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Today news broke that the Justice Department warned Apple and a number of big publishers of its intent to file suit against them.  The DOJ alleges that Apple and the publishers conspired to increase the price of ebooks.  Publishers affected apparently include the following: 

The five publishers facing possible Justice Department action are Simon & Schuster Inc, a unit of CBS Corp (CBS.N); Lagardere SCA's (LAGA.PA) Hachette Book Group; Pearson Plc's (PSON.L) Penguin Group (USA); Macmillan, a unit of Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH; and HarperCollins Publishers Inc, a unit of News Corp (NWSA.O).  -- Reuters

If DOJ wants confirmation, it might check with consumers, particularly those who owned Kindles and bought them based upon Amazon's promise to try to keep ebook prices below $9.99.  Yes, Virginia the roosters coming home to roost this time arise from the publisher's battle with Amazon over ebook pricing that resulted in publishers and Apple concocting the "agency model" of pricing. What is the agency model?  It's where the publisher decides what its price will be and the retailer is not allowed to change it. 

Think of the agency model like this (and this is only an example, based on nothing more than the odd imagination of a certain duck lady) - imagine that Wrangler is really peeved at Wal Mart for selling its blue jeans for $19.99.  Wrangler has decided it wants it's blue jeans to have an upscale image and a price tag to match.  Wrangler decides that Wal Mart can only sell its jeans if they are priced at the numbers on the tags shipped with the jeans and they start at $49.95 a pair.  If Wal Mart doesn't like it, then they can't sell Wrangler jeans. 

Well, that wouldn't work if just Wrangler did it, now, would it?  Wal Mart would say to Wrangler - screw you and the horse you rode in on.  Where will you sell your jeans with those terms, Wal Mart would ask.  The store that Sam Walton built might reply that it would just sell Levis instead.  But what if 5 or 6 big companies control all the well known jean brands? And what if  all of them say the same thing to the big chain store?  And when the chain store asks, in a much softer voice, well, where will you sell your product, then - who will ever accept those terms?  And the merchants answer - Target.  We've all reached a deal with Target on exactly those terms and Target will keep a set percentage for profit based on the price we set.   Well, Target would be making a chunk of change too, wouldn't it?  And Wal Mart would lose all the customers who wanted to buy big name jeans.  AND, worst of all, the customers would pay a lot more for the product. 

Now,  understand that the big publishers are the blue jean companies and Apple is Target. That's agency pricing and in the long run, the victims are the consumers. 

Federal Antitrust legislation exists to prevent monopolies that destroy competition and damage consumers.  The most famous example of DOJ's heavy hand with Antitrust action was the break up of the old Ma Bell network of AT&T.  Since that time - look at what's happened to telephone service.  Consumers have options at every price point and every service level.  And as much as I dislike the Feds regulating most things, Antitrust legislation has an important and valuable purpose. 

So, DOJ may very well be right on target in breaking up this scheme because prices consumers pay should be set by the merchants from whom consumers buy.  The merchants pay a wholesale price and sometimes they'll sell some items below wholesale in order to promote some other items.  That's what Amazon was doing with ebooks to sell its Kindle devices - and again, that's what publishers were trying to prevent. 

Yes, if agency pricing goes then the whole system will have to adjust.  Indies like me would be hurt because we are little tiny pebbles caught between giant boulders.  Amazon says to indies, you can only sell on our platform if you price you ebooks at your cheapest price.  Oh, and if your price is lower anywhere else - we'll match the low price and base your royalty payment on that figure.  Presently, the agency pricing system gave indies got a benefit of sales platforms mostly selling indie work at the price the indies set. So indies don't get caught in a price reduction whirlwind at Amazon, often the biggest sales source. 

Even though readjusting the system to get it back to a wholesale/retail marketplace would hurt indies, like me, for a while, I expect that pricing would work itself out after a period of some turbulence.  And even if it didn't, and I took a hit along with other indies, well, that's okay.  We'd have to adapt because ultimately, the agency pricing results in readers paying high prices across the board when in a wholesale/retail market, competition would keep prices lower.  READERS SHOULD NEVER BE HURT BY AND OVERCHARGED BECAUSE OF A "SECRET" SYSTEM THAT'S KEEPING PRICES ARTIFICIALLY INFLATED.

It's not something I say often but in this case, I've gotta make an exception - YOU GO, DOJ.  Ma Book should go the way of Ma Bell.

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Don't miss out on the Smashwords Read An Ebook week promo.  It runs through this Saturday, March 10th. 

There are steals and deals galore so don't miss out on this once-a-year chance to fill your ereader without draining your wallet.  It's a coupon sale, so enter the codes at check out.

ALL QUACKING ALONE ROMANCES ARE 50% OFF !  If you don't own 'em all already - perhaps you haven't picked up one or two of them yet - then don't miss these deals. 

With the strained state of finances and the need to stretch a dollar until old George Washington quacks for help - I never miss this deal and you shouldn't either.  So waddle on over to SW and fill up your ereader before the stroke of midnight on Saturday, March 10th.

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Alan Jacobs of The Atlantic posted a piece entitled: Digital Self-Publishing: Should Publishers Be Worried? In the article, he says:  "John O'Hara, who long ago wrote the book for the musical Pal Joey, based on his own novel. When the play was making a big run on Broadway, two friends of O'Hara's bumped into him on the streets of New York. "Oh John," they cooed, "We just saw Pal Joey again, and we enjoyed it even more than the first time!" O'Hara snarled, "What the hell was wrong with it the first time?""

Jacobs' piece also quotes Colorado College's librarian Steve Lawson's Piece.  Lawson's article is entitled: Publishers Hate You. You Should Hate Them Back.   Lawson says: 

So library-types, let’s get our story straight. Publishers have contempt for the authors they need to write works, and the readers they need to read works. Publishers are scared that the internet is going to disintermediate their asses into the dustbin of history, and the best response that many of them have come up with is to express their fear through hatred. For all the things that we might need to improve in libraries or apologize for, this isn’t one of them.

Jacobs reply is basically as follows, although you should read the whole piece: 

But one of the illusions most common to writers -- an illusion that may make the long slow slog of writing possible, for many people -- is that an enormous audience is out there waiting for the wisdom and delight that I alone can provide, and that the Publishing System is a giant obstacle to my reaching those people. Thus the dream that digital publishing technologies will indeed "disintermediate" -- will eliminate that obstacle and connect me directly to what Bugs Bunny calls "me Public." (See "Bully for Bugs".) And we have heard just enough unexpected success stories to keep that dream alive.

Well, here's hoping. But a couple of months ago I decided to dip my toes into these waters: I wrote a longish essay called "Reverting to Type" about my own history as a reader -- a kind of personal epilogue to The Pleasures of Reading -- and decided to submit it as a Kindle Single. Amazon wasn't interested, so I decided to publish it myself using Kindle Direct Publishing. I announced its existence to the world: that is, I posted a link on my tumblelog and tweeted about it. A few people downloaded it; some pointed out typos that I had missed, but that a copy editor surely would have caught. I thought about ways to promote it better but haven't been able to come up with anything other than becoming a self-promoting jerk on Twitter. Last time I checked it had sold 98 copies

 MY ANSWER?

I'm an indie author who distributes through Smashwords, KDP, Pubit for B&N and most recently, All Romance eBooks. My books sit on the virtual shelves beside great work published by big companies and indie authors alike. For whatever it's worth, I've sold a lot more than 98 copies of my work - I don't have the number but I've sold thousands. I've (probably - haven't totaled them) sold at least 98 so far this month across the channels and it's only 4 days into March.  And NO, my numbers don't IN ANY WAY even begin to compare to some of the success stories, like Amanda Hocking's for example.  All in all, self publishing is a lot of work, but the rewards are amazing. Some of the reward is monetary - extra money to supplement yet another family struggling in this economy. Much of the reward is simply having my work out there to be loved and hated - and yes, it has received both responses.

When I started self publishing I wrote long blogs about how companies like Smashwords would break through and destroy the walls of the publishing royals castles. I continue to think that self publishing has greatly, greatly enriched the literary world and, more importantly, that it has empowered the reader to decide whether or not the work is worth her money. No longer do the publishing companies' systems and slush piles serve as socially acceptable censors.

Now, however, I'm farther along on my journey and my attitude has changed slightly. Yes, I think self publishing has already destroyed the castle walls so that all writers can get their work to readers. Yes, work from the big companies usually - but not always - sells better, but the market share of those companies will go the way of the castle walls. I think we're headed for greater equality which is always a good thing.

I believe that publishing companies who change the way they do business can adapt, survive and succeed. I believe that they will have to adopt an Amazon approach and partner with writers, showing a willingness to throw out the old models and craft individual deals that recognize writers as important business partners with individual needs and concerns. I don't think publishing will survive in any kind of "one size fits all" way.

In the long run, I hope that publishers do adapt to the digital world. I've read many great published books and hope to read many more. Today, I've come far enough along my journey to wish publishers who adapt and change - and especially the writers who partner with them - great success.

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Published on 7 Comments on Male Feminists – The Ultimate in Hypocrisy

Sorry to disappoint you guys, but it's me, the Dear Hubby, instead of the Quacked-Out Duck Lady.

She's experiencing some of the fun I used to enjoy, mainly formatting e-books to satisfy the jackals at the various digital distributors. Given that, the full-time job, the bills, the laundry, and writing her wacky romance novels, she didn't have the time or energy to deal with the blog this week, so I'm doing it. This is taking crucial time away from my more important tasks, mainly ARRRRRR WHAR BE THE WENCHES AND THE GROG ARRRRRRR!

First, some news on our website(s). I've taken the time to change the e-book covers to reflect Mary Anne's title changes on her contemporary romances. Her contemporaries weren't moving off the digital shelves as quickly as the historical/fantasy romances, so we discussed possibly bundling them at some future date. Of course, there has got to be some unifying theme to help tie the bundle together, so when we looked at the nitty-gritty essence of the two current contemporaries and the one she's currently working on, we found a hook - Dangerous Relations, where relationships and the law intersect and many times conflict.

So now we have Dangerous Relations: Seducing the Billionaire and Dangerous Relations: Griffin's Law, with Mary Anne currently pounding away on the third one. No, I'm not telling you what the work-in-progress is tentatively titled, leave me alone you freaks.

I also fixed our Nook links on the Complete List of Books page, which were all broken due to Barnes and Noble introducing their Pub-It service, a direct competitor to Amazon's Kindle Publishing. It's aggravating to deal with, but I understand the necessity of the computer programming changes.

Now onto the meat of the blog post. The other day I encountered, on a fairly well-trafficked comedy website, a piece written by a male feminist.

I struggle to understand the very concept of a male feminist, or any other (what I see as) self-hating political activist.

...continue reading "Male Feminists – The Ultimate in Hypocrisy"

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WHY SHOULD MEN READ ROMANCE?  QUACK ON OVER TO ALL DAY, ALL NIGHT WRITING DIVAS AND READ MY BLOG POST TO FIND OUT.   MAYBE YOU'LL ALSO DISCOVER WHY THE DUCK SHOWN BELOW IS DRINKING BOURBON.

Photo Credits: 

Duck drinking whiskey
http://www.jokestation.org/view/357/Drunk-Duck

Female operator's manual
http://www.junekramin.com/archives/2368

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Very early in our relationship, my hubby went shopping with me for a purse. Note that I said "very early." There are many things men will do early in a relationship that go out the door when a couple settles into reality - like purse shopping or eating green bean casserole (don't ask). After that early purse excursion, we learned that if we wanted to keep love alive, purse, clothes or shoes shopping should be my department. It must have been a good call, because we've been happily married now for over 20 years.

I hadn't really thought about how men and women shop better for different things until I read about a study in the UK's Daily Mail Online. The study, commissioned by The Co-operative Food, focused on how men and women feel about and deal with grocery shopping. Although women are considered the experts at shopping, our prowess stops at the doors of the grocery store. Yes, Virginia, the study found that women get more flustered and stressed in supermarkets.  

Researchers studied around 2,000 people and found that despite the fact that women are more likely to enter the weekly grocery shopping frey armed with lists and coupons, the experience throws us into a complete tizzy. Women hate the crowds at the store, feel rushed at the checkout and are generally shocked at the cost of purchases.  Two thirds of the women studied said they disliked fighting crowds to get what they wanted and 34% hate it when other people's children get into their way.  1 in 10 of the women confessed to getting into arguments at the store with other shoppers over things like shopping carts, fighting over the same item or line jumping.

Grocery shopping, it seems, is an activity that men excel at and enjoy.  "Men seem to adopt a much more laid back and methodical approach, taking their time looking for bargains and make sure they’re getting the most for their money."

The study found that 51% of the men are more likely to opt for brands they know while 26% of the women grab the first brand they find because it helps speed up the shopping.  It found that women are more likely to ask for help in locating something, but men are more likely to use technology to make the shopping easier.

Authors of the study say that for women, grocery shopping is apt to be just another on a long list of things they have to do so women rush through the grocery store "to conduct the shopping as quickly as possible."    Researchers theorize that there is a "new breed of male supermarket shoppers."  I find a lot of the studies I run across interesting, and may share them with blog readers even if I personally consider them to be chock full of hogwash.  I'm sharing this one for the opposite reason -- based on personal experience, I think it's absolutely accurate.

I hate a grocery store.  Just the sight of one makes me feel tense and unhappy.  One of the happiest days in my life was when Lowe's Foods came to Myrtle Beach because of the Lowe's To Go Service.  It meant I could order my groceries online and schedule a pickup time. I'd drive into the parking lot, push a loudspeaker button to announce my presence, and an amazing employee would wheel my groceries right out to my car.  It was life altering for me - and it still would be today.  The only reason I stopped using the service is because of a change in workschedules and hours, my hubby started doing the grocery shopping.  He prefers going into the supermarket and engaging in that whole battle.

It was hard for me to understand how my DH could possible enjoy the shopping experience, but the new study indicates that he's not alone.  It turns out that the grocery store is a man's world.  But you know what?  I'm okay with that.  I'm very, very okay with that.  Really, I'm okay with anything that keeps me out of the grocery store.

Don't tell my hubby, but he's much better at grocery buying than I am!    Besides, my DH looks so cute pushing around that shopping cart...

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AOFM, also known as DH - my dear hubby, has worked his magic on one of my contemporaries that hasn't gotten enough attention.  It's a good book that needs more readers.  To attract readers, I first tried a name change.  The books was originally entitled "E-mail Enticement".  In retrospect, I think that one did sound a little like a legal textbook.  (Though not as much as the first title I wanted to give it, which was "Criminal Sexual Communication".)  Poor little E-mail didn't get much love.

Not so terribly long ago, I retitled it, thinking it would "entice" more interest.  The second title was:  "The Billionaire's E-mail Seduction."  Under that title, it garnered a little more love, but not much.  It cried out for more tweaking - something more drastic than just a new title.  E-mail demanded a new COVER. That meant that I needed to do a little enticing of my own - or a lot, as the case may be.  AOFM doesn't work cheap, you know - but then he's worth the best of everything.

Yesterday, my DH did a yummy new cover for "E-mail" and I can't wait for y'all to see it.  Did I mention that it's yummy?  Yep, that's right - I'm pushing books with the bare-chested hunks again.  After all, the goal of a cover is to get a reader to stop long enough to read the description and check out the sample and then - hopefully - to press the buy button.   But they won't buy if they don't stop long enough to look and I do believe my DH's new cover will get anyone who boogles by to stop, ogle, and check out the book.

The new title for E-mail - in keeping with our newly adopted theme - is "Dangerous Relations:  Seducing The Billionaire."  The theme or subtitle of "Dangerous Relations" will tie together all our contemporaries right where they take place - at the intersection of love and the law. 

Amazon got the new page and title for the book up by this morning, but I'm still waiting for the cover.  It's a lot like waiting for a baby to arrive - I know it'll be beautiful and I am way anxious to share. Don't forget to check it out because it's awesomely quackalicious - with a cherry on top!