A New Normal in Publishing

Amazon launched its Digital Text Platform ("DTP") in November of 2007, the same month they debuted the Kindle. It was a major game changer for e-books.

It was such a game-changer that writers, agents, and publishers went to war over the changing concept of self-publishing. It became easier for some writers to publish stories that mainstream publishing ("trad publishing") didn't want to touch. By the same token, readers had more stories in the genres and subgenres they love instead of waiting for those types of books to become popular again.

After nearly twenty years, we've hit the (relatively speaking) the new normal in publishing.

On the plus side, we don't have the nasty online flame wars online that happened in the beginning of the changes. For the most part people stay in their lanes and don't bother the other side.

The weird thing is that so many agents I used to follow back in the '00's are no longer agents. Even the readers who tried gatekeep via their blogs during the initial chaos no longer have any power. And you know what? That's okay, too.

So many of the authors I followed before the changes hit are still the same authors I follow today. And guess what? A large portion of them have gone indie.

So what it comes down to, I still love my favorite authors, and I get to read a wider variety of the books they enjoy writing. Especially on a day like this when there's five inches of snow on the ground and the temps are below freezing.

All I need is the Princess Pup on my lap, a hot cup of tea, and a damn good story. Life doesn't get any better than this.

How Much Has the Publishing World Changed

In looking through some old posts, I realized I hadn't talked much about the publishing industry lately. The why is even more astounding. A whole generation has passed since e-books have gone main stream.

Yeah, I know e-books have been around before 2000, but that's when companies started making inroads. I noticed them and started buying and reading them around that point. They were convenient when I traveled on business trips.

Back on November 19th, Kindle celebrated its 17th anniversary. It wasn't the first device to be a dedicated e-book reader, but it was the first to get some public traction.

Kindle Direct Publishing ("KDP") was introduced at the same time, though it was originally called Digital Text Platform ("DTP"). It changed the game. Writers were no longer dependent solely on mainstream book publishers to reach a national, or international, audience.

By 2010, the hue and cry arose from the publishing companies and trad-published writers that Amazon would totally ruin the industry with their tsunami of unfettered swill. Indie publishers responded by undercutting trad publishing's prices.

Weirdly, older folks led the charge into adapting e-book readers. They could modify the font and size of the print to make it easier to see the words, something they just can't do with print books.

Furthermore, readers had greater options. Contrary to trad publishing's claims they didn't cater to reader tastes. They expected readers to love whatever they put out. Suddenly, readers could find any genre their hearts desired at any time, day or night.

And now. . .

Now, you don't hear much of anything from anyone. Or maybe, I just stopped paying any attention. So, I went through my old blog lists. Nope. Pretty much everyone hollering back in the early '10's when I started Angry Sheep Publishing have stopped posting. The social media most common in the early '10's have been trashified, and the few folks I still keep up with are fleeing to the latest thing.

Furthermore, smart phones and multi-purpose tablets have taken over the entertainment sphere. I can read, watch, or listen to anything my heart desires on small, lightweight devices. I no longer search for purses that can fit whatever paperback I'm reading at the time.

In the meantime, wars have started left and right. We went through a world-wide pandemic. The level of hate and meanness have grown exponentially in both the real life and  virtual space. There are simply more things to worry about than whether some middle-aged lady is writing erotica in her own home and publishing it.

So, yes, it's quieter. I can carry a thousand books on my phone to read any time, any where. And I'm loving it!

Gain, Loss, and Change

I didn't realize how much both DH and I needed a break from all the stress in our lives, not to mention the everyday routine. He was practically giddy the morning we left for our trip.

What I didn't expect that day was Kristine Kathryn Rusch to announce she would no longer be posting her business thoughts on her blog. Her business blog had been a staple for me over Thursday morning breakfast for the last thirteen years.

However, I understood her reasoning. It was costing her time that she'd rather put towards her fiction. Not to mention, the people who really needed to hear her message ignore her.

Yep, things have changed in publishing over the last thirteen years. A lot.

I no longer get the sniff of disgust for publishing my own works. Even today at my dentist appointment, my hygienist asked about my job. When I needed to separate business and home purchases, the clerk at Meijer asked what I did and if I had my own store. (The online store will be the big project for 2024.)

Even Texas is no longer avoiding renewable energy sources. We passed a number of windmill and solar farms as the terrain changed from the Hill Country to the West Texas Desert. I tried to grab a picture of one such windmill farm as we drove by it.

DH asked why I was taking pictures of windmills. It wasn't like we didn't have plenty around our home town. I said I was marking the change in Texans behavior. The gas and oil companies can hang on with teeth and nails, but when Texas is embracing alternate energy sources at a time when California is trying to put the kebosh on solar energy, we're definitely in the middle of a major change in behaviors.

Just like we were after the Kindle was introduced.

All's Quiet on the Western Front

The U.S. publishing industry has been rather quiet for the last three and a half months. Bookstores across the country have been closed for the first couple of months of the states' stay-at-home orders. Even now that most of the stores have reopened, people aren't shopping in brick & mortar places.

The truth is COVID-19 still exists. Over 123,000 have died. Most people are cautious in where they go, even with the phased openings in the states.

Add to the pandemic issues, the U.S. unemployment rate is running around 14%. Readers that still have their jobs are looking for a little more bang for their buck. Why shop in an open bookstore when they can save gas and time by ordering online, whether it be e-books or print?

And that's assuming readers aren't out protesting in the wake of a series of brutal murders of black civilians by white police officers. Reading seems frivolous after watching George Floyd being slowly suffocated by an officer's knee on his neck.

The weird thing is the usual sniping and arguments within the industry have been at an all time low. Not even publishers, agents, or scammers have the band-width to deal with bullshit in the midst of the pandemic and the civil unrest over police violence.

In a odd way, I'm glad for the silence. We don't need to be bitching at each other. I hope any creators our there are still creating. If you're a creator who feels stuck in the morass of the craziness, that's okay, too.

Be gentle with yourselves and each other during this time.

What "Publishing Industry"?

Sometimes, I read other people's insights on this strange new world we fiction writers find ourselves in and the LED bulb goes on:

The mental model we share of this thing we call the publishing industry is no longer useful. Most of us think of the publishing industry’s product as “books”. That’s like thinking that Amazon sells two products, bits and cardboard boxes. Amazon ships stuff in cardboard boxes. It’s what’s inside the box that you are buying. Likewise, it’s the information contained in the bits that you are buying when you buy a digital product from Amazon.

You can read the rest of fellow Houstonian John Cavnar-Johnson's article at Digital Book World.

Writing Inspiration from Howard Stern

Listen to this Howard Stern interview with Lady Gaga. About the forty minute mark, Lady Gaga talks about perseverance. Substitute "singer/songwriter" with "writer" and "music industry" with "publishing industry" and you'll get a very good idea if you have what it takes to succeed in this crazy business.

Latest Industry News

Barnes & Noble delivered some disappointing fourth quarter results. Officially, execs blamed the numbers on the heavy post-Christmas returns from third-party retailers. To me, part of the problem lies in the roll-out of the Glowlight Nook. B&N built up demand, then failed to deliver the product on time. Posting huge signs in the stores saying the Glowlight is sold out when you never had them in the stores to begin with isn't cool, B&N.

Speaking of the Nook, or maybe failure of speaking about it is the key here, Microsoft announced their new tablet, the Surface. Yep, no mention of the Nook, which MS bought into, or of content for the Surface, which MS's partner B&N could provide. And seriously, guys? You couldn't come up with a cooler name than "The Surface?"

Author Solutions is touting a "revolutionary" idea, a card with a QR code to giveaway free e-books. Stealing an idea from Dean Wesley Smith that's over a year old does not make it revolutionary, guys.

And if the Big Six are so healthy, why is HarperCollins releasing a big chunk of their sales force? I don't care how "respected and beloved" an employee is, getting laid off still sucks.

On the fun side, Passive Guy is taking a much deserved vacation, but he has lots of fabulous guest bloggers over at The Passive Voice. Go take a gander!

Latest Industry News

Look at the power of books! The Hunger Games opened to the third best ever weekend (never mind it was released during the off-season)-$155 million. So far, the movie based on the book by Suzanne Collins has grossed $248.5 million in the U.S. alone. Scholastic Books has printed another 12.5 million units in 2012 alone!

Now look at how to screw your fanbase: Pottermore is STILL in Beta. Come on, Sony! Not even Bill Gates has screwed up a launch this bad. On the plus side, the Harry Potter series is FINALLY available as e-books at the reasonable price of $7.99. On the minus side, it's a pain in the arse to get one loaded on your e-reader.

AAP announced net sales were up for January, print book sales are still diving and e-books made another significant jump. The only problem is that AAP CAN'T account for the indie e-books. If they could, the e-book sales jump would be a lot bigger than the 50% they reported.

Bertelsmann, the German privately-owned corporation that owns Random House, announced its earnings for 2011. It wasn't the earnings that caught people's eyes, but the CEO's statement that they were "...accelerating the transformation to digital of our core businesses." It'll be interesting to see if there will be a shake-up at RH for execs who didn't jump on the e-book train fast enough. [Edit to add: Here's the link to Richard Alan Dickson's analysis on DWS's blog.]

In an interesting twist to the DOJ investigation (but not so surprising if you've been reading my blog), Mark Coker told the DOJ that book prices on Smashwords have fallen. Which IS true because indies (which is what Smashwords deals almost exclusively with) can undercut the bigger houses on price thanks to lower overhead. Y'all know my stand--Agency is the best thing that ever happened to indies!

Speaking of the DOJ, I'm really wondering if their case against Apple and five of the largest publishers is that solid. Because if it was, they would be filing their case against the alleged co-conspirators, NOT TRYNG IT IN THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION VIA THE WALL STREET JOURNAL!!

And while we're on the subject of newspapers, why is the NYT freaking out over kids self-publishing? Why does Tom Robbins feel threatened? Seriously, who the hell cares if a fourteen-year-old wrote and published his book? Can't you people pick on someone your own size?

No wonder the publishing industry is so screwed up.

Remembering Who Matters In The Entertainment Game

Lately, I've been seeing and reading about writers who make decisions on aspects of the business that have nothing to do with our customers.

Who are our customers? Ultimately, the readers. These are the people who really pay us. Not the agents. Not the publishing houses. Not Amazon.

The readers.

Let's face it--if you write fiction, you are an entertainer. In today's economy, folks have fewer entertainment buck to spend. Sure Nora Roberts emphasizes her theme of how important families are, but people read her books to escape just for a little while.

Frankly, the writers who don't forget these point are the ones who will see a long career. It doesn't matter if you're indie published, trad published, or some combination. Just remember who really pays you.

Now, that being said, cutting off your customer from your product, i.e. your stories, does not endear you to your customer. If your customer has a NOOK, and you only sell on Amazon, who are you really hurting? If you only sell e-books and your customer prefers paper, who are you hurting?

That's right. You. It's your sale that's lost. Your customer will take their money and buy someone else's book because it's available to them. Yours isn't.

I realize that sometimes, especially if you're an indie, doing everything at once isn't always possible. I'm in that position now. I'd like to be selling on the iBookstore, but I need ISBNs for Apple to accept my e-books, and I rather have my own than be subservient to someone else. I want to sell my books in hardback and paperback versions, but I'm still learning how to format for print.

There's a big difference between "I can't do X yet, but I will" and "I refuse to do X". A huge difference. A GINORMOUS difference.

Just think about who you're really affecting before you make the blanket statement, "I can't/won't do X."

Latest Industry News

Well, it finally happened. Chris Keeslar, the last editor at Dorchester Publishing has left the company. All I can say is, "Chris, what took you so long?" Keeslar always struck me as a bright guy, but I think his loyalty was severely misplaced. I wish him the best.

However, Dorchester says it'll be business as usually despite Keeslar. Translation: We will continue to screw over anyone who signs with us. Which is probably why the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America lowered the boom and removed Dorchester from its list of approved publishers.

Book Expo America is actually considering letting the public attend the event for one day. Wow, novel concept, guys. Actually acknowledging your bread-and-butter. We'll see if it actually happens though.

Amazon has officially invaded opened an online store in India. However, Junglee.com only acts as a facilitator. It provides to where customers can actually buy the desired merchandise. The reason for the weirdness is Indian law prohibits foreign retailers.

Here in the U.S., investors are pissy because Amazon only showed an 8% growth in the fourth quarter of 2011. *head desk*

In the meantime, Amazon got pissy about Goodreads using their descriptions for books. According to the rumor mill, Amazon demanded money. Now Goodreads will be getting their data directly from Ingram (not necessarily a good thing since Ingram will only recognize books with ISBNs).

Then there's the news that's frankly NOT new. Barnes and Noble has stated (again) they will not carry Amazon products.

You know, I'm really glad to be indie publishing right now. Have a good weekend, folks!

The Apple De-Evolution

Apple made their announcement Thursday regarding their dedication to education, and to that end, their creation of iBook Author. Lots of folks have commented much more thoroughly on the subject of Apple's asinine End User License Agreement, especially over at The Passive Voice.

Yet, someone I know, who's normally a very savvy businessperson, said, "I don't understand the big deal. Apple created iBook Author. They should get to say how it's used."

Um, no. Let me put this more simply.

Let's say you are a carpenter. You build birdhouses for a living. In fact, you have a reputation making the coolest birdhouses ever.

You need a new drill. Black & Decker** comes along and says, "Hey! We'll give you a drill for free. But you must sell your birdhouses through us, and only us, and we get 30% of the retail price you charge. The only way you don't have to pay us is if you give away your birdhouses for free."

Or you can pay Craftsman $100 for a new drill, and sell your birdhouses at all the cute, little boutiques, all the garden centers, and the flea market down the street for whatever agreement you make with each retail store.

In the long run, which way expands your distribution channel? Which way gives more people the opportunity to see and buy your birdhouses? Which way will make you more money?

Get the difference, now?

** No offense to the good folks at Black & Decker. They make fine tools, and to the best of my knowledge, their legal department has a clue.

Latest Industry News

Barnes and Noble didn't renew leases for several stores at the end of 2011. While many folks panic over the news, B&N's decision makes sense, especially in areas were the real estate prices are excessive like the Georgetown store in D.C. B&N needs to diversify and cut some overhead in order to compete with Amazon.

In the meantime, the B&N board is also examining the possibility of spinning the Nook division into its own company. Again, panic has insued in investors, but separating the e-device/book part of the business from the rest of the retail giant gives the Nook side a fighting chance, instead of getting dragged under by the rest of the company. The move would also allow B&N to obtain capital through loans and/or additional investors to improve the software of the web interface. The lack of ease in the search and recommendation capabilities of B&N's website has been a major complaint with consumers.

And if your NYT subscription is about to expire, sign up for the e-version and get a Nook SImple Touch for free.

On the other side of the pasture, Amazon has responded to their customers' complaints and added a page count feature for their e-books so you know whether you're buying a short story or a novel. About frickin' time!

Things have been relatively quiet as folks recover from the December holiday crazies, but there should be some interesting things coming out of the Digital Book Conference in a few weeks.

Happy Writing!

Latest Industry News

Well, it's official. Stick a fork in Borders; it's done. The bankruptcy judge has signed off on the final liquidation of assets. This means the Kobo stock owned by the former bookstore chain can be sold and the remaining cash distributed among the creditors. Depending on the creditors' status, they are looking at 4-10 cents on the dollar.

Meanwhile, Amazon is claiming it's selling over a million units of the Kindle Fire per week for the month of December. If this is true (and Amazon is very reticent about letting anyone look at its books), writers are looking at some serious sales when these buyers/gift recipients start loading them in January.

Jeff Kinney, author of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series, has sued Antartic Press for their parody "Diary of a Zombie Kid." Um, Jeff, even Madonna understood that mockery by Weird Al Yankovic means you've hit the big time. It'll be interesting how this shakes out.

Speaking of lawsuits, still no word on any settlement between author Christie Craig and the bozos who comprise the Texas Department of Transportation.  You remember TxDOT? The folks who have issues with a heterosexual couple practicing safe sex in a committed relationship? The trial is currently scheduled for early 2013.  (And yes, this is how backed up the courts are over frivolous lawsuits by idiot politicians.) Hopefully, Santa brings an end to the stupidity to Christie for Christmas!

I know lots of you are traveling today and tomorrow. Please stay safe. Happy holidays!

Latest Industry News

Don't know if you heard about this?  Three weeks ago, execs for Kobo inked a deal with Rakuten, a Japanese internet company, to take over the e-book seller.  Indigo Books and Music out of Canada holds the majority of stock, but now-defunct book giant Borders Group Inc. still has their shares tied up in bankruptcy court.

For now, it doesn't look like the judge or the trustee in the Borders case will sabotage the proceedings. The Borders crditors are only getting seven to ten cents on the dollar, so they need this sale to through. The sale should boost Kobo's stock price so the trustee can sell the Borders shares and get the creditors a few cents more.

It sounds like Rakuten plans to reach into the West, just like Amazon is shooting for the East.

And yes, another publisher is "restructuring." Houghton Mifflin Harcourt plans to eliminate the Emerging Markets division and close their D.C. offices. Remember, kids. Everytime a corporation uses the word 'restructure', people lose their jobs. Merry Christmas, ex-employees.

And if you read this blog, then you know why I support the Occupy Wall Street movement.

3, 2, 1 . . .E-Reader Lift OFF!

I knew the e-reader/pad wars would start in earnest today, but WOW!

Barnes & Noble had a commerical for the new NOOK pad during every break of last night's A Very Gaga Thanksgiving. (Yes, I forced the boys to watch Gaga. Since most of the songs were acoustic, ex-musician DH was suitably impressed with her vocal range, but I digress.)

For Black Friday, B&N has dropped the price of the basic NOOK to match Amazon's basic Kindle--$79. It's supposed to be 'today only while supplies last'. I'd lay money that this sale will crop up again before C-Day.

Overseas, Kobo has a new e-reader for the U.K. market. Bookseller Kyobo launched its own reader in Korea. And Amazon continues its fight for world domination with the soon-to-open Amazon India.

B&N, Amazon and Kobo, among other e-reader/pad dealers, are making their products available at big box stores like Best Buy, Wal-mart and Target. With all these device sales, personally I cannot wait for January because these new users will want content for their new toys.

Why do I say that? My sales have been a little blah through October and the first half of November, and I've been hearing something similar from other indies. But I've seen an uptick in just the last couple of days, so the fingers are crossed.

While the e-reader/pad battles for Christmas supremacy were expected, the content cold war is turning hot as well. Last week, both Penguin and Random House withdrew their e-books from library lending to patrons with Kindles (that's LIBRARY lending, not Amazon lending) because of the whole Amazon Prime book lending kerfluffle. Penguin relented earlier this week, but Random House is digging their Manolo Blahniks into the dirt on this issue.

Speaking of Amazon Prime, Amazon is reaching out to indie published authors with massive sales and asking them to allow their books to be part of the Amazon Prime lending service--for a price. It'll be interesting to see how many indies jump on this band wagon.

In the meantime, is Macmillan in deep trouble? Rumors of another "reorganization" (that's corporate code for kicking employees to the curb) by the end of the year are drifting through the air like snowflakes in October's nor'easter.

Can things get any crazier in the publishing industry this Christmas? The Magic 8 Ball says--Definitely!

Latest Industry News

I haven't done a news round-up for a while, so here are some tidbits and links to kill time with as you drink your morning java:

This morning we should have confirmation of the new NOOK Tablet.  Leaks say the new NOOK will have twice the RAM and storage as the Kindle Fire, along with a faster processor, for $249. Also, Barnes and Noble will offer the basic NOOK for $99 without the ads that plague the cheapest Kindle. I'll add the links once I can find offical word. [Editor's note: It's official.]

Yes, Virginia, the Pad Wars have started just in time for Christmas.

Remember how Publishers Weekly rubbed their hands with glee when Joe Konrath announced his hiatus from blogging and I said Joe wouldn't stay quiet for long? Well, Joe's been running guest posts be several of his friends with concise summaries by the man himself.

Amazon launched the Kindle Owner's Lending Library last week as part of their Prime package. I'm sorry, but $79 a year to only borrow one book a month? ONE? I don't think so Amazon. Sorry, guys, but I read more than that even on my current crazy-ass schedule.

Speaking of Amazon, the Threat to Holy Literature has expanded into Japan, on the heels of Amazon France, just in time for the Christmas holidays. (Do you think Jeff Bezos realizes that Christians are a minority in Japan?)

And in a reaction to Amazon, more of the Big 6 have decided to give their authors real-time numbers. What a fucking concept guys! My guess is only the Amazon sales numbers will be remotely accurate on these author portals. Let's just say I had a private conversation with a popular author. She was told she'd sold no e-books for the first six months of 2011, even though she's been ranked in the top 20% of sales on Amazon the entire time.

E-book sales are jumping despite the naysayers. Harlequin reported its digital sales rose to 7.1% of total sales through the third quarter of 2011. Bloomsbury reported similar increases.

Kobo keeps saying they will offer a self-publishing option like KDP or PubIt.  But it looks like Kobo plans to be very picky about who they accept from the looks of their website. This annoys me because Kobo's perfectly happy to accept my book if it's sent through Smashwords, but they don't want it from me directly. *sigh*

Instead, Kobo is imitating Amazon by opening their own publishing arm and going after already established writers. No wonder the Big 6 are sending out those draconian contracts.

Speaking of draconian contracts, I'd love to see the one Kiana Davenport signed with Penguin. I'm hoping they have the stupidity to sue her so it becomes a public document. The NYTimes had a piece sympathetic to Ms. Davenport's position of trying to make a living on crappy NY contracts. Publishers Weekly snarked that NYT was "justifiying her breach." (Believe me, I wish I could link to THAT one for you!) Um, excuse me PW, but what happened to innocent until proven guilty? Not to mention that Penguin REJECTED the same book 15 years ago!

And if you thought Snooki's books were a very bad idea (yes, two more are coming out and I won't make you gag on your coffee by showing you the disgusting book trailer), then you don't want to know that Lindsey Lohan's mom is shopping her own tome.  And no, I WON'T give you that link either. Not on a Monday morning.

Have a great week and get those word counts in!

Latest Industry News

It's Friday, and I'm exhausted from birthing a book Tuesday through Wednesday, so here's a round-up of news that may have slipped under your radar:

Bowker (you know, the folks you get your ISBNs from) plans to start monitoring ebook sales in the U.S. My question--how are they going to monitor ebooks without ISBNs? Not even the big boys are bothering with ISBNs when they upload their goodies to Amazon and B&N these days. In fact, the only e-tailers still demanding ISBNs on ebooks are Sony and Apple. So ditching the ISBN: great cost cutting measure or road to inaccuate sales reporting?

Ooo la la! Amazon France is officially open.  Don't know about you, but I seriously need to find a translator.

Both Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million stomped their feet over Amazon's exclusive Kindle Fire deal with DC Comics (currently owned by Time Warner) and pulled all DC graphic novels from their virtually and physical shelves. I know Barnes & Noble doesn't give a rat's patootie about my dollars spent on corrupting nieces and nephews with copies of Sandman.  It looks like it's time to visit my local indie comics shop Bedrock City Comics.

On a side note, the whole brouhaha over DC will be a moot point if they don't improve the writing on their books.  Another re-boot? Again? How many does that make over the last thirty years? And that last issue of Wonder Woman? Yeesh!

Then there's the snark over Barry Eisler's exclusive deal with Amazon for his latest ebook.  People repeat after me, "There is no DRM on Eisler's book from Amazon." Convert the damn thing if you want it on your NOOK. Frankly, if you can't convert it or get your kid to do it for you, then maybe it's not something you should be reading. Barry uses some pretty big words.

Okay, kids. That all we have time for. Have a snarkalicious weekend!

Let Them Eat Cake

I took today's title from a quote attributed to Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France. Supposedly, it was her response when told the peasants had no bread and were starving.  While the quote isn't real, it is endemic of the disconnect between those in power and the general public.

Over two hundred years later, leaders are making the same mistakes. Look at how the Occupy Wall Street protests are spreading across the country.

What the PTBs don't get is that the loss of one leader isn't going to stop the revolution. Nowhere was the more prevelent than Publishers Weekly's gleeful headline last Friday: 'Konrath to Take Hiatus From Telling Authors To Abandon Publishers.'

Just because Joe stops blogging for a while (and frankly, I'll be surprised if he lasts more than two weeks) doesn't mean writers will accept bad contracts and crappy deals. Not to mention, there are plenty of other bloggers like Bob Mayer, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, and Passive Guy who are trying to educate the writing public.  And these folks aren't going away any time soon.

Last week I talked to two friends, both whom had books with a certain publisher.  In both cases, these ladies were now self-publishing.  Apparently, their former publisher is sending out e-mails to their authors or former authors asking for submissions. At least for one publisher, it's sinking in that they do need writers.

The real question is will the publishing industry as a whole get a clue before the guillotine is sharpened.

WSJ Finally Acknowledges the Obvious

Currently reading - Baby, Drive South by Stephanie Bond

In an article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal (thanks to Jay Lake for the link), business folks are FINALLY saying what we indies have known all along: the publishing paradigm has shifted and it's cutting into the houses bottom lines.

More significant is the graph (I love pictures with economics) showing e-books crossing the $1 billion threshold this year. (No that's not a typo. It's billion with a capital 'B'.)  Albert Greco postulates that e-books will triple within the next three years.

If anything, I think Mr. Greco is underestimating the rate of change.  DH, who wasn't much of a reader when we met, now has his nose in his Kindle everynight.  In all fairness, he did not buy the Kindle.  He stole mine, which was a gift from a friend.  Now you know why I'm still reading paper books.

I think e-book sales will accelerate exponentially  once a vendor introduces an e-reader below $100. And it will probably happen this holiday season.  Karnak said so

Industry News You Probably Should Read

It's summer in NYC, so the normal slow-down in the publishing offices is happening.  But that doesn't mean things have crawled to a halt.

Last week, noted editor Alan Rinzler wrote a piece on publishers' mistakes and why those mistakes are a good thing for writers.

Of course, authors/editors/publishers Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith advocate authors having one foot in Trad and one foot in Indie.  Just watch your back with both agent and publisher contracts.

Speaking of contracts, fellow recovering attorney, Passive Guy has a series this week on reading a contract from the perspective of a contracts lawyer.  Definitely a MUST READ, folks!

On the other side of the field, author/publisher Bob Mayer talks about the elephant in the room, i.e. the all-or-nothing mindset that's afflicting some writers and how it can damage all writers.

And last week, both Bob and Joe Konrath talked about the weird definitions different writers' organizations use to establish who's a professional writer and who's not.

Well, I've been writing a magazine column for the last four years and getting paid for it.  I hereby declare myself a professional writer.

Hang in there, fellow writers, and don't forget the sunscreen!