tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post5040915848556619510..comments2024-03-28T02:00:11.260-05:00Comments on A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: David Morrell on EbooksJA Konrathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-39147142047906731082010-09-23T13:58:25.552-05:002010-09-23T13:58:25.552-05:00Thank you so much, David and Joe. David, my paren...Thank you so much, David and Joe. David, my parents were in grad school in the Penn State English dept. during your time there; I grew up hearing stories from them about listening to your readings of early drafts of First Blood during department meetings. <br /><br />My second book has just been released from Simon & Schuster, but I'm also offering two complementary short stories for 99 cents apiece on the Kindle store--thanks in large part to the great discussions on this blog!<br /><br />Anyway, thanks for a great interview and hugely looking forward to checking out THE NAKED EDGE!Anna Elliotthttp://www.annaelliottbooks.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-20059326901344194942010-09-22T02:12:48.624-05:002010-09-22T02:12:48.624-05:00"Until Amazon opens up to standards, I'm ...<i>"Until Amazon opens up to standards, I'm not going anywhere near Kindle so David's lost me as a reader."</i><br /><br />I'm not a huge Kindle fan either, however there are Kindle apps for almost every electronic platform. I have the Kindle app for my iPad.<br /><br />While I prefer the superior formatting options available to publishers on the iBook store (I could do a whole post about it) I'm not going to discount the Kindle when I was able to download the free App in 3 seconds and snag dozens of books.<br /><br />I read Joe's Dracula's sample on the Kindle app for the iPad. Worked good, I enjoyed the story.<br /><br />Open your mind, Quaid. Open your mind...evilphiliphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10100843889719733921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-66307424894696395132010-09-22T00:28:25.246-05:002010-09-22T00:28:25.246-05:00"Until Amazon opens up to standards, I'm ..."Until Amazon opens up to standards, I'm not going anywhere near Kindle so David's lost me as a reader."<br /><br />I may be wrong, but I think you can buy a Kindle version and then strip the DRM and use it on any e-reader. Google it.Mark Asherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13758940020912520294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-55021513210376247642010-09-21T23:21:58.539-05:002010-09-21T23:21:58.539-05:00This is a violation of freedom!
While Amazon refu...This is a violation of freedom!<br /><br />While Amazon refuses to support open standards (ePub etc), any author that signs an exclusive contract with them is forcing readers to buy Kindle.<br /><br />Until Amazon opens up to standards, I'm not going anywhere near Kindle so David's lost me as a reader.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-7599757739267536492010-09-21T23:18:16.439-05:002010-09-21T23:18:16.439-05:00But now, it is sharing the pond with thousands of ...<i> But now, it is sharing the pond with thousands of small fish. Individually, these fish poise no threat. Together, they're going to eat up everything in the pond, so there isn't anything left for the big fish to live on.</i><br />Excellent analogy. <br /><br />No one e-book author (or innovation) matters in the grand scheme of things... but a few hundred (thousand?) do. :)<br /><br />I read four e-books this week (end of the staycation to welcome the new child into the house); none were from the traditional publishers. Why? What I was interested in reading was only from Indie publishers. <br /><br />I realize the genres I love to read are declining in sales. Perhaps that is because readers wish more variety.<br /><br />Neilwannabuyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04297458705683991405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-60145780493649740652010-09-21T18:47:28.121-05:002010-09-21T18:47:28.121-05:00Lesson learned?
Of course the lesson wasn't l...<i>Lesson learned?</i><br /><br />Of course the lesson wasn't learned. <br /><br />Traditional Publishing has been the big fish in the small pond. It has never been forced to learn, to adapt, or to change. It does what it wants to, and win or lose it has survived for close to a hundred years.<br /><br />But now, it is sharing the pond with thousands of small fish. Individually, these fish poise no threat. Together, they're going to eat up everything in the pond, so there isn't anything left for the big fish to live on.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-77150673746741560252010-09-21T17:47:03.095-05:002010-09-21T17:47:03.095-05:00Talk about missing the boat. There is no Kindle v...Talk about missing the boat. There is no Kindle version of Creepers on Amazon.com.<br /><br />After reading this interview I headed right to Amazon to purchase what I felt was David's most interesting book (to me) only to find that it isn't available in the format I wanted.<br /><br />The point of Joe's previous author interview was talking about publishers missing PR opportunities and here it is -- David is getting tons of exposure from Joe's blog and the books aren't available digitally.<br /><br />Lesson learned?evilphiliphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10100843889719733921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-52729097549244958002010-09-21T09:39:26.013-05:002010-09-21T09:39:26.013-05:00Great article. That Monte Carlo comment was...I d...Great article. That Monte Carlo comment was...I don't even know the word. Hysterical might be it.Mariahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11234907275906877802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-36945738306869051092010-09-21T09:05:57.609-05:002010-09-21T09:05:57.609-05:00Oh, and great to hear from David Morrell. Here'...Oh, and great to hear from David Morrell. Here's a shout out for "Creepers." I lost my copy in a recent move, and have already replaced it. Need I say more?Eric Christophersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03959682464031525374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-50149477982577681772010-09-21T08:57:25.839-05:002010-09-21T08:57:25.839-05:00The downside is that the days of the mega-bestsell...<i>The downside is that the days of the mega-bestseller are over, methinks. I would have loved to have been on the receiving end of a multi-million dollar marketing campaign.</i><br /><br />It's only Amazon and the Big Six who have mega capital, so that's a competitive advantage that could and should be exploited into the future. My guess is that the Big Six will be doing nothing but mega deals in five years. I'd like to imagine an America without the next celebrity memoir being crammed down our throats, but it sounds too good to be true.Eric Christophersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03959682464031525374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-42228197702224170632010-09-21T07:52:45.653-05:002010-09-21T07:52:45.653-05:00Great interview, guys. Hope you score big with the...Great interview, guys. Hope you score big with the new release and the backlist titles, David!Jude Hardinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09994813046526310594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-43176851296400032552010-09-21T03:31:00.516-05:002010-09-21T03:31:00.516-05:0015 years ago, publishing was the only game in town...<i>15 years ago, publishing was the only game in town if you wanted to make money writing fiction. </i><br /><br />This is true, and it's still true, to some extent. Zoe Winters is doing very well and there are some other success stories like Paolini, but it was very difficult to self-publish fiction a decade ago and make money, mainly because there simply wasn't a market yet for e-books and offset printing took huge upfront investments that most authors could not afford. <br /><br />However, there were many, many self-publishing success stories in the non-fiction realm; examples where authors made a real living from publishing non-fiction and developing a niche or a platform. <br /><br />So authors have been doing this for a long time, but it's jut gotten a lot easier. The heavy up-front investment has disappeared, and you can now publish a book for almost nothing (or nothing if you publish an e-book). <br /><br />Traditional publishers need to keep their costs down and be smart about where they are putting their money. Authors are still a very lazy bunch (no offense)-- they don't want to do their own accounting, reporting, formatting, etc. When they try to do these things, many of them suck at it, which is part of the reason why we have a buttload of shitty self-published books pouring into the marketplace from all corners. <br /><br />But most of the "good authors" still prefer to publish traditionally, because they want to do what they do best-- they want to WRITE. <br /><br />As soon as a company steps up to the plate and allows authors to write, make money, and avoid all the red tape and prep work that goes along with actually getting a finished book into the marketplace, then the big publishers are finished. Amazon may have already stepped into that position.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-26713237909581650612010-09-21T02:27:26.429-05:002010-09-21T02:27:26.429-05:00You have another problem you might like to sort ou...You have another problem you might like to sort out with Amazon...if it IS a problem. I can't buy either David's two-edition "The Totem" or any of your books, Joe, on Kindle. Amazon tells me that those books are not available in the Asia-Pacific region.<br /><br />I'm still trying to sort this problem out through my own publisher, Carina Press, as there are NOT supposed to be geographic restrictions on the (digital) book. Three months so far and no result. Good luck.Kaz Augustinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01839835518368442832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-34095906164434240432010-09-20T21:30:28.000-05:002010-09-20T21:30:28.000-05:00Joe said: "That's my guess, but I think m...Joe said: "That's my guess, but I think more authors will make more money simply because NY Publishing has remained elusive to most writers, and not very profitable to those it has let in."<br /><br />I agree with this. And I really like the idea that people will have an outlet for their creativity and perhaps get a chance to make a bit of money from that, even if it means they don't give up their day job. <br /><br />"The downside is that the days of the mega-bestseller are over, methinks. I would have loved to have been on the receiving end of a multi-million dollar marketing campaign."<br /><br />I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised to see that continue in some form. With all the $0.99 iTunes song sales and rampant piracy, there are still major recording artists who get huge marketing pushes and sell millions of CDs. I don't know why the book world will be any different. If anything, social media will let people know more quickly what is hot, and people tend to gravitate towards what others are enjoying. If everyone is reading it, I need to read it too! I want to be in on the conversation taking place on Facebook, Twitter, websites, and other places. <br /><br />And don't forget "vooks!" I hate that term, but I wouldn't be surprised to see books from major writers eventually become multimedia packages.Mark Asherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13758940020912520294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-30974631635135687002010-09-20T21:08:39.733-05:002010-09-20T21:08:39.733-05:00Are writers getting rich all of a sudden through s...<i>Are writers getting rich all of a sudden through self-publishing? </i><br /><br />Very few writers get rich, no matter what path the walk. <br /><br />One of the rewards of getting published was prestige. Getting your "I Wrote A Book" button.<br /><br />That's nice, and certainly a goal many have worked for.<br /><br />But I'd much rather have a new car.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-25430874761359757302010-09-20T21:05:34.803-05:002010-09-20T21:05:34.803-05:00You've always had the opportunity to self-publ...<i>You've always had the opportunity to self-publish. Why didn't you 15 years ago?</i><br /><br />15 years ago, publishing was the only game in town if you wanted to make money writing fiction. I was VERY against self-pubbing.<br /><br />I got into self-pubbing at the request of my fans, not believing I'd make any money at all.<br /><br /><i>My guess is self-publishing will let a handful of authors make a lot of money, and quite a lot of authors make a little bit of money, perhaps a bit more than they would make through traditional publishing.</i><br /><br />That's my guess, but I think more authors will make more money simply because NY Publishing has remained elusive to most writers, and not very profitable to those it has let in.<br /><br />I know hundreds of professional writers. Only a handful make their living writing. The rest have day jobs.<br /><br />I believe self-pubbing will allow more writers to do this full time. <br /><br />The downside is that the days of the mega-bestseller are over, methinks. I would have loved to have been on the receiving end of a multi-million dollar marketing campaign.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-9471770539657887432010-09-20T20:30:14.802-05:002010-09-20T20:30:14.802-05:00"If I can make more money on my own than I co..."If I can make more money on my own than I could with dozens of publishing folks supporting me and backing me up is a good indicator that something is wrong."<br /><br />You've always had the opportunity to self-publish. Why didn't you 15 years ago?<br /><br />I think when you say something is wrong with publishers you are comparing now (apples) to the time before ebooks (oranges). <br /><br />Instead of saying that something is wrong, what I'd say is you have have been smart and forward-thinking and taken advantage of new technology and profited. <br /><br />And it's not surprising that traditional publishing is lagging behind because the vast majority of their profit is still made through print. <br /><br />And I'm still curious to know how other self-published Kindle authors are doing? Are writers getting rich all of a sudden through self-publishing? <br /><br />My guess is self-publishing will let a handful of authors make a lot of money, and quite a lot of authors make a little bit of money, perhaps a bit more than they would make through traditional publishing. This seems to be what has happened to the music industry transitioning through the digital revolution, and they went through it first.Mark Asherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13758940020912520294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-53458262624085744002010-09-20T20:09:10.370-05:002010-09-20T20:09:10.370-05:00Joe said:
Ebooks are outselling hardcovers. This ...Joe said:<br /><i> Ebooks are outselling hardcovers. This is happening for NYT bestsellers. Publishers are admitting it.</i><br />Most excellent. :) I do not mind the publishers doing well selling... anything. What I really care about is a greater variety of books being available. <br /><br />E-books are the natural means to that end. :) <br /><br />alastairmayer said...<br /><i> Interesting post on the e-book data. I look forward to following that.</i><br /><br />Thank you. I'm trying to cut through the 'hand waving' on e-books by compiling the data. The data is obviously 'intentionally scattered.' <br /><br />Mark said:<br /><i> Publishers traditionally will let the majority of their backlist go out of print at some point,</i><br />Why loose the audience now that e-books are here? Someone should have made an offer for the e-books back in 2007. They didn't... <br /><br />I had a talk with my dad today how quick to market p-books used to be common. Christy is right, too much is being spent on overhead. Content creation, brand awareness, and value to the customer are what matters.<br /><br /><br />Seriously, David Morell out of print in the era of e-books? Big mistakes were made getting David to go Indie.<br /><br />Neilwannabuyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04297458705683991405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-11170096985962281572010-09-20T20:08:57.621-05:002010-09-20T20:08:57.621-05:00What will happen, however, is that they will incre...<i>What will happen, however, is that they will increase the percentages paid to to authors for ebook sales.</i><br /><br />If it happens, it will be too little, too late.<br /><br />As ebooks gain market share, bookstores will close. Then publishers will be forced to make a go of it on ebooks, and they won't be able to support their infrastructure and pay for overhead on an ebook only model.<br /><br />If a book was a pie, by the time publishers are done with it, all the individual pieces (profits) would be too small to make it worthwhile to anyone.<br /><br />Publishers offer distribution. They controlled the traffic between authors and readers.<br /><br />Everything else they offered can be acquired without them. And now so can distribution.<br /><br /><i>An equilibrium will be reached where the value of the publishers services overall is worth a decrease in what an author can get from trying to go it indie. </i><br /><br />I'd pay ten percent to have someone manage all of that for me.<br /><br />Do you really think that any publisher can survive if authors are only willing to give them ten percent of gross?JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-22583040863420817932010-09-20T20:03:32.891-05:002010-09-20T20:03:32.891-05:00The publisher might determine that investing their...<i>The publisher might determine that investing their limited resources in a different author returns a bigger profit.</i><br /><br />I started giggling there.<br /><br />Man, no offense here, seriously, but imbuing publishers with common sense is proof you haven't been exposed to a lot of publishers.<br /><br />Publishing makes money in spite of its decisions, not because of them. They simply make too many mistakes. The reason they've survived this long is because they were the only game in town, and they've been help up by larger, parent companies.<br /><br />This isn't to say people who work for publishers are stupid. They're not. But it's a broken machine that doesn't allow anyone to learn from either successes or failures because each book is an unreproduceable phenomenon.<br /><br />So you have a bunch of bright people working for an industry where the majority of things they produce fail to make a profit, without anyone knowing why.<br /><br />In David's case, I'm pretty sure nobody made any such decision to allow his books go out of print. It just happened, because no one was paying attention.<br /><br />Get any three authors together who have been in this business for more than five years, and I'm pretty sure they'll all come to the same conclusion I have. <br /><br />Publishing is good at some things. But foresight is not one of its skills. <br /><br /><i>I think it's a bit odd to label publishers who have been in business for decades and decades as stupid </i><br /><br />They're in business because even a blind horse finds hay every once and a while. <br /><br />The facts of no competition to the industry, plus being propped up by parent companies, has allowed this business to survive for so long.<br /><br />If I can make more money on my own than I could with dozens of publishing folks supporting me and backing me up is a good indicator that something is wrong.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-12056712004743690242010-09-20T18:42:08.253-05:002010-09-20T18:42:08.253-05:00C'mon. You know there's a certain expense ...<i>C'mon. You know there's a certain expense to keeping books in print. </i><br /><br />This statement isn't false, but it is becoming so. As an author who uses POD (I once used offset) I know that digital printing is making most of these overhead costs disappear. <br /><br />I don't really see any significant ongoing costs when a title is published on demand or as an e-book (or both). The real costs for the publishers these days are ridiculous-- golden parachutes, useless overhead, conventions and other money funneling costs that could be going into smarter investments; such as a bigger and better backlist. <br /><br />A manuscript is an asset that produces revenue over time. I think that many publishers just fail to see the bigger picture when it comes to long-term revenues.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-66540069538667812842010-09-20T18:11:49.248-05:002010-09-20T18:11:49.248-05:00"To my knowledge, no publisher large or small..."To my knowledge, no publisher large or small has ever held a gun to someone's head and made him sign a contract." <br /><br />Agreed. David Morrell fulfilled his contract. Now he is free to market his property as he sees fit.<br /><br />Until an equilibrium is reached, between publishing services and royalties, authors will forge into e-publishing along with David Morrell.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13922434004092399756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-5973053987695156972010-09-20T17:57:19.754-05:002010-09-20T17:57:19.754-05:00Joe said: "Of course there is. So why didn...Joe said: "Of course there is. So why didn't his publishers pay this expense?<br /><br />"If the reason was, indeed, falling sales, what's the reason for those falling sales?<br /><br />"In order to sell books, they need to be on the shelf. Coop keeps books on the shelf. That's why Borders and B&N have shelves dedicated to Patterson and Cussler and countless others. That property is paid for."<br /><br />The publisher made a decision that it wasn't worth the investment to keep David's backlist in print. That's a select group of authors you are citing for which publishers pay for coop space. A lot of authors won't get that treatment, even if it might return a profit. The publisher might determine that investing their limited resources in a different author returns a bigger profit. <br /><br />And remember -- we're discussing back in the day a bit before ebooks represented much of a market. Nowadays a publisher will happily offer an ebook version for years and years. And soon enough they may offer it as POD in print for years and years. <br /><br />Publishers traditionally will let the majority of their backlist go out of print at some point, correct? Why are you arguing that it was stupid of David's publisher to have done so with his backlist? Believe me, no one is letting Stephen King's or J.K. Rowling's backlist go out of print anytime soon. <br /><br />I would imagine it all had to do with expected revenue vs. cost in David's case. <br /><br />Anyway, I don't mean to belabor the point, but I think it's a bit odd to label publishers who have been in business for decades and decades as stupid just because they let backlists go out of print. I still don't see the argument against that for an era where ebooks didn't even exist.Mark Asherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13758940020912520294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-51704798874002041102010-09-20T17:19:50.612-05:002010-09-20T17:19:50.612-05:00THE STATEMENT:
"As the man producing the work...THE STATEMENT:<br />"As the man producing the work around which all the other activities take place, no one gave him anything. Initial opportunity, perhaps, but only because they expected to make money off his work."<br /><br />THE REALITY:<br />Publishers provide money (advances, royalties, etc.), editing, copy editing, cover design, book reviews, author blurbs, physical printing, distribution, store placement, library placement, copyright processing, legal review, etc. Select authors may get additional benefits such as book tours, co-op space, advertising, radio interviews and the like. <br /><br />To my knowledge, no publisher large or small has ever held a gun to someone's head and made him sign a contract. <br /><br />The author begins the process by writing the manuscript. It's a long long road however from that point to actually getting a physical book in a reader's hand. <br /><br />I'm talking about print books obviously. If someone wants to shortcut it and go Kindle, more power to them. That choice, however, doesn't mean that publishers don't offer a value.<br /><br />Everyone thinks publisher are doomed. What will happen, however, is that they will increase the percentages paid to to authors for ebook sales. An equilibrium will be reached where the value of the publishers services overall is worth a decrease in what an author can get from trying to go it indie. Publishers are also the gateways to print and wide distribution. That's worth something. in fact, a lot.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01234972022475955356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-53699216086867861692010-09-20T17:09:12.029-05:002010-09-20T17:09:12.029-05:00You know there's a certain expense to keeping ...<i>You know there's a certain expense to keeping books in print. </i><br /><br />Of course there is. So why didn't his publishers pay this expense?<br /><br />If the reason was, indeed, falling sales, what's the reason for those falling sales?<br /><br />In order to sell books, they need to be on the shelf. Coop keeps books on the shelf. That's why Borders and B&N have shelves dedicated to Patterson and Cussler and countless others. That property is paid for.<br /><br />If it isn't in the store, it isn't likely to sell.<br /><br /><i>the rest of us have no idea if his older books were profitable enough to keep in print. </i><br /><br />There are other reasons why books go out of print, other than sales.<br /><br />I encourage you to go to Thrillerfest, buy David a drink, and pick his brain on all the things he won't say in a public forum. You'd be enlightened.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.com