definitely cut down on individual overhead.  Such a partnership would provide a platform for writers with out-of-the-box stories, a la Tina Engler and Ellora's Cave.  And it would give authors a home where art is as important as profit.

And therein lies the problem.  I've met very few writers whose business sense is as sharp as their storytelling ability.

Some simply don't try, thinking they are beyond such mundane concerns.  Or they want someone to take care of them.  Or sometimes, both.

Some simply don't have the talent.  Acknowledging your shortcomings is not necessarily a bad thing.  For example, I could create my own covers, but I suck at design, and I'm very aware of the fact.

And some people have issues of control.  Or more accurately, letting go of control.  Let's face it.  Writing is a solitary business compared to dance, music or acting.  We writers have a lot of trouble sending out submissions, much less accepting advice from crit partners, agents, or editors.  To paraphrase Lucy Van Pelt, "Ahhgg!  Someone criticized my work!  Get me some hot water!  Get me some soap!"

But could a writers' joint business venture work?  With the right people, yes, I think it could.  As long as I'm in charge.


Seriously though, dear readers, is this something you try?  Why or why not?

The Only Constant Is Change - Part 3

Currently reading - Percy Jackson and the Olympians:  The Lightning Thief

DON'T FORGET!  The gals at Killer Fiction are gving away books, gift cards and a Kindle.  Tomorrow, January 21st, is the last chance at these cool prizes.  To enter, comment on the daily blog posts starting on January 10th.

[P.S.  I highly recommend two other blogs mentioned in the comments on yesterday's post:  Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith.  They've been in the publishing industry for decades, so they definitely know the business.  The also happen to be married to each other.]


It'd been the rejection day from hell.  When DH asked if I'd thought about self-publishing, peanut butter stuck to the roof of my mouth.  The time it took to clear my tongue also gave me a chance to formulate a semi-polite answer.

ME:  "Are you fucking nuts?  Wheaton was a movie star before he hit puberty.  He's got a platform already.  I don't."

DH:  "You're working on it."

ME:  "I don't have an editor.  I'm not conceited enough to think I don't need one.  Wheaton was smart enough to hire an good editor."

DH:  "Start talking to your friends.  I'm sure Colleen or Christie or someone can recommend a decent freelancer."

ME:  "But I can't draw.  I'd need a cover artist, even with an e-book."

DH:  "What about M__?  You love her work.  And she wants to get back into graphic design."

ME:  "I'm not sure.  I'm still getting a lot of rejections."

DH:  "But look at why you're getting the rejections."

ME:  "Because I suck?"

DH (after giving me a dirty look):  What did the last couple of e-mails say?  'Great writing.'  'Great voice.'  But then they turn around and say, 'I don't think I can sell this.'"

ME:  "Because I suck."  [Yes, I was feeling a tremendous amount of self-pity at the time.]

DH:  "Sweetie, face it.  You're a niche writer.  Focus on that niche.  It doesn't mean you won't go mainstream down the line, but you need to focus on your core audience."

ME:  "I'll think about it."

And I have been thinking about it.  Thinking to the point, I've been playing with formats on a couple of rejected manuscripts and doing research.  DH put a bug in M__'s ear about designing my cover.  She was incredibly enthusiastic about working with me, so at some point, I need to send her the manuscript so she can brainstorm.

Am I totally giving up on NY?  Not yet.  I've got two fulls and two partials sitting on four different agents' desks at the moment I write this.

But that doesn't mean I'm not looking at all the alternatives in the meantime.

The Only Constant Is Change - Part 2

Currently reading - Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordin

WARNING:  This post contains mostly my opinions plus a few facts.  I make no guarantees or warranties.  Your mileage may vary.

To NY publish or not to NY publish?  That is the question.

I've always considered Hamlet a wuss, but for the first time, I'm starting to understand his dilemma when it comes to publishing a novel.

Even as little as three years ago, self-publishing was considered a major no-no.  Quite simply, the distribution companies would not deal with anyone who wasn't one of the Big 6 or an affiliate.  Without an adequate distribution system, writers had a difficult time getting their products into the hands of consumers.

Despite many slams against the publishers, simple economics rules their actions.  They cannot possibly publish every single writer who comes to their doors.  They pick and choose which books to publish, and it's an acknowledged fact that they don't always pick right.  But on the other hand, readers were generally assured they would purchase a quality product.

Therefore, self-publishing was considered by many folks (agents, editors, published authors, organizations such as RWA, etc.) as the mark of an amateur.  The prevailing wisdom was that if you couldn't make it in New York, then your work couldn't be quality.  Add into that mentality the failure of the early e-reading devices such as the Rocket Reader in the late '90's, and you had a recipe for a paper-books-only-through-publishers world.

Then came an upstart little company out of the Cleveland/Akron area.  Tina Engler Keen had been writing erotic romance, only to be rejected repeatedly by agents and editors who claimed there was no market for this type of story.  So in 2000, Tina created her own company Jasmine-Jade Enterprises, Inc., to publish her erotic romances as e-books under the imprint Ellora's Cave.  Within five years, Jasmine-Jade was a multi-million dollar company doing the two things New York said they couldn't do--e-books and erotic romance.

Is what Tina pulled off easy?  Hell, no!  The woman worked her butt to the point she wasn't writing novels anymore.

But the playing field has shifted radically in the eleven years since Tina pulled the rabbit out of her garter belt.  Writers can now upload their novels to Amazon, Smashwords, Lulu, and/or PubIt (among many other e-distributors).  The author sets the price in most instances.  Then the reader picks out their purchase, plugs in their payment, downloads the book, and (hopefully) enjoys the read on their Nook, Kindle, Sony Reader, and/or their PCs (among many other e-devices).

So what put the nugget of an idea that I could possibly self-publish as well?

A little over a year ago, I had one of those days.  You know the type, multiple rejections from agents hit your Inbox within minutes of each other, and you just want to drown yourself in Haagen Daaz Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream.  At the same time I wallowed in chocolatety soothing, DH was listening to Memories of the Future 'Cast, a series of podcasts by Wil Wheaton.  Wil promoted his book, Memories of the Future, Vol.1, a part-review/part-memoir of the first half of the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation he self-published through Lulu, by reading excerpts of his prose and adding in verbal bon mots not found in the book.

DH pulls off his headphones, looks at me, and said, "Why don't you self-publish?  Wil Wheaton's great at it."

TOMORROW: What happens when a writer's kernel of arrogance gets popped?

In the meantime, what are your thoughts, opinions, experiences in the Big 6 vs. Self-publishing smack-down?

The Only Constant Is Change - Part 1

Currently reading - Percy Jackson and the Olympians:  The Lightning Thief

CAVEAT:  This blog post is personal opinion.  I make no guarantees or warranties as to the following information.

(You do know "caveat" means "beware" in Latin, right?  The lamentable state concerning the knowledge of definitions and origins of words by my fellow writers will be the subject of a future post.)

Borders announced another set of lay-offs yesterday.  Publishers Weekly has a story about another well-known independent bookstore closing nearly every day.  Dorchester went from traditional publisher to e-publisher overnight.

The only common thread in the above sentences is that the publishing industry is finally going through the major upheaval based on digital content that plagued our sister entertainment industries: TV, music and motion picture.

Unpublishd fiction writers, like myself, watch the train wreck still in progress and wonder, "Which way do I jump?"

WARNING:  The following information is anecdotal, and in no way constitutes a legitimate scientific study.

I've been talking to published friends about their experiences with the paradigm shift in the industry.  The people I spoke with ran the gamut of the publishing business:  published with one of the big six houses, published with an e-only publisher, small press published, and self-published.  Most of these people gave me information for my own personal use.  Therefore, I do NOT have permission to name names or give out actual figures.

So far, everyone I've talked to who has the same titles out in both paper and electronic editions has seen an increase in e-sales compared to paper-sales over the first three quarters of 2010.  Those published in e-book format only have also seen an increase in sales.  Everyone with a backlist has seen an increase in sales once the backlists have been released in e-format.  This includes books that were originally print only editions, that have been out of print for years and that the author has received their rights back from the original publisher.

The increases range from single digit percentages to factors of ten with the majority averaging a twenty to two hundred per cent increase PER MONTH.

Yeah, folks, that's the figure that astounded me too.

I've been in corporate America and the legal profession long enough I take things with a huge block of salt.  When I read J. A. Konrath's blog, I swallowed it with enough sodium chloride to season every pretzel, french fry and potato chip in the country.  But what I'm hearing is in line with what Mr. Konrath is reporting.  Digital books are gaining more rapidly on traditional print than publishers, or even some authors and pro-author organizations, want to admit.

This is all well and good for Mr. Konrath and my friends who've had publishing contracts for five years or longer.  They've got a platform and an audience already built and ready to buy their product.  And they know the business of selling their books.

TOMORROW:  So what about a newbie like me?  Do I take my chances with an agent and/or NY publisher or do I strike out on my own?

In the meantime, would anyone out in the interwebs like to share their own experiences?

The Times They are A-Changin'

Currently re-reading - Storm Front by Jim Butcher

I dumped today's original blog post in favor of a link to this story in the L.A. Times Business section from yesterday.  (Thanks to fellow RWA chapter member Chuck Emerson for bringing it to my attention.)

Surprisingly, instead of a "OMG, the sky is falling" piece, it's a decent analysis of where the publishing business is headed.  The e-readers are picking up steam as the latest must-have electronic gadget.  Heck, even my boss at the Day Job got a Nook for Christmas.  (And yes, I'm envious.  *sigh*)  The rapid changes are even making me rethink my five-year-business plan and my ultimate goal.

I spent yesterday evening (since the Eagles' game is delayed until Tuesday) after work reviewing the criteria for uploading a manuscript to Amazon.  Pretty effing simple even with my rudimentary HTML skills.  I know a graphic artist I would LOVE to hire as a cover artist.  That only leaves constructing a dedicated website (on my list of to-do things for 2011 anyway) and hiring a decent freelance editor.

Before I do anything, I must have a long, sit-down talk with my business partner, i.e. DH.  Becoming my own publisher will impact the family.  But the prospects are so damn exciting!