The next big step for the eBook

We all know that eBook sales have taken over the world. With the availability of a variety of electronic readers, from cell phones to laptops to kindles and tablets, those of us who read (or publish) eBooks have myriad ways to access any format.

Critics, however, are beginning to wonder if the explosive jump in eBooks into the market is about to taper off, if it hasn’t already shown a slowdown. (I don’t agree, but then again, I’m not an expert in the field of theorizing about the future.) The thesis behind the thought is that eBooks, like other popular items, are a fad of sorts and like all fads, they can grow only so far before the market gets saturated, before fans look for some new stimulus, or before the novelty isn’t novel anymore. (Read this interesting article by Cynthia Boris )

Now, traditional print book publishers would probably like nothing better than to have their monopoly on the book market; but let’s face it – they’re never going to get back to where they were. The old model probably won’t die; but it’s going to need some kind of life support.

Let’s look at an example of one instance that can breathed new life into print book sales with no effort on the part of any publisher.

In 1997, Lee Child’s first novel, The Killing Floor, was a best seller. It was (according to Wikipedia) the Anthony Award winner, the Barry Award winne, a Dilys Award nominee and a Macavity Award nominee. Child (nee Jim Grant) went on to pen a number of successful novels.

Then, in 2012, The Killing Floor was retitled as Reacher (after the name of the main character) and was made into a movie starring Tom Cruise (who many distained because he had absolutely no resemblance the main character). Almost simultaneously, the title was reissued under the name Reacher and the book is once again a best seller. (It is ranked 1,850 in Amazon sales rankings and 606 in Barnes and Noble sales rankings as of this writing. The kindle version is ranked #257)

Now, back to that questionable idea of floundering eBook sales. If this is the case, we should be wondering if there’s some way to reverse the trend. And what better way for publishers and authors alike to experience a new direction for their electronic products but to have eBooks made into movies!

I suppose it’s a bit of a pipe dream at this point but I think authors and publishers should send a message loud and clear, something like WAKE UP, HOLLYWOOD, there’s a new gold mine out there just waiting for you to rush into.

Also, perhaps, as Cynthia Boris noted in her article, (quoting Michael Norris, a Simba Information analyst, “We have found that at any given time about a third of e-book users haven’t bought a single title in the last 12 months…. someone isn’t going to buy any more books until they make a dent in reading the ones they have already acquired.”)

Then there’s the free eBook offers that abound, usually fueled by independent publishers who are looking for ways to stimulate sales. Self-styled gurus point out that this is one of the better ways to increase sales of a book – give it away because it will get reviews (very important) and will stimulate word of mouth recommendations, and, well, let’s not get into the reasoning here. The fact is, my eBook readers (my laptop and cell phone) have their share of free electronic books, of which I’ve read one! Yet I’ve read every one of the books I paid money to download.

So I’m thinking Hollywood is the best option. Any ideas how to make this happen?

Who needs a proofreader?

Who needs a proofreader?

When I read blogs and forums about self publishing I find numerous suggestions that authors either hire a proofreader or go over their manuscripts thoroughly again and again.

I agree. But even with numerous readings, a manuscript can still have errors.

One of the (supposed) advantages of having a manuscript published by one of the major houses is the availability of professional editors and proofreaders.

But even that doesn't ensure a perfectly clean product. And if you think a little mistake will go unnoticed, think again. Case in point is a copy of Cold Case by Stephen White, which I picked up and read recently. It was a used copy, a hardbound published by Dutton.

Whomever owned the book before me didn't just notice errors he or she highlighted them and wrote above the highlighting. On page 181, for example, the sentence read in part, "...the local corner is an M.D." The reader corrected it with the word coroner.

On the very next page, a sentence read, "A second perimeter of yellow crime-scene tape blocked any closer access to the body."

At this point, I assumed there was a body but there wasn't. And, later, the body was discovered far away from the scene.

On page 189, the sentence read, "You're the psychologist--people wanting vengeance tend be your angry people, right?"

Except for the error referring to a non-existent body, it's easy to see how errors can slip by. And overall, the mistakes don't interfere with the plot or the writer's skill ...  Little errors, yes, but wouldn't it have been shocking if the invisible body showed up later -- alive and well?

Little errors, yes, but not unnoticed.

Rejected manuscripts, query letters, resumes: A response

Note: Vin Suprynowicz is the critically acclaimed author of several works as well as a nationally syndicated columnist. (I read him on the Las Vegas Review-Journal website.)

When Vin tried to leave a comment pursuant to my post about whether it’s okay to query more than one literary agent at a time, Blogger rejected it as too long. “AFTER I GET DONE, your robot tells me I've exceeded the 4,076 character limit,” he wrote in an email. “Is that 600 words? I write 1,200 words while I'm waiting for the teakettle toboil.”

To this introduction I add that Vin said what I wish I’d have been astute and brave enough to write.

  The old model, pretty dysfunctional for half a century anyway, is collapsing before our eyes.

The unspoken assumptions are: 1) I need a big-time New York publisher because only that person/outfit has the money and expertise to publish my book in attractive, professional form, get it professionally reviewed and get it into bookstores. Therefore, 2) Because hardly any publishers will still look at an unsolicited manuscript, I need a New York literary agent to open the gates to one of those publishers.

But read the final page of Richard Russell's 2006 "Book collector's Price Guide." He reports the effect of the calcification of publishing into the hands of a few green-eyeshade houses is "to freeze the state of literature and writing in general, keeping it within the bounds of the type of writing that has a 'winning track record.'" As a result, "Books published in the last decade in the United States will, over time, become worthless and fit only for the dollar bins. ..."

He's right. The shelves and tables are now full of ill-written derivative potboilers, shoddily bound. Anything new and refreshing tends to come from "outside the system," often in small press runs, 500 copies run off as a lark by some science fiction club or a socialist bookstore in the Haight or the Minnesota chapter of the Baker Street Irregulars.

Agents are told to "Go find me someone who can write just like ..." James Patterson, John Grisham, Alice Walker, whoever. They don't expect to find these people in the slush pile. You'd be FAR more likely to attract an agent's attention if you said you could prove you'd had a homosexual affair with Mitt Romney, "but I can barely write a grocery list; can you find me a ghost writer?"

THAT they know how to pitch.

And they pretend to serve at the altar of "literature"?

I once had a New York agent (actually signed a contract, the works) who's since written a book about "how to write a best-seller." All he ever did was ask me with great urgency whether I could "crank out a fictionalized biography of David Bowie in six weeks." By the time I got him an outline, five weeks later, he'd moved on to some other scheme, based on a different lunch with some other impresario.

The "rule" against multiple inquiries is for the convenience of agents and publishers, who pretend they're still a gentleman's club editing Scott Fitzgerald with pencils and sleeve garters and rubber cement, and thus further pretend to be outraged over the implication that they should get in a quick bid for your services, rather than watching you grovel at their feet for a month or two before moving on to woo their equally unattainable cousin in the next block. They act as though they're Scarlett O'Hara and you've just announced you intend to propose to the 40 prettiest girls in town, announcing you'll marry the first one who says "Yes." 

It's not a courtship; it's a business. (If it's a courtship, send flowers and ask if they prefer the missionary position.)

Why send out what amount to 40 form letters, a month apart over three years, when you can mail them all the same week?

Either way, 3 to 7 percent will reject you with a form letter, the rest will never reply at all. And I say this as someone who's made my living exclusively as a writer for 40 years, all of my books printed at professional binderies, all produced with private investment capital, with not a penny of the proceeds owed to any German banker pretending to be a publisher nor to any Sarah Lawrence graduate pretending to be a "literary agent."

The Internet is destroying their distribution monopoly; the rest of their haughty house of cards will collapse soon.

The expensive collectibles of tomorrow, Mr. Russell concludes, will be unusual, innovative books "subsidy published" in small press runs today ... the same way Poe subsidized the first printing of "Tamerlaine," the same way John Grisham subsidized the first publication of "A Time to Kill" by Wynwood Press in 1989.(Current value of a nice single copy: $4,000.)

And today's academics and "publishing professionals," far from being on the lookout for the new and the good, will reject it out of hand, Russell concludes, realizing that "a 'new' novel makes their years of knowledge, study and expertise obsolete."

-- V.S. 

Who killed the bookstore?

Panoramic view of Plaza Books in Las Vegas (Photo by Patrick Morgan)

Jill Olsen, of the Antiquarian Book Lounge, posted a link on her facebook page that piqued my interest. Written by Jeremy Paul, dean of the School of Law at University of Connecticut, the article asked the same question as the title of this post: Who killed the bookstore, "After which he inserted a colon and added, "After all, it was you and me."

The theme of the article focused on the fact that as consumers we failed to support bookstores by searching for cheaper prices, thus supplanting a lifestyle that combines consumption and philanthropy.

It's the first part of that statement I found annoying and incorrect. To hell with lifestyle; if I can find a book I want at a cheaper price at Walmart, I'm using the extra money to buy another book! So, no, I did not kill the bookstore; I actually saved money, contributed to the economy, supported the print industry (now referred to as pBooks), and gave myself hours of entertainment and information.

Meanwhile, I also posted a comment on Dean Paul's blog: "Maybe Barnes and Noble and Borders killed the bookstore!"

BTW, I'm getting a little tired of the media blitz about the death of the bookstore and hoping someone more creative and innovative than I will stop rehashing this story and find solutions to saving an institution I think is worth saving.

Related articles

• Where Have All The Bookstores Gone? (hilarytopper.com)
• Take Your Child to A Bookstore Day (natashawing.wordpress.com)
• Is It Time To Say Goodbye To Bricks & Mortar Bookstores? [Opinion] (makeuseof.com)
• The Bookstore's Last Stand (nochargebookbunch.com)
• The Last Bookstore makes a most-beautiful list (laobserved.com)

Query letters versus resumes

Here's a copy of an email message I received from an aspiring best-selling author, a man who has written his first novel.

Tell me why applying for representation from an agent is any different from applying for a job. For a job you send out 20 or 30 resumes, and with one or more replies you complete the applications and go for the interviews. Whoever picks you first, well, usually you take the first job that comes along.
 
Tell me why a literary agent is any different; you send out 20 or 30 query letters and whoever comes along first you jump on it.
I know I'm naive, but what else is new.

Can anyone tell me how to answer that?

Also, I know the stock answer; but in this day and age, when snagging an agent, yet alone a publisher, is getting harder and harder, should we play by their rules?

I’m not an expert but …

I’m not an expert but …

I’m not a poker expert.

I play poker – not as much as I did in the past but I play poker.

I am not a poker expert but I know how to play, I do play, and I study the game. I visit the local poker rooms here in Las Vegas, I read poker blogs, I’m acquainted with a number of professional poker players, I’ve worked for poker magazines, I’ve written for several poker magazines, and I keep up to date on what’s going on in poker news.

I write about poker in my weekly column for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

I’m not a poker expert. I am a student of the game, an avid fan and a somewhat fierce competitor.

I’ve never won much money playing poker and I probably never will. I’ve never won a major poker tournament title and I am close to lousy at figuring out pot odds, implied odds, knowing how many times a pair of aces before the flop will win.

Someone posed this question to me a few years ago:

If you’ve never made a lot of money or won a major tournament, how can you write about poker?

I usually answer that with an air of smugness.

If you’re an obstetrician who happens to be a man, do you need to have a baby in order to deliver one?

The point is obvious. Serious students who do the research and study related topics can write about something they’ve never physically experienced.

Here’s an example. Let’s say your main character has just been shot. You’ve never been shot so how can you write about it? You describe the character, how she normally reacts to pain (Celia had withstood the pain of childbirth, knew what it felt like to break a bone, but she’d the pain of the bullet in her leg was nothing like either of these.)

You can go on to describe the wound; after all, you’ve seen enough gunshot wounds on television and in the movies. (She glanced at her new white blouse, watched the crimson stain of blood seep into it, looking like a bad imitation of a Rorschach test.)

You can equate the situation directly to something from the past. (Once, when she was fasting for some medical tests, as she waited for the technician, the room began to spin. She felt lightheaded, woozy, shaky, and everything around her appeared to grow dark. She’d fainted then, and she knew she was going to that again, here in the garage, as she bled from her wound.)

None of this is great literature; it’s just a group of quickly written scenarios to show that a creative writer doesn’t need to have experienced what she writes.

By the way: Nope, I'm not a poker expert but based on my studies and research, my tutorial software, and a lot of friends who play professionally, I can more than hold my own in a game.

Three cheers for: James Patterson

Ha! Take that, Publisher!

Selling 220 million books worldwide, James Patterson should be hero to all creative writers. Those 220 million copies cover a wide swath of genres.

Sure, most people think of the Alex Cross series when Patterson’s name comes up, but the man has proven that as a serious writer, he doesn’t (and we don’t) have to limit ourselves to one particular theme.

James Patterson has written children's bestsellers, young-adult books, character-driven detective novels, novels featuring strong female characters, emotion-packed family novels, fantasies … and probably a few genres I’ve missed along the way, including those in the nonfiction category. (Along the way he’s picked up some credible co-authors who always get credit for their contributions.)

Patterson isn’t the lone wolf in this matter. Plenty of other print-published writers have crossed genres successfully and continue to explore their creativity. I’ll give them due in this space as time permits.

Meanwhile …

Agents and publishers like to deal with people who fit neatly into their matrix of what they’ve (They being the agents and publishers) done all their lives. Don’t let them do it. Write the stories that capture your imagination, the plots that just won’t stop unraveling, the characters that will charm the pants off whatever age group they belong to … just write. And if you can’t find an agent or publisher who appreciates your talent and skill (it’s likely you won’t), go forth and publish eBooks!

Related articles

• A few reasons to be grateful for James Patterson (telegraph.co.uk)

Free eBooks: What's up with that?

I’m a bit discouraged about the world of eBooks.

Even though the electronic age unofficially belongs to a generation to which I no longer belong to, I’m a big fan of the changes of the “revolution.” However, I’m not happy about the residual effects, the innocent ravages of change.

Note please: The malaise has nothing to do with my own endeavors in the field. It’s something I’ve been ruminating about for a while now and it surfaced from random thought to full-blown reality this morning. That’s when I read my newsletter from American Editor

In the newsletter, the author listed 22 eBooks recently added to his eReader. Great! He also listed four hardcover books he’d acquired. Then, without mentioning how he acquired those tomes, he admitted that of the 22 electronic books he added to his TBR (to be read) pile, most (90%) were free!

I can’t remember the last time I walked into a bookstore, picked up a dozen books, and walked out without paying for them. I’m not talking about stealing; I’m saying free!

Why are so many new-age author/publishers willing to give their work away?

I’m sure part of the reason has to do with advice. Just about every blog, article, chat room and discussion board recommends that newly published authors should offer freebies. I think another part of the reason has to do with the competition. With so many books flooding the electronic world, competition is becoming fierce; getting noticed is tougher.

Writers who thought finding an agent or getting through the hallowed doors of the print publishing buildings was daunting, now find themselves in similar disheartening circumstances.

I’m not so sure we should follow the trend by giving away our work. Is there another profession so hard up for “customers” that does so?

We all know the annual income for many writers falls below the poverty level. My biggest concern is that it’s tumbling even further because of the free trend.

Like the big publishers, I’d offer review copies to qualified reviewers. That’s a legitimate avenue toward publicity. I could be wrong but I don’t believe giving titles away randomly to a large population will enhance a writer’s public image. So I stand against what looks to be conventional wisdom (everything’s fast in the electronic age) and say NO TO FREEBIES.

Print publishing is not dead

Because I publish my work in electronic editions, I frequent the ebook forums and chat rooms and in particular the kindle boards to keep up to date on all topics that focus on ebooks. One of the most talked about topics on these sites is whether or not the publishing world as we have known it is doomed.

Image via Wikipedia

No, I don’t think print on paper, hardbound or paperbound books, will disappear from the face of the earth. I believe the subject can be compared to the music industry.

There was a time (through the 1950s) when a handful of record companies ruled the world of music. If musicians couldn’t get a deal with one of the five or six big outfits, they were relegated to obscurity. Their work was virtually invisible. But with the emergence of rock and roll, independent producers created their own labels to showcase singers who didn’t fit the traditional mold. Then came Motown and the music industry changed forever.

Technology changed, of course, and the 45 rpm record took a back seat to the vinyl LP for a while, then the eight track hit the market only to be overtaken by the cassette, which eventually fell out of favor, replaced by the CD, and now we have the mp3 player. And with the advancements came independent producers and companies.

But, did jazz die? Did classical music become obscure? Did big labels suddenly fall off the face of the earth?

Guess what? Changes in taste and technology aside, the big record companies of the past are still alive. Music is still alive.

I think publishing will follow suit. Tastes will shift; technology will continue to make headway; the dominant publishers will continue to publish and independent publishers will make their voices read.

Related articles

• Self Publishing, Podcasts and YouTube Video: How the Internet Facilitates Creative Expression (savings.com)

A new vocabulary for ebooks

Now that I’ve successfully formatted and uploaded two novels for the Kindle (see the links on the sidebar), I’ve started researching ways to get people to read them. Of course, the first step is to use a search engine to look for advice from other (successful) ebook writers and publishers.

That’s when the first two problems crept into my journey.

Naturally, I expected the results to bring a ton of links to Amazon and the gazillion ebooks already online. These were rather easy to cull.

What I was surprised to find is many references to methods for publicizing and selling how-to publicizing nonfiction works aimed at making money. Too many of these touted affiliate marketing and reselling the rights to tired old manuals.

This directed me to an idea.

Why don’t we get more specific when we refer to our work?

Why not call our work:

enovels
efiction
enonfiction

These can be further delineated into subcategories that reflect genre or content. For example:

emystery
esuspense
eromance
epoetry
etextbook
espritbook
ereligiousbook

Now when it comes time to research methods to promote a ebook novel, the engines might be more amenable to returning results targeted at the specific request.

Just a thought.

Ebook, print book, audio book: Which one?

As I was reading The Brain that Changes Itself, I found myself keeping a spreadsheet listing references and topics, something to look at later. I used the spreadsheet because the book was on loan to me from a friend and I couldn't use a highlighter.

So, today, I started doing some research on the list, and that's when I hit the wall of question: Should I opt for the ebook, the audio version or the hardcover or paperback?

To tell the truth, living on a relatively fixed budget makes the decision somewhat easier. Whenever the opportunity arises, I'll choose the least expensive option, selecting good condition used books whenever possible. Of course, when money was (sort of) no obstacle and if the book was going to stick around in my library, my first choice would be the new hardcover; the second would be the new paperback; or for certain types of books, especially those that required following directions, I'd pick the audio.

Today's research brought up a new question, one that helps narrow my decision but also makes me wonder: What's up with the price of ebooks?

If I have to choose between hardcover (new or used) or ebook version, what's the point of buying the ebook if the price is just a dollar or two less than the hardcover?

I know. The electronic book is more portable, and truth be told, in better economic times, I'd buy both print and electronic versions -- if the latter had a better price structure.

So tell me, what makes issuing an already published book electronically is so expensive? The editing has already been finished; the marketing has already been finished; the distribution has already been finished; calculation of the sales figures has already been finished.

So subtract those figures from the original bottom line for producing the print book and offer the ebook version for a reasonable cost.

Maybe the real question is: Looking to the future, are publishers trying to set a precedent for the price of ebooks

If that's the case, then the publishing world is doomed because writers will soon learn that the cost of hiring an editor and an illustrator on a per project, then pricing the work reasonably, is a better way to go.

Sure, the author will give up some of the marketing and distribution offered by the publisher but face the evidence, the mega publishers have already cut chunks of that part of the cost out of their budget. Too many authors have to market themselves already so that's a moot point.

Good thing we still have small, aggressive publishing houses that understand.

More on the future of the publishing industry

Joe Konrath's latest blog post features an interview with Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords. His comments on the future of the printed book are interesting and his comments about the publishing industry are on target.

The future of publishing -- from my view

Just because I published my first novel as an eBook doesn’t mean I’m thinking or hoping that the print book will disappear from the face of the known universe. I love print books, have a lovely little library of my favorites, mostly hardbound, and I read them--often. I’m also privileged to have good friends who loan me books to read.

I’m also not thinking or hoping that the publishing industry fades into the sunset. The inherent value of this media is obvious. Publishers have editors who find typos, grammatical errors, inconsistencies, talented cover artists, typesetters who know the difference between an inch mark and a curly quote, all of which, the independents probably can’t afford to hire. This leaves the self-publisher working within the boundaries of their own knowledge and education--and sometimes (probably most of the time) that isn’t enough to get the job done right.

I know, for example, I can’t proofread my own words. In fact, two people read the finished product before The Mine went live and while making their edits they presented to me I found two additional mistakes in the manuscript. (And we all know, most word processors fall short when it comes to recognizing grammatical errors and even certain typos.)

Publishers also handle all the accounting, the royalties, even (although not so much anymore), the publicity for their authors.

The biggest problem I see regarding publishers is their reluctance to take on new authors. They prefer the big name (celebrity, politician, guru) and established (published and successful) names. Emerging writers stand a miniscule chance of ever getting their work to a publishing house.

Then, that no-name writer has to try to enter the hallowed realm of the agent with a spot-on query letter and breathless hopes that the letter, the genre, and the sample chapters hit home enough to whet the agent’s appetite.

Now agents apparently have very little time to commit to unsolicited requests.

How is it, I wonder, that I can read a book in a day but agents can’t read a query letter for months or more?

When I was polishing up another novel, I sent one query letter by email to an agent. After months without a response I fired off a second letter to another agent who took three months to proffer a rejection message. A third attempt brought an almost instant “No thanks, not for me.”

If an agent does take on an unknown author, there could be a year or more lapse of time between a sale and the actual appearance of the work.

These observations (some could call them complaints) are so old they might even be considered tradition by now, but they make up the hurdles a novelist or non-fiction author has to scale in hopes of seeing his or her work in print.

Of course I’d like to see my books on the shelves of bookstores that still exist but I prefer not to go to my grave while waiting.

However, I love the look and feel of a hefty novel. I like sitting on the porch enjoying a glass of iced tea and a good story. I appreciate the way the words look on paper. So I will continue to support the authors who have been fortunate enough to make it in this tough field.

I will buy the hard covers I want to keep. I will buy the paperbacks I want to read. I will download whatever suits my fancy.

I’m sure there are a lot of other folks who, like me, will buy tangible books for their own personal tastes and reasons, for a long time to come – if publishers do a little trip into the present and realize they must make some changes, I figure they can last a long time as well.

Related articles

• The Dilemmas of a Struggling Writer Part 2 (bruceblake.wordpress.com)

The ebook journey - Part Nine and a Half: The Wait is Over

Let me rephrase the headline for this post.

The wait is almost over.

It took more than 24 hours for The Mine to go live. I downloaded a sample to my kindle and almost cried. The images did not show up!

So it was back to the proverbial drawing board, an hour of searching, and a quick review of where I went wrong. Apparently, when I uploaded the file, the images (a color cover, a black and white cover and a vignette) didn't upload. Actually, I missed that step somehow.

To rectify the error, I had to download the title -- it's comes as a zipped file -- add the images to the to the zipped folder that contains the title, and upload again.

Not a problem except that it will be another 24 to 48 hours before the book goes live again.

As soon as it does, I'll sample it and make sure it's okay before making the final announcement that it's available for purchase.

The ebook journey - Part eight: Uploading to kindle

Surprise!

The uploading of The Mine to Kindledesktop publishing went through with just one minor problem.

It seems there’s a blank I “forgot” to fill in. I say “forgot” because I never saw the blank in the initial form.

What was missing? Something called Additional Contributors.

Well, I’m the only person who contributed so why would have to list any additional names?

Don’t know. Just have to.

I just filled in my own name and clicked the save button and the minor problem disappeared.

Now it's a waiting game while the folks at Amazon go through some review process.