Friday, December 13, 2013

Konrath and Eisler vs. Richard Russo and the Authors Guild

Joe: As 2013 draws to a close, we're fortunate to hear from our good friends at the Authors Guild, who share with us an earnest attempt to get members to rejoin.

Which, if you are a regular reader of this blog, you already know is a TERRIBLE IDEA.

The Authors Guild under Scott Turow's leadership has done an awe-inspiring job of trying to maintain the antiquated status quo, where publishers coveted their power and treated most authors poorly; technology is considered the devil's sorcery; and Amazon is Satan himself.

Here, hopefully for the last time, is Scott Turow, presenting a letter by Pulitzer Prize winning author Richard Russo to Authors Guild members. Turow asked for this to be forwarded to friends, so I'm forwarding it to roughly a hundred thousand of my blog readers, interspersed with occasional thoughts from me and Barry Eisler.

Barry: Scott and Richard, thanks for your latest! Joe and I haven’t been handed this much bullshit to fisk since that infamous memo from Hachette.

Joe: Or that AAR nonsense. Or the last time the Authors Guild acted stupid, which wasn't long ago. Barry and I have taken the Authors Guild and Scott Turow to task before, and once again we welcome the chance to expose the nonsense the powerful are trying to sell you.

Barry: Also once again, Scott and Richard, we urge you to respond to these (and numerous other) criticisms. After all, don’t you guys want authors to be properly informed? Joe’s blog has hundreds of thousands of readers who might be misled by our dangerous ideas! Or do you not think this topic is important enough to merit open debate and discussion? Do you really care so little about the authors you’re trying to persuade to fork money over to your guild that you won’t even engage in a little back-and-forth on their behalf?

Joe: Barry, don't you have an open challenge to publicly debate Scott Turow anywhere, anytime?

Barry: Yes, in pretty much every interview I do and talk I give, and whenever I post on this topic, I make sure to call Scott out on his inaccuracies and his bullshit and challenge him to back them up by debating me. But I can understand why he’s afraid to defend his ideas. It’s because they make no sense are are so easy to demolish with elementary facts and logic.

You know what impressed the hell out of me? Former New York Times editor Bill Keller invited Glenn Greenwald, a huge critic of Keller’s, to a debate in the pages of the Times. That showed a lot of integrity, and even though I’m a critic of Keller myself and didn’t find his arguments persuasive, the discussion was hugely interesting and Keller earned a lot of respect from me with that move. So Scott, why not emulate Keller and invite your critics to debate you on the AG blog? Wouldn’t that be a smart and honest way to try win a few of the hearts and minds you say you’re after? And you can debate us here anytime, as well. Wouldn’t that be a minimally honest, transparent, courageous thing to do? Wouldn’t it benefit your readers if they could see you debunk our ridiculous arguments? What’s stopping you?

Joe: Keep in mind that the Authors Guild shuts off comments when people begin to disagree with the post. (If you'd like to read the letter without Barry and I adding our comments, you can do so here.) And with that, here's Scott...

Scott Turow: Dear colleague,

As I enter the last few months of my time as Guild president, I have a favor to ask.

Richard Russo has written a letter that I'd like you to share with an author you know who isn't yet a member of the Guild. The letter follows, and speaks eloquently for itself. Simply forward this message on to a friend.

I'm happy to report that the Guild has never had more members in its 100-year history. Even so, we are beginning a process of self-renewal for the Guild. Rick's letter is the first step in that process, in which we are determined to explain our benefit to all authors in the U.S., and hopefully, draw in many more.

Many thanks, and best wishes for a warm holiday season.

Joe: Perhaps I'm over-reacting, but I find Turow's use of the term "self-renewal" interesting.

Barry: Interesting as in, what the hell does it even mean? Is it like when terrorists “self-radicalize?”

I’ll have more to say about this below (and Russo and Turow will give me plenty of opportunities), but for now, I’ll just point out that anytime someone is addressing you with jargon as bizarre and opaque as, “Hi, we’re here to self-renew!”--or, worse yet, when they stretch the nonsense out into an even more verbose phrase like “beginning a process of self-renewal”--you are being bullshitted.

Joe: Hah. Well, here’s what I think Turow means, even if he doesn’t realize it. Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people:

First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization.

Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself.

The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization.
My reading of Turow's words is that he cares about the Authors Guild, wants it to continue (self-renew), and needs authors to do so.

Isn't that backwards? Shouldn't Turow be concerned with what the Guild can do for authors, and not what authors can do for the Guild? Isn't the whole point of the Guild to help authors, and not simply to acquire as many authors as possible so the Guild can continue to exist?

How messed-up is it when an organization--created by writers to benefit writers--realizes it has to take steps to explain how it benefits those writers? Has the Authors Guild figured out out that it needs writers more than writers need the Guild?

If so, good for them, because they are correct. Writers don’t need the Authors Guild. Many writers do need guidance, but they should seek it from peers who are living in 2013, not in 1998. We should seek help and advice from those who are thriving in this new publishing world, not those who made fortunes in the legacy world, years ago.

Barry: Well, one thing Turow and I agree on here. Russo’s letter “speaks eloquently for itself.” This is supposed to be the letter by which “we are determined to explain our benefit to all authors in the U.S., and hopefully, draw in many more”? With what? Glittering generalities, unexamined assumptions, and numerous disproven memes?

Seriously, where’s the part about how the “Authors Guild” has secured for authors digital royalties better than the 25% legacy industry lockstep? Where the AG has succeeded in preventing legacy publishers from draconian rights lockups? Or gotten the legacy industry to share real time sales data with authors? Or pressured the legacy industry to present royalty statements in a fashion just marginally clearer than the Dead Sea Scrolls? Or dragged the legacy industry away from its insistence on paying authors amounts due only twice a year?

Richard and Scott, you’re trying to sell authors on the benefits of membership--membership that will cost those authors money--and you can’t point to even one single concrete success you’ve had (in over a century of existence) in supposedly defending author interests?

I’d be shocked at the poor salesmanship. But I’m not. Because those successes don’t exist. And in the absence of any successes to point to, what can Russo and Turow do besides bloviate?

Joe: Wikipedia concurs. For a century-old organization, The Authors Guild hasn't done anything worth bragging about.

So now here's Pulitzer Prize Winning author Richard Russo, the first step in the Authors Guild process of self-renewal.

Richard Russo: An Open Letter to My Fellow Authors

It’s all changing, right before our eyes. Not just publishing, but the writing life itself, our ability to make a living from authorship. Even in the best of times, which these are not, most writers have to supplement their writing incomes by teaching, or throwing up sheet-rock, or cage fighting.

Joe: Holy sheet-rock.

Actually, I though the sheet-rock and cage fighting references were funny. (Intentionally funny. Things become unintentionally funny later.)

But I have to take exception to Russo's assertion that these are not the best of times.

In February of this year, I got my backlist returned to me, and self-published the titles once controlled by legacy publishers.

The most I ever made from these books, when controlled by legacy publishers and including all advances and royalties (all of my legacy pubbed books earned out their advances), was $50,000 a year.

This year I've made $1,000,000. Because I--not legacy publishers--control my intellectual property.

There are thousands of authors who were once legacy published, or were rejected by legacy publishers, or didn't even bother submitting to legacy publishers, who are making real money, paying real bills, because of this self-publishing revolution. Visit www.kindleboards.com to talk to a few hundred of them, and read about some of the most successful at http://www.kboards.com/authors/.

This is the greatest time ever to be a writer. Unless, perhaps, you are a writer who was a huge bestseller under the old system…

Richard: It wasn’t always so, but for the last two decades I’ve lived the life most writers dream of: I write novels and stories, as well as the occasional screenplay, and every now and then I hit the road for a week or two and give talks. In short, I’m one of the blessed, and not just in terms of my occupation. My health is good, my children grown, their educations paid for. I’m sixty-four, which sucks, but it also means that nothing that happens in publishing—for good or ill—is going to affect me nearly as much as it affects younger writers, especially those who haven’t made their names yet. Even if the e-price of my next novel is $1.99, I won’t have to go back to cage fighting.

Joe: Here begins the fundamental disconnect.

Richard, aren't you aware there are thousands of writers making a living from $1.99 ebooks? That what you considered to be a slight (and, actually, it may indeed be a slight when your publisher pays you 35 cents on a $1.99 ebook when I can make $1.36 on a $1.99 ebook using Amazon Select Countdown) in fact represents liberation for writers--and for readers?

Inexpensive ebooks aren’t what make authors dig into their retirement funds. Or fight in cage matches. It's quite the opposite. I've made my million bucks this year pricing my backlist at $3.99 and under. And my books weren't available in every bookstore, airport, drugstore, and department store.

In fact, my books weren't available in ANY bookstore, airport, drugstore, or departments store.

Richard: Still, if it turns out that I’ve enjoyed the best the writing life has to offer, that those who follow, even the most brilliant, will have to settle for less, that won’t make me happy and I suspect it won’t cheer other writers who’ve been as fortunate as I. It’s these writers, in particular, that I’m addressing here.

Barry: What is this based on? “...those who follow, even the most brilliant, will have to settle for less.” Where is the evidence for this? Because all the evidence with which I’m familiar indicates the opposite--including, for example, that a quarter of the top Kindle 100 books are self-published. Ignoring--or denying--the fact that thousands of authors are now making good livings outside the legacy system is at this point like arguing the earth is flat.

So Richard, I’m asking you: given the overwhelming evidence to the contrary (just click on the links in the paragraph above to get started), what is the basis for your fear that you and legacy publishing are all that’s for the the best in the best of all possible worlds, and that it’s all downhill from here? Do you have any real-world evidence at all in favor of the proposition? If so, why do you not cite it?

Joe: Perhaps, Richard, you believe you are addressing those “less fortunate” authors. But you aren't. Because the only authors who are being forced to settle for less in this new publishing paradigm are hardcover and paperback bestsellers. Those who have won big prizes, and enjoyed huge print runs, and had movies made from their intellectual property. For everyone else, self-publishing and Amazon Publishing represent new choices, and therefore greater opportunity.

Richard: Not everyone believes, as I do, that the writing life is endangered by

Joe: This is a long list here, so we're going to break it down point-by-point...

Richard: the downward pressure of e-book pricing,

Joe: This was my best earning year ever as a writer. It was also the year I did the least amount of work. I only released one new solo novel this year, did zero interviews, zero speeches, zero travelling, zero conventions, zero book fairs, and my only self-promo was some advertising (BookBub and others) and this blog.

All with the titles in my oeuvre being $3.99 or less.

Barry: Ah, the Orwellian language. “Downward pressure of e-book pricing.” Known in plain English as “lower-priced books.” Which people who value reading and care about readers would presumably want.

But it would be uncomfortable for Russo to make the argument honestly: “I’m against lower-priced books. I think less expensive books are bad.” So, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink, he instinctively hides behind the jargon, instead.

My previous publishers insisted on pricing the ebooks of my new novels at $12.99. By contrast, my Amazon-published novels come out at $5.99 (and my new one, Graveyard of Memories, out on February 11, will in fact be priced at $4.99). I’ve sold far, far more copies of these low-priced Amazon titles, and made far, far more money from them, then I did with any of my legacy priced books. Similarly, my legacy publishers charged $7.99 for my backlist titles in digital. When I got my rights back and self-published those titles earlier this year, I halved the prices--and more than doubled my income. Why is that bad?

And one thing that pisses me off any time I have to listen to whining about how “books are being devalued” and “downward pricing pressure” and similar such bullshit bingo in which Russo engages: it includes not a thought about what’s best for readers. Don’t readers benefit from lower-priced books? Don’t we want more people to be able to afford more books? But to the extent Russo cares about readers at all, it’s exclusively in a self-centered, reductionist, trickle-down-economics fashion, along the lines of, “What’s good for the publishing industry must also be good for readers” (watch, he really does this a little ways down).

Richard: by the relentless, ongoing erosion of copyright protection,

Joe: I'm wildly pirated. I encourage it. I've even done experiments that have shown my sales increased through piracy.

I have never seen a convincing study that shows piracy harms ebook sales. In fact, I haven't seen a study that it harms any digital sales.

If you are concerned about piracy, make sure your books are easily available, affordable, and have no restrictions on them (DRM, proprietary formats, country boundaries).

Barry: Anyone interested in learning more about what Russo calls “the relentless, ongoing erosion of copyright protection” would do well to read TechDirt, about the best blog out there on the topic. Unlike Russo and Turow, Mike Masnick and the other writers there consistently use real-world evidence to back up their claims that the damage wrought by “piracy” is hugely overrated, to the extent it exists at all. It would be nice if Russo and Turow would imitate TechDirt by themselves citing some actual evidence. For some particularly incisive (and hilarious) reading, here’s Masnick absolutely eviscerating some of Turow’s crazy claims about piracy, copyright, and the Constitution. Naturally, Turow has issued no public corrections

Richard: by the scorched-earth capitalism of companies like Google and Amazon,

Joe: Ah yes, those terrible capitalist organizations that rose to power by giving customers what they want. And in the case of Amazon, treating authors like customers rather than cheap, replaceable machine cogs.

If Amazon and Google keep being such big, capitalist bullies, the Big 5 might actually have to… I dunno… compete. Or at least try to.

Barry: Well, you have to understand that Turow, at least, thinks competition is bad (likewise innovation). It’s important to know where these guys are coming from.

Richard: by spineless publishers who won’t stand up to them,

Joe: I thought they tried to stand up to them, by meeting in secret and colluding, then denying it.

Hmm. Perhaps that was a bit spineless. What we need is someone who will stand up to Amazon's tyranny. Someone who will put their money where their mouth is. Someone who is mad as hell, and just won't take it anymore, and will lead the way by refusing to sell any more books through Amazon.
Also, that someone can't be a hypocrite.

Barry: Yeah, this one always astonishes me. I mean, just because you’re being hypocritical, it doesn’t mean ipso facto you’re wrong, but… this letter is supposed to persuade people to join the “Authors Guild” and its mission of standing up to a company that practices “scorched-earth capitalism” and seeks “world domination” and glories in “burying your competitors and then burying the shovel.” And the guys who are leading that charge… sell their books through the very company in question. Who are they trying to inspire with their noble example?

Richard and Scott, you’ve both said many times how you’re set for life, the revolution can’t affect you, your intentions are purely altruistic, etc. So what’s keeping you from instructing your publishers to pull your existing books from, and to stop offering your new books with, Amazon? How can you presume to lecture others about what sacrifices they should make in their own businesses when you’re so nakedly unwilling to put your own money where your mouths are?

Richard: by the “information wants to be free” crowd who believe that art should be cheap or free and treated as a commodity,

Joe: I do believe art should be cheap, or free, and the artist can still earn a very good living. I don't believe ebooks are a commodity, because they don't conform to the rules of supply and demand. I also believe that being able to reach an audience and practice my art without having to impress gatekeepers (agents, publishers, grant benefactors) is an amazing, unprecedented opportunity.

I dislike comparing art to commodities, but probably for the opposite reason Russo does. Commodities include necessities. Art is not as important as food or gas. Art is a luxury. And in many cases, luxuries are interchangeable. Someone wanting my next book, which hasn't been released yet, could derive comparable pleasure from one of Barry's books.

Writers are entertainers. We're not feeding villages. We're not curing cancer. No one owes us a living because we spend hours a writing stories. When it comes down to it, we're really not that important.

And for all of you who spell art with a capital A and want to point to some work of staggering genius that changed your life, I recommend you go without eating for two weeks to put things in perspective.

Barry: This is just a silly strawman. There’s no debate here about whether information should be free. The question is, should individuals be able to determine for themselves what prices to charge for what they sell? And no one is arguing that books are a commodity, a notion that in this context is just a distraction. Authors with powerful brands will be able to charge higher prices (I once saw a Ken Follett ebook--I think it was Fall of Giants--priced at something like $21.00. My thought was, Go Ken!). Other authors will find they can maximize their incomes at a lower per-unit price point. Why does this notion offend Russo? Does he support price-fixing, instead?

Every time I ask one of these questions, it makes me a little sad that the president of the august Authors Guild lacks the integrity to respond. But alas.

Richard: by internet search engines who are all too happy to direct people to on-line sites that sell pirated (read “stolen”) books,

Joe: Now we've gotten into "you damn kids get off my lawn" kind of cantankery, when you blame search engines for doing what search engines do.

Or… wait! I've got it! Let's require search engines to ban and censor sites we don't like! Information might want to be free, but it shouldn't be! Everyone should pay dearly for it! They should pay $12.99! Er, I mean $9.99, because legacy publishers aren't allowed to control prices anymore because of all that illegal collusion.

I wonder if the Pulitzer judges paid for the copies of Empire Falls they read. Or if (gasp!) they got them for free! Because no good can come from getting free books!

Barry: I have to say it again: here’s Masnick absolutely eviscerating some of Turow’s crazy claims about piracy, copyright, and the Constitution. Richard, you really should have taken the trouble to read Masnick’s piece before publicly repeating Scott’s thoroughly debunked and nonsensical claims. After all, you’re a member of this thing called the Authors Guild. Don’t you care about providing authors with accurate information?

Richard: and even by militant librarians who see no reason why they shouldn’t be able to “lend” our e-books without restriction.

Joe: I have recently created a company that will allow libraries to lend ebooks without restriction. No BS. More on this soon. I'll make an announcement in early 2014, but the genesis of it came from this old blog post.

I'm guessing Turow and Russo won't put their ebooks into my program.

But then, it really isn't their choice, because they don't control their rights. If I decide I want their books, my new business can simply deal with their publishers directly.

Barry: Jeez, even librarians are bad guys now? Paranoid much?

Joe: Are you telling me librarians don't carry guns at your library, Barry? Or send you to a prison camp for returning a book that is overdue?

Barry: Maybe we could have a new Authors Guild slogan: “Librarians. The Real Enemy of Reading."

Joe: Oh, Authors Guild, whatever can I do?! Those militant librarians are trying to share my work with more readers, and thereby create more readers for my work!

Barry: Actually, libraries aren’t exactly fans of Turow’s nonsense. Here’s Maureen Sullivan, President of the American Library Association, with a common-sense response to Turow.

Richard: But those of us who are alarmed by these trends have a duty, I think, to defend and protect the writing life that’s been good to us, not just on behalf of younger writers who will not have our advantages if we don’t, but also on behalf of readers, whose imaginative lives will be diminished if authorship becomes untenable as a profession.

Barry: I have to ask again: where’s the evidence of your duty to make sure the authors you’re addressing are being provided information that hasn’t been debunked? That’s backed with a modicum of evidence? That’s been minimally thought through? Why doesn’t this noble sense of duty extend to the president of the Authors Guild ever publicly correcting any of the embarrassingly egregious mistakes people like Joe, Mike Masnick, and others are always having to point out to him?

But that’s not how Russo conceives of his “duty.” He says it himself, and couldn’t be more clear: his duty, as he conceives it, is primarily to “protect the writing life that’s been good to us.” Everything else is subordinate to that.

“We have to protect the system that’s been good to me us…” Why does this sound familiar? Oh, right -- because it’s been around for so long. It even has a name: protectionism.

Joe: You know what would be nice? If someone would think about readers!

Hey, didn't James Patterson also spout similar nonsense earlier this year? Didn't some blogger take Patterson to task for saying that?

Readers have more choices than ever. They have more books available to them, at lower prices, than ever before. It doesn't matter where they live, or if they can physically get to a bookstore or library, because ebooks are delivered instantly. It doesn't matter if they have vision problems, because ebooks have adjustable font, or will even read themselves out loud.

Ebooks are the best thing to happen to readers since the Gutenberg Press, and to the writers who are now able to reach those readers directly.

Barry: Just to amplify that last point: if your primary goals have to do with what’s best for readers, and if you think more reading is good for society, then you cannot be opposed to lower-priced books. If you are opposed to lower-priced books, then you might care about readers and reading, but you must by definition care about other things more. Such as, I don’t know, ““protect[ing] the writing life that’s been good to us.”

Joe: How about the "younger writers who will not have our advantages"? Does this mean I won't… I won't...

Barry: Yes, Joe. You won't win a Pulitzer.

Joe: Nooooooooooooooooooooo!

Barry: But seriously, I get so tired of this weird, evidence-free universe Russo’s ideas float around in. What “advantages?” Russo won big in a system that worked for him. I’m happy for him. But what happened as a result is that he became incapable of understanding that the system in question produced thousands of losers for every winner. You can see this stunted worldview on display in the New York Times op-ed I referred to earlier, where Russo tries to divine what Amazon’s price-matching feature portends for the book world by exclusively contacting a few rich and famous cronies. This is exactly like Warren Buffett trying to figure out what a new provision in the tax code might mean for America by phoning up Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Pierre Omidyar.

Richard, younger writers are doing fine. Follow a few of the links above and you’ll see. Or do some minimal Internet research of your own. I’m glad the old way worked for you--truly. And I love your books. But you have to understand that the old way isn’t the only way. That makes sense, doesn’t it? That there are other ways? That industries evolve? That other systems might work for other writers, and that those writers should be free to pursue what works for them even if it makes you personally uncomfortable?

Richard: I know, I know. Some insist that there’s never been a better time to be an author. Self-publishing has democratized the process, they argue, and authors can now earn royalties of up to seventy percent, where once we had to settle for what traditional publishers told us was our share.

Joe: And that was only if legacy publishers would even deign to offer us one of their take-it-or-leave-it unconscionable contracts.

Also, Richard, please tell us if you've been able to get 70% royalties from your publishers, or if you just accepted what they told you was your share.

And another thing: you make these statements as though suggesting they’re incorrect, but then you never bother stating how they’re incorrect. Can you please refute something? Or form an actual argument? Can't you do a single thing to persuade via logic and facts? A hyperlink? Anything at all other than evidence-free conjecture?

Barry: I was going to say the same thing. Russo states two opinions with which he obviously disagrees, then throws in a fact--authors can now make 70% royalties--as though this proposition is equally dubious. Nobody’s “arguing” that authors can now earn 70% royalties. This is just a fact, and one that Russo apparently doesn’t know how to discuss rationally. That, or he doesn’t know the difference between an opinion he doesn’t like and the indisputable facts that might form the basis for that opinion.

Hmm, I just can’t figure out why this letter hasn’t inspired me to help the Authors Guild engage in its process of self-renewal. Maybe it’s just me?

Richard: Anecdotal evidence is marshaled in support of this view (statistical evidence to follow).

Barry: I think this might be the most breathtakingly unself-aware claim in the entire letter. Russo is complaining that proponents of choice in publishing refer only to anecdotes? Please, Richard, take a few minutes and reread your letter. And by all means, point to even a single anecdote, a statistic, or any other piece of supporting evidence from the world outside your imagination. If you think argument without solid evidence is worthless, why have you published such an evidence-free letter as this one? How can you not see that you’re exemplifying the very behavior you decry, while your critics exemplify the opposite?

Hint: here’s one possible explanation.

Richard: Those of us who are alarmed, we’re told, are, well, alarmists. Time will tell who’s right,

Joe: Actually, I can tell you. I'm right. You're wrong. I don't require time to reveal that. Facts and logic are what reveal that.

Barry: Richard, I don’t think you’re an alarmist. Sometimes alarm is called for. Sometimes, in fact, its absence can only exist as the product of denial (anything short of alarm in the face of Edward Snowden’s revelations, I would argue, would be naive at best. Plus, the surveillance state really does think of itself as a giant octopus doing unspeakable things to the earth!).

No, I don’t think you’re an alarmist. Rather, I think that, at least on this topic, you’re thoughtless. Likewise Turow. If you thought about these things a bit, if you did some minimal research, if you would stop amplifying debunked claims that never made sense in the first place, you might feel less alarmed. So no, it’s not the alarm that concerns me. It’s the lack of thought behind it.

Joe: I don't consider you an alarmist either, Richard. I consider you a protector of the Old Way of Doing Things.

Barry: The OWDOT?

Joe: It transposes two letters, but I like how that sounds.

Barry: No, I think we can make it work: OWoDoT. Get it?

Joe: Okay, I’m going with it. Richard, the OWDOT treated you well. In some ways, it’s natural you would want to protect it.

But that’s the sort of thinking that bankrupted Kodak. There exists a new technology that allows for a new way to reach readers. This way is faster, easier, and cheaper than it has ever been in history.

Instead of embracing this invention, publishers have been trying for years to stop it. And they had good reason to try--because they didn't control the ebook market like they controlled the paper market.

Barry and I explain it all in Be the Monkey. It’s free, so don't concern yourself with tracking down a pirated copy.

Barry: Seriously, Richard, why don’t you try reading it? I know you can get much better confirmation bias by calling up a few friends who are situationally exactly like you and who you know share your world view. But is that really the best way to pressure-check your opinions? To come to grips with new ideas?

Joe: Hey, aren't we both friends who are situationally similar and share the same world view?

Barry: Yes! And we punish ourselves regularly reading and responding to the Russos and Turows of the world. I’d love to see them do something remotely similar.

Joe: Won't happen. First of all, they won't even respond to this. Second, when I call you it is because I want dissenting opinion, not corroboration. I want you (and the many other peers I rely upon to pressure-check me) to prove me wrong. To find points I missed. To beat me in a debate.

I seek alternative views, not yes men.

Barry: It’s fine to discuss things with your pals. But there’s no excuse for shielding yourself from information that contradicts your biases. Or for failing to engage your critics--especially when you’re on a self-declared mission to protect and defend authors from scorched-earth capitalism and all that.

Joe: Richard, I think you’re worried because you did well in the past, and you fear you won't be able to equal that success in the future. Those who benefit from the status quo tend to want things to stay the same.

But grumbling at the wind won't stop it from happening. Building windmills, however… that's what Barry and I and thousands of writers who will never join the Authors Guild are all doing. We're embracing the future, and doing fine.

Richard: but surely it can’t be a good idea for writers to stand on the sidelines while our collective fate is decided by others.

Joe: Kinda like, um, the Big 5 deciding our fate?

Barry: Yes, I’d be much more comfortable letting my fate be decided by purveyors of ignorance like the Authors Guild.

Or--crazy idea, I know--writers could even make decisions for themselves. Or, if they want to act collectively, they could form a guild that’s worthy of the name (though I’d recommend calling it a union rather than a guild, unless the idea really is to use a medieval term to signify the organization is archaic). We would know if such a union exists by whether it’s able to get legacy publishers to change some of their more antediluvian and draconian practices (again, 25% lockstep digital royalties, etc, etc). Richard? Scott? Could you share some of those successes with the authors you’re attempting to bring in on your process of self-renewal? If not, then leaving aside for the moment the medievalism of the terminology, why are you calling yourself a guild?

It’s a serious question. Here, I’m a skeptical author. Can you demonstrate to me how the Authors Guild represents my interests in any way that’s meaningfully adverse to legacy publishing? Can you provide any case studies of circumstances where legacy publishers were treating authors poorly, and you were able to effect meaningful change beneficial to authors? I don’t know why you would have left such evidence out of your letter (after all, you’ve pointed out that you disdain evidence-free argument).

And if such evidence doesn’t exist, can you accept that you’re much less a guild--and certainly not a union--but rather something more akin to the legacy publishing industry’s best-known lobbyist?

RIchard: Especially when we consider who those others are. Entities like Google and Apple and Amazon are rich and powerful enough to influence governments, and every day they demonstrate their willingness to wield that enormous power.

Joe: Kinda like, um, the Big 5 wielding enormous power?

Barry: I’d actually like to see the “Authors Guild” wield a little power on behalf of authors and against legacy publishers. Unless… wait, I get it. Why would the AG ever wield power that way? Because just like what’s good for authors is good for readers, what’s good for legacy publishing is good for authors. It all makes sense to me now.

Joe: Richard, did you read the part above where I said how much money I made this year? I've made more money self-pubbing in the last six months than I made in eight years with legacy publishers.

That's because I had no power before. My legacy publishers had the power. Once the power came back to me (via my rights reverting), I did what they couldn't do: I reached readers.

Amazon and Google and Apple empower writers. But you don't like them because they're eating your corporate partners for lunch.

Richard: Books and authors are a tiny but not insignificant part of the larger battle being waged between these companies, a battleground that includes the movie, music, and newspaper industries.
Joe: Here's the same kind of thinking I was taking Turow to task for earlier.

I'm not an industry. I'm an author. I don't care about trying to protect an industry. That's not my concern. My concern is reaching readers.

You and Scott found cozy spots in the legacy industry, and now you're afraid it is going away. Which is understandable, because it is. And since you can't find any logical or factual way to defend your position, you spout nonsense and hope no one is paying close enough attention to call you out.

I managed to find my place, and make a good living, in the self-publishing industry. But if that goes away, I'll roll with it and try to figure out the next thing that comes along.

I don't fight to protect the status quo, because I'm already looking at 2015 and deciding how I can thrive there.

I believe you're looking at 2001 and wondering how to get back to those good old days.

Richard: I think it’s fair to say that to a greater or lesser degree, those other industries have all gotten their asses kicked, just as we’re getting ours kicked now. And not just in the courts.

Joe: Was that a DOJ/agency pricing reference? If so, I fried that fish already.

Barry: What is it with this “we” and “our” stuff? It’s like a David Brooks column, or a Colbert parody. Why are some people unable to understand that their own situations and preferences aren’t representative of those of everyone else? It’s weird.

Look, I’m sorry if Russo feels like someone kicked his ass. I don’t feel that way. I’m doing fine in the new system. Thousands of other writers are, too (and readers are doing better than anyone).

We’re not telling Russo or Turow what to do. Why do they have to get up in our business? The more I watch the defenders of the OWDOT try to convince everyone else that there’s only one right way to publish books--their way--the more I’m convinced that the revolution in publishing is fundamentally about the forces of group control, on one side, and the forces of individual freedom, on the other. I know this characterization would likely upset Russo and Turow, but who’s intent on telling other people what to charge, who to work with, and how to publish? And whose attitude is just, “Look, do whatever you think is best for yourself, but stop trying to interfere with me?”

Joe: As for the other industries getting their asses kicked, perhaps they should have--I dunno--listened to what customers wanted and tried to compete?

And you speak for "our" industry. It is no longer "my" industry. Yet I am an author.

This kind of talk is why I started calling you guys the Publisher's Guild. Because you want to protect the industry that served you, not other authors. All glory to the OWDOT!

Richard: Somehow, we’re even losing the war for hearts and minds. When we defend copyright, we’re seen as greedy.

Joe: Actually, you're seen as naive.

I'd love to live in the world I want to exist, but I'm stuck in this world. This world has digital piracy. Digital piracy has not been shown to harm artists. The efforts used to combat digital piracy irritates consumers--ask any consumer who wants to transfer an ebook with DRM to more than one of their ereading devices, or to share it with Mom, or to store a copy on their hard drive in case the proprietary format ever changes.

The music companies could have looked at Napster and said, "Hey! People like to listen to and share digital music files! How can we give people what they want?"

Instead they said, "Hey! Let's sue!"

End result: the biggest retailer of music on the planet isn't a music company, it's a computer company.

Oops.

BTW, you are losing the war for hearts and minds because you are wrong. You and Scott are in the elite minority and are desperate to defend your standing, but you can't even come up with a halfway decent argument. Or any evidence at all.

Consider that. You believe everything is up for grabs here, that the future is at stake. And both you and Scott are great writers (and Scott’s a lawyer, too). And between the two of you, you can't pen a coherent argument? Does that tell you anything?

Barry: Took the words out of my mouth. If you’re worried about losing the war for hearts and minds, Richard, maybe it’s because of stunningly lame letters like this one? Maybe you’d have a better chance if Scott would correct his egregious misstatements after others have pointed them out to him or otherwise engage his critics? Or if the AG were a tad more transparent? Or if you could answer any of the questions in this critique, and provide a few case studies of actual AG work on behalf of authors that has resulted in meaningful changes by the legacy industry?

Why don’t you try telling authors what good the AG has ever actually done them? Can’t you?

Okay, let me make it easier. How about listing five things you wish--just wish, it doesn’t have to be more than that--the legacy industry would change on behalf of the authors you claim to represent. Can you do even that much? Just name five things. That would be a good start. Because if you’re afraid to do even that much, there really isn’t much hope, is there? And if there’s nothing you wish would change because, again, you think legacy publishing already is all that’s for the the best in the best of all possible worlds, then we have a different kind of problem.

Joe: And piggybacking on Barry's point, if you can name five things--hell, if you can name one thing--about legacy publishing that could be changed to benefit authors, then why hasn't the Guild done anything to fight for that?

Richard: When we justly sue, we’re seen as litigious.

Joe: Actually, that's when you're seen as greedy. It's like when the RIAA sued that grandmother. It just looks bad.

Barry: Not just greedy. Stupid. And antediluvian. Again, where is the evidence that piracy is actually harming authors? Suing to stop it is boneheaded and counterproductive. If common sense doesn’t tell you this is so, have a look at this new London School of Economics Study, which finds that not only isn’t piracy hurting the entertainment industry, it’s actually helping it.

Richard: When we attempt to defend the physical book and stores that sell them, we’re seen as Luddites.

Joe: Wow, this argument is still going on? Didn't I address this four years ago, before ebooks really took off?

I love bookstores. I've signed books at more bookstores than any author in history (over 1200). I even have a plan to help bookstores, which I hatched with Blake Crouch (and not a single bookstore has taken us up on it.)

But my main goal as a writer is to find readers. Those are my customers. So I go where they're actually buying books, not where I'd like them to buy books.

Barry: I get so tired of these canards. Richard, I don’t think you’re a luddite (again, I think you’re thoughtless, based on how little thought I’ve seen in your public writings regarding publishing). And I don’t care if you want to “defend the physical book and stores that sell them,” whatever that means. As long as you’re okay with my selling books how, and at what prices, and with whom I want. Live and let live--are you okay with that?

Richard: Our altruism, when we’re able to summon it, is too often seen as self-serving.

Barry: Maybe because… it’s not altruism?

I know, I know… it’s always for a good cause. That’s why we called our invasion of Iraq “Iraqi Freedom.” It’s why a federal law to disenfranchise gays was called “The Defense of Marriage Act.” Why is it the people who most want to get up in other people’s business always tell themselves they’re doing it out of altruism? I guess they couldn’t do this shit if they were honest with themselves.

Richard, have you read Reinhold Niebuhr’s Moral Man and Immoral Society? Here’s one of my favorite quotes, perhaps worth some reflection: “We have noted that self-deception and hypocrisy is an unvarying element in the moral life of all human beings. It is the tribute which morality pays to immorality..."

Joe: You hit a home run with this one, Richard. I agree 100%. Because what you believe is altruism is, indeed, self-serving.

You’re not concerned for the welfare of others. Others are doing fine. You’re concerned about your welfare, and the welfare of the Authors Guild, though you have yet to show why the Authors Guild is good for authors. You haven't even tried.

Richard: But here’s the thing. What the Apples and Googles and Amazons and Netflixes of the world all have in common (in addition to their quest for world domination), is that they’re all starved for content, and for that they need us. Which means we have a say in all this.

Barry: This is a really interesting concept. Has the AG ever tried applying it to the legacy industry? Or is the legacy industry inherently, ineluctably beneficial to authors?

Right, I forgot. What’s good for the legacy industry is good for authors. My question was nonsensical. Never mind.

Joe: Barry! Stop questioning OWDOT!

Barry: I know, I know. I should just let go and be assimilated. But seriously, wouldn’t it be great if the AG could provide a few case studies of how, because publishers are starved for content, the AG has used its “say” to effect meaningful change for the authors it claims to represent? If they could do that, maybe they could even win a couple hearts and minds, and they wouldn’t have to worry so much about processes of self-renewal.

Richard: Everything in the digital age may feel new and may seem to operate under new rules, but the conversation about the relationship between art and commerce is age-old, and artists must be part of it.

Joe: Like artists were a part of it in legacy publishing?

Could you assume, for a moment, that perhaps the Big 5 treat Pulitzer winners and bestselling authors a bit better than they treat all other authors?

Perhaps you and Scott were able to play a part in the relationship between art and commerce because your publishers allowed it. Perhaps you got better ebook royalty rates than your peers (and then had to sign NDAs saying you can never admit it publicly). Perhaps you had a say so in the price of your books, your distribution, your titles, your cover art.

The rest of us--the mid-list majority that the Authors Guild purports to represent--were not treated like you and Scott were.

But now, for the first time, we can directly reach readers. We aren't simply part of the conversation about the relationship between art and commerce--we directly make decisions about that relationship.

Richard: To that end we’d do well to speak with one voice,

Barry: You mean… act like a union? Collective bargaining? Wring more favorable terms from the industry that in lockstep pays authors a mere 25% in digital royalties, and deigns to pay us only twice a year? After all, they need our content!

Richard: though it’s here we demonstrate our greatest weakness.

Joe: I'll posit that our greatest weakness is being shills and lackeys and toadies for the legacy publishing industry because we've so desperately craved their attention due to their being the only game in town.

In fact, wasn't the Authors Guild created to inform about and protect authors from the publishing industry? How did it go from that to openly defending publishers who break the law and cost us money?

Barry: Well, since you ask, it’s called regulatory capture. The AG is a textbook case.

Joe: Could that be why this letter is so lame? They can't come up with an argument because they're the bad guys? They can't persuade because their position is indefensible? They can't debate because it's one big house of cards?

Why not be honest?

Barry: I know that was a rhetorical question, but again: Orwell.

Joe: Join the Authors Guild! We represent the .0001% of you who are already hugely successful! And we get all the stupid mid-listers to support our cause! We scare them with alarming boogeymen tales:

  • Beware rampant piracy!
  • Do you want all the bookstores to vanish?!
  • Amazon is taking over the world!
  • Google is scanning our books and violating copyright!
  • Kindle text-to-speech is violating copyright!
  • Copyright as we know it is becoming unenforceable!

The only way to stop these terrible occurrences and quell your misguided fears is to join the Guild... and pay $90 a year!

This point is extremely important, so I want to tease it out a bit more:

The Guild is trying to scare you to join, because it can't convince you using facts and logic. And the things the Guild wants you to fear aren't really scary at all..

  • Piracy isn't going to harm your sales as long as your books are affordable, available, and easily accessible.
  • Record stores vanished, but musicians still flourish. I made $1M this year without selling a single book in a brick and mortar store.
  • Amazon may indeed take over the world, and then commence its thousand-year-reign by offering customers great deals and authors great royalties.
  • Google book scanning was believed by the court to improve book sales and the lawsuit was dismissed.
  • Text-to-speech is no longer an option on new Kindle Paperwhites, but it wasn't because of anything the Guild did.
  • Using copyright to make sure no one is selling your intellectual property without your permission is still important, and supported worldwide (in fact, copyright protection has gotten so strong that if anything it’s out of control). But peer-to-peer file sharing doesn't harm sales, and restricting use on digital files is almost universally hated by libraries and consumers.

Nothing the Guild says is scary actually is scary. These are fear mongering tactics that depend on you not looking at them too closely and not thinking about them at all. The Guild uses these tactics because they can't convince authors to join based on facts, logic, or even common sense. So they resort to fear-mongering, instead (in fairness, fear-mongering can be pretty damn funny).

Barry: This is the most insidious thing about the Authors Guild. The name itself is so perfectly misleading! The right name is the most important part of propaganda. How could anyone oppose the Patriot Act? Are you not a patriot? And what could possibly be objectionable about something called The National Security Agency? Don’t you want the nation to be secure? So yes, “Legacy Publishing Lobbying Arm” wouldn’t be nearly as effective in getting authors to join. Tell those authors it’s for them, and regardless of the truth you’re already halfway there.

Richard: Writers are notoriously independent cusses, hard to wrangle. We spend our mostly solitary days filling up blank pieces of paper with words. We must like it that way, or we wouldn’t do it. But while it’s pretty to think that our odd way of life will endure, there’s no guarantee.

Barry: Writers might have to stop filling up blank pieces of paper with words? What is Russo even talking about here? Is he saying that if publishing evolves and authors are free to publish in new ways, writers will have to stop writing?

That losing effort for hearts and minds, Richard? Could it have something to do with fanciful assertions like this one?

Joe: So, let me get this straight. You want some sort of guarantee that we can stop technology from advancing, halt the future, and force readers to buy books the way you want them to rather than they way they want to?

Filling up blank pieces of paper with words will endure. Actually, the "paper" part of that won't. But filling up a screen with words--writing stories--will always be around. Even if all stories were free. (I'll touch in this in a future blog post--you guys are gonna love it.)

What won't endure is the legacy publishing cartel having a quasi-monopoly on book sales because it owned the distribution channels.

We get it, Richard. You and Scott did very well with the OWDOT. And you want things to stay that way. And you'll mourn those days when they're gone.

But for the majority of writers, that attitude is like mourning British rule in the post-revolution United States. "Ah, remember the good old days when we had the hell taxed out of us but had no representation in government?"

Richard: The writing life is ours to defend. Protecting it also happens to be the mission of the Authors Guild,

Joe: Actually, Scott's intro, and your letter, have not done a single thing to persuade authors that they need the Guild. You spouted a list of disquieting things happening in the industry, but haven't shown how the Guild is spearheading movement toward the greater good, or helping writers in these apparently scary times, or doing anything other than lamely attempting to recruit more authors to help you self-renew.

Barry: I’m really getting tired of the self-serving bullshit about “altruism” and all the rest. Look, the AG exists to defend a system, one that (coincidentally) has been very good to its president and to Russo. It’s not about defending “the writing life.” That’s just fatuous. More people are living the writing life than ever before. Russo doesn’t care about them (actually, I don’t think he even knows about them). He cares about preserving a system.

Joe: All glory to the OWDOT! Everytime I say that I think of:



Which is oddly appropriate. And also sort of a tie-in to Be the Monkey. You don't want to be the frog, or be hypnotized by the toad.

Richard: which I myself did not join until last year, when the light switch in my cave finally got tripped. Are you a member? If not, please consider becoming one. We’re badly outgunned and in need of reinforcements.

Joe: Reinforcements for what? Reinforcements to pay the Guild $90 in annual dues so the Guild can self-renew?

Barry: “Engage in a process of self-renewal.”

Joe: Right. How about this: Guild, renew thyself. Because "self-renew" doesn't mean "writers do it for you by paying dues."

Or, at the very least, explain why I should pay you $90 a year when you consistently defend the legacy industry that has screwed thousands of authors while attacking the self-publishing industry that has benefited tens of thousands of authors?

Barry: The cave imagery, though… that felt about right.

Richard: If the writing life has done well by you, as it has by me, here’s your chance to return the favor. Do it now, because there’s such a thing as being too late.

Joe: And then missiles will blow up little Daisy!

Join now, before it's too late!

Barry: Okay, that was honesty leaking through again. It’s like saying, “If you’re one of the one percent, if America’s economic system as currently configured has done as well by you as it has by me, then fight to preserve it!”

Joe: Can somebody, somewhere, please form a writing organization that actually benefits writers? That doesn't exist to help the rich get richer? That won't succumb to Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy or regulatory capture for a decade or two? That won't use the power of a large untitled group to further the agenda of an entitled few?

Barry: Yes. The legacy industry has its lobbying arm, cleverly entitled “Authors Guild.” An organization that really does use its power to protect the interests of authors would be a welcome counterweight.

Or here’s another way to think of it. Look, we’re not arguing that the Authors Guild does nothing on behalf of authors. A quick trip to their website will reveal various services they perform. But you have to understand these services in context. Think of them as offering help to fishes--but only to the ones that agree to remain in and work to preserve the aquarium. Fishes that want to jump the net and swim in the adjacent ocean freak them out. It’s not so much that they’re anti-fish… they’re just pro-aquarium. But they won’t call themselves that. They call themselves pro-fish, but, whether they realize it or not, that’s not really what they’re about.

We’re also not arguing that Amazon, Apple, Google, et al don’t need competition and strong push-back. They certainly do. But we do find it telling that this organization calling itself the Authors Guild wants to push back only against these companies--which have done so much to empower authors--while doing nothing at all to push back against the legacy industry that refuses to share the wealth in digital royalties, that only pays authors twice a year (seriously, is that alone not incomprehensible and unconscionable?), etc.

Joe: If this is the best the Authors Guild can do to win your allegiance, do you really want to join this organization? It's the opposite of the old Groucho Marx joke. I refuse to be a part of any organization that is too stupid to convince me to join. Because if they can't convince me, how are they going to do me (or anyone else) any good?

Or to put it another way: it is impossible to elect a leader stupider than those who voted for him.

How stupid do you have to be to buy this nonsense? How can anyone consider joining an organization that can't even justify itself, let alone justify what it will do for you?

Scott Turow began the letter asking for a favor. He wanted authors to share this letter.

I'm asking the same favor. Everyone reading this blog post, please share it with other authors.

Barry: Because Turow and Russo can be counted on to do all they can to hide from it. And the Authors Guild to do all they can do to suppress it.

Joe: Tweet it, link to it on Facebook, discuss it in forums, talk about it in public, add your comments below, and try to inform as many writers as you can.

DO NOT JOIN THE AUTHORS GUILD

Let them either explain themselves and reform--or vanish.

63 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was a thoroughly entertaining dissection of a letter that is half-assed and severely unprofessional, written by a supposed legend.
All points you both raised are duly noted in my corner of the writing world.
And a special thanks to both of you for evidencing all the way through your commentary.

Richard Schiver said...

I am a writer who in the past felt it necessary to have my work vetted, if you will, by being accepted by a publisher. Once I set foot upon the self publishing path I began to see many of these so called organizations, who claim to be there to help the writer, more concerned about the fate of the publishers. There's a simple idiom in business. Adapt or perish. These organizations who refuse to embrace self publishing will in time find themselves unable to survive. Which is a real shame. If they were really as concerned with the writer as they claim to be, they would adapt to this change in publishing and provide new writers with the information they need to succeed. To warn them away from predators such as Author Solutions, no wait, Penquin, Simon & Schuster, are involved with AS. Never mind, they've made their bed, let em lay in it.
Nice article Joe.

Bob said...

I was told to "shut the fuck up" on the Author's Guild blog where Turow made his pronouncement about Amazon. Then the blog was shut down for comments, a curious move for a guild representing authors who would want free speech.

I've confronted Turow on my blog and even during a live on-line session he was doing, hawking his latest book. He ignored every question I posed even though there were a total of seven people in online attendance.

His lack of fortitude is pathetic.

What I find most amusing is how Turow and the others lambast Amazon and pretend to speak for all authors when in reality, they are little more than well paid indentured servants to NY Publishing. They have no control over where their books are sold or for what price.

When I first started out almost 25 years ago, Bill Butterworth (aka WEB Griffin) told me the Authors Guild was the enemy of authors. Nothing has changed.

MJRose said...

The AG is so like our congress... they have done nothing to help the career of the average writer.* And there is so much they could do. And their continued alignment with publishers baffles me. Not that publishers are the enemy - but an authors guild can't be in bed with them. I had an interaction with them last year that proved how uninterested they are in really digging in and helping authors when during the S&S /B&N contract issue they posted an article about the problem on their blog and insinuated authors were blowing it out of proportion by saying that authors' books were "supposedly" not in B&N. Several of us who were affected wrote and complained about their choice of words - after all this is the "Authors" guild. We sent them proof that the books were not in the stores. They refused to change their wording - making it look like authors were complaining for no reason. As the contract problem dragged on for months we wrote them several times and asked them for help in joining our effort to get the word out to readers about these books being on line and in indies - the AG not only didn't help - they didn't even acknowledge our requests. I'm upset that many authors will read that letter and not understand how little the AG has done for the majority of us and how uninterested they are in the majority of and will join. * For the record, I'm a hybrid author and have a lot of respect for my publisher and am happy to be working with them.

Paolo Amoroso said...

Hi Authors Guild, greetings from Italy. In my country, when I buy any storage media such as blank CDs, DVDs, or hard drives, I have to pay a little more to compensate artists and content creators for the losses due to piracy. This is because of an Italian law. The money goes to SIAE, the local collecting society.

Yes, I know, CDs are vintage, even a bit steampunk. That’s why the Italian government, I guess with insightful input from the entertainment industry, a couple of days ago passed an innovative bill that’ll make me pay me a little more when buying PCs and tablets.

Isn’t this awesome? And, by the way, who said there are dinosaurs in the entertainment industry? They understand tablets, they are cutting edge.

What? The presumption of innocence? I pay a fine in advance even if I’m not doing anything wrong? Well, no big deal, that’s just to protect the good guys like you, to protect society. And we should go even further: my government should make me pay a little more when buying a car, as cars are routinely used for all sorts of pulp crimes, even with blood and victims, such as bank robberies.

Bob said...

Upon reflection, Mr. Russoe doe have some valid points. The problem is: the Authors Guild has had a century to do this. The result was the Big 5. How often did the Authors Guild stand up to the Big 5? How often did big name authors make a stand for the midlist, to the point of being willing to lose a slice of the hefty piece of the pie? I must have missed all that. What exactly is the Authors Guild's plan right now to take a stand for authors? All I see is a lot of flag waving and desire for the status quo. I'd appreciate Mr. Turow and Mr. Russo and the rest present a solid plan how a true Guild of Authors could work together for the benefit of all. Are they willing to on strike like the Writers Guild? Not get paid? What exactly are they willing to put on the line?

Walter Knight said...

I self-renewal in the restroom.

I don't know what that means.

JA Konrath said...

What exactly are they willing to put on the line?

They have shown themselves willing to pay lawyers a great deal of money to sue for copyright violations.

Check this out, via the Wikipedia entry:

direct and indirect revenue to the Guild should exceed US$50 million due to the Google settlement, with $34.5 million paid upfront as a "registry fee" to a separate, not-yet-established organization set up by the Guild

Well, they rightfully lost the Google case, but WTF is using money they might have won to set up a separate organization? If the Guild had won, shouldn't they have split that among all the authors whose copyrights were violated?

Sounds like they were suing to help themselves, not authors.

R.E. McDermott said...

Renewal can be a good thing. Well, kind of a good thing. OK, maybe it's a bad thing.

http://youtu.be/xSnLU9nyFSA

Tony Hursh said...

"But that’s the sort of thinking that bankrupted Kodak."

See also: Sears shutting down their catalog operation the same year the first graphical web browser was released.

Sears basically had amazon.com, and threw it away.

billie said...

Maybe WE should start a new and actually here to serve authors in this new publishing era group.

Why keep arguing with the one that's dying a slow death?

Create something new that works for writers. I'll happily help and join. I bet a lot of other writers would too.

Tracy Sharp - Author of the Leah Ryan Series said...

I f*cking love you guys.

Paul Draker said...

The worst of times? I guess the dinosaurs thought the same thing after the meteor hit.

But if you agree with Turow and Russo's asinine assertion that these are bad times for writers, at least now you know who to blame. According to them, you need to stop using those evil search engines and go punch out a librarian ;)

If the Author's Guild hopes to be anything other than a an outdated, soon-to-be defunct embarrassment to our profession, it needs to put these crusty, disingenuous relics of a bygone time out to pasture and get some real leadership in place. Someone like Joe or Barry, or Bella Andre, or Hugh Howey, or David Gaughran, or Theresa Ragan, or Holly Ward, just to name a few. There's an entire new generation of true, transparent leaders shaping the writing world by selflessly sharing their time, experiences, and insights with their fellow authors, and who are doing it because they are passionate about what's best for *readers* (hey, do you even remember what readers are, Turow and Russo?).

Even better, maybe one of you shining lights in the bright new world of writing should start a brand new guild for authors--one that actually represents our interests once in a while :) Or maybe that's not even necessary, because to all intents and purposes, you guys are already doing it.

Paul Draker said...

And Bob Mayer would be another good candidate, as would Kris Rusch.

Like I said, we writers have examples and leaders to look up to, who are representing our interests every day. They just have nothing to do with the Author's Guild

Ken Lindsey said...

"...and even by militant librarians who see no reason why they shouldn’t be able to “lend” our e-books without restriction."

If these words had a scrotum, I would kick it as hard as I could, over and over and over.

Libraries, and more importantly- librarians, are the gateway to a lifetime of reading for most children. Even the eleven year old who lives in my house (a house where we don't have enough room for all the books my girlfriend and I bring together) comes home from school after a trip to the library, ecstatic at finding books he never knew existed.

This happens because of libraries "militant librarians" being there to let kids know that there are other worlds out there. Here's Neil Gaiman, saying the same thing (just in case you need to hear it from someone other than Joe or an unknown author like myself)
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming

I believe with all my heart, Mr. Russo, that no one, not you or Gaiman or Konrath or Eisler or King, would have an audience to write for, or a platform to do it from, without the libraries and librarians of the world. It would likely be a lot of rich people, just sharing the Gutenburg Bible and talking about how lucky they are to own and be able to read books.

(ok, I know I'm being a bit hyperbolic here, but trying to take up arms against libraries and librarians pisses me off)

Thanks for the post, guys. I'm off to drink coffee and pray for the proletariat.

Jude Hardin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mark Terry said...

In order for a guild or union to have significant effect, it needs to be able to withhold services. That's how these things typically work. That's how the Screen Writers Guilds (E & W) work - they can strike, making their services unavailable. This is, to put it mildly, unlikely to happen with authors.

So, then, if you are an organization representing a group of people in the industry, what are you? Ah, yes, a trade organization. This puts you in a slightly different venue, suggesting that you're essentially a lobbying organization. I can see the AG as a bit of a lobby, although they seem to be primarily interested in the protection of copyright in terms of lobbying interests, since that appears to be the only area where they do anything significant.

And certainly authors should have at least some interest in copyright protection, but, speaking as an author myself, it's not my greatest concern. Equitable contracts by traditional publishers are. Helping authors get monies due from agents or publishers—yes, that's helpful. Access and education to technology needed to do the job, and no, I'm not referring to computers, that's lame, I'm referring to graphic artists and layout experts and marketing experts.

Unfortunately, both Russo and Turow act very much as if the AG isn't a lobbying firm or trade organization (and sure as hell not like a guild or union), but like a club. And, although I'm not interested enough to research it, they come off as a club for well-off bestselling traditional publishers. Which is fine, if that's what they want.

But that doesn't mean they represent the rest of us.

A. J. Abbiati said...

If the Guild had won, shouldn't they have split that among all the authors whose copyrights were violated?

Yeah, right.

I.J.Parker said...

This is waaayyy too long.

Why not break the thing up in manageable chunks?

I think it's time to point out that not everyone who self-publishes does as well as Joe and Barry. And in that context, the idea of making books cheap and selling huge numbers also doesn't apply to all books. I have learned that your success with cheap books depends on the size of your audience. Those who shop for cheap books aren't necessarily interested in everything.

Shaun Horton said...

I have to wonder if, at least a little, Turow and Russo are just jealous and bitter that authors just starting out have it so much easier compared to them when they started. Jealous of our options, the fact that we don't have to get our work cleared through an agent first, that we don't have to pray that a publisher will pick it up, tear up our work with editing, label it with sub-par cover art, and do the leg-work of book signings and the like unless we want to. I won't say it's outright easier though, it's just different, and to people like them that really had no alternative, it looks like paradise, even though we're treading thickly shark-infested water.

Anonymous said...

I think it's interesting that Netflix is included in the "things that are evil" list. From what I've read, the original programming offered by Netflix and Amazon has become highly favored by television producers, writers, and actors. The main reason I have heard is that such direct-to-web productions always get produced in their entirety without being cancelled or retooled after the first one or two episodes don't find an immediate audience.

If that is true, these services are offering far greater creative freedom than the "legacy" distributors of TV content.

B. Rehder said...

"This is the greatest time ever to be a writer."

Agreed.

I'm in the middle of a BookBub promo for my latest novel and have sold more copies in the past 36 hours than most of my traditionally published novels ever sold in a year.

Libbie Hawker said...

If the "renew" they refer to is like the "renew" that happens at Carousel in Logan's Run, I am all for the Authors Guild "renewing."

David L. Shutter said...

Wow, just when we thought we'd never get any more entertainment from AG Prez and pals we get this gift from Turrow via Russo. And just in time for the holidays!

Just my opinion but I think Barry and Joe have crafted their masterpiece here.

"If the "renew" they refer to is like the "renew" that happens at Carousel in Logan's Run, I am all for the Authors Guild "renewing."

LMAO!

Paul Draker said...

Those who shop for cheap books aren't necessarily interested in everything.

I question the validity of that statement, made in a comment above. It seems to imply that "those who shop for cheap books" have narrower genre tastes than… who, exactly? "Those who like to pay a lot for each book," perhaps?

Here's what you actually can say, and back up with data and logic, about "those who shop for cheap books." They are interested in reading. A lot.

Avid, voracious readers shop for "cheap books" because a 100-300 book a year habit can be quite expensive if one is stuck paying $10 or $15 for an e-book.

These same voracious readers are the ones most likely to immediately buy and read your whole backlist if they like your book. They are the most likely ones to recommend your books to friends, to talk about them, to blog about them, and to lend them out so that others can discover you, too.

They're the best readers to have. And they read across genres, and are always looking for a new book and a new writer to love.

But at $10-$15 an e-book, most of those prolific readers wouldn't be able to afford to buy as many books as they would otherwise like to each year, or to try books by new authors to discover which ones they like.

What's good for readers is good for writers. Period.

And that includes cheap books. Regardless of genre.

Barry Eisler said...

Thanks for the comments, everyone.

MJ, I was going to say, “At least Congress is elected…” but then I remembered gerrymandering. :)

Mark, I like what you said about the AG being a trade organization (Bob’s right, they’re certainly not a union). And it’s true the only time they really seem to do anything is when it comes to suing to protect what they see as copyright. So for authors who feel threatened by piracy and all that, the AG makes sense. Of course, the fears of piracy themselves don’t make sense, meaning the AG, in its primary function, isn’t helping authors. It just relieves them of their annual fees.

IJ Parker said:

"This is waaayyy too long. Why not break the thing up in manageable chunks?”

I think it’s as long as it needs to be, given the length of Russo’s letter. Why not just read it in whatever you find to be manageable chunks, if you prefer not to read it all at once?

"I think it's time to point out that not everyone who self-publishes does as well as Joe and Barry.”

Why is it time to point this out? Is it not already widely understood? Has anyone ever argued the contrary? “Everyone who self-publishes does as well as Joe or Barry.” Seriously, who is saying that? Who’s arguing that anyone is doing as well as anyone? In all publishing systems (in all human systems, as far as I can tell), some authors are selling more, some are selling less. I’m not sure why it’s suddenly time to point out what has always been axiomatic.

"And in that context, the idea of making books cheap and selling huge numbers also doesn't apply to all books.”

Again, I don’t think anyone has ever argued the contrary. If I’m wrong and you have a cite, I’d be curious.

"I have learned that your success with cheap books depends on the size of your audience.”

Well, yes. Unless you can sell books for thousands of dollars a pop, your success will require a sizable audience (and even then, nothing will have changed the law of revenues = per unit price x volume). I don’t think this is a controversial notion. Again, I’m pretty sure it’s axiomatic and widely understood.

"Those who shop for cheap books aren't necessarily interested in everything.”

Is anyone interested in everything? Those who shop for Hyundais aren’t necessarily interested in BMWs, or in all cars. Etc. This is just the way markets work, no? Why is it worth mentioning?

Shaun, it’s interesting to speculate on what’s the underlying psychological motivation of people like Russo and Turow (we’re novelists, after all :)). You might be right. I think Joe’s also barking up the right tree with Pournelle’s Law. In general, I think you’ll find that when people profit from and/or have privileges within an existing system, they get excessively and illogically attached to that system, even to the point of surrendering the values they would otherwise adhere to or at least claim to uphold. It could be slavery/Jim Crow, or the exclusion of gays from the marriage franchise, or an economic system that delivers real gains only to the top 1% income bracket.* Or it could be the publishing system within which Russo and Turow became rich, famous, and celebrated.

*(It’s sad that I have to add this, but for anyone inclined to make a fuss: I am in no way equating publishing with slavery or with any of the other areas I used by way of analogy. An analogy means “X is like Y in the following limited sense.” It doesn’t mean “X is as bad as Y” or “X equals Y.”)

Jude Hardin said...

Writers are entertainers. We're not feeding villages. We're not curing cancer. No one owes us a living because we spend hours a writing stories. When it comes down to it, we're really not that important.

And for all of you who spell art with a capital A and want to point to some work of staggering genius that changed your life, I recommend you go without eating for two weeks to put things in perspective.


Downright quotable, Joe. Love this.

Hillary Rettig said...

When I was a kid there were all these ominous ads on TV warning against the evils of "pay TV." I didn't know wtf they were talking about but decades later I realized that those ads were from the networks and they were warning about ... cable. (And well they might.)

I'm also thinking of how for decades the traditional publishing industry devoted so much energy to despising "vanity publishing." Why, if it was such a fringe activity? Because it really wasn't. Some vanity press activity was definitely exploitive, but there has always been a lot of successful (in every sense) self-publishing going on, including by some of the greats.(Milton identified it as a form of writer's rights in Areopagitica). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_publishing

I find many writers still feel they need to be "legitimized" by traditional publishing. What a dead end. Joe and Barry were instrumental in my being liberated from that dead end view (and countless others), and I also want to give a shout out to Jennie Crusie's classic essay: http://www.jennycrusie.com/for-writers/essays/a-writer-without-a-publisher-is-like-a-fish-without-a-bicycle-writers-liberation-and-you/

Barry Eisler said...

Coincidentally, here's a terrific article on the "Center for American Progress" (who invents these vague, self-serving names?). It's another nice example of a species of regulatory capture, and of how probably once well-meaning people cash in their values in exchange for power and status.

http://thebaffler.com/past/they_pretend_to_think_we_pretend_to_listen

P.S. Power said...

While I understand the need to fill blank spaces for your blog, and found the work you gents did here to be awesomely funny...

The simple fact is that, as was pointed out between the lines, the Authors Guild is just trying to protect itself.

And failing.

Oh, there's no harm in going over what they said, but all of their arguments are so transparent that it's sad, rather than humorous.

I almost feel bad for the big five, when I realize that I, some little no name that they wouldn't even have published, most likely (I never asked them to...) is also one of the top thousand or so money earning authors in the U.S. and have been for nearly the whole time I've been self-publishing.

That has to be a threat to them. After all, they don't make a dime off of me and never will.

Even as my little slice of the pie keeps growing.

What will happen in five years? Or ten?

I think that things will be a lot more work for authors, as competition heats up and only the fast and intelligent survive what's coming...

But those poor suckers stuck in the Authors Guild are going to be far behind the curve, desperately blaming others, rather than looking to find out how to make it in the modern world.

Robert Forrester said...

I think Turow and Russo and the rest of the author's guild are really in fear of having to work for their money, something they haven't needed to do in the past. They've been in a system that has allowed them to write a single book then live comfortably off its earnings for the next five years or so before getting round to the next one. But why should a single book be such a valuable income stream? For writers to earn money why shouldn't they have to work for it, like most people in the world have to. if there is one thing that this new age of publishing does, is reward those authors willing to put in the time. A book every five years is a hobby, five books a year is a job.

Rex Kusler said...

I'm a proud card-carrying member of Costco.

Scott said...

As a consumer of books, I can say as a fact that I'll acquire more books at free-$4.99 than I will at 9-10 bucks for a paperback or 14-30 bucks for a hardcover. I'm not alone in that; it goes for other avid readers. So 60 bucks at 3 bucks a book gets me 20 books, at about 2 bucks to each author, that's $40.00 to the authors. Conversely 60 bucks gets me 2-3 hardcovers at B&N or 4 books at Costco. I'd ask Scott Turow (his books are available at Costco sometimes) how much he gets for that one HC at Costco. From an author's standpoint, what's not to like about that?

Oh, and I read SF, horror, mysteries, thrillers and some biography and non-fiction. Mostly I read the first four, but still, how does that fit into these authors' model?

Rob Gregory Browne said...

Am I supposed to be impressed by you two rabble rousers laughing in the face of the establishment?

Oh, wait. I am. Very much so.

What sickens me is the number of authors and aspiring writers who read letters like Russo's and posts like Turow's and nod their heads and congratulate these guys on their insight.

Thank you, Joe and Barry, for exposing that "insight" for the hypocrisy it is.

Paolo Amoroso said...

@I.J.Parker You may save the post to a read-it-later service such as Pocket, which syncs the last read position across desktop and mobile devices. It works like ebook readers. You can read the post over more than one session and on more than one device.

McVickeres said...

The lack of foresight when it comes to eBooks and Internet commerce with these people is astounding. It's like listening to old men shouting "Get off my lawn!" Good God. What's next, go back to living in caves and drawing on walls?

Tim Byrd said...

The irony of someone whining that a blog post is too long to read, in a discussion of the book business, is a bit painful.

Unknown said...

Tony Hursh said - "See also: Sears shutting down their catalog operation the same year the first graphical web browser was released. Sears basically had amazon.com, and threw it away."

Great point. Another example is Sports Illustrated. They had their vision pegged to a magazine and dismissed cable TV as something foreign. They were thinking 'magazine biz' when they should have been thinking 'sports information biz.' ESPN came along and blew them out of the water.

Bezos admitted that's the nature of technological disruption. He knows Amazon will one day be replaced by something else - he's just playing hard to make sure it's after he's dead. (See his recent 60 Minutes interview.)

Application: Writers are in the story telling business, not the book or even ebook business. If we don't realize that, those who do will pass us by. Because people yearn for good stories well told.

Richard Stooker said...

If Turow and Russo were to turn their guns around and point them at traditional publishers' noncompete clauses, low ebook royalties, semi-annual payments, rights grabs, etc, they would have some credibility for saying they're "renewing" AG.

And could make a call to traditionally published authors to rally round their flag for the good fight.

But by identifying Amazon, piracy, and even librarians as the boogeymen, they demonstrate they can see past the past.

Richard Stooker said...

Whoops, I mean they can NOT see past the past.

Frank Marcopolos said...

I'm sorry, I couldn't read Richard Russo's letter because I decided to emulate the Author's Guild and engage in a process of self-renewal. This process involves, mostly, a regimen of calonics, enemas, and mass-quantity vomiting.

Anonymous said...

Who was it said life was too short for Finnegans Wake! ?

Gretta Curran Browne said...

This blog should be given some kind of AWARD - Always brilliant! And ALWAYS needed by so many of us.

David L. Shutter said...

If you just glanced over the many, many links in this (part of that whole facts and info behind your argument thingy) I recommend them. Especially the last one which is a Techdirt critique on the AG shutting down commentary on their blog earlier this year.

Along with any commentary, rebuttal, dialogue or dissenting opinion. Probably the most damaging thing Turow (or his overly protective minions) have done to the AG's credibility.

Hmm. That, along with all his previous spats which very clearly illustrated whose camp the AG is firmly aligned with, may have something to do with the organization's apparent membership woes. Just a thought.

Sarah Woodbury said...

Just as a side comment about the railing against librarians and libraries ... one of my biggest fans only checks out my books from the library. She posts on Facebook every time she finishes one, telling all of her friends what a great book it was. You can't buy that kind of publicity.

Whatever library deal you might be working on, count me in :)

P.S. Power said...

I have to agree.

Libraries rock.

I have thirty books that I would distribute to them for free, if only there was a mechanism that allowed them to find and take them.

When that happens, I'll be near the front of the line too, if I can be!

I mean, I was a poor child that read hundreds of books, nearly a thousand or more, before I ever had enough to buy even a single paperback! My love of reading didn't come from a book store at all.

It's good to remember our roots, at times, isn't it?



Coolkayaker1 said...

"They are little more than well paid indentured servants to NY Publishing". Indeed, they are. As are Karen Russell, Suzanne Collins, Kathryn Stockett, EL James (once she decided to truly sell some books--up to 95 million bucks earned so far), Gillian Flynn, to name just a few of the recent writers (past 24 months) to make a gazillion dollars from their novels. And that's just a few of the women--I left out the guys, which is most of the superstar writers! Indentured servitude, take me away!

So, in 2013, the mega-selling self-published authors (like Joe) make a million bucks, and the mega-selling traditional authors make a hundred million (like Stockett, James, and the rest).

All this while Joe and pals continue to make their argument based on their lofty percentages compared to traditional publishing. Who cares--it's all about the bottom line total.

Why such venom, month after month, year after year. Traditional publishing didn't see your books sell, Joe. Exceptional authors, even today, are selling books and movie rights and becoming filthy, slobbering, don't just buy the beer but buy the entire brewery, rich in a few months.

If one has that talent, why lament that they try to see if the gatekeepers in NY publishing and Hollywood will wheel the Brinks truck up to their front door. It's worth a shot.

One can always fall back on self-publishing.

Coolkayaker1 said...

PS Your favorite bookseller, Amazon, named Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, which is a superbly written book, as the novel of the year! You may know this. It's an international bestseller. Sales figures still coming in, as it was only released in October, but between her international book signing tour, Charlie Rose interviews, etc., but let's just say, sales are brisk (thank you, Amazon), and the movie rights for a few mill more are just around the corner.

What is she selling? A novel that took her a decade to write. It is eloquent, meaningful, will be read still in fifty years, and the prose has been likened to FS Fitzgerald.

When comparing the self-pubbed, book every three months club to Donna Tartt's iconic library (of three novels, total), it's apples to zebras.

Point is: don't disparage the zebras--they eat apples.

There's room in the universe for zebras and apples. I wish only the best of luck and fortune to those that wish to be zebras. It's hard to be a zebra...but it feels good to be one.

Barry Eisler said...

Hi Coolayaker, I'll let Bob address the points about indentured servants, as those were his words. But regarding "All this while Joe and pals continue to make their argument," may I ask, what argument are you referring to?

My argument is that writers now have choices we've never had before, that this is a positive development, and that writers should be free to exercise whatever choices make sense for them individually (hopefully doing so in as informed a way as reasonably possible). There's no decision that's right for everyone; there's no one-size-fits-all. Is there something in there you disagree with?

As I've said, I think the "Authors Guild" is not dedicated to serving authors but rather to propping up a system that has worked for some authors and that hasn't worked for many others. Beyond this, as I've also said, I don't care how Russo, Turow, or anyone else wants to publish their books. I just want them to cease their propagandistic, self-serving twaddle and be more clear and accurate about what they're really trying to preserve, and why.

One can't reasonably argue that Amazon, which has done so much to empower authors and which sells more books than anyone, is an enemy of authors or is destroying book selling. These are canards, whether unconscious or deliberate, and when Russo, Turow et al use their positions to advance these pernicious positions, I think it's useful to push back. That's because I want authors to make informed choices. What we can infer about Russo and Turow's own dedication to authors from their failure to rebut is, I think, fairly obvious.

As for the biggest bestsellers all being part of the legacy world, I don't think anyone is arguing otherwise. Indeed, that the biggest names of all are legacy-published is, I think, just a fact -- one of many writers should take into account when deciding how they want to publish their books in this new world of choice.

I've often argued that both legacy and self-publishing are lotteries, but with different rules, different odds, different payouts, and different available means of affecting the chances of success. It sounds like you might agree with that characterization -- but if so, you've left out some critical information. Yes, it's true that if your primary goal is James Patterson-levels of financial success, the right lottery to play is the legacy system. But the potential payout is only part of the story. The odds of winning are also something a smart player will want to consider. And, of course, the financial odds and potential payouts are only just part of what most writers will want to consider when choosing how to publish. Control over business decisions, time to market, flexibility... these will all matter a lot one way or another to most writers, too.

So I'm not sure what venom you're referring to. Certainly I regularly ridicule Russo and particularly Turow because they say such ridiculous things, but do you really find that venomous -- "full of malice or spite"? If so, I'll respectfully disagree.

Unknown said...

Hi Barry,

> Yes, it's true that if your primary goal is James Patterson-levels of financial success, the right lottery to play is the legacy system

I'm sure ;) you meant to add that even if maximum payout is your goal, the best route to being traditionally published may still be to self publish first.

Frank

Barry Eisler said...

Frank, that's a great point and you're right, I should have thought to say it myself. So many of these conversations wind up taking an either/or turn -- when in fact one of the best things about the new choices available to writers is that we can pursue them in whatever order, and whatever combination, we think is best. I think Coolayaker would agree, given that she/he offered EL James as an example. And there are so many others

Jude Hardin said...

One can always fall back on self-publishing.

Many of us who have self-published some or all of our books don't feel as though we're falling back. We're moving forward in a positive, progressive way, taking advantage of the choices that digital publishing has given us.

Publishing has always been a tough business, and it always will be, but authors who are willing to adapt to the ever-changing landscape have a better chance at surviving than those who stand rigidly in their ways, IMO.

Indie, traditional, there are outliers on both sides. But if you take the mega-sellers out of the equation, what you're left with is the 99% of us who are just trying to put food on the table. Of course we would all like to have a big hit, but we're going to keep clawing and scratching regardless. Self-publishing is not necessarily falling back. It's a choice. The more avenues to get our work out there, the better.

Alan Spade said...

Bestsellers legacy published are like the music played by the faery's tale flute player. For a long time, they have been used to enthrall authors to the places big publishers wanted them to fall into.

We have to remember even bestsellers can be screwed by their publisher. They are not immune, if they don't care. Tell Stephen King about his first publisher...

So, yes, there are new models emerging. But remember these new models are now possible because they have changed the balance of power. Authors can now say "no". For one "yes" Hugh Howey has said to Simon & Schuster, how many time he (or his agent) have said "no" in the negotiations with S&S?

Anonymous said...

Jesus...I left the Guild in like 1980 when I get sick to death of these highly successful authors complaining about their film deals and my getting nothing in the way of help on how to improve my chances with publication or getting an agent or getting the attention of an editor - ZERO in the way of practical help and entire waste of money and paper when it comes to their newsletter. I am surprised they are still in business at all. They have never actually helped authors get better relations with publishers, never had ANY influence in getting better reporting out of publishers for authors, Zip, nada, nothing. I have not in these many moons missed them.

Robert W. Walker
www.robertwalkerbooks.com

Coolkayaker1 said...

Hi, Barry. I appreciate your reply. I read it twice (maybe even three times), to understand not only the gist, but also the nuances. Thank you.

While I disagree with some of it (e.g. "just want them to cease their propagandistic, self-serving twaddle and be more clear and accurate about what they're really trying to preserve, and why"; this could be said, too, of Mr. Konrath's unilateral slant toward self-publishing), you are dead on when you say that I agree your lottery analogy, for both self-pubbing and traditional publishing houses.

It is a fact, though, that one of the two lotteries--the self-pubbing lottery--anyone can partake in. Anyone can load their masterpiece into .epub and toss it on Amazon. That is, I'm sure you agree, a fact.

Traditional publishing, with the gatekeepers that Joe and so many others despise, is a lottery played only by those selected. And those selected have the opportunity to ride it to the moon (or into hell, depending on how the lottery plays for them). The game can only be played in two ways by a select few, not by all. Most have only one option.

Most self-pubbed authors--and the "good" writers among even the readers of this blog are bound to agree--are LOUSY writers. Yes, most (again, not naming names, not even saying it's anyone here).

Most traditional pubbed authors are GOOD writers. May not be fantastic, may not have universally liked story lines or themes, but they have wonderful editing and sound "chops" for the craft (as even Joe has mentioned here in the past).

So, as opposed to this blog, which is not nearly as middle of the road as you are, Barry--it's a bash trad pub, hope everyone self-pubs, drunken sleepover, for the most part--I would think that the numbers, even here in 2013-2014, support a new author with a fantastic book who has edited the shit out of it and thinks it will sell, would opt for the selective, invitation only, potentially Brinks truck to one's driveway, traditional game first. Not last.

That said, many will end up in self-pub land, and only a few will end up in Karen Russell-land (Swamplandia! lol). The land of international blockbusters and Hollywood red carpets.

I want to say, as I do not have my ostrich head in the sand completely, that I know some of your own personal backstory, Barry. I know (from this blog in the past) that you turned down the half a million buck traditional deal for keeping your rights and selling independently. Frankly, you faced the toughest decision of all. You are a skilled writer, you have the mainstream "big lottery" chops (and pub bed there in the past, I recall), and yet took the other road, the road MORE traveled (sorry, Mr. Frost) these days. It must have been insomnia producing since you, literally (and unlike most), were on the balance beam and had both lotteries wanting to give you a ticket.

As with most decisions in our lives --picking one girl to marry over the other, dumping one job for the other, etc.--we will never know what the other route would have brought us. There is no wrong decision because, once we move down a path, the other path will be a lifelong mystery. And that is what makes life so wonderful.

I appreciate your reply, and I appreciate your middle of the road, look at both ends, perspective on publishing 2013. You know it better than anyone else on here, in my (myopic) read of this blog, based on your own experiences and choices.

Sven in Chicago.

McVickers said...

@Coolkayaker1,

>>Traditional publishing, with the gatekeepers that Joe and so many others despise, is a lottery played only by those selected. And those selected have the opportunity to ride it to the moon (or into hell, depending on how the lottery plays for them). The game can only be played in two ways by a select few, not by all. Most have only one option.<<

You sound very much like someone who had an "in" into the publishing industry. Let me guess: best friend? sister-in-law? Professor? Father? Next door neighbor? Very nice for you that you had an inside track. Alas, the vast majority of people don't have that kind of luxury.

>>Most self-pubbed authors--and the "good" writers among even the readers of this blog are bound to agree--are LOUSY writers. Yes, most (again, not naming names, not even saying it's anyone here). Most traditional pubbed authors are GOOD writers. May not be fantastic, may not have universally liked story lines or themes, but they have wonderful editing and sound "chops" for the craft (as even Joe has mentioned here in the past).<<

And I can't read Brad Thor without vomiting. Awful. And he sells what, a million books a year? Most trad pub writers are little more than hacks with good publicity machines. The awful self-pubbers are the ones who don't have readers. At the end of the day, the reader decides. The fact that you don't seem to have faith in them is interesting.

>>So, as opposed to this blog, which is not nearly as middle of the road as you are, Barry--it's a bash trad pub, hope everyone self-pubs, drunken sleepover, for the most part--I would think that the numbers, even here in 2013-2014, support a new author with a fantastic book who has edited the shit out of it and thinks it will sell, would opt for the selective, invitation only, potentially Brinks truck to one's driveway, traditional game first. Not last.<<

Yes. Let me send my book and wait 5 years for it to get published -- IF I'm lucky enough to get published. Sorry, buddy. I started my business from the ground up 10 years ago with nothing but a notion. I don't need your permission to do something I enjoy and maybe make a few bucks from. I also think lottos are for suckers.

>>That said, many will end up in self-pub land, and only a few will end up in Karen Russell-land (Swamplandia! lol). The land of international blockbusters and Hollywood red carpets.<<

LOL. Hollywood red carpets. Man, you really sound like someone desperate for fame as a form of validation. Me, I just want to write a good story that readers will enjoy. I don't need Brad Pitt's approval. But you, on the other hand, seems desperate for it. Good luck when they decide you're not worth it anymore. I hear Hollywood is a fickle mistress. One day's hero, the next day's bum.

>>As with most decisions in our lives --picking one girl to marry over the other, dumping one job for the other, etc.--we will never know what the other route would have brought us. There is no wrong decision because, once we move down a path, the other path will be a lifelong mystery. And that is what makes life so wonderful.<<

What makes life wonderful is that the Internet and places like Amazon now allow me a release for my creative juices. Maybe I'll make a few bucks, maybe I won't. The readers will decide. But hey, I'll have a blast writing it. That's not going to stop because you, Mister Coolkayaker1, says I need the express written permission of your NY buddies before I can take a shot at the brass ring.

The last time a bunch of elitist jackasses drinking tea in castles tried dictate our lives, we started a war.

Eric Daugherty said...

"Ebooks are the best thing to happen to readers since the Gutenberg Press"

What a great line. And it makes me wonder if all the monks who spent years slaving away at making copies had panic attacks when the press came along.

Barry Eisler said...

Hi Sven/Coolkayaker1, why would you say that “anyone” can partake in the lottery of self-publishing, while only those “selected” can partake in the legacy lottery? After all, anyone can submit a manuscript to a legacy house, and everyone who has ever submitted a manuscript to a legacy house has indeed played that lottery. If the manuscript was rejected, that player lost. The way you’re describing it screens out a massive percentage of losers, and thereby makes the legacy system’s odds seem much better than they really are.

But even if we ignore all the initially rejected manuscripts and focus only on those that have been “selected,” the odds of even modest commercial success in the legacy system are still statically tiny. Alan Spade is right when he says the legacy world trumpets the big winners like siren songs to lure new players. If the odds of success in the legacy system really were remotely attractive, the legacy houses would publish data. Instead, they do all they can to conceal it.

Not that there’s anything wrong with a “longer odds, larger potential payout” system. It’s just important for writers to understand that this is what the legacy system represents relative to self-publishing. And again, it’s important to remember that the financial element is only one aspect. There’s still time to market, control over the business, flexibility, and similar such items that will matter to different degrees and in different ways to different writers. Discussing the two systems purely in terms of the financial odds is like discussing the merits of two restaurants solely in terms of their entrees, while ignoring appetizers, wine selection, service, ambience, location, etc. Discussing only the one can be misleading.

As for the “most self-published books are bad, most trad published books are good” meme, I think this would be irrelevant and a distraction even if it could somehow be objectively proven true. What matters to most writers is finding an audience. Whether various critics or anyone else might subjectively deem a book “good” is subordinate to the objective fact of sales. And it’s simply a fact that thousands of authors are making a living self-publishing their books. Some people will find some of those books good, some will find some of them bad (sounds a lot like publishing in general, no?), but the books are finding large audiences and making their authors money. Isn’t that what matters?

A last thought: you describe publishing decisions as involving a kind of fork in the road — you go left or you go right, and you’ll never know where the other route would have taken you. True as far as it goes, I think, but as with your “anyone can play vs only a few are selected” argument, perhaps you’re looking at things too narrowly. Some writers prefer one system to the other. Some like to publish different ways with different books. Some writers start in one system and migrate to the other. It’s only either/or if you look at it from an inch away. Pull back a little, widen the aperture, and what you’ll see is increasing numbers of authors moving in various directions — all because of choices that weren’t available to them before. This is a wonderful thing.

Unknown said...

Since 1996 I worked hard to get published and was represented by a respected NY agent for awhile.

While I received lots of interest from editors, we could never actually close a sale. Agent and I went our separate ways. After years in the trenches, I finally had to say uncle. I tossed my rejected, no longer submittable backlist on the shelf and gave up on writing.

Fast forward to 2012. A friend suggested I try again, so I looked at Amazon and KDP. In November of that year, I self-published the first novel of my backlist for .99, and kept on going.

Now a year later, am I doing as well as Joe and some others? Not yet. Give me time, boys! I'm right behind ya! lol!

I've published 11 ebooks, cracked the number #2 best seller list for my genre several times (still working on #1 though), and...oh yeah...I pay bills with ebooks that are $2.99 and under (well, my latest release is priced at *gasp* $3.99, but it is longer than the others.)

Is it all coming up roses? No, some months get pretty tight and it's juggle the finances like chainsaws time, but ya know - life happens! It's not like a legacy publisher would have my back. I'd be working just as hard at promotion and marketing as I am now and probably panicking more because I had already spent the advance that would have to be paid back.

I did have an issue with piracy. Why my $0.99 - $2.99 ebooks were being pirated, I have no clue. But they were and had a daunting distribution when I discovered it. But my mild-mannered Clark Kent alter-ego is an accountant. I crunched the numbers and came up with some analytics that I think you guys would find intriguing - numbers don't lie and they make really pretty bar graphs (but that's a discussion for a different time).

The interesting sidebar here is when I discovered the piracy it was around the time where the "Authors Guild" started hooting and hollering that piracy does hurt. So, I reached out to them - hey, I'm an author, please help. Got the same canned response of nothing you can do, don't stress over it, think of it as free advertisement.

Why was I NOT surprised at the double standard?

It's the bandwagon they think they can jump on and there will be people joining them. Those who don't jump can be scared into a hail mary leap.

I survived, I'm still fighting the good fight, and just pulled off something that would make legacy publishers cringe. One of the top authors in my genre has been on Amazon longer, has more books, and of course a huge readership - but suddenly our works were going head to head. Now, legacy publishers would see that as competition. She's the enemy! Gotta beat 'em in the ratings! It's a numbers game!

Did we square off for a duel? No we teamed up and are working together. We cross-promote our works to our readership, we chat and compare notes about sales and promotions, we work together on release parties, etc.

I'm happy to report, sales are taking a nice jump for both of us.

Like I said, I'm not close to the sales levels of Joe and other authors here. But check your rearview mirrors because that's me right behind ya. ;)

Now if the Authors Guild and legacy pubs would pull their heads out for air long enough to realize that the wailing and gnashing of teeth isn't going to change the economy or the market, maybe they could figure out a viable plan.

Okay...who am I kidding? lol! While they're screaming about what they cannot change, I'm going to go work on what I can change - writing more books and gaining more readers. This year was good for me in the publishing biz and next year will be even better!

Thanks guys - love the posts and the great information. Peace!

Cheers,
Kathryn Loch

Mark Edward Hall said...

Hey, Joe, as far as 6c is concerned, "someone is going to figure out how to introduce ebooks to new readers and will make a fortune in the process."
Book Bub has already done that, more successfully than anyone else. Actually they seem to have a monopoly and they wield that monopoly like a dictator.
I'm not knocking them. I've used their services with great success. I've tried some of their lesser competitors and they pale by comparison. I'm just looking forward to the next innovator.

Unknown said...

I think that the music industry compensation to writers of lyrics and music scores offers a good business model to emulate.

Modifications would be required to accommodate the authors. It would require a host of local 'writers' unions' across the globe to be affiliated. Each nation would have a national writers board that would represent the nation's union as bargaining agent for the Writers Compensation Agreement with digital, broadcast, libraries, schools and legacy publishers.

Can you see how this makes sense?

Start with a business model that has experience and expertise (lawyers, business agents, organizers, auditors) and modify to fit the writers' marketplaces and consumers.

It would especially be important to bring writers across the world to the global market in the language that customers require in each local market - through literary translation engines that is best manged and affordable through the international writers' union head office services.

Just my 2 cents.

Unknown said...

Amazing how far eBooks have come along in just five years and it's scary to think where they will be in 2020. Interesting point he makes on being innovative in this business or be left behind. Thanks for posting!

Joseph Forte
At the Window

Dave Jarret said...

Fascinating discussion. I appreciate the candor here. No one has mentioned the role of literary agents. I assume it must be going through the same convulsions. Are agents too, about to become irrelevant? They play no role in the new wave of publishing, as far as I can tell.