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Category: The E-book Industry

Opinions/rumors/news in the world of digital publishing.

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In today's economy most of us are on budgets that are beyond tight.  Never have we needed hope, optimism and a belief in the future more.  And never could we afford it less. 

Traditionally published romances average around $7.99 and new releases by some publishers top the $12 mark.  If you're trying to make a house payment and keep your lights on - how can you justify spending that money for a book?  Most of us can't these days.  We simply can't. 

Yet you can pick up many indie romances for as little as 99 cents.  I published The Duke of Eden on Amazon as a serial before I finished the full.  There are 3 parts of the serial up at Amazon.  Each sells for 99 cents and the full sells for $2.99.  It's easier to pick up the book in 1 installment, but if your budget won't allow it, then pick it up a piece at a time.  Most writers who sell serial stuff only put out little chunks, a chapter or so at a time, making the whole book much more expensive than just buying a regular novel. 

I didn't do that.  I put out big chunks of Duke and only charged 99 cents for each.  And when I published the full for $2.99, I left the serial up, even though it costs me higher priced sales of the full.  Why?  Because I get it. I'm with you.  I understand.  I'm in the same place you are with my budget and I refuse - I absolutely refuse- to unpublish the lower priced option.

Many folks haven't tried indie romance.  Somehow, they consider indie work to be inferior and unworthy.  Or that's what they've heard, anyway.  Well, in today's economy when traditional publishers don't consider your bottom line, maybe this is the best time to give indie romance a shot.  Lord knows, the news is full of gloom and doom.  Creditors are calling, nasty letters come in the mail and many of us are paying bills in chunks.

More than ever, people need regular doses of the kind of hope, optimism and happy endings that they get from romance novels.  Remember the old commercials that talked about "Miller time?"  Well - it's INDIE TIME. 

Most indie romance sells for $2.99 or less.  You can pick up A Faerie Fated Forever for free at almost every ebook site on the planet right now.  Don't let the high prices charged by traditional publishers deprive you of the hope and optimism that helps fuel you to keep on keeping on until it gets better.  And it will.  We all know it will. 

By the time things improve, I hope that indie romance has become your first choice.  Indie authors are doing some of the best, most creative, most cutting edge work out there. Once you go indie, you may not want to go back.

And why should you?

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Last week I linked to The Romance Reader's list of the Top 100 romance novels - as voted by readers. This week USA Today's HEA Blog was hanging out at the Romance at Random site and asking readers to name their favorite romance novel.

The responses are interesting. Go check 'em out and add your own faves to the list.  I couldn't pick just one so I didn't comment.  Also, I'm not in a real social mood - does that ever hit y'all?  Anyway, mine would be a tie between Kathleen Woodiwiss' "The Flame And The Flower" and Johanna Lindsey's entire Malory series, especially "Gentle Rogue."

Like I mentioned earlier, my mood and my muse are sort of in a funk right now.  So I don't feel especially bloggy either.  Hopefully, I'll recuperate.  So for now, I'll leave you with the new list to check and my link from the list I found last week. 

Why is everyone thinking about our all time favorite romances right now?  I'm not sure.  Maybe, we're all trying to work up some holiday spirit.  Maybe, we all need a strong dose of Happily Ever After to combat the economy that seems to get worse and worse.  

Or maybe - great minds and demented minds actually think alike.

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There was a very interesting NY Times article a few days ago written by David Streitfeld.   It discussed Amazon's bold steps in building its own publishing brand. The title of the piece spoke of Amazon writing publishers out of deals.  The publishers are "terrified and don't know what to do," according to Dennis Loy Johnson of Melville House. 

Amazon has been aggressively pursuing top authors. Even celebrities have seen the business sense of partnering with Amazon.  Director/Actress Penny Marshall got an alleged $800,00 advance for signing with Amazon to do her memoir.  Likely, Ms. Marshall also got a piece of the pie because Amazon is building brand loyalty by sharing the profits from the sale of books with the authors who wrote them.   It's quite sad how revolutionary that concept is and it's quite funny that the weapon of equity pointed straight at their P&L sheets so terrifies the traditional publishers. 

Some publishers have taken the war a step farther by punishing authors who dare to self publish material that is NOT UNDER CONTRACT.  That's right, Penguin supposedly canceled a new author's publishing contract because she dared to self publish some old work during the long - long - long period between signing a bood deal and the book actually appearing for sale. 

Hawaiian writer Kiana Davenport signed with Penguin and received a 20k advance for publication of her book "The Chinese Soldier's Daughter."  It was due to come out next summer.  During the interval, Ms. Davenport, mindful of lectures about the need to drum up publicity and build her "brand" self published an e-book of some of her old work on Amazon.

She says: 

When Penguin found out, it went “ballistic,” Ms. Davenport wrote on her blog, accusing her of breaking her contractual promise to avoid competing with it. It wanted “Cannibal Nights” removed from sale and all mentions of it deleted from the Internet.

Ms. Davenport refused to remove the e-book.  Penguin says it will pursue legal action if the author doesn't return the balance of her advance.  A lawyer with the author's guild who has represented Ms. Davenport, Jan Constantine, says that Penguin made an example of Ms. Davenport. The lawyer feels Penguin's acts are intended to warn published authors that for them, self-publishing is a risky business.

The writer felt she was being punished for sleeping with the enemy. 

The publishers could try beating Amazon at its own game by sharing some of the wealth and some of the control over the final product with authors.  I guess it's just that if you're used to keeping all but a tiny slice of the pie, you've come to consider the pie yours - rather than the creation of the baker who cooked it. 

Traditional publishers have put out some fine work from some amazing folks through the years.  But they should recall that authors talented enough to create such masterpieces are likely risk-takers by nature.  If publishers don't change their tune the best and the brightest are likely to dance away.

Oh and Amazon - yoo hoo-over here - over here.  **Waves**. 

Maybe I should try billboards???

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Yesterday, about suppertime (dinnertime if you're not Southern), our internet connection got restored after a full day's absence.  In my ecstatic, gluttonous boogling around the internet after supper, I ran across The Romance Reader's list of the Top 100 Romance Novels.   It makes for fascinating reading. 

The list was composed from reader's nominations of over 1500 books by over 500 authors.  The books with the most votes made the list, which actually contains 109 books because there were several ties.  Although there appears to be a variety of books, the first thing that impressed me was further evidence of how loyal readers are to their favorite authors. 

I noted that several writers appear over and over again.  For example, the first book on the list is "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon.  Four of her other books made the list.  I've got to say, I disagree with "Outlander" being anywhere in the Top 100.  I don't like the book.  I picked it up a few months back as a free read and made it all the way through, certain that at the end there would be some kind of amazing happy ending to make all the misery between the lead couple worthwhile.  It didn't happen.  I hear that there is some sort of HEA for the lead couple in a later book, but that's not good enough. If there's no HEA, then in my book, it's not a romance.

Again, Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Linda Howard appear several times and I heartily agree with both.  Linda Howard's "Dream Man" has a permanent place on my keeper shelf as does Phillips "It Had to Be You" - and her whole Chicago Stars series.  I love both of those books, but I don't think either one should be at the top. Other authors who appear a number of times are Julie Garwood (Love her stuff "The Secret" lives on my keeper shelf), Judith McNaught ("Whitney, My Love" also lives with me), Nora Roberts, Georgette Heyer, Amanda Quick, LaVyrle Spencer and Mary Jo Putney. 

For me,  the #1 Romance should be a tie between Kathleen Woodiwesses' "The Flame and The Flower" and Johanna Lindsey's "Gentle Rogue."  That was one of my first thoughts when I saw this list.  It led to the BIGGEST SHOCKER OF THE LIST - NONE OF LINDSEY'S MALLORY NOVELS MADE THE LIST AT ALL.  Only 1 of Ms. Lindsey's books made it - a scifi romance called "Warrior's Woman" which I've never read and which only came in at #68, tied with a bunch of others.

Who were the readers voting for this list?  In my book, James Mallory, from "A Gentle Rogue" is the perfect romance novel hero and the Mallory series taught me how series romance should be done.  Ms. Lindsey was robbed, I tell you, robbed.

My second shocker dealt with another of my favorites series romance writers - Julia Quinn.  NONE of her books made the list.  None.  Hello? What was in the Kool-Aid these people were drinking?

 My final and happiest shock from the list?  How very few of the books were "paranormal."  There was no horde of vampires, zombies or werewolves - Hallelujah.  The absence of large numbers of these books from the list gives me hope for the future of our genre. 

Mind you, I do think that more contemporary romance should make the list.  My WIP is a contemporary as are 2 of my others (Griffin's Law and The Billionaire's E-mail Seduction).  The next time anyone puts together a Top 100 list I hope it contains few to no werewolves, zombies or vampires and features a lot more contemporaries.

Peruse the list and let's be grateful to the good folks at The Romance Reader for putting it together- even if none of my books made it either.

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Amazon's publishing arm is partnering with authors to build a New City On A Hill - no walls involved.

The digital giant has been signing authors for its own imprint, with the latest being thriller author Barry Eisler. Eisler made big news not too long ago by turning down a $500,000 two-book deal from his traditional publisher, saying he was going to publish the books himself.  However, a better deal came along and Eisler was smart enough to take it.

Amazon approached Eisler with a "hybrid deal" allowing him to control packaging and some other aspects that mattered to him.  Az also fast-tracked the digital version of his book, which was published about a month after the manuscript was finished.  The paperback will follow.  Eisler thought that traditional publisher St. Martin's was just too slow, and it was even slow in getting him a draft of a contract.  In the 4 months it took the publisher to get the draft to Eiser, the publishing world changed.

Eisler says that publishers want to preserve "their own position, perks and profit — that's just what establishment players come to do over time." Legacy publishers, according to Eisler, often slow down the process deliberately, allowing them to earn interest on the money due to the writer which remains in the publishers' hands during their calculated delays.       

What mattered to Eisler were his readers because without them he couldn't make a living.  He said, " if I can find a way to get readers books that cost less and are delivered better and faster, I want that."  And Amazon was willing to throw out the rulebook and negotiate a deal tailored to what mattered to the author.  Overall in the Eisler deal, Amazon agreed to get the book out faster, cheaper, to pay the author more money and allow him to retain more control. 

Amazon helped create the new digital world and the company is in prime position to - deservedly - reap the benefits.  Moving at the speed of tomorrow, Amazon offers some authors a new path - publishing contracts built around the needs of the people who create the work.  Imagine, Amazon is actually willing to consider and adapt to individual requests from writers.

It's no longer a one-size-fits-all world and the Publishing Royals no longer get to make the rules.  In the new world order, the people who write the books now have choices about how they'll publish them and on what terms.  The power has truly shifted back into the hands that should have held it all along - to the dreamers, the creators - the authors. 

In the new Amazon City On A Hill writers work with publishers to get their work out to readers faster and cheaper.  It's a win/win for everyone except the publishing companies who refuse to throw out the old patterns.  In the new world there are no patterns for how a book gets published and there are no patterns for what kinds of books get published.  

Perhaps we've finally arrived at a place where a book will be as individual as the person who wrote it, as the company that publishes it and as the readers who will love it and make it their own. Each story is different for each reader. Now each publishing journey can carve its own path.

Traditional publishers best learn to respect the writers who've always made their buisnesses possible.  If they don't learn fast, they won't need to bother.

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As I've mentioned before, my book, A Faerie Fated Forever, went free almost everywhere this week.  I say almost because the old saw about not being respected in your home must be true.  I own a Sony Reader but the Reader Store hasn't picked up any of my recent stuff - I reduced the price on The Forever Series Bundle,  I put out Duke of Eden,  and just recently I made Faerie free.  Peeps who shop at the Sony Reader Store - email the store and ask why they haven't picked up the changes!!!  

But I digressed. I tend to do that a lot.  Perhaps it's a hazard of being a writer.  Or perhaps it's just me. Anyway, Faerie is free at the Apple iBookstore, it's free at Barnes & Noble, and on Monday, Amazon (very graciously - thanks a billion, billion to the amazing folks on the Kindle Digital Publishing staff) matched the price.  I've been able to see the progress and the reviews on B&N and Amazon, but I can't see what's happening at the iBookstore - my current budget doesn't allow for an i anything. 

The reader reviews have been very positive for Faerie.  There are reviews that aren't as positive for some of the others. For example, A Sixth Sense of Forever is Boz's story and it's very polarizing.  It's a love it or hate it kind of thing, but that's okay.  I thought Boz stayed way too level-headed during Niall's story in Faerie and Colt's in Golden. Boz was due to have the cover ripped off his cool.  But in a weird way, the one (as I post this, but that could change any second) review up for Sixth Sense mentions the heroine turning into a dominatrix.  I swear I think it's helped sell the book this week. 

Because the truth  is - all reviews are important.

...continue reading "Reader Reviews Power The E-Book Revolution"

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Published on 1 Comment on Indie vs Self Published: What’s In A Name If The Game’s The Same?

There's been a growing attempt by some authors to make the writing world a society of classes.  Certain status-hungry authors want to define terms as labels.  The labels  allow those writers to cling to the status that apparently means more to them than their relationships with other writers or their readers. In other words, the name game is really the fame game.

Back in the olden days - a couple of years ago - an author was forced into a system where the people who created the work had to act as beggars, supplicants crawling in mass numbers to bow before the altars of literary agents.  The agents functioned as super readers - if they liked your work they might deign to present it to publishers and rake in 15% of your sales for their efforts.  And the publishers?  Whether they were the "Big 6" or smaller, self owned "independent" companies, they generally published only work that was pretty much cookie-cutter - change the name of the author and the cover and send out the same kind of books over and over.

...continue reading "Indie vs Self Published: What’s In A Name If The Game’s The Same?"

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I read an interesting post at Dear Author the other day. It was an interview with Carrie Feron, the Editorial Director at Avon.  That house publishes 8 original print romances and 4 digital first romances each month via Avon Impulse.  Yes, Virginia, it's one of the biggest publishing houses on planet Earth.

When Avon set up a digital first arm, the team thought the books for Impulse would be by unknown authors.  But in today's world, the business execs were surprised when their existing authors wanted in on the digital line.  It turns out that 1/3 to 1/2 of Impulse's ebooks are by existing Avon authors.  (I'm not surprised.  I'm not sure why Avon was either.) Avon's also learned pricing lessons from indies and will sell the digital books for less than $5.00.

Although all of Jane's interviews at DA are interesting, parts of this one were particularly intriguing. Ms. Feron said that what she is particularly looking for is a strong voice.  That means she will know who the author is from reading the first page of a book.  "If you have a strong enough voice, you can make your own niche."  

Ms. Feron also said that she's seen a lot of Regency stuff and is looking for something that hasn't been done before. She thinks readers are jaded so she's looking for old themes spun a new way.  But the most startling thing she said is this:  "She feels that a lot of authors self censor too much."

I'm an indie author but I'm smart enough to know that the big publishers have made fortunes predicting what readers want. (I don't think the big houses always got it right and I think they seriously screwed up when they got too big to take direct submissions from authors.  If you make your money from selling widgets but think you're too important to deal with the companies that make them, then sooner or later you're going to lose access to your product.) But despite all of that, we should always remember that publishers built empires from predictions just like these.  So I think that smart writers would do well to listen when free advice like this is passed along.

Thanks a million to Dear Author for the post.  If you're not already reading the site - shame on you.  You should check it every day and you should pay attention!

Now, what the Avon digital guru said of import was that she wants a strong voice and writers should tell take all the risks necessary to tell their stories full throttle.  I believe that means that writers should keep it real and be sure the voice that comes across on the pages is their own.  Trying to pretend to write in a way that doesn't come naturally or to "copy" the style of another successful author won't work for me and it won't work for you either.  A fake style comes across as fake to the readers. If they don't believe your voice they won't like your story. 

But Ms. Feron had more to say - she felt that too many authors censor themselves.   And it's flat out wrong for a writer to fail to tell their story exactly the way it should fall naturally.   Anytime an author fails to listen to her muse, the author is going off track.  Inspiration likes risk and risk takers.  Why take the risk of putting a story out there but refusing to tell the whole story? 

The way the book comes to you from your muse may be risky in theme.  It may barge right into a supposedly forbidden area. Or it may be tee-totally shocking.  So you draw back as you write or edit.  You change the book and make it "safer."  Oatmeal is safer than a steak but which would you rather have for dinner?  Playing it safe puts a book right in the middle of the pack - and it's a big ole' pack. 

When you write a book that takes risks, you will offend some people and you will turn some off.  Not everyone will like it.  But some people will love it. All of my books take risks and not everyone agrees with some of the things the characters go through.  But in every case the story went the way it should have gone.  My voice is over-the-top and the characters who populate my stories are going to go through some traumatic events on their way to their happily ever after.  But they'll get there - every time.  

Frankly, I think that Ms. Feron's advice isn't just good for writers when they're writing. It's also excellent advice for the best way to approach life. The person I am may not be everyone's cup of tea. But I am who I am and what I am and I don't change that for anyone.  And I always say what I think.  Life is too short for me to worry about saying this to person A or offending person B. 

So in writing and in life, I think we'll all get farther if we take the risks that need to be taken, do it in the way that feels natural, and take it all the way.

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Published on 2 Comments on The Road to “Discoverability”

Those like me who struggle at the keyboard, turning out book after book, used to be travelers on the same highway - the Road to Publication.  In the digital age, writers are still travelers, but we're walking a different road. Today anyone and everyone can publish so it's not about publication any longer.  Now writers travel the road to discoverability.

It's a major change that took the explosion of an industry to craft.  But the change has been so sudden that writers recently attending The Writers League of Texas Agents' Conference were shocked when keynote speaker Jane Friedman began her speech on the state of the book by showing an image of a giant mushroom cloud. The title of Friedman's address was "Is The Book Dead? Who Cares?"

Friedman's speech tracked the revolutionary changes in the book industry. Borders is bankrupt. The biggest bookseller on the planet, Amazon, announced May 18th that it now sells more ebooks than paperbacks and hardcovers combined. Friedman says that the book as we have known it is dead. 

Who is Jane Friedman to make such an epic pronouncement?  She's the CEO and co-founder of Open Road Integrated Media.  And from 1997 to 2008 Ms. Friedman was the CEO and President of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide - one of the biggest publishers in the world.  She's credited with having invented the "author's tour" which "became a staple of the industry."  That background gives Friedman the platform to make any prognostication she wants to make about the book industry.

...continue reading "The Road to “Discoverability”"

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Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, Michael Connelly and... John Locke? 

Absolutely - John Locke.

Locke is a 60-year-old man from Louisville, Kentucky with a background in business and private investments who has sold more than a million copies of his 9 western/crime novellas.  He only charges 99 cents but sells a copy about every 7 seconds.  And Locke performed his amazing feat of sales wizardry in only 5 months. 

Locke has now written a new book that will likely fly off the virtual shelves faster than any of his other titles - "How I Sold 1 Million eBooks In 5 Months."    Achieving such success is amazing.  Having a spirit generous enough to help others join you proves that Locke is in it for much more than the money.

Dig it?  I do.  Locke's success proves that even if you aren't a spring chicken, if you write what people want to read and sell it for a fair price you can achieve any dream.  Even - possibly - financial security for a family with a job that is more dream than work. 

A million cheers to John Locke for his membership in one of the most exclusive clubs in the world.  And a million thanks to him for proving that indies can run with the big boys and girls 

My sales have been going up each month as I work more on social networking and marketing. I've discovered that it's easier to sell books if people know you have books for sale.  But I'm still a mighty, mighty (did I say mighty?) long way from Mr. Locke's Million Club achievement.  I guess I'll have to pick up a copy of his book!