Well, it was inevitable, I guess. Barnes and Noble has announced that it will not carry print books from any Amazon imprints in its brick and mortar stores. That's huge. I wonder how all those authors who signed with Amazon feel right about now...
Ran across this article today about how children are using mobile technology to buy books and movies and find them at the library. It's worth a gander.
Well, I have to admit when I think of the future of the publishing industry, this blog post on PandoDaily "Confessions of a Publisher" is where I think it is heading. I've been saying Amazon is going to turn the Big Six into the Big Seven for a number of years now. But when a publisher says that Amazon is going to take it all, that makes my record skip. Couple that with some cocktail party buzz I overheard in Amazon's home state confiding that an Amazon manager boasted they'd already won the war but New York didn't know it yet, and it sends a shiver down the proverbial spine.
This blog post is not for the faint of heart. But it sure is an interesting perspective. Time will tell if it comes true.
Publisher's Weekly has a great story on a new digital publishing company that is launching today: Coliloquy. (Note: I recently sold a client's romance to them, so my incredibly positive view of them is biased.)
PW said: Coliloquy, a Palo Alto-based startup launching today exclusively on Amazon Kindle E-Ink devices, has a new take on digital publishing. Explained simply, it’s an e-book-age version on choose-your-own-adventure, allowing readers to make choices within a book that affect its outcome; in some cases, with continuing serial novels, those choices can actually be sent back to the writer to consider as he or she is writing the next chapters of the book."
Mike Shatzkin's Idealogic blog is phenomenal. I've been an avid follower for years. He is a consultant to the publishing industry, so it may be a bit technical for some of my subscribers, so let me cut and paste a snippet of his preview of Digital Book World after this intro as it relates to romance eBooks, then I'll give you a link to his blog if you want the full story.
Well, this is quite the news story to start off the new year right!
Apple has scheduled an announcement later this month and it is speculated that they will debut a self-publishing option, similar to Kindle Direct Publishing at Amazon and Barnes and Noble PubIt! That means you can upload your own self-published eBooks directly to Apple's iBookstore (or is it iTunes now, I forget) without having to go through other distributors such as Smashwords.
See the full speculative story here at GoodeReader.
One of the Big Six publishers in New York, Hachette, recently sent a memo to Digital Book World explaining what a publisher does for an author. I've been talking about this for two years, but never put it so eloquently. Check it out. The comments are interesting too.
Well, well, well. Every day things get a little more interesting in the publishing world. I mentioned this fact at the Self-Publishing Boot Camp Carla King and I presented over the weekend at Stanford University, and today another new development of interest is announced.
Book Country, the free online writing community launched by Penguin last Spring, is now offering a Kindle-like self-pub option for DIY authors. It's a fee based service and that's the first from one of the big six New York publishers. I'll bet my metatags more will be announced soon.
Just in time for Halloween, my favorite holiday, here's a Fun Foto For Friday.
Watch out for this ZOODLE (a zombie poodle!) courtesy of Neatorama.com
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
SPOOKY SAMHAIN!
EAT A LOT OF YOUR KID'S CANDY WITHOUT GUILT!
Have a great weekend!
^__^
-Lazarus Laurie the Undead
Amazon used to be an online bookstore. Another retail opp for traditional publishers. But no more. They have Kindle. Kindle Direct Publishing. Amazon Encore. And now their own genre imprints Thomas & Mercer, Montlake romance and 47North fantasy/science fiction.
If I were a large New York publisher, I'd be reacting. Quickly. Because they're coming up fast in your rear view mirror!
Here's a great analysis by BusinessWeek about Amazon and the Big Six publishers.
Here's a great summary from Shelf Awareness 10/12/11 on the digital publishing world the day prior to the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany. Great perspectives from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others about the global effect of eBooks.
Since geographic territories are eroding due to the ubiquitous presence of eBooks, this is a very enlightening read. http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1579
Long have I argued that if traditional publishers want to keep bestselling authors happy and safely ensconced in their fold, as opposed to forming their own publishing companies (can anyone say Pottermore!) or moving to ePublishing, they should give them their own imprints. Talk about providing one of the biggest items missing from indie publishing--curatorship.
Now William Morrow has given the super-author Dennis Lehane his own imprint. Here's an excerpt of the story from Publisher's Lunch (10/11/11)...
Steve Jobs. Visionary. Tough boss. Uncompromising SOB.
World changer. Rest in Peace.
"You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as
it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your
life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe
is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.
If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle."
—Steve Jobs
This week is Banned Book Week, a celebration of why censorship should have no place in American society. Book Passage, an indie bookstore north of San Francisco, has a wonderful blog about it here.
Here's another great blog post for Authors, this time from HubSpot. Their
book,
Inbound Marketing, changed my life. After more than two decades
in marketing (in a previous life) it showed me how social media has turned
marketing inside out and made it less bothersome to people you want to
reach plus easier to do yourself. Love that book.
Anyway, today they blog 7 tips that authors (among others) can use to optimize their "content". Since you're now blogging because I recommended in my prior post, now you can optimize that blog content thanks to the advice from HubSpot.
Click here for the 7 tips!
Joel Friedlander's The Book Designer is simply a fantastic blog. I suggest you all subscribe to it. He gives such great advice about this rapidly evolving digital publishing phenomena from the viewpoint of a traditional publishing insider. Today's blog post is especially important because I share Joel's belief that every author needs to blog. C'mon, it's playing to our strong suit...WRITING. Since that's what blogging is in its essence. Writers writing. What they do best. And the best blogs are not just about writing. But regular blogging keeps your writer's brain lubricated, and that's a piece of advice I received early on in this business and it rings just as true today as it ever did.
Wanted to share this great photo from the space shuttle of the UK and France and other bits of Europe. Reminded the blogger of steampunk and I'll have to admit I can see Jules Verne sighing in satisfaction in my mind's eye.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/08/29/steampunk-station/
Cool idea of the day. To help promote events, indie powerhouse Book Passage, Corte Madera, Calif., has created a crossword puzzle, in which the answers are names of some of the writers scheduled to appear at the bookshop this fall. Most answers require a person's name, with only the surname necessary. The dates following each clue reveal when an author will be appearing at Book Passage. Linked dates take you to an available event page on the store's website.
From Shelf Awareness, August 22, 2011.
There is a fantastic online writers conference going on called WriteOnCon. First of all check out all their archived sessions and tune in to some live events (and participate!)
But absolutely, if you're an author, read Aladdin (S&S) Editor Liesa Abrams' sage advice on what you should, and shouldn't, share online if you're a children's book author.
I'd like to welcome a new client, Alex Kahler, writer of amazing YA urban fantasy, who went by the handle of Alex Incognito on Twitter. No photo. Not much in the way of personal details.
Well, he's incognito no more. With authors, it is much, much better to use your real or pen name on social media so readers can find you faster. Alex agreed. So from now on you'll know him as Alex Kahler. No more blue orbs. Here's his photo!
This is just not right. According to the Huffington Post, Publish America has been selling hope and delivering, well, nothing, when it comes to their latest "adventure". And JK Rowling is not pleased. Read this news clip from HuffPo:
Here's a great example of a publisher going the extra mile to promote
an author's booksigning. And the publisher is Chronicle Books, not
one of the big six!
To advertise a book signing by Us Weekly fashion director Sasha Charnin Morrison, author of Secrets of Stylists: An Insider's Guide to Styling the Stars, Chronicle Books put a little notice over the signing location--the American Eagle store in Times Square, New York City. As if that all wasn't flash enough, the author was joined at the signing this week by June Ambrose, stylist for Jay-Z.
I really enjoy reading Mike Shatzkin's Idealog blog. Mike has been a consultant
to the publishing industry for a long time. His perspective and analysis
show his wisdom gained during many years immersed in this industry. But
his blogpost today is especially great because it explains why Apple's
announcement that Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and other eRetailers
can no longer sell books directly from within their Apple iPhone and iPad
apps is going to change the playing field for how you buy eBooks.
Read it here and be enlightened! But it is only the first of many shots across the bow, I think.
http://www.idealog.com/blog/publishing-is-living-in-a-world-not-of-its-own-making
The ever popular indie author Zoe Winters offers up her usual zippy brand of "tell it like it is" commentary on why 99 cent eBooks are not for everyone. Zoe tends to curse a lot, so if that offends you, do not click this link: http://zoewinters.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/the-99-cent-ghetto/
Digital Publishing is a revolution. It is the most important and transformational development for authors since Gutenberg invented the printing press. Not only can savvy authors create a unique brand for themselves cheaply and easily, they can spread the word 24/7 to a worldwide audience instantly. Never before has such raw power been held in the hands of authors.
So I'm giving a free one-hour webinar at Author Solutions Author Learning Center today (7/19) at 7:30 EST and next week (7/27) at 2:30 EST.
I will show you how to take advantage of the top opportunities bursting on the scene because of digital pitching, publishing and promotion via social media.
Come join me. Did I mention it's free? Here's the URL:
https://www.authorlearningcenter.com/live_events/7-tips-to-digital-publishing-success
I'm not a particular fan of John Mayer's music, but what he had to say
at a recent Berklee School of Music workshop rang true. He discussed how
addiction to social media can ruin your creativity, how the temptation
to publish instantly can actually prevent you from doing the hard work
of perfecting that song (or in our case book) and result in an inferior
work, and how not to listen to people who tell you to have a backup plan
since they have already given up on their dreams in most cases!
There's only four hours left to pitch me at SavvyAuthors.com with your best three lines. You could win a read by me for best pitch.
http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/content.php?1279-Pitch-Your-Book-to-Laurie-McLean-of-Larsen#comments
Today is the opening day of LeakyCon, the conference in Orlando, Florida dedicated to all things Harry Potter. Orlando also hosts The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park. LeakyCon this year coincides with the debut Thursday of the final installment of the Harry Potter movies, The Deathly Hallows, Part 2. So JK Rowling announced that she's been busily writing new work since she penned the final words to The Deathly Hallows some years ago and is getting ready to release it to the waiting world. And this times nicely with her recent announcement of Pottermore, the new publishing company, er, website, that is the exclusive place to buy eBook versions of the Harry Potter books plus some new material. Hrmmm. This is a great example of the power of the new digital publishing paradigm. I for one can't wait to see what Ms. Rowling does in this space
I thought this was a very balanced viewpoint on digital publishing and how it's affecting traditional publishers...in the Wall Street Journal...from a READER'S point of view!
Author Anne R. Allen has a fabulous blog post today about whether Literary Agents have a future in the new wild-west of digital publishing...and if they do, how it will be different from literary agenting in the past. Check it out for some interesting observations and lively comment discourse.
http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2011/06/literary-agents-endangered-species.html
Yep! It's International Fairy Day today (Friday, June 24th)! What a great reason to celebrate. We all could benefit from a dose of magic in our lives, eh? So in that spirit, here's a couple pretty pictures of fairies.
Have a great weekend everyone! Go out and find some fairies of your own and put some fun in your life! I also recommend reading any of Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey novels. Puts you right in the fairy mood.
Photos are copyrighted images from AllPosters.com and Sodahead.com.
(From Shelf Awareness, June 17, 2011) Last night the Andover Bookstore,
Andover, Mass., held a grand opening celebration for Unforgettable Yarns,
its new 500-sq.-ft. in-store shop that sells yarn, knitting supplies and
books.
The first stitches in the Unforgettable Yarns story began last winter, when Andover Bookstore manager Jen Salamone began teaching knitting classes at the store. "I found that I had to send people so far away to get decent yarn," she said. "How silly that we didn't have a place nearby, especially with such a large number of knitters in the area." She did some research, found out that the community was enthusiastic about a possible knitting store, and proposed the idea to Bob Hugo, owner of HugoBooks, which owns the Andover Bookstore. Et voila!
Found this today in the
Shelf Awareness email newsletter targeted at indie bookstore owners
and others in the book trade. It certainly seems to be the way of the future
for smaller, non-chain bookstores who want to be a viable part of their
community and attract people who love books (who also tend to want to hang
out with other people who love books). Their new cafe is called "A Proper
Cup." Makes me feel relaxed just writing those three words. Hmmmmm...
Thank you, Joel Friedlander of The Book Designer, for alerting me to this blog post by Piotr Kowalczyk of the Self-Publishing Review. These free tools for creating, posting and promoting your writing are not just for self-publishers. Take a look.
http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/blog/2011/06/08/40-free-tools-for-authors/
Here's what Isaac Asimov wrote 40 years ago about the importance of libraries...especially
to children (from Shelf Awareness, 6/10/11):
"[A library] isn't just a library. It is a space ship that will take you to the farthest reaches of the Universe, a time machine that will take you to the far past and the far future, a teacher that knows more than any human being, a friend that will amuse you and console you--and most of all, a gateway, to a better and happier and more useful life."
-Isaac Asimov in a March 16, 1971 letter to children at the newly opened Troy, Mich., public library.
Here's the link to a very interesting blog post by future-thinker Seth
Godin about the purpose of advances in publishing and how that might change
in the future.
http://tinyurl.com/4xu49n8
I think there is room for books that have huge advances, midlist-amount advances and no advance at all. What is your opinion?
The Wall Street Journal article "Darkness Too Visible" last week found here sparked a great ongoing discussion among authors, readers, librarians and others about whether YA fiction today that deals with real issues such as cutting, rape, drug abuse, bullying, etc., was too dark for the 12-18 year olds of today's culture.
I just returned from a two-week editorial pitch tour and Book Expo America
(BEA) experience, so I thought I'd share a few publishing industry tidbits
from my travels.
One big news item: nearly all the editors I spoke with told me about new "eBook original" initiatives coming soon from their publishers. Details are being worked on now and I'm sure they will vary widely as traditional publishers experiment with digital publishing. But one thing I'm pleased about is that New York, the center of publishing, is finally acting. They are not hiding their heads in the sand, or dipping a toe in the ocean, like I feared. They no longer see eBooks as simply another format and are exploring the possibilities of eBooks, eNovellas, eStories, and ePromotion for their current authors, while offering opportunities for new authors using this less-expensive, yet highly effective vehicle.
You can say a lot of things about Joe (JA) Konrath, the innovative self-published author who is making money hand over fist with this thriller and mystery novels and other books, but you can't say he's a liar. He speaks his own truth. Whether that includes the numbers of books he's sold or amount of money he is making (one of the first authors ever to share that information publicly), Joe is a strong voice in the panoply of authors speaking out during this time of publishing upheaval. His blogpost today is no different with his thoughts on self-marketing.
Check out the new IMDB for books from S&S, Penguin and Hachette: Bookish! Publisher's Weekly article here: http://bit.ly/kIX5oI
When I attended the first ever YA-only writers conference in Austin, Texas last week, I challenged my fellow presenters to make this the best YA-only conference too. For my part I asked attendees to pitch me in person and email me their first page. But to complete the contest entry they had to tweet about the Writers League of Texas YA A-Z conference with a #WLTYA hashtag so we could generate some buzz. There were hundreds of tweets flying. And many of the writers who didn't know how to tweet learned how to use Twitter that very weekend. I was so proud of them.
Nathan Bransford has done it again. Check out his wonderfully clear post about how to make money in eBooks versus traditional publishing. It's the best of both worlds and provides great insight for authors. http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2011/03/self-publishing-vs-traditional.html
I guest blogged on my friend and fellow agent Andy Ross' blog yesterday about digital publishing and what it means for agents and authors, and in light of eBook phenom Amanda Hocking's new $2 million 4-book deal with traditional publisher St. Martins, I wanted to give you my whole blog post here instead of the excerpted version that Andy posted. Mine is longer, but it covers some key points I wanted to make sure were made since most of the Amanda-rama going around didn't cover some of my points. So read more and then carve your own path!
Here's the link to an interview I just did on lit agent Andy Ross' blog regarding eBook publishing and how it's changing the face of publishing. Check it out: http://andyrossagency.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/the-indie-publishing-option/
From this week's Publisher's Weekly, some hard data about where books are being sold at the retail level, both online and brick and mortar:
Barnes & Noble, through its combination of physical bookstores and bn.com, remained the largest outlet for the sale of trade books in 2010. That was one of the first findings from Bowker’s annual rollup of its monthly book consumer tracking program, PubTrack Consumer. According to PubTrack, B&N’s share of spending on trade books rose from 22.5% in 2009 to 23.0%; sales exclude used books. While B&N held onto the top spot, Amazon showed the strongest gain in the year, capturing 15.1% of print trade book dollar sales in 2010 compared to 12.5% in 2009. Borders’s share dropped, though not as much as may have been expected. The struggling chain accounted for 13.1% of trade book sales, down from 14.0% in 2009.
I will be giving two steampunk presentations in the next few weeks.
A panel on contracts and copyright issues at the Nova Albion Steampunk Exhibition at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, California. Check out the fabulousity of it all here.
Then I'll be on another steampunk panel at the RT Convention in Los Angeles. Learn more about that here.
If you're going to be at either of these cons, please say hi if you see me. Don't let my costume scare you away! :-)
This past week I was teaching an online class to RWA's Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal chapter about the role of the literary agent in today's digital publishing paradigm. And one of the areas I know a lot about (after 20-plus years as the founder and CEO of a public relations agency in the Silicon Valley during its heyday) is marketing.
When writers decide to self-publish eBooks and/or POD (print on demand) books, it quickly becomes clear what they are giving up by not going with a traditional publisher. Besides professional editing, cover design, distribution and sales effort, I think marketing might be the most important missing element in so many digital authors' works. So I thought I'd share the final lesson I taught today about creating a digital marketing plan to promote and ultimately sell your self-published book.
Smashwords, founded by the brilliant and kind Mark Coker, is having an
author-enabled sale on eBooks this week to celebrate Read an eBook Week.
Go to www.smashwords.com and you can get as many books as you wish for
ridiculously cheap prices or even FREE! My own novel, Knight Time,
a time-travel romance that is a bit racy (be forewarned), is free all this
week. I wrote it under my pen name, Laurie Eddy. Check it out.
But also check out all the other great eBooks at Smashwords. If you've
been waiting to dip a toe into the eBook experience, here's a free and
easy way to do it. And best yet, you don't need a Nook or Kindle
or iPad to start eReading. Most eBooks today are read on a PC.
So just do it right now. Then you won't feel like the revolution
is passing you by. And who knows, you might even enjoy the experience!
Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
This just in from the AV Club. I had to share. Warning: Profanity and blasphemy be here.
14. "I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled 'science fiction' ever since, and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."
Vonnegut was as trenchant when talking about his life as when talking about life in general, and this quote from an essay in Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons is particularly apt; as he explains it, he wrote Player Piano while working for General Electric, "completely surrounded by machines and ideas for machines," which led him to put some ideas about machines on paper. Then it was published, "and I learned from the reviewers that I was a science-fiction writer." The entire essay is wry, hilarious, and biting, but this line stands out in particular as typifying the kind of snappishness that made Vonnegut's works so memorable.
The library is safe thanks to Egypt’s youth, whether they be the staff of the Library or the representatives of the demonstrators, who are joining us in guarding the building from potential vandals and looters. I am there daily within the bounds of the curfew hours. However, the Library will be closed to the public for the next few days until the curfew is lifted and events unfold towards an end to the lawlessness and a move towards the resolution of the political issues that triggered the demonstrations.
TED, the renowned nonprofit conference and foundation that provides a platform to important writers, thinkers, and artists to offer “ideas worth spreading,” is launching TEDBooks, a line of short digital books, in a partnership with Amazon.com. The e-books will be short—from 10,000 to 20,000 words—and sell for $2.99 through Amazon’s Kindle Singles program beginning today. TED plans to expand the program to other digital formats in the future.
Clare Vanderpool has won the 2011 Newbery Medal for Moon Over Manifest(Delacorte), edited by Michelle Poploff. Erin E. Stead has won the 2011 Randolph Caldecott Medal for A Sick Day for Amos McGee (Roaring Brook/Porter), written by Philip C. Stead, edited by Neal Porter. And Paolo Bacigalupi has won the 2011 Michael L. Printz Award for Ship Breaker(Little, Brown), edited by Jennifer Hunt. The awards were announced this morning at the American Library Association’s midwinter conference in San Diego.
Drawing on their experience distributing books from all children's publishers through their school book clubs and book fairs, Scholastic's editors created a list of ten trends from the year in children's books.
Today I learned that business book guru Seth Godin is partnering with Amazon in a new imprint called The Domino Project. Powered by Amazon is a new initiative that gives authors total freedom and control while Amazon handles the back end of global distribution, multi-format publishing (print, audio, eBook) and marketing resources.
Then I found out that Ruckus Media, Rick Richter's new enhanced eBook company, released its first author-centric app for Mike Austin's A Present for Milo, which earned Mr. Austin a three-book traditional publishing deal with Blue Apple Books (closed by his literary agent).
Oh yeah, and Google finally launched Google eBooks, which used to be called Google Editions. If you don't know what that is and you're involved in publishing, you need to learn about it now.
In April 2010 I was tasked with transforming the brainchild of my colleague, Michael Larsen, from dream to reality, and through the major efforts of webmistress par-excellence, Alexis Masters, San Francisco Writers University is surpassing all of our wildest expectations.
The non-profit San Francisco Writers Conference launched this new project on November 12, 2010 and in less than two weeks we already have more than 130 members and 60+ online classes (plus we're adding more all the time). We held our first real-world all day symposium, All About eBooks, two weeks ago and the audience loved it. Then we put some of the classes from that symposium online at SFWritersU and even if you didn't make the event, you can still benefit from its teachings.
You can join SFWritersU for free. You can download mp3 audio classes for free or for $10 and listen to them at your convenience. You can post blog entries. Some members are already blogging tips and techniques for their fellow writers. You can ask questions and provide answers in the discussion forum on the topics of your choosing. You can find experts to help you improve your craft or list yourself as an expert to help others.
Check it out at www.SFWritersU.com
On the heels of the San Francisco Writing for Change conference, here comes this tidbit. Yay, digital publishing!
Social publisher Scribd this week announced the start of a yearlong global literacy campaign that will feature an array of celebrity reading lists, and will encourage Scribd users to share their own lists and to donate to global literacy efforts, including the construction of libraries in India. The program, Read For A Cause, kicked off on Monday with a list from Deepak Chopra and will feature a new list every week. Monday, November 22, will feature a list from celebrity chef Eric Ripert.
I'm a featured guest on Jennifer Wilcov's Your Book is Your Hook internet radio show this week. I'm speaking about digital publishing and eBooks and specifically the upcoming All About eBooks Symposium, the first West Coast event dealing with everything eBook-ish. The symposium takes place this Friday, November 12th, at the San Francisco Hilton-Financial Hotel. Go to www.YourBookIsYourHook.com for the interview and www.allaboutebooks.us for more on the symposium. There are still seats left.
Here is my client, fabulous middle-grade children's book author Jennifer
Cervantes from New Mexico with former first lady (and former librarian)
Laura Bush at the Texas Book Festival in San Antonio, Texas on October
15th. The photo was taken at Dawson Elementary School-- the school where
Mrs. Bush was actually the librarian before she married a politician!
It was part of the Reading Rock Stars portion of the Texas Book Festival
program.
Early buzz has her debut novel, Tortilla Sun, being considered for a Pura Belpre award for Hispanic children's fiction.
Talk about wonderful marketing. Maybe President Obama will pick up a copy for his youngest daughter!
You go, Jen!
Don't you think this qualifies as a Publisher's Weekly Photo of the Day?
You never know what kind of trouble I'm going to stir up at a writers
conference. Here I am at the Utah RWA chapter's Heart of the West conference
last weekend where I won Jacob Black. Now fitting him in my carry on luggage
was a bit more problematic.
One of the conference organizers (Ann) won Edward. She seems happier than I am about it.
But then again, vampires do tend to enthrall their victims, er, partners...
A guest blog from New Zealand fantasy author and podcaster Philippa Ballantine,
whose Ace book, GEIST, comes out in October:
Supernatural fantasy reaches into our primitive past, and gives us a little frisson of excitement—something most of us lack in our day to day lives. It’s a fun, safe way to explore the outer reaches of our imagination, and as such is not likely to go away anytime soon.
It’s all about the unknown—the other. As scared as we are about supernatural beings…we do kind of yearn for them to be true. We want there to be something more than science can explain. We want there to be a life after death, even if it is something that frightens us.
Eoin Purcell has a great view on whether eBook sales are cannibalizing print book sales. Should spark a lively debate. What do you think?
If you write science fiction, and even if you write in another genre, then do yourself a favor and read Lev Grossman's interview with Paolo Bacigalupi, winner of both the Hugo and Nebula awards this year for his debut novel, Windup Girl. Great stuff about perseverance, inner strength and talent. Good read. http://techland.com/2010/09/27/paolo-bacigalupi-this-is-what-it-takes-to-write-a-novel/
I am shocked, deeply saddened and devastated to tell you all that my client,
Jennifer Rardin, passed away unexpectedly at her home on Monday morning.
Jennifer was my first 'big' client and she will always hold a special place
in my heart. We grew up together in this publishing business.
I just can't wrap my arms around the notion that she's no longer around
to enjoy the fruits of her success.
Heck I hardly ever brag about my clients' successes in my blog but this one was just too juicy to keep to myself. After a RT magazine "Top Pick" award for her new romantic suspense, Deadly Little Secrets, Jeanne Adams just scored a perfect 5-Star review with The Romance Dish review blog for the same book:
At the latest Apple summit yesterday, CEO Steve Jobs took time out from
the hoopla surrounding new product launches to share some updated iTunes
sales numbers, noting that customers have downloaded 35 million books,
11.7 billion songs, more than 4.3 million TV episodes and 100 million movies.
Here is a link to a fabulous, positive blog by sf/f author Kristine Kathryn Rusch about her publishing odyssey over the past year from bemoaning out of print titles to finding them all in eBook format. I like the upbeat nature of her commentary.
In June, net book sales reported by 87 publishers to the Association of American Publishers rose 10.6%, to $1.1 billion, and are up 11.4%, to $4.2 billion, for the year to date. Children's books showed notable strength, particularly the Children's/YA hardcover category, which jumped 19.6% in June.
Indie resurgence stories seem to be a media trend recently. In a piece headlined "U.S. neighborhood bookstores thrive in digital age," Reuters noted that indies "are discovering how to flourish despite the growth of electronic books with some even looking to form an alliance with a formidable competitor--Google."
"We often say we're like Mark Twain: that the rumors of our death have been greatly exaggerated," said Oren Teicher, CEO of the American Booksellers Association, which has reached a deal with Google Editions that will allow members to sell Google's e-books through their websites. "Getting into the business of being able to provide digital content to consumers is one way in which to evolve," Teicher added.
"We anticipate Google Editions will be a popular channel for independent bookstores with a web presence," said Jeannie Hornung, spokeswoman for Google Books and News.
Rachel Meier, general manager at the Booksmith, San Francisco, Calif., agreed: "What we hear from our customers is a great deal of enthusiasm for price bundling, so you can read the physical book at home when you're in bed at night and when you're on the subway you can read the same book on your e-reader."
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing has launched
Loser/Queen, an online serial YA novel by Jodi Lynn Anderson, in partnership
with LivingSocial and sponsored by JC Penney.
Teens can read the first few chapters and vote on both the course of the story and the book's cover art.
I love the experimentation going on in children's books today!
Here is a most excellent blog by Author magazine editor Bill Kenower on eBooks and the nature of humanity as agents of change. http://www.authormagazine.org/editors_blog/?p=1663.
The pace of change can often leave those in its maw breathless. But what emerges after the storm usually brings fresh air and sunshine.
Sharp Corporation will jump into the e-reader pool later this year "with a device that can read a new e-publishing file format of its own," PC World reported, noting that the company plans to launch the device in Japan, but "is likely to hit the U.S. after Japan and Sharp said it is already in launch talks with Verizon Wireless."
Amazon.com issued one of its classic press releases yesterday, throwing out lots of numbers but omitting unit sales for the Kindle or e-books, the kind of information that would have made the numbers more meaningful. Among the points:
During the past three months, Amazon has sold 143 e-books for Kindles for every 100 hardcovers, and during the past month the company has sold 180 e-books for every 100 hardcovers. (These figures include sales of hardcovers for which there is no Kindle edition and exclude free e-books.)
If you're anywhere near Lafayette, California, on Wednesday, July 28th
at 6:30 p.m., come hear my take on
The Future of eBooks and their importance to the literary landscape.
I'll be joined by author Ying Compestine and bookseller Dave Simpson. Check
out the details at:
https://tickets.commonwealthclub.org/
Check out this fun, cheap video from writer Zoe Winter. I laughed so hard at the end I almost spit out my tea. I mean, who doesn't love writing query letters?
Five of America's bestselling thriller writers will travel to the Persian Gulf for a week-long USO tour. As part of Operation Thriller, Steve Berry, David Morrell, Doug Preston, James Rollins and Andy Harp will visit U.S. troops to "talk fiction, inspire, spread cheer and, most importantly, show their heartfelt gratitude," according to organizers.
In five years eBooks will be 50% of book sales according to Gina Centrello, President and Publisher of The Random House Publishing Group last week. She said that last year eBooks represented 3% of Random House's market and this year it will be about 10%.
Medallion Press is venturing into unfamiliar territory, in announcing the launch of its new Ya-Ya line of fiction and nonfiction for young adult readers ages 13-18. Not only is the Ya-Ya line intended for teen readers, but the titles in the imprint will actually be written by teen authors.
Tapping into Young Adult trends--vampires and the push towards interactivity--novelists Laura Moser and Lauren Mechling have launched a YA serial on Slate.com with a parallel online world where their characters update their Facebook pages, tweet, and post videos on YouTube. The story, which went live today at http://www.slate.com/mydarklyng, and marks the first YA serial Slate has ever run, will unfold in 11 three-chapter segments posted every Friday through August.
New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak is a force of nature. For
the past six years she has run an online auction to benefit juvenile diabetes
in honor of her son who has the disease, and this year's proceeds put the
total of her donations above ONE MILLION DOLLARS! One woman. One million
dollars in donations. That's a powerful image. Makes you think you really
can do
anything, right?
I've made no secret of my fascination with digital publishing. It's exploding all around us, changing the landscape of the publishing industry far more in the past few years than at any time since Gutenberg. I've been reading a lot about eBooks for five years now and something happened this week that will be a development we should all follow. Publishing industry consultant and blogger, Mike Shatzkin said it best on his " Idea Logical" blog, so here's his take on J.A. Konrath and his Amazon Encore deal:
Congratulations to Paul Yamazaki, who celebrated his 40th anniversary with City Lights bookstore, in my town of San Francisco, Calif., last week. At his anniversary celebration, guests shared stories, including a classic one concerning Yamazaki's unusual application process when first joining City Lights, which read: "Arriving in '60s-era Ess Eff, he became politically active and was arrested during a student protest at S.F. State. He needed a job to be released. So he reached out to his mentor, poet Francis Oka, who recommended him to Ferlinghetti, who hired Yamazaki sight unseen," the Chronicle wrote.
Goldman Sachs is estimating that e-book sales will more than quadruple by 2015, to $3.19 billion, and that Amazon's share will fall to 28% in 2015 from 50% this year. At the same time, Apple's share of the market should triple, to 33%, in 2015.
"I peep under the slip holder, and there it is. When I switch it on, a little sigh escapes me as the screen lights up. Ten minutes later I am rolling on the floor, snarling and biting, trying to wrestle it from the hands of an Apple press representative.... One melancholy thought occurs as my fingers glide and flow over the surface of this astonishing object: Douglas Adams is not alive to see the closest thing to his Hitchhiker's Guide that humankind has yet devised."
There are a lot of crossed fingers, late hours, furrowed brows and open questions as at least part of the publishing business prepares for an April 1 to April 3 switchover to the agency model for ebooks. (Yes, even the day of change is unclear, since some of the Agency Five--now an accepted term of art--are switching models tomorrow while others are reportedly not doing so until Saturday, April 3.)
The list is long, but if you want to see what fiction and non-fiction books sold more than 100,000 copies last year (best-sellers were in the millions of copies sold), check out Publishers Weekly annual list.
This is part one of an excellent interview about how to build reader communities online with an expert in the field.
"Books are social creations. They are borrowed, shared, recommended, and discussed in the physical world every day. Publishers send authors out to book signings, interviews, and speaking engagements in the hopes of bringing together like-minded book fans to ignite discussion and spark a hopefully-lively word-of-mouth campaign. The goal of marketing books online is no different. Social media platforms and new content recommendation tools not only make these digital communities possible, but they also increase the speed and range of the word-of-mouth campaigns ten-thousand times over."--Jesse McDougall, owner of Catalyst Webworks, in an interview with Charlotte Abott in Follow the Reader
What's not to like about this? A bold debut author putting her work out FREE on an RSS feed so you can try before you buy (and I hope people do buy it). A local (to me) scribe of zombie fiction. An indie publisher, Nightshade Books, who is willing to dive into the deep end of digital publishing and marketing. Oh, and a romantic-zombie-comedy starring twenty-somethings. And if that doesn't convince you, check out the quality of her cover quotes!
It all starts today at www.ameliabeamer.com, so get over there and start reading. Check this out from Nightshade Books:
Zombies are seemingly everywhere these days, but with all the permutations of the zombie we've seen in recent years, no one has dared to make zombies sexy...UNTIL NOW.
In the emerging world of e-books, many consumers assume it is only logical that publishers are saving vast amounts by not having to print or distribute paper books, leaving room to pass along those savings to their customers.
Publishers largely agree, which is why in negotiations with Apple, five of the six largest publishers of trade books have said they would price most digital editions of new fiction and nonfiction books from $12.99 to $14.99 on the forthcoming iPad tablet — significantly lower than the average $26 price for a hardcover book.
But publishers also say consumers exaggerate the savings and have developed unrealistic expectations about how low the prices of e-books can go. Yes, they say, printing costs may vanish, but a raft of expenses that apply to all books, like overhead, marketing and royalties, are still in effect.
All of which raises the question: Just how much does it actually cost to produce a printed book versus a digital one?
February 2, 2010. Macmillan's current fight with Amazon over e-book business models is a necessary one for the industry. The stakes are high, particularly for Macmillan authors. In a squabble over e-books, Amazon quickly and pre-emptively escalated matters by removing the buy buttons from all Macmillan titles (with some exceptions for scholarly and educational books), in all editions, including all physical book editions. Thousands of authors and titles are affected; hardest and most unfairly hit are authors with new books published by Macmillan that are in their prime sales period.
Yet if Macmillan prevails, the eventual payoff for its authors (and all authors, if a successful result ripples through the industry) is likely to be significant and lasting.
This is a long post reprinted from Publisher's Lunch, but I believe it is the first of many publisher/big retailer skirmishes that is going to take place this year until the price of eBooks is stabilized (and not at $9.99 for debut hardcover equivalents). -----
Sometime during the evening of 1/29/10 the buy buttons for apparently all of Macmillan's books--including bestsellers and top releases, and Kindle editions--were removed from Amazon's site. Macmillan books remain listed but can be bought only through third-party Marketplace sellers, while Macmillan Kindle titles all lead to pages that read, "We're sorry. The Web address you entered is not a functioning page on our site." It is the first shot across the purchasing bow in big publishers' efforts to reset ebook pricing above the loss-leader $9.99 price point and retake control over that pricing by moving from the wholesale selling model to an agency selling model (first reported exclusively in Lunch Deluxe on January 19), at least for ebooks published simultaneously with new hardcover releases. Kindle customers further reported on Amazon forums that any Macmillan books that were on their "wish lists" disappeared from those lists with no explanation, as apparently did Macmillan sample chapters that had been downloaded previously.
Macmillan has commented by way of a paid message to authors, illustrators and agents, reproduced below this story. Amazon has declined to comment thus far, either to the media or directly to their customers.
