Lots of controversy on the internet concerning writers lately. It's time for...
THE WRITERS' CODE OF ETHICS
1. I will never pay people to write positive reviews of my books.
2. I will never use a false account (aka a sock puppet or anonymous account) to leave negative reviews of any of my peers.
3. I will never use a false account to review my own books.
4. I will never send reviewers copies of my books if they review in a periodical where my publisher buys advertising.
5. I will never ask friends, family, peers, or anyone who knows me to write reviews of my books, since they are biased toward me.
6. I will never ask fans to write reviews of my books, since they are biased toward me.
7. I will never pay a publicist to send out books of mine to be reviewed, since I am essentially paying someone for reviews.
8. I will never allow a publicist working for a publisher to send out books of mine to be reviewed, since they are being paid to do so.
9. I will never allow anyone to send out copies of my books to be reviewed, because if they were doing that they must know me, and if they know me it is impossible to get an unbiased review.
10. I will never allow any review from anyone I've ever met. Every review must be from someone who has never met me, heard of me, or read me before, and must come with a signed affidavit proclaiming such.
11. Every review must be from a professional reviewer who has true integrity. But this professional reviewer cannot accept money in any way, shape or form, because getting paid for reviewing could compromise their ethics.
12. I will personally interview every reviewer to make sure they are unbiased, and then ask them to remove their review because upon meeting them (The Konrath Uncertainty Principle) I may have affected their review, which renders it biased.
13. I will never blurb a book by an author I know.
14. I will never accept a blurb from an author I know.
15. I will never blurb a book from any author, because I may know them some day.
16. I will never review anything, or blurb anything, or allow any of my books to be reviewed of blurbed.
17. I will never allow anyone I have ever known, or ever might know, to blurb or review anything.
18. I will never use a sock puppet or post anonymously online about anything at all, because I should stand by my own words.
19. I will never post anything at all online, ever again, because it might impinge upon someone else's ethical standards.
20. I will publicly chastise, denigrate, ridicule, mock, and lynch anyone who has breached any of the above.
21. I will tattoo this code of ethics permanently upon my back to show all how ethical and moral I am.
22. Those who don't ask about my ethics will still be forced by me to memorize the tattoo on my back, in public, as many times as I demand.
23. All who do not comply will never be allowed to write again, and will broken on the wheel, their intestines forced down their own lying, cheating, dishonest, unethical throats while they beg for mercy, then they'll burned at the stake, drawn and quartered, their charred, smoking, crispy body parts placed on spires for all to view. This punishment will be meted out to any person, living or dead, who has ever had contact with, or has heard of, the offending party.
Joe sez: If you haven't figured it out yet, this isn't about dishonesty. It's about degrees of dishonesty. And everyone, to a degree, is dishonest. Glass houses and throwing stones, folks.
The only way to make the system pure is to never allow anyone to do anything, ever. But that's impossible. So instead we have people pointing fingers and masturbating to their own smug sense of superiority because they haven't been caught in the "ethical lapse du jour" yet.
I say "yet" because I'm working on a law to install cameras in every shower in the world. No secrets anymore. We'll catch your shameful masturbation, you knee-jerk finger-pointing self-pleasuring holier-than-thou folks. EVERYONE does things they aren't proud of. I shall now make it my mission in life to discover your secrets and broadcast them to the world so I can feel better about myself and show everyone how righteous I am.
For the pinheads among you, this is satire. I have never bought a review, or used a sock puppet for any reason, let alone to positively review my own books or negatively review a peer's books. Morals and ethics are slippery slope, and I think muck-rakers are on par with sock-puppeteers as far as scum-suckers go.
The current level of sanctimonious bullshit on the Internet that makes me feel I'm required to publicly proclaim my innocence is repulsive. When honest people get defense, there is something wrong with the world. It's a witch hunt. It's the HUAC.
All of you pointing your fingers and proclaiming your piety? Get back to working on your books, not judging your peers.
To my knowledge, I've publicly signaled out one writer in all my years of controversially bitching about the system, and that writer was spouting bullshit as President of the Authors Guild. He was truly hurting other authors. Not by buying reviews to sell more books. Not by cowardly denigrating a peer because of envy or jealousy. He was SELLING ALL OF US OUT and needed to be publicly spanked.
Plus, I spanked him for his arguments, not his business behavior. He took public positions which demanded a public response.
Those guys in the crosshairs right now, accused of buying reviews and using sock puppets? I may not agree with what they've done. But I won't get off rubbing their noses in their mistakes, and I don't have to sign a code of ethics to separate me from them.
When we start turning on our own, ask yourself why. Is it really to correct their behavior? Is it to join the mob so they don't come after you next? Is it to feel superior?
In all my years of blogging, of tweeting, of social networking, I can say this with honesty and candor:
NONE OF YOU IS SUPERIOR.
That includes me. We're all human beings with fragile egos, trying to be the heroes of our own movies. Sometimes we fail. That's human.
Pouncing on those who fail with torches and lynch ropes? That's also human, but a lot uglier.
Siding with the mob because you fear they'll attack you next? That's cowardly.
Recognizing that certain behavior is wrong, and making a silent pledge to not do the same?
That's what strong, self-confident people do.
You all fail.
So do I.
Shame on us.
Addendum: Hey! All you whistle-blowing muck-rakers out there who want to humiliate people!
How about humiliating businesses instead?
The NYT just ran an article on buying reviews. I'd love for some investigative journalist to:
1. Count every publisher ad in the NYT for the last ten years and guestimate their worth.
2. Count every NYT book review of the last ten years and note the publishers.
3. Compare the top advertisers with how many books they've had reviewed. Compare that to reviews received by those who never advertised. Might also check if the review was favorable or not, but let's be serious--we all know even bad reviews sell books. No such thing as bad publicity, right?
If you like that one, you might try investigating how the NYT Bestseller List works. Hint: it's based on pre-printed write-in ballots, which bookstores fill in without any verification of actual sales. Hint #2: Every publisher knows which bookstores are reporting stores.
Or maybe you'd like to investigate how the Authors Guild and the Association of Authors Representatives are publicly supporting agency pricing, even though authors earn less under agency.
Or perhaps you'd like to take up the torch to support libraries, who are getting screwed by publishers with ebook acquisitions.
Or how about an article supporting the DOJ suit? I can't recall anyone in the mainstream media that has done so, even though collusive price-fixing has already been settled in three of the six complaints.
I really believe that investigative journalism is an important part of a democracy, and freedom. But there's a difference between Wikileaks exposing government cover-ups where people are tortured and killed, and a tabloid posting pictures of a drunken celebrity without her underwear on.
Reread my Code of Ethics above.
My guess is everyone will agree with some of them, but eventually there comes a point when it becomes silly.
That point differs for everyone.
Pick your arguments. Because when you argue ethics, it's very easy to be proven wrong.
Pick your targets. It's cowardly for a mob to attack one person. It's a lot harder, and more worthwhile, to attack organizations, whether they be government or big business.
Pick your battles. It ain't a battle if you join the majority. Your righteous indignation could be better spent on more productive debates.
There's a lot wrong with the world. A lot of people doing stupid things.
Just because you have a mob on your side doesn't mean you aren't being stupid.
For a more balanced look at this issue, check out Barry Eisler's thoughts. He manages to make points without any hysteria and without two minutes hate, which is the vibe I get from the NSPHP.
You know what you should have done, Society of Authors, if you really wanted change?
You should have forgiven the trio you named, and invited them to sign your petition.
But instead you signaled them out for more derision, so you could feel smug and superior. You're using that blog like a chastity ring, proclaiming your purity to the world because it isn't enough keeping it to yourself.
I don't need to join a mob, or excoriate my peers, or proclaim to the world how righteous I am. I can do the right thing in spite of that.
So come, oh ye witch hunters. Come hunt me.
Update: In the comments, I mention one of my truisms: people would rather fight to the death for their beliefs instead of honestly questioning that they may be wrong.
I value my ability to change my mind as more information comes in, and this blog has documented me reversing my opinion on several things over the years. Sometimes I need to be hit over the head with contrary evidence or logic a few times before it sinks in, but I try my best to constantly question my actions and motivations.
Barry Eisler does that as well. He just removed his support of the NSPHP.
I recommend that those behind that petition read Barry's blog carefully. When reasonable people opt out of what is supposed to be a good cause, something is amiss.
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Ebooks For Libraries
Joe sez: I recently got an interesting email from a library in Texas.
In short, they're setting up their own internal check-out system for ebooks, and are seeking to buy ebooks directly from authors and publishers.
I asked if they wouldn't mind doing a guest blog discussing some of the issues libraries are now facing with the rising popularity of ebooks. They graciously replied, and here it is...
Mike and Linda: Thanks to Joe for giving us a chance to talk to you about libraries and eBooks! We’re Michael Saperstein and Linda Stevens, librarians from Harris County Public Library, a large public library system in Houston, Texas. Please grab the beverage of your choice and find a comfy chair, because we’ve tried to summarize, but this might take a minute.
First, if you haven’t been to the public library in a while, it has changed quite a bit. Rather than being on shush patrol, you’ll find librarians teaching eReader classes, performing storytimes and early literacy activities, helping jobseekers, playing video games with teens…you get the picture. Then there’s the books – paper, audio or electronic, we buy them, we promote them, and we connect them with readers, in person and online.
Now for the issues:
Accessibility
Libraries are not able to purchase all of the eBooks we would like to purchase due to publisher and author concerns about copyright protection in the digital format. Only two of the big six publishers will sell eBooks to libraries, and those pricing models either limit us to a low number of checkouts or charge us more than twice the retail price for a book. Very few picture books are available for us to purchase, even though small children are a large part of our customer base and we often use digital books in storytimes. With adult fiction titles, we can’t always offer complete series because of format availability or publisher restrictions. Some publishers would even like to implement a plan that would force people to come to the library to check out eBooks, rather than being able to do it online, which kind of defeats the purpose. Librarians are also making the adjustment to focus on providing access for our customers through leasing or subscription, rather than only owning items to be a permanent part of a collection.
Better Public Experience
Because of the way we have to purchase electronic content, our customers often have to jump back and forth online through multiple access points, instead of simply finding a book and clicking to check it out. This can make the borrowing experience quite confusing and complex. Then add the confusion about which formats match which devices. We’re not just providing materials for one type of device, our customers use Kindles and Nooks and iPads and cell phones and devices we probably haven’t heard of yet. We are constantly learning about all of these devices because we are now free tech support for the public. Our customers show up with their new eReader in a box, and we teach them how to use it.
Collection Decisions
Public libraries have always selected print books based on professional reviews and public demand. This doesn’t always work with eBooks. With eBooks, we have to focus on availability and public interest. We are also rethinking our relationship with self-publishing. Many libraries, such as ours, are now looking for ways to purchase eBooks directly from authors and independent publishers. Keep in mind that this is all in a time of reduced funding and we’re trying to build a huge, new, popular digital collection while maintaining a popular and relevant print collection.
Library Benefits
So what does the library have to offer? Book borrowing habits are changing, mainly because of eBooks. People are more open to impulse browsing and discovery of new authors and titles and the library provides the collection and staff to aid them in this discovery. Once they’ve discovered a new favorite, the quest for reading gratification leads to backlist purchases. (We speak from personal experience on this.) Libraries can never afford to purchase in sufficient quantities to discourage sales. We don’t just house a collection in our buildings or on our websites; we actively promote reading and books, no matter the format.
We’ve probably told you more than you ever wanted to know about libraries and eBooks, but please feel free to contact either of us for more information. We can be reached at http://www.hcpl.net/.
Joe sez: I like libraries. I like librarians. I like innovation.
So I sat down and had a think, and then called up my frequent collaborator Blake Crouch and bounced some ideas off of him.
This is what we came up with.
Blake and I are willing to sell our entire ebook catalog to the Harris County Public Library, and to any other libraries that are interested, under these terms:
1. Ebooks are $3.99
2. No DRM.
3. The library only needs to buy one ebook of a title, and then they can make as many copies as they need for all of their patrons and all of their branches.
4. The library owns the rights to use that ebook forever.
5. The library can use it an any format they need; mobi, epub, pdf, lit, etc. And when new formats arise, they're’re free to convert it to the new format.
In short, the library buys one copy, and never has to buy it again.
Now I'll take questions. I'm sure they'll be a few.
Q: Joe, that's insane! You're only charging $3.99 an ebook? That ebook can be read thousands of times!
A: Good. I hope it is.
Q: And they can make copies!? Shouldn't you at least make them buy multiple copies of each ebook?
A: Why? Ebooks cost nothing to copy and distribute. Once a library purchases a copy, it should be able to make as many copies as its branches and partons need. How cool would it be if you never had to wait for a book at the library because had already been checked out? My ebooks will always be available, all the time.
Q: But you're losing sales!
A: No I'm not. They bought a copy. They can do what they want with it. And my hope is because I don't have restrictions, and keep my costs low, the library will continue to buy my new ebooks as I release them. There are a lot of libraries in the US, and a lot more globally. If I sell every library one of my ebooks for $3.99, that's a nice amount of money.
Q: Don't you think your sales will suffer if readers can get all of your ebooks at the library, for free?
A: No. Readers can already get my paper books at the library, and that hasn't seemed to hurt my paper sales.
Q: But ebooks are different! People can check-out one of your ebooks online! They don't even have to visit the library to do it!
A: Though there is overlap, it's my guess that library patrons and people browsing Amazon for ebooks are two different types of readers. In a global marketplace, I don't expect to ever run out of readers. In fact, if a lot of libraries purchase my ebooks, I may become more well-known with readers, which could increase sales.
Q: But what about piracy!
A: As I've said many times, I'm okay with file sharing. That's why none of my self-pubbed ebooks have DRM. There's no fighting piracy. But you can still make a nice living by making your work easily available and affordable.
Q: But what happens when some new ebook device comes out with a new format? You're missing your chance to sell your books to the same library.
A: If they already bought one of my ebooks, they should be able to do what they want with it, including converting it to new formats.
Personally, I find it reprehensible that publishers put restrictions on ebooks, especially for libraries.
Q: But no one else is doing this! If you do this, you'll drag everyone else down with you! You'll ruin the library market for publishers and their authors!
A: Actually, what I'm doing is forcing publishers to be competitive. Why should libraries be punished with high prices and restrictions? Why should people who can't afford books be punished?
I like libraries. I like librarians. They deserve a break.
Q: I'm a librarian, and we want to do something similar. How do we get started?
A: It is my understanding that Harris County is one of the first libraries doing this. Get in touch with them, and I'm sure they can offer advice.
Then email me for instructions on how to buy my ebooks and Blake's. We're working on creating a simple contract and purchase order.
Also, please spread the word and tell other libraries what we're doing. The more libraries that do this, the more authors who will join in and do the same thing Blake and I are doing.
I'd love to be the first author to sell directly to libraries. And I have a feeling I won't be the last.
In short, they're setting up their own internal check-out system for ebooks, and are seeking to buy ebooks directly from authors and publishers.
I asked if they wouldn't mind doing a guest blog discussing some of the issues libraries are now facing with the rising popularity of ebooks. They graciously replied, and here it is...
Mike and Linda: Thanks to Joe for giving us a chance to talk to you about libraries and eBooks! We’re Michael Saperstein and Linda Stevens, librarians from Harris County Public Library, a large public library system in Houston, Texas. Please grab the beverage of your choice and find a comfy chair, because we’ve tried to summarize, but this might take a minute.
First, if you haven’t been to the public library in a while, it has changed quite a bit. Rather than being on shush patrol, you’ll find librarians teaching eReader classes, performing storytimes and early literacy activities, helping jobseekers, playing video games with teens…you get the picture. Then there’s the books – paper, audio or electronic, we buy them, we promote them, and we connect them with readers, in person and online.
Now for the issues:
Accessibility
Libraries are not able to purchase all of the eBooks we would like to purchase due to publisher and author concerns about copyright protection in the digital format. Only two of the big six publishers will sell eBooks to libraries, and those pricing models either limit us to a low number of checkouts or charge us more than twice the retail price for a book. Very few picture books are available for us to purchase, even though small children are a large part of our customer base and we often use digital books in storytimes. With adult fiction titles, we can’t always offer complete series because of format availability or publisher restrictions. Some publishers would even like to implement a plan that would force people to come to the library to check out eBooks, rather than being able to do it online, which kind of defeats the purpose. Librarians are also making the adjustment to focus on providing access for our customers through leasing or subscription, rather than only owning items to be a permanent part of a collection.
Better Public Experience
Because of the way we have to purchase electronic content, our customers often have to jump back and forth online through multiple access points, instead of simply finding a book and clicking to check it out. This can make the borrowing experience quite confusing and complex. Then add the confusion about which formats match which devices. We’re not just providing materials for one type of device, our customers use Kindles and Nooks and iPads and cell phones and devices we probably haven’t heard of yet. We are constantly learning about all of these devices because we are now free tech support for the public. Our customers show up with their new eReader in a box, and we teach them how to use it.
Collection Decisions
Public libraries have always selected print books based on professional reviews and public demand. This doesn’t always work with eBooks. With eBooks, we have to focus on availability and public interest. We are also rethinking our relationship with self-publishing. Many libraries, such as ours, are now looking for ways to purchase eBooks directly from authors and independent publishers. Keep in mind that this is all in a time of reduced funding and we’re trying to build a huge, new, popular digital collection while maintaining a popular and relevant print collection.
Library Benefits
So what does the library have to offer? Book borrowing habits are changing, mainly because of eBooks. People are more open to impulse browsing and discovery of new authors and titles and the library provides the collection and staff to aid them in this discovery. Once they’ve discovered a new favorite, the quest for reading gratification leads to backlist purchases. (We speak from personal experience on this.) Libraries can never afford to purchase in sufficient quantities to discourage sales. We don’t just house a collection in our buildings or on our websites; we actively promote reading and books, no matter the format.
We’ve probably told you more than you ever wanted to know about libraries and eBooks, but please feel free to contact either of us for more information. We can be reached at http://www.hcpl.net/.
Joe sez: I like libraries. I like librarians. I like innovation.
So I sat down and had a think, and then called up my frequent collaborator Blake Crouch and bounced some ideas off of him.
This is what we came up with.
Blake and I are willing to sell our entire ebook catalog to the Harris County Public Library, and to any other libraries that are interested, under these terms:
1. Ebooks are $3.99
2. No DRM.
3. The library only needs to buy one ebook of a title, and then they can make as many copies as they need for all of their patrons and all of their branches.
4. The library owns the rights to use that ebook forever.
5. The library can use it an any format they need; mobi, epub, pdf, lit, etc. And when new formats arise, they're’re free to convert it to the new format.
In short, the library buys one copy, and never has to buy it again.
Now I'll take questions. I'm sure they'll be a few.
Q: Joe, that's insane! You're only charging $3.99 an ebook? That ebook can be read thousands of times!
A: Good. I hope it is.
Q: And they can make copies!? Shouldn't you at least make them buy multiple copies of each ebook?
A: Why? Ebooks cost nothing to copy and distribute. Once a library purchases a copy, it should be able to make as many copies as its branches and partons need. How cool would it be if you never had to wait for a book at the library because had already been checked out? My ebooks will always be available, all the time.
Q: But you're losing sales!
A: No I'm not. They bought a copy. They can do what they want with it. And my hope is because I don't have restrictions, and keep my costs low, the library will continue to buy my new ebooks as I release them. There are a lot of libraries in the US, and a lot more globally. If I sell every library one of my ebooks for $3.99, that's a nice amount of money.
Q: Don't you think your sales will suffer if readers can get all of your ebooks at the library, for free?
A: No. Readers can already get my paper books at the library, and that hasn't seemed to hurt my paper sales.
Q: But ebooks are different! People can check-out one of your ebooks online! They don't even have to visit the library to do it!
A: Though there is overlap, it's my guess that library patrons and people browsing Amazon for ebooks are two different types of readers. In a global marketplace, I don't expect to ever run out of readers. In fact, if a lot of libraries purchase my ebooks, I may become more well-known with readers, which could increase sales.
Q: But what about piracy!
A: As I've said many times, I'm okay with file sharing. That's why none of my self-pubbed ebooks have DRM. There's no fighting piracy. But you can still make a nice living by making your work easily available and affordable.
Q: But what happens when some new ebook device comes out with a new format? You're missing your chance to sell your books to the same library.
A: If they already bought one of my ebooks, they should be able to do what they want with it, including converting it to new formats.
Personally, I find it reprehensible that publishers put restrictions on ebooks, especially for libraries.
Q: But no one else is doing this! If you do this, you'll drag everyone else down with you! You'll ruin the library market for publishers and their authors!
A: Actually, what I'm doing is forcing publishers to be competitive. Why should libraries be punished with high prices and restrictions? Why should people who can't afford books be punished?
I like libraries. I like librarians. They deserve a break.
Q: I'm a librarian, and we want to do something similar. How do we get started?
A: It is my understanding that Harris County is one of the first libraries doing this. Get in touch with them, and I'm sure they can offer advice.
Then email me for instructions on how to buy my ebooks and Blake's. We're working on creating a simple contract and purchase order.
Also, please spread the word and tell other libraries what we're doing. The more libraries that do this, the more authors who will join in and do the same thing Blake and I are doing.
I'd love to be the first author to sell directly to libraries. And I have a feeling I won't be the last.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Independence
Joe sez: Before I begin a major rant about why I'm quitting the legacy publishing industry, I'm handing the blog over to my friend, Melinda DuChamp, who has something interesting to say. Here's Melinda...
Melinda: I've written more than fifty novels in my career, most of them romances, and have been published by just about every major publisher. While I'm not a bestselling author, I have several million books in print, and I've had multi-book deals where I've gotten six figure advances.
Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland was the first erotic book I've written. While I've done graphic love scenes many times, they were always there to provide characterization and further the plot. In Fifty Shades of Alice, the love scenes were the plot. To be honest, I didn't know if I could pull it off. But, like many of my peers who have watched the sales of EL James with awe and more than a little envy, I thought I'd give it a try.
Joe suggested this guest blog when I told him how much I've earned on this book, because he thinks his readers might benefit from the knowledge. I've benefited often from the things Joe has disclosed on this blog (Joe is the reason I began self-publishing) so who am I to say no?
On July 23rd, I self-pubbed Alice on Amazon KDP, and enrolled it in the Select program. After two days, I'd only sold two copies, one to me (to check to see if it downloaded okay) and one to some stranger. Then I made it free for five days, from the 25th to the 30th of July.
The only promotion I did was the interview on Joe's blog. NYT bestseller Ruth Cardello was also kind enough to include Alice in a contest for her fans. Joe also was sweet enough to mention it on the Facebook page "What to Read After Fifty Shades of Grey" because I'm not on Facebook yet (I know! I know! I need to get on Facebook. I'm trying to become more like Joe and Ruth and get into social media, but I'm a Luddite and I was on a deadline for another book.)
Other than that, I didn't do anything to promote Alice. I figured it would sink or swim on its own merit.
So how did it do?
During the free period, I gave away 22,740 copies in the US and 10,255 in the UK and hit the Top 10 free list in each. That surprised me, because I'd done free promotions before but had never given away that many.
Did that translate to sales?
Alice has sold 3560 copies in the UK, and 2540 in the US (plus 1275 loans in the Kindle Owner's Lending Library) priced at $2.99.
Assuming the loans are $2 each, Alice has made close to $15,000 in the last 20 days. That's more than many of my advances. How did this happen? Was it Joe's blog? Ruth's contest? The Kindle Select free program? Carl Graves's amazing cover art? Piggybacking on EL James? All the good reviews it has gotten? All or some of the above?
Alice peaked at #194 in the US, and #56 in the UK. It is currently #643 and #208. At its peak, it was earning over $1,000 a day. Things have slowed down, but it is still outselling all of my other novels on Amazon.
So, naturally, I did what any smart writer would do. I wrote a sequel.
Fifty Shades of Alice Through the Looking Glass is now available in the US and the UK for $2.99.
At the height of Alice's sales, I was fantasizing about money. What if I had twenty ebooks doing well instead of just one? Making $20,000 a day is almost impossible to comprehend. But is it really impossible?
I'm working on the third book in the Alice trilogy. When finished, I'll release it as a stand alone, and also package the trilogy as a set. So I'll have four ebooks (each individual title, and the combined collection.) If I did this four more times with four more trilogies, I'd have twenty ebooks for sale. With twenty for sale, I could have one ebook always free on KDP Select. Twenty ebooks at five days per free promo is one hundred days of free promo. KDP Select resets every three months, and then you can use the free promo again.
Writing twenty ebooks might seem like a daunting task. But remember, five of those are box sets, and each ebook is only around 30,000 words.
So in order to have 20 erotica ebooks, and one title always free, I only need to write 450,000 words. That's less than five full length-novels. Writing 2500 words per day, that's only six months of writing.
Half a year to write twenty ebooks? It sounds crazy, but it is entirely possible, even though I really believe $20k a day is a fantasy that can never happen. It's just too big a number. And who knows when the mommy porn bubble will burst?
Anyhoo, thank you everyone who has read the first Alice, and I hope you give the sequel a try! Also, thanks to Joe for the blog, and to Ruth Cardello for her unprecedented kindness to a complete stranger. BTW, Ruth is self-published, and recently hit the NYT Bestseller List with Bedding the Billionaire. Pick it up, it's fantastic!
Joe sez: First of all, congrats to Melinda on her success. I know how she's had some tough knocks during her long, legacy publishing career, and it's nice to see her make money.
(Also, congrats to Ruth Cardello, who just turned down a seven figure offer to stay indie. I'm sure that decision didn't come lightly. It took a lot of guts, and a lot of smarts, and Ruth has my highest respect. If my blog readers haven't bought her ebooks yet, they should.)
While I don't agree with Melinda that the mommy porn bubble will burst (because ebooks aren't a bubble) I do think it is unrealistic to plan on any ebook earning $1000 a day for an extended period of time. But I have made many times that amount per day, as has Ruth and many others, so I think Melinda might be onto something.
If she wrote 20 ebooks (15 titles and 5 collections) and each one earns only $150 a day, that's a million dollars a year. That's just 75 ebook sales and loans a day per title, and I've hit that number many times and for extended periods.
What I haven't done is hit that number on an ebook that is only 30k words long. My bestselling ebooks are full length novels. Readers don't buy my novellas nearly as frequently. But after studying erotica on Amazon (reviews, rankings, prices) for a few hours, I'm shocked by how many of these titles ebooks are doing well while still being short.
If I switched to erotica, I could put out four ebooks in the same time it would take me to write one thriller novel. I could do one 90k word thriller novel, priced at $2.99, which takes two months to write. Or in that same two months, I could write three 30k word erotica novellas, priced at $2.99 each, and price the collection at $7.99.
It seems like a no brainer, doesn't it? Same time to write, but I could more than quadruple my profits by writing mommy porn.
Now, I'm not suggesting everyone chase the erotica trend and start writing smut, especially since it isn't easy. I say this as a man who wrote sex scenes in many of my books, but those don't come close to what Melinda did. Chasing trends doesn't usually work, because readers can tell when the writer's heart isn't in it.
But if you think you can write erotica, now seems to be the time to give it a shot. I've written in many different genres, and each time I try something new it's a learning experience. It's always worthwhile to experiment, even if it is just to learn your limitations.
Something else seems to be happening in this business that I find interesting. In the recent past, no legacy publisher would ever touch a self-published book, claiming it had already burned through its audience. But more and more indie authors are getting legacy offers. In the past, writers would spend months querying agents and publishers, hoping to get a book picked up. These days, agents and publishers are trolling the bestseller lists, looking for indie books to buy.
While it is tempting to take a seven figure deal a legacy publisher might offer, think long and hard about what your goals are before taking the money and running. A million bucks seems nice, but if it is for three books, and your agent gets 15%, you're only taking home $283k per title. Sure, that's a lot of money. But then that legacy publisher owns those books forever, while only giving you 14.9% royalties. Instead you could own those books, forever, making 70%.
If you average selling 57 copies of an ebook, per day, you'll make $250k in six years. In a global market, that's entirely possible. And if you somehow managed to get on the bestseller lists as an indie, a hot title can make $50k a month.
Let's break it down another way. To make $250k on your own, you need to sell 125k ebooks at $2.99. To make $250k as a legacy pubbed author, you need to sell 500k ebooks at $6.99 (that's making 14.9% royalties, or 17.5% of the list price minus agent's commission.) Guess which is easier to do?
But Joe! Legacy publishers also print books!
Yes, they do. But print sales continue to fall each year, while ebook sales rise. Legacy publishers have begun "ebook only" publishing lines. As more bookstores close, fewer and fewer print books will sell, both the number of titles and number of copies per title. If Barnes & Noble goes under in the next 5 years, do you want your book held hostage by a legacy deal that will never earn out?
For that nice advance, you're giving up control over your title, your cover, and your price, forever. And it will be much more difficult to earn out that advance when you're making 1/4 of what you would self-publishing, especially when your ebook is priced too high.
Know your goals, know the risks, and act appropriately. I've been turning down foreign deals because I realize I'll lose money in the long run. It makes more sense for me to translate those titles myself.
So would I ever take a legacy deal? Let me put it this way. If a legacy publisher made me a giant offer, it would only be because I had a huge hit self-pubbing. There is no way in hell I'd ever sign over the rights of a hit book to a publisher. I've worked with three legacy publishers. I'd rather get my teeth drilled out than work with those folks again, because that would be less painful, even with a million dollar check.
Bullshit Joe! You'd take the money and run!
No, I wouldn't. In fact, if I haven't burned all of those potential bridges already, allow me to do so right now:
When in the Course of publishing events, it becomes necessary for writers to sever their ties with the industry that is supposed to have "nurtured" them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that we should declare the causes which impel those writers to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all writers should have an equal chance to find readers. That their successes or failures should be dependent upon their own actions and their own choices. That they should be paid fairly for their work. That they should have control over the works they produce. That they should have immediate and accurate access to their sales data. That they should be paid promptly. That they should not be restricted from reaching those who may enjoy their work. That whenever a publisher becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of Authors to abolish all connections with the offending parties.
The history of the legacy publishing industry is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over writers. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
They have given us take-it-or-leave-it, one-sided, unconscionable contracts.
They have failed to adequately market works they have acquired.
They have artificially inflated the price of ebooks.
They have refused to negotiate better ebook royalties for authors.
They have forced unnecessary editing changes on authors.
They have forced unnecessary title changes on authors.
They have forced crappy covers on authors.
They have refused to exploit rights they own.
They have refused to return rights they aren't properly exploiting.
They take far too long to bring acquired works to market.
They take far too long to pay writers advances and royalties.
Their royalty statements are opaque, out-of-date, and inaccurate.
They orphan authors.
They orphan books.
They refuse to treat authors as equals, let alone with a reasonable measure of fairness.
They make mistakes and take no responsibility for those mistakes.
For every hope they nurture, they unnecessarily neglect and destroy countless others.
They have made accessories of the authors' ostensible representative organization, the quisling Authors Guild, and are served, too, by the misleadingly named Association of Authors' Representatives.
They have failed to honor promises made.
They have failed to honor their own onerous contract terms.
They've failed the vast majority of authors, period.
This blog has documented nearly every stage of these Oppressions, and in many cases offered solutions to publishers, and has been answered with only silence and derision.
But that's okay. Because now authors have a choice.
I don't need legacy publishing, and I will never be taken advantage of again. I declare myself independent of the entire archaic, broken, corrupt system.
And I won't be the last to do so.
Melinda: I've written more than fifty novels in my career, most of them romances, and have been published by just about every major publisher. While I'm not a bestselling author, I have several million books in print, and I've had multi-book deals where I've gotten six figure advances.
Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland was the first erotic book I've written. While I've done graphic love scenes many times, they were always there to provide characterization and further the plot. In Fifty Shades of Alice, the love scenes were the plot. To be honest, I didn't know if I could pull it off. But, like many of my peers who have watched the sales of EL James with awe and more than a little envy, I thought I'd give it a try.
Joe suggested this guest blog when I told him how much I've earned on this book, because he thinks his readers might benefit from the knowledge. I've benefited often from the things Joe has disclosed on this blog (Joe is the reason I began self-publishing) so who am I to say no?
On July 23rd, I self-pubbed Alice on Amazon KDP, and enrolled it in the Select program. After two days, I'd only sold two copies, one to me (to check to see if it downloaded okay) and one to some stranger. Then I made it free for five days, from the 25th to the 30th of July.
The only promotion I did was the interview on Joe's blog. NYT bestseller Ruth Cardello was also kind enough to include Alice in a contest for her fans. Joe also was sweet enough to mention it on the Facebook page "What to Read After Fifty Shades of Grey" because I'm not on Facebook yet (I know! I know! I need to get on Facebook. I'm trying to become more like Joe and Ruth and get into social media, but I'm a Luddite and I was on a deadline for another book.)
Other than that, I didn't do anything to promote Alice. I figured it would sink or swim on its own merit.
So how did it do?
During the free period, I gave away 22,740 copies in the US and 10,255 in the UK and hit the Top 10 free list in each. That surprised me, because I'd done free promotions before but had never given away that many.
Did that translate to sales?
Alice has sold 3560 copies in the UK, and 2540 in the US (plus 1275 loans in the Kindle Owner's Lending Library) priced at $2.99.
Assuming the loans are $2 each, Alice has made close to $15,000 in the last 20 days. That's more than many of my advances. How did this happen? Was it Joe's blog? Ruth's contest? The Kindle Select free program? Carl Graves's amazing cover art? Piggybacking on EL James? All the good reviews it has gotten? All or some of the above?
Alice peaked at #194 in the US, and #56 in the UK. It is currently #643 and #208. At its peak, it was earning over $1,000 a day. Things have slowed down, but it is still outselling all of my other novels on Amazon.
Fifty Shades of Alice Through the Looking Glass is now available in the US and the UK for $2.99.
At the height of Alice's sales, I was fantasizing about money. What if I had twenty ebooks doing well instead of just one? Making $20,000 a day is almost impossible to comprehend. But is it really impossible?
I'm working on the third book in the Alice trilogy. When finished, I'll release it as a stand alone, and also package the trilogy as a set. So I'll have four ebooks (each individual title, and the combined collection.) If I did this four more times with four more trilogies, I'd have twenty ebooks for sale. With twenty for sale, I could have one ebook always free on KDP Select. Twenty ebooks at five days per free promo is one hundred days of free promo. KDP Select resets every three months, and then you can use the free promo again.
Writing twenty ebooks might seem like a daunting task. But remember, five of those are box sets, and each ebook is only around 30,000 words.
So in order to have 20 erotica ebooks, and one title always free, I only need to write 450,000 words. That's less than five full length-novels. Writing 2500 words per day, that's only six months of writing.
Half a year to write twenty ebooks? It sounds crazy, but it is entirely possible, even though I really believe $20k a day is a fantasy that can never happen. It's just too big a number. And who knows when the mommy porn bubble will burst?
Anyhoo, thank you everyone who has read the first Alice, and I hope you give the sequel a try! Also, thanks to Joe for the blog, and to Ruth Cardello for her unprecedented kindness to a complete stranger. BTW, Ruth is self-published, and recently hit the NYT Bestseller List with Bedding the Billionaire. Pick it up, it's fantastic!
Joe sez: First of all, congrats to Melinda on her success. I know how she's had some tough knocks during her long, legacy publishing career, and it's nice to see her make money.
(Also, congrats to Ruth Cardello, who just turned down a seven figure offer to stay indie. I'm sure that decision didn't come lightly. It took a lot of guts, and a lot of smarts, and Ruth has my highest respect. If my blog readers haven't bought her ebooks yet, they should.)
While I don't agree with Melinda that the mommy porn bubble will burst (because ebooks aren't a bubble) I do think it is unrealistic to plan on any ebook earning $1000 a day for an extended period of time. But I have made many times that amount per day, as has Ruth and many others, so I think Melinda might be onto something.
If she wrote 20 ebooks (15 titles and 5 collections) and each one earns only $150 a day, that's a million dollars a year. That's just 75 ebook sales and loans a day per title, and I've hit that number many times and for extended periods.
What I haven't done is hit that number on an ebook that is only 30k words long. My bestselling ebooks are full length novels. Readers don't buy my novellas nearly as frequently. But after studying erotica on Amazon (reviews, rankings, prices) for a few hours, I'm shocked by how many of these titles ebooks are doing well while still being short.
If I switched to erotica, I could put out four ebooks in the same time it would take me to write one thriller novel. I could do one 90k word thriller novel, priced at $2.99, which takes two months to write. Or in that same two months, I could write three 30k word erotica novellas, priced at $2.99 each, and price the collection at $7.99.
It seems like a no brainer, doesn't it? Same time to write, but I could more than quadruple my profits by writing mommy porn.
Now, I'm not suggesting everyone chase the erotica trend and start writing smut, especially since it isn't easy. I say this as a man who wrote sex scenes in many of my books, but those don't come close to what Melinda did. Chasing trends doesn't usually work, because readers can tell when the writer's heart isn't in it.
But if you think you can write erotica, now seems to be the time to give it a shot. I've written in many different genres, and each time I try something new it's a learning experience. It's always worthwhile to experiment, even if it is just to learn your limitations.
Something else seems to be happening in this business that I find interesting. In the recent past, no legacy publisher would ever touch a self-published book, claiming it had already burned through its audience. But more and more indie authors are getting legacy offers. In the past, writers would spend months querying agents and publishers, hoping to get a book picked up. These days, agents and publishers are trolling the bestseller lists, looking for indie books to buy.
While it is tempting to take a seven figure deal a legacy publisher might offer, think long and hard about what your goals are before taking the money and running. A million bucks seems nice, but if it is for three books, and your agent gets 15%, you're only taking home $283k per title. Sure, that's a lot of money. But then that legacy publisher owns those books forever, while only giving you 14.9% royalties. Instead you could own those books, forever, making 70%.
If you average selling 57 copies of an ebook, per day, you'll make $250k in six years. In a global market, that's entirely possible. And if you somehow managed to get on the bestseller lists as an indie, a hot title can make $50k a month.
Let's break it down another way. To make $250k on your own, you need to sell 125k ebooks at $2.99. To make $250k as a legacy pubbed author, you need to sell 500k ebooks at $6.99 (that's making 14.9% royalties, or 17.5% of the list price minus agent's commission.) Guess which is easier to do?
But Joe! Legacy publishers also print books!
Yes, they do. But print sales continue to fall each year, while ebook sales rise. Legacy publishers have begun "ebook only" publishing lines. As more bookstores close, fewer and fewer print books will sell, both the number of titles and number of copies per title. If Barnes & Noble goes under in the next 5 years, do you want your book held hostage by a legacy deal that will never earn out?
For that nice advance, you're giving up control over your title, your cover, and your price, forever. And it will be much more difficult to earn out that advance when you're making 1/4 of what you would self-publishing, especially when your ebook is priced too high.
Know your goals, know the risks, and act appropriately. I've been turning down foreign deals because I realize I'll lose money in the long run. It makes more sense for me to translate those titles myself.
So would I ever take a legacy deal? Let me put it this way. If a legacy publisher made me a giant offer, it would only be because I had a huge hit self-pubbing. There is no way in hell I'd ever sign over the rights of a hit book to a publisher. I've worked with three legacy publishers. I'd rather get my teeth drilled out than work with those folks again, because that would be less painful, even with a million dollar check.
Bullshit Joe! You'd take the money and run!
No, I wouldn't. In fact, if I haven't burned all of those potential bridges already, allow me to do so right now:
When in the Course of publishing events, it becomes necessary for writers to sever their ties with the industry that is supposed to have "nurtured" them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that we should declare the causes which impel those writers to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all writers should have an equal chance to find readers. That their successes or failures should be dependent upon their own actions and their own choices. That they should be paid fairly for their work. That they should have control over the works they produce. That they should have immediate and accurate access to their sales data. That they should be paid promptly. That they should not be restricted from reaching those who may enjoy their work. That whenever a publisher becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of Authors to abolish all connections with the offending parties.
The history of the legacy publishing industry is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over writers. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
They have given us take-it-or-leave-it, one-sided, unconscionable contracts.
They have failed to adequately market works they have acquired.
They have artificially inflated the price of ebooks.
They have refused to negotiate better ebook royalties for authors.
They have forced unnecessary editing changes on authors.
They have forced unnecessary title changes on authors.
They have forced crappy covers on authors.
They have refused to exploit rights they own.
They have refused to return rights they aren't properly exploiting.
They take far too long to bring acquired works to market.
They take far too long to pay writers advances and royalties.
Their royalty statements are opaque, out-of-date, and inaccurate.
They orphan authors.
They orphan books.
They refuse to treat authors as equals, let alone with a reasonable measure of fairness.
They make mistakes and take no responsibility for those mistakes.
For every hope they nurture, they unnecessarily neglect and destroy countless others.
They have made accessories of the authors' ostensible representative organization, the quisling Authors Guild, and are served, too, by the misleadingly named Association of Authors' Representatives.
They have failed to honor promises made.
They have failed to honor their own onerous contract terms.
They've failed the vast majority of authors, period.
This blog has documented nearly every stage of these Oppressions, and in many cases offered solutions to publishers, and has been answered with only silence and derision.
But that's okay. Because now authors have a choice.
I don't need legacy publishing, and I will never be taken advantage of again. I declare myself independent of the entire archaic, broken, corrupt system.
And I won't be the last to do so.
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
Harlequin Fail Revisit
Two weeks ago I blogged about the class action suit writers have brought against Harlequin.
Let's start with the pronouncement that the Swiss entity of Harlequin Enterprises (let's call them Harlequin Swiss) is the actual Publisher. In actuality, they're not. Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd. is. But the contracts list Harlequin Swiss as the Publisher. Now look at the claims, which start on Paragraph 52 of the Complaint.
And, as I said before, shame on you. And shame on Harlequin.
But guess what? You can make this right. You can pay what you owe, and by doing so lead the whole publishing industry into a future where authors are treated fairly. You can be a symbol of reform, and restructure so that those who have made your company rich and powerful--the writers you have exploited--are given their due and just rewards.
And then, after you do that and can finally sleep soundly knowing your wrongs have been righted, if there is any money left over you can hire a good accountant and file Chapter 11, just like the Big 6 are going to wind up doing.
Screwing authors isn't a smart way to conduct your business when the only reason you have a business in the first place is because of authors.
That's a lesson you're going to learn the hard way.
Harlequin should be afraid. They should be very afraid.
Why should a big corporation with the money to hire a squad of lawyers be afraid?
As always, the devil is in the details. To get a better understanding of what the suit means, you need to look at the seven claims in the suit. It also helps to be a lawyer.
I am not a lawyer, nor do I claim understanding of legalese. But I spoke with someone who seems to have some idea what the claims mean, and can translate them into readily understandable English. Feel free to follow along by reading the complaint at http://www.harlequinlawsuit.com/The_Complaint.php.
Let's start with the pronouncement that the Swiss entity of Harlequin Enterprises (let's call them Harlequin Swiss) is the actual Publisher. In actuality, they're not. Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd. is. But the contracts list Harlequin Swiss as the Publisher. Now look at the claims, which start on Paragraph 52 of the Complaint.
Claim 1: Assignment. It means that rather than licensing the rights from the Swiss entity, Harlequin Enterprises was in actual fact assigned the rights. And I believe various earlier Paragraphs of the Complaint give factual information supporting this.
Assignment means transferring the rights held by one party to another. If you recall the problem here, Harlequin Swiss avoided paying authors 50% for licensing ebooks by licensing the rights to Harlequin Enterprises Limited for 6%, giving the authors 3%. But this claim states that Harlequin Swiss assigned the rights. Meaning Harlequin Swiss essentially let Harlequin Enterprises do everything involved in the publishing process.
In other words, Harlequin Swiss gave Harlequin Enterprises full authority over the book rights. If the rights were assigned, then Harlequin Enterprises licensed those rights, for instance to Amazon, the authors should have been paid in those amounts. Harlequin Swiss "assigned" the rights to Harlequin Enterprises, making Harlequin Enterprises the Publisher. Whatever Harlequin Enterprises received, the authors should have gotten 50% of that, not 50% of the artificial license
Claim 2: Agent. Harlequin Swiss is the agent of Harlequin Enterprises. So Harlequin Enterprises is actually the one in control.
Claim 3: Harlequin Enterprises Limited (hereafter called "HEL") acted as the Publisher, assuming all of its obligations, and therefore must also assume the liabilities. Meaning this lawsuit.
Claim 4: Estoppel. From what I gather, this means that because HEL is acting as if it were the Publisher it can't continue to deny it is the Publisher. It can't represent itself as the Publisher on one hand, but when it becomes legally convenient, suddenly deny it's the actual Publisher on the other. So it gets “estopped” from denying the truth. It is the Publisher.
Claim 5: Alter Ego. Harlequin Swiss is under the control of HEL. Usually the courts keep separate corporate identities distinct or discrete. You can't blame the wrongs of one on the wrongs of the other, even if they're related entities. But when one is directing the other to commit a wrong, the courts may permit the two identities to be treated as one. That's the best I can explain it given these particular circumstances. There are many factors in piercing the veil; there is no definitive set of rules. Basically, it's in the judge's hands to determine whether this meets the level of alter ego or not.
Those first five are all Breach of Contract issues that assert that HEL is the actual Publisher. It's sort of a giant step back from the narrower focus of the All Other Rights (AOR) clause itself.
Claim 6: Narrows the focus to a specific clause, the AOR clause. It's the one I focused on in Harlequin Fail Part 2, namely that 6% isn't equivalent to the amount reasonably attainable by an unrelated third party. In fact, it is 50%, which is what authors should have gotten.
Claim 7: Unjust Enrichment. If the AOR clause only covers the licensing of the right to sell ebooks (as HQ contends) and not the right to sell the individual ebooks, then HQ can only license the right to others, not sell the ebooks themselves. The Complaint actually says it clearer in Paragraph 88.
But guess what Harlequin is doing on its own website? That's right! It's selling ebooks!
So on top of everything, Harlequin may not even have the rights to sell ebooks under these contract terms. Can you say copyright violation?
Recap in layman's terms: Harlequin assigned rights to itself, which I'm pretty sure is a no-no legally, and it licensed those rights below fair market value, which is another no-no, and then it sold ebooks on its website without having the rights to them, yet another no-no.
Ouch.
So here are my questions for Donna Hayes, CEO of Harlequin, assuming she understands the claims as I have laid them out. (If you don't understand them, Donna, I plan on doing an update soon with crayon drawings and smaller words.)
Donna, do you still believe Harlequin authors have been recompensed fairly and properly?
Do you deny Harlequin Enterprises Limited acted as the Publisher? That Harlequin Swiss is an agent of HEL and under its control? That HEL was assigned the rights in question?
Did you know about this all along? If so, how were you able to sleep at night?
Have you brushed up your resume? If so, maybe you don't want to include the part about screwing hundreds of authors and boldly leading your company into a high-profile class action suit.
Have you brushed up your resume? If so, maybe you don't want to include the part about screwing hundreds of authors and boldly leading your company into a high-profile class action suit.
I don't expect answers, Donna. But maybe discovery will get those answers, and then the rest of us will know the truth.
And, as I said before, shame on you. And shame on Harlequin.
But guess what? You can make this right. You can pay what you owe, and by doing so lead the whole publishing industry into a future where authors are treated fairly. You can be a symbol of reform, and restructure so that those who have made your company rich and powerful--the writers you have exploited--are given their due and just rewards.
And then, after you do that and can finally sleep soundly knowing your wrongs have been righted, if there is any money left over you can hire a good accountant and file Chapter 11, just like the Big 6 are going to wind up doing.
Screwing authors isn't a smart way to conduct your business when the only reason you have a business in the first place is because of authors.
That's a lesson you're going to learn the hard way.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland
Today I'm interviewing Melinda DuChamp, writer of the recently released ebook Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland, currently free on Amazon.com.
Where did you get this cover?
It has, without a doubt, the best ebook cover I've ever seen. Besides being funny as hell, the cover art instantly announces the subject matter: a light-hearted erotic parody of a famous classic fairy tale.
Melinda: I'm a regular reader your blog, and I contacted Carl Graves at Extended Imagery, listed in your sidebar. The mushroom is actually real. There are a whole group of mushrooms with phallus in their names. Carl did a great job making it look fairytale-like. Rob Siders at 52 Novels did the formatting. I was very pleased with his professionalism as well.
Joe: I've read the book. It is very funny, and also pretty hot.
Melinda: Thank you so much! The original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was very funny for its time, and the story is a true classic; a girl goes into a magical world and meets talking animals and strange characters. But I'm not sure if all of the humor holds up today. Some of the jokes and the puns are no longer relevant. I tried to keep the same tone, albeit more adult-oriented. So there are some amusing rhymes, and lots of silliness in action and dialog, in my version.
Joe: But this is for adults...
Melinda: This is definitely for adults only. While I kept the clinical terms used to describe anatomy and physical relations work-friendly PG-13, the action is a lot more explicit than that.
Joe: Reading this at work would be... uncomfortable.
Melinda: Thank you! You're sweet.
Joe: I never read Fifty Shades of Grey, but I take it there are a lot of the same types of kinks described.
Melinda: Yes. Some bondage and spanking and toys and four-ways and other fun things. I followed the structure of Carroll's novel, and had Alice run into many of the same characters, but with a modern, erotic spin on them.
Joe: Melinda DuChamp is a pen name. What else have you written?
Melinda: I have over twenty years of experience writing professionally, in many different genres. Name a publisher, I've probably done something with them.
Joe: How many novels?
Melinda: Over fifty.
Joe: Is this your first self-pubbed ebook?
Melinda: Under this pseudonym, yes.
Joe: I assume you have some sort of following with that many books under your belt. Why use a pseudonym?
Melinda: My mother reads all of my books, and I decided this one was a bit too spicy for her.
Joe: I haven't read a lot of erotica, but I do have some old, dog-eared copies of Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty trilogy, which she wrote under the name A.N. Roquelaure. I found some of it arousing, and some of it extreme to the point of being a turn off. It went too far with the pain, in my opinion. You've got some BDSM stuff in Alice, but it is more playful than painful.
Melinda: Those are pretty raunchy books, and by the end of the trilogy Beauty had been beaten so many times I felt she needed to be taken to the ER! I wanted Alice to have an edge, and to be arousing, without the intense subjugation and pain that often occurs in many similarly themed erotica novels. Subjugation between consenting adults is fine, but I was never turned-on by being beaten or humiliated to tears. Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland has a lot of kinky sex in it, but I find the path to arousal and release more erotic than graphic descriptions of men and women being caned or whipped. But that's just one gal's opinion. Different readers have different tastes, and no one is right or wrong when it comes to their fantasies.
Joe: Why did you start self-publishing?
Melinda: I've had shelf novels that never sold for various reasons, and it seemed like an obvious way to supplement my income. Now they have become my main source of income.
Joe: Would you go back to legacy publishing?
Melinda: I go where the money is. When my agent gets an offer, I listen. But the offer has to be serious to make me consider it.
Joe: So why call it Fifty Shades of Alice in Wonderland?
Melinda: I'm not above riding on coattails, and I don't believe Ms. James will mind, considering the inspiration for her trilogy.
Joe: The tagline on the cover says "Inspired by true events." Care to elaborate?
Melinda: A lady doesn't kiss and tell. But I encourage readers to read Alice and pick out which scenes are based on fact, and which are completely made up.
Joe: Will there be a sequel?
Melinda: It depends how well it does. I've done many love scenes in my books, but never a full book of erotica. Alice was fun to write, and I do have some ideas for a follow-up, but this is a business, and I try to pay attention to what readers want. Only time will tell if they want more Alice...
Joe sez: This book really is hot, and it is currently free, so download it and support Melinda in her quest to keep secrets from her mother.
Also worth noting is this ebook was only released a few days ago, and is already on the Top 100 free list in the UK, and close to the Top 100 in the US. It got there without any name recognition, publicity, promotion, marketing, or advertising. I tweeted about it earlier today, and got in touch with Melinda to request this interview after I'd read the book (my cover artist showed me the cover last week) but it was already at its current rankings before I did so.
It is apparently possible to make a splash and get noticed while being a complete unknown. All you need is a good cover, good book description, good book, and a good price ($2.99 normally, free until Monday.)
We'll see if these freebies lead to future sales. If they do, I may soon be writing Fifty Shades of Snow White...
Friday, July 20, 2012
Harlequin Fail Part 2
Three authors have just filed a class action suit against Harlequin. Here's the full complaint.
It's about time.
For those who read a guest post by Ann Voss Peterson last month, you were aware Ann wrote a book that Harlequin published, and she made 2.4% royalties per copy sold. One of the reasons for this was:
First, while most of my books are sold in the US, many are sold under lower royalty rates in other countries. In this particular contract, some foreign rights and -ALL ebook royalties- are figured in a way that artificially reduces net by licensing the book to a "related licensee," in other words, a company owned by Harlequin itself.
Now I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure this means Harlequin contracts state they'll pay authors 50% for foreign and ebook royalties. This 50% is based on the amount they receive. But then they took those rights and sub-licensed them to another company for 6%, which means the author got 3% of the wholesale price, not 50%.
Confused? Here's an example.
Harlequin has an ebook it lists for $3.99. It sells that to Amazon at a wholesale price of $2.00. The author should make $1.00 for each $3.99 ebook that Amazon sells.
But instead of selling direct to Amazon, Harlequin sells the ebook to Company X for 12 cents. So the author only gets 6 cents. Company X than sells the same ebook to Amazon for $2.00, but because they are a sub-licensing company, they don't have to pay the author anything.
Sub-licensing is common. My publisher, Headline in the UK, sold book club rights to my novel AFRAID. The book club paid Headline a flat fee, and HEADLINE gave me 50% of that fee, according to my contract. The book club wasn't required to pay me royalties on each book club edition is sold. Just like Company X isn't required to pay authors anything.
This is all fine and legal. So why are authors suing Harlequin?
Because Harlequin and Company X are the same company.
In other words, it is sub-licensing the rights it holds to itself. Then it only has to pay the author 3% instead of 50%.
That's seems pretty shitty. It also doesn't seem like something a judge or jury will casually dismiss, even if Harlequin made sure it kept the two companies separate through an umbrella company.
No publishing company would ever sub-license rights for a paltry 6%, unless it was selling the rights to itself. Does Harlequin really expect a judge to believe that it sells a $3.99 ebook and only makes 6 cents? And according to the complaint, the 6% was not equivalent to the amount reasonably obtainable from an unrelated party, as required by the publishing agreements.
Ya think?
Hey, Harlequin! You poor dears are getting ripped off by sub-licensing e-rights for only 6%! How about I give you 9% for all of your e-rights sub-licenses? I'm a nice guy willing to help out, and you'll make more money!
What? You won't do it? Why not? I'm giving you a waaaaay better deal!
Do publishers have such a sense of entitlement, and do they believe that authors are so beneath them, that this is a fair and honest business practice?
Hopefully, not only will Harlequin have to pay its authors what it owes, but the judge will slap huge damages on the bastards.
Here's how Harlequin responded to the suit:
The publisher wishes to make clear that this is the first it has heard of the proceedings and that a complaint has not yet been served.
"Our authors have been recompensed fairly and properly for their work, and we will be defending ourselves vigorously," said Donna Hayes, Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of Harlequin.
Now that's not much for me to fisk. But it still reeks of bullshit.
this is the first it has heard of the proceedings
Huh? Again, I'm no lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that before a class action suit is filed, the plaintiffs and their lawyers approach the defendant and request to settle. That's Law School 101.
Our authors have been recompensed fairly and properly for their work
I'm not sure what Donna's definition of "fair" is, but I'll guess a jury won't think it is fair that a writer earns 6 cents on a $3.99 Harlequin ebook sale when that same ebook would earn a non-Harlequin author 70 cents on a 3.99 ebook.
In other words, Harlequin authors make only 9% of what the other authors make.
I suggest Donna Hayes back up her statement and stand by her words. Immediately, and retroactively, going back to when she was originally hired by Harlequin, she should take a 91% salary cut. Who cares what other publishing CEOs make annually? If Harlequin is fair in paying its authors 91% less than the rest of the industry, it should pay its executives accordingly.
If you'd like more info about the case, visit http://www.harlequinlawsuit.com.
It's about time.
For those who read a guest post by Ann Voss Peterson last month, you were aware Ann wrote a book that Harlequin published, and she made 2.4% royalties per copy sold. One of the reasons for this was:
First, while most of my books are sold in the US, many are sold under lower royalty rates in other countries. In this particular contract, some foreign rights and -ALL ebook royalties- are figured in a way that artificially reduces net by licensing the book to a "related licensee," in other words, a company owned by Harlequin itself.
Now I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure this means Harlequin contracts state they'll pay authors 50% for foreign and ebook royalties. This 50% is based on the amount they receive. But then they took those rights and sub-licensed them to another company for 6%, which means the author got 3% of the wholesale price, not 50%.
Confused? Here's an example.
Harlequin has an ebook it lists for $3.99. It sells that to Amazon at a wholesale price of $2.00. The author should make $1.00 for each $3.99 ebook that Amazon sells.
But instead of selling direct to Amazon, Harlequin sells the ebook to Company X for 12 cents. So the author only gets 6 cents. Company X than sells the same ebook to Amazon for $2.00, but because they are a sub-licensing company, they don't have to pay the author anything.
Sub-licensing is common. My publisher, Headline in the UK, sold book club rights to my novel AFRAID. The book club paid Headline a flat fee, and HEADLINE gave me 50% of that fee, according to my contract. The book club wasn't required to pay me royalties on each book club edition is sold. Just like Company X isn't required to pay authors anything.
This is all fine and legal. So why are authors suing Harlequin?
Because Harlequin and Company X are the same company.
In other words, it is sub-licensing the rights it holds to itself. Then it only has to pay the author 3% instead of 50%.
That's seems pretty shitty. It also doesn't seem like something a judge or jury will casually dismiss, even if Harlequin made sure it kept the two companies separate through an umbrella company.
No publishing company would ever sub-license rights for a paltry 6%, unless it was selling the rights to itself. Does Harlequin really expect a judge to believe that it sells a $3.99 ebook and only makes 6 cents? And according to the complaint, the 6% was not equivalent to the amount reasonably obtainable from an unrelated party, as required by the publishing agreements.
Ya think?
Hey, Harlequin! You poor dears are getting ripped off by sub-licensing e-rights for only 6%! How about I give you 9% for all of your e-rights sub-licenses? I'm a nice guy willing to help out, and you'll make more money!
What? You won't do it? Why not? I'm giving you a waaaaay better deal!
Do publishers have such a sense of entitlement, and do they believe that authors are so beneath them, that this is a fair and honest business practice?
Hopefully, not only will Harlequin have to pay its authors what it owes, but the judge will slap huge damages on the bastards.
Here's how Harlequin responded to the suit:
The publisher wishes to make clear that this is the first it has heard of the proceedings and that a complaint has not yet been served.
"Our authors have been recompensed fairly and properly for their work, and we will be defending ourselves vigorously," said Donna Hayes, Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of Harlequin.
Now that's not much for me to fisk. But it still reeks of bullshit.
this is the first it has heard of the proceedings
Huh? Again, I'm no lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that before a class action suit is filed, the plaintiffs and their lawyers approach the defendant and request to settle. That's Law School 101.
Our authors have been recompensed fairly and properly for their work
I'm not sure what Donna's definition of "fair" is, but I'll guess a jury won't think it is fair that a writer earns 6 cents on a $3.99 Harlequin ebook sale when that same ebook would earn a non-Harlequin author 70 cents on a 3.99 ebook.
In other words, Harlequin authors make only 9% of what the other authors make.
I suggest Donna Hayes back up her statement and stand by her words. Immediately, and retroactively, going back to when she was originally hired by Harlequin, she should take a 91% salary cut. Who cares what other publishing CEOs make annually? If Harlequin is fair in paying its authors 91% less than the rest of the industry, it should pay its executives accordingly.
If you'd like more info about the case, visit http://www.harlequinlawsuit.com.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Zero Sum
I've blogged about the so-called Race to the Bottom before, a few times.
The argument du jour seems to be that if publishers do collapse, then all the current bestsellers will have their ebooks available for $4.99 or less, and that will be the end of self-publishing. I've blogged about an eventual bestseller shift, which we can argue is happening, has happened, or will happen, depending on which stats you want to support.
But now I think it's time to put them together, as well as do some Q&A.
1. Ebook sales aren't a zero sum game. A sale of one ebook doesn't preclude the sale of another, because this is a burgeoning global market with hundreds of new customers introduced daily, and people naturally horde more than they need.
Let's say there are currently 100 million ebook readers, and 1 million ebook titles on Amazon. In ten years, there will be billions of ebook readers (following the path of mp3s). But there won't be a corresponding 100 million ebook titles available--there aren't that many people writing ebooks, and never will be.
If I can currently sell a few hundred ebooks a day in the US alone, what will happen when ebooks become popular in India, China, Japan, Europe, Russian, and South America? There will be a bigger demand than unique supply, and I believe my position will improve.
2. Legacy bestsellers now may not be bestsellers in the future. If all Lee Child ebooks were $3.99, an avid reader could buy and finish them all in a month. Then what? Wait six months for him to finish another, and not read a thing until then? I think not.
Let's say the reader then went on to other bestselling thriller writers in the same vein as Child. How many current NYT bestsellers write series thrillers? I have no idea, but I'd guess a few dozen, tops. But does likign Child mean liking all NYT thriller bestsellers? I'm sure there are readers who love Child but don't like Brad Thor or Vince Flynn, but even if all an avid reader read was bestselling thriller authors who did a book or two a year, they would eventually run out of books to read.
BTW, I know a few avid readers. They lust for more authors to discover, and get excited when they read an unknown gem and find out that author has twenty more books in the series. I'm one of those types. I've read all Ed McBain, Mickey Spillane, John D. MacDonald, Robert B. Parker, and still managed to find new gems by Jeff Shelby, Brett Battles, Harry Hunsicker, and Jude Hardin, written in the same vein and style.
If bestsellers like Child and Thor came down in price, it wouldn't matter to me much, because I already have read all of Child and I don't care for Thor. But if Child were $3.99 instead of $12.99, I can easily see myself buying his latest AND a few others. The money I'd save would be spent just the same.
Ever go into a store to buy a big ticket item, expecting to may more than you did? Let's say you research an over and find it for $699. When you go to the store, it is on sale for $499. And they also have a great toaster oven for $99. You probably wouldn't have bought the toaster oven originally, but now that you're saving money on the oven, the toaster oven becomes attractive.
If all ebook prices came down, more ebooks would be sold across the board.
3. The reason bestselling authors are bestselling authors is because of distribution. Nora Roberts is available EVERYWHERE books are sold. So, by default, she sells a lot, because readers wanting that particular type of book have no other choice--they buy her, or nothing.
When publishers collapse, Nora will have the exact same amount of shelf space and exposure as any indie author. Sure, there will be some name and brand recognition for a while, but that will fade when not being constantly reinforced by massive print distribution.
It also remains to be seen how Nora will price her ebooks when her publisher goes bankrupt. Will she stay at the $9.99 price point she's selling at now? If so, I predict fewer sales. If she does price reasonably, then the reader with $9.99 to spend can buy one of her ebooks and one of my ebooks with change left of.
The market is getting bigger. People with ereaders tend to buy and read more. And authors can make a very nice living selling 100 ebooks a day for $2.99 each. Across multiple platforms, on a global scale, I see this as not only possible, but likely for decent, prolific authors.
And as far as bestsellers go, they tend to fade when distribution changes or dries up.
Mickey Spillane (whose books I love) has sold over 225 million books.
Check his Kindle ranking now, only six years after his death. Lots of indies are outselling him. Even though Al Collins is doing a great job continuing the Mike Hammer series.
Check ranks on some Louis L'Amour titles. He sold over 300 million books. Mediocre kindle sales.
Sidney Sheldon has sold more than Stephen King. Look at Sidney's rankings on Amazon these days. He also is still producing books after his death, via ghost writers, but he's nowhere near the powerhouse he once was.
Harold Robbins has sold 750 million books. More than twice JK Rowling. And many of his Kindle titles are less than $2.99. Check his rankings. Mine are better in many cases. One of the best selling authors of all time, but he isn't in the paperback racks anymore, and that means no more bestsellerdom.
4. There is already a tremendous abundance of choice, not only with media in general, but ebooks in particular. I believe Amazon has over 1 million Kindle titles for sale. Yet people still find me, and I was hardly a bestseller in print.
If bestselling authors all dropped their prices, I believe I'd sell more ebooks, not less, because more people would buy ereaders and have more money to spend on content. There's enough room for 300 cable TV channels, and four billion videos on Youtube.
Sure, some YouTube videos won't be watched, just like some ebooks won't be read. But quality does seem to eventually find an audience. Maybe not to smashing success, but authors don't need smashing success. They need 100 sales a day at $2.99 to live very well.
What do you need to do to reach that 100 sales a day?
1. Write good stories. As many and as fast as you can. They should be edited, proofed, and well formatted I use www.52novels.com for formatting, and they do better work than any of the Big 6. The more you have out there, the better you'll do.
2. Make sure you have a great product description and a professional cover. My cover artist, Carl Graves, has 24 new covers on sale on his website for $200 each. A bunch of them are awesome, and $200 is a great deal (he charges me $500). Check them out, first come first serve, at http://extendedimagery.com/predesignedcovers.html.
3. Find the sweet spot between price and quantity sold, where you make the most profit. Currently I'm $3.99 for novels, $2.99 for novellas (over 10k words) and story collections, and 99 cents for short stories. But this isn't set in stone.
4. Experiment with different ways to promote. Some things I've tried to varying degrees of success are giving away free ebooks to get reviews, announcing sales on ebook websites, having sales, making titles free for a limited time, partnering with different platforms, and guest blogging.
What don't I bother with?
1. Advertising. It doesn't work on me, so I don't use it on other people. That's a cardinal rule of mine. I only use something or believe it works if I do it as a consumer.
2. Social media. Occasional tweets of Facebook announcements are fine. At most, once a week. Maybe once a day if you have a new release, but end it after a few days. Otherwise people get sick of you.
3. Publicity. I've already blogged that getting my name in the press doesn't lead to sales. You probably don't need a publicist.
4. Spamming. I have a newsletter, and use it a few times a year. I don't use it everytime I upload something new to Kindle. And I don't pimp my work on other peoples' blog or forums unless invited to do so, or there's a section for it.
I want to end this blog entry by telling writers: Don't Be Afraid. Yes, the future will be different. Yes, things will change. But there will always be a need for storytellers, and if you hold onto your rights, you'll be in a good position to exploit those rights no matter what the future holds.
I want to end this blog entry by telling writers: Don't Be Afraid. Yes, the future will be different. Yes, things will change. But there will always be a need for storytellers, and if you hold onto your rights, you'll be in a good position to exploit those rights no matter what the future holds.
Saturday, July 07, 2012
99 Cents
So is 99 cents a good price for ebooks? Does it devalue them? Are we in a race to the bottom where consumers will always expect cheap and free? Or are 99 cents sales smart ways to find new fans, climb up on bestseller lists, and lower rankings?
I've blogged about the race to the bottom before, and explained in detail why I believe the notion is wrong.
I've blogged about the value of ebooks, and how I discovered that low prices are best.
I've experimented with 99 cent ebooks and did well with it, hitting the Kindle Top 100 Bestsellers, then reverting the price back to $2.99 and making lots of money. I did the same thing two more times, and each time I cracked the Top 100, but didn't make as much.
Now it's a year later, and I'm trying it again. But rather than one ebook, I'm making all of my ebooks 99 cents for a limited time (as of now, until Monday July 9).
So if you wanted to stock up on Konrath ebooks on Amazon, Nook, or Kobo, now is the time.
Also, I asked my buddies Blake Crouch and Scott Nicholson to do the same thing.
Right we have over 100 titles at 99 cents.
Feel free to buy lots, tweet it, tell your friends and family. If an ebook isn't 99 cents, try waiting a few days. Some titles haven't switched to the new price yet.
When the sale ends, I'll be blogging about how many ebooks I sold, and if it was worth it.
Until then, here are some links:
I've blogged about the race to the bottom before, and explained in detail why I believe the notion is wrong.
I've blogged about the value of ebooks, and how I discovered that low prices are best.
I've experimented with 99 cent ebooks and did well with it, hitting the Kindle Top 100 Bestsellers, then reverting the price back to $2.99 and making lots of money. I did the same thing two more times, and each time I cracked the Top 100, but didn't make as much.
Now it's a year later, and I'm trying it again. But rather than one ebook, I'm making all of my ebooks 99 cents for a limited time (as of now, until Monday July 9).So if you wanted to stock up on Konrath ebooks on Amazon, Nook, or Kobo, now is the time.
Also, I asked my buddies Blake Crouch and Scott Nicholson to do the same thing.
Right we have over 100 titles at 99 cents.
Feel free to buy lots, tweet it, tell your friends and family. If an ebook isn't 99 cents, try waiting a few days. Some titles haven't switched to the new price yet.
When the sale ends, I'll be blogging about how many ebooks I sold, and if it was worth it.
Until then, here are some links:
J.A. Konrath
Blake Crouch
Scott Nicholson
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=scott+nicholsonMonday, July 02, 2012
Exclusivity and Free
I'm back from a two week vacation, and today I'm discussing the merits and problems with exclusivity and free ebooks with Blake Crouch, and his brother Jordan.
Blake and Jordan have a new ebook horror-thriller out called EERIE, which is currently free on Kindle.
Download it. It's a great book.
For the sake of experimentation, EERIE didn't debut on Kindle. In fact, it has been available for several weeks.
Here are the Crouchs to explain why.
NOOK
A lot of people also ask me if it is a good idea to sign with one of Amazon's publishing arms. Blake and I hit the #1 Bestseller spot because of the push Amazon gave Stirred, something I haven't been able to do on my own. But was it worth the sales I lost on other platforms?
I don't believe so.
If Amazon wants me back in KDP Select, they'll have to offer more. And if Amazon Publishing wants another book from me, they'll have to offer more. Exclusivity, and signing away rights, isn't how I see the future. Authors should be able to keep their rights, and exploit them in as many ways as possible.
But the cloud is still a concept that hasn't entirely caught on. People do like to own media. More people will own us
than read us. It'll always be that way. There's no guarantee a book owned will
be read, even if that book was bought. Adding more choice to the equation
doesn't matter. We've always had a lot of choice.
Blake and Jordan have a new ebook horror-thriller out called EERIE, which is currently free on Kindle.
Download it. It's a great book.
Here are the Crouchs to explain why.
JORDAN: Blake and I
shared a room for five years while we were growing up. Bunk beds, one closet,
and a single dresser. When our father finished the basement, he built a second,
even smaller bedroom with no windows and a door that locked, behind which my
older brother disappeared and was never heard from again. Twenty years later we
find ourselves sharing another space. This time, it's the page.
I guess it should come
as no surprise then, that our first book together is about siblings trapped in
a house. EERIE [free on Amazon today] follows an estranged brother and sister
as they try to uncover the mystery of the violent presence that inhabits the
upstairs bedroom.
Here's this pitch:
From
newcomer Jordan Crouch and Blake Crouch, author of the Top-10
Kindle-bestsellers Run, Stirred, and Fully Loaded, comes Eerie, a chilling,
gothic thriller in the classic tradition of The Shining and The Sixth Sense.
TRAPPED
INSIDE A HOUSE
On a crisp
autumn evening in 1980, seven-year-old Grant Moreton and his five-year-old
sister Paige were nearly killed in a mysterious accident in the Cascade
Mountains that left them orphans.
WITH A
FRIGHTENING POWER
It's been
thirty years since that night. Grant is now a detective with the Seattle Police
Department and long estranged from his sister. But his investigation into the
bloody past of a high-class prostitute has led right to Paige's door, and what
awaits inside is beyond his wildest imagining.
OVER ANYONE
WHO ENTERS
His only
hope of survival and saving his sister will be to confront the terror that
inhabits its walls, but he is completely unprepared to face the truth of what
haunts his sister's brownstone.
Although I’ve been writing
for close to ten years now, it’s always been as a personal outlet, not a
serious professional endeavor. I’m really excited to say that’s about to
change. This book represents a lot of firsts for me. My first novel, my first
collaboration with Blake, and my first foray into self-publishing. So in the
spirit of the blog, I'll talk about the experience with the collaborative
process as the Newbie that I am.
I've read Blake's stuff
for as long as I can remember: the good, the bad, and the humiliating high school
creative writing projects. It’s not lip-service when I say that he’s one of my
favorite writers. So, when the opportunity to work together presented itself in
November of last year, it was an easy decision. We already had the basic idea
for what would become EERIE, and over the next few months, we sequestered
ourselves inside a Google Doc and hammered out the first draft.
If you've never used
Google Docs before, here's what you need to know: it's a word processor that
allows multiple users to edit the same page in real time. Like a big dry-erase
board. As a collaborative tool it’s great, but for two brothers, it’s the
creative equivalent of sharing a room again. There's nothing more humbling than
watching a sentence you just carefully arranged disappear word-by-word and be
replaced by another thought entirely.
That's the license we
agreed to give each other. If something felt wrong or lacking or just plain
stupid, strike it. Sometimes it hurts, but the price of collaborating is giving
up a certain amount of control. Of course, that's easier said than done, and
diplomacy did not always prevail. But on the few occasions when we resorted to
the nuclear option, we always ended with something better than we had before.
Writing is an intensely
personal endeavor. If you can make it work with someone else, it’s awesome. If
that person is your brother, well that’s pretty special.
BLAKE: This was my
fourth collaboration. I've written extensively with Joe, and then with Joe,
Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson, for Draculas. I collaborated with Selena Kitt
on our short story Hunting Season. But this was different. My brother has been
a writer for a long time and got a degree in creative writing from
UNC-Wilmington. I'd always wanted to collaborate with him, because he's one of
my most important sounding boards in the writing process. We finally hit upon
an idea we were both very excited about, and though there were some speed bumps
along the way, we persevered, and are immensely proud of the final product.
It's essentially a monster-under-the-bed story, something that plays upon every
child (and inner child's) greatest fear.
I've rambled on at
length on this blog about collaboration, so I thought I'd share my
experience on EERIE from the perspective of its publication.
With the dawn of KDP
Select last December, exclusivity has become an increasingly divisive and
provocative aspect of self-publishing. There are essentially five viable
platforms--KDP, Pubit!, Smashwords, Kobo, Sony, and Apple (no, I didn't forget to
mention Diesel. On the latter platform, I've sold a grand total of 1
book in my entire career, and I have a feeling that's more than most.)
NOOK
For EERIE's initial
release, Jordan and I decided to try the Pubit! Nook First program. This is
Barnes and Noble's interesting take on exclusivity wherein, by invitation, they
offer you merchandising and promotion in exchange for releasing a new work
straight to their platform for a 4-week period. After that period, you're free
to publish everywhere.
I don't know what other
writers' experiences with Nook First have been, but for the most part, Jordan
and I were pleasantly surprised. We sold about 1500 copies of EERIE (@ $3.99)
in May for Nook, which I know is far more than we would've sold on Barnes and
Noble on our own. There were some disappointments, however. Despite huge sales
on a handful of days, our sales rank was wonky. It never seemed to correlate to
a corresponding low rank. Even on days where we sold 400 books, our rank never
dropped below 2000. I have no doubt this cost us many, many sales, a good chunk
of money, and kept the book from every appearing on the BN bestseller lists. A
real shame, because the marketing triggers that Pubit! pulled worked in a big
way. The tech just wasn't there to support them, and their tech support staff
just couldn't be bothered to give a damn.
But that aside, Pubit!
clearly has some real marketing power, and the smaller window of exclusivity
(as opposed to KDP Select's 90 day commitment) is a definite plus. When
Pubit!'s tech support decides to follow the model of Kobo and Amazon and treat
writers as customers instead of entities to be ignored, Pubit! could become a
force.
KOBO
Also in May, I had the
opportunity to drop my best-selling title RUN into a Kobo promotion involving
email blasts, coupons, and prominent placement on their landing pages. I could
not have been more pleased with the results. RUN reached the top 10 on Kobo's
overall list, stayed there for several weeks, and the rest of my catalog sold
well in response. When you consider the size of Kobo's market share, the fact
that I sold more books on Kobo in May than I did on Pubit! is astounding. It
was only a few hundred dollars shy of beating Amazon for May, and it did beat
Pubit! again in June. Even better, Kobo did not request exclusivity. Their
writer-relations people are some of the friendliest, most proactive, responsive
people in the business. Suggestions and requests I made last year were taken to
heart. It's no secret that Kobo is on the verge of unveiling their own platform
(Writing Life). If there is a company that could one day compete with the
mighty Amazon, it's these guys. They're inventive, have far, far reaching plans
to bring writers what could become the slickest digital publishing platform
ever created, and they get that writers are customers. They listen. Best of
all, my titles continue to sell and rank highly on Kobo's bestseller list, a
month after the promos ended. I cannot say the same for Barnes and Noble. There
is no other platform (aside from Amazon) where I've seen this level of
"stickiness." If someone asked me what's keeping the majority of my
titles out of KDP Select, I would have to say these guys.
AMAZON
KDP Select opinion
pieces are a dime a dozen. Amazon is still, hands down, the most lucrative
platform for me. Even though the transition from free to paid sales appears to
have weakened as of late, success stories like Ann Voss Peterson and Robert
Gregory Browne are convincing enough for my brother and I to roll the dice and
drop EERIE into KDP Select. I say this as someone who has had great success
with free titles: they still make me nervous. I get the excitement of giving
away 70,000 ebooks. The prospect of making new fans. But free, in the long run,
is dangerous. It sets a bad precedent and level of expectation in the minds of
readers. Am I a hypocrite for saying this while EERIE is free? Maybe. But if all
the platforms did away with free, I'd be okay with that. As writers, we cannot
keep going to that well. It will dry up. Kindles may be able to hold a
gazillion ebooks, but readers can't read that many. The key is not being
downloaded. It's being read.
This post is not going
to end with a definitive conclusion on freebies and exclusivity. I'm
uncomfortable with both concepts, even as I play the game. My sense is that the
people who survive and continue to do well selling ebooks will be those who
experiment, take risks, and adapt. We've said it before, but what worked
yesterday, may not work today, and the possibility of a game changer (like KDP
Select) is constantly looming.
JOE SEZ: I predicted that ebook
retailers would seek exclusivity back in 2009. It's an obvious conclusion to draw
when retailers compete. If there is a commodity that people want, and it is
only available at one place, they'll shop at that place.
The author is the brand.
I've lost count of the emails I've gotten from Nook and Kobo ereader owners who
are wondering when Shaken and Stirred (both published by Amazon) will be
available on their devices. That's one of the reasons my ebooks are DRM
free--so readers can convert to other formats like epub to read on devices
other than Kindle.
So how effective is exclusivity as a sales tool for Amazon? I've had people email me who bought a Kindle just
to read Shaken. But how many more of my fans are annoyed because they own a
different ereader that doesn't allow for a one-click purchase of Shaken? How
many sales are lost?
My guess is: a lot. Shaken and Stirred have done well, but Blake and I have done better on self-pubbed projects.
For me to be exclusive
with a retailer, I have to know the sales I'm going to lose will be made up for
with increased sales on the exclusive platform. Long term, that's risky. After
the big initial sales push, sales will even out, and years from now the lost
sales will really rack up.
This is a related
dilemma I'm having with foreign sales. My agent has been great in selling
foreign rights to my self-pubbed ebooks. But do I want to give up future sales
(which I'd have if I kept my rights and translated the ebooks on my own) for
immediate sales?
I've been nudging Amazon
for years to release titles in epub format. Let Nook owners buy my ebooks on
Amazon. And let Kindles read epub format. I think that would make more money
for everyone.
But until that happens,
we're going to have retailers jockeying for market share, and one of the ways
to do that is to have exclusive brands (ie authors).
A lot of people ask me
my opinion about KDP Select, and I made it known that I have opted all of my
titles out of it. I dislike Amazon's desire for exclusivity, because it limits
my readership.
Back in January, it was
possible for an ebook to be released free on the KDP Select, then bounce over
to the Top 100 paid bestseller list. This is still possible, but a lot harder
to do, and I'm not sure it justifies removing a title from other platforms to
do it. I'm also not sure it does what Amazon wants it to do: lure customers to
the Kindle platform. If Amazon wants to sell more Kindles, it should have as
many ebooks in the KDP Select program as possible. But when authors like me opt
out, that hurts readers.
I might be missing some
important parts of this story. No doubt Amazon is crunching numbers, and they
probably know how to find that sweet spot among ebook sales and freebies and
Kindle sales and Prime memberships. But I know I'm not the only author they are disappointing, and in the long run that won't be good for them.
Like Blake, I'll soon be
doing a thing with Kobo, and I hope to replicate his results. I like that Kobo
doesn't demand exclusivity. They want to please their customer base and make
their website a worthwhile place to shop.
That's the line a retailer has to walk.
Bringing new people to your online store (and ereader) while also making your current
customers happy. Exclusivity might bring in new customers, but it will also irritate your current customers as more and more authors leave the platform.
Amazon is THE place to
shop online. The shopping experience is better there than anywhere else. They
make shopping easy, fast, and enjoyable. It's understandable that they want to sell more Kindles and Prime memberships. It's understandable that they
don't want people buying Nooks or Kobos. But if KDP Select was non-exclusive,
and Amazon sold epub, that would benefit all authors and all consumers, and irritate nobody.
It is in my best interest, as an author, to
try as many things as possible, and for many platforms to succeed. I want the
whole world to read my ebooks. And I don't care what ereader they read them on,
or what store they buy them from.
Kobo gets that. Amazon
sort of does. B&N, not so much.
As I've said in the
past, the only two parties needed are writers and readers. The retailer who
treats its writers and readers well will flourish. You do this by learning what
these groups want.
So I'll make it real
easy:
Readers want as many
titles available as possible, without DRM, in multiple formats. They want to
get ebooks with one-click. They want lower prices, and free ebooks. They want a
fun, easy, fast place to shop. They want to have titles recommended to them,
either by algorithms or other readers. They want to be able to contact and
interact with each other, and with authors. They want to be listened to and
have their needs and concerns met.
Writers want their work
to be available as widely as possible, in multiple formats. They don't want
exclusivity. They want to be able to interact with their retail partners and
publishers easily and promptly, and to be treated well. They want high royalties,
and the ability to control price (including the ability to make their ebooks
free). They want data that can help them optimize their pricing and sales, and
platforms that make accounting and joint-accounting a cinch. They want to be
paid promptly. They want the ability to work directly and outside the box with retail partners and
publishers and try new things. They want a stable platform
where titles disappear immediately if removed and appear immediately if added,
and where sales and rank are updated quickly and accurately. They want more
bestseller list categories (like Top 100 Female Police Procedurals Priced at $2.99) and
more BISEC categories. They want to be listened to and have their needs and
concerns met.
Blake, why the hate for
freebies?
BLAKE: I don't hate
freebies. But why will readers buy ebooks if there are more freebies to
download than they could possibly read in their lifetime?
JOE: Because that's
human nature. We collect. We horde. We buy more than we can ever use. That
doesn't mean we reach a point where we stop buying, or acquiring. We all have
To Be Read piles. Ebooks have made them easier to attain and manage.
BLAKE: More
than we can ever use. That's what worries me. If a TBR pile is suddenly 1000
books instead of two dozen, and my book is #899 in the pile, what are the
chances I will be read? If someone downloads my book for free, but never reads
it, they won't become a fan and buy the rest of my paid catalog.
JOE: There are a few
things happening here. First, there's a difference between being owned and
being read. That difference has always been there (and I say "owned"
instead of "bought" to include freebies, and even though ebooks are essentially
a licence and not a purchase). We all own more media than we'll ever be able to
experience. The whole concept of the "cloud" plays into this. Why own
anything if it is all always available to access?
BLAKE: But if I pay
money for that book because I heard about it and found it through reviews or
whatever, the chance that I'll read it is better than if I just grabbed one of
20 freebies listed on Pixel of Ink.
JOE: We read what we
want to read, free or not. I've bought $30 Blu-Ray disks that sit unwatched on my shelf for 5 months, and instead I've surfed YouTube for free for 90
minutes. But YouTube didn't stop me from buying. And I'll watch the Blu-Ray
eventually.
That's a human
mentality. We want to be able to access media whenever the mood hits. So maybe
we'll stock up on freebies for a rainy day, and maybe that rainy day comes and
maybe it doesn't, but I don't see it limiting or hurting sales.
We have paper
bestsellers because of a lack of choice. Only so many titles can fit on the
shelf at Costco. More choice is a good thing.
BLAKE: You don't think
there's a segment of customers, possibly very large, who have so loaded up
their Kindles since Christmas and KDP Select came into being, that they don't
actively shop anymore, because they have so many titles they want to read?
JOE: You've been to my
house. How many books do I have? Video games? Movies?
BLAKE: You've got a few.
JOE: I've got tens of
thousands. And this morning I was on Amazon and I bought 5 new Blu-Rays, two
ebooks, and a video game.
My rule is: I only use
marketing strategies that work on me. Which means I think a lot about my buying
habits, and my media habits. While I'm sure there aren't many people out there
with tens of thousands of books, movies, and games, I'm also sure the principle
of what I'm saying is widespread: having enough doesn't inhibit acquiring more.
If someone gets your ebook for free, it doesn't mean you lost a sale. They may not read it, but they might never have bought it either. And people may be downloading a lot of free titles, but not reading them. Free, however, is a way for a customer to try you without any risk. Even if only a small percentage of freebies get read and make readers into fans, I believe that's still worthwhile.
BLAKE: So you think the
free model is viable for the long haul? You don't think it trains people NOT to
pay for books.
JOE: You know my belief
on this. Eventually, all media will be free, and artists will be paid by
advertisers. People can't be trained to pay more. That doesn't work. They'll
get it for as little as they can get it for, and that ultimately means free.
Rather than fight that, I'm happy to give consumers what they want. So I've
made my titles free, I have no issues with file sharing, and I'm looking
forward to a future where ads are in ebooks. But that's the topic for another blog.
My final point is: don't
fight what the customer wants. If customers want free ebooks, give them free
ebooks. So far it hasn't hurt my sales, and I don't expect it to.
Readers are very good at vetting, at finding what they want to read, free or paid. Our jobs as writers should be feeding those readers in any and all ways that we can. If you find readers, the money will follow.
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